A/N: I am evil aren't I? :grins: If anybody wants to know when I update this story, please leave your email address in the reviews or email me at Mione2003@hotmail.com
Chapter Eight
"Ginny? Ginny, please wake up," Harry said desperately. He gently shook her and kept saying her name. He got no response.
"James, where are you?"
"I'm over here. Come quick! Ginny's hurt, we need to get her to the hospital." The great bulking forms of Brian and Greg came into view through the smoke and debris.
"Are you hurt, James?" asked Brian.
"No, never mind me. Ginny isn't responding to me. We need to go." He picked her up into his arms and started for the Leaky Cauldron. "Are you two all right?" Harry asked belatedly.
"Yeah, don't worry about us. We were still inside the building so we didn't get in the way of the explosion. Sorry about that, James. One of us should have been in front of you and Ginny. Then it would be one of us in her position." Harry shook his head.
"Don't put the blame on yourselves. It's not your fault. You do your job well enough already. There's just nothing you could have done. One of you better take her when we go through the Floo network. I'm not very good with Floo, I always fall over." Greg took Ginny gently into his arms and Harry took a pinch of Floo powder and threw it into the fireplace at the Leaky Cauldron.
"St. Mungo's Emergency Room!" he cried out and stepped into the fireplace. A few moments after he went through, Greg came through with Ginny and then Brian. They immediately ran to get a doctor. The doctors weren't too hard to find since they were swarming everywhere getting ready for the injured from Diagon Alley. A team of three doctors and two nurses took Ginny into a room and told Harry, Greg and Brian to go wait in a waiting room. Harry made use of the fireplace there and called Ginny's family. He took some powder out of a vase on top of the mantle and threw it into the fire.
"Arthur and Molly Weasley," he said wearily into the fire. It took a few moments before Molly Weasley's head came into view.
"James! What a surprise!" She noticed the look on his face. "What's happened? What's wrong?"
"I'm at St. Mungo's right now. Ginny and I were in Diagon Alley, she's being cared for by doctors. I don't know how bad she is but she was unconscious when we brought her in. I think maybe you and your husband should come in and call anybody else in your family. I'll call Ron and Hermione for you."
"Oh dear, not my girl. You don't know how she is? The doctor's didn't say anything?"
"No, they just told me to come into the waiting room."
"We'll be there as soon as possible, James. Thank you for calling."
"Of course." Molly's head disappeared from the fire and Harry took another pinch of the powder and threw it into the fire calling out, "Ron and Hermione Weasley." Hermione's head appeared a second later.
"Oh hello, Harry. Or is it James?"
"James. You should probably come to St. Mungo's, Mione."
"Why, what's happened?"
"Ginny and I were in Diagon Alley a while ago when the explosion happened. Ginny is with doctors right now. She was unconscious when we brought her in. The doctors wouldn't say anything on how she is. I don't know how she is. Is Ron there too?" Tears were forming in her eyes.
"No....he uh went to Diagon Alley to sort out the mess. Since you know he's an auror. He was called right after it happened. But I'll be coming with Harry Jr. See you in a few minutes then." Hermione's head disappeared from the fire.
"I'll go back to Diagon Alley to look for Ron if you like, James," said Brian.
"Yes, that would be great. Thanks, Brian." He quickly walked out of the waiting room to go Apparate to the Alley. They heard his gruff voice saying that James was inside the room and a moment later Arthur and Molly Weasley had come running into the room. Harry had been pacing the room but stopped when Molly wrapped him in a hug.
"James, I'm so glad you were there for her. Ron told us that you two had broken up over an argument."
"We did, but we made up this morning. It was supposed to have been a happy day, but then this happens." He ran a hand through his hair making it stand up at all ends, which was more or less how it naturally was supposed to be. Molly smiled at him.
"You really love her, don't you?" Harry looked her in the eyes and nodded.
"Yes, I do. More than anything else in my life."
"Well, when she comes out of this, maybe she'll be able to keep you from running your hand through your hair and making it stand up like that." Harry laughed.
"My hair is a hopeless case anyway. This is how it naturally is; a little gel and it's right as rain." She smiled at him.
"Maybe you should give hair lessons to Harry Potter then. His hair has always been hopeless like that." Harry laughed.
"Yes, I think I'll do that." They sobered up quite a bit once the rest of the family got there. Hermione handed Harry Jr. over to her mother-in-law and sat down next to Harry.
"Have you heard anything on her yet?"
"Not yet. It's making me really nervous....Mione, I can't lose her. She's the most important thing in my life. Don't get too excited right now or anything because I'm having a hard time being excited. But I proposed this morning and she said yes." Her eyes opened wide and a light lit up inside of them.
"Oh Harry," she whispered. "I had no idea you two had even made up, and your getting married? Congratulations, that's so wonderful." Harry nodded his head sadly. Hermione put a comforting hand on his forearm. "She'll make it through this. She's a strong woman and she won't give up without a fight. Before you know it, she'll be driving you crazy making all the wedding arrangements. So...when she comes through, are you going to tell the rest of the Weasley's about who you are?"
"Yes, I wasn't going to keep it from them forever. They are practically my adopted family. It hurts to keep it from them. But right now, I think it's necessary. The less people who know who I really am, the better. It's security. I'm already putting all of you in danger just by coming back to the wizarding world. I don't even know how we're going to do this wedding. Whose name am I going to use for her to say. James or Harry. If I use James and say I'm getting married, the press will be all over it. Of course, I guess it might be that way if I were to say Harry is getting married. This is getting confusing... But whoever marries us, is going to have to know who I am. And on the wedding license, whose name am I going to have? It's all so complicated." Hermione sighed deeply.
"I know you're tired of hearing about it, but you should have just come back as yourself."
"I know, but it's a little late for that now. And I'm not at all sorry that I did it. Ginny fell in love with me for me. Not the famous Harry Potter, like she did when she was nine. And when I'm out as James, nobody asks me about Voldemort. It's a relief. That's why I hardly go out as my real self. People bombard me with questions.
"I mean you've seen what it's like when we go out together. That last time was horrible, you know after Steve almost gave me away in front of that reporter from Witch Weekly? I can't believe the nerve of some people. I'm just glad Ron was there so he could threaten them with a few years in Azkaban for harassment." Hermione chuckled softly as she thought of the memory of Ron threatening people again.
"Speaking of the devil," she said. Ron had just come through the door, followed by Brian. Ron's face was so pale that his freckles looked almost black.
"How is she? Has anyone spoken to a doctor yet?"
"Not yet, Ron. I'm sure someone will come speak to us in a while. Just sit down. We can't afford to become panicky right now," said Arthur Weasley. Ron looked around the room and took in the family members who were already there. Fred, Angelina, George, Katie Bell, (they were just starting to date) Harry, Hermione and Harry Jr., and of course their parents.
"Where's Bill, Fleur, Charlie and Mai Lei?" (A/N: Mai is pronounced May, Lei is pronounced Lee. It's Asian, meaning beautiful and enchanting. Although I have seen many different ways of spelling it.)
"They are coming as soon as possible. Possibly in the next couple minutes," answered his mother. Harry cocked an eyebrow.
"Fleur and Mai Lei are their wives or girlfriends?" Ron sat down next to him and answered.
"Yeah, Fleur is Bill's wife and Mai Lei is Charlie's. I think Hermione and I have told you about Fleur before. You know she was one of the champions at the Tri-wizard tournament in our fourth year. Fleur Delacour?" Harry's eyes went wide.
"Oh! Oh, yes you have told me about her before. How long have they been married?"
"Two years. She's two months pregnant. I can't believe Ginny hasn't told you, or me for that matter. Yeah, but they met during the Tri-Wizard tournament and got together soon after that." Harry nodded his head. He had known that but couldn't say that.
"What about Mai Lei? How did Charlie meet her?"
"He went to China to get some dragon eggs from there and she was the one who met with him. They've been married for four years. They were only dating for about three months before they decided to get married. They were married on their one year anniversary. They have a little girl named, Adrianna. She's two. Mom, is Adrianna coming too?"
"I imagine so. Ginny is her aunt after all." As if on cue, a little girl with long dark hair with red highlights in it came running into the room.
"Grandma! Grandpa!"
"Oh, go to your Grandpa, I'm holding a baby," Molly said hurriedly before the little girl could jump on her. She instead ran over to Arthur and jumped into his lap and promptly burst into tears.
"Is Aunt Ginny going to be OK, Grandpa? I don't want her to die." He calmly hugged her and stroked her hair.
"Of course she's going to be fine, Adrianna." Charlie and his wife May Lei came walking into the room just then.
"Mum, have you heard anything yet?" Charlie asked. She again informed him that they hadn't heard anything. Charlie sighed and spotted Harry.
"Oh, James! I heard you were with her when it happened. What exactly did happen? We haven't got the full story." Harry proceeded in telling him about shopping in Flourish and Blotts and something exploding when they walked outside. About him being thrown back and when he found Ginny, she was already unconscious.
"Does anybody know what happened? How did the street just blow up? And I'm sorry, I don't think we've met before. I'm May Lei, Charlie's wife." May Lei said while offering her hand to Harry.
"I'm James Newark, I'm Ginny's boyfriend. Nice to meet you, May Lei." She was a very pretty woman. She was about the same age as Charlie, early thirties and she had long dark black hair to her elbows. Her eyes were just as dark but they had a twinkle in them that made her seem very friendly. She was also very short. She only went up to about four inches below Charlie's shoulder. "And I don't really know what happened. I haven't really been listening to the WWN or anything." Ron shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Harry turned to him.
"Do you happen to know anything about it, Ron?" he asked, somewhat forcefully.
"Yes, there was a message on an outside wall on one of the shops. Ollivander's, I think it was."
"Well..." Harry prompted. Ron looked at him nervously.
"It said, 'You will never get the chance to marry her, Newark or should we say, Potter?' We didn't catch anybody. We got there too late." Harry's face went completely white and he started shaking. He put his head in his hands.
"This can't be happening," he muttered.
"Um, Harry? Why would they say that you'll never get the chance to marry her?" Ron asked quietly so that nobody else could hear.
"Never mind that. They practically just announced to the world who I am," Harry hissed at his friend. "And not to mention practically killed Ginny; if she's not dead already." A sob racked his body and he buried his head in his hands again. He felt two comforting hands go on his back. One from Hermione and one from Ron. Harry abruptly stood up.
"Stupid bastards!" Harry yelled and then looked apologetically at Charlie and Mai Lei. "Sorry about that." Charlie shook his head.
"Adrianna has heard worse than that. I've recently brought her to work with me and the other Dragon Keepers have some foul mouths on them." Harry nodded and then started pacing the room.
"They are NOT going to ruin my life again. I'm not going to let them," he said angrily and then stormed out of the room. Ron and Hermione looked at each other worriedly while the others exchanged confused looks. Harry walked angrily to the room that the doctors had brought Ginny into. Just as he was about to knock on the swinging door, a doctor came out wiping his hands with a grim look on his face.
"How is she? Is she all right?"
"You're the one that brought Miss Weasley to us?" Harry nodded. "Is the rest of her family here?"
"Yes, they are in the waiting room still." The doctor motioned with his head to follow him to the waiting room. They walked to the waiting room and closed the door behind them. The Weasley's all looked up expectantly. Harry noticed that Bill and Fleur had arrived while he had been gone. Molly Weasley started to cry once she saw the grim look on the doctor's face.
"Miss Weasley has sustained a very serious injury to her head and multiple broken bones and some internal bleeding that came from her broken bones. We have managed to keep her alive and she is in better condition than we thought she would be in when we first saw her.
"The broken bones have already been mended and we will be keeping someone with her at all times to monitor that more internal bleeding doesn't take place. She lost quite a lot of blood so we had to give her some blood transfusions.
"As to the extent of her head injury, we won't really know until she wakes up. She could possibly have anything from minor memory loss, she won't remember little events or maybe a couple people she has just met or it could be more serious where she won't remember any of you, or anything from her life. There's also the possibility that she might never wake up." Harry sunk down into his chair with a sob.
"So...she could just be a vegetable for the rest of her life?" asked Ron.
"You could put it that way, yes. But it's just a possibility. She might be fine, although I doubt that there would be no problems at all. I would at least expect some sort of memory loss."
"When can we see her?" asked Charlie.
"As soon as we move her into another room that is going to be on the second floor for comatose patients. She'll be moved from there once she wakes up, possibly to the third floor. It depends on what her condition is. Why don't all of you make your way up there and then the I'm sure you'll be able to see her then."
"Thank you," said Molly softly. The whole Weasley clan started to get up and started to go up to the second floor. When they got there, they saw two nurses wheeling Ginny's bed into a room. Her mother started crying freely again when she caught sight of her. Hermione grabbed onto Ron and held on tightly. Harry stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the closed door.
Ginny had looked exactly like...death. There was no other way to put it. She was even paler than Ron had been when he had come bursting into the waiting room. She had a piece of cloth wrapped around her head and some blood had been seeping through. Harry had no idea how long he had been standing there but suddenly he felt someone take his arm and lead him into the waiting room that the rest of the Weasley's had already gone into. Harry looked at the person and saw that it was Ron. He sat Harry down next to Hermione who promptly took Harry into her arms and hugged him tightly and said soothing words into his ear.
"She'll wake up and she'll be fine. You two will get married and have so many little Harry and Ginny's running around your big house out in the country, somewhere outside London. Or maybe not. Wherever you want it to be. You'll play Quidditch until you get too old to play; then you'll teach your kids how to play when they are little. You'll have the perfect life. This is just a setback, honey. Just think about the future that you're going to have with her. You'll be so happy." They pulled out of their hug and smiled at each other.
"Thank you, Mione." She smiled and sat back in her chair. He also sat back in his chair with a loud sigh. Bill and Fleur then came and sat on the other side of Harry.
"You must be James. You're her boyfriend?" asked Bill.
"Yeah, James Newark. You're Bill and Fleur?" Bill definitely looked much different from the last time that Harry had seen him. He had cut his hair short and wore a much more sophisticated hair cut. He still had an earring in his ear but it was just a small silver stud. Fleur looked like she hadn't aged a day. She was still just as beautiful as Harry remembered her being. She still looked adoringly up at Bill every time she looked at him. Obviously him cutting his hair hadn't put her off him.
"Yes, this is my wife Fleur. How long have you and Ginny been dating?"
"Since the middle of August, a couple weeks after I moved here from LA."
"We have been listening to the WWN. They read off that message that was written on the wall of Ollivander's. What was all that about you not being able to marry her and the part where it said. 'or should we say, Potter?'"
"Well...I haven't really told anybody here yet, but I proposed to Ginny this morning, she said yes. But I just don't know how they could have found out so quickly about it."
"Who's they?"
"Er...Death Eaters."
"What? So are they onto something when they made that remark about Harry on the wall? And I thought the Death Eaters were wiped out."
"Well, most of them were. There are still some left. They've been threatening me for a couple months. Ever since the night Harry Jr. was born."
"I don't understand something. Why would they be going after you? Do you and Harry have some sort of connection or something? I mean, I read about it in the papers when Harry was kidnapped in October. Everybody said that they were rumours."
"Well...we do have a connection but I can't say right now. The less people that know, the better. It'll come out sooner or later."
"Does Ginny know?"
"Yes, she found out by accident but I had been planning on telling her anyway. If I hadn't, I certainly wouldn't have proposed to her this morning."
"And I'm guessing that these Death Eaters know the connection?"
"Yes, unfortunately, they do. I can't figure out how though. Everything I do, they know." Hermione jumped into the conversation.
"I know how they could have known that you were getting married. Well, they probably just figured. That article in Witch Weekly just came out in the new issue two days ago. You said in there that you were thinking about proposing to her but you hadn't had time to look for a ring. And I mean your life isn't exactly private. You're James Newark, famous Quidditch player for the Chudley Cannons."
"Yes, but that still doesn't explain some things that they have said in the letters they have sent to me. On the night you were giving birth, Hermione, they asked me about getting acquainted with the Weasley's. And then in the second letter, they told me to go out and speak with the reporters and then...bugger." He had said too much. He had been Harry at that time, not James. George had been listening into the conversation and his eyes had gone wide.
"Great wizards! Why didn't I see it before?" he yelled. "I know what the connection is!" Ron got up and pulled him out of the room, probably even more roughly than was needed. Harry figured that it was a good thing Bill hadn't been at the hospital the night Harry Jr. was born. Bill was looking at the door with a confused expression.
"What is all this about a connection?" asked Fred. Everybody else voiced their confusion.
"Oh um, it's nothing really. No big deal, just something George there just figured out and got a little overexcited about."
"This is going to bother me immensely until I figure it out. It's probably just sitting right under my nose, isn't it?" asked Bill. Harry smiled weakly.
"More or less." Ron popped his head into the waiting room.
"Mum, Dad, you can come see Ginny. Then whoever thinks they should go next, can go after them." Ron walked in, closely followed by George who was trying not to smile too broadly at Harry. Bill and Fleur decided to go to the cafeteria to get some dinner since it was approaching that time. George took the opportunity to sit down next to Harry. He immediately started whispering in his ear.
"So, Harry. Man, I can't believe I didn't figure it out before. I should have thought about it. I mean, the Cannons have got the most brilliant Seeker in the world and he just happens to play exactly like Harry Potter. You would think I would know after all the other times I've seen you play. So, it's true that you weren't on a broom for five years?"
"Yeah, hadn't played Quidditch since that one last time that I played Quidditch at the Burrow with you guys. That was what? A month before the final battle? I didn't want anything to do with the wizarding world for quite some time after that. I put my things in storage here in England until about three years ago. My wand was even in storage. When I came here and got it all, I had a horrible time just getting things to levitate. Of course, I still don't really need my wand."
"Oh yeah, you can do wandless magic, right?"
"Yeah, but I still didn't do any of that for two years. I had just as much of a hard time doing that as with my wand."
"What made you get all of your wizarding things then?"
"I wanted to see all my old pictures again. And when I started going through my things, I realised that I didn't want to leave it all behind again. By that time, I had this huge mansion in LA and had a room that I had nothing in, so I decided to put all of my wizarding things in there. It was a really handy room. It had a walk in closet that was absolutely huge. I used it for a potions room and made a bunch of different healing potions for when I got sick or happened to break any bones. There was also a small staircase in the potions room that led up to a small attic where I kept Hedwig." George nodded his head and sat in thought for a while.
"So...who found you then? Or did you just come back on your own?"
"Sirius found me. He scared the shit out of me when he came. First time I saw him, I almost choked on my drink. I ran from him then, I didn't want to speak with him. The second time was the next morning, I was cooking breakfast and then all of a sudden, he appears across from me. I swear I almost shit my pants. I still don't know how he got into my house. I just hope he wasn't there all night." He grimaced at the thought. George smirked.
"Why ever not? What were you doing?"
"Well, um I sort of had a girl over. She was a feisty one, telling me that I..." he looked over at Hermione who was listening. "Never mind.
"Anyway, Sirius then told me about the Chudley Cannons looking for me for like two years. I was a little reluctant at first, so I just decided that I didn't want to come back as myself but as the person that I had become while living in LA."
"Why didn't you want to come back as yourself?"
"Many reasons. I didn't want people asking me if I did kill Voldemort and then asking how I did it. I just thought I had no life here anymore. I mean, Ron and Hermione were angry with me and I thought that they would never listen to what I had to say..."
"Idiots," George scowled at Ron and Hermione.
"And everything that had happened, it was just all so overwhelming. I just needed to get away. I kind of figured that everybody would think I was dead. I thought it was better that way. I did tell Albus to tell Sirius that I was alive and whoever else might still care enough about me. But...then he was killed. I didn't find out until Sirius found me." Harry swallowed hard. "And plus, I just felt so dirty. After all the horrible things that I did to people in that battle. I can't even count on one hand the number of people I killed. Especially after I killed Voldemort," he shuddered violently. "I had nightmares about that for a couple years after. I still get them sometimes."
"You may have killed a lot of people but they were all Death Eaters. They deserved no less. And as for Voldemort, well I saw what you did to him, that was exactly what he deserved. Don't beat yourself up for it. You did the right thing by doing that to him." said George.
"I don't feel guilty killing him. He deserved it. The image of it. It's so horrible." Just then, Molly and Arthur walked in.
"James, everybody has decided that you should go in and see Ginny right now. Bill and Fleur were most insistent on it." She smiled kindly at him.
"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley."
"Call me Molly and you can call him Arthur. You go and see her now." Harry walked out and heard Molly telling the people in the waiting room what a nice man he was, so much like Harry. He heard George burst into laughter. Harry shook his head and continued walking to Ginny's room. When he got in, he saw her in the same exact position as when he saw her being wheeled into the room. He sat down on the edge of the bed and took her limp hand into his own and kissed it.
"Please come back to me, Ginny. I love you so much." A nurse walked in at that moment.
"Oh sorry, I just need to check that she's not bleeding still. I'll be back every fifteen minutes." She took out her wand and waved it over Ginny's body. A blue light emitted from her body and seeming to be satisfied, the nurse left again. Harry leaned down over her and kissed every part of her face. He sat with her for another fifteen minutes and after the nurse came and left again, he decided to give someone else the chance to see her. He gently kissed her on her slightly parted lips and walked out of the room.
"Oh can we go in now?" asked Mai Lei, who was just walking past with Charlie and their daughter.
"Yeah, I was going to get someone else to go in. The nurse will be in every fifteen minutes." Harry left for the waiting room to get Ron and Hermione to go to the cafeteria with him. It was going on eight o'clock and it had seemed so long ago that he had last eaten a celebratory lunch with Ginny. Visiting hours ended at half past nine and the only people allowed to stay was Molly and Arthur. So Harry left with Greg and Brian back to his empty house.
~*~*~
The next couple weeks were spent going to the hospital to see Ginny, going to practice and playing in the games. Harry's heart just wasn't in anything anymore with Ginny in the hospital. It felt like his whole world was crumbling apart again. The Ministry was giving the Aurors powers to do anything necessary to bring the Death Eaters in. Harry was also given these powers. So he could use the Unforgivables on them if he wanted. It was like deja vu. This had all happened when Voldemort was alive five years ago.
Christmas was fast approaching, but Harry was not looking forward to it at all. He was going to spend it at Sirius's flat with Sirius and Remus. He had told the Weasley's that he was going to America for Christmas Eve and Day and that he'd call on Christmas Eve and sometime during the day on Christmas to see if there had been any changes in Ginny's condition.
On the morning of the 22nd, Harry was half-heartedly finishing his shopping with Sirius. He was actually just starting his shopping. It was his first day off in a month and he hadn't had time since he had also been going to the hospital every day for many hours at a time.
Harry was really grateful to Sirius. He had been a big comfort to Harry ever since Ginny went into the hospital. The two were becoming closer than they had ever been before. Sirius used to be just like an older brother to him but now it seemed like he was more of his father/friend/brother. Harry liked that combination much better. Remus was also around a lot. They had gotten to know each other a lot. Remus was more like a friend/brother to him, much like how Ron was. Sirius and Harry were to meet up with Remus in the Leaky Cauldron around three in the afternoon to have some tea. They were walking up the road looking in the shop windows, looking for the last gift Harry had to buy. He was looking for a gift for Ginny.
"Harry, you could try to cheer up a little bit."
"Sirius, my fiancee is in the hospital at Christmas. I'm not in the mood to be cheerful. I don't know why I'm even looking for a gift for her."
"Because you love her and when she wakes up, you don't want to disappoint her with nothing. That's why."
"If she wakes up," Harry said glumly. Sirius whacked him upside the head. "Ow! That hurts."
"Don't ever speak like that again. I know it's hard to keep hoping that she'll wake up but you can't just give up. Imagine what would have happened if I had given up finding you..."
"Ginny wouldn't be in the hospital right now," Harry interrupted.
"Oh, so now you're blaming this on me?"
"I didn't say that. It's my fault for listening to you. I could have easily said no."
"It's not your fault either. And plus, you'd still probably be screwing around with a bunch of girls that mean squat to you and now you're engaged to be married to the girl of your dreams, literally your dreams, since the age of sixteen. I think that that is much better than a bunch of meaningless relationships."
"I guess it is. I've already resolved to become celibate if she never wakes up. I'll never have another woman for the rest of my life."
"So, you'll turn to men, then?" asked Sirius smiling.
"No, Sirius. I'm not going to become gay. Do you know what celibate means? And besides, I don't think people just wake up one morning and say right, I think I'll be gay from now on. I think it's more like something they already are."
"Yes, I do know what celibate mean and besides I was kidding. You're really serious, though aren't you?"
"No, I'm Harry."
"Shut up. That is the oldest joke and completely stupid."
"Remus said you didn't think so when you made it up."
"Yes, well I'm older and more mature now." Harry snorted. "I am," he said indignantly.
"Yeah, OK. I guess you are. At least from the stories I've heard of you, you have."
"Thank you, I told you I wasn't lying. So you didn't answer my question."
"Yes, I am serious about becoming celibate. Why would I want to even try being with another woman when the only woman I have ever thought about ever since I was sixteen is Ginny. Every one that I have ever been with, in my mind has been Ginny. I know that sounds sick and demented but I couldn't get her off my mind, ever. And I never will." They wandered into a jewellery store and started looking around. Harry finally decided to get a diamond ring for her. He wanted to get her a ring that he had bought, just to show her how much he loved her. Besides, he figured that a girl could never have enough diamond rings.
Sirius, Remus and Harry spent a quiet Christmas day together. They sat around the fireplace with cups of hot chocolate talking and looking at their new gifts that they had received. They had all gotten gifts from every Weasley, and they gave each other presents too. Harry had received gifts from his team-mates and Seamus and Dean. He felt kind of guilty because Molly and Arthur had bought him two gifts but they actually didn't know that since one of them was for James and one was for Harry. Sirius had joked around saying that he should change his name and live as two people so that he could get more presents on Christmas. Harry cooked the Christmas meal for them since Sirius and Remus had no idea what to even do in a kitchen.
"Honestly, guys. It isn't that hard to cook when you're using magic. I think you should learn. What do you eat?"
"Food," replied Remus.
"Right, probably not very good food."
"You're absolutely correct!" exclaimed Sirius. "I hope you can cook better than me. I burn everything."
"Don't worry, I am a very good cook."
"I'll only believe it when I taste it."
"Have a little faith, Remus," said Harry as he placed the food on the table. They all dug in and with a large mouthful, Sirius started to speak.
"Well, I can honestly say that your mother would be proud. She was always trying to get James to learn how to cook and when she did get him to, he was horrible. This is actually good."
"I told you; I'm a natural." Remus opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a head popping up in the fire. It was Molly Weasley. Harry ducked under the table since he didn't have his 'Harry' hair. He didn't want her recognising him.
"Sirius! Remus! I'm so glad I caught you and I'm also sorry to interrupt your meal. But I thought I would tell you that Ginny is awake. Is Harry there with you two?"
"Um, yes. He went to use the loo," lied Sirius.
"Well, if you want, you can come to the hospital. Ron and Hermione are contacting James for me since only they seem to know where he is all the time." She shook her head in thought. "There is something about him that I can't quite put my finger on. He is so much like Harry, it's unbelievable." Sirius was becoming uncomfortable.
"Yes, they are a lot alike. Well, I'll tell Harry and I'm sure he'll want to come and see her. We'll be there in a bit."
"OK, be sure Harry comes! I haven't seen him in a while." With that her head disappeared. Harry popped out from under the table to call Ron and Hermione.
"Ron and Hermione Weasley!" he called into the fire. Ron's head popped up.
"Harry, we were just going to call you. What do you want to do?"
"Just tell everybody that you can't get a hold of James. I'm coming as Harry right now, your mom wants to see me. I'll leave the hospital after a couple hours and then go back as James."
"All right. See you later, mate!" Ron's head disappeared and Harry jumped up and ran to the bathroom to change his hair and put on his glasses. Five minutes later, Harry, Sirius, and Remus had all Apparated outside St. Mungo's hospital. They rode the magical elevator up to the third floor and Harry was immediately pulled into a hug with Mrs. Weasley.
"Harry! I'm so glad you came! I haven't seen you here much at all."
"Yeah, it seems like every time I came, nobody else was here," he lied. "I've wanted to come more, but I've been busy."
"I understand, dear. Well, follow me, boys." The three followed Molly down three long hallways before they came to a closed door that Molly opened up. Sirius, Remus and Molly went in first. Harry followed in and couldn't see Ginny from behind the other three.
"Hi, Sirius, Remus. Is....is Harry with you?" a small voice asked that sounded almost close to tears when she asked about Harry. They didn't have a chance to reply when Harry pushed them aside and almost ran to her bed. He sat down on the edge of her bed and kissed her hand and held it. Harry almost felt like crying when he saw how pale and skinny she was looking. She had always been skinny but she looked almost sickly now. Ginny smiled weakly at him and then turned to the other three.
"Could I speak to him alone for a few minutes? I need to ask him something."
"Sure, honey. You two take all the time you need," replied her mother with a smile. The three walked out and quietly closed the door behind them. Harry was staring at her the entire time, not even taking notice of anything else.
"Harry, I'm not exactly clear on everything. My head feels so foggy, there are things that I remember and things that feel like dreams; like they never really happened at all. I was just wondering....if we are dating? I have these memories that come to me, of you using the name James or something, or maybe James is a person I've met before. And then just a little while ago something came to me. It was of you proposing to me, I don't know if it's true or not." Harry stared at her for a few moments with his mouth hanging open slightly. Ginny smiled a little and closed his mouth for him.
"They aren't true, are they? To tell the truth, I was hoping they would be and then when I saw you just now, I thought that maybe it was because of the feelings I got when I saw you walking to me. Now I've just made a fool of myself, haven't I?" Harry smiled sweetly at her and picked up her left hand and showed her the engagement ring.
"That looks pretty real, doesn't it? I did propose to you and you are my fiancee." He put his hand under her chin and lifted her face up. "And I love you more than anything else in this world." He kissed her and he felt her melt into him. After a few moments, they broke apart but didn't pull too far away from each other. Harry ran his hand through her long red hair and kissed her forehead and the tip of her nose.
"I'm so glad you're OK. I've been so worried."
"Harry?"
"Yes?"
"Who's James?" Harry laughed quietly.
"He's me. James Newark was the name I used while I went away for all those years. And when I came back, I still used it. Only certain people know who I really am. You do, Ron, Mione, George, Sirius, Remus, Seamus, Dean, Draco Malfoy and I think that's all."
"Well, when are you planning on telling my family? I mean, we're getting married...."
"I know. I was planning on it soon. Maybe at this picnic that Steve has put together in California in a couple weeks. Your whole family was planning on going if you were up."
"OK, that sounds good. Hopefully, I'll be out of the hospital by then. Steve....he's your friend from the States, right? Almost gave you away to that reporter from Witch Weekly?"
"Yeah, what an idiot," Harry laughed. "Do you remember everything?"
"No, my mum and dad were speaking my first time going to Hogwarts on the train and I can't remember. The doctor said I would remember eventually. And like I said before, some things feel like a dream. I'm just glad that you were real," she smiled brightly at him before wrapping him in a hug. He buried his face in her neck and kissed his way up to her ear lobe and nibbled on it. A small giggle escaped her throat that made Harry smile into her neck.
"I love you so much, Virginia Weasley."
"And I love you, too, Harry Potter."
A/N: Please review! Thanks so much to everybody who has already done so! And everybody thought that I would just kill Ginny off! Yeah right! :) I could never do that to Harry! Well, there's a happy chapter ending for you! It's just going to get Darker from here. Next Chapter I'm planning on having them going to Cali to have a picnic, just to celebrate Ginny's good health and for fun. And....let's just say that while I'm writing the next chapter or two, I might be crying cause it'll be sad. Come on! The whole story can't be happy!