This takes place during the interlude at the Battle of Hogwarts, as Harry is walking to the Forbidden Forest, after deciding not to talk to Ginny.
Updated and edited - 9/20/2021
As Neville approached Ginny, he saw a fifth-year student taking her last breath. He shook his head, there was a reason those students were to have left the castle.
Ginny made to pick up the girl when Neville gently rested a hand on her shoulder and said, "I'll take her in."
Ginny relented, acknowledging that she probably didn't even have the physical strength to carry the body all the way into the Great Hall at the moment.
Neville knelt down to cradle the body, he paused, looked up at Ginny, and he asked, "Did you see Harry?"
Ginny stiffened. Her eyes popped wide in surprise, she looked at Neville and could barely get out the words, "Harry! Wha—When?"
Neville's face now mirrored Ginny's surprise. He looked up at Ginny and replied, "Er, not more than a few minutes ago, over there" —he pointed to the other side of the stairs— "He told me Voldemort has a pet snake, and that if I get the chance, I need to kill it. When I turned around to ask him something else, he was gone. Then I saw you, and thought, he probably would have come to talk to you next. Honestly, he looked a little worried, but when I asked, he said he was okay."
"A pet snake?" Ginny shook her head to clear the thought, that didn't matter at the moment. "Which way did he go?" she asked anxiously.
"I couldn't tell you. Like I said, he was there, then I turned around and he was gone," Neville responded as he stood with the limp body.
Ginny pondered for a moment, and then it clicked.
His cloak. I knew I felt someone walk by me, but why be wandering around invisible. . . unless you are going to go do something stupid, and don't want anyone to stop you.
"Hmm, well, you should get her up to the Great Hall. I'll go see if there are any more people down a little further," Ginny stated.
Ginny and Neville parted ways, Neville up the stairs and Ginny down.
"That bastard," she muttered to herself as she reached the bottom of the stairs. There she took off in an all-out sprint across the grounds, towards the forbidden forest.
"HARRY! HARRY! HARRY!"
He could hear the voice, and he could feel the anguish it carried. Nevertheless, he couldn't bring himself to stop, he couldn't even bring himself to turn around, knowing that may indeed fracture his resolve. No, he had to do this, it was the only way. No more people needed to die defending him, protecting him. Though he knew that wasn't factually correct, they likely would have fought regardless of him being the Chosen One. They weren't fighting for him, not any more than they were fighting against evil, still, for Harry, it wasn't hard to convince himself that it was his fault. The fighting hadn't commenced until he was known to be at Hogwarts, and it only persisted because he needed time to find and destroy the lost diadem. So, in his mind, it wasn't a stretch to believe those lives lost here today were on his shoulders, and it was that guilt and shame that were the driving force behind each step now. If anyone deserved to have their life taken, it was him, and it might even be easier like this, not having to live each day with constant reminders of lives lost, for which he felt responsible. This might not only be the right choice, but the easier choice as well.
But that voice—it kept drawing nearer and nearer. The thumping of feet was starting to get close enough to be audible. Until the thumping stopped, it all stopped.
She couldn't run anymore, her side felt like splitting open, the taste of blood from her lungs was in her breath as she interlocked her fingers behind her head to draw in a deep breath of cool air. She had reached a point where she knew her voice would reach at least the edges of the Forbidden Forest. All she had was hope, hope that he wasn't already gone, gone forever, forever lost. Hope that even if he could hear her, he would listen, listen and possibly comply. That last part, she knew, was a long shot, but it was her only shot.
So, with all the anger she could muster, was anger the right play here? She wasn't exactly sure, but it's what she did best, and she was not going to leave anything on the table at this point. So, with all the anger she could muster, she screamed,
"HARRY JAMES POTTER!"
There was definitely anger, oh yes, he recognized the anger, and that was to be expected; but there was also fear, there was a trace of sadness, and there was a distinct note of desperation. It was that last feeling he caught in her tone that made him freeze and turn around, though not quite ready to remove the cloak or make any sound to reveal himself.
After taking a moment to catch her breath and let out the emotional cry, she began to walk towards the forest, hoping it was at least getting closer to Harry. . . it was. Then she began to yell, not as loudly as before, but with more fierce anger and less of the fear and sadness, nevertheless, she couldn't hide the significant hint of desperation,
"Harry, I know you are there!" She didn't know, but for her own sanity, she had to make herself believe she was talking to someone, and not just wasting her breath. Also, that air of confidence might be the type of thing that could persuade Harry to show himself, at least, that is what she told herself.
"Don't you dare walk away from me again! Don't you dare leave without giving me a good explanation this time! If you think you are being brave, you aren't, you are being a coward! You are running away so you don't have to pick up the pieces when this is over, but those pieces will be there no matter what, and we need more people here to help pick them up, not less. We need you. I need you."
She was right, he thought, he was a coward, and he was taking the easy way out. But he was right also, she was the one that could have the ability to stop him, and from the sounds of things, that is what she came to do. She had already succeeded in slowing him down, and that was just with her voice. There were so many things about her for which he would die to be able to experience one more time. And die he would, but not for himself, but so that Ginny could share those qualities with another, less scarred, more deserving man. If he felt her skin, or held her body in his arms, or smelled the flowery scent of her hair, oh, her hair, or if he felt her soft lips against his; he would likely lose all willpower to do what he knew, needed to be done. Yes, it absolutely needed to be done, so, as much as he wanted to run to her, to hold her, and explain everything to her, he knew he didn't have the strength to push her away, again.
Then, as he was about to turn and continue his walk, he felt her stop, and he knew what she was doing. So, for the moment, he was frozen. He knew he couldn't walk away without giving up his position.
She had stopped walking and started listening, listening and concentrating, hoping against hope for the faintest sign he was still there. Listening for the crunch of dried twigs or grass underfoot, for any evidence of footsteps. Maybe to hear a little sniffle, ha, was she arrogant enough to think that her words would be enough to make Harry cry? No, she was not, but oh, how she wished she could have that effect on him.
Twenty seconds passed, thirty seconds, forty-five seconds, and nothing, with only a slight breeze, few branches swayed. Yet, the grass remained silent, so, either he was long gone, or he was still here, still debating how to proceed. Nevertheless, she had to believe, because there was nothing else to hold on to, and she had already come this far, so it wasn't going to hurt her anymore to layout one last plea. However, her previous attempt obviously hadn't worked, at least not enough, so she needed to attack from a different angle. This was going to hurt. Admitting these emotions that she had been suppressing, and vocalizing her idea about what Harry was about to do, was going to tear her apart, but it was now or never.
"Harry, I hope you are still here, and I hope you will listen to me." The anger was gone from her voice, the desperation was still there, and even stronger, but now it was companioned with a caring tenderness that was impossible to fake.
"I think I know what you are about to do, though, I can't say with any certainty that I know why you are doing it. I'm sure you have your reasons, and at this point that is all I want to know, why; and I want to hear it from you. I think, maybe, you owe me that much. When you left me at the funeral, it broke my heart, but I always believed you would come back, so I accepted your vague explanation. And, though I knew there was a chance you wouldn't survive, I firmly believed you would. So, if you are going to do what I think you are, I won't stop you, I won't even try to stop you. I just want to hear it from you. I will listen, and I promise, I won't try to stop you. Even if it means that I lose you forever, Harry, I will accept that, if you will just give me an honest goodbye. I can't bear that there's nothing I can give you as go on your way to d—"
She couldn't even get the last word out of her mouth as she dropped to her knees, sobbing, it hurt her heart so much. The hope that she had been hanging onto for the last year, that hope that was validated when she saw him in the Room of Requirement, was slowly fading, as she envisioned Harry slowly walking through the forest.
Harry was absolutely stunned. She was right, again, he did owe her an explanation. He always believed that, but he also believed her influence would have stopped him from doing what he needed to do. Now she sounded different, her typical stubbornness was gone. She said she wouldn't stop him, and he felt the true sincerity in her voice. She wasn't trying to deceive him. He also remembered that no one knew about Snape's memories, another person that died protecting him, yet, he was to be remembered as a villain, unless Harry set that record straight. Yet another thing he felt obliged to do.
She still had her head in her hands, crying; she didn't hear Harry approach, not that he made much noise anyway. She looked up as she felt something slide down her back and though she couldn't make out any distinctive features due to the darkness, it could only be one person. As she stood up, she whispered, "Harry."
Harry drew his wand and quietly said, "Lumos."
Now she could see those emerald green eyes looking down at her, with tears welled up in the corners, and a shiny streak down each cheek that had cleared away a path amongst the dust and soot that was speckled across the rest of his face. She wrapped her arms around his chest and squeezed him in a hug that caused all the air to leave his lungs. He wrapped his arms around her and embraced her with a touch less ferocity, and he inhaled deeply the flowery scent of her hair. A flurry of memories of their short time together flooded his brain.
After a few moments, they separated, their eyes met as Ginny brought her hands over Harry's shoulders and around his neck, and Harry let his hands slide down to her waist. For a split second, Harry thought of asking her to run away with him, and he wondered if she had the same thought, but then reality hit, and he knew he didn't have much time, so he better get to talking.
For the moment, Ginny was just content to see his face and have his arms around her one more time. She was trying to take in and savour all the good feelings she was currently experiencing, she wanted to remember them forever while fighting back the tears that were just behind the surface.
Harry started, "Ginny, I have a question for you, then you can ask whatever you like, and I will answer as much as I can, as thoroughly as I can, for as long I as I have time, which isn't much."
She nodded.
"How did you know I was here?"
A small grin spread across her cheeks, "Well, as I'm sure you are well aware, I was out on the steps helping some of the wounded, and I swear, I could feel someone around me, watching me, but when I looked around no one was there. That was you, wasn't it?"
"Yes, it was, and as you gathered, I didn't think I had the strength to talk to you and then walk away. In fact, just seeing you almost made me stop. On that note, before you continue, I need you to ensure me that you will keep your promise, and won't try to stop me." With that, he gave her a questioning look.
"So, you are going to give yourself up to Voldemort?" she asked, using all strength to keep her composure.
"Yes," Harry said, trying to sound as forceful as he could, more to keep his own conviction than to intimidate Ginny.
"OK, I won't stop you, but I sure don't have to like it."
"That's fair. And believe me, I'm not exactly jumping for joy either." The sadness in her eyes let him know that she understood his feelings, well, as well as anyone could. "And there must be more, that doesn't quite explain how you knew I was coming this way."
"Oh, yeah, I was in that same spot when Neville came over to help me, and he said you talked to him, then you quickly disappeared. I guess he assumed you would come talk to me next, because he asked if I had seen you. He was surprised when I told him no. I pieced those things together to realize you were probably under your cloak, and it wasn't hard to figure out what direction you were headed in, at that point. Not to mention, I had an idea as to what might be going through your head; something like this: 'All these people are dying for me, if I just give myself up, no one else has to die.' Am I right about that?" she asked, but it wasn't malicious, it was full of understanding.
"Yeah, something like that," Harry said solemnly, with a slight nod, not able to make eye contact.
"Well, you're wrong on both accounts, no one is dying for you, they are dying fighting evil. And, whether you give yourself up or not we will continue fighting Voldemort until he is dead, or until we are." Harry tried to interrupt because she was starting to sound like she was trying to persuade him, but she put a finger to his lips and continued. "Let me finish, I know I said wasn't going to try and stop you, and I won't, but I need to make those two facts clear to you, from there you can make your decision. I know all too well, from firsthand experience, how self-imposed guilt can warp one's own sense of reality. So, I only hope you are basing your decision on legitimate facts and not made up ones in your head." She paused and gave him an inquisitive look.
"It seems I am going to have to answer that non-question." She gave him a gentle half-smile, raised her eyebrows and lightly tapped her nose. Harry took a deep breath, and relented, "OK, yes, I have had those thoughts, but I also know deep down, that you are right, and this fight would've happened at some point regardless of my involvement. So, the answer to your question is, 'No', those facts are not the main factors in my decision."
A slight sense of relief came over Ginny, but just as quickly, it was swallowed up by a wave of curiosity. This curiosity must've been written all over her face, because this time it was Harry's turn to smile, as he said, "I'll get to those factors at the right time, but let me ask you this. Did Neville tell you what I talked to him about?"
"Yes, you told him to kill Voldemort's pet snake, he wasn't exactly sure why, but it was clear you were adamant that it was very important." She wanted to come out and just ask the question, 'Why is it so important?', but given she had so many questions, she thought it better to just leave these open-ended statements, and let Harry fill in what he thought was important; then use her actual questions like a limited number of arrows in a quiver to obtain the specific pieces of information she really desired.
Harry responded calmly, "Yes, I told him to kill Nagini, that is the snake's name. And, I didn't tell him why, but I will tell you now. Ron and Hermione are the only other two that know about this information, so this is as classified as it gets."
Ginny couldn't remember seeing Harry look so serious before, but inside she had butterflies waiting to burst from her stomach with the concept of finally being let in on possibly the biggest secret of her trio of friends. She nodded, silently giving her agreement to guard this information, all while trying to subdue the excitement of finding out from exploding out of her eyes.
Harry continued, "Nagini is a Horcrux." Harry paused; a shiver went down Ginny's spine as if this word was pure evil, though, in reality, it had no meaning to her, as she had never heard it before.
Harry recognized this confused state, and spared her the condescending question, 'What, you don't know what a Horcrux is?' He went on, "A Horcrux is a piece of a person's soul, in this case, Voldemort's. It is the darkest of Dark Magic, and it is created by splitting the soul in conjunction with committing murder. Voldemort created seven Horcruxes." This time the shiver didn't just go down her spine, but visibly rattled her whole frame. Harry moved his hands up to the middle of her arms and gently held her steady. She wasn't at any risk of falling over, but the small comfort of him steadying her put her at ease. Her excitement had been quickly replaced with horror, and there was a slight queasiness in her stomach.
"Seven?" she said in a barely audible whisper. Harry nodded.
"That is part of what my lessons with Dumbledore were about, though he had me believe there were only six Horcruxes, so that is what I believed until about 15 minutes ago. At first, he was showing me about Voldemort's past, how he has never had an actual friend, how love was a foreign object to him, and how obsessed he was with immortality, hence his desire to create the Horcruxes, since they could keep his soul alive even if his body was destroyed. Then, we were trying to figure out what the Horcruxes might actually be, and where they might be hidden. Dumbledore had done a pretty good job of narrowing that part down." Ginny just stared at him, her stomach had settled, and a comprehension of how Voldemort had been able to return came to her. To this point Harry had seemed fairly calm, but she could see in his countenance, he was getting very close to things that were not easy for him to share, and she didn't even know what question to ask to prod him to continue, so she just stared, asking him to go on, with her eyes.
Harry could tell Ginny was just waiting for him to continue, so he did, "Identifying and finding the Horcruxes was one thing, another, sometimes more difficult aspect to the mission was destroying them. Only a few things can destroy a Horcrux, fortunately, we found out what one of those things was years ago without realizing it. . . Basilisk venom." Harry paused, moved his hand to firmly grasp her shoulders, and gazed deep into Ginny's eyes, trying to decipher if she was comprehending all that he was telling her. He waited for the hint he had just given her to register with her library of personal experience.
As Ginny pondered his inquisitive look, she realized it was her turn to answer a question that was implied, not said. She reviewed the last sentence in her mind, and a few words stood out, Basilisk venom, years ago. A light went on in her head.
"The diary!" she gasped. Harry only nodded. Ginny leaned her head against Harry's chest as the tears began to fall down her face again. He held her tight and rubbed her back.
"Yes, and now we know why that diary seemed so alive, because it was. But we conquered it!" Harry said comfortingly and triumphantly.
"Yeah, thanks again, for that." And she placed a little kiss on his cheek, tasting the residual soot on her lips and thinking, 'I'll remember that kiss nearly as much as any other.' Harry smiled down at her, and a fraction of the old butterflies returned to her stomach, oh, how she was going to miss those eyes; and that look.
"So, the diary is destroyed, the snake still lives. What are the others? I assume that's been your whole life the last year," Ginny proposed.
"Yes, it has, just about. Well, remember how Dumbledore's hand turned black last year? That was from a Gaunt family ring Voldemort had made a Horcrux. It had a curse on it to try and protect it. Dumbledore was able to destroy the ring, but he was cursed, and that curse was going to kill him, he had only about a year left to live once the curse took hold."
"And Dumbledore knew he was dying? Did he tell you?"
"Yes, he knew he was dying. And, no, he did not tell me, how I know, I will get to in a minute."
"That shouldn't surprise me, I guess. He was pretty good at keeping his secrets. OK, ring destroyed. That's three." Ginny trailed off at the end, encouraging Harry to continue.
"Next, was a locket of Salazar Slytherin. The night Dumbledore died; we had been to a cave to find the locket. The locket we found ended up being a fake, planted by someone with the initials R.A.B., who had already stolen the real Horcrux."
"I thought I saw you looking at something that night, why didn't you tell me then?" Ginny added, piecing things together.
"Well, during our lessons, Dumbledore told me I could share the information with Ron and Hermione, but with no one else. I honoured his trust, but it is one of the things I still wonder about the most. Should I have asked others for help, could we have been done sooner? But I didn't. I was too singled minded at the time. I guess the next thing was when we; Ron, Hermione and I, finally disappeared."
"Yeah, the wedding. Talk about a crazy night," Ginny added.
"Yeah, from there, we ended up staying at Grimmauld Place for a while. There we discovered R.A.B. stood for Regulus A. Black, Sirius' brother. Kreacher, who became nice to us, had helped him steal the locket in the first place. Mundungus had stolen the locket from Kreacher, who had been unable to destroy the locket himself. Kreacher helped us track down Fletcher, but he didn't have the locket anymore either. . . Umbridge did."
"Noooo," she gasped and slapped her hand over her mouth.
"Yup, we polyjuiced our way into the Ministry, stunned Yaxley and Umbridge, stole the locket back, and hopefully freed some Muggleborns along the way. I'm leaving out many details, but those are the key points."
Ginny nodded thinking, 'yeah, I'm sure it wasn't just walk in, stun, walk out, but this will have to do for now.'
Harry continued, "As we were Apparating away, Yaxley got a hold of one of us, he ended up at the front door of Grimmauld Place with us, we quickly Apparated again and luckily he had let go. From then on, we were camping in the tent Hermione had packed. We didn't think it safe to go back, or to summon Kreacher, in case they were able to track him somehow."
"Wow, at least you got the locket out of all that mess," Ginny said, more to give Harry a moment to take a breath than anything else.
"From there we bounced around a lot, not making much progress and I think we were all starting to get on each other's nerves, lack of food and lugging around that evil locket probably being major contributing factors."
"Ron, without food? Sweet Merlin, that couldn't have been pretty," Ginny interjected sarcastically, but the look that Harry returned told her she had hit on something a bit more significant than just some friendly bickering between the three of them.
"Er, yeah, those were some rough times. Fortunately, I had a pretty good memory from my birthday that could cheer me up during even the lowest moments," he said with a flirtatious smile. Ginny returned the smile, accompanied by bright red cheeks. "That memory and the Marauder's Map were the mental escape that grounded me."
"The Marauder's Map?" Ginny replied questioningly. She had an idea about what he was implying, but she wanted to hear him say it, for a bit of an ego boost if nothing else.
"Er, well, er, I would, most nights, watch, er, your dot. I know that probably sounds creepy, but it was the only way I could know, or hope, you were safe. And by safe, I guess, I mean alive, but I hoped that it meant you were OK too, and seeing your dot did a lot for me," Harry stammered nervously.
Ginny smiled wide, gently rubbed his arms, and replied, "It's OK, I mean, it is kind of creepy that you were just watching me sleep." Harry's eyes widened in shock, and Ginny squeezed his arms in reassurance. "I'm just teasing, I think it's sweet. If I had some map that showed me you were alive out there, I would have looked at it every night also. The only way I knew you were alive was the lack of news. We knew if Voldemort caught you, he would be very public about it. It was a classic, no news is good news situation."
"Er, I suppose we will find out pretty soon."
"Oi, Potter. I don't want to think about that right now," Ginny interjected, smacking his arm.
"Sorry, my filter, er, yeah, next, er, the sword of Gryffindor appears in the bottom of a pond, and Ron destroyed the locket with it. Then, we had nothing. We knew Riddle had stolen a cup of Hufflepuff and figured that was a Horcrux, but we had no idea where it was. From there we thought the last Horcrux was something from Ravenclaw or something from Gryffindor, but since the sword was the only relic of Gryffindor we knew of, we were leaning more towards something from Ravenclaw. Ah, in the meantime, we went to Godric's Hollow, saw my parents grave, saw my old house. . . " Tears welled up in Harry's eyes again, and Ginny gave him a comforting hug. "Then this old lady came up to us while we were looking at my old house, we thought it was Bathilda Bagshot. Turns out it was Nagini. He attacked us, and we barely got away before Voldemort got there, but my wand broke. Ron had an extra wand so I used that for a while." Harry pulled out his wand to show Ginny just how destroyed it was.
"Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry. That is awful. So how is the new wand treating you?" Ginny asked.
"Well, this is actually Malfoy's wand."
Now, that was a surprise, to say the least.
"I suppose that was the next major incident, we were captured and taken to Malfoy Manor, but right before we were taken Hermione jinxed my face to be all swollen, so I was difficult to recognize. Malfoy didn't confirm my identity, but then Bellatrix caught a glimpse of the sword of Gryffindor, and she lost it. She was convinced we had broken into her vault at Gringotts to get it. It was clear that she was more worried about something else in her vault than the actual sword. They threw me and Ron in the dungeon, where we found Luna, Dean, Ollivander, and Griphook, a goblin. Bellatrix tortured Hermione, trying to get her to reveal how we got the sword from her vault, even though we didn't. Apparently, they had moved the sword to her vault after someone tried to steal it from Headmaster Snape's office." He raised his eyebrows and smiled at her.
Ginny blushed and retorted, "I knew it belonged to you, and Dumbledore wouldn't have willed it to you if he didn't need you to have it, so. . ." she trailed off.
"The sword in Snape's office, that ended up in Gringotts was a fake all along, still can't quite tell you how I know that, yet, almost there. Bellatrix's rage gave away, at least to me, that a Horcrux was stored in her vault. She may not have known it was a Horcrux, my guess is that Voldemort gave her something to guard with her life, because she was acting like she would be a goner if he found out it was missing. But we were stuck in the dungeon, until miraculously, Dobby shows up, elf magic, or something. He takes Luna, Dean, Ollivander, and Griphook to Shell Cottage. Me and Ron overpower Pettigrew, who then gets killed by his own iron hand. All hell is breaking loose, I take Malfoy's wand. Dobby comes back and rescues all of us, but Bellatrix throws a dagger as we are leaving, and hits Dobby. He—he didn't make it." The tears are back in Harry's eyes, and this time, he doesn't try to stop the flow. She holds him, doesn't wipe any tears, there is so much to take in.
"Dobby got you all to Shell Cottage before he died?" She had heard that they had been there.
"Yes, he is buried there. We spent the next while planning our break-in to Gringotts with Griphook."
"You really did break-in? And rode out on a dragon? Is that all true?" she asked in awe, eyes wide, with a huge grin on her face. 'Though should I really be surprised by anything at this point,' she thought.
"Yup, recovered the cup of Hufflepuff and rode out on a dragon. We had to give up the sword of Gryffindor as a price, but we made it out alive. Though now our cover was blown, or better, our intentions were revealed. Voldemort knew we were hunting Horcruxes, so he started checking the places they were hidden. I could still see his thoughts when was really happy or angry, so I was able to confirm my suspicion that the last of the unknown Horcruxes was hidden at Hogwarts. We Apparated to Hogsmeade, almost got trapped by Death Eaters immediately, but we were saved by Aberforth. On to the Room of Requirement, Ron and Hermione went and got a Basilisk fang to destroy the cup. The diadem of Ravenclaw Horcrux was hidden in the Room of Requirement, it was destroyed by Fiendfyre set off by Crabbe, after he, Malfoy, and Goyle tried to capture us in there. Obviously, they didn't quite succeed. The battle was being fought in order for us to have time to find and destroy the last Horcrux, that's done, so now here we are."
"Wait, give me a second. Let me add this up. Diary, ring, locket, cup, diadem, all destroyed, and the snake, still to be destroyed. Those are the six Dumbledore told you about. Yet, you said there are seven. There is one more still out there. You can't give yourself up before that last one is destroyed." She said it almost desperately, but to her, it made perfect sense. When she looked up, she was met with a sadness in Harry's eyes she had never witnessed before.
He was fighting back the tears, but not succeeding very well. He swallowed hard; the frog didn't budge. He swallowed hard again, no use. These words were not going to come out easy.
A string of thoughts flowed through his head; 'Is she going to think I'm tainted? That I am possessed? Will she just run away? She should, I wouldn't blame her.' All his doubts and worst fears were rising to the surface, but he had to push them away. If there was anyone, anywhere in the world that had a chance of understanding, it was her. She needed to know the truth, and he would deal with the consequences after. He inhaled deeply, hoping for a surge of courage. He drew his hand up to his forehead pulled back his hair so his scar was clearly visible and said,
"Ginny, I am the last Horcrux."
"NO! Harry. Oh, No," Ginny breathed, as she wrapped her arms around him and pressed her head tightly to his chest. Harry heard the words, he had expected as much, but the tone and the feelings they conveyed caught him off guard. This wasn't some declaration of disgust or revulsion, no, these words were full of pure empathy and love.
When he saw the look in her chocolate brown eyes his feelings were confirmed. Her eyes said everything her words didn't, 'I know how you feel: dirty, violated, stained, tarnished. But you are not, and I would go to the ends of the earth to prove it to you.'
Ginny's thoughts raced a mile a minute. 'A Horcrux. Harry was, is, a Horcrux. I was possessed by a Horcrux for a short period of time, but Harry had been one nearly his entire life. And yet, he turned out to be one of the most amazing persons I have ever known. The strength inside him must be so great because surely that evil should have taken over his body. The love his mother left him must have been so strong, for he surely didn't get any from his muggle relations.'
"So, that is why you have to give yourself up. As long as you live, a piece of him lives on and he could just come back again. This is so not fair." Anger began to surface with her last sentence.
Harry only nodded to confirm her suspicion.
But Ginny didn't want to accept it, even if she knew it to be true, she had to ask, "But how do you know? How can you be sure?" She hoped to find a sliver of a chance he didn't have to do what she was envisioning.
"Er, it actually makes a lot of sense when you think about it. Even after he stopped putting visions and thoughts in my head, he couldn't keep me from seeing his most passionate thoughts. Besides that, I just saw some memories, up in Dumbledore's office, that revealed this fact and many more things. After Voldemort called off the fighting almost an hour ago, I saw that he was in the Shrieking Shack. So, we made our way over there and were able to spy on a conversation between him and Snape. For most of the time that the Death Eaters have been trying to hunt me down, Voldemort has been hell-bent on finding the Elder Wand."
"That's real too?" she couldn't resist asking, this was a child's fairytale. The most powerful wand in the history of the world.
"Yes, it's real, and Voldemort has it. He took it from Dumbledore's tomb."
Ginny's face had a look of shock, and the revelation left her speechless. Harry didn't wait for the next question.
"His conversation with Snape was centred around the true master of the Elder Wand. It wasn't performing to his liking at the time. Wands transfer ownership if the previous master is defeated, since Snape killed Dumbledore, Voldemort deduced that Snape was the master of the Elder Wand, and he had Nagini kill Snape."
"Whoa, so Snape is dead now?"
"Yes, his body is in the Shrieking Shack, but wait for the craziest part. Voldemort left. We rushed in, Snape wasn't dead yet. When he saw me, he produced some memories for me to take. The last thing he wanted to do was to look into my eyes. Which I am now understanding, was him looking into my mother's eyes, essentially."
"That seems a bit strange, I mean, that he didn't hurl one final insult at you." She added with confusion written on her face.
"Yes, it was very confusing, until I saw the memories he gave me. I went alone to Dumbledore's office, so I don't think anyone else knows any of this, not even Ron or Hermione. Basically, Snape was in love with my mother. He knew her from before school, he was the one that told her she was a witch. His infatuation with her reminded me a lot of you." He gave her a teasing smile, and she slapped his arm.
"Don't you ever compare me to that slimeball!" she spat back at him playfully. Harry gave a small chuckle, but his smile was full and his eyes had that little gleam that Ginny had missed so much.
"You're right, he wasn't like you, he could actually talk to his crush." This earned him another, harder slap on the arm, but the smile didn't leave her face. Having Harry tease her filled her heart with joy, even if she knew it was only temporary.
"Snape was the one that relayed information to Voldemort that made him target me, and my family. And when he realized my mother was going to be in the way, he begged for her life. It didn't work, Voldemort didn't care. After my mother was killed, Snape sought out Dumbledore and became a double agent, and pledged to protect me." Ginny's jaw dropped, mouth gaped open, she had no words.
Harry shrugged.
"I know what you are thinking, he sure had a funny way of protecting someone. But I recall hearing that he sent you to the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid for detention after trying to steal the sword. . ."
"Merlin, Harry, you're right. We were so confused as to why he sent us there. The Carrows didn't know any better, but we did, and we certainly didn't complain. Still, that's no confirmation you are a Horcrux."
"Not yet, there were other memories, of them discussing me, and all the Horcruxes. There was one in particular where Snape almost seemed disgusted with Dumbledore, saying 'you're just raising him like a pig for the slaughter.' " Ginny winced at that phrase. "He was actually a very brave man, I don't know that I can say I like him, but I must say, that I do respect him. He was the one that gave us the actual sword of Gryffindor. The real one was hidden behind a portrait in his office the whole time, and he planted it for us to find in the forest when we needed it."
"Good Godric, Snape was a good guy. That's going to take me a while to wrap my head around. But as for you, you are convinced the only option is to let him kill you, and in turn, he destroys another one of his Horcruxes? I can't believe I'm letting you do this." She stared up at him, her eyes sparkling with the onset of tears.
Eyes that said 'I'll come with you; I'll die with you. You don't have to do this alone.'
As if Harry could sense what she was thinking, he said, "I'm doing it. I'm doing it alone. No one else has to die because of me." Ginny began to interrupt, but Harry cut her off. "I know everyone was willing, and for all those that have already died, I can come to terms. But knowing what I know now, that I have to die, and dying sooner may make Voldemort less aggressive. Maybe fewer people die from here on, and those are the lives I can save. If my death is inevitable, then I'd rather do it while I am at peace with my decision."
Ginny wanted to argue, but she remembered her promise. So, she decided to move to the next subject.
"Then what? Voldemort is already extremely powerful, and now he has the Elder Wand. How are we going to stop him? Because you know we are going to keep fighting, right!?" She said sternly, daring him to tell her she needed to keep herself safe.
"Ah, yes, the Elder Wand. There is something Voldemort is missing there. He thought Snape was the true master, when he never was. Snape killed Dumbledore, but Malfoy had already disarmed him." Ginny's eyes blinked quickly, comprehending this revelation. "Malfoy was the next true master, but when I took Malfoy's wand from him at Malfoy Manor, I became the master of the Elder Wand." A mischievous grin spread across Harry's face.
"But when Voldemort kills you, he will become its master," she added, not sure how he could see this part of the situation as anything to be optimistic about.
"Well, for a wand to change ownership you have to defeat the other person by force, but I am not going to resist. I won't even have my wand out, so he won't be conquering me, I will be giving myself up. When I die, the power of the Elder Wand dies with me."
Ginny could feel the hint of uncertainty, that 'he is trying to convince himself this is true, as much as he is trying to convince me' feeling ran through her.
"I still can't believe that the wand is real. I wonder if the rest of the Tale of the Three Brothers is true too," she said in amazement. Harry just grabbed a part of the cloak and lifted it, waiting for it to register in Ginny's mind.
A few glances between Harry's face and his hand, and she took in a sharp breath of air.
"What!? This isn't just an invisibility cloak; this is the Cloak of Invisibility." Ginny's head was spinning now, so much information, so many emotions, but she wouldn't trade these last moments with Harry for the world. "I'll bet next you are going to tell me you have the Resurrection Stone too." Saying what she thought could be the only thing more ridiculous than what she had just discovered. But Harry didn't laugh her off like she had anticipated. He reached into his leather pouch, fumbled around for few moments, and pulled out a snitch.
Curiosity again filled Ginny's eyes, Harry adored that look, so he paused, giving him a chance to relish the moment.
"I guess we will have to find that out together," Harry added somewhat mischievously.
Then he began to bring the snitch to his lips and said,
"I am about to die."
As the snitch touched his lips it opened, revealing a black stone.
"Is it the real Resurrection Stone?" Immediately she thought of how stupid her question was, but those were the words that flew out of her mouth.
Harry responded, "At this point, the only thing that would surprise me would be if it weren't." A moments delay, a quick glance and a small smile shared between them. "Ready?" Harry asked.
"As I'll ever be."
"Take my hand." They turned slightly, facing the same direction, hand in hand, Ginny's shoulder pressed firmly against Harry's arm.
Harry turned the stone three times, and out of it appeared James and Lily, Sirius, Remus and Tonks, and Fred. Harry's and Ginny's hearts felt like they were about to explode.
They were neither ghosts nor truly flesh, he could see that. They resembled most closely the Riddle that had escaped from the diary so long ago, and he had been memory made nearly solid. Less substantial than living bodies, but much more than ghosts, they moved toward them, and on each face, there was the same loving smile.
James approached first; he was exactly the same height as Harry.
"We are so proud of you," started James. "So proud of the man that you've become. You are so close."
Remus was right behind him. He looked so much younger, face free of the wrinkles and scars that Harry so distinctly remembered.
Remus spoke next, "Harry you mustn't blame yourself for any of this. Are there certain things we all wish we could've done differently? Of course. But if we were asked to do it again, knowing we would have to give our lives, we would. I think you understand that now, but don't beat yourself up over things you can't control."
Everyone nodded in agreement, Ginny most emphatically.
Tonks came forward next, "Harry, you are strong. Stay strong. And, Ginny, I'm really glad I get to talk to you. I told Andi, but there's a chance, in all the chaos, it's been forgotten, and it is even more important now that Harry is going down Sirius' road of absentee godfathering." She gave Sirius a wink.
"Oi!" Harry exclaimed.
And Sirius shouted, "Hey, that's not fair. Ok, maybe it is," he relented.
Tonks continued, "Will you be Teddy's godmother?"
"Oh, of course, Yes. Yes, I will," Ginny replied determinedly.
"Thank you," said Tonks.
Sirius approached next and gave a mischievous glance between the two of them who were now standing side by side holding hands.
"Took you long enough."
"Hey, my mind was preoccupied with other things."
"Yeah, well, I'm glad you finally came to your senses. You Potters and your redheads."
"Can you blame us?" interjected James, shooting a smile at Lily.
"No, I can't say that I can. And, Harry, I'm sorry I wasn't there for you like I should've been," Sirius said, shooting a scowl at Tonks, which only made her smile wider. "And I second what Moony said, for all the hell that we've all been through, I wouldn't change a thing if it means you turn out the way you are, and we finally are able to get rid of this Tom Riddle." He spat the name in disgust. "I'm proud of you Harry. You are more than the man I could've dreamed you become."
Happy tears welled in Harry's eyes; Sirius' words really hit home to him.
"Sirius, does dying hurt?" Harry asked.
"No, you won't feel a thing," Sirius replied as he turned away.
Fred was next with his words, "Harry, I was hoping to have you as a brother in law. But, alas, Gin Gin is just going to have to live a celibate life going forward."
Everyone laughed, except Ginny who had a small scowl on her face.
Fred turned to face her, "Ginnykins, I guess you get to be my messenger. Mom is going to be a mess, losing her favourite son and all, so when she gets too bent out of shape just give her ear a little flick, I used to always do that to her, George never did. Then when she gets mad at you, tell her I told you to do it. That'll bring a smile to her face. For anyone else that gets too despondent, I've hidden a bag of hair colour changing sweets; my room, third drawer, in a yellow drawstring pouch—and while you are grabbing those, grab the red bag also, before Mom gets it; give that to George, he will know what to do with it—give one of those candies as if it was from me, they will either snap out of it right then or when they see themselves in the mirror for the next thirty minutes. As for George, he's probably gonna need a bit more than that. First, make him see the bright side, now that the better looking, smarter, and more charismatic twin is gone, he will finally have a shot with the witches. The 'dead twin brother card' is a great opener for any witch with a heart, so make sure he knows he has my permission to use it." Then he leaned close to Ginny's ear and whispered something to her that made her eyes go big and almost caused her to burst out in laughter. "And for my birthday," he said loud enough for everyone to hear before leaning back in to whisper the rest. Again, a smile lit up Ginny's face, and she shot Harry a look that said, 'thank you so much for giving me this. This will lessen, if not relieve, days, weeks, months of grief for my family.'
Last it was Lily's turn to speak, she approached Ginny first. "Ginny, first, thank you for being such a good friend to Harry. I know you mean so much to him. And thank your family for me, especially your mother, from mother to mother, let her know I will be eternally grateful for how she took in and looked after my son."
Ginny had a small smile, and sparkling wet eyes from the tears that were developing, but again she found herself speechless, no words necessary, just a few nods of the head would do.
Lily turned to Harry, "Harry, my son. You are so loved, by so many people, on each side of the veil. And remember, it is love that has brought you this far in your life. Voldemort has no idea of the true power of love, all he knows is hate. Let this love fill your heart, and drive out your fear. Your love is more powerful than anything he can throw at you, always hold on to that Harry. We love you; I love you."
Tears were rushing down his face, he knew he was loved, but hearing it like this from these people nearly overwhelmed him. He also wanted to harness these emotions, because he knew he would need them to carry him through his mission.
Ginny turned to face Harry, grasped both his hands and said, "Well, I think I've had any question I could've had answered. Except one. Did you meet any Veela while you were out and about?" she asked with a saucy smile.
Harry paused, turned his head up slightly, scrunched his eyebrows and pretended to be contemplating deeply. He returned his gaze to her with a smile.
"No, I don't recall any Veela."
"Well, if that's the case and love is the only thing I can give you that you can take with you. . ." She reached up, pulled his head down to hers and kissed him. She kissed him with the same intent that she had on his birthday, to let him know that she was his, and she would be waiting for him if he came back, and this time there was no Ron to interrupt them. The kiss was so passionate, so pure; it left Westley and Buttercup in the dust. When they broke apart to breathe, they just stared into each other's eyes.
The silence was broken by Fred.
"Gin, you never kissed me like that!"
James turned to Lily, "You never even kissed me like that."
Lily grinned and said, "You were never about to walk to your death to save the whole wizarding world."
"No, just hole up in my house and wait for it," James murmured.
Laughter broke out, and Harry thought, 'it must be easier to joke about death when you are already dead. I guess I'll find out soon enough.'
Ginny contained her laughter and looked at Harry with a sombre look and said, "You should go before I change my mind and break my promise. But, Harry, I love you! I will always love you."
Harry leaned down and kissed her one more time. Then rested his forehead against her, locked her eyes in his, and said,
"I love you too, Ginerva Molly Weasley." It sent chills down her spine.
He turned to walk away as the fingers in his hand slowly slid to her palm, then down the pads of her fingers until only their fingertips were still in contact. With another step, the contact was broken and he walked the remaining feet to the Forbidden Forest under the invisibility cloak where his footsteps disappeared amongst the trees.