In This Life
Chapter 3
Come
here, please hold my hand for now
Help me, I'm scared please show
me how to fight this,
God has a master plan
And I guess
I
am in his demand
Please save me this time I cannot run
And I'll
see you when this is done
And now I have come to realize
That
you are the one who's left behind
Please stay until I'm
gone
I'm here hold on to me I'm right here
Waiting
I
see, a light it feels good
And I'll come back soon just like you
would
It's useless, my name has made the list
And I wish, I
gave you one last kiss
Please stay until I'm gone
I'm here
hold on to me I'm right here
Waiting and take
My one last
breath, and don't forget
That I will be right here
Waiting
-"Not Now," blink-182
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Harry stood, his jaw dragging on the ground, in front of an amazed Ginny Weasley.
"Harry, it's great to see you! How have you been? I haven't heard from you in so long; I expect this is my brothers' daughter and not yours, unless, by -- oh, drat, I'm rambling. Come here, you," she said in one breath, and then pulled him into a huge, tight, suffocating bear hug.
After being released from Ginny's hug, Harry stood back and shook his head a bit. It was all just way too coincidental that they were both standing right here, in front of each other, in the USA, together... Except… wait, he actually knew, somewhere, in the deep recesses of his mind, that Ginny lived around here.
"Ginny, hey, I… hi. Long time no see," he finally managed out after much time was spent debating on what to say.
"Oh, don't just stand there," she said, poking him in the ribs. "Come on in. Draco's at the country club right now, by the way." She rolled her eyes. "You know; there are just some habits that can't be broken, right?"
Ginny had married Draco Malfoy almost 14 years ago, after Lucius Malfoy was imprisoned. Draco had inherited Malfoy Manor, of course, but turned it down and instead donated it to the Ministry of Magic to use as a Dark Arts museum for those who were interested in it. After the birth of Amelia, they moved, to the chagrin of Mrs. Weasley, to Attleboro, Massachusetts, and settled down. Obviously, they were still there.
Harry knew all of that. He was mentally kicking himself for not noticing all of the signs. Well, besides totally forgetting that Ginny and Draco lived there. Thinking back, he realized that Amelia had a perfect shade of strawberry-blonde hair and her father's silver eyes.
Ginny had led Harry into the kitchen and was busy bustling around and talking nonstop. "So, how are things over in London? I haven't been over there in so long; I hardly know what it's like anymore. I've almost forgotten! And see, I've even almost completely lost my accent. Draco's still got his, of course, because he thinks that it makes him sound distinguished. Go figure. So, why are you here with Shelley anyways?"
Harry had been trying to keep up with everything Ginny said, but had only retained the last sentence. "What?" he asked, surprised at being able to talk. "Oh. Well, Ron has been trying to get me out of the house, because he says I've been really mopey lately. So he planned for me to bring Shelley here for her birthday. We're road-tripping." He grinned. "Ron tried to get me to believe that they had planned the trip beforehand but 'something had come up.' Yeah, sure."
Sighing, Ginny sat down with two teacups and a pot of tea. "You know, Harry, you do have a tendency to sulk… especially around your birthday," she said quietly.
Harry stiffened, automatically switching into defensive mode. "You know very well what happened on my birthday," he hissed. "Sixteen frickin' years ago, it happened, and I haven't heard a word from her since. Sixteen years."
Ginny glanced down at the table and bit her lip. God, Hermione would kill her if she found out… "Harry… I know where she is."
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Author's Note: Hello, all, it's been a luverly vacation in California. Umm… let's see. On JKR's website recently she stated that Hermione was sixteen in book 5, so I am aware that all the ages are messed up on everything. But I'm not going to change it. So, I'm sorry.
Also, A SPECIAL SHOUT-OUT TO MY BETA-READER, CHIBI-SUIKO, WHO IS NOT A "BE-IN-MY-BEDROOM-MAKING-NO-NOISE-AND-PRETENDING-I'M-NOT-THERE" TYPE OF BETA-ER. (Chibi: I know that's right!) Rather, she is a victim of my own forgetfulness. Many, many apologies to you, my Chibi. And lots of love and stuff for being groovy. (Chibi: That's right, too!)
P.S. I am really, really, really sorry that it's not Hermione, but, come on, Harry can't just go wandering randomly and knocking on doors and then "oh, look, we've been reunited forever." Oh, no. That would make for a boring story. (Chibi: But it's okay for him to be wandering aimlessly through the outskirts of America, only to run into another friend he hasn't heard from in years, right...?) (Me: Shhhhh… ; )