I'll be Home For Christmas
Chapter 8: (HELP! I need I title!)
Disclaimer: I wish!
A/N: I'm chuggin along….. (Countdown: 2 days, 5 hours,
13
Minutes and 18 Seconds )
"You were what?" Ginny gasped.
"Well, not the whole time. Maybe I should start at the beginning."
"Alright," Ginny agreed.
"By Christmas Eve the Order had lost all track of Voldemort. He hadn't attacked in weeks, and they didn't have any idea where he was.
When I went to bed that night I had a dream. Well I guess it wasn't really a dream because it was real. It was like being a fly on the wall."
"Visions coming to the boy who almost failed divination," Ginny teased.
Harry smiled at then continued. "It was Voldemort and a group of death eaters. They were close. Voldemort was going over their plans for an attack, or as he referred to it his Christmas present to me."
"Oh Harry…" Ginny said sympathetically. She could tell by the look in his eyes that the memories weren't easy.
"He was planning on attacking a near by base. It was the base I was headed for to spend Christmas at. Fifty men were stationed there. He was going to kill them all and leave them there for me to find."
"So you decided to stop it yourself…" Ginny drew.
"I had to," he defended.
"I know," she soothed. "You'd never put yourself before others. You're considered a hero for a reason Harry. Not everyone wouldn't put their life on the line for fifty strangers."
"They weren't all strangers. And I didn't do it for all fifty of them," he admitted. "Only six…"
Ginny thought for a moment before she realized what he meant.
"You mean…"
"I was hoping if I could see your brothers, they'd be able to tell you I was okay. And give me news about you."
"So my brothers almost….All of them?" Ginny tried to digest the information.
"You know I'd never have let that happen," Harry said seriously.
"I know," she looked up at him. "Because you didn't"
"When I woke up I left right away. All I took was my wand. I apparated right into the middle of Voldemort and his army. He could have had them kill me right there. I couldn't have taken them all. But he wanted to be the one to defeat me. The death eaters formed a circle around us. I was finally face to face with him. It was the place I'd been trying to get for over a month. Dumbledore had trained me for a long time and I knew what I needed to do. I killed him. I killed Voldemort in one shot. But it wasn't as simple as I thought it would be. I was knocked unconscious from the power I had conjured to use the spell.
When I woke up I wasn't in the same place. The death eaters had taken me somewhere when I was unconscious. It was an island. The island where Voldemort had kept his dementors to be exact."
Ginny eyes welled up. She remembered how horrible the dementors had been back in her second year, and she was very aware of the effect they had had on Harry. She couldn't imagine what it must have been like being stuck on an island with them.
"I was able to find food, and at first I could still form a strong enough patronous to keep them away. I couldn't get off the island though. I tried apparating, and I looked for a port key. I was stuck. Eventually the dementors started taking a larger amount out of me and I couldn't keep them off as well. Memories started getting worse and worse. Eventually I couldn't even remember who I was anymore. That's how I was when Snape found me."
"He found you?"
"He heard a group of death eaters laughing about what they did with me after I killed their master. He knew where the island was and came to get me."
"I thought Snape hated you…"
"He does. But you know I would have done the same for him. Just because you dislike someone doesn't mean you'd let them die. Snape found me while I was passed out after an encounter with one of the dementors. When I woke up I was….well I guess I don't know where I was. Snape's hideaway I guess."
"Wait a second," Ginny suddenly flared. "Snape had you and knew you were all right and didn't bother to tell any of us! He did it one purpose! To hurt all of us!"
"No Ginny!" Harry defended. "He didn't. Well he claimed that he didn't tell you because he wasn't helping me for me, he was only doing it because he respected Dumbledore to much to let the boy he died for die."
"He said that to you? Harry it is not your fault he was killed!" Ginny felt her temper growing larger.
"But I know that's not true Ginny. The reason he didn't tell you or Ron, or Sirius, or anyone is because he knew no one deserved to see me the way I was. And I'm glad he didn't tell you. I wouldn't have wanted you there," Harry told her honestly.
"What?" she let out, shocked. "Harry how could you say that?" She felt her eyes well up. How could he mean that?
"I wasn't me Ginny. I was weak, and sick. But most of all, all I had left were the bad memories. I don't what I would have said to you."
Ginny still refused to believe that she shouldn't have been there. "But maybe I could have helped you remember. If you had seen me, maybe you would have remembered me."
"I did remember you Ginny. It wouldn't have helped. It only would have made things worse."
"Why Harry? I don't understand!" she pressed, growing more frustrated.
"Because I hated you Ginny!" he exploded. She knew he wasn't angry. He just hadn't wanted to tell her. She saw a tear trickle down his cheek, as tears dampened her own.
"What?"
"All I could remember about you was loving you when we were having fights. I remembered all of the times you "broke up with me," and I remembered still loving you. I know that all those break ups lasted for about five minutes, but I couldn't remember that. All I could remember was you breaking my heart over and over again. The Dementors twisted our relationship into a distorted version of what it was really like."
Ginny didn't know what to think. It was hard to accept that at a point in her life Harry had truly hated her.
"Snape still could have told us you were all right," she said. Wiping a tear from his face.
"Right. Because you wouldn't have come looking for me?" Harry managed a smile. Then his face became solemn again. "Besides, I wasn't all right. I was emaciated and weak. I slipped in and out a consciousness. When I was awake I wasn't sane. Snape worked on potions to fix me: my body and my mind. Nothing was working and I think he started to believe I was going to die. I was getting sicker, and sicker. I started to be unconscious more than I was awake. And my memory wasn't coming back. About a month ago though I had a flash. It was of you and me, in our place, that last night we were together. And for a few minutes I could just barely remember us, the way we really were. But then I passed out again and when I woke up I had forgotten. Snape made more of the potion he had given me and started giving it to me on a regular basis. Eventually my memory started coming back permanently and I started to think right. For a little over a week now I've been completely normal. And finally last night Snape and I agreed that I was ready to leave. So I apparated here."
"So you're ok now? Everything's all right?" Ginny asked hopefully. She couldn't believe how close she had come to losing him forever. And Snape of all people had saved him. She felt Harry take her into his arms. She breathed in and let Harry's scent comfort her.
"I'm perfect, she head him say.
A/N: And there's chapter 8. I'm thinking I might be able to get chapter nine out tonight too. Wow I'm really rollin. So now all of you know where Harry was. Sorry it not too too detailed. But since this story is really from Ginny's perspective. All we'd know is what Harry tells us. And that's his story. Thanks for the reviews to Chapter 7. And guess what!?!?!?! I hit 200 reviews!!!! Whoo hooo!!!! Really! I though I'd get at an absolute maximum like 50 reviews by the time to story was over and done with and just WOW that's all I can say. I love all my reviewers to pieces. I think of each and everyone of you as a friend.
BTW marajade3081 you're my 200th reviewer. You should feel VERY special. I was waiting all day to see if I'd get it and who it would be!!! I'm pleased that it was you considering I'm a big fan of your writing!
Love,
Bella
