BIG HUGE thanks going out to my first reviewers (you guys made me so happy, homeade brownies for all!):The Shieldmaiden-Lady of Rohan, Schatje, luka-black, Lucy, and... anonymous.

Anyways, before you get on reading the next installment, that I am a sucker for red-haired guys. I don't know why. Which is why I would marry a Weasley guy.

So, alright, enough random comments, let's all find out how Ginny reacts to Harry's return...

Enjoy!

The Stronger Love

"She sensed the presence of a significant body just off her left shoulder. She wasn't sure with which sense she sensed it. He was too far away to touch him or to feel his body heat. He was too far behind her for her to see him. Until she turned, that is.

Her eyes seemed to go in and out of focus. Was it him? Of course it was him! Was it him?"

Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares

"Ginny, Merlin, you're jumping off the walls!" Jason exclaimed. "What's with you tonight?"

"I just realized, during that dinner, just how exciting and wonderful and happy our wedding is going to be," Ginny said. "We'll be down in Australia, the sun will be shining, right on the beach, and our honeymoon will be amazing, and my entire family will be there. Well, I know that might become a slight curse for us on the honeymoon, but they're loveable enough and will hopefully respect the boundaries of privacy. I'm so excited for my dress to come in, because I ordered it from France, which you of course know, but I'm so thrilled for what it will look like. You do know, though, of course, that you will not be able to see me in it before the wedding though, because that is bad luck," Ginny babbled on and on happily.

"Well, of course," Jason said, smiling at Ginny's enthusiasm. "But I have no worries that you will look anything short of radiantly beautiful."

Ginny's smile was as bright as the sun as she sidled up close to him. "I love you so much Jason. You make me the happiest person in the world." With that, she jumped on his back and he proceeded to carry her piggy back through the streets of London.

The two were heading back to Ginny's flat, where they were going to grab Ron's present and then apparate over to The Burrow. Hopefully, Ginny thought, they would catch the last of the family dinner. Usually, only a few people would still be there. Charlie and Sarah had to take Maddie and Daisy home to go to bed, so she assumed they would be gone. Bill would probably still be at home, since he usually stayed over on family dinner nights, and Ron and Hermione would have gone. Ginny hoped her mum told Ron that she and Jason were coming home later to give him his gift.

Jason had gone out and picked Ron's gift this time. He knew Ron well enough by now- after all, he had been going to the family dinners for more than three years, most of which were birthdays. Jason used his connections at work to get Ron a Broomstick Care Kit, only it was amped up to do everything automatically, instead of manually. Clip the tool on at night, and the broom would be cleaned, trimmed, polished, recharged, and refreshed for the next day. Especially helpful for those who travel by broom. Ron would love it, Ginny knew, and she was immensely proud of Jason's wise choice.

The evening was beautiful, Ginny mused while traveling on the back of Jason, who was weaving his way through the many nighttime shoppers. The sun was going down, leaving a dusky color filling the sky, as daylight and darkness battled for supremacy. There was a chilly breeze blowing through, and Ginny could not wait to get to The Burrow, which she knew would be warm and comfy. She always felt that she was happiest at The Burrow, with Jason at her side and her family all around her. It was where she had gotten through all of the hard times and experienced the happiest times. It really was home, sweet home.

Once at the flat, Ginny ran to her room and grabbed Ron's present and searched her drawers for the card she bought earlier that week. She was a bit of a pack-rat and the drawers in her desk were more than a little messy- the card could be anywhere, and this could take hours. Opening another drawer, she looked around inside leafing through what appeared to be photos. Peering through them, she knew they were old ones. Mainly of her days at Hogwarts and shortly after she graduated. One picture near the bottom captured her eye. It was the reception after Ron and Hermione's wedding. There were many wildly dancing couples, flying all over the floor, in a swirl of gowns and tuxedos. Ron and Hermione could be distinguished from the rest, humongous smiles plastered on their faces.

Barely visible in a small corner of the picture was a petite, frail looking girl who was all alone, staring at the dancing couples with what was a mixture of envy and sadness. From an objective point of view, one would have noticed that she looked too thin. Her face was gaunt and hollow; there were bags underneath her eyes, the curls she had magically induced on her red hair hung limply and pathetically on her shoulders. You might have worried that she would start crying right there, with all of the happiness and joy surrounding her.

Ginny looked at the photograph for a minute, calmly observing not the spinning couples, not the color and happiness, but the girl hiding away in the corner, shying away from the party and the light. Her brow furrowed as she looked on, guarding herself from the wave of emotions that threatened to come if she looked any longer. This was her the summer after she graduated from Hogwarts. Her. Not the portrait of some other depressed girl in a teenage magazine. Ginny.

This is what you would still be today if you hadn't met Jason. What she would still be if she didn't have a family that loved her, people that would always be there for her, that would not ever leave her, no matter what the circumstance.

"Ginny, I found the card!" Jason shouted from the living room.

Ginny buried the photo deep down and shut the drawer. Collecting herself, she took the gift and left her bedroom.

"Alright Gin-Gin, let's go," and with that, Jason left with a pop.

Upon arrival at The Burrow, all Ginny found was a mountain of wrapping paper littering the floor of the family room. Only Mr. Weasley could be found in the kitchen, puttering around with some book that Sarah had recently given him on Muggle communications. (He really loved Sarah- she was a Muggle and always happy to treat him to an explanation of the various functions of toasters, etc.)

"Hey Dad," Ginny said, giving him a hug and kiss on his cheek. "How was the party?"

"Well Ginny, the party was very nice. I think that Ron enjoyed it, and in fact, I believe that he and Hermione are still here; they're in the dining room, but, erm… Ginny, there is something I should probably tell you about the uh… the gift Fred and George got Ron. It's… well, it's, ah-"

"Gotcha Dad. No need to explain. Don't worry, I know Fred and George well enough by now. I won't eat or touch anything odd while I'm here, and I will keep eyes at the back of my head at all times. I've got it covered." With that, she skipped out of the room towards the dining room as Jason greeted her father.

Her mood was light and happy as she skipped into the dining room and pushed the swinging door open.

"Hello, everybody!" she smiled as she cheerfully announced her arrival. Squeezed around the dining room table were Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and a dark-haired man that Ginny assumed was either Bill or Ron's friend.

"Hi mum," she gave her mom a peck on the cheek and handed Ron his present. Everyone else, however, seemed slightly subdued. The air told her that they knew something they didn't.

"Is everything alright?" She asked tentatively.

"Ginny dear," her mum started. "Did you notice who else is at the table tonight?"

Ginny's eyes found the unfamiliar figure with messy black hair. "I don't think we've-"

She stopped when his eyes fastened on hers. She knew her eyes bugged out quite unattractively, but she couldn't help it. The room shrank, she wondered if she was dreaming an extremely bad dream. Everyone was looking at her with the same expression, but she couldn't see them, she could only see…

"Harry?" She couldn't stop her voice from sounding appalled and Ron's gift fell with a thud to the floor. It was all too much to handle at once. Ginny felt her stomach churning with the unpleasant surprise, nausea toying with her dinner; it certainly was much too hot in this room. She had to get out of there.

"I think I'm going to be sick."

Harry despised himself. The look Ginny had fired him could induce nothing less. It was a look of hatred and he felt filthy under its glare.

All of the attention in the room was riveted on him as they heard Ginny run to the bathroom and get sick. Harry turned red with shame. He might have assumed that Ginny would be angry with him tonight, but would forget the anger because she was happy to see him home again. He never entertained any thought that she would be physically sick at the sight of him. He felt like the lowest of scum as Mrs. Weasley ran out of the dining room after her daughter, face contorted with worry.

Immediately, a new face burst into the dining room; a handsome man who looked to be about his age. It was Harry's turn to be unpleasantly surprised.

"Where is she? What happened?" He asked worriedly.

"She got sick Jason," Hermione informed the newcomer. Harry could tell that Hermione was anxious, standing up and pacing as if wondering if she should go comfort Ginny or allow her space. "She's in the bathroom."

As quickly as he came in, the man named Jason rushed out and down the hall to the bathroom.

The silence in the room was uncomfortable, to say the least. Nobody said a word. All seated at the table were sneaking glances at Harry; he felt it. Perhaps if he weren't so busy hating himself at the moment, he would be concerned. Frankly, he wasn't.

Shame. Harry breathed it in as those around him breathed it out. The cycle began again. Everyone at the table right now had something to feel ashamed about. Hermione was pacing the floor, looking as if she were about to cry. Fred and George were looking down at their laps, as was Bill. Ron was slumped over the table, his head resting in the crook of his elbow, his face red.

Harry knew they all felt guilt over their happiness for his return. He recalled how joyous the family had been all that night, celebrating not only Ron's birthday but Harry's return. It imitated the Parable of the Prodigal Son in whole. Ron and Hermione were ecstatic to be in the company of their best friend again, Fred and George were jokingly praised for their wonderful gift by everyone.

But when they could hear the sounds of Ginny getting sick in the bathroom and softly sobbing, mixed with the comforting voices of her mum, dad, and Jason, things didn't seem so funny.

Harry knew all of the blame rested on him.

What seemed like forever (in reality twenty minutes later), Mrs. Weasley burst into the dining room with an air of business about her.

"Alright, everybody out. Go home. Ron, happy birthday, dear, but you should go home. It's getting late. And- well, I guess that everyone else is staying. Up to bed Bill, Fred, George. Harry, you stay, I want to talk to you."

Ron came up to Harry before he left. "I'm sorry mate. I should have told you-"he stopped, and then said, "I'll talk to you tomorrow." He gave Harry a sad smile, and clapped him on the back.

Hermione gave him an enormous hug before she went with Ron. "Don't worry Harry. It'll turn out fine. And remember, Ron and I still love you no matter what. We're so glad you're back," she gave a genuine smile and took Ron's hand as they both apparated with pops.

Once the room was empty, Mrs. Weasley sat down next to him and took his hand. Harry could tell that she wanted to be express more joy that, after seven long years, he was finally in front of her, but she refrained for her daughter's sake.

"I'm sorry," he told her. "Maybe I shouldn't stay here. I can go and live at Ron and Hermione's for a while, they'd put me up."

"Nonsense, Harry. We don't blame you for what happened, why you had to leave."

"Ginny certainly-"

"Ginny does not hate you either Harry. I don't think she could. It might take a while, but soon you will see," Mrs. Weasley paused and took a deep breath. "Harry dear, Ginny did not… she didn't handle it well when you left. It hit all of us extremely hard- but we understood that you had to leave, so don't think we don't love you because of it. Anyways," she continued, her voice softening at her next words. "It hit us pretty hard. We were worried to death, and sad, and even a little angry. But we were able to cope with it well enough. Ginny… Ginny did not get away so easily. After the initial worry that something had happened to you, she…" Mrs. Weasley could not seem to say what Ginny did. She drifted off. Harry could tell this was hard for her.

"She'll tell you someday, but I can't tell you. It's not my place to tell, dear, and I frankly don't want to. You've had enough unpleasant surprises for today. Let me make you some tea to put you to sleep, and you can go to bed.

Harry still had many questions to ask, but he did not feel like receiving any more bad news tonight. He just wanted the blissful escape of sleep- to escape his troubled mind and shameful heart.

Yet sleep was not going to cast her spell on Harry until he was able to mull over the night's events thoroughly.

Ginny, little Ginny, not-so-little Ginny anymore. Ginny smiling as she skipped into the room, her red hair and pretty dress. Still outgoing and vivacious as ever. He wanted that smile to stay on her face, and, if anything, increase when she saw him. It was apparently too much to hope for.

He had let her down. Now he understood that. He had thought when he left seven years ago, that she would be sad, but it would disappear, because she trusted him. She trusted that he would come back, which he would, and everything would be fine. Sure, seven years was a long while to wait, but love would bear it. He had faith that she trusted him to return.

But according to Mrs. Weasley, things had gone differently. At the moment, Harry did not want to know what horrible things Ginny had done that made her mum say that she "didn't cope with it well". Anymore guilt and he would explode.

Soon, sleep claimed him. His last thought focused on the man named Jason. Who was he, and what was he to Ginny?

After seeing Jason off to his flat, assuring him that she would be fine and not wanting to explain Harry to him, she made a cup of tea in the kitchen and headed up to bed. On her way there, she accidentally heard her mother in the dining room, presumably talking to Harry. Not being able to help herself, she had to stop and listen to what was being said about her.

She caught a few words before she shut them out completely. "She'll tell you someday, but I can't tell you. It's not my place to tell, dear…" then her mum's voice trailed into a whisper, and Ginny was left with the words.

What was he doing here? He'd been gone for seven years, and then he decides to just come back, no message or anything? How did he expect Ginny would react? By running over and hugging him, kissing him all over his face and telling him she loved him? He must have no idea what the results of his departure were. No idea whatsoever.

Walking upstairs, she pondered over his different appearance, part of the reason why she had not recognized him in the first place. In the seven years he had been absent, he was taller and broader, and he had filled out more. His hair was still messy, and his scar still stood out on his face. His eyes were still green, and when he had looked at her at the dinner table, it was with the same fervor, perhaps more, that he looked at her before.

No. She commanded herself as she got into bed. He was back. But that did not mean she could go back to thinking about him all the time. The timing certainly was not perfect, but this was a test. Harry was a test. She loved Jason, and she was going to marry him, whether Harry was back in town or not.

She wondered how he handled Jason. Hopefully Ron or Hermione explained Jason to Harry, or it could get sticky.

Ginny got into bed and flipped off her lamp switch, purposefully ignoring the memories from the past that threatened her sanity.

The book had closed and trapped her thumb in between its pages as Ginny realized when she was woken from her slumber. She had fallen asleep in front of the fire, which had almost completely died down at this point. She was still dressed in her day robes, and must have been reading and drifted off on the carpeted floor. Sitting up, she sensed the presence of someone else.

"Good book?" came Harry's voice on the couch next to the fire.

Ginny smiled groggily as she looked up at him. "Yeah, it's great" she laughed sleepily.

"You should go to bed," he told her. "You look tired."

"I was thinking about it again."

"It?"

"You know," she said. "Everything that happened, even though it was a month ago. The battle. I had to get it off of my mind, so I tried to pretend I was Hermione and immerse myself in a book. I guess it didn't work too well."

"It's been on my mind a lot also…" Harry said slowly, now looking in the fire instead of at Ginny.

"Yeah…" There was a silence as Ginny searched for something to say to distract Harry, bring some happiness to his outlook on the battle. "I can't help but think," she began self-consciously. "I mean, I hate thinking this sometimes, but… we got really lucky."

Harry looked at her and raised his eyebrows, as if asking "How?"

"In the midst of everything. All of the killing, and- and the dying," she shuddered. "I still have my family. All of us. You would have guessed that, since there is so many of us, one or two would have died, but… something made it so that we all lived. My family, Hermione, you, me. The people we love most in life, we all got by. Sometimes," she added, "Sometimes I think it's only a dream, that we all scraped by, and I feel selfish. It was too easy for me. Nothing hard. I want something hard. I want to feel like I suffered also. I was the only one in my family, out of the whole wizarding world, practically, that didn't."

Harry got down on his knees beside me. "Ginny," he said, his tone pleading with her. "Ginny, do you know how relieved I am that you didn't suffer?"

"You don't understand, Harry," she hugged her knees to her chest and tried to make him grasp her feelings. "I don't deserve to just scrape by. I deserve the suffering; I'm the one who needs it… not you or anyone else. You've already gone through enough hardships in your life. You don't deserve anymore. I do. Out of everyone, I do."

He held her hands even tighter, as if to squeeze understanding into her. "No, Gin, that's not how it is supposed to be. You don't deserve that suffering. You deserve all of the happiness the world can give you, you deserve life. I can't tell you…how much easier it made my job- knowing you were safe, and I… I love you for it." His face was looming ever closer to hers, and he just barely whispered, "I love you…"

They did not need to explain their feelings to each other; they just accepted them and moved forward, both physically and emotionally. They felt it in equal proportions; thus, no explanation or words were needed. There was no hesitation, no questioning, because it was all right.

For the first time, Harry kissed her and Ginny kissed back. There, in front of the dying Gryffindor fire when all were asleep, safe in their beds because Voldemort was gone forever. And the kiss went on and was deepened further by the equal emotions pouring forth from both hearts. It was a new beginning for all.

Well, there we go. Terrible, really, how ImadeGinny getting sick at the sight of Harry, but I didn't want something too cliche, so that's what my wacky muse came up with. Anyways, the previous passage was the first of many flashbacks thatyouwill be reading, and through themthe reasonsof Harry's departure and what happened to Ginny will be revealed. Hopefully thereshould be one per chapter, but I'm working on that.

Anyways please reviewthe story, and also let me know: Invisiblity or flying? Which one would you choose if you could have anymagical ability at all? Or would it be something else?