Standard Disclaimer: Harry Potter & all related stuff © J.K. Rowling, Warner Brothers Pictures, and a bunch of other people that doesn't include me.
An early Scottish June morning, a lone figure could be seen walking down Low Askomill Walk away from town. The smallish figure was wearing a dark cloak, with the hood pulled up. To see her, you'd have to really be looking, as she seemed to fade in and out of the shadows. As she walked, she seemed to be consulting with something to determine her direction. At a certain point, she turned into a slight path on the south side of the road. The light, which had been dim, at best, got even dimmer and harder for her to follow the path. Well, maybe path wasn't the best word for it, as there was little evidence of usage, it was more an impression that this was the way to her destination.
After a few hundred yards travel through the underbrush of the wood, she came upon a clearing. At one end of the clearing was a house, not imposing in size, but comfortable looking, and at the other was the sunrise coming up over Cambeltown Loch. She stopped and watched the sunrise for a couple of minutes. It always seemed to her that the sunrise was a calming time. It promised the start of a new day, full of life, and potential.
She turned and walked to the house. On the front porch of the house was a man with messy black hair, vivid green eyes, and a fading scar on his forehead. Harry Potter. He was almost a legend, considering that he killed Voldemort when he was 17. Of course, when the euphoria from the Dark Lord's defeat finally wore off, Harry had found himself more an outcast, than welcomed. People wanted to use him for their own purposes, and no one really seemed to care about him for himself. Harry had finally given up on the Wizarding World, and had moved away. Only his few close friends knew where he'd moved to.
"Hello, Ginny," Harry said. "What brings you out to my lonely little corner of the world?"
Ginny pulled the hood down. "Good morning, Harry. I just needed to get away. The press is really starting to get to me."
Harry chuckled and nodded to the morning copy of the Daily Prophet sitting on the table next to him. "I can see why. What I don't understand is why you took up with him in the first place. I mean, he's nice enough, but he just doesn't seem to be your type." He waved her into a soft, comfortable chair on the other side of the table.
The front picture was displaying the remains of three former Death Eaters. They'd been found dead, along with their victims, out by Aberdeen. The next picture was a picture of Ginny having what seemed to be a spectacular fight with Colin Creevy. The accompanying article went into all sorts of sordid details of their breakup, alleging that both of them had been seeing people on the side. It even went so far as to allege that she'd been seen consorting with Draco Malfoy, of all people. When Harry first read it, he'd fallen out of his chair laughing. As if Ginny would ever consider dating that slimy ferret after what he'd done to her family.
"I don't know, Harry. I guess I was lonely. Ron & Hermione were off on their honeymoon, Bill & Fleur were taking care of their kids. Mum was doing the doting grandmother thing. You've been more or less in hiding for ages. I needed some human interaction. I ran into Colin at Diagon Alley one afternoon. We had lunch at the a muggle restaurant, and things just kind of grew from there."
"I guess I can see the need for human interaction," Harry admitted. "I get kind of lonely out here without any of my friends to talk to."
"You can come back anytime, Harry. You know that. I … we'd love to have you back in our lives more often."
"I know, Ginny. I'd love to spend more time with you. And your family. But with the way I tend to be either the greatest hero since Dumbledore or the worst dark lord since Voldemort, there's no way I'd be able to lead a normal life. And shortly after things turn sour, it'd start to negatively affect your family. I can't do that to you, or them. I care about you too much."
"You do realize how perverted that logic is, don't you? You care for us so you stay away?"
"Yeah, it does sound kind of bizarre, doesn't it. But you remember how it was during the Tri-Wizard tournament, and then after? Don't you remember how it affected people around me? I just don't think that I'll be able to spend a lot of time among the general wizard population for a while. Eventually, people will forget, raw wounds will heal over, bad feelings will fade. I'll be able to come back, then."
"Just don't completely isolate yourself from those that love you, Harry."
"I won't Ginny. You know where to find me, obviously. Remus & Tonks, and your family know where to find me. That's enough for now."
Harry stood up and stretched. "So, anyway, Ginny. Now that you're here, are you staying long? You know you're welcome as long as you'd like."
Ginny got up and gave Harry a warm hug. "Thank you, Harry. I don't know how long I'll stay. I don't want to be a burden to you."
Harry looked down into her eyes, "Ginny, you never have been, nor could ever become, a burden to me. You know that."
Ginny felt as though he was peering into her soul, and there in that look was the depth of his feelings for her. Friendship, trust, and more.
"Harry …"
"Shh. We both know why things have happened the way they have." He kissed her forehead gently. "I neither accept nor apportion blame to either of us. When and if the time is right, we'll be together again."
Ginny burrowed turned her head and snuggled up to his shoulder. "And when will we know that the time is right, Harry?"
"I don't know, Ginny. I don't know. There are things I want to do. There are things you want to do. I guess when it starts to become things that we want to do, then the time will be right."
Ginny sighed, relaxing in the warmth of his arms, feeling safe and wonderful.
A few days later, Ginny was curled up on the couch in Harry's sitting room reading a book. Harry came out of the library.
"Ginny, I need to run into town for a little bit. Do you want to come along? We can have dinner at the pub."
Her eyes brightened at the thought. While Harry's cooking was excellent, it would be nice to get out and stretch their legs for a bit.
"I'd love to, Harry, when do we leave?"
Harry smiled at her reaction. "We can leave whenever you're ready. There isn't a specific time that I need to be in town."
"Ok. Just give me a few minutes to get cleaned up and dressed."
After a few minutes, Ginny came down from her room, dressed in a denim skirt that went to about mid-calf, and a white, muslin top. With her long red hair flowing over her shoulders, it was a perfect outfit. Harry offered Ginny his arm, and they set off towards the road for the short walk into town.
When they reached town, they turned down Kilkerran Road and walked into the Ardshiel Hotel. There, Harry ordered lunches for the two of them. While they ate, they talked about mostly inconsequential things, recent articles in the Prophet, the latest news from Molly about the family, and what they've heard about the goings on at Hogwarts.
When they were done, Harry led her down to the ferry and purchased tickets.
"Harry, where are we going?"
"To a tavern on Sanda Island. There's a package waiting for me there. I'd like you to meet a muggle friend of mine, too. Dhugal's been a big help in keeping my head on straight."
"I guess I can believe that. You were pretty messed up when the war ended. We were all worried about you." Ginny moved into Harry's embrace, and they stood there on the deck of the ferry, watching the shoreline slip past.
"Yeah, well, I guess if it had really ended, then most of my problems would have gone away." Harry chuckled, shaking his head softly, reveling in how warm and wonderful it felt to hold Ginny again. "Of course, then I'd have the slight problem of what to do with myself. Seems that the only thing the wizard populace wants me for is hunting down dark lords."
Ginny leaned back in his arms and glared up at him. "You know that's not true, Harry!" She punched his shoulder to emphasize her point.
"Yeah, I suppose, so, Ginny. But you know what, even with Scrimgeour's death, the ministry doesn't seem to be interested in working to prevent these types of things from happening again. It's back to the same old story with most of the people in that group."
"Why don't you come back and work from inside to make those changes? People listen to you, even when they don't agree with you, they will at least listen. Maybe that's all it'll take to start making things better."
Harry didn't reply. He looked into her eyes, and then turned and looked out into the loch, lost in thought.
Finally, just before the ferry docked, Ginny spoke up. "Harry?"
He started in surprise, he had been so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't realize they were there.
"Harry, will you at least consider it?"
He nodded and led her ashore.
They wandered through the streets of the island, watching the fisherman, tourists, and shopkeepers. They made their way down to the loch shore and watched the waves for a bit, before taking off their shoes and socks and wading in the water. They walked hand-in-hand along the beach like that for quite some time before they reluctantly left to go to the tavern.
Ginny's ears were assaulted by the noise before her eyes could adjust to the low light in the tavern. There were about 50 people in there, all in good spirits. Some were dancing, some were playing darts, others were just gathered around at various tables and at the bar, enjoying each other's company and their food and drinks. The atmosphere was friendly and Ginny found it very comforting.
Seeing her reaction, Harry said, "You see why I like coming here? The folks here don't expect you to be anything but who you are. They accept you without question or complaint. So long as you do right by them, they'll do right by you."
They sat at a vacant table midway between the door and the bar. The barman, a large roguish-looking man with long black hair, what appeared to be a perpetual 5 o'clock shadow, and a fairly unkempt mustache waved over at them. "How you doing, Harry? Haven't seen you around for a few weeks!"
"I'm doing fine, Dhugal!" Harry yelled back. "Can we have a couple of pints here?"
"Sure! One special delivery coming right up," Dhugal called back.
"So that's Dhugal?" Ginny asked. "He seems quite a character."
"Oh, that he is. He's scrupulously honest, and while that's rare enough in a barman, he's also one to help out in any way he can when you're in trouble. I've come to rely on him for many things, keeping my head on straight is probably just the tip of the iceberg."
Dhugal came over carrying two pints of beer. "Here you are, Harry. One for you and one for your friend here."
"Dhugal, I'd like to introduce you to Ginny Weasley."
Dhugal's eyes got wide. "Ginny? THE Ginny Weasley? It's a pleasure and an honor to make your acquaintance, ma'am. From what Harry's been telling me, you're probably one of the most important people in the world." He bowed low before going back to the bar.
Ginny was struck dumb by his reaction. Harry was busy fiddling with his beer glass, trying to look small.
"Ok Harry, spill!" Ginny whispered. "What was that all about? What have you been telling him?"
"Are you sure you want to know?"
"Harry, if you don't tell me right this minute, I'm going to hex you to kingdom come!"
Harry sighed, passing a hand over his eyes.
"Ginny, you remember when Ron, Hermione & I left to go find the horcruxes?" She nodded at him. "You remember how Dumbledore told me that the one power I have that Voledmort couldn't understand was love?" She nodded slowly, never taking her eyes off Harry, who was looking straight into her eyes. His voice became a whisper, barely discernable over the hubbub of the tavern. "The thing that got me through, the one thing that gave me hope and strength was ... you."
"Me?" Ginny said, with a small voice.
"You," Harry said. "Your eyes, your hair, the way you feel in my arms, the way you don't let me get away with being a prat. In short, what got me through facing Tom was my love for you. I never really realized it at the time, but in talking over several pints with Dhugal, I came to realize that I am, and have been for quite some time, in love with you."
Ginny's heart was beating a mile a minute by this time. "I think I need to breathe, Harry. Can I have a minute?"
Harry looked at her with a small smile, and nodded. He got up and walked over to the bar, exchanging a few words with Dhugal. When he came back, he told Ginny, "Dhugal's going to keep an eye out for you, not that it's really necessary in here, but just in case." She raised her eyes to him, glaring fiercely. "I'm well aware that you can take care of yourself, Ginny," Harry said before she could say anything. "But it's always a good idea to have a good friend watching your back, and you won't find too many friends the caliber of Dhugal McClarren over there."
Ginny glared at him for a minute, before she looked over at Dhugal. He was watching the exchange with mild interest. She caught his eyes, and he nodded. She looked back at Harry, "Ok, Mr. Potter, I can accept that."
"I'll be over by the pier on the loch when you're ready to go. We need to be at the ferry dock in about an hour." Harry got up and walked out the door without looking back.
She found Harry, about 30 minutes later. He was sitting on the beach, back against a pier mooring, watching the sunset. He stood up as she approached.
"Ginny, before you say anything. I don't expect anything from you that you haven't already given me. I value your friendship above anything else. If you … "
Ginny interrupted him by kissing him. A kiss that both of them had been longing for.
When they broke apart, she said, "Harry, I never gave up on you. Never."
He looked almost sheepish. "I was kind of hoping, but when you started going out with Colin, I didn't know for sure. And even if you didn't return those feelings, or they had changed while we've been apart, I had to let you know. I didn't want to keep any secrets from you?"
"No more secrets, Harry. And no more waiting, right?"
"Well …" Harry said. "I do need to take care of a couple more things. Would you like to help?" He looked her over. "It could be dangerous."
Ginny looked at him, pulled out her wand, and transfigured her clothes into a dark pair of slacks, with a black shirt and black shoes. "I'm not leaving you, Harry. Danger isn't an issue, you taking risks without me IS an issue."
Harry chuckled at her and passed her a piece of paper that looked suspiciously like a bar napkin. "This is the 'special delivery' that Dhugal gave me tonight." Harry transfigured his clothes into a matching outfit while Ginny looked at the napkin. On it were written six barely legible words: "The prince is in his lair."
"The prince?" Ginny said, thinking furiously. "The Half-Blood Prince? Snape?"
"Yes. Albus' murderer will finally face justice tonight. I've been waiting for a chance to take him. I could use some backup, and since you're obviously not going to let me go alone, you're elected."
"What do you need me to do?"
Harry conjured a small piece of paper and drew a couple of diagrams on it. "I got the blueprints for his house from the muggle building authority. This is the address." He pointed to the map he'd just drawn and showed her the house. "The entrance is here, but he's got a couple of windows he could possibly escape through. We need to go in the back and try to close off the escape paths before he has a chance to use them."
They planned their assault for an hour or so, with some give and take from both on the best plan. Ginny realized that this was where she belonged, with Harry, working to rid the world of the evils that plagued it. Not because they wanted the danger, but because they can make a difference.
They apparated about 200 yards from Snape's house. Harry reached into his cloak and pulled two pairs of sunglasses. "Here, put these on," he said. "They're charmed to be something like the muggle night-vision goggles, so you can see perfectly clearly even in pitch dark. They'll also help keep him from using his Legilimancy to see what you're surface thoughts are. It's similar to Occlumency, but you don't have to put effort into it."
He put on his own glasses and they started towards the house. They moved slowly, talking only in gestures and making no extraneous noise at all. When they reached the back of the house, Harry sealed all the doors and windows that he could find. He applied an anti-disapparition/anti-portkey jinx to the structure. Slowly, they worked around all sides of the building, and repeated the process. Harry didn't want any chance that Snape could escape.
Finally, they were ready to move in. Harry disillusioned Ginny. They agreed that she'd be his backup in case something went wrong, but he didn't want Snape to know anyone else was there until or unless it was necessary.
When all was ready, Harry ran at the front door while casting a bludgeoning curse. The door was reduced to splinters flying into the house, followed closely by Harry who ducked into a crouched position while rolling, bringing up his wand to point at the main living area of the house and casting a disarming hex.
Snape, who had been calmly sipping some tea, knew exactly what was happening when his front door imploded and was moving well before the disarming hex arrived. He quickly saw a figure in dark clothes with a drawn hood, wearing sunglasses. Even with the lack of any distinctive evidence, he knew exactly who it was that had just invaded his home. "Potter," he spat out, while at the same time, drawing his wand and casting a cutting hex at the figure on the floor.
Harry saw the spell coming just in time and rolled to his left, firing three stunners while on the ground. Snape dodged one, cast a shield to reflect the second, and levitated a lamp which took the third and shattered, bursting into flames. Harry was forced in a direction he wasn't expecting when the reflected stunner came barreling back at him, bringing his eyes right in line with another cutting hex. A book floated in front of him, absorbing the hex, but subsequently Harry was showered with confetti from the destroyed book.
Snape was looking around, trying to discern where Harry's accomplice was when Harry banished the paper from the book towards him. Snape, his attention back on Harry, looked with amusement as the paper storm engulfed him. "Confetti, Potter?" he drawled. "I can always trust you to come up with a party favor at inappropriate times, can't I?"
"Perhaps, Snape. Perhaps. On the other hand, look behind you."
Snape glanced involuntarily behind him in the direction that the paper storm had gone. His eyes widened in shock as he saw the flames crawling up the wall of his home. The confetti had combined with the fuel from the broken lamp and almost caused a flash fire. The fire that had been generated was more than enough to start the house on fire. As he turned back to Harry, he was stunned by a fist to his jaw. As he reeled in surprise, he noticed that Harry was still on the other side of the room and that a binding spell was flashing it's way towards him.
Unable to counter in time, Snape felt the ropes bind themselves around him, immobilizing his arms and legs.
Harry walked over to Snape, ignoring the flames that were now dancing on the ceiling. He reached down and took the wand from Snape's hand and snapped it into two, then four, then eight pieces.
"Goodbye, Snivellus," Harry said. "Say 'Hello' to Peter when you see him."
Harry then cast sticking charms on Snapes arms and legs and turned to walk out. He was just about out the door when a voice called out, "Sectumsempra!" Harry was hit with the dark curse, and spun around by its force. His back was on fire from the wound that had just opened up, and he could barely move his wand hand. He looked up and saw none other than Draco Malfoy coming out of the hidden door in the bookcase.
"Well, well, well. Fancy meeting you here, Potter. And Severus thought it impossible that anyone would know about his house in the hinterlands of the muggle city."
Harry's vision was starting to go grey around the edges, he wasn't sure how much longer he'd be conscious. "Malfoy! Somehow it doesn't surprise me that you'd be here."
"Severus and I thought we'd lay low for a while. The way you've been slowly exterminating all the Dark Lord's loyal supporters, it seemed wise to go to ground. Now that you're dead, though, it seems that we can start again. I think that maybe you shall be my first horcrux, Potter. After all, it seems such a fitting way for a Malfoy to embark on the road to immortality."
Ginny had head enough at this point. She removed the disillusionment charm and stood between Harry and Draco. "Over my dead body, Malfoy," she said, lowly.
"Gladly, Weasley." Malfoy sneered, casting a killing curse at her.
A chair wobbily moved in front of her, barely deflecting the curse before being spun away, barely missing Ginny and landing on Harry.
Malfoy glanced at Harry, now pinned unconscious under the wreckage of the chair. "Good, you should be as good as dead, now, Potter," he said.
Ginny, after the shock of almost being hit with the killing curse, and then seeing Harry unconscious, whether by blood loss or by the impact of the chair, she didn't know, started casting spells at Malfoy. The battle was fierce, with the two of them more evenly matched than either would care to admit. Spells of various colors, sounds, and intents were flying all over. The parts of the house that hadn't yet been burned by the fire were taking incredible damage from the ricocheted spells and the walls were in danger of collapsing on all four of them.
Suddenly, a groan from under the chair distracted Ginny, and she was hit with a total body bind. As her body froze like a board, and she collapsed, she heard Malfoy's laughter.
Malfoy walked over to her, pointing his wand at her head. "Goodbye, Weasley."
He started to cast a spell, but stopped as the house started to groan. "On second thought, I think I'll let you die with Potter over there."
He turned and went to Snape. He undid enervated the fallen man, and removed the sticking charm on his hands. He helped Snape to sit up and started on the sticking charms on his feet when he saw Snape's eyes go wide. Turning, he saw a bloodied head barely off the floor, but then he caught the wand sticking out from under the chair.
"Diffindo!"
Malfoy's eyes registered surprise and his mouth gaped open and shut like a fish as his head rolled forward to hit the floor without his body. He was dead.
Harry struggled to get out from under the chair, the task made more difficult by the wounds in his back and the debris starting to fall from the ceiling. He almost made it when a beam fell from the ceiling on the chair. He couldn't move.
In desperation, Harry pointed his wand at a pile of debris that had fallen over Ginny's body. "Finite Incantatum!"
Nothing happened.
He tried again. "Finite Incantatum!"
Nothing. He was despairing that he'd brought Ginny here, only to get her killed, when he heard a weak cough.
"Ginny! Come on, Hon, you need to get up. I need your help!"
The pile of debris started to move, even as the house groaned, almost fully engulfed now.
Ginny crawled over to Harry, trailing burnt boards, plaster, and ash behind her. "Harry?" she asked. "
"I'm sorry I brought you into this, Ginny," Harry started, before she interrupted.
"Don't be, Harry. I'm right where I belong. Fighting at your side."
"Oh how cloying can you get?" Came from across the room. She looked up to see Snape pulling at his feet, trying to free himself from Harry's sticking charms. It appeared that he'd managed to get one leg free and almost had the second one free before he was knocked out by her stunner.
"Malfoy?" she asked.
"Dead." She nodded in acknowledgement, and started to push to try to get the chair off his back.
"No time," he panted. The world was starting to go black, grab the band on my wrist and say, "sand t…" Harry passed out.
"Sand what, Harry?" Ginny asked. She rocked him trying to wake him up. "Harry?"
But he couldn't respond.
Wracking her brains, Ginny tried to remember anything that had anything to with sand. Nothing. She thought, where would he go? Someplace safe. Someplace where he could get help. A place with someone he could trust.
Trust? Dhugal! Harry's friend in the tavern. The light clicked on in her head. She grabbed the band on his wrist and cried out, "Sanda Tavern!" just as the roof beams collapsed on them.
Dhugal was cleaning the glasses from the night's customers. The bar had been closed for almost an hour now and he was almost done when a huge "WHUMP!" sounded in his back room. He grabbed the shotgun from under the counter and walked to the back room door. Opening the door with the barrel, he peered in. He was taken aback by what appeared to be two young people, male and female, in black, blood soaked clothes, reeking of smoke and covered in ash.
Putting the gun on the cupboard, Dhugal moved with incredible speed, "Harry, what've you gone and gotten yourself into now?" he asked, not really expecting a response. He picked up Ginny, realizing when he saw her hair and face who she was, and gently laid her on the bed in the corner of the room. He picked up Harry, then realized that Harry's back had some open wounds on it. He set Harry back down and rolled him over. Dhugal took out his knife and gently cut the shirt away from Harry's back. He was cleaning and binding the wounds when he heard a groan from Ginny.
"How's Harry?" she asked, weakly.
"He's lost a lot of blood, but I think he'll be ok. I'm trying to get these wounds cleaned up before he loses too much more."
"Here, let me help," she said. Ginny stumbled over, almost collapsing on Dhugal.
"What can you do?" he asked. "You're almost gone yourself."
She didn't answer right away, being too busy fighting off the racking coughs that were wreaking havoc with her body.
"I'm fine," she lied. At his raised eyebrow, she paused, "ok, I'm not exactly fine. I don't have any major injuries, though. Just some cuts and bruises from the ceiling falling in on us. Most of it's the smoke."
"You need to lie down, Ginny. Most people can't tolerate too much smoke in their lungs before they choke to death, and it sounds like you're pretty close."
"Dhugal, I owe Harry my life many times over. If I can help him, I'm going to, no matter what the cost." Ginny said with steel in her voice.
Ginny leaned heavily on Dhugal while she waved her wand at Harry, murmuring the incantation. The wounds on his back slowly sealed themselves. She held the spell for as long as she could. Then, when she was just as white as Harry was, she passed out. Dhugal caught her before she could hit the floor, and lifted her, gently into the bed again. He checked her pulse, which was somewhat weak and thready, but didn't seem to show any signs of faltering. Dhugal covered her with a blanket and went to check on Harry.
His wounds were healed, but Harry was very cold and didn't look good. He was starting to go into shock. Dhugal half carried, half manhandled Harry into bed with Ginny, and moved the blanket to cover them both. This was starting to get beyond his capabilities to help with. They both needed attention that was beyond him.
Dhugal left them for a minute and went to his office. He opened a red envelope and pulled out a card. There was a phone number. Dhugal picked up his phone and dialed.
"Hello. Granger residence," answered a man's voice.
"Hello. My name is Dhugal McClarren. I was given this number to call in the case of an emergency. Do you by any chance happen to know a young man that goes by the name of Harry Potter?"
"Harry? He's a friend of my daughter's. What's the problem?"
"Harry and a friend of his showed up in my tavern an hour or so ago. They appear to have been in a nasty fight and a fire."
"Can you tell me where you are?"
"Sanda Island Tavern, in Loch Cambeltown, Argylshire."
The voice got muffled as the man covered the receiver. Dhugal assumed that he was talking to someone else in the room. Then he came back.
"Ok. My wife's getting word to our daughter. They'll have someone out there straightaway. In the meantime, can you tell me what their symptoms are? We're dentists, not medical doctors, but we may be able to help."
"Harry's wounds have been taken care of, but he's awfully cold and clammy. His friend isn't quite so cold, but she was coughing a lot and seems very weak."
After some more conversation on the other end of the phone, Dr. Granger came back on. "It sounds like he's going into shock, and she's suffering from smoke inhalation. We'll relay that message along. In the meantime, you need to keep them warm. Do you have any oxygen on hand?"
"Dr. Granger, this is a bar. I have no real need, nor purpose for keeping oxygen here."
"No need to get upset, I was just hoping. Ok. Here's what you need to do. Monitor them closely. Keep them warm. Do you know CPR?"
"Yes."
"Ok. Just to warn you, you might have to use it at some point. Their condition doesn't sound dire yet, but it could easily get that way if they don't improve soon. Help should be there within a couple of hours."
"Ok. I'll get back to them."
The next hour was tense for Dhugal. Harry, while his color had improved, had stopped breathing twice. Fortunately, he started back up when Dhugal tilted his head back.
Ginny wasn't quite so lucky. She still had a weak pulse, but she stopped breathing just after Harry did. By the time Dhugal got Harry breathing again, Ginny was turning blue. He tilted her head back, and started breathing for her, counting to five between breaths. He'd been going like that for about 15 minutes when Ginny gave a cough and started breathing on her own. Dhugal sat down heavily, watching the both of them.
At a knock on the outside door, he went to the main room of the tavern. He saw a brown haired girl, with a tall, red head, and an older, matronly woman that looked almost, but not exactly like a nurse. He opened the door. "Mr. McLarren?" the girl said. "My name's Hermione Weasley, my mother said you spoke with my father about Harry?"
"I didn't talk to any Weasleys," he said. "Wait a minute? Weasley? Are you related to Ginny?"
"Yes, she's my sister-in-law. You spoke with a Dr. Granger?"
"Yes, he said that he'd contact his daughter. Is that you?"
"Yes. This is my husband, Ron. He's Ginny's brother," Hermione said, indicating Ron. "And this is Madame Pomfrey," she said, indicating the witch on her other side. "May we come in?"
"Please, come this way. I don't mean to be a pain, but Harry's told me many times not to trust people that show up in the middle of the night like this." Dhugal led them to the back room, where Madame Pomfrey took one look at them and started going to work.
Dhugal watched from the side with Ron and Hermione. "Harry's come in here in pretty rough shape a few times, but this is the worst I've seen him," he said. "I don't know what he does, but if he keeps this up, he won't be doing it for long."
A weak voice came from over in the bed, "Not to worry, Dhugal. This was the last time, I think. With this one taken care of, I should be able to rest for a bit."
"Harry!" Hermione shouted.
"You really mucked it up good, didn't you, mate?" Ron said. "Where were you? Why's Ginny here and in such bad shape? What's going on?"
"Mister Potter, please lie down," Madame Pomfrey said. "You came very close to dying tonight, and you need your rest."
Harry lay back down. "How's Ginny?"
"Miss Weasley will be fine, now. There was a significant amount of smoke in her lungs, but I've cleaned it out. It looks like she stopped breathing, though."
"She did," Dhugal said. "I had to perform CPR on her for a while."
"Ah, then," Madame Pomfrey said. "Sometimes the muggle way works quite well. You did very well, young man. In all probability you saved Miss Weasley's life."
Harry looked at Dhugal. "Thank you. I owe you more than you'll ever know for saving her."
Ron and Hermione exchanged looks at that. "Does that mean you're back together?" he asked.
"Yes, I think it does." Harry said, to the huge smiles on their faces.
"You'd better believe it, Mister Potter." Ginny said, surprising all five of them. She was still lying on the bed, but her eyes were open and she was looking at Harry. "I told you before, I'm not going anywhere. I belong with you. At your side."
"I don't want you to go anywhere, Ginny. With Snape and Malfoy gone, the last knowledge of the horcruxes lies in this room. It's beyond anyone's power to create them anymore. I've finished what I needed to do."
The four other wizards looked wide-eyed at Harry with his pronouncement. Dhugal just looked confused by it, but relieved that his back room might no longer be party to an injured Harry Potter popping out of nowhere.
"Dhugal? Can you get that other special package I left with you?" Harry asked.
Dhugal nodded at Harry and left the room. He returned a few minutes later with a small package wrapped in brown paper and handed it to Harry. Harry unwrapped it, while he talked to Ginny.
"Ginny, I've known for a long time that I loved you. I told earlier that it was that love that enabled me to beat Tom. I've been a bit of a jerk in pushing you away. You asked me a few weeks ago when the time would be right. If you'll have me, the time is right." He produced a gold ring with a diamond set, surrounded by emerald and ruby chips. "Will you marry me, Ginny Weasley?"