Acceptance
Slowly Ginny stirred and woke up. She opened her eyes and gradually became aware of her surrounding. Her head was still a little groggy but she had to stifle a groan when she realised where she was – the hospital wing as Hogwarts.
There was one thing that puzzled her, though. Why was she there in the middle of the summer holiday? Slowly realisation dawned on her and the events that had led to her collapse came back to her.
Harry, Harry had been there. Was he there now? She had to know. She felt very weak but she forced herself to turn over and look at the other side of the bed. Instantly she felt relieved, he was there.
"Hey sweetie, you had us worried there for a while." Hearing his voice made it all the more real made her realise that he really was there; it wasn't all some sort of dream.
She opened her mouth to try to reply but he put his finger to his lips and shushed her.
"Ssh, don't talk. You really over did it my love, rest now."
She was tired, that was true but she had to know about her patients, a healer's first concern was always her patients.
Harry, bless him, must have known what she was thinking. "Everyone else is ok, Gin, they're up and about again. They all said how grateful they were for what you did for them and then they left without a scratch on them."
Relief flooded through her. It didn't matter how ill she felt as a result – she had succeeded in doing what she had been born to do, what she had spent the last year training to do and that was all that mattered.
Fatigue washed over her like a wave again and she barely registered Harry's last words before sleep claimed her again.
"You were amazing, Gin."
*****
Molly Weasley could hardly believe the events of the last 24 hours. What had looked to be a normal day had turned into one of the most surreal days of her life. It was almost as bad as the day when she learnt her only daughter, her baby girl, had to go into hiding.
She had put a lot of effort into planning the day; she had wanted to make it extra special for her baby girl to make up for the year she had had to spend away from them.
Ginny hadn't said anything of course but she had obviously spent the whole time she was away wishing she was with her family, Ginny acted like she had been relatively happy the whole time she had been a way but she hadn't – a mother could tell these things.
Then the call from Albus Dumbledore had come and she had been struck by fear like she had never felt before – he wasn't going to take her Ginny away from her again after so little time together, was he? Luckily he must have realised her fear for he had been quick to divulge that the visit concerned young Harry, her surrogate seventh son. Still she had been worrying, as any caring mother would.
Finally they had made it to Hogwarts and once sat in the Headmaster's amazing office she had relaxed some more. A little small talk, an invite for Harry to stay with them which had been gratefully accepted by the headmaster and a little discussion about Ginny's schooling arrangements and they were heading back to The Burrow once more.
Except they never made it home. Minerva McGonagall had come running up behind them, moving faster then Molly had ever seen her move.
She had shared the terrible news of the attack on Privet Drive and added that the headmaster felt that Ginny should be involved because of her "innate talents in the area of healing which could prove very useful in this situation."
Molly had fiercely protested her only daughter's involvement in the rescue operation – she wasn't entirely convinced they had it right about her abilities in Medical magic and even if she really was a healer, she was too young, years too young. Most healers were more than twice Ginny's age before they even realised they had the gift so why should she lose her childhood?
Sadly though no one else had listened to her arguments and with precious time slipping away that could mean lives lost which could otherwise be saved, Professor Snape had been sent to fetch Ginny and take her to the hospital wing at Hogwarts where they would move the injured.
That hadn't worked though; Snape obviously had just decided to take her to Privet Drive. She'd never trusted that man… he claimed to no longer be a death eater, just a spy but who knew for sure?
She had been amazed watching Ginny heal those people – witches and wizards many, many years older then her had been trying to treat them and failed. Then the teenager had arrived by Portkey and had done what others had thought impossible.
Not that Molly would ever admit it but she must have been wrong, the girl did have a talent it seemed and had been trained in more then the basic first aid she thought they had taught her. She had been beginning to feel happier about the whole situation when she saw Ginny smile and start walking towards Harry, the only person she had yet to treat. The poor girl did look tired but happy to be nearly finished.
She had been surprised when she saw Harry hug her daughter, she knew that they were close but she had not realised there was as much feeling there as the hug implied there to be. It wasn't really proper behaviour for such a situation and she had made a mental note to talk to her baby girl about such things.
That thought had flown from her mind thirty seconds later, however when she saw Ginny collapse. Then she was glad that Harry was holding her, for it prevented her from suffering a serious injury.
She had been so panicked it was unbelievable. Albus Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey had both moved to help Harry lower Ginny to the floor. The three of them had had a heated discussion for some seconds before Harry seemed to convince them that he was right. Poppy Pomfrey had given him a potion and he had pulled Ginny against him and forced her to drink some then immediately gathered her in his arms and apparated away.
That had been another shock of the day – that Harry could apparate and obviously had a duel license.
She hadn't seen either of them since – Professor Snape had been waiting for her and Arthur when they returned to Hogwarts at last and he had vetoed the idea of going to the Hospital Wing, instead insisting that they wait in his office.
*****
Ginny really did look peaceful lying there, mused Harry. She was pale, but for once in her life she looked relatively peaceful.
Madam Pomfrey came over and looked at the reading of Ginny's vital signs. She seemed to be pleased with what she saw.
"Mr. Potter, I need to examine her more closely but the readings appear to indicate that she will be up and around very soon." As she spoke she moved the screens around the bed to allow more privacy then they currently did.
He nodded in response but made no move to leave; they had grown close enough whilst in Australia that he knew she would not mind if he stayed.
The nurse looked at him crossly and blew air through her lips in exasperation.
"Mr. Potter, I must ask you to leave while I examine my patient. I believe her parents are waiting in Professor Snape's office, I would suggest you go and wait there."
He looked down at the girl he loved more then anything in the world for a long moment. He had been so worried something like this might happen as he watched her work and so frightened when it actually occurred. Before Ginny no one had ever told him they loved him or held him when he awoke screaming from a nightmare. He hadn't believed himself to be worth of love but she had changed that, taught him how to hope and that dreams do come true.
He had wanted nothing more than to see her, being apart from her had been killing him slowly inside but as he felt her lean all her weight on him as she hugged him, as he felt her collapse in his arms, he would gladly have died to have saved her this pain.
However, she wouldn't have wanted him to do that, and he had finally learnt to accept that fact.
The first time she had ever healed someone after months of training she had been incredibly drained, even more so than she was now. As he had watched her lying in bed for a week he had tried to convince her that it wasn't worth it to continue to train that it was almost as dangerous as remaining in England would have been.
She hadn't listened though, had managed to make him see that just as he could not deny his latent talent in spell building and casting, she could never renounce healing – it was in her blood and she had to do it.
Times like this though, he wished he had won that argument for even though he knew she would be fine it still scared him to see her lying there like that.
He leant down, kissed her on the forehead and whispered, "I'll just be with your parents, Gin. I love you."
He then reluctantly left the room and walked down to the dungeons.
*****
Arthur Weasley looked up as the door opened to the cold dungeon office.
"Harry…" he didn't get much further then that before a stream of questions interrupted him from his wife.
"Where's Ginny? Is she OK? Do you know anything? Are you all right? Is, is…"
Chuckling softly, Harry held up a hand to stop her.
Arthur was impressed it wasn't often someone managed to stop his wife when she was in the middle of one of her rants.
There was something about the boy that had changed whilst he had been in hiding. He had definitely grown and undergone physical changes but he appeared more confident, more mature too.
"Mrs. Weasley, she's fine. She woke up for a few minutes and then fell asleep again – properly asleep, not unconscious. Madam Pomfrey says that from her vital signs she looks good and should be all right in a few days. But she wanted to examine her more closely to make sure and wouldn't let me stay."
He watched as his wife sat, shocked in the chair with tears of joy streaming down her face and knew exactly how she felt. Walking over to her he put his arms around her and held her as she cried.
Ginny being a healer wasn't really something he had ever considered until Dumbledore had told them and said it was best for her to go into hiding as Voldemort was also aware of her ability. It was something every father dreamed of – one of his children having a rare magical gift – however; it didn't sound like a good thing when he considered the danger healing carried due to how it was carried out. When the danger posed by You Know Who was added to the equation he had really wished that another family had a daughter who had been "blessed" with the gift of healing instead of Ginny.
Today he had still felt the same, especially when she had collapsed. Now however, now he was proud of his only daughter and youngest child.
*****
Some time later the three of them looked up from their thoughts as Poppy Pomfrey entered the room. They looked hopefully up at her as she began to speak.
"She's fine. She's awake and she can go home the day after tomorrow. You can see her if you'd like."
Wordlessly, they sighed a sigh of relief and moved towards the hospital wing to visit their girl.
A/N: I am so sorry this took so long! And I'm sorry if this doesn't read right, I've got writers block and I'm just trying to overcome it. Can you please leave a review and leave me your thoughts on what works and doesn't. The next one should be up in three weeks when I come back from my Easter break from University and I've got an almost finished song-fic that will hopefully be posted by the end of the week.