Prologue

Harry's hands trembled as he read the letter. The news was horrible, the most terrible news since Dumbledore's death. How could this have happened? He had left Ginny, the one girl he'd ever truly loved, at Hogwarts so she could be safe! His legs collapsed, he hit the ground hard. How could she be dead?

The letter said the Deatheaters had attacked the school. Ten of them. Without Dumbledore's defenses, the school had no chance. Many students were injured, the teachers were in the hospital. But there had been only one death, his Ginny. His beloved Ginny.

Despair filled Harry's heart, but the tears simply wouldn't fall.

Chapter One: The Funeral

All the Weasleys were there, even Percy, whom none had seen for the past six months. Harry felt so out of place, not being a true Weasley. All were grieving in their own ways, Mrs. Weasley was sobbing into Mr. Weasley shoulder. Mr. Weasley had yet to come out of the shock of losing his only daughter. Hermione was there, crying into Ron's chest. Fleur was crying next to Bill, but Harry noticed that she kept staring at him.

Harry couldn't cry, the tears simply wouldn't come. He stood there, apart from the others, remember Ginny's laugh, her eyes alight when she told Harry of a prank she had done. Harry was shaking, every limb trembling with grief and confusion. Why was Ginny the only one killed?

Fleur suddenly got up, and stormed over to Harry, her anger palpable. She stood in front of him, tears streaming down her cheeks, but rage in her eyes.

"How can you stand there like that?" she screamed at him. Harry just looked into her eyes and remained silent.

"It's your fault she's dead! Why are you even here? Don't you have any feelings at all? If it hadn't been for the fact that she loved you, she'd still be alive today!" Fleur's eyes had never left Harry's.

Harry stood there, silent. He knew what she said was true. He was the reason she was dead. He had failed to protect her. He should have been there, should have destroyed Voldemort by now. But he had failed. He'd failed Ginny, Hermione, the Weasleys, he'd failed everyone. Grief at losing Ginny welled in his heart, feeling like it would burst if he kept thinking about it, but he couldn't stop.

Fleur was still staring at Harry. "Why don't you answer me, Harry?" she said with a sneer. "Now everyone knows that the famous Harry Potter, the savior of our world, is truly a backstabbing murderer! You killed her, Harry! It's all your fault!" She was screaming at the last, but even if she'd been whispering, Harry would have heard the hate in her voice.

His heart twisted at her words, at the hate in her voice. Everything she said was true, he knew it. Even if he hadn't done it directly, by his inaction and wrong decisions, he had killed the one person he'd ever loved. He'd lost his parents before he had even known them, Dumbledore died to protect him, because of him. Now one more person had died because of him. His grief finally broke through his frozen state, he turned to look at the Weasley family, trying to find the words to say how deeply sorry he was, but he couldn't stand their eyes.

He turned and ran, away from what was once his friends, away from the people he'd considered family. He didn't have the right to be there anymore. He had killed their daughter, sister. He could no longer be a part of that life. He didn't deserve love.

The only thing left for him was to fulfill the debt he owed Dumbledore. He would destroy Voldemort and end his reign of terror, if it was the last thing he'd ever do. The tears never fell.

None at the funeral saw Harry Potter again for three years.