Unfinished Business
The final chapter! Thanks for reading. And my apologies for the short chapters – this is short too I'm afraid. But all I really wanted was just to provide a more shipper-friendly ending to the HBP… we really need it, after the real one. I hope you enjoy this chapter, regardless of length, and I hope you'll keep believing in H/G… no matter what the books say. :)
HeatherGranger13, shadowdragonblade, RanmasAngel, HoneyP, BexyLou, THEJUDGE.JUDGEJUDY1070, Mei fa-chan, 5CANDALOUS, IamSiriusgrl, Kates Master (I hope they're not really! Imagine if she gets the hate mail, and decides to kill Ginny off just to spite the fans…….. uh-oh), Elphaba Thropp, sexyredhead, Animelover231, I-love-Inuyasha1, Hazel Maraa, theQuibbleringQuibblerer (wow say that three times fast!), dweem-angel, meaganu-chan, Artee and Sporky, Rachel, SaSush33 (What? Ohmigod I so did not think of that! That is such a good theory – imagine it, if Harry was a Horcrux! How horrible would that be, if he destroyed everything then realised to completely get rid of Voldemort he would have to kill himself! I don't want to think about it), RonLuver2005, HiddenFlame42 (I know. Ew.), Firey Spiret (hehe thank you), fernnu, fritz42, harryp123, and vt… thank you so much for your reviews, I really appreciate them, and I'm so glad to know I'm not the only anxious H/G fan out there!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Harry blinked. It seemed like a normal classroom, except there were no tables and chairs, just a couch and some bookcases, and some abandoned objects in the corner, that looked to be broken. The room was fairly well lit, with the sunlight streaming in from two massive windows. Ginny smiled at him, and plopped down onto the sofa. "Well?" she said, inviting him to join her.
"Ginny, this is..." he was searching for the right words. Nice? Cosy? Unexpected? "Why not just use the Room of Requirement if you want to talk somewhere privately?"
"Well," Ginny said, "The Room of Requirement has been pretty overcrowded these days, hasn't it? Besides, I like it here. I usually come here to think or do my homework, I don't think anybody else knows about it."
"But how did you-" Harry started, but again he was interrupted by Ginny.
"Look Harry, it's a long story that would bore you. We have about, " she checked her watch, "thirty-five minutes left in this place, and we might never get to go back here, so I just wanted to show you something... new."
Harry nodded, and sat down. "I still don't understand why we had to come all the way up here to-"
"Harry," she said.
"Ginny, I was talking," he said, slightly annoyed at being interrupted all the time.
"Harry," she repeated.
"No, I was saying something, and you-"
"Harry!" Ginny practically screamed, and Harry fell silent at once.
"Jeez Ginny, I was just saying..." he started.
"Harry listen," Ginny said, "I think you've done your talking already." At Harry's shameful look she continued. "I've thought over what you said… for like, five minutes… and now I want to talk to you. Freely. Without interruptions, and without you walking away and being cornered by other people." she took a deep breath. "Yeah, well, I thought about what you said and... well, I can't really say I agree, cause that would be lying and you'd be able to tell, but I think maybe, I understand. You don't want people to get hurt. You have to do this alone."
"Well," said Harry quietly, hardly daring to break in, "Ron and Hermione are..."
"Coming with you? I thought as much. I'll never understand you Harry, I don't get if you were trying to shut me off or protect me..."
"Both, actually," Harry said, looking into her eyes. "It's true that I wanted to shut you out. I didn't want you to be a part of this. But it's because I… I care about you. I mean, you are not like Ron and Hermione..."
"Excuse me?"
"I just mean, you are different, to me, you mean... well, you can't honestly be surprised that I feel differently for you than for your brother, after the last few weeks?" he said, smiling slightly.
Ginny allowed herself the tiniest of smiles. "That's all good Harry, but I actually have a point I want to reach in my ramblings... Well, I know you want to leave me behind, don't want me as a target for You-Know-Who, but hey! Been there, remember? Two times and counting have I been in mortal peril. And we were not even dating then! Look Harry, I just don't see how us being together would really change anything, definitely not when you are bringing Ron…"
"But he can't know, Ginny!" Harry said heatedly. "We can't be together because… he will know. He always knows. The people I care about… and especially you! If we were together, and Voldemort found out how I… how I felt about you… Ginny don't you understand? If he found out I was in love with you-" he stopped himself, but it was too late.
"Harry," she started quietly.
"So you see," Harry said, a little more forcefully, trying to push away the treacherous thoughts, "I can't risk you getting hurt." he started getting up, and was surprised when Ginny pushed him back down, with a lot of strenght for such a little person.
"No Harry," she said, and Harry was surprised to see tears in her eyes as she continued. "If you really love me, oh you daft git, don't you realise that it doesn't matter if we're together or not! He will know!" At Harry's stricken look she quickly added, more quietly, "But you don't seem to realise that… I know all this. I realise the danger. I went into the Department of Mysteries, not because I had to, or because it was the right thing to do, but because of you! I… I love you too Harry, and I made my choice! And trying to push me away will not change my emotions, and I sincerely hope it will not change yours – no matter the risk! I want to do this with you Harry," she finished empathetically. "You said you did not want to come to my funeral, knowing you caused it… but we're at war Harry, and what if something happened, to either of us, and we had lost however much time we could have had together, because of you trying to protect me? How would you feel, then?"
Harry just stared at her, too overcome by what she had just said. She loved him… and he loved her. He had been afraid to admit it to himself, trying to will the feelings to go away, but… now he had acknowledged them… it wasn't too bad. He knew of the danger. But he also knew Ginny was right. And suddenly he remembered Dumbledore, not long ago, telling him… 'the power the Dark Lord knows not' was not some secret weapon. 'Just love,' Dumbledore had said, echoing Harry's own words. Love… and here he was, turning it away.
"Harry…" Ginny started, but this time she was interrupted by Harry's lips crushing down on her own.
"Ginny you're right," Harry said breathlessly, as they pulled away. "I love you, and… by trying to protect you, by pulling you away… I was destroying myself. I need you Ginny. I… I love you."
And then he kissed her again.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Uhm the end. I hope it was happy! I had some problems finding a suitable ending, but I thought it appropriate to have the curtains close on a kiss. After all, we know what comes next… they talk, they fight, they win, they get married and have lots of little Harry and Ginnys. We wish!
Well as I said, I needed to get out stuff after HBP. This is my way. Hope you enjoyed it, and hope it also gave a little hope for Harry/Ginny. How it annoyed me, the way Harry left her, her just accepting it, and him then forgetting about her completely in the end… I hope that wasn't all for the couple. They deserve so much more than a few weeks of underplayed, unexciting and colourless romance. I hope they will have it.
Please r/r if you liked the fic or if you didn't, thoughts on H/G are always appreciated, especially in these stirred and unclear waters o0
And it's… Finished Business! (sorry 'bout the word pun. Just had to put it in somewhere :))
Zille
Everything in this fic property of JK Rowling, all rights reserved.
