Disclaimer I don't own Harry Potter. All rights to the characters and universe the story belongs in belong to JK Rowling

Chapter 5 - Scars

The rest of May passed in a blur of funerals, Harry attended as many as he could, unfortunately there were too many for him to go to all of them. The last one was the previous day and Harry was thankful to have them behind him.

He was sitting in the kitchen of the Burrow reading the Daily Prophet. Kingsley had finally manged to release a press friendly version of the events that led to the end of the war.

The story was good, everything about the horcruxes had been removed, the article covered them as dark objects that needed to be destroyed. Harry was also pleased to see a big section written about the DA and teachers who protected the students at Hogwarts.

Ginny still hadn't told him what had happened so reading someone else's account had been insightful. He was rather proud of the gang of students he had once trained.

It was then that the floo flashed bright green and Bill stepped out of the fire. He poured himself a cup of tea before sitting down opposite Harry. 'Hey Harry, what you reading?'

'You alright Bill? Just the article in the prophet about the war in particular the bit about the teachers and the DA. It sounds like it was hell and I'm guessing a lot's been left out of Neville's account.'

'Yeah I read that too, I wonder if squirt was involved.'

Harry knew instantly who he was talking about 'She was.' Bill raised an eyebrow at him. 'She's a Weasley of course she was involved.'

'Yeah I suppose it's too much to think she just sat their innocently out of the way.' Growled Bill.

Harry nodded sagely 'Yep she's too much like Fre – the twins - to sit their quietly.'

The slip didn't go unnoticed 'It's OK Harry you can say Fred's name. Speaking of the twins how's George? I haven't seen him.'

'He's been better since he opened the shop up. Ron and Percy have been helping him.'

Bill almost spat his tea out 'Percy's helping? He hates practical jokes.'

'He said something about lightening up.' Bill laughed. 'When Ron goes to Australia he wants to be around to help George.'

'I bet mom's not happy about the three of you going off on your own again.'

'She wasn't, she was worse when she realised that I wasn't going. She seems to think they're going to be getting up to, how do I put this? Extracurricular activities.' Bill did spit out his tea.

'Brilliant thanks for that image.' Harry grinned at him as he wiped the tea off the table. 'Why aren't you going?'

'They deserve some time on their own, and whilst I'm getting to grips with being a third wheel, I'd rather them be shagging in a different country to me.' Bill Laughed whilst toasting him with his mug.

'What are you two laughing about?' the bushy haired witch in question had just entered the kitchen and plonked herself down next to Harry.

'Nothing in particular' covered Harry suspiciously.

'Harry is just catching me up with the family. When do you and Ron go to Australia?'

'We're going on Monday morning. I've arranged the portkey with Kingsley.'

'Ah so that's why mom's having the big fancy dinner on Saturday.'

'Yeah I think so.'

'Do you know where your parents are?'

'No not yet.' Said Hermione sadly. 'The Australian ministry is looking for them.'

'I hope you find them quickly' said Harry.

'I'm not worried about finding them. I'm more worried about how they will react. They have been living a lie for the last twelve months.'

'I wouldn't worry about it. I'm sure they'll be fine when you tell them the reasons behind what you did.' Said Bill sympathetically.

'Thanks, I hope so' Hermione sighed.

Bill smiled at her for a second and then turned his attention back to Harry. 'Right Harry, sorry to talk shop, are you free on Thursday?'

'Yeah I can be, have the goblins finally decided on a date for the meeting then?' The goblins had made it exceedingly difficult to arrange a meeting. Harry was getting rather angry with them, it seemed as if they couldn't make up their mind on what they wanted from him.

All he wanted was to get it over with and get on good terms with them again. The goblins however seemed to want to drag it out as long as possible leaving him in the dark at every turn. Not even Bill knew what they were up to.

Unaware of Harry's pent up anger Bill continued. 'Yeah they have. Now that they know what they want they have told me what to expect in the meeting. The reason they've taken so long is because there's more to talk to you about than the break in.'

That peaked Harry's curiosity 'There is?'

'Yes, they want to talk to you about your inheritance as well. It seems as though coming of age means that you have been left with rather more than you thought.'

Harry raised his eyes in surprise. 'Oh right.' He didn't quite know what to make of that.

'They also told me what they want for the break in and to be honest it seems reasonable to me, I'll let them tell you though. Can you be at Gringotts for 11am?'

'Yeah sure, can you be in the meeting as well? You handle Goblins better than I do.'

Bill smirked at him, 'Yeah I can be there, need someone to keep you inline do you think?'

Harry and Hermione laughed. 'Course he does, if you leave him in there on his own, he'll start a new goblin rebellion.'

'Thanks Hermione' he replied sarcastically.

'You're welcome' she said grinning at him.

The day before the meeting the sun was beating down on an unusually quiet Burrow. 'So that just leaves the two of us then?' Stated Ginny with false innocence.

Mrs Weasley had just left to see Andromeda while Mr Weasley and the rest of the Weasleys had gone to work. Hermione was at the ministry working on a plan to get herself, Ron and her parent's home. There were also some last-minute forms that she needed to fill out.

Harry and Ginny had offered to help at the shop, however, after they had helped getting it ready to open George didn't need any extra hands. Especially after Verity had agreed to return and Ron and Percy were already helping. Also, Harry's presence was rather distracting as they had seen as soon as he had stepped foot in Diagon Alley.

When he entered the Leaky Cauldron reporters and fans had swarmed him. He tried to speak to the public as much as possible whilst ignoring the reporters apart from a few one-word answers to their most pressing questions.

He only managed to get away from them by ducking into the closed Weasley Wizard Wheezes shop. Now that it was open it was harder to keep them away.

He figured it would die down, this sort of stuff always does especially with the article about the war. That didn't stop it from annoying him until it did though. Fortunately, he did have a rather nice distraction from it all.

'I guess it does. Got any plans?'

Ginny pretended to think for a second 'Well the weather is nice. Maybe we could go for a swim in the river?'

'Yeah OK, I'll go and grab my stuff, give me five minutes.'

'Ok, I'm already ready, I'll whip up some food to take down with us.'

Ten minutes later they had walked down to the river and were just putting their picnic basket down on the floor. As Ginny started taking off her jeans and top (which were covering her swimsuit) Harry couldn't help but stare God she's gorgeous. Her light blue swimsuit was modest whilst hugging her body in a way that Harry couldn't help admiring.

It was lucky he wasn't drooling, he only realised he was staring when Ginny asked 'See something you like Potter?'

Words failed him so he just nodded pathetically whilst quickly looking away. Amused Ginny teased him further. Making sure he was looking again she shot him a saucy wink and walked down to the pond swaying her hips more than usual.

Not sure how much he could take, Harry looked away again, took his shirt off and set off after her. He waded over towards where she was standing with her back to him. For the first time he noticed a scar which seemed to run from her shoulder to her hip.

Anger swelled in him, When I find whoever did that I'm going to make them wish they had never been born he growled to himself. He took her in his arms placing a kiss on her neck. She turned to him and he whispered 'Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?'

She was about to respond when she noticed something 'Is that where the curse hit you?' she asked in shock.

He didn't have to ask which curse she meant. 'Yeah it is.'

'Does it hurt?'

'It didn't at the time, when I woke up after the battle it hurt though. It was like a Hippogriff had stampeded across my chest. It's steadily getting better though, especially now the bruising's gone.'

She traced the lightning bolt scar on his chest with a finger and then placed a kiss on it as if to kiss it better. 'I was close to losing you wasn't I?'

'About as close as I was to losing you when Bellatrix almost hit you with a killing curse.'

'You saw that?'

'Yeah, I did, that scared me more than anything. I was about to jump in myself when your mom took over.'

'I've never seen mom like that.' Whispered Ginny in awe.

'Neither had I. That reminds me, when we tell everyone about us remind me to hide behind you. I reckon I can handle your brothers, after that though, I'm genuinely scared of your mom.' Ginny laughed at him. 'What? she's a formidable witch.'

'You defeated one of the most powerful wizards the world has ever seen, confronted death more times than I can count and killed a basilisk. You're telling me you're scared of a middle-aged witch?'

'That about covers it yeah.'

She shook her head 'You were really going to jump in?'

'Yeah, the only reason I wasn't closer was because I was going after Voldemort. To be honest I was still thinking about jumping in after your mum. At that point though I was stuck in the middle of the two duels. Voldemort vs Kingsley, McGonagall and Slughorn and Bellatrix against your mom.'

'It worked out Ok, thanks for stepping in when he turned to face her though. Mom's tough but I don't think she would have survived him.'

'I'm just glad I was there to do it.'

'I'm glad you remembered your wand that time' she teased.

'Me too.' He pulled her closer smelling her intoxicating flowery shampoo. 'Come on let's go for a swim.'

They swam for about an hour while Harry tried to spot any other scars on his girlfriend. There was a small one on her neck behind her ear and a few on her arms. He felt a flame of anger every time he saw one. Noticing the anger rise in Harry's face, when he had just noticed a rather jagged scar on her leg, Ginny was startled and asked him if everything was Ok.

Harry just nodded in a non-committal sort of way and tried to mask his anger better. Worried, Ginny let him say nothing for now. After enjoying themselves in the water for another hour they sat down on the bank.

'Are you going to tell me what's bothering you?' asked Ginny bluntly when they had finished their lunch.

Harry sighed. 'Yeah but I need help in understanding.' She looked at him confused. Instead of explaining he lay down pulling Ginny down with him where she rested her head on his shoulder. He gently traced the start of the scar on her shoulder which ran behind her back. Ginny shuddered at the contact

'Can you tell me about this?' he asked gently.

Ginny stayed quiet. 'Gin?'

'Promise you won't get angry' her voice was a frightened whisper.

Bloody hell this must be bad. 'I promise I won't get angry with you.'

'Well Hogwarts last year wasn't really Hogwarts. As soon as we got on the platform at King Cross I knew we were in trouble. There were Death Eaters standing by the train with a list, before you were let on you had to tell them your name. Any muggleborns or persons of interest were arrested on the spot and held by a bunch of snatchers.' Her voice was in the same frightened tone as she spoke.

'We got on the train and I was sharing a compartment with Luna and Neville, we were halfway there when Malfoy entered with Crabbe and Goyle.' Her features darkened at the thought. 'He started taunting us, telling us that all of our friends will be killed and that I would never see you again. Which set me off I cursed Malfoy and the three of us shot jinxes at the other two until they left.' Harry winced at the thought. Oho I can see this landing them in trouble.

'We thought we had gotten away with it. No one else came down to us and we were left alone. That was until we got to Hogwarts, we arrived in the great hall and we were about to enter the feast when we were stopped by two new teachers.

'The Carrow's are even uglier in person' Harry snorted 'We were marched off to their office and we were shown exactly what we were in for' Ginny started to shake at this point, Harry rubbed her shoulder to soothe her. 'They described the range of new punishments we would be subjected to and we were given Vertitaserum so they could question us about you.

'We told them the truth, obviously, that we didn't know where you were or what you were up to. They then started questioning me about us, they asked me if we were together and I told them no. That's when I realised that you were probably right, breaking up did save me. If I had said yes I think I would have been taken away there and then. You understand Death Eaters in a way no one else does did you know that?'

'What makes you say that?'

'You told me before that Voldemort didn't understand love and neither did the Carrow's or any Death Eater. You see they asked the wrong question. If they had asked if you cared about me I would have had to tell them everything and I would have been taken off regardless. They merely asked about the status of our relationship, which saved me.'

'I'm sorry Ginny, I wish my feelings for you didn't put you in so much danger.'

'Never apologise for how you feel Harry. That was the only thing that got me through the year.' Harry held her tighter. 'Well anyway going back to that night, they asked us then what happened on the train. Once they had heard the account they punished us on the spot. Without warning Amycus Carrow had Neville under the Cruciatus Curse. I pulled out my wand to help but I was disarmed and put under the full body bind curse.

'I had to listen while Luna's screams then joined Neville's. it was ear splitting and I've never been more scared. I can still hear them when I close my eyes sometimes.'

'I know how that feels, I felt the same way when Hermione was being tortured. We were desperate to help even though we couldn't.'

'You found a way. Neville and Luna weren't so lucky. After what seemed like an eternity they were released from the curse and the screams stopped. Alecto then marched them off to their dormitories. Neville tried to fight to stay with me, they just placed him under the Cruciatus Curse again.

'I was defiant, I tried summoning my wand so I could release the body bind. I thought I knew what was coming and I wasn't going to let it happen.' She was quivering now.

She was visibly struggling to continue, anger surged through Harry. If they had done what he thought he was going to kill the Carrow's. He willed her to tell him, Harry didn't think he could voice it himself he was so repulsed.

She looked like she couldn't continue so he whispered gently. 'It's OK you can tell me.'

She shuddered, swallowing slowly 'I'm sorry Harry it's still hard to talk about. No one else knows about the scar never mind what happened.'

'I understand, it's not like I'm an open book. You can tell me anything though you know that?'

She nodded and continued. 'It's just hard, I tried to tough it out, I've never felt helpless before. It scared me.

'He started touching me and telling me what he would like to do to me.' That evil bastard. Harry gently stroked her hair as much to comfort himself as Ginny. As if to prove she was there and not still with Carrow. 'He released me from the bind but kept me suspended in the air with magic. I couldn't move my arms or legs, I was just hanging there. There was nothing I could do to escape, I tried everything.'

She clung on tighter. 'When he had me hanging there and I thought he was going to r-ra-rape me he told me that Snape had forbidden it. So, he was going to have to think of something else.

'He trailed his wand along my back, starting at my shoulder. He cast Sectumsempra as he did it.' Harry stiffened in anger 'It's OK Harry there was nothing you could have done.'

'I know that doesn't make it easier.'

'I know. It was painful, but at the time I didn't really feel it. It hurt more during the night and days after. I think the adrenaline was still pumping.

'What did hurt was the Cruciatus curse. I tried to fight it, I couldn't help screaming in pain. I've never known anything like it. I don't know how long I was there, I thought I was going mad. He then suddenly stopped, released me and gave me my wand telling me to head back to my dormitory. I was going to head to the hospital wing when he told me that if I went there he would have me hanging up all night. I was scared so I obeyed him. Struggling to walk I somehow made it back.'

'I should have given you the marauders map, it would have helped you more than me.'

'I don't think so. Not then anyway, maybe some of the other times though…' She continued with her tales including how the DA was started up again and some of the more daring stunts they pulled off to rescue the younger students from being tortured. His anger at the Carrow's only rose with each story.

When she was finished Harry didn't think he could have respected her and the rest of the DA more. They really stood up to them. 'You know I don't think I would have survived that year. I think I would have run.'

'No you wouldn't Harry.' She said rolling her eyes.

'You sure? We spent all year running and to be honest we were a lot safer than you were. I wasn't in constant danger like you were all of the time. I would have had to get out of there.'

'You were in plenty of danger. It wasn't all bad. Particularly when we stayed in the Room of Requirement. We knew we were safe there. The biggest problem was we had no idea what was going on in the world.'

'That was our biggest problem too. You really are amazing Gin, do you know that? All of you.'

'Well we had a good teacher. Without you starting the DA Harry we wouldn't have been able to do anything but wilt. I definitely don't think that Neville would be the person he is without those lessons.'

'I'm not so sure, we just pushed him in the right direction.'

'I am, he even admitted it. Me, him and Luna became close friends while you were gone.'

'Well troublemaking and rescuing is always best done in three's.' he said proudly 'I'm glad that you three stuck together to help everyone else out.'

'Yeah we did, thanks for listening Harry.'

'Feel better?'

'Yeah, are you angry?'

'Not with you, I feel better for knowing what happened though' then a darkness crept on his face 'The Carrow's had best get themselves far far away.'

'Harry please don't do anything to get yourself locked up.'

'You only get locked up if you're caught' he said darkly.

'Please Harry. I survived and I can put it behind me.' She begged. 'Promise you won't do anything stupid.'

He deflated a little in defeat 'I promise, I'll just have to settle for arresting them when I become an Auror.'

Ginny visibly relaxed 'Thank you.'

'HARRY, GINNY WHERE ARE YOU?'

'Ah mom's back come on lets go I'm starving.' They packed up their things, got dressed and headed back to the Burrow.