Chapter 15: Please, Remember Me
-R-
When Harry appears in my room, I think I am still asleep and dreaming. But when I throw a pillow at him and he throws it back, hitting me square in the face, I jump up and embrace him.
"Harry! You bugger, where the bloody *hell* have you been?"
"I seem to be generating that reaction from a lot of people today. But look, Ron, there's something I really need to tell you. It's about Hermione --"
I pull back, feeling that dull anger that hits me everytime her name is mentioned. "I already heard, first-hand."
"Oh no, Ron. It's not what you think. She didn't reject you like that letter said."
"How do you know --?"
"It's not important. What *is* important is that Mrs. Granger was under the Imperius Curse, before Malfoy died which was just under an hour ago. And Dr. Granger is Stunned. And Malfoy put a Memory Charm on Hermione to make her forget all about being a witch and which also made her think that she was his fianceé. Now, we need to go and check up on them."
Harry barely gets all this out before I throw on a cloak over my blazing orange Chudley Cannons jumper and Disapparate.
When I arrive on the Granger's front lawn, I dash up to the house and throw open the front door. Harry Apparates right behind me and grabs me by the back of my cloak, causing me to wheel on him sharply.
"What?!"
"Ron! You can't just barge in there like that! You know that breaking a Memory Charm like the one that Malfoy no doubtedly put on her could damage her mind. It has to be slow."
Tears prick my eyes. "Harry, you have no idea how I've longed to hold her, to touch her, to gaze into her eyes. It's agony to be in the same house as her, knowing she might not remember me. I have to see her. I just have to." With that, I pull out of my cloak, leaving it dangling in Harry's hand, and go to Hermione's parents' room; instinct tells me that's where she is.
She's kneeling in front of a trunk full of wizard paraphrenalia, holding a copy of the "Daily Prophet."
"What is going *on* here?" she says.
I can hold my silence no longer.
'Please, remember me.'
"Hermione?" I say quietly, fighting the urge to run over to her and take her into my arms.
She turns around and drops the newspaper in her hand.
-H-
After I Disapparate from the Grangers', I reappear back in the Burrow. I have to see Ginny.
I owe her an explanation.
*Flashback*
Before boarding the Hogwarts Express the day after the graduation ceremony, I caught up with Ginny, to tell her goodbye.
Despite our newfound feelings for each other, she seemed shy as she folded and unfolded her hands in front of her. I took them in my hands and she looked up at me, smiling.
"So, you'll come to the Burrow this summer, won't you?"
I couldn't bring myself to wipe that smile her face, so I just hugged her, hoping that time would freeze so I'd never have to leave her. Of course, that didn't happen.
When I eventually pulled away, I decided that I couldn't avoid it any longer.
"Look, Ginny, I . . ." I faltered.
'"I have secret work for the Ministry. I don't know where I'll end up or how long I'll be gone. But I'll think of you, because I love you and I always will." Come on, Harry! You can say that!'
"Oy, Harry! Come on!" Ron called to me as the train began to let off steam, signaling that it was almost time to go.
Looking back to Ginny, I tried not to look into her curious expression. "What is it, Harry? You can tell me, whatever it is."
"I . . . I . . . gotta go." Picking up my bags and planting a short kiss on her cheek, I turned and boarded the train.
I purposefully avoided the compartment window, knowing that if I saw her face, I'd crack and not be able to do what I knew I must for the Ministry.
*End Flashback*
When I enter the sitting room, I find her curled up with a copy of the "Daily Prophet." The headline reads, "HARRY POTTER, QUIDDITCH STAR EXTRAORDINARE, TOP CHOICE FOR OPEN SEEKER POSITION FOR CANNONS." The accompanying picture is of me in seventh year, sitting on the shoulders of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, holding up the Quidditch House Cup. A surge of guilt runs through me and I consider turning from the room and leaving. But just then, she stirs and opens her eyes, which widen at the sight of me.
"Harry," she whispers, throwing aside the newspaper and jumping from the armchair. She launches herself into my arms and starts to cry into the crook of my neck.
I don't deserve this; I don't deserve her. I left without so much as a "Don't worry about me." I broke her heart, and she's forgiven me, forgotten that I left her for months without an explanation.
"Ginny, please, let me explain. Please, I don't deserve --"
She silences me by grabbing my face and boring into me with her brown eyes. "Shut up, Harry." Then she pulls down my face and presses her lips against mine fiercely.
Once I get past the initial shock of her action, I pull away, causing her to look up at me, hurt. "What's the matter, Harry? Don't you want --?"
"Ginny, please, listen to me. I don't deserve to be forgiven, not after how I treated you. I don't deserve you."
Her eyes soften immediately. "Oh, Harry, is that how you feel? I don't care where you were, or that you were gone for months without one owl. All that matters to me is that you're here now, that you're not ill or hurt or . . ." Tears glisten in her eyes again as she lowers her head. "I was so afraid that you might be dead, Harry. But you're here." She places her hands on my chest, brings them over my shoulders, down my arms, and takes my hands. "That's all that matters to me now," she whispers, then lets out a short laugh, looking back to me. "Stop being so bloody noble and kiss me!"
I can't help but smile at that. Taking her into my arms, I lift her from the ground and twirl around, landing on the sofa. Ginny is on top of me, and the both of us are laughing. Red curls have fallen in her face, so I reach up and place them back behind her ears, leaving my hand on the back of her head. Her eyes search mine as her smile fades and her breath begins to quicken.
"Ginny, I missed you," I say quietly, pulling her to me.
She squeezes me. "Never leave again."
"Never." And I know that I speak the truth.
~H~
'The redhead! It's the redhead! He *does* exist!'
Following what something inside me says, I stand and run toward him, jumping into his arms and holding on for dear life. As soon as we touch, my left ring finger tingles and I feel as if a wall in my mind has disintegrated, allowing a flood of old emotions and memories to inundate my mind.
"Ron . . ." I whisper into his neck, squeezing him tighter. "Oh, Ron . . ."
His arms wrap around my back as he kisses the top of my head, my cheek, my neck repeatedly. Lifting my chin, he gazes into my eyes and kisses me.
It's unlike any feeling I've ever felt.
There is such raw, unbridled passion in the kiss. It's like our first kiss all over again as his lips reintroduce themselves to mine and his tongue searches out my own. My cheeks are flushed and I'm sweating with our combined body heat, but I don't know anything or anyone but Ron.
When we pull away, I can't look at anything but him.
"Oh, Ron, I'm so sorr--"
He places his finger on my lips.
"Don't," he says hoarsely. "Harry explained it all to me." His eyes well up and he closes them, squeezing out a tear. Then he opens them again and gazes at me. I wipe away the tear and embrace him again.
Someone clears his throat behind Ron, and I see Harry standing there, quite red. I run over to embrace him also, and by now tears are streaming freely down my face.
"Oh, Harry!" is all I can say.
"Um, I should probably leave you two alone. I, um, have somewhere I need to go anyway." He pulls away and smiles at me.
"Thank you," I whisper. "Thank you so much."
Blushing deeper, he says, "Don't thank me. Thank the Death Eaters; they killed Malfoy after all." Then he Disapparates.
Turning back to Ron, puzzled, I ask him what that was about.
Just as he's about to explain, there's a groaning inside of Mum and Dad's room. Rushing past Ron, I see that they are coming to; they were obviously Stunned. When they see me, they smile weakly. I jump onto the bed and pull them each into a one-armed hug at the same time. Then they put their arms around me and each other.
Ron enters the room gingerly, keeping a watchful eye on Mum.
I smile and invite him into the embrace. When Mum nods, he climbs onto the bed and my parents put my arms around him.
"Welcome to the family, Ron," Mum says.
He positively beams at me.
THE END
-R-
When Harry appears in my room, I think I am still asleep and dreaming. But when I throw a pillow at him and he throws it back, hitting me square in the face, I jump up and embrace him.
"Harry! You bugger, where the bloody *hell* have you been?"
"I seem to be generating that reaction from a lot of people today. But look, Ron, there's something I really need to tell you. It's about Hermione --"
I pull back, feeling that dull anger that hits me everytime her name is mentioned. "I already heard, first-hand."
"Oh no, Ron. It's not what you think. She didn't reject you like that letter said."
"How do you know --?"
"It's not important. What *is* important is that Mrs. Granger was under the Imperius Curse, before Malfoy died which was just under an hour ago. And Dr. Granger is Stunned. And Malfoy put a Memory Charm on Hermione to make her forget all about being a witch and which also made her think that she was his fianceé. Now, we need to go and check up on them."
Harry barely gets all this out before I throw on a cloak over my blazing orange Chudley Cannons jumper and Disapparate.
When I arrive on the Granger's front lawn, I dash up to the house and throw open the front door. Harry Apparates right behind me and grabs me by the back of my cloak, causing me to wheel on him sharply.
"What?!"
"Ron! You can't just barge in there like that! You know that breaking a Memory Charm like the one that Malfoy no doubtedly put on her could damage her mind. It has to be slow."
Tears prick my eyes. "Harry, you have no idea how I've longed to hold her, to touch her, to gaze into her eyes. It's agony to be in the same house as her, knowing she might not remember me. I have to see her. I just have to." With that, I pull out of my cloak, leaving it dangling in Harry's hand, and go to Hermione's parents' room; instinct tells me that's where she is.
She's kneeling in front of a trunk full of wizard paraphrenalia, holding a copy of the "Daily Prophet."
"What is going *on* here?" she says.
I can hold my silence no longer.
'Please, remember me.'
"Hermione?" I say quietly, fighting the urge to run over to her and take her into my arms.
She turns around and drops the newspaper in her hand.
-H-
After I Disapparate from the Grangers', I reappear back in the Burrow. I have to see Ginny.
I owe her an explanation.
*Flashback*
Before boarding the Hogwarts Express the day after the graduation ceremony, I caught up with Ginny, to tell her goodbye.
Despite our newfound feelings for each other, she seemed shy as she folded and unfolded her hands in front of her. I took them in my hands and she looked up at me, smiling.
"So, you'll come to the Burrow this summer, won't you?"
I couldn't bring myself to wipe that smile her face, so I just hugged her, hoping that time would freeze so I'd never have to leave her. Of course, that didn't happen.
When I eventually pulled away, I decided that I couldn't avoid it any longer.
"Look, Ginny, I . . ." I faltered.
'"I have secret work for the Ministry. I don't know where I'll end up or how long I'll be gone. But I'll think of you, because I love you and I always will." Come on, Harry! You can say that!'
"Oy, Harry! Come on!" Ron called to me as the train began to let off steam, signaling that it was almost time to go.
Looking back to Ginny, I tried not to look into her curious expression. "What is it, Harry? You can tell me, whatever it is."
"I . . . I . . . gotta go." Picking up my bags and planting a short kiss on her cheek, I turned and boarded the train.
I purposefully avoided the compartment window, knowing that if I saw her face, I'd crack and not be able to do what I knew I must for the Ministry.
*End Flashback*
When I enter the sitting room, I find her curled up with a copy of the "Daily Prophet." The headline reads, "HARRY POTTER, QUIDDITCH STAR EXTRAORDINARE, TOP CHOICE FOR OPEN SEEKER POSITION FOR CANNONS." The accompanying picture is of me in seventh year, sitting on the shoulders of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, holding up the Quidditch House Cup. A surge of guilt runs through me and I consider turning from the room and leaving. But just then, she stirs and opens her eyes, which widen at the sight of me.
"Harry," she whispers, throwing aside the newspaper and jumping from the armchair. She launches herself into my arms and starts to cry into the crook of my neck.
I don't deserve this; I don't deserve her. I left without so much as a "Don't worry about me." I broke her heart, and she's forgiven me, forgotten that I left her for months without an explanation.
"Ginny, please, let me explain. Please, I don't deserve --"
She silences me by grabbing my face and boring into me with her brown eyes. "Shut up, Harry." Then she pulls down my face and presses her lips against mine fiercely.
Once I get past the initial shock of her action, I pull away, causing her to look up at me, hurt. "What's the matter, Harry? Don't you want --?"
"Ginny, please, listen to me. I don't deserve to be forgiven, not after how I treated you. I don't deserve you."
Her eyes soften immediately. "Oh, Harry, is that how you feel? I don't care where you were, or that you were gone for months without one owl. All that matters to me is that you're here now, that you're not ill or hurt or . . ." Tears glisten in her eyes again as she lowers her head. "I was so afraid that you might be dead, Harry. But you're here." She places her hands on my chest, brings them over my shoulders, down my arms, and takes my hands. "That's all that matters to me now," she whispers, then lets out a short laugh, looking back to me. "Stop being so bloody noble and kiss me!"
I can't help but smile at that. Taking her into my arms, I lift her from the ground and twirl around, landing on the sofa. Ginny is on top of me, and the both of us are laughing. Red curls have fallen in her face, so I reach up and place them back behind her ears, leaving my hand on the back of her head. Her eyes search mine as her smile fades and her breath begins to quicken.
"Ginny, I missed you," I say quietly, pulling her to me.
She squeezes me. "Never leave again."
"Never." And I know that I speak the truth.
~H~
'The redhead! It's the redhead! He *does* exist!'
Following what something inside me says, I stand and run toward him, jumping into his arms and holding on for dear life. As soon as we touch, my left ring finger tingles and I feel as if a wall in my mind has disintegrated, allowing a flood of old emotions and memories to inundate my mind.
"Ron . . ." I whisper into his neck, squeezing him tighter. "Oh, Ron . . ."
His arms wrap around my back as he kisses the top of my head, my cheek, my neck repeatedly. Lifting my chin, he gazes into my eyes and kisses me.
It's unlike any feeling I've ever felt.
There is such raw, unbridled passion in the kiss. It's like our first kiss all over again as his lips reintroduce themselves to mine and his tongue searches out my own. My cheeks are flushed and I'm sweating with our combined body heat, but I don't know anything or anyone but Ron.
When we pull away, I can't look at anything but him.
"Oh, Ron, I'm so sorr--"
He places his finger on my lips.
"Don't," he says hoarsely. "Harry explained it all to me." His eyes well up and he closes them, squeezing out a tear. Then he opens them again and gazes at me. I wipe away the tear and embrace him again.
Someone clears his throat behind Ron, and I see Harry standing there, quite red. I run over to embrace him also, and by now tears are streaming freely down my face.
"Oh, Harry!" is all I can say.
"Um, I should probably leave you two alone. I, um, have somewhere I need to go anyway." He pulls away and smiles at me.
"Thank you," I whisper. "Thank you so much."
Blushing deeper, he says, "Don't thank me. Thank the Death Eaters; they killed Malfoy after all." Then he Disapparates.
Turning back to Ron, puzzled, I ask him what that was about.
Just as he's about to explain, there's a groaning inside of Mum and Dad's room. Rushing past Ron, I see that they are coming to; they were obviously Stunned. When they see me, they smile weakly. I jump onto the bed and pull them each into a one-armed hug at the same time. Then they put their arms around me and each other.
Ron enters the room gingerly, keeping a watchful eye on Mum.
I smile and invite him into the embrace. When Mum nods, he climbs onto the bed and my parents put my arms around him.
"Welcome to the family, Ron," Mum says.
He positively beams at me.
THE END