The Tale of an Unknown Hero

Disclaimer: Do you really think I own this. Well I don't, unless I'm really J.K. Rowling in disguise. Now how many books did she say she'd write? 7, that's right, not counting those books for charity. Please don't sue me, I'm not worth much.

Chapter 3: Without You (There'd Be No Me)

"Ginny, have you made contact with Harry?" asked Dumbledore

"Yes, I have Professor," said Ginny

"Good, I think its be best that you tell him about being a wizard. What is your location, I'd like to send backup to keep you two safe?"

"I'm in Pittsburgh, PA."

"Good, keep a close eye on him."

"I will," she said, then upon hearing a knock on her door she said, "Oh, got to go, bye."

"Where are you going?"

"On a date"

"A date, have you forgotten about the mission?"

"No, it has just become more personal." And with that she turned her two-way mirror over. "Hey, Harry," she said cheerfully as she opened the door.

"Hey, Ginny, ready for our date?" asked Harry

"Yes, so where are we going?"

"Last time I was here I went to this nice little Greek restaurant and thought it would be perfect. That is if you like Greek food."

"I've never tried it but I heard it is good."

"Cool, let's go."

Harry could not keep his eyes off of Ginny on their way to the restaurant she was so beautiful. She had her up in a bun and had a low cut, thin sundress on; she was wearing very little makeup and looked simply amazing. Ginny was having the same problem Harry was on only vice versa, she couldn't keep her eyes off of him. His eyes were the brightest green she'd ever seen and his hair looked so soft, and his clothes fit him right in all the right places. Then, she thought about why she was here and frowned, this was probably another of those crushes that she got so often on celebrities, and the minute he found out who he was he'd leave her.

"What's the matter Ginny?" asked Harry

"Nothing," she said and put on a brave face. 'Forget about all of the what ifs,' she told herself, 'and focus on the here and now.'

Harry put his arm around her and squeezed her tight against him. She smiled and let out a sigh, he was so perfect, he even smelled great.

Dinner was simply amazing, the food was wonderful and Harry and her were talking the whole time. Ginny told him about her brothers and Harry actually seemed jealous and it turned out that Harry's boarding school was a lot like Hogwarts, minus the magic of course.

Afterwards they walked around for hours and sat at the Point. They lost all track of time till they saw the lights go out at PNC Park. As Harry and Ginny walked back to their hotel they held hands and walked in silence. Harry walked Ginny up to her room and kissed her, Ginny swore she saw fireworks.

"Ginny," said Harry quietly

"Hmmm," Ginny said not even opening her eyes.

"I have to tell you something."

"Yes, what is it?"

"Well, first I have to know when are you going back to England."

"I told you, whenever I'm done with my job."

"Yes, but when is that?"

"I'm not sure."

"Well, it has to be before you go back to school, right?"

"Ya, but that is at the beginning of September. Why are you asking me this?"

"Because I want to know how much more time I have to spend with you."

"Listen we have the whole summer maybe our whole lives."

"You're right never mind." He kissed her again; it was deep and heartfelt.

"Harry"

"Yeah"

"I know it's probably, too, early to say it but, I love you."

"Ginny"

"Yeah"

"I love you, too."

"Really?"

"Yeah"

They embraced, smiles lighting their faces, and kissed.

"Um, you want to come in?" Ginny asked

"If you want me to," was Harry's simple answer

They went in and sat down on the couch. They kissed and Harry ran his hands through Ginny's hair. They knew exactly what the other wanted before other even knew what they wanted. They felt complete and totally happy and didn't know how they ever lived before the other came along. They had only known each other a few short hours but

It seemed like they knew each other for years.

When, Harry finally left, Ginny fell back into her bed squealing with joy.

"Ginny, Ginny Weasley, are you there?" came the quite familiar voice of her mother.

"Yes, Mother, I'm here," she said flipping over her mirror

"Good, hello, Dear"

"Hello, Mum"

"How are you?"

"I'm fine"

"Just fine, I thought you had a date, did everything go ok?"

"Yes, Mum, it was great. Harry is great."

"Good, good, so you don't want to come home yet?"

"Come home, goodness no, Mum."

Mrs. Weasley smiled at her daughter. "So he is your sweetheart?"

"Mum," Ginny blushed

"Oh, Dear, this is a special time your life. I wish I could be there with you."

"I know, Mum."

"Oh, your brother wants to talk to you."

"Kay, Mum, bye"

"Bye, Dear," said Mrs. Weasley

"Hi, Gin," said Ron cheerfully

"Hey, how are you?" She studied the bags under his eyes, 'Had they always been there?' she thought

"I'm ok and you?"

"I'm ok"

"Good, I miss you"

"I miss you, too," tears were filling Ginny's eyes; she hated seeing her brother like this.

"Oh, don't cry," Ron chuckled sadly, "So I hear you've got a boyfriend."

"Yeah, maybe you could come meet him. That would be fun, right?" She thought about how none of her family had been able to leave Hogwarts in over a year.

"Ginny, you know I can't"

"But you can believe me he'd want to meet you and once he does there will be no way he could say no to coming back with us."

"That maybe true but I'm needed here"

"But I miss you," Ginny said in a weak voice

"I miss you, too. Tell you what I'll check with Dumbledore and see if it is alright, ok?"

"Ok," Ginny sniffled

"That's a good girl"

"Love you, Ron"

"I love you, too, Gin," said Ron tears forming in his eyes, "I'll talk to you later, ok?"

"Ok, see you later"

"See you"

"So, Harry, how'd your date go?" asked Dudley the minute Harry entered the room.

"It was great," sighed Harry

"So, does that mean you got in her pants?"

"She wasn't wearing any pants"

"Go Harry!"

"That's not what I meant"

"Will you two please go to bed?" grumbled Petunia

Both boys chuckled softly and went to bed. Harry told Dudley about his night with Ginny and Dudley gave his opinion to Harry. He said he liked Ginny and was happy for him. They fell asleep thinking happy thoughts, smiles on their lips.

The next few days were great; Harry and Ginny rarely left each other's side and most of the time Dudley was with them. Harry and Dudley got jobs at a bookstore, which kept Ginny's cover from being blown.

Three days after they met, Ginny announced that her youngest older brother, Ron, was coming. Harry was very happy with this news because Ron was his age and he knew Ginny missed him. They spent that whole day getting ready for Ron's arrival. They were all there that night when he arrived at Ginny's hotel room.

"Ginny," Ron yelled when he saw his sister, they hugged tightly

"Ron, I missed you," Ginny squealed, "Ron, this is Harry, my boyfriend." She pulled him over to Harry.

"Hello, it's nice to…" Harry said but before he could finish Ron had him in a crushing embrace.

"So, this is that special guy," said Ron, squeezing Harry.

"Ron, ease up I don't think he can breath," said Ginny

"Finally, someone stronger than Harry," said Dudley with glee

"I wouldn't count on that," said Ron, as he released Harry

"Ron," Ginny warned under her breath

"Look at those guns," said Ron, lifting up one of Harry's arms, "What do you do to get muscles like that?"

"I play football, American football to be exact," said Harry

"Oh," said Ron as if he understood

"He is the captain, best there is," said Dudley

Ron heard and understood that perfectly.

"I'm not all that," said Harry

"Harry, stop kidding yourself, you're the best I've ever seen and strong as hell," said Dudley, trying to make Harry sound like a god to Ron. Harry blushed deeply.

"Lets go out to eat," said Ginny

"Ya, that's a great idea, it can be my treat," said Harry

"It's not like I can't pay," said Ron defensively

"I didn't say you couldn't," said Harry, brows knit in worry, "I just mean it's your first night here and you're my guests."

"Oh," said Ron, "Sorry, it's just my family doesn't have the most money and…"

"Ron, it's ok I understand," said Harry, "But I'm still paying for tonight."

Ron blushed a deep crimson.

On the way to the restaurant Ron watched Harry closely but Dudley watched Ron just as closely. Dudley had to see what Harry was getting himself into. As they neared the restaurant, a little oriental place, Harry stopped and warned them about the spiciness of some of the food, Ginny hugged him, and then they went inside.

"So, Ron what kind of sports do you play?" asked Harry

"I play quiditch," said Ron

"Quiditch?" asked Harry

"It's a school sport," said Ginny

"Oh," said Harry, "Can you explain it?"

"Sure," said Ginny, "It is played with three different kinds of balls. One is played with like soccer you have to get it through one of three hoops what ever way you can and the keeper who is like a goalie has to stop it from going through. Then there are two balls that two people try to hit you with in order to stop the other players from succeeding at there task. Then, the last ball," Ginny paused, this one was harder.

"The last one," said Ron, "is hidden so one player has to find it and their team gets 150 points and usually wins." Harry nodded his head.

"It certainly sounds interesting," said Dudley

"Oh, it is," said Ron, "and it is great to play."

"It just seems rather complicated," said Dudley

"Not really it is rather simple, everyone only has one job they need to do," said Ron, "What do you play?"

"I don't play anything, I wrestle," stated Dudley matter-a-factly, Harry laughed "What it's true, have you ever heard anyone say 'I play wrestling'? No, you haven't."

The conversation was light and friendly and Ron who didn't take Harry's warning seriously got his mouth burnt, much to everyone's amusement, well, except his. As they walked back to the hotel Ron marveled at how loud everything was yet no one seemed to have a care in the world. Harry looked at his newfound friend and wondered what he could be thinking.

"It's so different here," said Ron

"How so?" asked Harry

"It just is, back home we were afraid to even leave our house and being out for hours like this just makes me wonder why it can't always be this way"

"Did you live near one of the communities that got attacked?" asked Dudley

"Live near one? We barely escaped one day"

"Whoa, have you lost anyone yet?"

"Yes, my father and brother"

"Ginny told me about them, I'm sorry for your loss," said Harry

"It's ok, a lot of people have been lost. That's why we all have to work even harder to bring it to an end"

"We don't even know who's causing it though," said Harry

Ron was about to say that they did know and that they needed Harry's help, when he realized that Harry really didn't know anything about the wizarding world or his destiny. Dumbledore was right this would be a slow process. Who knew how long it would take to convince him, if they could convince him. The thought hadn't occurred to him before that they might not be able to get him to come. It scared Ron; he had been raised to believe that Harry was the only one who could save them.

'No, the prophecy had to be fulfilled somehow, there was no way it could be wrong, unless, no, that wasn't an option,' he thought

Ginny noticed her brother's mood change. She had a feeling she knew what he was thinking, it was the same thing she thought every night after Harry left.

"Don't worry, Ron," she whispered

"Who is worrying?" he said

"You are, now stop it," she said and went back to Harry's waiting arms.

"What is he worrying about?" he asked Ginny

"He is worrying about everything going on back home"

"Oh, I guess that's on everyone's minds these days. I just wish I knew who was causing all of it."

"You might not like the answer when you got it," said Dudley, as he walked past Harry and Ginny

"What does he mean you might not like the answer?" asked Ginny

"I don't know, he is weird sometimes," said Harry but he had a nasty feeling that Dudley was talking about that horrible world that killed his parents.

"I thought you came to have a good time, Ron," Ginny said to her older brother

"I did," he said, "and to help you with your job."

"I think I'm doing very well," she said

"Ginny, you still haven't told me what your job is," said Harry

"It has to do with some stuff for school," she said

"What exactly is it?"

"It is hard to explain," she said

"Could you try to?" asked Harry, pouting. Every time he ever brought up the specifics of Ginny's job she changed the subject and he was going to find out if it killed him.

"It's secret," said Ron. "She won't even tell me everything."

"Then, how are you supposed to help her?" asked Harry

"I don't know," said Ron, "but you want to know what I think?"

"Sure," said Harry, his interest perked

"I think she is a secret agent"

"I think you're right," said Harry, laughing

"Will, you two stop it," scolded Ginny