Living inside Yesterday
Potter47

~ Part Four ~
Living for Tomorrow

"Who knows how long we've got; a week, a month, a year, a life time? We have to make the most
of whatever time we've got, otherwise we'll only regret the things we could have done, but didn't."
~ Imogen

~ Chapter Eighteen ~
Over the Rainbow

As Harry and Ginny emerged from the stone gargoyle, Snape, Hermione, and Ron all spun their heads around. Luna, however, was staring at the stone wall beside the entrance to Dumbledore's office, and didn't seem to notice a thing.

"Harry! Ginny!" exclaimed Hermione, rushing over to greet them. Her announcement seemed to awaken Luna from her reverie, and she too looked up.

"What did he say?" asked Snape, who, once again, seemed to be looking through Harry.

"That's for Harry to tell you," said Ginny. "When he decides to," she added, as Ron opened his mouth.

"Nothing," said Harry monotonously. "Nothing important, anyway."

He was looking at Luna's hand, almost longingly. Clasped within her fist was the knife. He had just realised, seeing that knife, that it could have ended. He could have killed Voldemort, when the Tempus Fugit spell was in effect. Luna noticed his gaze, and swiftly put the knife away. Or did she notice his gaze? She was looking at the wall again...

"Well," said Hermione, "we all should probably head to our dormitories. We haven't slept in ages."

"But Hermione," said Ron. "it's the middle of the day. How are we supposed to go to sleep?"

"I gather you had no trouble sleeping in that cell," said Professor Snape icily. Ron's ears, once again, turned red.

"All right then," he said quickly. "Let's go!"

He set off down the corridor.

"Ron," said Luna, not looking up.

He stopped walking, and turned toward her. "Yes?" his voice was oddly high pitched.

"It's the other way."

"Right." He set off once again, but in the other direction.

"You go ahead," said Ginny, to Hermione and Luna. She was looking out the window, across the corridor. The sky was beginning to clear. "Harry, I need to show you something."

"Yeah," said Harry, a little brighter. "Sure."

Hermione smiled slightly. "Let's go, Luna."

Snape seemed to be watching the happenings, waiting for them all to leave. It was as if he was recording the goings-on, and needed to remember them in detail. He didn't move an inch when Hermione and Luna walked past, the former glancing back briefly. He had a look of intense concentration on his face, and he seemed impatient for the corridor to clear.

"Come on, Harry," said Ginny. She began to walk in the opposite direction of the others. Harry followed silently.

Once the two had turned a corner, Professor Snape muttered, "Nil Desperandum," and the gargoyle sprang to life once again. He walked onto the wizarding escalator, and the wall closed behind him.

He didn't notice a certain someone turn around, and take one last look, as the stone wall sealed.

* * *

Harry and Ginny walked silently for what seemed, to Harry, to be a long time. He had no idea where she was leading him, and she didn't seem to be planning on telling him any time soon.

"Where are we going?" he finally asked.

"You'll see."

She quickened her pace, and glanced out the window. Harry had to run to catch up.

I thought I was fast, he thought. Dudley never would have caught her.

They headed up a staircase, and then another. Harry began to recognise the path they were taking. But why would she lead me there?

After a final set of stairs, they emerged onto the top of the tower. Surrounding them on all sides, were the stands for telescopes. They were on the Astronomy Tower.

Astronomy Tower...

What?!

The Astronomy Tower had a...reputation...as a place for couples to...express their feelings for each other. Not that he didn't want to be there with Ginny, but...why did she bring him there?

"Er... Ginny?" he said nervously. "Why are we on the Astronomy Tower?"

She was standing by one of the telescope stands, looking over the wall.

"Look," she said, gesturing to the vastness around them.

He looked up, and what he saw took his breath away.

A rainbow stretched across the length of the castle, and he had never seen anything like it before. No other rainbow that he had seen, in his fifteen years, was anything like this. Instead of the usual array of colours, there were only four: blue, green, yellow, and red.

The house colours.

The effect was, literally and figuratively, magical. The four colours alternated their places. One moment, red was next to blue, the next, it was next to green. Then yellow. This in itself was amazing, but it was nothing compared to what it really meant.

Red, green, blue and yellow. The four houses. Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. All together, not caring which was which. Gryffindor was just as important as Hufflepuff, and Slytherin, and Ravenclaw. They were all equal. All united.

If only the Sorting Hat could see this...

"Wow," was the only word that could form in Harry's mind.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" said Ginny, glancing back at Harry.

"Yeah," he said, enthralled. "Who did this?"

"Who else?" she replied. "The founders, of course."

"How do you know that?" he asked, still not looking away from the rainbow.

She smiled. "I read it, in Hogwarts, a History..."

Harry's head snapped down. "You've read Hogwarts, a History? I thought only Hermione and Riddle had read that book."

She stopped smiling. "Well, I had to do something with all those copies." She looked down at the stones that made the roof of the tower.

Harry was confused. "What? What copies? When?" he asked.

"My first year," she said, still not looking at him. "Imagine my surprise when I found a dozen copies of Hogwarts, a History stashed under my bed! However could they have gotten there?!" She hastily wiped a tear from her eye. "Apparently, Tom didn't want anyone reading up on the Chamber, so he made me...he made me steal all the copies from the library."

"Er..." Harry had no idea what to do. He remembered Christmas break, when Ginny had told him that he hadn't been possessed by Voldemort. It had comforted him, knowing that. But Ginny had been possessed. How am I supposed to comfort her?

"It's all right, Ginny," he said awkwardly. "That was a long time ago."

"But it doesn't seem it!" she cried. "I almost had it behind me. Almost! And then we go back, and...and he takes me again. You have no idea what that's like! And then those so-called children...and then-"

"What?" interrupted Harry. "What children?"

"Oh!" she said. She didn't have enough hands to wipe away the tears anymore. "You didn't know about that! I was haunted by me, myself, and I! And the other me, and him..."

"What?" said Harry again. Ginny was becoming hysterical. He had no idea what to do. This was supposed to be the other way around. She helped him. All year, it had been like that. He just now realised that.

"Never mind, Harry!" she said. "I can't believe this! I bring you here to comfort you, and now this! You were supposed to be the one that needed help!"

That sounds familiar...

"It's okay, Gin," he said. "Everything's gonna be all right."

"Oh, that's comforting! Everything's all right! It's over now, Ginny! Well, it's not over, Harry! It's not going to be over until Voldemort is dead! I have nightmares every night! I know you have them too, and I'm sorry that I'm acting like a little girl, but it just isn't fair!"

"I know it isn't fair, Gin," he said. "I'm an expert on what's not fair. Nothing's been fair for a long time." He took a breath, and realised just how important his life was. "It's about time life was fair again."

"Yeah, it is," said Ginny. "It's about time." She smiled a little.

It took him a minute to notice the pun. Then he smiled too.

Little by little, the tears stopped coming, though Ginny's face was still covered in them.

Harry realised then, just how close they were standing. He must have walked closer without realising it. He was only a few inches from her.

He could have counted the freckles on her nose.

"I really like you, Harry."

He could not think. A tingling sensation was spreading throughout him, paralysing his arms, legs, and brain.

She was much too close. He could see every tear clinging to her eyelashes...

Freckles...tears...eyelashes...

"I really like you, Ginny."

* * *

"Come in, Severus," said Dumbledore, when he heard a knock on his office door.

"How much did you tell him?" asked the Potions Master, striding into the room swiftly, and taking a seat across from the Headmaster.

"I told him everything," said Dumbledore.

"What?" demanded Snape. "You told him-"

"Everything," corrected Dumbledore, "that does not pertain to you."

Snape let out a breath he hadn't realised he was holding.

"Good."

The Headmaster looked questioningly at Professor Snape, as if waiting for something.

"I believe I asked you something before..."

"Oh," said Snape. "Yes, the students. Weasley was doing his best to watch Miss Lovegood without letting her know, but he wasn't doing a very good job of it. She was pretending not to notice.

"Miss Granger was...pacing. She wasn't doing anything else, save for waiting for Potter and Miss Weasley to return. She frequently consulted her wristwatch-"

"Sorry to interrupt," interrupted Dumbledore, "but what time is it?"

"Twelve-thirteen," said Snape automatically.

"Thank you," said Dumbledore, smiling. "I believe I should pick up a Muggle watch this summer...maybe one of those digital ones Arthur Weasley has been talking about... He says that they are much easier to read than wizarding ones..." He paused. "You were saying?"

"Potter was acting odd when he came down," Snape continued. "Miss Weasley took him somewhere, presumably to cheer him up."

"That is all?"

Snape nodded.

"Thank you, Severus," said Dumbledore. "You may return to your position as Headmaster."

Snape flinched, as if he had forgotten what position the circumstances had put him in.

He muttered threateningly as he left the office, "McGonagall better hurry up and heal..."

* * *

"What?" asked Ginny, blinking.

Harry could see the rainbow reflected in her bright brown eyes. He tried again.

"I said, I really like you. I think...I think I might..." He blushed furiously, and muttered the last two words.

"What was that?" asked Ginny, smiling slightly. "I couldn't hear that last bit."

"...love you," whispered Harry, his eyes closed, so he couldn't see the look on Ginny's face. It had to be bad. She was over him. Why did he say it out loud? He had been perfectly fine with thinking it for the past...however long. He didn't know what was happening, when he felt pressure on his lips.

He slowly opened his eyes. He hadn't been expecting...that.

Ginny was kissing him. She's kissing me! See, I told you; Ginny was kissing him.

He had only begun to grasp the fact that Ginny Weasley was kissing him, when she pulled back. Only a few inches. She was crying once again, but he had a feeling it wasn't for the same reason. "I love you, too."

Harry's world exploded in happiness when he heard those four little words. Before he knew what was happening, he was kissing her again. He was kissing her. It most definitely did not feel as though he only had wanted to do this for the past couple days. It was more like he had been waiting his whole life.

Ginny broke away, after a while, and chuckled softly. She's laughing? I'm not that bad a kisser am I?

"What's so funny?" he asked worriedly. "Was I that bad?"

"No!" she said hurriedly, still laughing. "It's just...I'm crying."

"Yeah?" he asked, not comprehending.

"Harry, I'm crying!" she said, laughing, as if it was the funniest thing in the world. Which it is not...

And then, suddenly, it was.

Harry started laughing as well. It felt good to laugh. Especially with Ginny.

Something clicked in Harry's mind. "Love," he murmured, once their laughter subsided. "It's love."

"Yes, we established that fact already, Harry," she said. "You love me, and I love you."

"No, that's...that's not what I meant. I mean..." He took a breath. "I mean it is love. The power. In the prophecy, the power the Dark Lord knows not. He doesn't know love." His face broke into a grin. "And I do."

The Astronomy Tower was silent for what seemed to be an hour or two, but it was probably a minute or so.

"So," said Ginny, finally breaking the silence, "does this mean we're...together?" No one could fail to notice the hopefulness in her voice.

"We bloody well better be," said Harry. "If you just snog random guys on the Astronomy Tower-" She cut him off with another kiss.

"You know," said Harry, pulling away, "I reckon that's a much better way to shut me up than yelling at me."

"Both work though, don't they?" she said, grinning.

"I guess," he said, the humour gone from his voice. His face was serious again.

"What is it?" asked Ginny worriedly.

"If he...if he knows...knows that we're a...a 'we' he..." Harry stopped, and pulled back from Ginny.

"Oh, no you don't," she said, pulling him back. "Harry, we'll deal with that." She smiled. "I've waited five years for this, and I'm not letting you back out just like that."

"But...he can't know. No one can know, or he'll find out-"

"-then we don't tell anyone," she said simply. "I reckon it's a bit too late for Dumbledore, though. I think he's known for years."

"Probably."

Harry was beginning to breath a little easier. "So we don't tell anyone?"

"Right."

"That's going to be impossible. How are we supposed to keep this from Hermione? She'll figure it out the minute we go back."

"Well," said Ginny, "anything is possible, if you've got enough nerve..." She rubbed her chin for a moment, thinking. "Aha! It's simple. A foolproof way of not letting anyone know."

"Well?" asked Harry impatiently.

Ginny had a wicked gleam in her eye. "We don't go back. Not anytime soon, anyway."

Harry smiled. "Works for me."

~ Next Chapter ~
Throne Away

"You see things; and you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say, 'Why not?'"
~ Shaw

~ Coming Soon ~