O that 'twere possible,
After long grief and pain,
To find the arms of my true- love
Round me once again!…
A shadow flits before me-
Not thou, but like to thee.
Ah God! that it were possible
For one short hour to see
The souls we loved, that they might tell us
What and where they be.
By Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Chapter XIV: The Winter Term
Three weeks into the new term, each member of the Slytherin house was still continually transforming into ferrets. Unfortunately for Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione, Dumbledore and McGonagall hadn't taken long to figure out who was behind the most memorable prank in Hogwarts history. The four Gryffindors had been heavily punished, but they got the impression that Dumbledore wasn't really that angry with them as the twinkle in his eyes had become much more pronounced.
On the fourth Monday since term had started, Ginny had a message from Dumbledore saying that he needed to see her immediately in his office. Confused and slightly worried, Ginny skipped her potions lesson to head straight for the Headmaster's study.
"Sit down, Miss Weasley," said Dumbledore when she entered.
She sat down in the chair opposite the old man.
"You wanted to see me, sir?" she said.
"Yes, Ginny," Dumbledore said. "I'm afraid that I have some bad news."
"Is it about Harry? Is he okay? Is Voldemort after him?" Ginny asked very quickly.
Dumbledore put his hand up to stop her.
"It's not about, Harry," he said.
"My brothers, my Mum and Dad?" she said.
"No," said Dumbledore quietly. "I'm afraid it's about you."
"What about me?" Ginny asked, her face draining of its colour.
"Do you remember last year, when you were ill?" Ginny nodded slowly.
"Madam Pomfrey has been working with the healers at St. Mungo's ever since to discover exactly what caused it," said Dumbledore.
"Am I dying?" interrupted Ginny.
"And they have finally found the poison which caused your sudden illness," he continued, ignoring her question. "It is a very old, and very dark potion called 'Mortus Maximus'. This potion is very rare and the effects are somewhat unknown, however after weeks of research, Healer Smethwyck has found that the potion has several ways of killing its victims. The first way is fast, it needs only twenty four hours to act. If we had not got to you when we did, then you would have died. The second way it kills is in a way worse. It stays in the bloodstream. There is no true antidote. The ones Madam Pomfrey used did not clear your blood properly. There will still be traces of the potion there."
"I don't understand," said Ginny.
"The poison then multiplies in your blood, spreading to your muscles, organs and finally to your heart. When the poison reaches the heart, it infects all of the blood in your body, spreading its evil throughout you. Over time you would gradually grow weaker until you wouldn't be able to stand, to move or even to breathe," said Dumbledore.
"How can you stop it?" asked Ginny, the cold hand of fear creeping around her heart.
"The only way is to remove the poison from your blood before it reaches your heart," said Dumbledore.
"How long will it take to spread to my heart?" asked Ginny.
"A year," said Dumbledore. "But the third way it kills is the one we most need to worry about. It begins the same way as the second by spreading to your heart, however, because of your close bond with Harry, I fear the poison will not only infect you, but also infect Harry."
"No," whispered Ginny. "Not Harry, he has been through too much. How can I stop it infecting him?"
"It may not infect him, that is more of a guess on my part, judging by what you share," said Dumbledore. "But in answer to your earlier question, Miss Weasley, yes, you are dying."
Ginny gulped slightly.
"How long?" she asked.
"I'm not giving up on you yet," said Dumbledore. "I'm hoping that love may save your heart, or at least, a selfless act in the name of love. If you can't be saved, then you will live three more years."
"You said earlier that if the poison was removed from my blood before a year had gone by then I would be alright," said Ginny.
"But I also told you there is no antidote," said Dumbledore.
"Why did they do this to me?" she asked.
"Voldemort and his Death Eaters, realised that love would be the strength Harry needed to win, but they didn't understand it. They believed that killing you would destroy the extra strength, but in truth it would have made it even stronger," said Dumbledore.
"What am I going to tell Harry?" said Ginny. "It'll destroy him."
"What about you, Ginny?" asked Dumbledore.
"I don't think it has properly sunk in yet," she said. "Do Mum and Dad know?"
"No," said Dumbledore. "But I will be writing to them as soon as you leave."
"I think I should go," said Ginny. "I have Defence Against the Dark Arts in a few minutes, and we have duelling practice today."
"Ah yes," said Dumbledore. "What do you think of Professor Bicycle (yes, that is the same joke name as on JK Rowling's website. I couldn't think of anything else)?"
"He's no Professor Moody," said Ginny. "But we're doing okay. The DA is most helpful though."
"I'm sure it is," said Dumbledore.
Ginny stood up and headed for the door.
"Thank you for telling me, Professor," she said.
She opened the door and left the room.
It what seemed to be no time at all, Halloween arrived. As had happened the previous year, Dumbledore had organised a Ball to try and lift the students' morale. News of attacks and loss was a daily occurrence now. Many families were suffering money crisis, because of deaths and Voldemort controlling the community and the money flow. People found it difficult to smile, the prank on the Slytherins barely even caused a smirk anymore. Harry became more and more depressed as the days went on, blaming himself for the hardships of the wizarding world. Ginny could not bring herself to tell him of her condition and so remained strong, even though she could feel herself weakening physically, her resolve grew stronger. She had to pull through, for Harry.
The night of the Ball, Ginny dressed in the pure white robes, which Fred and George had given her for her previous birthday. She fixed her hair to lie in elegant curls around her shoulders and she magically fastened an array of tiny white roses amongst the tresses.
When Harry first saw her enter the common room, he thought he saw an angel. She was so beautiful, he could almost not believe that she was human.
"Ginny," he breathed, taking her hand. "You are so beautiful."
He bent down to kiss her gently. He had grown recently to the eight of 6' 2", whilst Ginny remained at a petite 5' 4". But to Harry, she was perfect, down to every last freckle.
"Thank you," said Ginny when he broke away. "And I must say you don't look so bad yourself."
Harry smiled a brief smile, which in itself was a rare sight. Ginny smiled in return.
As autumn faded into winter, Christmas, and of course Ginny's birthday drew nearer. She would be seventeen and of age. Harry spent hours pouring over endless catalogues trying to decide on the perfect gift, before he eventually found it.
On the morning of December sixteenth, 1997, Harry presented the small box to her wrapped in silver paper and fastened with a white silk ribbon. Ginny opened the box to find a necklace.
"It's white gold," Harry explained. "With diamonds. It's a trilogy pendant. The top diamond, which is the smallest is our past, the middle one is our present, and the third, the largest is our future."
Ginny grinned.
"Oh, Harry, it's beautiful," she whispered. "Thank you so much."
She through her arms around his neck and kissed him hard.
"I love you, so much," she said, when she let go.
"Here," said Harry. "Let me put it on for you."
He took the necklace in his hand and put it around her neck before flicking the clasp shut. Ginny took the pendant in between her fingers and touched the surface of the diamonds.
"This must have cost you a fortune," said Ginny.
"You're worth it," said Harry.
She smiled and kissed him again. Yet the sight of the largest stone, the stone meaning future made her sad. She needed to tell him.
Two days later, Harry and Ginny sat together in the almost deserted common room. Most students had left for the Christmas holidays and those that remained had long gone to bed. The couple sat in silence, a warm and welcoming silence, watching the flames dancing in the fireplace.
"Harry," said Ginny, quietly, shifting her head slightly on his shoulder.
"What is it, love?" he asked.
Ginny took a deep breath.
"I'm dying, Harry," she said quietly.
"What do you mean?" asked Harry, the panic inside him rising.
"I'm ill. There is poison in my blood, spreading throughout my body, slowly killing me from the inside," she said, as gently as she could.
"No," said Harry, staring at her. "You're seventeen, you're perfect."
"No," said Ginny. "I found out three months ago. There is no antidote."
"How?" asked Harry, his throat dry and his eyes stinging.
"Last year," said Ginny, sitting up. "Somehow, the Death Eaters poisoned me. Do you remember when I was ill, last October?"
Harry nodded.
"It was then," said Ginny.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Harry asked.
"I needed some time to come to terms with it myself and there was so much going on," she said. "I didn't think you needed any more worry than you already had."
"You should still have told me!" shouted Harry, jumping up.
"I didn't want you treating me like I was broken!" shouted Ginny, standing up to face him. "I didn't want people to weird around me."
"Including me?"
"Especially you!" shouted Ginny. "I love you, Harry. "There is nothing more important to me than you, nothing! I just didn't want you blaming yourself for one more thing."
"Why now? Why not in a few weeks time?"
"Things are pretty quiet at the moment, and I just couldn't keep it to myself anymore. I needed you to know, to help me through all this. I need you to be my angel, Harry, just like I've been your angel."
Harry softened and took a step towards her.
"Are you scared?" he asked.
"To death," said Ginny.
Harry could feel the tears threatening to fall.
"It's not funny," said Harry.
Ginny moved up to him and rested her head on his chest.
"I'm scared of not being with you," she whispered.
Harry wrapped his arms tightly around her as they both cried, there tears mingling and the souls intertwining.
"That's never going to happen, Ginny," said Harry. "I love you."
A/N "I Must not kill Harry or Ginny. I Must not kill Harry or Ginny. I Must not kill Harry or Ginny." You know, sometimes it's just too tempting to add a bit more tragedy to their lives. First I give you a preview of Ginny mourning Harry's death, then I tell you of Ginny's fatal illness. I must say that I'm surprised nobody's sent me any death threats yet, seeing as I promised you that no one would die. Actually though, I haven't broken any promises yet. Anyway, two more chapters and then I promise that everything will all start to become clear. I'm almost there. I'm a bit stuck on ideas for the next two terms, but after that I know exactly what's going to happen. Please keep reading. I promise it's going to get much better. Please review, I like to know what you think.