My Past, Your Future, Our Destiny
Chapter Two
When Things Go South
If Ginny had hated her colleagues before her impromptu meeting with Harry, then she absolutely loathed them now. It didn't help that she was keen to snap at anyone the second they approached her. But, her behavior wasn't entirely her fault, she reasoned. After all, it was quite a shock to the system to see your old love interest for the first time in four years when you had only been expecting a cup of tea.
So, she was perfectly justified in her actions. Perhaps, she had been a bit harsh with a few of the applicants, but those types of things couldn't be helped.
As much as Ginny wanted to hate Harry for dismissing her so eloquently when she had seen him at the coffee house she found herself casting covert looks out of the window of the boardroom hoping to see a mop of black hair bobbing about in the crowds below. So far she hadn't spotted it.
She tried to tell herself it was only because she was mad. Or possibly that she was suffering from a severe case of overwork. So, it must have been because of her case of overwork that she had found herself in the coffee house only a few days after she had sworn she would never return. But, she was only there to get a cup of tea, of course.
The fact that she kept leaning over her shoulder to see if Harry was taking orders behind the counter meant nothing.
As the amount of time Ginny found herself stuck in America with no solid applicants for the open teaching positions at Hogwarts moved from days to weeks she found herself becoming increasingly volatile. Maybe a little bored, too.
So, instead of going to lunch with her colleagues Ginny sauntered confidently over to the coffee shop. She wanted to talk to Harry.
"Is Harry Potter working here today?" Ginny asked the woman manning the register.
"Nope." The girl said lazily.
"Do you know when he'll be in?"
"He quit." Said the girl, her eyes fixed on an attractive man that had just walked through the door.
Ginny felt a combination of shock and regret at those words. Harry wasn't supposed to just up and leave. That would only make her job harder.
"Do you know where he went?" Ginny asked, having to speak loudly to keep the cashiers attention.
"We're not allowed to give out that type of information."
"Oh." Ginny mumbled.
So days continued to go by. Applicants continued to stream through the office doors; none worth hiring. And Ginny felt her tolerance levels ebbing away at an increasingly alarming rate.
So then, logically, it really wasn't her fault when she stormed out of her office building after a heated argument for the second time during the entire trip. These things just happened.
And so it was as Ginny was storming around in a local park that she came to a startling discovery. She didn't just want to talk to Harry; she needed to. It was simple really, she thought triumphantly. Because, obviously, once she talked to Harry she would be able to put the past behind her. She would be able to understand why he had left. She could forgive him and just move on.
So, she returned to the coffee shop.
"I need to talk to Harry Potter." Said Ginny with more confidence than she felt to the man behind the counter.
"He doesn't work here anymore."
"So I've been told." Ginny said quietly, "But, you see, I'm his sister – and, well, there's been a death in the family. I don't know how to locate Harry – he never gave us an address – but it really is important that I find him."
The man looked at her skeptically for a few minutes, drumming his fingertips against the countertop, before he sighed and produced a piece of paper. He scribbled down a few lines before handing it over to Ginny.
"Thanks, I really appreciate this." Ginny said, trying to remain somber under the pretenses of the supposed family 'death.'
"Yeah, just don't tell him it was me that gave it to you. He's really anal about his privacy." Grumbled the man before he switched his attention off of Ginny.
Knowing she was being dismissed, Ginny left the coffee shop as fast as she could.
She weaved through street corners and exotically named avenues looking down every so often to check the hastily scribbled address. Until finally, she found it.
Harry's building was attractive. Located on a quiet street, it was a stone structure with trails of ivy ghosting around window frames and a large brass door. Ginny sighed happily – she had accomplished her mission.
A few minutes later she found herself facing a door with 3C pasted onto the wood. Taking one last deep breath, she steadied herself, and knocked.
And Harry answered.
"What are you doing here?" Harry demanded.
"I came to see you." Said Ginny carefully. "I wanted to talk to you about a few things."
"Ginny – right now isn't exactly the best time." Said Harry. He sounded a tad frantic.
"Listen," Ginny ordered, her patience completely gone. "you disappeared for four years and I want to know why."
"I've written." Harry said, his voice low.
"But, you've never written with an explanation. Which is what I want."
"Okay." Harry said, leaning heavily against the doorstop. "Can we talk somewhere else? How about we get something to eat?" He made to shut the door and slip out of the apartment but was prevented by Ginny's foot in the door.
"Why not just talk here?" Ginny asked quietly, trying to get past Harry and see into the apartment.
"No." Harry practically shouted. "I mean, we can't." He added gently after seeing Ginny's raised eyebrow.
"What are you hiding?" Asked Ginny, her eyes narrowed and her voice low.
"Nothing." Harry mumbled.
"Nothing?" Ginny asked skeptically. "If it's nothing then why can't I go into your flat?"
Harry took in a shaky breath, his eyes meeting Ginny's firmly.
"Ginny, I left for a reason. I stayed away for a reason. I don't want to tell you why for a reason. Let it go."
"Do you want me to just leave then?" Ginny said impatiently, her voice snappy.
"No." Harry sighed. "I don't want you to go. I like seeing you."
"Then let me inside so we can have a visit." Ginny said defiantly.
"You're not going to give up, are you?" Harry asked harshly.
"No."
"Well you're not getting into the apartment."
"Why not?" Ginny snapped.
"Merlin Gin, you're going around in circles. Just let it drop." Harry snarled.
"Fine. I'll just let it drop as you so deftly put it, somewhere else. Somewhere that isn't – HERE!" Ginny said loudly, fumbling with her words.
Before Harry could answer Ginny had fled down the stairs.
She wanted an explanation. She needed an explanation. And, if Harry was going to be stubborn and not tell her now, then she would just come back later. But, she certainly wasn't going to sit back and let him act immature about it.
She ripped the front door in the lobby open, not pausing to listen to the doorman's cry of surprise. Ginny didn't stop her exit until she had reached the quiet street outside of the apartment building. She paused, letting her hands drop to her knees, panting, trying to catch her breath.
"You want to know what?" A loud voice interrupted the calm. Ginny whipped around to see a livid Harry standing a few feet away from her. He had followed her downstairs.
"What?" Ginny snapped.
"You're the immature one out of the pair of us." Harry said, pointing an accusing finger. "You're the one who came barreling up to my house demanding that I let you in and tell you all my secrets. You're the one who's disrespecting me."
"Well, excuse me for worrying about you." Said Ginny, not sounding the least bit apologetic. "I spent four years wondering where you were. Hermione spent four years waiting to see you again. Ron's been waiting four years for you to come home and play a game of Quidditch with him. I was only worried."
"I can't do those things anymore."
"And why the bloody hell not?" Ginny shrieked into the night.
"Because the past doesn't take precedent in my life anymore, Gin. Because I have responsibilities in my life that you can't even begin to fathom. I have to think about the future if I want to survive!" Harry growled.
"You can't have a future without a past." Ginny said stonily. "You of all people should understand that."
"I understand it perfectly." Said Harry defensively. "But you shouldn't let your past rule your future, either."
"You're just angry because of the way things turned out." Said Ginny. "I don't blame you. Those last years were awful, but you can't run away. You CANNOT change the past Harry, but you CANNOT forget about it."
"You already said that!"
"Well it doesn't seem to be registering with your THICK skull."
"I'm not the one being thick here."
"Oh, I think you may be mistaken there Mister Boy Wonder."
"Fine. You know what? Fine. You're right." Harry said coolly, stalking forward until he was only standing a few inches away from Ginny. "Maybe sometimes I want to change the past. Maybe sometimes I look back on my life and all I see is pain, death and suffering with a few falsely cheerful moments mixed in. Maybe sometimes I wish I didn't have a past."
"You think you're the only one?" Ginny said back slowly, matching Harry's threatening tone. "You think that I liked the way things turned out?"
"Sometimes, yes, I do." Said Harry, devoid of any expression.
Ginny froze at his words, her heart pounding madly in her chest and her face rising in heat and anger. Memories flashed before her eyes in rapid succession – pain, pain, pain, pain…
"I'd change my past in a heartbeat if I was given the chance." Ginny growled.
"Yeah, well then that makes two of us." Said Harry darkly, his face showing no signs of warmth or understanding.
It was at that moment that things began to go southwards. Neither Ginny nor Harry noticed the brilliant white light that was speeding towards them. Neither of them registered what it meant until there was no chance of moving.
But, both of them felt it.
Both of them felt the car collide into them – sickening crunches to accompany the screaming horn.
- - - - -
Ginny groaned as she regained consciousness, bringing a hand up to massage her pounding head.
And with a jolt she remembered how that pain had come to be.
Sitting up quickly Ginny jerked around until she laid eyes on a mess of black hair and a bloodied body next to her.
"Harry?" Ginny whispered, feeling her eyes fill with tears when he didn't answer her call.
Moving slowly and shakily Ginny maneuvered herself so that Harry's head was in her lap. Resting her back on a tree nearby Ginny let the tears fall as she held Harry's body close to her.
"Wake up." She said, her voice breaking. "I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry…"
"OI!" A voice called from somewhere nearby. Ginny didn't care to notice where the voice had come from, but remained tight with her hold on Harry. A pair of rushing feet reached her ears before another voice joined the first.
"What happened?" Ginny sensed someone kneeling in front of her but didn't move her head to meet the speaker's eyes. "Are you alright?" The voice asked again, sounding a bit more panicked.
Ginny felt her breath catch in her throat again as a fresh wave of tears cascaded down her face. She knew she was trembling but she didn't care.
"Get Remus." One of the voices said.
That caught Ginny's attention. Where was Remus? She didn't know that he was in America.
"Remus." Ginny whispered. "I want to see Remus."
"Do you know him?" The voice asked from above her.
Ginny felt herself nodding.
"Alright." The voice said, laying a hand on Ginny's arm carefully. "Who's your friend? Can you tell me?"
"He's hurt." Ginny whispered, her head lolling in front of her.
"Yes. Can you tell me why?"
"Car."
"Can you let me take him? Can you let me see him? I can make him feel better if you let me take him from you." The voice continued on.
Ginny felt a shiver rush down her spine at the thought of someone removing Harry to a place where she didn't know how he was.
"I'll keep him right next to you." The voice said reassuringly, as if sensing Ginny's trepidation.
Slowly, she relinquished her grip.
"We'll just roll him over and get a good look at his face." The voice told Ginny. By now she had wiped some of the tears out of her eyes and propped her head up. Her vision still slightly obscured Ginny was able to register that their rescuer was a man.
"It was a car." Ginny said quietly.
"I know." The voice said kindly. "We'll help him. I'll just turn him over now."
Ginny heard the shifting of what sounded to be leaves followed by a large gasp.
"James?" The voice breathed in horror.
"No." Said Ginny weakly, hearing the declaration. "Harry." She smiled slightly at herself, glad she could correct the man.
"That's not Harry." The voice said frantically. "It can't be."
"'Course is." Ginny slurred.
"No. It can't be." The voice repeated.
"'S Harry." Ginny sighed before she let her eyes droop closed slowly. She was so tired…
- - - - - -
Ginny awoke the second time to much more desirable circumstances.
She sighed in content, momentarily forgetting her troubles, as a soft hand caressed her forehead.
"Feels nice." Ginny mumbled.
"I'm glad." A woman's voice answered.
"Hermione?" Ginny asked in confusion.
"No."
"Mum?"
"Don't think so."
"Who?"
"Lily." The voice answered softly.
Ginny snapped her eyes open and looked into the gentle face of a woman with deep red hair and bright green eyes.
"No." Ginny whispered, shaking her head back and forth violently. "You can't be her."
"Stop that." Lily scolded lightly, taking Ginny's head tenderly in her hands and holding it still. "And why can't I be her?" She asked with a mischievous smirk.
"Because – you're dead." Said Ginny, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
This had to be a horrible dream. It had to be. There was no other way to explain it. There was no way that Ginny could be sitting on a bed with Harry's late mother. Those types of things simply weren't possible.
Ginny watched closely as 'Lily's' eyes widened and her smirk dropped from her face quickly.
"What did you say?" A harsh voice asked from the doorway. Ginny turned her head and felt her shock double as she stared at a carbon copy of Harry. Except it wasn't Harry. "What did you say?" James Potter repeated.
"James, hush." Lily scolded.
"No. She said you're dead." James said, his tone was menacing. "Something's going on here."
"Brilliant deduction." Lily mumbled.
"Lils, how can you be so calm about this?" James asked disbelievingly.
"James, be quiet, now." Said Lily, leaving no room for objection. James withered under her glare. "The girl's been in an accident. She might just be suffering from trauma. Why don't you help Sirius go de-gnome the garden if you're so intent on causing trouble."
James moved to protest but one last look from Lily sent him storming from the room muttering obscenities under his breath.
"You just rest." Lily said, turning her attention back onto Ginny, smoothing the bedcovers down. "You've had quite a time of it."
"How's Harry?" Ginny asked suddenly.
"He's sleeping." Lily answered.
"Where?" Ginny asked, squirming about to see if she could find him in the room.
"It's okay, he's in his crib."
"Harry doesn't sleep in a crib." Ginny said, pausing to look at Lily like she had gone insane. "Why would he do that?"
"Because, he's a baby."
"No he's not." Ginny protested. "He's not a baby. He's twenty one."
"Maybe we're speaking of different Harry's." Lily said, her voice remaining calm but her hands smoothing the blankets down with more force. "I'm sure there's more than one person in all of England with that name."
"But we're not in England." Ginny said, observing Lily with a bemused expression. "We're in America."
"Oh?" Lily questioned lightly. "Why are we in America?"
"Because I'm the Charms teacher at Hogwarts." Ginny began to explain. "And because nobody wants Snape's old job or the Defense Against the Dark Arts post I had to go and look at people to hire. And I found Harry there working in a coffee shop. He lives there, I suppose. I don't know, I haven't seen him for four years. He's so immature about it. He won't tell me anything. It's worse than after he killed Voldemort."
Lily's hands stopped smoothing the blankets.
"What did you just say?" Lily asked, her voice shaking.
"Everyone knows about that." Ginny sighed, feeling her mind slip slowly into a state of delirious obliviousness. "The Prophet told everyone about the prophecy. Harry was so mad." Ginny said thoughtfully, feeling her train of thought latch onto long repressed memories. "It just made him feel guilty for Sirius all over again."
"Sirius?" Lily whispered, her voice sounded as if each word was causing her intense pain.
"He died." Ginny said simply. "Everyone just…died."
"He what?"
"I'm tired"
"I need you to explain that to me, dear. What happened to Sirius?"
"My head feels funny."
"We'll get you something to soothe it if you can just tell me what happened to Sirius."
But Lily's requests were all in vain as Ginny felt her hold on reality ebbing away swiftly. It would be nice just to sleep a little more…
- - - -
A/N: Sorry about the wait. I had the first chapter done but I needed some time to sort where everything needed to be headed for the story to continue.
You may have noticed that the title and summary of this story have also changed since chapter one. This is because I combined the plot for the storyline of Emma with the storyline of my first fanfic. I kind of braided them together- hence the wait.
Thanks for all your lovely responses. I truly appreciate them.