Disclaimer:

I do not, nor will I ever, own the world of Harry Potter. I'm just playing with it for a while, and no copyright infringement is intended. I'm sure I'll return Harry and his world quite in one piece when I'm through.

Chapter 12

Proposals and Blossoming Love

When Harry opened his eyes again, he was lying on the ground next to Ginny. She was just opening her eyes as well.

'Harry?' she said. 'What happened?'

'I don't know,' said Harry. He could hear sounds of many people coming from some indistinct place. 'Let's get up and take a look at all that noise. I don't know how long we've been out, but it seems like it's day.'

It was strange. When they walked through the corridor Harry could see sunlight streaming through the windows, but it had been night when they had passed out. If they had fainted, surely someone would have come across them if not during the night then surely in the morning.

They made their way down the main staircase and into the Great Hall. Harry was shocked when he looked inside, and he saw a Ginny looked as shocked as he felt. At first, he didn't recognise any of the faces in the Hall, except for the teachers. But they looked much younger. McGonagall, Flitwick, Dumbledore and many of the other teachers were all there, but they didn't look the same as they usually did.

Ginny seemed to have caught on to the thing Harry was suspected. 'Hey,' she said to a student who just walked into the Hall. 'Hey? What year is it?'

But the student didn't answer. In fact, he didn't even seem to notice that Harry and Ginny were there.

Ginny looked at Harry. 'What's going on?'

Harry had had some experience with being invisible in the past, but that had always been in memories. He had previously entered a memory of Dumbledore, and one of Snape, and that had been the same. Of course, in those instances he hadn't fainted, but he had fallen into the memory. The same happened with the memory Tom Riddle had showed him during his second year.

'I don't know, Ginny, but it looks like we're in the past, and we're invisible. I sure wish I knew what year it is though, and why in the world we're here.'

He felt Ginny tugging on his sleeve. 'Harry, isn't that… Professor Lupin?' she said, almost like she didn't believe it.

Harry looked over at the Gryffindor table. Sure enough, there was Remus, having breakfast with Sirius. He quickly glanced over at the Slytherin table, where he saw Snape sitting by himself, reading a book while spilling tea over the front of his robes without noticing. Then made his way to the Gryffindor table. Like when he had entered Snape's memory, it was like he was gliding; tables, chairs and people didn't really seem to be obstacles. He stood in front of Sirius, tears clouding his vision.

'Sirius,' he whispered, 'Sirius, please. If you can hear me, please look at me. Please Sirius.'

'He can't hear you, Harry,' he heard Ginny say behind him.

'Maybe – Maybe I can warn him!' Harry said hopefully. He tried to pick up a quill that was lying on the table, but he wasn't able to grasp it.

'Don't, Harry, you're only making this harder on yourself. Come on, your parents should be here too, shouldn't they? Let's look for them.'

She was looking around hopefully, as was Harry now, but neither of them was able to find either Lily or James in the crowds of students.

'I think it's sixth or seventh year. Remus and Sirius look older than they did when I –' he broke of his sentence. He'd never told any of his friends about the time when he had entered Snape's memory.

'When you what. Harry?' said Ginny inquisitively.

'Nothing, never mind how I know. I just know that they're in their sixth or seventh year, all right?'

'Right,' said Ginny, 'let's seen if we can hear anything that'll narrow that down.'

For a few minutes they sat listening to a conversation between Remus and Sirius, about a girl Remus apparently liked very much.

'Don't worry about finances, Moony,' said Sirius, 'it will only be a few months before you can start that job at the Ministry that you were headhunted for.'

'A few months till he starts work,' said Ginny, 'that would make it spring of their seventh year. I do wonder why we were brought here though.'

The moment she had finished her sentence, Harry felt himself gliding backwards out of the Hall. Instinctively, he grabbed Ginny's hand. It was like they were metal, attracted by a powerful magnet. They glided backwards all the way to the lake, to almost exactly the same spot where Harry had observed Sirius taunting Snape. Then, they halted and both turned around.

In front of them, by the lake's edge, were a boy and a girl. They sat close to each other, the girl's head resting on the boy's shoulder. Harry immediately recognised them as his parents. His father had the same unruly black hair, and his mother… Well, he just knew it was her. The auburn hair gave her away, but Harry just knew in his heart that it was her as well.

'Harry, are those your parents?' said Ginny.

Harry nodded. 'Come on, let's move a bit closer and hear what they're saying.'

They walked over, and sat down next to Lily. Harry could now see her face as well. 'Mom,' he whispered, 'mom, what is it you want me to know?' He could feel Ginny looking at him intently, but she didn't say anything because Lily was speaking.

'But James, with me going off to train at St Mungo's and you at the Ministry, I'm afraid we'll never see each other.'

'There's no need to worry about that, Red,' James said. Harry felt slightly abashed when he saw his father leaning over to kiss his mum. Obviously they weren't his parents yet, but it still felt strange. Then Ginny grabbed his shoulder, and he felt an odd explosion in his stomach.

'Look at that,' she whispered, 'they look great together, don't they?'

Harry nodded. His father had finished the kiss, and Lily was looking slightly upset. 'But James, of course I worry about that. I know how much time your internship will take, and I know mine won't be a picnic either.'

'Well, I think I found a solution for that though,' said James. He was looking oddly embarrassed, and his ears were quickly turning red. 'See, you know how I always call you Evans?'

Lily nodded, looking confused. 'You used to, but you call me Red all the time now.'

'Just bear with me for a second, Red,' said James.

Lily laughed. 'Ha! See! You did it again.'

James grumbled. 'I know! But will you just listen? I'm trying to be serious here!'

'Oh, I'm sorry gorgeous. Please, continue.' Lily looked like she was trying to hide her amusement at something.

'It's not funny, Red!' James exclaimed. 'I know I'm usually not serious, but I am now!'

'I'd better hope that you're usually not Sirius. I like you so much better being yourself!' Lily laughed.

'Oh, forget about it,' said James, moving to get up.

'No! No! I'm really sorry,' Lily exclaimed, grabbing his arm. She gave James a small kiss on his nose. 'There. I'm sorry. Please tell me what it is you want to say.'

James looked a bit put out. 'Well, okay then. So, you know how I USED to call you Evans?'

Lily nodded.

'But… erm… how would you feel if I asked if I could call you Potter?'

Lily just sat there, with her mouth open. 'James… are you asking me…'

'Yes, Lily. Will you please do me the honour of becoming my wife?' James looked at her hopefully.

Lily smiled. 'I'd love to, James. But aren't we a bit young to get married? I mean, we both just turned 17.'

James looked like he had anticipated this doubt. 'Well, yes, I know we are. But I know how I feel about you, and I think I know how you feel about me. I doubt those feelings will go anywhere. I love you, Red, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Also, Potter men have been marrying redheads for generations. There aren't that many cute redheads out there, so I have to snag up the one that is cute. Cute beyond belief! You know marriages happen earlier here than they do in the Muggle world. And it would enable us to see one another so much more. It would also enable us to practice for having that family we both dream about.' James winked at Lily.

Up until this point Harry had felt all kinds of emotions. It was amazing he was present at his father proposing to his mother. But now he just felt slightly disgusted. Ginny seemed to have read him once again. 'Don't worry, Harry,' she said. 'No child likes to be confronted with the idea of his parents having sex, not even children who never knew those parents.'

He turned to her as Lily squealed 'I love you too, James Potter! Of course I'll be your wife', and engaged James in a full-blown snogging session.

He saw that Ginny had tears in her eyes. 'That was beautiful, wasn't it?' she sighed. 'A bit awkward, but beautiful nevertheless. Your mum was a bit thick though, wasn't she? It was so obvious that he was going to propose!' She clasped her hands over her mouth as soon as she realised that she had called Harry's dead mother 'thick'. 'I'm sorry, Harry,' she gasped, 'I didn't mean…'

'Don't worry, Ginny,' Harry smiled. 'I didn't notice either. Guess the thickness runs in the family, hmm?' Harry had been startled at the news that Potter men married redheads. He didn't know why, but he somehow felt like his father was trying to tell him something.

Ginny laughed. 'I guess it does. But I still don't know why we're here. I figure it must have something to do with the book. But you'd think there'd be a point to all this. I hardly think we're hear just to see your dad propose to your mum.'

'I think there's more coming,' he said. 'I think I'm here to learn something, although I don't know what.'

Lily and James had ended their snogging session, and were staring out across the lake again. 'James?' Lily sighed. 'There is something I think I need to tell you.'

'What is it, Red?' said James, looking as content as a cat being stroked by its owner.

'I've been noticing some odd things happening. I haven't told anyone. I don't think it's normal.'

James looked at Lily concernedly. 'What happened, Red? Whatever it is, I'm sure we can figure it out together.'

Lily sighed again. 'Well, over the last year or so I've sort of been… picking up on things. Emotions, more like. Sometimes I just feel sad, or happy, for no apparent reason. It always happens when I'm close to someone who seems to be feeling those feelings. It's happening now too. I feel happy because we're getting married, but it feels like I'm doubly happy.'

She continued before James could speak. 'I know what you're thinking. Empathy. But that's a power you're born with. If I were an empath, I'd have noticed earlier. Besides… that's not all. I also see strange lights around people. I see this soft pink light around you right now.'

'Pink!' James exclaimed. 'Not something more masculine, like blue? Or even green?' He smiled.

'It's not a joke, James. I've been reading up on this, and it seems that there are a lot of instances of people seeing colours around others in the Muggle world. They call them auras. But that seems to be just a bit of hocus pocus. The colours they describe don't seem to relate to those that I see. When we're together, you're often pink. When you're sitting in class, you're blue. When you've just finished playing Quidditch it's almost black. In the Muggle world they say a black aura is looming death or disease. And that's not it. Black seems to represent exhaustion. You also have it when we've finished – well – you know…' Lily seemed quite abashed.

'Hey! I resent that! I'm never exhausted after we've finished!' said James. 'But I do understand why you're concerned. I've never heard anything like it. Am I the only person you pick up on these things on?'

'No. The feelings I pick up all over the place. It's quite annoying. The auras I only see on a few people, the ones that I know best. That's also how I figured that black is probably exhaustion. Moony is always surrounded by black after a full moon.' Lily sighed again. 'I've been researching this in the library. I came across this one book that might have an explanation, but it's so fantastic that I don't think it's a possibility.'

'What was it then, Red?'

'Well. I think I might be a -' but Harry never got to hear was Lily was about to say. He fainted again, and the next moment when he opened his eyes, he was looking in the concerned face of Madam Pomfrey.

'There you are again,' she said happily. 'It took me a long time to get you two to wake up.'

'Why DID you wake us up?' Harry said angrily.

Madam Pomfrey looked shocked. 'Well, Mr Potter, I'd rather you would have stayed out of the infirmary for at least the first week of school as well. As it is, Professor McGonagall found you and Miss Weasley on the ground near the Headmaster's office, out cold. She came here, and asked me to revive you, as she had been unsuccessful. It took me over an hour to get you to wake up. Now please tell me what the reason for this simultaneous fainting spell was. Were you attacked or was it' she lowered her voice 'drugs?'

'What? No!' Harry and Ginny both exclaimed. 'We can't really explain, Madam Pomfrey. But we're fine, and we'll just go up to the Common Room now, shall we.'

'Oh, no you're not!' Madam Pomfrey said sternly. 'No patients of mine will leave this infirmary after an inexplicable fainting spell. You will both spend the night here for observation.' And with that she stalked off and slammed the door of her quarters behind her.

Harry groaned. He would have like to have avoided the infirmary for the first week as well. But he was even more annoyed at the fact that he had never been able to hear his mother finish that sentence. He thought it might have been important.

Ginny climbed out of his bed, and on top of his bed. She accio'd the screens that were standing across the room and cast a Silencing Charm. Again, Harry felt that odd sensation in his stomach. He couldn't help thinking 'I have a girl in my bed! Again!'. He shook his head.

'Harry, do you know what your mum was talking about?'

'No. Not really,' said Harry.

'Not really?' said Ginny.

Harry still hadn't told anyone about the times when he had seen Dudley's memories, or felt Aunt Petunia's emotions. He figured that as Ginny had come this far with him, she deserved to know the truth. He told her about the things that had happened at Privet Drive, and showed her the journal entry where his mother had written that he should have noticed some odd things happening by now.

'It's strange,' said Ginny. 'If your mum had any special powers, we would have known about them, wouldn't we? You would've been told about them anyway.'

Harry shook his head. 'I'm not so sure. A lot of things have been kept hidden from me up until now, and this might just be another one of those things. I don't really think that is the case though. I just really hate it that Madam Pomfrey woke us up before we heard mum say what she thought she was.'

They tried to go back into time again. They even pressed their index fingers together before touching the photo. Nothing happened.

'Guess we only had one shot,' Harry said sadly.

'Don't be so discouraged, Harry,' said Ginny. 'Your mum did say she had found something out from a book in the library. If there is anyone who knows about the books in the library, it's Hermione. You should talk to her, and see if she knows what your mum might have been talking about. If she doesn't we'll just have to read every book that's in there. We can skip the books that were published in the last 16 years or so.'

Harry laughed. 'So that narrows it down to what? 15,000 books?'

'You laugh,' said Ginny, 'but you never know how important this might be. And with the four of us, five if Neville joins in, we can cover a lot of ground.'

'So, you'd help then,' said Harry.

'Of course I'd help. Don't you think there was a reason that you didn't go alone on that little time-defying visit?'

Harry was confused. 'A reason. What kind of reason?'

'Think about it, Harry. How often have you touched that photo?'

Harry couldn't even count the times he'd stared at the photo, touched it, hoping for some sort of new message. Ginny could be right. He still hadn't forgotten his dad's comment about Potters and redheads. Here he was sitting on his bed, with a redhead. He suddenly saw her button nose and freckles in a new light. It was like he'd never seen them before. They were… cute?

'What are you think about, Harry?'

'Nothing, nothing,' Harry muttered, feeling his ears turning bright red.

Ginny seemed to decide to let it go, for now. 'It was nice being there though, wasn't it? I mean, you got to see your parents together, and you even got to see the way your dad proposed to your mum.'

'He was a bit clumsy, wasn't he?' Harry laughed.

'Well, your mum didn't really help, did she?' said Ginny. 'And how was it so see Sirius?' She looked at him with apparent concern in her eyes.

Harry didn't really want to talk about it, but somehow he couldn't stop himself. 'It hurt, Ginny. What do you think it felt like?' He didn't really feel angry, but he couldn't help himself. He was very sorry when he saw Ginny flinch. 'I'm sorry. I didn't mean it to come out that. It's just that it really hurts some times, and I only know how to cope with that by shutting down or lashing out.'

'I don't want you to shut down,' Ginny said softly. 'I want to help you.'

'I know you do, and I appreciate it. I need to deal with this differently that I dealt with things before. So, like I said, it hurt. I really wish I could have warned him.'

'You know it probably wouldn't have made a difference, even if you had managed to warn him,' said Ginny.

'I do, but it was awful to see him alive and happy, knowing that he is, now, dead. He didn't have a very good life, you know that too.'

'No, he didn't have it easy. But he had a good youth, great friends, and when he escaped he was so happy to have you in his life again.'

'Yeah, lucky him!' Harry snorted. 'Without me, he wouldn't be dead, remember?'

Ginny looked very angry. 'I've asked you to stop that, Harry. Saying that doesn't get you anyway. If it hadn't been for you, a lot of things wouldn't have happened. If you hadn't been born, Voldemort wouldn't have been robbed of his body for 13 years. I would have died in that Chamber. Voldemort would have come to his body again 5 years ago. No one would know he had returned.'

'My parents wouldn't have died,' Harry said softly.

Ginny had tears in her eyes. 'Do you really think that, Harry? Do you? Tell me the truth?'

Harry could just nod.

Ginny stifled a small sob. 'How could you think like this, Harry? I never knew your parents, but I'm sure they thought that you were the best thing that ever happened to him. Doesn't it say so in that journal. Doesn't it say how much you were loved and wanted?'

Harry nodded again. 'But that still doesn't mean that I didn't kill them,' he said softly.

'Voldemort killed them, Harry. Bellatrix killed Sirius. Pettigrew killed all those Muggles, robbed you of your godfather and made it possible for Voldemort to go after your parents. All those evil people robbed you from leading a normal life. A life in which you were loved, and in which you were safe. If you have any anger, any resentment, focus it on them.'

Harry nodded again.

'I can see now why you have this major guilt over Sirius. It's a pattern with you.'

'I never told anyone before,' said Harry.

'I understand that. But I'm so glad you told me,' Ginny lifted his chin so that he had no choice but to look her straight in the eye. 'I want to be your friend.'

The amount of trust and pain in her eyes was amazing. Harry could feel it radiating from her. Before he could stop himself, or even contemplate the why's and how's he said 'It's not your friendship I want, Red.'

The fact that Ginny dissolved into tears startled him greatly. He felt the need to hold her, and the reason for that was finally becoming clearer in his mind. He pulled her close, and just held her as she was sobbing on his shoulder. Harry stroked her hair, and kept whispering 'shhhhh, it's okay' in her ear. It was amazing how natural it felt. After about 15 minutes, the crying calmed down a bit, and he felt Ginny stiffen.

'It's all right,' he whispered. 'Are you ready to tell me what has been going on for the last couple of days now?'

He felt Ginny take a deep breath, and she sat up again, looking into his eyes. They were tear stained and red, but Harry thought she still looked amazing. 'Don't you know what's going on, Harry?'

'I think I might, but I'd like to hear it from you. I think I'm ready to hear it, and I think you're ready to tell.'

'I've loved you, Harry,' Ginny whispered. 'Some might say I had a childish crush, but I think I loved you. And you never noticed. Or, if you did, you laughed it off as well. A few years ago I told myself there was no way you would ever love me back, so I shut down those feelings. I started dating other boys, but it never felt quite right. When you were hurting so much over the summer I couldn't stop myself. I felt like I needed to help you through this. But being so close to you brought all the old pain up again. And though you were definitely more open to me, I still didn't see a way that you would ever answer the feelings I had for you. So I had to try to shut those feelings down again, convince myself that I could only feel sisterly feelings towards you. But I couldn't. I had to take my distance again. Hermione tried to convince me that your feelings were changing, but I didn't see any evidence of it.' During the course of her monologue, Ginny had started to look away again. In a very small voice she added 'but then, just now, you said – And you called me Red, just like your dad did your mum. You gave me hope again, Harry, and I'm afraid that it will prove false again.'

Now it was Harry's turn to grab Ginny's chin, forcing her to look into his eyes. 'It's not false hope,' he whispered. 'You're right that I've been clueless for a long time. I don't think I was ready. I'm sorry for that, but I don't think you can blame me. I just never knew you well enough, I think. But I know you now, and I like what I see. You do have a bit of a head start on me, Red. I can't say that I've loved you since I first met you. But I'd like to see if we can make this work.' Harry suddenly felt a surge of anger, that he immediately recognised as not being his own.

'Don't be angry, Ginny,' he said. He was amused to see her shocked expression. 'Yes, I felt that. I wasn't trying to say that I want to use you. But you'll be my first relationship. Of course there was,' again, a surge of anger. 'There was that one,' he said smilingly, 'but that wasn't real. It wasn't how I'm feeling right now. It was puppy love. A first try at this kind of stuff, and it didn't go too well. You know about that.' Now he felt amusement. That was good. He was getting somewhere. This new power, whatever it was, could prove very useful if he managed to develop it more.

'I like you, Ginny. You're down to earth, smart, sensitive, and extremely cute to boot. I'm willing to try this if you are.' Harry was still holding Ginny's chin, and love was radiating out of her eyes once more. She nodded best as she could with her head being held like that.

Her head moved towards his, and he pulled it back as in a reflex.

'What?' she said in a hurt voice.

'Nothing,' said Harry. 'Some bad experience there, is all. Wet.'

Ginny smiled at him. 'Don't worry,' she said. 'You just sit there.'

She moved in again, and Harry felt her lips against his. Then she kissed his eyelids, tip of his nose, and neck. The kiss in his neck made his stomach do several somersaults. Finally, she kissed his lips again. He was startled when he felt her tongue sliding between his lips. He quickly opened his eyes, meeting hers. The reassurance in them was so strong that he soon answered her type of kiss. They continued kissing softly. Finally, they both broke out of the embrace, completely breathless.

'We should probably go to bed,' Harry said reluctantly. Ginny nodded. 'It's been an exhausting night, and we have classes again tomorrow. We also have a lot to explain to Ron.'

Harry groaned. That was one conversation he was not looking forward to. 'I'm really happy about this,' he whispered.

'Not half as much as I am,' Ginny whispered, while climbing off his bed. Harry grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him for another short, but more passionate kiss. 'Goodnight, Red,'

'I like that,' said Ginny. 'Goodnight Harry.' And with that she went off to her own bed, but not before removing the screen that separated hers from his first.

Harry feel asleep feeling very content, watching Ginny before he drifted off to a night without nightmares.

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Author's Notes:

I'd like to take this time to thank my good friends Cigarettes, Pistachio Nuts, Dark Chocolate and South African White Wine for helping me write this story. Without you guys, I'd be lost!

(This is in no means an advertisement for cigarettes or alcohol. Never smoke, and if you're under 21, in the US, or under 18/16, in Europe, don't drink either! However, pistachio nuts and dark chocolate will be everyone's best friend. Just ask them! I've found melon and peaches to be friendly to a gal's writer's block as well)

Of course I'd also like to thank my lovely reviewers. Even if you don't help me write, you do keep me motivated to turn out more chapters.

The pieces are now mostly in place. I never thought it would take me 12 chapters, but at least they're all there. Now let the chess game begin!

And see, there are still temper problems, though I'm toning them down. You've also probably noticed that I'm not making Ginny more beautiful than I believe her to be. I'm sure she's quite a pretty girl, but I can't get myself to describe her with any of the following words:

Curvy

With shining hair, cascading down her back in beautiful ringlets

Flawlessly fair-skinned OR

Superhot.

I like reading fics that describe her as such, that's not the problem. What is, is that I have a little sister who is the same age as Ginny. She's not a redhead, but she is a symbol for Ginny's descriptions and some of her behaviour.

This was a very long Author's Notes, sorry. I'll make sure the next is shorter.