************************************************************************
I remember you.
Do you remember me too?
Born on the 14th of July,
The smell of roses made her cry.
Though you're going far from home,
Rest assured you're not alone.
'Cause I would give everything that I own.
I'd give you my heart and this skin and these bones,
The sun, the moon, the Earth, the sky.
I've never even stopped to wonder why.
I would do anything,
And I would give everything,
To be your everything.
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October 31, 1981, 10:00 pm
The woman slowly rocked the baby, back and forth, back and forth. Her long red hair often fell into the baby's soft face, the red tresses mingling with the jet black fuzz that protruded from the baby's delicate skull. She whispered to him, caressed him gently with long fingers and told him how beautiful and perfect he was, just as all new mothers do. But there was a tremor in this mother's touch, a slight quivering in her fingers as she smoothed the baby's hair over his soft forehead.
She was remembering things. Remembering her baby's birth, how beautiful he'd looked, how his green eyes had sparkled when she held him and whispered how glad she was to see him. From that point on, she remembered things before her baby's birth. She remembered how her husband had grinned when she told him she was pregnant, how he'd whirled her around in pure joy at their wedding, when he'd proposed to her outside Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry the night of their graduation.
Then her memory stopped her, and made her fast forward to the day when she and her husband had received their assignment from the Ministry of Magic. The day they became Unmentionables. No one could know of their assignment, not even her closest friends, which was hard. She couldn't help but think that someone had found out about them. She couldn't help but think that, though she had no reason why. A feeling had been burning in the back of her mind, that someone knew of their mission and that they would report it to the Adversary.
She shivered and pressed her baby closer to her chest. She could only pray that she never met the Adversary. She could only pray that her son would never meet the Adversary. If their mission succeeded, then she wouldn't have to worry ever again. But until that day came, she would continue to worry, not only for herself, but for her husband and child.
As her mind began to place horrible scenarios into her thoughts, she shook her head violently and looked down into her baby's face. He was looking up at her, a knowing smile on his face as he played with her long red hair. Her face softened and she pressed a long finger against the baby's fist. Quickly, the baby grabbed it and began to bite it with vigor. She laughed.
It was a good laugh, one she hadn't allowed to come forth in the previous trying months. But now, she wasn't going to think about that. Her husband would be home soon and she didn't want to think about her mission, or the Adversary, or the doubts and fears that plagued her mind and dreams. She would think of the good times, the happy times and tell the rest to go to hell.
As she bounced the baby on her knee, the door quietly swung open. A tall man with jet black hair stepped quickly inside and bolted the door. He stood in the doorway for a time, watching his wife play with their son, a gentle smile resting in the lines of his face. It had been such a long time since he'd seen her smile, since he'd seen her loosen up. Perhaps her dreams were fading away.
He knew she had the dreams, horrible visions of what could happen to them if they failed, or if they were found out. He disregarded them. He didn't like to think of what was to come. He preferred to keep his feet solidly in the present and take life as it came. But he couldn't disregard his wife's dreams totally. When they were in school, she had been commended by their Divination teacher for having an open mind and a thirst to see the unknown. His wife had blown her off, thinking the woman was completely mad. But still, recently his wife had begun to listen to her dreams and he feared that they plagued her unnecessarily.
"I think it's nice that Harry's birthday is so close to yours, James."
The man started at the sound of his wife's voice, but he smiled and approached her.
"Why's that?"
"Because now I can just buy your gifts all at once instead of spreading it out over the year and wondering what on earth I'm going to get you! I have to make a decision." She said with a smile.
"Well, then I suppose there are advantages to being born in the summer."
"The fourteenth of July. And Harry on the thirty-first. Unexpected, but welcome. You didn't know you were going to save your Mummy some tear and wear by coming early did you, darling?" She bent down over the baby and kissed his chubby cheeks relishing the child's laugh and the smell of his skin.
"James, do you remember when I told you I was pregnant?"
James Potter started again for the second time that evening. He couldn't understand what his wife was doing. She was reminiscing. She didn't do that unless she was worried about something. But he would play along.
"Of course, Lily. You told me in the backyard after I planted that gargantuan rose bush for you."
"Yes! Then you used an engorgement charm to make the blooms almost as big as Harry's head! The smell of them was amazing!"
"Yeah." James said quietly, remembering the day, that amazing, unbelievable day when Lily had told him that she was pregnant with his child. Their child. It had been one of the best days of his life, second only to the day that he'd married her.
"There's only one thing bad that came out of that day."
James broke out of his thoughts and looked down at his wife.
"What's that?"
Lily cast him an embarrassed smile.
"I can't stand to be around roses for a long period of time. They make me cry no matter what." At James' small smile, she threw her hands in the air. "I can't help it! I cried so hard when I told you that I was pregnant with Harry because I was so happy! It's just the repressed memory, I suppose."
"I suppose. Next time I'll just forget roses and plant lilacs."
"Very funny, James."
"I try."
"I remember that Sirius thought you were crazy for doing that to those roses. 'What happens if some Muggle sees them and wonders how you did it? You gone mad, James?' The look on his face was priceless." Lily chuckled, shaking her head as the baby blew spit bubbles and laughed as they popped.
"Sirius." James said thoughtfully. "I spoke with him a couple days ago. He thinks there's a spy on our trail."
Lily froze as she began to bounce baby Harry on her knee again. Her face paled and her lips pressed together firmly.
"A spy?" She whispered.
James nodded soberly.
"Sirius is not our secret-keeper anymore, Lily. He switched."
"Who? Who does he think is the spy?" Lily pressed.
"Remus."
"Remus?" Lily gasped and drew back from James. "James, Remus wouldn't do such a thing! I can't believe it!"
"Neither can I, Lily! But Sirius has a feeling. I can't ignore that."
"So who did he switch with?"
"Peter."
"Peter? James, why Peter? He's not strong enough to stand up to anyone, let alone the Adversary if he found out!"
"I know that, Lily. But no one will suspect him either, for that very reason."
Lily shook her head and pressed her baby close to her.
"I've got a bad feeling about this, James."
"What kind of feeling?"
"I don't know. A bad one."
"Have you been having the nightmares again?"
"They keep coming, James. I can't stop them. In one of them, the Adversary came and he killed us all! Even Harry. James, I'm so worried. I don't, I don't know what we should do."
"We wait, Lily. We wait until we have to act. Dumbledore is going to give us the signal and we'll proceed with the mission."
"Maybe we shouldn't have taken time off after I had Harry. Maybe we should have just kept on."
"Lily, you weren't strong enough. We had to wait. It's alright. We'll be fine! Harry will be fine! We'll all be fine!" James' words were explosive and his tone frustrated.
Lily drew back as she stared at her husband's tense face. James slowly relaxed and shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Lily. I'm sorry. I've got doubts too. I'm just, I'm just worried too. Don't think that you're alone in this." James slowly sat down beside Lily and placed his hand in her free one. "I don't like to think of what could happen, Lily. I don't want to worry. I've got to stay focused. But don't think you have to suffer alone, Lily. I'm here. I'll always be here for you."
Lily sighed and laid her head up against her husbands shoulder, resting baby Harry between them.
"What happens if the Ad-, if Voldemort does find us?"
"Then we fight. We protect Harry. He'll be all that's left of us." James straightened and smiled, looking down at Lily. "After this is over, we'll leave. We'll get out of here. Light off for Ireland or some exotic place like that. Have a good time. How's that sound?"
Lily grinned and arched her eyebrows.
"Ireland? Since when was Ireland exotic?"
"Since I said so! We'll show Harry other places in the world besides England."
"What's wrong with England?"
"Nothing, Lils. I just want Harry to be able to see other places, other cultures of witches and wizards. And I just want to have a time for us."
Lily smiled at the implication and lifted her red head from James' shoulder. Slowly she leaned in and kissed him gently on the mouth. James trembled beneath the kiss. He couldn't help it. He'd always been so stunned at Lily, at her beauty, and how lucky he was to have her.
"I'd like that."
"Then we,"
A large bang sent shivers up and down the foundation of the house. Lily grasped Harry in her arms and leapt to her feet. James did the same, his wand at the ready and pointed towards the front of the house. A shot of white light exuded through the keyhole of the front door and blasted the door from its hinges.
James slowly turned about to face Lily. Lily stood still, her face white, her eyes wide, her fingers pressing Harry as close to her as possible.
"James,"
"Go Lily. I'll head him off. Take Harry and go! GO!"
Lily turned and ran, tears streaming down her cheeks as she heard her husband's footsteps pound towards the front of the house. The Adversary had come. She slammed the door of the nursery and gently placed Harry, her baby, her only child in his crib. He lay there, surprise etching the corners of his chubby cheeks at the sudden transition. Lily ran a trembling finger down his cheek.
"I love you so much, Harry. So much. So does your Daddy. You remember that, darling. I'm sorry that you're dragged into this just by being our son. I love you, darling. I love you."
As she planted one last kiss on her son's soft forehead, the door behind her began to rattle and heavy footsteps pounded down the hall towards it. Lily Potter slowly turned around, her wand out, tears streaming down her cheeks. As the door flew open, the crib turned over, several toys flew across the room, and a large crystal vase of roses cracked, sending crystal shards skittering about the room. The roses sagged and fell to the floor, lying in a puddle of glistening water, the only other observers of the horrible murder that was to come.
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Seems like such a long, long time,
Since your body crossed my mind.
But I think that you should know,
It wasn't I who had to go.
'Cause I would give everything that I own.
I'd give you my love and this heart made of stone,
The sun, the moon, the Earth, the sky,
The motorcycle that I like to ride.
I would do anything,
And I would give everything,
To be your everything.
************************************************************************
October 31, 1981, Midnight
The man sat back in his chair, slowly rocking back and forth on the four squeaky legs. Any minute the chair could break, but he didn't care. He was too preoccupied. His fingers rested on his wand, slowly rubbing back and forth across the smooth wood. His fingers trembled, due to an emotion he couldn't quite understand. He was rarely ever worried. Everything was taken care of. He'd done his part, but he couldn't help but think that something was wrong. Around ten-thirty, he'd gotten the distinct feeling that something had gone horribly wrong.
But nothing had gone wrong as far as he knew. He would have heard from James or Peter if something had gone wrong. But still, his hunches were rarely off. Obviously a bit of Padfoot had rubbed off on his human form as well. He couldn't place his finger directly on what he thought had gone wrong. It was simply raw, unchanneled emotion.
He glanced up as the door was flung open. He didn't jump. He had sensed and felt the slight vibrations on the ground outside his front door. He gently allowed the chair to set down with a thunk, then looked up at his visitor.
The visitor was a woman, little more than a girl of eighteen. Dark hair shorn at the base of the neck clung to her white, childlike face in sweaty locks. She brushed the hair from her dark eyes and gently closed the door as she turned to face him.
"So? What are you doing here so late at night?" He asked quietly.
"There's something wrong, Sirius. Something's not right."
He felt a twinge of surprise at the girl's words, but he was careful not to show it.
"What? What could go wrong? We haven't got word from anyone have we?"
The girl threw her arms in the air impatiently.
"No! But that doesn't mean something hasn't happened. Look, I can't help it! It's just a feeling. But,"
"Well, I'm not going to panic because of some feeling, darling. Sorry if I don't go for those tendencies. Unlike other people, I don't panic because of feelings."
"Dumbledore got word that Voldemort is on the move."
A cold shiver of dread ran down Sirius' spine even as he stood and turned away from the girl. He slowly swung around to face her, allowing his eyes to search the girl's face. She was sincere, there was no doubt about that. But if she was a great actress....
"How does Dumbledore know that?"
The girl gestured impatiently.
"How does Dumbledore know anything, Sirius?" The girl snapped. "You've got to get to the Potters now."
"Why? Why is it so necessary to check in with the Potters?"
"Because! Something's wrong! I know it!"
"Why should I go right now?"
"Because, Sirius! Just trust me!"
"Why, because you're setting me up?"
"I,"
Sirius leapt from his place a few feet away from the girl and shoved the point of his wand up against the girl's white neck.
"Why should I trust you? I can't trust anyone. Not with the issue of James and Lily at stake. Perhaps it was a mistake for Dumbledore to include you in this."
"Dumbledore knows I'm trustworthy. You need my information, Sirius." The girl gulped, trying to breathe as Sirius pushed the wand point deeper into her neck.
"Yes, but I am not quite so ready to believe. What can you say to prove that you're not Voldemort's spy?" Sirius sneered.
"Isn't the fact that I've told you everything I know about Voldemort, what instruments he's been using to get to James and Lily? Isn't it enough that I risk my life week after week tracking his Death Eaters?"
"That's your issue, little one, not mine. No one asked you to do that."
"Exactly! No one asked me to! Isn't it enough that I came here tonight to tell you to see Peter now instead of later?"
Sirius sneered and shoved the wand point sharply against the girl's windpipe, making her gasp and fall to her knees.
"James never should have told you that."
"James trusts me, just as you should. Now please, would you go to the Potters?! Please! I'm begging you, Sirius!"
Sirius stared at the girl as she began to sob madly. Tears streaked down her face as her hands grasped firmly onto his wand that held her captive.
"Why should I believe you?" He asked again, quieter this time.
"Why should you not? Why should I deceive you, Sirius? What have I done to deserve your distrust?"
"What has Remus?" Sirius snarled in remembrance of his feeling that his friend had turned against him. "Nothing! But I have a feeling about him, and that feeling is enough to sustain my judgment."
"Then believe my feeling, Sirius! Why would I turn you in? Why? Do you hate me so much that you'd kill me and be sent to Azkaban just because you feel I'm trying to kill you? You can't go to Azkaban, Sirius! James and Lily need you! Harry needs you! Please believe me, Sirius!"
Sirius Black stared down at the girl who rested on her knees, pleading with him to release her. If he had been a different man, a crueler man, he would have enjoyed it. But Sirius Black was not a cruel man. In truth, he was just as frightened as the girl on the floor in front of him. He was only twenty years old, too young an age to have the lives of others thrust upon him. The idea of life and death, and having the power to take the first of those things away, frightened him. He thought of how easy it would be to kill the girl if she were lying. But she wasn't. She wouldn't do that. Not to him. Not after what they'd been through. Slowly, he staggered backwards, releasing his wand's grip on the girl's neck. He stared down at the girl, and eyed with embarrassment the red circle point on the girl's neck that was becoming more and more red by the second.
"I believe you."
The girl sat on her knees gasping for breath, but she managed to give him a wry smile.
"Thank goodness for small favors."
Sirius smiled slightly, then shook his head.
"You shouldn't have come."
"Well, I was due for a visit anyway."
"I thought we'd agreed it was better not to associate with each other anymore. We couldn't seem to keep our tempers in check when we did see each other."
"Dumbledore said that if I ever needed to talk to you, I, well, I should come. No matter what had happened between us."
"Look, it wasn't anything. Alright? It was a fling. Not even a fling! You're just a kid for crying out loud! Yeah, you're graduating this year," He said as the girl began to protest. "But who cares? You're still a kid. I was just nice to you because, because,"
"Yeah, go on. I'm loving this." The girl snarled, her hands clamped tightly on her hips.
"Because you were such a freak."
"What?"
"You're not like everyone else, okay? You're just not! It wasn't my fault that you had to be all weird with your little laboratory, okay!"
"My little laboratory?" The girl spat. "They were useful concoctions! I made several helpful potions, Sirius!"
"Yeah, and what did that get you? No friends."
"So what? At least I could whip up a potion in no time flat. At least, you cared to drop by. It wasn't my fault you left, Sirius."
"My fault? My fault? I'll tell you what was my fault. Allowing myself to open up to you in the first place!"
"Whatever! Why the hell did I come over here if you're just going to tell me off?"
"I don't know! Why don't you just get the hell out of here!"
"Fine!"
"FINE!"
The girl stormed towards the door, but stopped as she placed her hand on the handle and Sirius's rough voice spoke behind her.
"Listen. I didn't mean that." Slowly, she turned around. "I didn't mean that." He whispered. "I'm just worried about James and Lily. I, I've got this feeling too. I don't know what it is."
Sympathy and forgiveness slowly exuded from the girl's eyes as she nodded solemnly.
"Then go to them. Go to Peter early. Make sure everything's fine. If it's just a hunch, then it's just a hunch that was proved wrong. We'll both sleep better if you check it out."
A sly look came across Sirius Black's face and he walked up to the girl till he was standing a mere few inches away from her and leaned against the door frame.
"Maybe we should let bygones be bygones and you hang out here a while. Then I think we'd both sleep better."
The girl's eyes widened, then she laughed loudly and smacked his muscle-toned arm.
"Maybe you should get over yourself. I'm just a kid remember?"
Sirius chuckled and brushed his black hair away from his face. Then as he continued to eye the girl, he sobered and sighed deeply.
"I can't wait till all this is over. Then I'll be able to relax."
"Yeah. I know."
"Then perhaps I'll allow you to try out my own personal invention."
The girl's eyebrows raised and she eyed Sirius curiously.
"You? An inventor? I hardly believe it."
"Believe it, lady. You know how I got that Muggle motorcycle last year?"
"Yeah, it's a piece of junk."
"Says you. But I made a few improvements. It flies."
"It flies?!" The girl gasped, surprise showing clearly in her eyes.
"What can I say? I never really cared for broomsticks. It's a wee bit too hard on the bum, I always say. So, maybe sometime I'll take you for a whirl."
"Yeah, sure. If I've got a death wish."
"Might not be a bad way to die, girlie. Flying so high you can almost touch the moon,"
"And then plummeting to my death. No, that doesn't seem so bad." The girl quipped.
Sirius threw his head back and laughed long and hard at the image the girl had presented to him. Then he rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably as his laughter died away. He glanced at the girl, then at the floor, then back again. The girl shifted restlessly.
"Maybe we could even try to work out the stuff between us, you know? Just work on it." He said quietly.
The girl bit her lip as she continued to stare at Sirius. She knew that he didn't understand. He didn't know what she knew, what knowledge she possessed. The knowledge her brain held could turn the tide of the war. She had the information. She only had to send it. She couldn't endanger him in that knowledge, but she didn't want to lose him either. Two choices lay in the balance, one easy, the other hard.
"I don't think so, Sirius." She breathed deeply as his eyes widened and she cut him off before he could speak. "I need to, to get away. I don't think we are right, for, for anything." She faltered. "You're meant for other things. I'm meant for, other things too. I,"
"You're stuttering."
"I know that, Sirius!" She snapped, immediately regretting it as the wry smile disappeared from his face. "Look. Just forget about me, okay? Forget that I was ever around. It'll be better that way."
"What, you gonna put a memory charm on me?"
He had asked it jokingly, but he was shocked by the sincerity in the girl's eyes as she answered.
"If it comes to that."
"But, Me-,"
"Don't, don't." She gently placed one finger against his lips and held it there. "Don't try to make me stay. Go to Peter. Live your life without me. Just forget. Just forget me. Good-bye, Sirius."
"What do you want me to do?"
The girl stopped dead as she moved to open the door of the house. She slowly turned around to face Sirius. He was standing straight, hands outstretched, confusion echoing clearly in his eyes. It had been the tone of his voice that had stopped her. It was filled with complete helplessness.
"What?"
"What do you want me to do? I'll do anything. I'll give you anything. Don't leave again."
"I've got to, Sirius. It's best if we don't see each other again."
"You're just as stubborn as before, you know that?"
"Well, some things never change."
Sirius's pale eyes narrowed and he shook his head at the girl standing before him.
"Why?"
"I can't tell you. I don't want to hurt you."
"Too late."
"Sirius, just let me go. It's better this way."
"Look! I'm going to lose more friends than I'd like to this war, to this madman. I don't want to lose more than I have to! Now, STAY HERE!"
"Sirius, you can't make me."
"Yes, I CAN!"
The girl looked stunned for a moment, then she shook her head and chuckled before brushing away a strand of hair that had fallen into Sirius' eyes in his explosion.
"Sorry, Sirius. You can't control everyone with your boyish charm."
Sirius' eyes softened, but he shook his head regretfully.
"What can I say? It usually works."
"I'm so sorry, Sirius. Get to Peter and the Potters before it's too late. Bye."
It was one of only a few times that Sirius Black was stunned into silence. He watched as the girl's shadow passed over the threshold and her hand gently closed the door. Her eyes were the last thing he saw, dark and sad, but filled with an emotion he didn't understand. Regret? Pain? If she felt those things, why was she doing this? Why? It was probably for a reason, but every emotion that he'd felt that evening, worry, fear, combined with the helpless feeling of joy and passion that had been aroused in her coming, had left him stone blind. James needed him. Lily needed him. Peter most definitely needed him, the helpless git.
But he, what about Sirius Black? He needed her, more than she or even he knew. But he could only stand there in the doorway, his dumbfounded face reflected in the mirror on the wall, his lips able to do nothing but mouth her name as the door swung closed, blocking her body from his view for what would be the last time.
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But if ever you should stray,
Just sing along and I will play,
Or look into your hands,
I'm slipping through them like a tiny grain of sand.
I remember you,
Do you remember me too?
Seems like such a long, long time.
Since I held you near and called you mine.
Cause I would give everything that I own.
I'd give you my heart and this skin and these bones,
The sun, the moon, the Earth, the sky,
A brand new car that you and I could drive.
I would do anything,
And I would give everything,
To be your everything.
************************************************************************
Present Day, October 31.
The girl sat against the low stone wall that protruded from the dark earth of backyard. Her long red hair shone dully in the moonlight that passed through the darkness of the night. She brushed a strand of hair from her eyes and sighed deeply, looking up intensely at the brilliant moon.
She was remembering things. Remembering the past few weeks events, how the war had been ended, how Voldemort had finally been defeated. Then she remembered the last time she'd seen the one she loved. It had been here in this very backyard. She remembered how they'd stood in the shadows of the trees on a deep night like this so that her brothers would be unable to see them from the lit windows of her home. She remembered how his brilliant green eyes had sparkled when she whispered how glad she was to see him. That last time seemed like so long ago.
That last time, he'd told her that the chances of them seeing each other again for a time were minimal. He was proceeding to the countryside with her brother Ron to head a defense for the Muggle villages in that area. She had stayed at home with her twin brothers, the only two of her brothers who had elected to stay in the village of Ottery St. Catchpole to protect its occupants against dementor attacks.
Her brother Bill and Charlie had been positioned somewhere in Europe, the family wasn't allowed to know where. Ron and Hermione, who'd been married a year ago, went away with Harry Potter to the countryside. As for her brother Percy, no one had seen him since Voldemort's defeat. He had been confronted by Harry Potter and Ron in that time and Ron was unable to destroy him. Instead, he attempted to arrest his brother for treason. She thought that he should have known that Percy would not go willingly. He had blinded Ron with a complicated curse and had fled in the fray that followed. Ron's eyesight had been partially restored by the help of the staff of St. Mungo's, but the scars would remain, physically and mentally.
And Voldemort? He had been destroyed by Harry Potter as it had been predicted years ago when he'd first gone to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. How the Dark Lord had been killed, she hadn't been able to find out. It was classified information.
She trembled with excitement and cold as a bone-chilling autumn wind coursed through the back-yard. Charlie and Bill had made it home safely, she and her twin brothers, Fred and George had survived the attack on Ottery St. Catchpole by several Death Eaters and dementors. Lucius Malfoy had been arrested and sent to Azkaban, the only Death Eater to be apprehended, instead of escaping or being killed like his fellow Death Eaters. Her mother and father had also survived the war and were anxiously awaiting the return of Ron, Hermione and the little life she carried inside her body. They were also waiting for a tall boy with jet-black hair and a curious lightening-bolt scar etched into his forehead.
Granted, she was eager to see her brother and sister-in-law again, but she was more excited to see the last boy. Would he have changed? Would the war have taken its toll on him? The last she'd seen him, he'd still been handsome. Weary and battle-scarred, but still handsome. He'd finally grown into a man, a feat she could truly applaud him for. Not many believed that Harry Potter would grow to see manhood. But she had. She always had.
"Ginny?"
She stood still a moment, a shudder paralyzing her body as she heard the voice speak softly behind her. It was him. It could be no one else. Cautiously, she turned about to face him.
He was standing in the shadow of the house, his face barely illuminated by the lights shining from the windows. He was broadshouldered and tall, but his hair was still shaggy and hung in his sparkling green eyes. She smiled as he brushed away a strand of the black hair with a long finger, a familiar motion to her. He hadn't changed.
"Yes, Harry. It's me."
Harry Potter slowly stepped into the moonlight and moved towards Ginny Weasley till he stood directly in front of her. It was then that Ginny saw the raw scratches that still marred the white of his face. His eyes were more tired than they had been so many years ago, but the familiar fires still burned within them. Then he smiled. That hadn't changed either.
"Well, Ginny, you haven't changed a bit." He chuckled.
"You haven't either."
"Are you okay? You aren't hurt?"
She shivered happily as he gently caressed her arm.
"No. I'm not. I got a horrible burn on my head and a lovely, lady-like scar on my ring finger, but I'm alright." She said with a smile.
"I'm glad to hear it."
"What about you, Harry? You are okay, aren't you?" She pressed apprehensively.
He shrugged.
"I'm alright. I'm more tired than anything." He sighed deeply. "I'm glad it's over, Ginny. So glad. For the first time in nineteen years, I'll actually be able to sleep well without worrying about Voldemort coming after me or any of my friends. It's such a relief."
"I believe it." She murmured.
"Of course, I'll have to relieve the whole thing again in a little bit. I've got to go back to the Ministry and give a testimony about the whole thing, especially on the issue of Pettigrew."
"Oh! Will he have a trial?"
"Of course. Even the Death Eaters had trials. He's got to get a trial like the rest of them, even though it's rather clean-cut. Dumbledore will see that he's charged justly, which is more than I could have said for Fudge." Harry said grimly.
Ginny nodded slowly. After Voldemort's defeat, Dumbledore had been elected by the wizarding people to take the place of the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. It had been an affair that many people had protested, but she knew it was for the best in the end. Dumbledore would take care of the wizarding world and its concerns.
"How's Sirius taking it?" Ginny asked quietly.
"Well, actually." Harry said immediately. "He's just relieved its over for the most part. We haven't gotten rid of all of Voldemort's supporters, but we've taken out the main core."
"Did he tell you anymore about that girl who left him that information?"
Harry shook his head.
"Not much. He won't even tell me her name. Whoever she was, she hurt him badly. But she saved us all." Harry said reverently.
Ginny nodded. A few weeks before the end of the war, when things had seemed most hopeless, Sirius had been sent an owl which contained letters pertaining to the defeat of Voldemort. They were more theories than anything, but they had given Sirius something to work with. He spread these theories among the armies and they were debated over until they agreed on one that would be most likely to succeed. Sirius had no idea who had sent him the theories, but they were dated October the thirty-first, nineteen hundred and eighty-one and the letters were all signed by a woman he professed to have known.
"His face, Ginny." Harry had told her several weeks ago after the papers were first sent to Sirius. "His face went completely white. I've never seen him look so bloody scared."
Whoever the woman was, Sirius refused to say. All he had told Harry was that she was a great woman, a very stupid, but great woman. She'd been killed by Voldemort during the summer before Harry's fifth year.
"I wish he'd tell me about her." Harry murmured wistfully. "He'd probably feel better about the whole thing if he'd talk about it. But you know him. He likes to keep things inside, close to him. He doesn't want anyone else to be burdened by his problems." Harry sighed deeply and eyed the moon above him. "You know, Ginny, my Mum and Dad died tonight."
"I know." Ginny said, nodding.
"It's still weird. They were already dead by this time and me, I was lying about the wreckage. I'm glad I didn't die, as selfish as it sounds."
"It doesn't sound selfish." Ginny protested.
"I've wished I had though, lots of times during school. I didn't think I deserved to live. But, but now I know that there was a reason I lived. I had to live to save the lives of the people I love." Harry whispered.
"And we're all so glad you did live." Ginny said, smiling.
Harry grinned and ran his finger down her face.
"Me too." He breathed deeply and glanced around him before he turned back to face her. "Listen, Ginny, there's something I've got to ask you."
"Alright."
"I, I'm not going to lie. This war has changed me. I'm a bit more sarcastic than I used to be. The result of spending too much time with Ron." Harry paused as Ginny laughed and smacked him good-naturedly. "I'm just not the same as I used to be, but there's one thing that hasn't changed, Ginny. I, I still love you. No war can change that. But I feel like it's selfish to ask you to put up with me and my struggling to get back to normal. And I,"
"Harry, it's not selfish." Ginny cut in, determination lining her face. "Listen, I know what I'm getting into. I wouldn't answer any question unless I was positive of the answer I would give. I can take whatever you can throw at me."
A smile flitted across Harry's face and he nodded silently.
"That's what I hoped you'd say." He whispered hoarsely. "Ginny, despite what I'm going through, despite the hardships we'll face, the danger that will be in store for us, would you marry me?"
"Yes." She whispered. "Yes, yes, yes!"
She couldn't help it. She longed to jump upon him and throw her arms around his neck, but he looked so fragile in that moment, as if all the years that had been added upon his slender body had suddenly appeared in the lines of his youthful face.
But did she really want this? Like he'd said, there would be dangers. Would she be willing to submit to a follower of Voldemort's curses? Would she be willing to suffer the same fate as Harry's mother and father? The same fate of the love of Sirius's life? But there was one fact that reigned in her mind as these doubts besieged her mind. Those people, Lily and James Potter, Sirius and that mysterious girl, they had all weighed the doubts and the fears that besieged them, and they had chosen love. They had chosen rather to love each other than to give in to the threats that encircled them. They had died, but they had loved. Surely, that was the greater thing to hope for. To hope for and to see love in all things, rather than death and misery.
"Yes, Harry. I'll marry you."
An irrepressible grin appeared on Harry Potter's face as he saw firm resolve spread across Ginny Weasley's fair face. She realized what she was getting into as she said. Whatever they had to face, they would face it together.
"Thanks, Ginny."
To his surprise, she let loose a peal of cheerful laughter.
"Thanks?! I say I'll marry you, and you say thanks?" Ginny laughed hysterically.
A hot blush crept across Harry's face.
"Well, what else am I supposed to say?" He protested.
Ginny's laughter slowly settled down and she pressed a finger to her cheek.
"Good point."
"Tell you what, Ginny. After we get married, how about I buy us a car."
"A car?"
"Yeah! A Muggle car! It'll be fun! We can drive about, see the sights in Muggle towns. How does that sound?"
"It sounds mad, Harry." For a moment, the boy looked hurt. Then Ginny laughed. "But fortunately for you, I love mad schemes. I've hung about my brothers for far too long." She said cheerily.
Harry grinned and said nothing, but grasped the girl closely to him. He had the greatest blessing of his life right in front of him. She'd been there through everything he'd gone through, he just hadn't known it until recently. He'd only seen her as a friend, then he realized the tenderness that shone in her eyes when he approached her. Why he hadn't seen it in his younger years, he couldn't imagine. But he saw it now, and he could only hope that he'd see it forever, or for as long as he lived.
He had love. He thought that it was a great thing, the greatest thing in the world, to love and to be loved in return. What would he have done without this girl in front of him in most recent days? His parents had succumbed to death together, but they had loved each other desperately. Sirius and that girl had loved each other, and one of them had died before the other, leaving one of them with half a life. The other half had been buried deep in the girl's heart at her death. But at least Sirius had known love. Before Harry had come to the Burrow, Sirius had told him urgently,
"It's better to love someone, Harry, than no one at all. I'm not exactly the best person to tell you that, but it's true. I loved someone, and I lost her, but I would have rather lost her than never to have known her. Love of someone does that to you, Harry. You might be hurt by it later, but you'll be grateful that your life was touched by that person. Love is a necessary thing, Harry. Promise me you'll find it someday."
But Harry knew that he had found it. It was resting in his arms. He could lose her and she could lose him in the days to come, but at least they, like those before them, preferred love than never to love at all.
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I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost,
Than never to have loved at all.
~Lyric 27, Alfred Tennyson
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Author's Note: I've had this idea in my head for a LOOOOONNNNNGGGG time. It was just a matter of getting it out of my system. I hope you guys enjoyed this. This story is similiar to my other story "Hello", in that you get to decide who the girl who Sirius loved was. YOU make up her story. It is possible that she was a barely mentioned character in my story, "Harry Potter and the Master's Mirror". That was who I based her off of for my own sake, but you decide. I hope you enjoyed this. I thought it completely sad, but at the same time, ended on a slightly good note. Hope you enjoyed it!
Love you all!
T.H.