"What's going on?" Ginny demanded loudly.
Her dad whipped around to see her standing there, wand out by her side, looking angry and determined.
"The Ministry must've known Dumbledore was here," he said. "The wards were just hit, the Burrow is under attack!"
"Quick, Ginny, into the floo!" Molly said, beckoning her over with the floo pot in her hand.
Meanwhile, Arthur, along with some members of the Order, including James Potter, Nymphadora Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt and several others Ginny didn't recognise, moved out into the front yard to start supporting the flagging wards.
Ginny stuffed her wand back into her pockets, quickly took a pinch of floo power from her mum and leapt into the fireplace. She looked quizzically at Molly until she was told 'Headquarters, dear' and shouted out, "12 Grimmauld Place!"
As Ginny stumbled out of the fireplace in Grimmauld Place, she immediately felt the sensation that Harry was much closer. Ignoring her brothers and Molly, who flooed through behind her, Ginny moved quickly around them all and ducked up the stairway before anyone could stop her.
Behind her, she heard her mother calling out to her in alarm, telling her to stop. Ginny quickened her pace and practically ran up to the third floor. She paused briefly to check which direction the pull was coming from and then dashed down the corridor to her right before stopping at a closed door at the end of the hall.
Glancing back along the corridor, Ginny saw several members of the Order rushing towards her, led by her mother. Without thinking, she waved her hand irritably towards them, erecting a large shield that stretched from floor to ceiling, sealing her end of the corridor. She didn't think about the fact she had just given away her hidden talent of powerful wandless magic, she was already looking back at the door in front of her.
Completely ignoring what several people were now shouting, Ginny took a deep breath, pushed open the door, shattering what wards lay around it in the process, and found herself looking directly at Harry Potter.
Harry was lying on the bed in his room, idly listening to the commotion going on downstairs when he suddenly sat bolt upright. He could feel Ginny was close, much closer than she had been since he had arrived in this new world. Harry felt her moving rapidly closer to him, up the stairs and along the hallway. He jumped up off the bed and moved towards the door in the hope of seeing her, at least glimpsing that she looked happy and healthy here in this dimension.
Before he could reach the door, however, it slammed open and he found himself staring right into the eyes of Ginny Weasley.
Neither Harry nor Ginny moved for what felt like eternity, both trying to decide if the other was really there. They could feel the other and, standing this close, could even feel fragments of the others' emotions; shock, mixed with confusion, mixed with elation.
"Ginny?" Harry whispered.
"Harry? H-how…?" Ginny stuttered, "You-you died!"
Harry had to fight not to immediately close the distance between them, to take her in his arms and reassure her that everything would be fine. Instead he stood back, and beckoned her into the room indicating one end of the bed for her while he sat cross-legged at the other end. Ginny moved into the room and sat heavily on the bed, never taking her eyes off Harry.
For a few moments, they both resumed just staring at one another, wordlessly. Finally, feeling that something should be said, Harry tried to clear the lump from his throat to talk.
"I, umm…I've missed you," he said.
"I've missed you too," Ginny whispered.
"I mean, I know you're not really my Ginny, and I guess I'm not really your Harry, but you look just the same, and the bond seems to still be there. But if you don't want to know me, then that fine, I can just –"
"Harry!" Ginny interrupted suddenly.
"Umm, sorry," he said sheepishly, a small smile flitting across his face.
Ginny didn't smile back, she just kept on taking is his appearance.
"You died seven years ago, in this world," she said quietly. "Fawkes tried to save you, but it wasn't enough."
"I know," Harry responded quickly. "Dumbledore told me."
Ginny looked away briefly, and took a shaky breath, "Will you tell me what happened to me in…in your world?"
Harry sighed, and dropped his eyes to the bedding between them.
"We got overconfident," he said quietly. "Ginny, she…we were fighting Voldemort. The war was all but over, and the last fight was down to him and Malfoy against us. We'd just killed Malfoy, and Voldemort was firing off all kinds of low-level spells. We just assumed he was too weakened to fire off a killing curse so we both stopped dodging and starting blocking everything. The bond made us both magically very powerful, so we could just block anything short of the killing curse itself. Suddenly Voldemort fired just one killing curse. Doesn't matter how strong your shield is, there is nothing that can stop that. He remained sadistic to the end though, and didn't aim it at me like we both thought he would. And you…Ginny died. I didn't even have time to say goodbye."
Harry broke off as he fought back tears. Ginny wondered if he found it easier, referring to her as somehow separate from the Ginny he had known. After a few moments, he continued.
"Well, that was basically the end of it. The shock of losing Ginny caused me to release some kind of magical explosion, and Voldemort was left incapacitated. Then I…I kind of just lost it and killed him. There wasn't really anything left after that."
Ginny just sat quietly throughout Harry's tale, tears falling slowly down her cheeks.
"You had a soul-bond in your world too, then?" she asked quietly.
Harry looked up, "Yeah, formed in about sixth year. Well, turns out it formed back when we were born but it didn't really activate until sixth year when we started dating. We hadn't been that close before hand, except that time in the Chamber."
Ginny nodded to herself, "We were a lot closer in this world. When the Potter's started to come over and visit, I would've been about two years old, you were three. And we became quite good friends. Nothing more than that really, until the Chamber. I'd managed to embarrass myself a bit earlier that week by letting you find out that I had a crush on you, my best friend, and so I ran away to hide rather than hear your rejection. When you saved me in the Chamber, even as you were still dying, you told me that it was mutual and that you had looked forward to asking me to Hogsmeade or something when we were older. Then you just told me I was beautiful and…and you died."
Now it was Ginny's turn to break off with a choked sob.
"Ginny?" Harry started quietly.
Wiping the tears away, Ginny looked back up at Harry through red-rimmed eyes.
"Do you, I mean, do you want to reform the bond? We both seem to be feeling it, I imagine it would just take physical contact to repair it," Harry asked, cautiously.
Ginny's eyes widened as she thought about it.
"Are you staying?" she asked. "Because I'm not sure I could bear it if I lost the bond a second time. Even just sitting this close to you, I can feel you clearly again for the first time in years and I'm going to struggle to just walk away from that."
"Listen to me, Ginny. If you want me here, I won't leave, I promise. There is nothing left for me in my world. Everyone died, Ginny. Everyone, except me and a few random strangers I'd never met. I don't ever want to go back. And…I'd like to be bonded to you. I mean, I know I'm not really your Harry, and I'm probably not the same. I've lived through one war already, I'm not quite as…warm as I was when I was twelve."
Ginny looked at him, thinking it over. Up until now, she had been so sure she wanted to bond back. But, as he said, this wasn't her Harry. Not really. But yet…
"I think you could become my Harry," she said. "Even if you're different, I'd rather be bonded to you than feeling alone any longer."
Harry solemnly nodded and held out both hands, palm-up in between them. Reaching out, Ginny placed her own hands, palm-down above Harry's, and looked briefly back into his eyes. They gave each other a warm smile, took a deep breath, and let their hands fall together.
Out in the corridor, Bill Weasley stepped back from a large shield he had been trying to overcome as it flared a brilliant white before suddenly shattering into nothing.
Many miles away, on the outskirts of the small town of Ottery St Catchpole, an old wizard with a long silver beard and vibrant purple robes looked around in surprise at the faint magical ripple that passed through him. It didn't feel malignant, so he put it aside as a puzzle to solve later and turned his attention back to binding the few Death Eaters that were still present.
Halfway across the country again, in a large room, lit only by the ornate fireplace, a pale man, whose skin stood out in stark contrast to his black robes, stood suddenly out of his large chair. He turned slowly on the spot, trying to identify what may have caused such a ripple of magic. He furrowed his brow, uncertain, red eyes glinting dangerously.
Meanwhile, back in the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, Molly Weasley burst into a small bedroom with her son Bill and Lily Potter close on her heals to find her only daughter unconscious on the bed, holding and being held in a tight embrace by the spitting image of a young James Potter.
Molly gasped and tried to move forward to drag the two unconscious teens apart, only to find herself held back on each side by Bill and Lily.
"Mum, you can't pull them apart now," Bill said gently.
"He's right, I'm sorry, Molly," said Lily. "They're bonding now. We just have to wait for it to finish. I doubt you could separate them if you tried."
Molly looked on in despair, tears starting to leak down her face.
"But - but, Albus said he was dangerous! I can't leave her here with him. He might hurt her!"
Lily's eyes flashed dangerously.
"That happens to be my son, you're talking about!" she growled. "Yes, he might be from another world, but he is still Harry. From what I can tell, he is still my sweet little boy, just older. And Harry would never hurt Ginny."
Molly rounded on Lily only to have Bill step in to try and calm her down, "Mum, I doubt he could hurt her if he tried. It would only hurt him as well now. They will be bonded. And maybe Ginny will finally be happy again, for a change. Let's just wait until they wake up, okay mum?"
Molly narrowed her eyes, her anger finally overtaking her fear for her daughter.
"Fine!" she snapped. "Fine! We'll just leave her here with some unknown boy and hope that he is safe because he looks like someone we know. I guess it doesn't matter, it's not as if we can just take her back to the Burrow now, is it?"
With that, she stormed past Bill and Lily and marched down the stairs in the direction of the kitchen. As Lily turned her gaze back to look at her son, she could hear the tell-tale sounds of pans being banged around in the kitchen, a sure sign of Molly Weasley's temper. Lily paid it no mind however, as she took her wand out and carefully levitated Harry and Ginny into a more comfortable position, laying outright on the bed next to each other, still in a close embrace.
With a gentle smile on her face, Lily turned and nodded at Bill, ushering him out of the room, which she closed carefully behind her. She then made her way downstairs to find James and Sirius, to learn the outcome of the fight at the Burrow.
Back inside the room, Harry and Ginny were far from asleep, although they appeared unconscious. After first touching, they had found themselves drifting in their minds as memories flickered around them, flaring and fading only to be replaced immediately by another. Both examined each other's past. Harry watched as Ginny held his younger self while Basilisk venom dragged his life away, as Ginny watched herself be struck down suddenly by a familiar green light.
Harry especially latched onto the memories of his parents and his younger life. He found he had been happy in this world. Much happier than in his old world. He had never been starved, or locked in a cupboard for giving trouble. Lily preferred to give him some chores, but even then, never as many as he received at the Dursley's. Harry watched, allowing himself to fill up with the feelings of warmth and happiness when he realised that he could feel all of Ginny's feeling again. And she was anything but happy.
Ginny was watching different memories. She watched Harry's neglect at the Dursley's with sorrow, and his years at school with a mix of pride and sadness. She felt mortified by her counterpart's behaviour around Harry when she first met, treating him as some kind of hero for something that had only taken his parents away from him. She scoffed, watching herself blush and run from the room as Harry walked into it. She had never acted like that around Neville, when he was the Boy-Who-Lived. As Harry's life continued Ginny watched herself start to feature more until the bond finally became apparent. She smiled wistfully at the memories of the two of them, both so happy, sharing the bond for almost three years and she cried as she felt the devastation when Harry had realised she was gone.
Just as Ginny was starting to wonder how she could ever hope to replace this other Ginny, she suddenly felt a new rush of memories.
Harry and Ginny both cried out in their minds as memories neither of them had seen flooded into their minds. The landscape around them solidified and they found themselves in a grassy field, reminiscent of the land around the Burrow.
Ginny looked over at Harry, eyes wide, looking into his equally shocked expression.
Harry…I remember. I remember the whole war. Killing Malfoy. Fighting Voldemort. I was there! You brought me back somehow! But, I'm still the Ginny from this world too. How can I remember having lived two lives? Ginny though to Harry.
With their minds finally linked once more, words had become simply unnecessary.
It isn't just you, Ginny, Harry replied. I can remember this life too. Growing up in Godrics Hollow. Being your best friend. Being bitten in the shoulder, instead of the elbow by the basilisk.
Did the bond do this? Ginny asked, her thoughts tinged with awe. Did it bring back our alternate selves?
It must of, thought Harry.
There was a pause as they looked at each other briefly. Then, at the same time, they suddenly lunged towards each other and met in a tight embrace, as if they were each trying to merge their own bodies.
I've missed you!
It wasn't clear who thought it first, as the words simply bounced back and forth between them, carrying comfort and love along with them.
Harry leaned back slightly, before tilting his head to the side and bringing his lips to Ginny's in a passionate kiss. Ginny eagerly responded, the happiness rushing through the bond.
As they broke apart, they looked into each other's eyes, warm brown, meeting emerald green, as the grinned foolishly at finally being together once more. As they leaned in again to share more kisses, they both revelled in the feeling of the completed bond. No longer was there a void where half their mind should be. That space had been perfectly filled by one another.
As the two teens knelt in the grassy field of their shared minds, their magic danced around them, burning brightly, as coloured streamers wove through the sky.
The bond hummed as finally, at long last, it was completed again.
A/N: Here it is, at last, the meeting scene. I hope it lived up to expectations. I really enjoyed writing this scene, and hope it came out as well as I had planned. This was one of the first scenes I started working on, and was, in part, a large inspiration for the whole story, so I wanted to get it right.
I'm really enjoying writing this story for you all, and I'm very thankful for the lovely reviews I've got so far.