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CHAPTER 4; THE AFTERMATH.
"Ginny."
It was the first word, just as it was the last. Harry was conscious… at least capable of thinking. He started with checking his body.
"Hmmm, all seems to be normal, at least nothing is missing, now the surroundings… yes, a smell and a feel of fabric indicate a hospital. No need to open the eyes but it would do good to listen."
"Hermione, when did the doctors say he would awaken?" Harry had no trouble identifying the concerned voice. It was Ginny and despite his determination to hide (for now) the fact that he was awake, he found it problematic.
"They did not. According to the injuries he had when he came it should be a week at least, but the state of his body says he should be awake by now."
The next words were said with Ron's voice: "Maybe he is trying to wake up when in full health. Anyway sister, maybe you should go home. You have barely visited it lately."
"With good reason. You can go;I will stay here for a couple more hours"
"You will not! You will return home! NOW!"
Harry almost laughed aloud. Ginny's brother should know better. Any moment now… Yup, a Bat Bogey Curse.
"Any more such remarks, Ronald Weasley?"
"I, I, I think I will go home. Are you coming, sweetheart?"
"Amazing! Ron is acting reasonable." Harry could almost see Hermione rolling her eyes. "Goodbye Ginny!"
"Goodbye"
After Ron and Hermione left, Ginny took her wand and cast a few spells. Then, she turned to the unmoving Harry:
"You know Harry, you never cease to amaze me. You managed to survive more encounters with Tom than I can count, you fought beasts and beings which would have scared off a group of a dozen wizards, and you battled Death Eaters in great numbers. Recently, you have defeated Tom and managed to survive. Yet despite all that" - And her tone became quite a harsh one - "you still can't fool me. Open your eyes, I know you're awake."
"My love, I knew that was your opinion the moment you asked when I will awake. And," – Harry opened his eyes – "my intention was not to fool you, it was to fool all the others – and in that I was successful."
Despite herself, Ginny smiled. For a moment there was silence until Harry decided to interrupt it:
"How long was I unconscious, Ginny?"
"What? Oh, that is the tenth day since you were brought here. Took you long to awake."
"Would have taken less without my training"
"You mean more, don't you?"
"Less, Ron was essentially correct."
"I beg your pardon?" – Ginny was clearly puzzled.
"One of the techniques I learned. If my magic detects no danger, the body is recovering more rapidly but no effort is made to awaken me until I am healed. But never mind that, how is the war going?"
"Over. All the Death Eaters were indeed stunned as you said and there were no casualties. Dumbledore though, managed to tire himself greatly when tying them up. He is recovering several rooms away"
"So, you all saw the battle?" - Asked Harry while smiling.
"Of course" – said Ginny with a smile as well. – "the spell on your eyes worked fine. Everything you saw, was seen by us – and I believe Death Eaters received the show as well"
"And didn't attack without orders? Some discipline Tom's army had, except it backfired." Now Harry was grinning from ear to ear.
"Discipline shmiscipline! Let's see your discipline." - Ginny, trying to look angry produced an object out of her pocket. – "Tell me now what is the deal with this coin!"
Harry looked at Ginny calmly and said:
"How much do you know about MEA Theory?"
"Magical Energy Accumulating? An undeveloped theory of storing and releasing magical energy in forms fit for use by a person inside an inanimate object."
"Exactly. Except for the" – Harry pointed at the coin – "undeveloped part."
"You worked it out?"
"Yes, although it took me months of research and lots of luck. I told nobody else about it, for matters of secrecy."
"What about me?" Ginny looked offended.
I managed to block my sight from Voldemort while I worked on it, but the sound is much trickier."
"So, how long were you working on that?"
"Four months for theory Honey, and then almost a year for making it properly – I mean, charging it up with enough energy without blowing it up. LOTS of energy"
"So that's what you meant when you said that you will return as long as you have the coin."
Harry shook his head:
"No. While that energy was important in the battle it was not what decided the outcome. Another spell, which required less energy, but much more work, was what truly defeated Tom"
Ginny sighed.
"You know Harry, despite all your explanations you still remain unclear to me. EXPLAIN!"
Harry sat up. Then he swung his legs from the bed and stood up. Despite the ten days of lying he managed to maintain his balance with relative ease.
"You want an explanation? No problem"
He took the coin from Ginny's hand, placed it upon his own palm, and concentrated. Glowing tentacles of magic sprung out from the coin and onto his arm.
"Ginny, when I went to the battle, I told you that Love is the Power the Dark Lord knows not. The spell I created the coin with, was meant to help me use that power to its fullest extent and it worked. The spell had nothing to do with battle Ginny, but everything to do with you."
And as he spoke, the magic was working its way over his body, changing it where it passed. Gone was the paleness from ten days without sun, replaced by a healthy tan, gone was the gauntness from ten days without proper food replaced by his usual round face and the muscles from his training. Even the hospital garb was gone, replaced by a more formal wear. But now the tentacles were retracting back into the coin, which was completely invisible in their center.
"The spell helped defeat Voldemort because its purpose was something I could not do before defeating him, but I could not allow myself to die without doing it."
The last of the magic was gone. The coin was gone as well. Where it once was, a single small object sat upon Harry's palm. The object was unlike anything has ever seen by Ginny – or by anyone else for that matter.
The object looked like a single piece of clear crystal. Inside it were smaller, variously colored objects, probably gems of some kind. It could have been said that they were embedded in that larger crystal, except that they were constantly moving, and all the pieces were slowly changing their colors. Yet despite all the changes the Object was always keeping its beauty… like gems singing music.
In fact, besides the fact that the Object was extremely beautiful, the only definite thing about it was that it had the shape and size of a ring.
Ginny has never seen an object so beautiful. She was so transfixed by the sight before her that she almost missed what happened next.
"Ginevra Weasley, my love," – said Harry quietly while standing on one knee – "will you marry me?"