Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the works by JK Rowling. I, like so many others, am merely borrowing them as a basis for my own work of fanfiction.

Insanity

Chapter 5 – Healing The Wounded Healer

November 12, 2001, 6:00 am The Lion's Den, Sealed Room

The room was silent, except for the occasional hiss from the torches on the walls, the slow, halting breathing of the nude young man lying unmoving on the floor, and the deep, heart wrenching sobs of the young witch sitting on the floor next to him. Fastened to the young man's bruised, raw and bleeding wrists and ankles were iron cuffs connected to heavy stone blocks by sturdy chains.

With a gentle, yet trembling, hand, Ginny reached out and brushed the hair back from Harry's face. Fresh tears ran down her cheeks as she looked at the bruises and lacerations that marred the normally pale complexioned skin. She sat there, arms wrapped securely around her drawn up knees, rocking and watching him breathe, and feeling the warmth of his love for her through the bond that had been established between them over three days ago.

In her mind's eye, she saw scattershot images of the last three days:

Her voice screaming crucio, the sickly light bursting from her wand, his body writhing in pain, screams erupting from his throat;

Her hand wielding a cat-o-nine tails whip that slowly shredded the skin of his back, his body jerking with the blows, screams tearing from his mouth;

The hammer descending on his knee, shattering the joint, him sobbing in pain;

A feeling of discord in her heart and mind as if two sides of her psyche were waging war with one another;

Her foot hammering into his ribs, the sudden droplets of blood coming from his mouth as he coughed and retched;

The smell of his burning flesh as she burned the words "I WILL NOT LIE TO GINEVRA MOLLY WEASLEY" into his body with a slow moving red-hot poker. Tears pouring from his eyes, and mucus running from his nose as he fought against the petrifying spell she held him under, and the gag she had bound tightly across his mouth;

The knife carving curses into the skin of his chest and abdomen, the blood running down his body, painting him red, tears flowing from his eyes as he watched her;

His body, hanging from the enchanted chains, arms stretched over his dangling, bloodied head, wounds too numerous to count dripping blood onto the floor;

His eyes staring into hers, green into brown, losing herself in the depths, feeling a battle taking place deep in her soul, heart, and spirit;

Rage taking over once again, rage at the love and concern she saw in those emerald eyes, her blood stained hands grasping the poker, once again heated until it was brightly glowing with heat. The tip of the poker searing through his tightly closed eyelids, leaving charred pits where there were once brilliant, expressive eyes;

Feeling her soul, once whole, then sundered by untold tortures, battling itself in an attempt to end her madness. Her soft, gentle, compassionate, loving, fearful half struggling with the cold, adamant, hating, raging, protecting half. A swirling battle of color and light as the two halves of her sundered soul simultaneously fought to merge into one and to keep separate and protected;

Feeling the steady, warm pulse of emotion coming through the bond;

A feeling of completeness, of unity, as the war within ended and the two sides reconciled and became one united being once again;

Feeling the warmth of his love for her unwavering through his pain and anguish.

Hearing her voice whispering apologies to his broken body lying limply on the stone floor;

Hearing his shattered voice plead for her forgiveness for his mistakes, desperate tears weeping from his ruined eyes;

Feeling his hands gently squeezing hers, despite the pain she knew he was feeling from the broken bones, hearing his fading voice whisper his forgiveness;

Her hand, no longer trembling for the moment, gently brushing his tears away, feeling her heart lurch in her chest as she forgave him and released her pent up rage, anger, and terror;

Seeing the golden glow rekindle around them as she felt, unmuted by her rage and in full measure for the first time, the warmth of his love for her flooding through the bond;

Watching his face, tense with anxiety, relax as he felt her banish her rage and release her returned love for him through the bond;

Hearing a clear, clarion-like exultation in the vaults of her mind, and a warm, strong voice declaring a benediction over the two of them as the golden glow brightened around them once again;

Seeing her world fade to black as her strength, sustained and driven over the past two days by her rage, left her in the wake of her healing;

Coming back to awareness a few minutes ago, lying spooned around Harry's still shattered body;

As she looked at him, the medi-witch trainee part of her catalogued his visible injuries and realized that all injuries that were permanent or would have resulted in life-long scarring were gone. Her stomach unclenched itself as she realized that not only were his eyelids whole and uncharred once again, but the hideous brands left by her mimicry of Umbridge's blood quill across the skin of his body were gone, replaced by smooth skin, unmarked except for the lacerations and lash marks. Amazed, grateful laughter bubbled up inside of her soul, and she felt for a moment a warm, soothing touch deep in her heart, and knew that Someone had been watching over she and Harry and had intervened.

As she watched, a sudden movement on his part caused her to hold her breath, and she saw his eyelids, miraculously whole once again, start fluttering and his lips open slightly. A barely audible moan disturbed the quiet dungeon. "... uuunnnhhhh ..."

Ginny's heart leaped into her throat, and she whispered, "Harry?"

A deeper groan of pain came from his bruised mouth as he shifted a little on the cold stone floor, his chains rattling. "nnnnnnngggggghhhhhhhh."

Fresh tears streamed down her face and she reached out with trembling fingers to brush back the hair that was matted to his forehead. "Harry ... please ... wake up."

"mmmmmm?"

"Harry, it's me, Ginny ... I ... need you to wake up now."

"Gggiiiinnnnnneeee?"

"Yes, Harry, it's me."

"'uuurrrrttttssss."

"I know, Harry ... believe me, I know."

"'mmm ssss'rrreeee, Giiiiinnnn ..."

"Please don't apologize, Harry ... you didn't do anything wrong."

"... llllooossstttt youuuu ..."

"We can talk about this later, Harry. I need you to drink this now.'

"Whaa' iss 'tt?"

"It's a mild healing potion, Harry. It's all I could find in here."

"Uggghhh"

"I know it tastes gross, Harry. Here, sip this one next."

"Wha?"

"It's a strengthening potion, Harry, to help wake you up a little and focus."

Harry felt the warmth from this latest potion work its way through his system. As it did, more feeling started coming back to him, and he felt increasing amounts of pain coming from his abused body. As he woke up more, he felt a person's presence near him and started connecting to the snatches of conversation that he could recall from a few minutes ago. He also became aware that the emotional feedback he was getting through the bond was radically different than it had been in the beginning. It was warm and welcoming as opposed to cold and furious.

"Ginny?" The healing and strengthening potions had done wonders for his voice, and it no longer sounded slurred, but instead just held the raspiness that bespoke of much overuse.

"Yes, Harry. It's me. I'm here."

"Is it really you?" Harry's voice was wary, but hopeful.

Ginny heard the wariness and the hope, and smiled sadly as she answered. "Yes, Harry, it is really me. I'm back."

Harry sighed in relief. "Missed you."

"I missed you too, Harry." Ginny's voice cracked as a fresh set of tears ran down her pallid cheeks.

"Please don't cry Ginny ... please don't."

"I'm just ... I was awful to you."

"It wasn't your fault, Ginny. None of it was your fault."

"But the things I said to you ... did to you ... and all those other things."

"How much do you remember?"

"I remember a lot. I remember screaming at you at St. Mungos, attacking you, yelling at everyone. It ... I ... was horrible!"

"It wasn't you, Ginny ... at least not the real you."

"And now this ... Harry ... I ..."

"It's okay, Ginny."

"It's NOT okay, Harry! I tried to kill you!"

"No you didn't, Ginny ... not really."

"Harry! I cursed you ... beat you ... whipped you ... burned you ... cut you ... broke your arms and legs ... blinded you ... oh Merlin, I think I'm going to be sick."

Ginny dropped her face into her hands and her body started shaking from the strength of her sobbing. Harry's heart squeezed in his chest, and before he could think about what he was doing he reached out for her. Pain shot through him as he moved his arm and felt the broken bones grating on one another. He also felt stabbing pains in his chest as his muscles shifted to support the weight of his lifting arm and tugged on the ends of his broken ribs.

"Ahhhhhhhh ... shite!" The pain was too sudden and too overwhelming for him to contain, and a half-gasp, half-shriek and a curse escaped from his mouth. Ginny jerked her hands down and looked at him in shock before she scooted to his side.

"Don't move, Harry! Please just hold still!"

Ginny tried to gently shift Harry to a more comfortable position, but everywhere she touched him caused new pain to flare across his much abused body. The slight shifting of his body dragged his torn, abraded, and lacerated skin on his back painfully across the stone floor. Harry managed one quick shriek of agony before being dragged into blissful darkness.

Harry drifted in blackness for a while, welcoming the relief from pain. After an unknown period of time, he started hearing a faint voice.

"... don't deserve ... unforgivable ... I ... horrible person ... better off ... never see him again ..."

Awareness came flooding back in for the second time that morning, and Harry forgot that he had been blinded and so opened his eyes to see the slight body capped with red hair that threw back the fire of the torches. The dark crimson and gold curtain of her hair hid her face, her hands were clenched in her lap, and her shoulders were shaking from the deep wracking sobs between which she was muttering about her worthlessness.

"Hey ... I can see again!" Harry's voice was a little stronger this time around, and the figure next to him froze in reaction.

"Oh, Merlin, Harry ... I'm ... I'm"

"Shhhh, Ginny. I know you hurt me ... a lot. That was sort of my plan. But you didn't kill me. You didn't even really try. Yes, you used the cruciatus curse, but you didn't use the killing curse. Yes, you beat me, but not fatally. Yes, you broke some of my bones ... but not anything that can't be fixed."

"Harry ... I burned your eyes out! How can you possibly say I only did things that could be fixed?" Ginny's voice was touched with confusion at Harry's seeming expectance of everything she had done to him.

"Well, I can see you fine now, so someone healed my eyes."

"Harry, even the best medi-wizard can't repair eyes that have been burned out with a white hot poker!"

"Well, someone had to have done it, I mean they couldn't just fix themselves ... could they?"

"I don't know, Harry ... I remember blinding you." Ginny's voice broke on a sob as she remembered the horrible popping and hissing sounds Harry's eyes made as she pushed the poker into them. "Pushing the poker into your eyes ... watching them burn up ..." Her voice trailed off as she remembered waking up next to him and discovering that all of the permanent damage had vanished from Harry's body. "But then when I woke up a little while ago, your eyes were back to normal, and the burns where I had written lines on you were gone.

"Oh, Merlin, Harry I did horrible things to you ... you must hate me now." The despair in Ginny's voice overwhelmed Harry, and he felt tears start down his face.

Simultaneously steeling his voice to remain firm and yet soft, Harry pushed all the love and compassion that he could manage through the still present bond. "Ginny, you know that's not true ... you can feel that isn't true ... that's what this was all about."

Ginny soaked in the warmth of his voice and the emotional heat flooding her heart and tried to sort through what he had just been saying. A couple of words he had used stood out starkly in her mind and her innate curiosity wouldn't let them slide. "What plan, Harry? And what is all of this about?"

"It's a long story, Gin. Can it wait until after ..." She could hear the sigh in his voice, and knew she was on to something, but the fatigue and pain she also heard made her close off this line of inquiry and shift to things that were of utmost importance.

"You're right, explanations can wait. But there are a few things I need cleared up now ... before anything else." Ginny paused for a moment and a frightened look crept into her eyes. She closed her eyes for a moment, mustering her courage before continuing as best she could. "How do you ... feel ... about me ... I mean ... do you?"

"Gin ... I love you ... now ... and for forever ... I never stopped ... and I meant every word I said to you that last day we had." Now it was Harry's turn to pause and gather his thoughts. "I know that you have been through hell, Ginny. First when you were taken, and then for the next two years."

Slow tears started to drip from the corners of Harry's eyes as he gazed into Ginny's eyes. "I never stopped loving you, you know. You can feel that, right? And I think that you still love me ... at least I hope that's what I'm feeling now."

Ginny smiled softly and closed her eyes, enjoying the comfort of the feeling coming from deep inside of her, and trying to push her feelings for Harry back at him. "I love you too, Harry. Even when I wasn't really me anymore ... I loved you deep down inside ... I think it kept me going even as it hurt ... to know that I loved you ... and yet couldn't bear to see you ... or be reminded of you in any way."

Ginny continued to kneel by Harry's body, and locked her eyes on his. The messages they were exchanging burned deeply into both of their souls, and she felt her spirit soaring as she came to understand that through it all, after all the time that had passed, after all the things she had said and done, he still loved her and wanted her. After many minutes, she came back to herself with a jerk and a gasp. "Oh bloody hell, Harry, I make a pretty poor medi-witch trainee, don't I! Here I am just sitting uselessly by your side!"

Harry chuckled a little at this sudden outburst, and then winced as pain stabbed him. "I think we had more important things to work out, Gin," he said softly, "but now that you mention it ..."

The next half an our passed swiftly, as Ginny cast spell after spell to mend what she could of his broken limbs and ribs, and to cleanse and partially close the multitude of lacerations, and ease his pain. In many cases, the bones were too shattered for her to do more than immobilize the limb with a splinting charm, and a lot of the internal damage was too great for her to mend, leaving her only option to deaden the pain caused by the injury. When she finally finished, the traces of the torture she had inflicted upon Harry were lessened, but many lacerations, bruises, swollen areas, splints, and pain remained. Unfortunately, her training had not given her the knowledge or ability to completely heal any but the most minor of his injuries.

Harry, face pale from blood loss, lay still on the cold stone floor. His appearance had improved dramatically, and no longer did blood continuously drip from his torn body. Hastily conjured bandages wrapped his torso, providing some protection to the extensive lacerations left by the whip and the knife cuts.

"I've done what I can, Harry," Ginny said wearily as she sat slumped by his side. "The rest of it will have to be taken care of at St. Mungos, or by someone more experienced than I."

Harry tried to lever himself into a sitting position, but his muscles were too drained to respond properly. Ginny noticed his efforts and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "You should stay down, Harry. It will be easier for you."

"No Gin, I want to sit up ... I need to sit up."

Harry struggled uselessly for a few seconds until Ginny realized he wasn't going to give up. With a resigned sigh, she reached out and grabbed his hands gently. "Okay, Harry, okay. Sit up on three ... one ... two ... three!" With a gentle pull, Ginny helped Harry shift into a sitting position on the floor.

"Now, what was so important that you just had to sit up?"

Harry looked into Ginny's eyes noticing that the fire that had been missing for two long years was back, even though the redness of her eyes and the dark circles under them showed him how tired she was at the moment. "This," he said, leaning towards her and wrapping his arms around her neck.

After a brief moment of surprise, Ginny responded by putting her arms around Harry and embracing him gently.

"And this," Harry said softly, leaning towards her while never taking his eyes off of hers. Slowly and carefully his lips approached hers, and he watched the anticipation build in her eyes the closer his lips came to hers. With a feather light touch, that nonetheless sent bolts of electricity shooting down his spine, his lips touched hers. They both slowly leaned into the kiss, committing more of themselves to the kiss until their world was focused solely on their gently touching lips.

Unheard by the two of them, the door to the basement room opened with a soft sigh, as the room, recognizing that atonement had been achieved, removed the locking charms.

Reluctantly, but needing to breathe for a moment, Harry pulled away from Ginny. "Mmmmmmm ... that was ... incredible. I've waited for that kiss for over two years, Ginny."

"Oh, me too, Harry, me too!"

This time it was Ginny who leaned in to capture Harry's lips with hers for their second kiss. Fireworks exploded in Harry's head that rivaled the best Weasley Whiz-bangs, and he again felt the bolts of electricity shooting down his spine. After a few moments, the shocks faded into a feeling of warmth that started in his head and heart and spread rapidly through the rest of his body until he felt as though he were perched in an oven instead of sitting in the middle of a stone floored room. "Mmmmmmmmmmm"

Finally breaking this kiss, Harry rested his forehead against hers and looked into her eyes that were brimming over with happy tears. Feeling joyful tears of his own trickle down his cheeks, he asked the question that was foremost in his mind. "Are we okay now?"

Ginny grinned happily before answering, "Yes, Harry, I think we are."

The two were just leaning in for their third kiss of the morning when the happily shocked voice of Molly Weasley broke the silence. "Ginny?"

Maintaining her embrace around Harry's neck, Ginny turned her head and beamed at the people who had just entered the room. "Yes, Mum, it's me. I'm back."

With a low moan, Molly threw herself onto the floor next to her daughter and caught her into one of her trademark hugs. "Oh Ginny, my baby girl ... it is so good to have you back!"

The rest of the Weasley's crowded around also, reconnecting with their daughter and sister. Separated from Ginny's embrace by the crush, and momentarily forgotten in the rush, Harry sat back a little and looked at the other people standing by the door. He smiled broadly at them all, extremely happy that things had, indeed, worked out for the best.

After several minutes spent sitting next to the crying and embracing Weasley clan, Harry began to feel extreme fatigue creeping over him as the strengthening potion that Ginny had given him earlier began to wear off. The toll taken by the last two years of his life, and the last three days that he had spent in this basement room with Ginny came crashing down on him all at once, and he closed his eyes and slumped bonelessly to the floor.

"MERLIN, HARRY!" Hermione's shriek of surprise got everyone's attention, and Molly immediately rounded on Harry and tried to rouse him from his torpor.

"Harry, dear, wake up!"

Mustering energy from somewhere, Harry muttered, "'s 'kay, Mum. 'll be 'kay soon."

Long unused knowledge coming to the fore once again, Ginny went into medi-witch mode, and took control of the situation. "We need to get him to St. Mungos quickly!" Ginny started to rise so that she could levitate Harry out to a fireplace.

Harry felt Ginny pulling away from him and said weakly, "Gin ... please ... don't ... leave ... me ... alone ..."

Abandoning her hasty plan, Ginny knelt back down beside Harry and took his hand in hers. "I promise, Harry, I'll stay with you!"

"I believe that Harry was planning for eventualities such as this when he left me with these portkeys preset for transport to St. Mungo's." The calm voice of the ancient Hogwart's Headmaster washed soothingly over the agitated gathering, and he distributed several lengths of rope.

November 16, 2001, 3:00 pm St. Mungos

Harry drifted in the midst of a warm, dark sea. How long he had been there, he couldn't say. For a while, everything had been uniformly dark and restful. Every so often, shades from his past; his parents and Sirius, most often, had visited him. Unlike other times, when Harry's conscience had tormented him with images or discussions involving death, these visits had been lighthearted and full of warmth and love.

With the inexorability of a sunrise, the darkness slowly lifted around him. As the deep curtain that had shadowed his sea lightened pale gray, and then further brightened to full light, noise started penetrating through to his consciousness. First came far off noises of people walking, doors opening and closing, and people talking. Next came the soft sounds of someone breathing near him, and the occasional rustle of cloth and paper.

Harry moved, causing his sheets to rustle. At the slight noise, he heard whoever was in the room with him gasp in surprise and drop something on the floor with a thud.

"Harry, are you awake now?"

"Mumph," was all he could force out past his parched throat.

"C'mon, Harry. Wake up ... you don't want to sleep your life away, do you?" The familiar voice took on a pleading note.

"Aww, Mum, lemme s'eep!" This time, Harry was able to string a few words together, although not altogether coherently.

"I'm not your Mum, Harry ... would your Mum do this?" The mysterious voice now held a decidedly amused tone, and a warm pair of lips, tasting of strawberry lip-gloss, suddenly pressed down onto his.

"mmmmmmmm ... GINNY!" Harry's eyes flew open in shock, and he saw the blurry image of his love leaning over him.

He saw her hands reach toward his head, and then felt his glasses being settled into position as his vision suddenly became clear. "Good morning, handsome!" If Ginny's smile were any broader, her face would have split in two. Anticipating how dry his mouth was likely to be, Ginny next held a glass full of water up and positioned the straw at his lips. Harry drank greedily, clearing the cotton feeling from his mouth and the dryness from his throat.

Harry was amazed at how happy Ginny looked. It had been two long years since he had seen her smile this brilliantly, and even then the war had cast shadows over her happiness. Now there was nothing dampening her spirits, and her joy at seeing him awake shone through making her more radiantly beautiful than he had ever seen her before. "Wow, Gin! I don't think I've ever seen you look so ... so ... wow!"

Ginny blushed at the praise, before taking his hands in hers. "Thank you, Harry ... I think. I have had plenty of time to get healed up, cleaned up, and rested while waiting for you. Mum has been sneaking food in, so I have been getting plenty to eat as well."

"How long have I been asleep?"

"Four days, Harry ... four long days." Her face dimmed a little, remembering the reasons behind his long slumber, before brightening back up. "On the other hand, I was able to catch up with my family and get a lot of sleep while waiting for you to come back to me."

"Everybody has been by to visit you ... Mum and Dad, Ron and Hermione, the twins, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Professor Dumbledore, Neville, Luna, Remus ... and a lot of other folks. The twins brought a toilet seat ... said you would understand. Your healers have been keeping me posted, and they said that your condition has been improving rapidly. They said I did a pretty good job with the emergency healing that I gave you ... they said that if I hadn't done that you would have died due to the blood loss and trauma. As it was, they worked on you for almost 12 hours straight before you were out of danger."

At these last words, Ginny's face crumpled in guilt, and tears started leaking from her downcast eyes. Feeling a pang in his heart at her sorrow, Harry squeezed her hands in his reassuringly, and reaffirmed that he in no way held her accountable for what had happened in that basement room. "Ginny, listen to me. I don't blame you for anything you did. I knew going into that room that you weren't yourself ... that something Malfoy did caused you to be the way you were. Nothing that happened is your fault! If you want to blame anybody, blame me ... or better yet, blame that bloody bastard Malfoy!"

Ginny's tears evolved into full-fledged weeping, and Harry tried to think of something he could do to shake her out of her present mood. Keeping hold of hands, Harry levered himself upright and pulled her to his bedside. Letting go of her hands, Harry wrapped his arms around her and held her to him in a tight embrace.

After several hours spent sitting together on the bed and talking about the general events of the last two years, both Harry and Ginny succumbed to fatigue and curled up on his bed together and slept.

November 17, 2001, 8:00 am St. Mungos

"I almost forgot that I could leave today. I can't believe I almost forgot that!" Harry practically bounced out of bed after the Matron delivered the good news that he was being discharged.

Ginny laughed as she watched an ecstatic Harry hobbling around his hospital room gathering all of the accumulated items that people had brought by. "Don't worry about it too much, sweetheart! You've had a lot on your mind recently."

"You've got that right, Gin. And one of the things I've been thinking about most is ... "

"Quidditch?" She teased with a wide grin.

Harry looked at Ginny with mock exasperation. "No, Gin, not Quidditch ... you."

"Come again?"

"I've been thinking a lot about you ... and me ... and ..." Harry trailed off, unsure of how she would react to what he was saying.

"And?" Ginny was hoping she knew what Harry was talking about, but was refusing to make any assumptions.

Having promised himself long ago that if he had the opportunity he would not hesitate, Harry finished his interrupted sentence. "And us."

"Us?" Ginny blushed as her voice broke to a near squeak from her tension.

Harry smirked a little at the sound she made. "Ginny, I know we can't erase the last two years ... pretend that none of it ever happened. It did happen, Ginny ... love ... and I believe that we have to accept that and move on from here."

"Harry ... I can't ... it was so awful ... I was ... so ... so horrible." Ginny's demeanor changed as the guilt she still felt crept over her, and her face started crumpling into an expression of misery.

Harry stepped to Ginny's side and wrapped her in his arms. Part of him felt extremely distressed by her grief, but another part of him just enjoyed the feeling of having Ginny in his arms. "Ginny, love ... please listen to me ... it wasn't your fault ... you were hurt by Draco ... broken. It wasn't until a few days ago that you woke to yourself again."

"I ... I ..."

"Please don't cry, Ginny. Please don't. I don't blame you for anything that happened ... not for those two years ... and not for a few days ago either. Please listen to me sweetheart ... after you were taken, I went ... crazy ... I guess. I ... I did a lot of horrible things trying to get you back. I ... killed almost two hundred Death Eaters ... I tortured a lot of them before killing them, too."

This time it was Ginny's turn to comfort Harry. "It's not your fault, Harry ... you were trying to find me ... I don't blame you for what you did ... no one blames you ... I mean, you ended the war with Voldemort ... you killed him."

"If all that is not my fault, Ginny, then the last two years are not yours. You didn't ask Draco Malfoy to kidnap you ... torture you ... rape you ... all the while masquerading as me. You didn't ask to be driven beyond the edge of sanity ... to where you couldn't even stand to be yourself anymore. And you certainly didn't ask to be tortured to the point where you became Ginevra and Molly instead of Ginny. None of that is your fault."

"So if none of that was my fault ... and none of it was your fault ... where does that leave us?"

"Well ... that's what I have been thinking about. I think it leaves us ready to start anew. Do you remember the question that I asked you after your graduation ceremony? You gave me an answer then, and I just want to make sure you still feel the same now." Harry's eyes glowed with his love and hopefulness.

Ginny smiled broadly, casting her mind back to that moment by the shore of Hogwart's lake. "Yes, silly, I remember the question. And what I answered." She couldn't resist drawing it out a little.

Harry swore that if he lived to be older than Albus he would never understand women. "Well, then, have you changed your mind?"

"What was the question again?" Ginny asked with a mock puzzled look on her face.

"Humph!"

"Please?" Ginny widened her eyes and batted her lashes at him in a look that had never failed her before.

Harry rolled his eyes in mock frustration, and then dropped stiffly to one knee in front of a giggling Ginny. "Would you, Ginevra Molly Weasley, Ginny, love of my life, consent to have me as your husband, to stand with me against all dangers, to join our lives together for the rest of our lives, to raise our children to be proud and strong and free, to let me support you in everything you want to do in life and to support me in the things I want to do in mine?"

Ginny's giggles turned into gales of joyful laughter as she responded with the same answer she had given three years earlier. "Yes, Mr. Potter, with all my heart I will have you as my husband and I will be your lover, your partner, your best friend, your wife and the mother of your children."

Authors Notes:

This was a very difficult chapter to write. I kept asking myself if I should write more details or fewer, and finally decided to mention a few things and let the reader's imaginations take over and fill in the blanks as they choose.

I am amazed that I reached 20 reviews, and am very grateful for each and every person that read my story and chose to comment.

Many thanks to my latest reviewers: Eris, Queen of Shadows; Jaquelyne; neilabz; Silver Warrior; Fantasizing-Lady-Knight.

Eris, Queen of Shadows: Yes, I did have to cut it off there ... it seemed to just beg for a cliffhanger after all.

Jaquelyne: Thank you for your review. I am happy that I did not offend you. I have enjoyed your work immensely, especially Bedtime Stories.

Fantasizing-Lady-Knight: Your review came at an opportune time, as I was just readying the next installment. I hope you hang on long enough to read it!