A/N: Read and Review!
Chapter 38:
Harry raced over to the map of Diagon Alley and scanned it. No Tom Riddle; no Voldemort… and people were still walking around, leisurely, so there hadn't been an attack… and all of the Aurors stationed there seemed to be boredly pacing.
"Malfoy? Are you sure…"
"Yes," said Draco immediately. "Is he not there anymore?" Harry shook his head.
"Not on here."
Draco's eyes looked clouded with worry. "We should still tell Dumbledore."
"What are we supposed to tell him, Malfoy? He'll take the map, and the school will get a ton more restrictions put on it… he's gone now. So let's not bother," snapped Harry. Lenore looked up at Harry, her emerald eyes wide with fear.
"Are you sure-" she began tentatively.
"I'm positive," said Harry. "Voldemort's gone now, and-"
"You don't believe me, do you?" asked Draco, a temper rising to the surface. Harry sighed.
"Yes, Malfoy, I believe you, but-"
"We need to tell Dumbledore, Harry," whispered Ginny. Harry glared at her.
"Dumbledore never tells us anything; he forgot to ever mention my being the only one who could defeat Voldemort for fifteen years; he's probably still hiding loads from us! He never told me I had a cousin for Merlin's sake!"
"Did he know about her?" asked Draco furiously.
"Of course he knew!" shouted Harry.
"Lupin knew, too, Harry, and he never told you," whispered Lenore sadly.
"WELL THAT'S NOT THE POINT!"
"Harry! WOULD YOU GET A GRIP? STOP PITYING YOURSELF! OTHER PEOPLE HAVE HAD HARD LIVES, TOO, YOU KNOW! EVEN THOUGH YOURS HAS BEEN HARDER THAN MOST, THAT GIVES YOU NO RIGHT TO DECIDE WHO SHOULD KNOW WHEN BLOODY VOLDEMORT IS IN FRICKIN DIAGON ALLEY! MERLIN!" shouted Lenore heatedly, red in the face and more upset than Harry had ever seen her before.
Harry immediately felt horrible, but his stubbornness led him to charge from the room, slamming the door behind him, feeling extremely reckless and upset. He felt like breaking things, anything… Suddenly portrait on the corridor Harry was storming down exploded. Oops, though Harry, though he honestly didn't care too much.
He kept going, blocking everything possible from his mind, leaving him to dwell on all of the bad things that he had seen… his mother's screams… Sirius, going through the veil… Cedric, dropping dead limply beside Harry, in a dark graveyard… Crucio… Bellatrix Lestrange, Voldemort… Crucio… Lenore crying… dying, everyone dying…
It was storming outside. The rain pillaged from the sky, and thunder was rumbling meticulously. Every few minutes a bolt of lightning would erupt from the sky. The weather matched Harry's mood perfectly. He needed to do something, anything, to get his mind off of everything…
Harry's body seemed to walk mechanically to his dormitory, ignoring both Ron and Hermione's hellos. He grabbed his firebolt and opened the window, going out for a ride. Flying would work; flying always worked. Flying made him forget about love, and life, and death, and sorrow… When you were flying, the only thing you knew was speed; acceleration; height.
Harry's robes were immediately drenched in the icy rainwater. He flew out to the Quidditch pitch, diving and soaring through the clouds. His heart suddenly wrenched painfully. This was where he had first seen Sirius, in dog form…
Suddenly, a roll of thunder clapped loudly, and his broom began lurching and bucking, much like Harry's nimbus had in his first year. I loved that broom… another death I was responsible for… Harry tried holding on, but he suddenly felt so tired… He looked to the ground and could make out hazy figures. And suddenly, he was falling…
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
When Harry awoke, he recognized the feel of the crisp, white sheets in the Hospital Wing. Oh, great, he thought. Now what did I do to get in here? He tried sitting up but felt heavy and numb. He opened his eyes and suddenly heard an excited voice.
"Oh, Harry! You're awake! Oh, God, I was so worried! If anything happened I would never have forgiven myself; Oh, Harry!" Harry tiredly fumbled for his glasses and put them on mechanically. He blinked as Ginny came into focus.
"W- what happened?" he yawned, sitting up. Ginny's large brown eyes widened.
"Oh, Harry! I'm so sorry! If anything would have happened, I wouldn't… I don't know what I would've done!"
"Because you see me as a brother?" asked Harry dryly.
Ginny suddenly began crying. "Harry… I was so stupid! I- I'm s-s-so sorry! I wasn't s-sure, and… th-then I was alone with D-Draco, and he kissed m-me, and I th-thought I really liked him, and I couldn't figure out my feelings for you! B-but when th-they told me what h-h-happened, I knew I loved you, Harry! A-and n-not like a b-brother! I broke up with D-Draco, a-and… I'll understand if you d-don't like me, and i-if you n-n-never f-forgive me, b-but-"
"Ginny?" asked Harry softly, taking her hand and pulling her to sit on the hospital wing bed.
"Y-yes?" she asked, her brown eyes filled with emotion.
"Did you mean that?" asked Harry quietly. Her red hair shone beautifully in the bright lights…
"Yes," she whispered. "With m-my whole heart!"
"Ginny, I… I think I've loved you for a while now…"
"Really?" she asked, looking down at him.
"Yeah," said Harry, and it was true. Ginny made him feel so… amazing, like no girl ever had before. He felt so deeply about her. Ginny smiled through her tears and hugged Harry tightly.
After a moment she spoke again. "We've been sitting by you in shifts… The DA's begun the patrolling! Ron conducted a meeting, with Hermione, last night, because we didn't know when you would wake up… Everyone's so worried, and Lenore feels so bad; she's blaming it on herself. Draco seems rather subdued, too, and I felt so awful… can you forgive us?"
"Of course, Gin. But what happened? All I remember is that stupid argument… and you three were right, too… and then I went out on my broom, and… I fell. But that's weird! I never fall on my broom unless-"
"Someone hexes you," finished Ginny.
"Exactly," Harry continued, "but-" He then looked up at Ginny, and her eyes confirmed his fears. "Who-"
"Death Eaters," whispered Ginny darkly. "The Lestranges and Rookwood, we think… but they got away. That's why we decided to begin patrolling…"
"Wait! Why did they… what did they do to me?"
"We don't exactly know why they came, but… they apparently cast a sleeping spell on you, but Rookwood gave you a bit of an overdose… Anyway, once you hit the ground, they wanted to wake you up… they cast Crucio on you for about five minutes, Harry," she said fearfully.
"Seriously?" he asked. "That could've-"
"Killed you," she finished quietly. "You were bloody out of it for three days… We didn't know if you'd-" she swallowed. "If you'd ever… wake up," she said in a strangled voice.
"Who found me?" asked Harry. Ginny was just about to answer when Madame Pomfrey bustled in. Upon seeing Harry, she heaved a sigh of relief.
"Thank Merlin you're up! Oh, we thought… never mind, I daresay you need rest, and are you feeling a bit woozy? Pain reliever, of course…"
She then threw some Floo powder into her fireplace. "Albus!" she called. "He's awake!" She then began preparing a potion. A moment later, Dumbledore stepped out of the fireplace.
"Ah… Harry. And Miss Weasley. So nice to see you're finally up; you gave us quite a scare…" Harry remained silent. He didn't know exactly why, but he was upset with Dumbledore at the moment.
"Professor?" he asked.
"Yes, Harry?"
"May I have a few moments alone with Ginny?" Dumbledore looked slightly upset, but he nodded.
"I will come back later, then, after you have seen all of your friends…" he then walked back into the fireplace, looking old and tired, and Flooed back to his office.
Madame Pomfrey then walked over holding a vial of purple medicine. "Drink," she said strictly.
Harry lifted it up and winced. It smelled like Muggle Cough Syrup. He wrinkled his nose.
"Do I have t-" he began.
"Yes, Potter," cut in the Nurse. Harry gulped it down quickly, almost gagging, and he grabbed the glass of water Madame Pomfrey offered him. She then walked away, and Harry turned back to Ginny, the girl who liked him, and not Draco Malfoy.
Ginny looked down. "Dumbledore just wants to help you know…" Harry was about to retort when Ginny shook her head. "Never mind. I probably don't know the entire story, Harry… let it drop." Harry slowly nodded.
"So who found me?" Ginny looked up at the ceiling for a moment.
"Firenze."
"The Centaur?" asked Harry, shocked. "Oh, yeah… I forgot he still lived here…"
Ginny nodded. "I never even knew until the other day… They live on top of the Hospital Wing, you know…"
"Really? Now I know where to find them," chuckled Harry, "If I am ever in need to a Centaur…"
"They came in useful against Umbridge," said Ginny truthfully. Harry nodded.
"Though they nearly took me and 'Mione…" he muttered darkly. Suddenly, his head seemed to lighten, and the room came into better focus, just as the door opened. It was Hermione and Ron, followed moments later by Lenore and Draco. Even though Harry was quite bedridden still and not fully into it, he noticed that both pairs were holding hands. Lenore saw that Harry was looking at her hand linked with Draco's, and she grinned. Lenore hurried over to Harry's bedside.
"Move, Gin; make way for cousin…" Ginny smiled and stood up from the bed as Lenore replaced her, getting first priority, as family.
Lenore's emerald eyes bore into Harry's. And suddenly, they were communicating telepathically, though Harry had no idea how…
I don't know what to say to Harry, and…
Lenore?
Harry?
I can read your thoughts.
Oh my gosh! I can read yours too! This is kind of freaky…
Merlin… this is bloody brilliant! Remind me to ask Hermione about this stuff later…
Okay, well, wanna talk this way?
Sure.
I'm really, really sorry, Harry. I didn't mean to sound so cruel the other day…
Forget it, Lenore. It wasn't your fault.
Thanks, even though it was…
Forget it, Lenore. So, are you and Draco together?
Lenore grinned. Yep. That was my problem from that room, you know; that I still liked Draco, and it turned out that he still liked me and Ginny still like you… kind of twisted, really.
No kidding. I think I'm asking Ginny to the Halloween ball…
Really? Oh my gosh, guess what!
What?
Do you really want to know?
YES!
Seriously?
Yeah…
Okay, guess what…
WHAT!
Sorry, sorry… Ron and Hermione got together! They want to be a couple! Isn't that sweet?
You're kidding. Ron and Hermione are going out?
Yep! And-
"For the love of Merlin, why are you staring at each other like that?" asked Draco suddenly.
"Yeah, it's kind of freaky," added Ginny.
"Oh! Sorry!" smiled Harry. "Hermione, what do you know about communicating telepathically?" Everyone's eyes widened.
"Oh, Harry, it's fascinating, and-"
"So you and Ron are a couple?" Hermione and Ron reddened, Draco rolled his eyes, and Lenore and Ginny both giggled.
"Who told you?" demanded Ron, scandalized. Harry grinned.
"It's okay, Mate, I think it's cool… Lenore told me."
"But… but… you were… Oh, never mind!"
A/N: Okay, yay! This chapter was slightly longer! I'm excited that Harry and Ginny are finally back together… they're my favorite match! : ) And just to let you know, Harry and Ginny were getting together in this chapter anyway, not because somebody threatened to stop reading it if Harry and Ginny didn't get together soon. I've had this chapter written for several days. Anyways, please review!