Disclaimer: See previous chapters.
Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter!!
la2ur2a-Thanks! I thought I might have left something out when I was trying to explain stuff but I guess I didn't. Hurr and get your next chapter up! :)
gundamhardcore-haha ok I'll try. thank you!
Blue eyes- No, it's not over. I wouldn't end it like that. : ) Dumbledore was just sad cuz he saw James reflected in Harry and didn't want Harry to die like James did. I guess. Well thanks for reviewing!
shdurrani-hey! It's ok. I hope it went good!
MarsMoonStar- Haha thanks! I'm glad you liked it...
*Chapter 16*
Harry closed the door behind him softly, still wondering a little at Dumbledore's odd behavior. He sighed as he turned around, but what he saw there eased away some of his worries. Mrs. Weasley had her arms wrapped tightly around her daughter and was crying uncontrollably. Harry couldn't hold back a small smile at the scene.
When she looked up and saw Harry, she released her daughter and flung her arms around him, still bawling loudly. Harry wasn't sure what to do. He felt like giving in to his tears like Mrs. Weasley, he felt so tired of fighting back emotions that were always threatening to flow over like a dam bursting. For a split second he considered giving in to his tears and letting go of his emotions, but even as these thoughts were going through his head, he still fought. All his life he had been controlling his feelings and hiding them from the rest of the world. He knew he should let go, but he couldn't.
"Oh my," She sighed as she pulled away from him at last, blowing her nose in her already damp handkercheif. "Don't know what you thought you were doing, Harry, I really don't. Going out there like that, asking to be killed, in my opinion." She was trying to scold him, but her tone was so tender and soft that it really didn't come across that way at all. She tried desperatly to stop crying, but one look at Ginny and she was bawling again. "Thank you so much." She said to Harry as she hugged Ginny again.
Mr. Weasley came up to Harry and opened his mouth to say something, but ended up closing it again. By the confused look on his face Harry could tell that he didn't know what to say. After a few seconds he just nodded thankfully and patted Harry firmly on the shoulder. Harry returned the nod and managed a weak smile.
"Come on now, Molly. Dumbledore said I need to get back to work as soon as possible." Mr. Weasley said after a few more minutes of silence only broken by Mrs. Weasley's continuous sobs.
Mrs. Weasley nodded and pulled away from Ginny reluctantly, dabbing her swollen eyes and sniffing loudly.
"We're walking back to Hogsmeade and apparating from there. Dumbledore can't risk opening Hogwarts up again. Most of the other parents already left, but we thought we'd come up here and see how you two were coming along. I wish we could stay longer, but I need to get back to the ministry. Got to sort all this mess out. I expect I won't get any sleep for a few weeks now. Come along, Molly."
Mrs. Weasley hugged Ginny, Ron, Harry and even Hermione again and after Mr. Weasley had said goodbye to his children and their friends, they turned and walked down the winding stairway together, leaving the four friends to themselves. They stood there for a while, everyone deep in their own thoughts.
After a few minutes Harry felt like if he didn't sit down right away he was going to faint from exhaustion.
"Guess we should go back now." He suggested hopefully. As much as he wanted to talk with his friends and girlfriend right now and tell them everything that he and Dumbledore had talked about, he had never been so tired before and a few hours of sleep sounded much better than anything else.
"Yeah." Agreed Ron vaguely.
They all turned and headed down the stairway that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had just gone down a few minutes before.
"Your parents already leave, Hermione?" Harry asked, suddenly remembering about Hermione's parents.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. They're driving back the muggle way, of course. That's how they came." She answered absently. Harry nodded.
They walked in silence until they were climbing the last staircase leading to the fat lady.
"Wow." Ron suddenly said.
"What?" Harry asked, turning to his friend.
"Just you, back there, I mean...wow." Ron said again.
Harry managed a tired smile. "Yeah." He said.
"So what happened?" Ron asked as they stopped in front of the portrait hole.
"It's kinda complicated." Harry said, rubbing his eyes with his palms. "Can we talk about it tomorrow? I've never been so exhausted in my life."
"Oh, yeah, sure." Ron said as he turned to the fat lady. "Phoenix feather." He muttered.
The fat lady ignored him. She had her eyes fixed on Harry with a look of awe on her face. Obviously she had heard the entire story from some painting in the Great Hall. Harry sighed. This was just the beginning.
"Phoenix feather." Ron said again, much louder this time.
The fat lady jerked her gaze away from Harry and fixed it on Ron. "I heard you the first time." She murmered in an aggravated voice as she swung silently open, allowing the students to climb through.
Harry groaned aloud at what he saw inside. The entire Gryffindor house was sitting in the Common Room, everyone chatting loudly. But as soon as the four friends entered the room, the noise stopped immediatly and every head turned toward Harry. They stared at him expectantly, as if he was supposed to have a speech prepared or something.
Colin Creevy was the first to move. He shot up from his arm chair, camera in hand, and started clicking away furiously at Harry.
"Turn sideways just a bit, Harry, so I can see where the cut is." He said in a jittery, excited voice.
"Uh...thanks, Colin, but I'm pretty tired. I think I'll go on to bed." Harry said as he hurridly started toward the staircase before Colin could take another picture of him. He vaulted up the steps two at a time. Once back in his own dorm, he swallowed the potion in the blue bottle that Madame Pomfrey gave him and fell exhaustedly onto his bed without even bothering to change. He was already asleep when the other 7th year boys came in a few minutes later, and didn't even wake up when Neville started snoring as usual.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next day was a Saturday and Harry slept until 12:00. When he woke he vaguely wondered why every muscle in his body felt so sore. He groaned as he sat up in his four poster, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He suddenly remembered the events of the night before. But his memories felt strangley unreal, as if the whole thing had just been a dream. But as much as he wished it had been, he knew it wasn't by the aching feeling that was making his head pound painfully. He climbed wearily out of bed and changed slowly and clumsily into new robes. He was just pulling on his socks when the door opened and Ron stuck his head inside.
"Hey, how do you feel?" He said in a whisper.
"Awful." Harry said with another groan. He hadn't felt near this sore when he'd been fighting, but then again he hadn't really had time to think about anything other than his opponent. Hours of constant fighting mixed with the cruciatus curse had to take their toll, even if it was the boy who lived.
"Yeah I thought so. So I went up to the hospital wing and annoyed Madame Pomfrey into giving me some pain reliever for you. She almost wouldn't give it to me because she wanted you to go up there yourself." Ron said as he walked into the room and handed Harry a small green bottle of liquid.
"Thanks, Ron." Harry said before drinking the potion. As soon as he swallowed the cool liquid he felt the pain and soreness leave instantly.
"Wow, that's amazing." Harry said thankfully.
Ron was glad to see the usual brightness returned to his friends emerald eyes. "Ginny and Hermione are waiting for you. It's time for lunch already." Ron said, gesturing Harry toward the door.
Harry finished tying his shoe laces quickly before standing up and following his best friend out the door.
A few minutes later the four friends were walking down to the Great Hall. As soon as they entered it Harry realized his mistake. The reaction of the other students and even some teachers was exactly what the Gryffindor's had been the night before, only it was much more affective, considering it was a much bigger group of people. Only Dumbledore and Lupin were acting like they usually did every morning, as if nothing had happened.
"Come on, Harry." Ron said as he grabbed Harry's arm and lead him out of the Great Hall. Ginny and Hermione went up to the Gryffindor table and grabbed a few peices of toast before following the two boys out of the room.
The four friends walked outside onto the Grounds and sat in front of the lake, eating toast and throwing rocks into the water. Harry sighed as he threw another stone into the lake and watched the ripples slowly disappear.
"Ok, I can answer any questions you have now." He said as he leaned his head back against the tree he was sitting in front of.
For the next hour he was baraged with questions, all of which he tried his best to answer, but most of which he himself still felt in need of a full explanation.
When Ron, Hermione and Ginny ran out of questions the four friends all sat in silence, watching the still lake before them as though mesmerized by it, each one trying to force their brain to accept what had happened and stop thinking that it was just some bizarre dream that was going to end any time now.
"It's so weird." Ron said with a sigh as he tossed another rock into the still blue surface of the lake. "Why didn't you tell us you were getting that powerful, Harry?" He asked as he turned to look at his best friend.
"I didn't really know, I mean I could beat Remus and stuff but I thought maybe he was just going easy on me or something." Harry replied.
Ron nodded, but still looked slightly confused. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again instantly.
"What is it?" Harry asked.
Ron didn't answer, but Hermione guessed what he was thinking and answered for him.
"You were really brave, Harry." She whispered as she gave her friend a smile.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry hadn't had such a relaxing day in a very long time, he hadn't even had a nightmare the night before, thanks to the potion Madame Pomfrey had given him. True, it was annoying how everyone was treating him differently now, the entire school acting just as Colin Creevey always had. Even a few Slytherins had beeen following him around and asking for his autograph. But Harry figured it would wear off after a while, and even if it didn't, he would be leaving for good in just a few days, anyway.
There had even been a mob of reporters waiting outside, trying to get permission to entire. But much to Harry's relief, Dumbledore sent them all away after assuring them that no one was hurt and everything was under control.
That night Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione stayed up until 2:00 in the Common Room, Ron and Harry playing chess and all four of them talking about what they were going to do when they left Hogwarts. All the other students had tried to stay down as long as they could to watch Harry hoping that he would blow something to peices or something, but finally went to bed after seeing that he had no intention of doing anything more interesting than playing chess.
Mr. Weasley had managed to get a job for Ron at the Ministry in the Floo Powder Network, Hermione was going to work in the Ministry as well, in the Care of Magical Creatures department. Her goal was to try and get better rights for house elfs. Harry was going to go to a two-year auror school. He had sent his application in a few weeks before, and it had been accepted right away. After all, he was the boy who lived.
Ginny was still a little worried about Harry becoming an Auror, but at least for two years he would be going to school and wouldn't be in any immediate danger. Hopefully.
"Checkmate." Ron said with a smirk. Harry sighed and knocked his king over for the fourth time that night.
Ginny and Hermione stopped talking. Ron was usually pretty funny to watch when he won at chess. But instead of doing a victory dance and gloating loudly like he usualy did, he just stretched his arms over his head and yawned.
"I think I'm gonna go to bed now. See you guys tomorrow." He said as he stood up and after kissing Hermione went up to the boys dormitory.
"Wow he must finally be growing up." Hermione said sarcastically. I'll go now, too. I'm so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open." She said with a loud yawn. "Good night you two." She said before she too left for her Dormitory.
Once she was gone Ginny got up and went to sit next to Harry on the couch. He put his arm around her shoulder and squeezed her to him, kissing her softly on top of her head.
They both sat staring silently into the dying fire for a few minutes before ginny spoke, her voice strained and thick with emotion.
"While I was watching you last night....I've never been so scared in my whole life, Harry." She whispered as she fought back tears.
Harry sighed. "I was scared to, Gin, but only when he threatened to bring you into it. I can't believe I put you in danger like that." Harry said in an almost angry voice.
"It wasn't your fault. And don't you dare think that, Harry Potter." She said firmly as she sat up and looked him in the eyes. The brilliant green orbs were filled with pain and confusion that Harry was trying to hold in check, but somehow he could never keep his guard up when he was with Ginny.
"I'm going to miss you, Harry." She said softly as a few tears managed to roll down her cheeks.
"I'm gonna miss you too, Ginny. But I can come visit you anytime, and besides, we've got a whole summer before you've got to come back here and I'm going to start Auror training." He said softlly as he wiped her tears away while still trying to force back his own.
"Are you sure that's what you want to do, Harry? You could get any job you wanted at the ministry, I mean no one would turn Harry Potter down. Are you sure you want to do something so....dangerous?" She asked in a pleading voice.
Harry sighed. "Ginny...I can't explain it, but this is what I have to do. This is what I was meant to do. When I was in there with Voldemort, it felt so right, so natural. I didn't even have to think about it, it was as if I had finally found where I was meant to be. It's hard to explain." He said with another sigh. "I thought we already figured all this out."
"I know, I'm sorry. It's just...to never know where you are, or who you're fighting with, or if you're ok or not...." She didn't finish her sentance.
"I'll be ok, Gin. I know what I'm doing." He whispered, looking deeply into her sky blue eyes..
"I know you do." She said with a small smile as she leaned her head back onto his shoulder and closed her eyes.
After a few minutes Ginny's deep, steady breathing told Harry that she had fallen asleep. He smiled softly as he leaned his head on top of hers and slowly felt himself drifting to sleep as well.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"NO!"
The scream broke the still silence of the almost deserted common room.
Harry jerked out of a peaceful sleep. He opened his eyes to see Ginny, still sitting next to him on the couch, breathing rapidly. Her face was deathly pale and her eyes were wide with fear.
"Hey," He whispered as he pulled her to him and wrapped his arms back around her. She shook violently in his tight embrace.
"Oh, it was awful, Harry. So real...." She said in a shaking voice.
"I know, I know. But it wasn't real. It wasn't." He didn't know what he should say to comfort her, he had always been on the recieving end of things like this. He had always been the one to wake up screaming from a horrible nightmare. After a few minutes she stopped shaking.
"You wanna tell me about it?" Harry asked tenderly. It had always seemed to help him to tell someone about his nightmares, it would probably help her, too.
"It was him," She started. "He was killing you." She shuddered again as the last words left her mouth.
Harry bit his lower lip. He felt partially responsible for doing this to Ginny. If it wasn't for him then she would never have been witness to such terrifying things. Because of him, she was going to go through the rest of her life with haunting memories, just like he himself would have to.
"Everything's ok, Gin." He said softly as he stroked her hair. "I'll take you to Madame Pomfrey tomorrow to get some more dreamless sleep potion."
She nodded and and fell back asleep after a few minutes. Harry sighed as he looked at her now peacefull face. He couldn't push away the awful feeling growing inside him. Voldemort knew who Ginny was now, knew who all the Weasley's were. Harry might have managed to save Ginny one time, but pretty soon he wasn't going to be able to be around her all the time. And he of all people should know, that once Lord Voldemort started something, he never gave up until he had finished it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Sorry this took me so long. I'm trying to figure out where to go from here, so try to bear with me. Please review!
~Katydid
Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter!!
la2ur2a-Thanks! I thought I might have left something out when I was trying to explain stuff but I guess I didn't. Hurr and get your next chapter up! :)
gundamhardcore-haha ok I'll try. thank you!
Blue eyes- No, it's not over. I wouldn't end it like that. : ) Dumbledore was just sad cuz he saw James reflected in Harry and didn't want Harry to die like James did. I guess. Well thanks for reviewing!
shdurrani-hey! It's ok. I hope it went good!
MarsMoonStar- Haha thanks! I'm glad you liked it...
*Chapter 16*
Harry closed the door behind him softly, still wondering a little at Dumbledore's odd behavior. He sighed as he turned around, but what he saw there eased away some of his worries. Mrs. Weasley had her arms wrapped tightly around her daughter and was crying uncontrollably. Harry couldn't hold back a small smile at the scene.
When she looked up and saw Harry, she released her daughter and flung her arms around him, still bawling loudly. Harry wasn't sure what to do. He felt like giving in to his tears like Mrs. Weasley, he felt so tired of fighting back emotions that were always threatening to flow over like a dam bursting. For a split second he considered giving in to his tears and letting go of his emotions, but even as these thoughts were going through his head, he still fought. All his life he had been controlling his feelings and hiding them from the rest of the world. He knew he should let go, but he couldn't.
"Oh my," She sighed as she pulled away from him at last, blowing her nose in her already damp handkercheif. "Don't know what you thought you were doing, Harry, I really don't. Going out there like that, asking to be killed, in my opinion." She was trying to scold him, but her tone was so tender and soft that it really didn't come across that way at all. She tried desperatly to stop crying, but one look at Ginny and she was bawling again. "Thank you so much." She said to Harry as she hugged Ginny again.
Mr. Weasley came up to Harry and opened his mouth to say something, but ended up closing it again. By the confused look on his face Harry could tell that he didn't know what to say. After a few seconds he just nodded thankfully and patted Harry firmly on the shoulder. Harry returned the nod and managed a weak smile.
"Come on now, Molly. Dumbledore said I need to get back to work as soon as possible." Mr. Weasley said after a few more minutes of silence only broken by Mrs. Weasley's continuous sobs.
Mrs. Weasley nodded and pulled away from Ginny reluctantly, dabbing her swollen eyes and sniffing loudly.
"We're walking back to Hogsmeade and apparating from there. Dumbledore can't risk opening Hogwarts up again. Most of the other parents already left, but we thought we'd come up here and see how you two were coming along. I wish we could stay longer, but I need to get back to the ministry. Got to sort all this mess out. I expect I won't get any sleep for a few weeks now. Come along, Molly."
Mrs. Weasley hugged Ginny, Ron, Harry and even Hermione again and after Mr. Weasley had said goodbye to his children and their friends, they turned and walked down the winding stairway together, leaving the four friends to themselves. They stood there for a while, everyone deep in their own thoughts.
After a few minutes Harry felt like if he didn't sit down right away he was going to faint from exhaustion.
"Guess we should go back now." He suggested hopefully. As much as he wanted to talk with his friends and girlfriend right now and tell them everything that he and Dumbledore had talked about, he had never been so tired before and a few hours of sleep sounded much better than anything else.
"Yeah." Agreed Ron vaguely.
They all turned and headed down the stairway that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had just gone down a few minutes before.
"Your parents already leave, Hermione?" Harry asked, suddenly remembering about Hermione's parents.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. They're driving back the muggle way, of course. That's how they came." She answered absently. Harry nodded.
They walked in silence until they were climbing the last staircase leading to the fat lady.
"Wow." Ron suddenly said.
"What?" Harry asked, turning to his friend.
"Just you, back there, I mean...wow." Ron said again.
Harry managed a tired smile. "Yeah." He said.
"So what happened?" Ron asked as they stopped in front of the portrait hole.
"It's kinda complicated." Harry said, rubbing his eyes with his palms. "Can we talk about it tomorrow? I've never been so exhausted in my life."
"Oh, yeah, sure." Ron said as he turned to the fat lady. "Phoenix feather." He muttered.
The fat lady ignored him. She had her eyes fixed on Harry with a look of awe on her face. Obviously she had heard the entire story from some painting in the Great Hall. Harry sighed. This was just the beginning.
"Phoenix feather." Ron said again, much louder this time.
The fat lady jerked her gaze away from Harry and fixed it on Ron. "I heard you the first time." She murmered in an aggravated voice as she swung silently open, allowing the students to climb through.
Harry groaned aloud at what he saw inside. The entire Gryffindor house was sitting in the Common Room, everyone chatting loudly. But as soon as the four friends entered the room, the noise stopped immediatly and every head turned toward Harry. They stared at him expectantly, as if he was supposed to have a speech prepared or something.
Colin Creevy was the first to move. He shot up from his arm chair, camera in hand, and started clicking away furiously at Harry.
"Turn sideways just a bit, Harry, so I can see where the cut is." He said in a jittery, excited voice.
"Uh...thanks, Colin, but I'm pretty tired. I think I'll go on to bed." Harry said as he hurridly started toward the staircase before Colin could take another picture of him. He vaulted up the steps two at a time. Once back in his own dorm, he swallowed the potion in the blue bottle that Madame Pomfrey gave him and fell exhaustedly onto his bed without even bothering to change. He was already asleep when the other 7th year boys came in a few minutes later, and didn't even wake up when Neville started snoring as usual.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next day was a Saturday and Harry slept until 12:00. When he woke he vaguely wondered why every muscle in his body felt so sore. He groaned as he sat up in his four poster, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He suddenly remembered the events of the night before. But his memories felt strangley unreal, as if the whole thing had just been a dream. But as much as he wished it had been, he knew it wasn't by the aching feeling that was making his head pound painfully. He climbed wearily out of bed and changed slowly and clumsily into new robes. He was just pulling on his socks when the door opened and Ron stuck his head inside.
"Hey, how do you feel?" He said in a whisper.
"Awful." Harry said with another groan. He hadn't felt near this sore when he'd been fighting, but then again he hadn't really had time to think about anything other than his opponent. Hours of constant fighting mixed with the cruciatus curse had to take their toll, even if it was the boy who lived.
"Yeah I thought so. So I went up to the hospital wing and annoyed Madame Pomfrey into giving me some pain reliever for you. She almost wouldn't give it to me because she wanted you to go up there yourself." Ron said as he walked into the room and handed Harry a small green bottle of liquid.
"Thanks, Ron." Harry said before drinking the potion. As soon as he swallowed the cool liquid he felt the pain and soreness leave instantly.
"Wow, that's amazing." Harry said thankfully.
Ron was glad to see the usual brightness returned to his friends emerald eyes. "Ginny and Hermione are waiting for you. It's time for lunch already." Ron said, gesturing Harry toward the door.
Harry finished tying his shoe laces quickly before standing up and following his best friend out the door.
A few minutes later the four friends were walking down to the Great Hall. As soon as they entered it Harry realized his mistake. The reaction of the other students and even some teachers was exactly what the Gryffindor's had been the night before, only it was much more affective, considering it was a much bigger group of people. Only Dumbledore and Lupin were acting like they usually did every morning, as if nothing had happened.
"Come on, Harry." Ron said as he grabbed Harry's arm and lead him out of the Great Hall. Ginny and Hermione went up to the Gryffindor table and grabbed a few peices of toast before following the two boys out of the room.
The four friends walked outside onto the Grounds and sat in front of the lake, eating toast and throwing rocks into the water. Harry sighed as he threw another stone into the lake and watched the ripples slowly disappear.
"Ok, I can answer any questions you have now." He said as he leaned his head back against the tree he was sitting in front of.
For the next hour he was baraged with questions, all of which he tried his best to answer, but most of which he himself still felt in need of a full explanation.
When Ron, Hermione and Ginny ran out of questions the four friends all sat in silence, watching the still lake before them as though mesmerized by it, each one trying to force their brain to accept what had happened and stop thinking that it was just some bizarre dream that was going to end any time now.
"It's so weird." Ron said with a sigh as he tossed another rock into the still blue surface of the lake. "Why didn't you tell us you were getting that powerful, Harry?" He asked as he turned to look at his best friend.
"I didn't really know, I mean I could beat Remus and stuff but I thought maybe he was just going easy on me or something." Harry replied.
Ron nodded, but still looked slightly confused. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again instantly.
"What is it?" Harry asked.
Ron didn't answer, but Hermione guessed what he was thinking and answered for him.
"You were really brave, Harry." She whispered as she gave her friend a smile.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry hadn't had such a relaxing day in a very long time, he hadn't even had a nightmare the night before, thanks to the potion Madame Pomfrey had given him. True, it was annoying how everyone was treating him differently now, the entire school acting just as Colin Creevey always had. Even a few Slytherins had beeen following him around and asking for his autograph. But Harry figured it would wear off after a while, and even if it didn't, he would be leaving for good in just a few days, anyway.
There had even been a mob of reporters waiting outside, trying to get permission to entire. But much to Harry's relief, Dumbledore sent them all away after assuring them that no one was hurt and everything was under control.
That night Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione stayed up until 2:00 in the Common Room, Ron and Harry playing chess and all four of them talking about what they were going to do when they left Hogwarts. All the other students had tried to stay down as long as they could to watch Harry hoping that he would blow something to peices or something, but finally went to bed after seeing that he had no intention of doing anything more interesting than playing chess.
Mr. Weasley had managed to get a job for Ron at the Ministry in the Floo Powder Network, Hermione was going to work in the Ministry as well, in the Care of Magical Creatures department. Her goal was to try and get better rights for house elfs. Harry was going to go to a two-year auror school. He had sent his application in a few weeks before, and it had been accepted right away. After all, he was the boy who lived.
Ginny was still a little worried about Harry becoming an Auror, but at least for two years he would be going to school and wouldn't be in any immediate danger. Hopefully.
"Checkmate." Ron said with a smirk. Harry sighed and knocked his king over for the fourth time that night.
Ginny and Hermione stopped talking. Ron was usually pretty funny to watch when he won at chess. But instead of doing a victory dance and gloating loudly like he usualy did, he just stretched his arms over his head and yawned.
"I think I'm gonna go to bed now. See you guys tomorrow." He said as he stood up and after kissing Hermione went up to the boys dormitory.
"Wow he must finally be growing up." Hermione said sarcastically. I'll go now, too. I'm so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open." She said with a loud yawn. "Good night you two." She said before she too left for her Dormitory.
Once she was gone Ginny got up and went to sit next to Harry on the couch. He put his arm around her shoulder and squeezed her to him, kissing her softly on top of her head.
They both sat staring silently into the dying fire for a few minutes before ginny spoke, her voice strained and thick with emotion.
"While I was watching you last night....I've never been so scared in my whole life, Harry." She whispered as she fought back tears.
Harry sighed. "I was scared to, Gin, but only when he threatened to bring you into it. I can't believe I put you in danger like that." Harry said in an almost angry voice.
"It wasn't your fault. And don't you dare think that, Harry Potter." She said firmly as she sat up and looked him in the eyes. The brilliant green orbs were filled with pain and confusion that Harry was trying to hold in check, but somehow he could never keep his guard up when he was with Ginny.
"I'm going to miss you, Harry." She said softly as a few tears managed to roll down her cheeks.
"I'm gonna miss you too, Ginny. But I can come visit you anytime, and besides, we've got a whole summer before you've got to come back here and I'm going to start Auror training." He said softlly as he wiped her tears away while still trying to force back his own.
"Are you sure that's what you want to do, Harry? You could get any job you wanted at the ministry, I mean no one would turn Harry Potter down. Are you sure you want to do something so....dangerous?" She asked in a pleading voice.
Harry sighed. "Ginny...I can't explain it, but this is what I have to do. This is what I was meant to do. When I was in there with Voldemort, it felt so right, so natural. I didn't even have to think about it, it was as if I had finally found where I was meant to be. It's hard to explain." He said with another sigh. "I thought we already figured all this out."
"I know, I'm sorry. It's just...to never know where you are, or who you're fighting with, or if you're ok or not...." She didn't finish her sentance.
"I'll be ok, Gin. I know what I'm doing." He whispered, looking deeply into her sky blue eyes..
"I know you do." She said with a small smile as she leaned her head back onto his shoulder and closed her eyes.
After a few minutes Ginny's deep, steady breathing told Harry that she had fallen asleep. He smiled softly as he leaned his head on top of hers and slowly felt himself drifting to sleep as well.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"NO!"
The scream broke the still silence of the almost deserted common room.
Harry jerked out of a peaceful sleep. He opened his eyes to see Ginny, still sitting next to him on the couch, breathing rapidly. Her face was deathly pale and her eyes were wide with fear.
"Hey," He whispered as he pulled her to him and wrapped his arms back around her. She shook violently in his tight embrace.
"Oh, it was awful, Harry. So real...." She said in a shaking voice.
"I know, I know. But it wasn't real. It wasn't." He didn't know what he should say to comfort her, he had always been on the recieving end of things like this. He had always been the one to wake up screaming from a horrible nightmare. After a few minutes she stopped shaking.
"You wanna tell me about it?" Harry asked tenderly. It had always seemed to help him to tell someone about his nightmares, it would probably help her, too.
"It was him," She started. "He was killing you." She shuddered again as the last words left her mouth.
Harry bit his lower lip. He felt partially responsible for doing this to Ginny. If it wasn't for him then she would never have been witness to such terrifying things. Because of him, she was going to go through the rest of her life with haunting memories, just like he himself would have to.
"Everything's ok, Gin." He said softly as he stroked her hair. "I'll take you to Madame Pomfrey tomorrow to get some more dreamless sleep potion."
She nodded and and fell back asleep after a few minutes. Harry sighed as he looked at her now peacefull face. He couldn't push away the awful feeling growing inside him. Voldemort knew who Ginny was now, knew who all the Weasley's were. Harry might have managed to save Ginny one time, but pretty soon he wasn't going to be able to be around her all the time. And he of all people should know, that once Lord Voldemort started something, he never gave up until he had finished it.
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A/N: Sorry this took me so long. I'm trying to figure out where to go from here, so try to bear with me. Please review!
~Katydid