Searching For Love: Chapter Two

(I don't own any copyrights to the Harry Potter Series or anything to do with it).

In the hallway, I stop before Ginny's room and place my hands against the smooth wooden door. Memories wash over me; I want to drown in them. I push the door open, and stand in the middle of her room with my eyes closed. The sunlight streaming through the windows bathes my face in warmth, and I can fell her presence everywhere. I lie down on the neatly made up bed, and the quilts feel so soft against my skin.

I remember spending one last night with her, before I went away. We didn't do the things your probably thinking of, but than again, we didn't talk a whole lot either. Everyone had gone to bed; Bill and Fleur's wedding had worn us all out, and I snuck into Ginny's room. She was expecting me, and I crawled onto the bed next to her and placed my arm around her shoulders; She buried her face in my chest and cried silent tears. I kissed her forehead, and told her over and over again how much I loved her. I know I should have been strong enough to stay away from her; It wasn't fair to break up with her, and than come back to her like that, but I think these days I've come to understand that I could never keep such a vow. Never touch her again? Never kiss her again? Never even see her again? Yeah...right...

I spin around quickly and leave that room. I can't stand to be there a moment longer, remembering what I remember, and feeling what I feel. I meet the others downstairs, and we hurry our goodbyes, with promises to return soon. Our first stop is the castle, where we'll search for clues about Ginny.

Birds caw in the overcast sky; The sun is barely peaking through the gray, and everything around me feels cold and lifeless. I kick a pebble into a stagnant pond, it's glassy surface slowing becoming overgrown with algae; The snap of the pebble as it hits the water's surface, rings loudly in the stillness.

"Well, where should we start?" Hermione is always the smart one; She always seems to know where to begin, and I love her for that.

"Let's go-- to where she--" I can't bring myself to say it, but luckily Ron understands.

"Are you ready?" He replies, staring at me.

"If there's a clue, we're not going to find it if we hold back because of old fears," I try and convince myself, "so lets go."

The spot where Ginny was impaled by the stone spike, is just the same now, as it was back than; Except for the amount of blood, which has long since been washed away. Just being in this spot again makes my heart beat faster.

"You really have to stop blaming yourself for what happened," Ginny says as she steps out from behind the large tree, "it's not your fault." She claps her hands behind her back and cocks her head to one side.

"Than who's fault is it?" I reply, "I wasn't strong enough to protect you, and I let you die right before me."

"But you saved her?"

"Well-- yes!"

"Than you were strong enough, at least for one of us, and that's what matters," she says, "And It wasn't all in vain," she adds.

I am about to ask her what that means, but I suddenly blink, and she is gone. The spot by the tree where she stood is empty.

"Harry?" Hermione has been shaking my arm for several seconds, and I turn to her with an apologetic expression on my face.

"Sorry Hermione," I run my hand through my hair, "what were you saying?"

"Oh!-- It's just-- we think we might have found something!" She bites her lip, and I can tell she isn't fooled.

"Harry, if something is going on--"

"There's nothing wrong!" I try to smile, but I know she isn't convinced, "c'mon Hermione, let's just see what you guys have found!" Thankfully, she decides to drop it for now, but I know my Hermione, and sooner or later she'll bring it up again.

What Ron has found turns out to be remnants of the stone spike that pierced Ginny's chest; I turn the smooth black stone over and over in my hand, admiring the way it glints midnight black; Shards of the darkest night left for us to find.

"What do you make of these?" Ron asks, turning a few shards over in his own hand.

"I don't know," I suppose we should try to analyze these and find out what they are made of," I reply.

"We don't need to do that," Hermione says matter-of-factly, "I can tell just by looking, that these shards are full of magic."

"Meaning--?" Ron and I ask together.

"Well, that depends on the type of magic that their infused with," Hermione replies thoughtfully.

"Hermione--" I start to say, but she interrupts me.

She taps the shards with her wand experimentally several times, and than, suddenly her face lights up in triumpth; The shards shimmer in her hands and seem to blink in and out of existence.

"What did you do?" I ask her, but she only shakes her head. She forces Ron to stand against the tree, and with a hovering charm, launches the shards at him. He whimpers, but the shards seem to slip right though him without harming him at all; He collapses on his knees in a classic Ron moment, and Hermione runs to comfort him.

"So the spike passed harmlessly though her?" I ask, scratching my head, "but how is that possible-- she was so near death when she went to the hospital..." But Hermione has no answers to give me, and in the distance, I can hear Ginny's voice chanting over and over, 'and it wasn't all in vain'.