After an awkward breakfast in which very little was said, Harry and Ginny could both be found sitting in absolute silence in the living room of Grimmauld Place. To an outside observer, they appeared content to just enjoy one another's company, as Harry idly played with Ginny's fingers in his hands. In the privacy of their own minds however, they were both deep in conversation.
We're going to have to fight again.
I know.
I don't know if I can do it again. I lost you last time.
You won't lose me again, Harry! We'll be smarter this time, we'll be more cautious. And this time we have help. The Order still exists in this world.
I know, I just…I'm scared, Ginny. Not so much of the fight, we've done that before, but this world. At least in the last one, I knew everybody. Now, any memories I have are either from you or are seven years out of date. You saw how Dad was. What if this world is just as lonely as the last?
Ginny moved forward, threading her arms around Harry.
We'll never have to be lonely again, Harry. We've got a chance to finally be happy here, just you wait.
Harry smiled softly down at the top of Ginny's head where it rested on his chest.
"I don't know what I did to be bonded to you, but I'm so glad I am," he whispered aloud.
Ginny tilted her head to look up at him, a beautiful smile blossoming across her face as the bond practically hummed with warmth between them.
"I'm glad too," she whispered back.
"We should talk to your parents, make sure they know what the bond means."
The smile slipped off Ginny's face, to be replaced with a frown.
"I hope mum doesn't cause too much trouble," she said. Remember how she was in the last world?
Mmm, and she loved me there. Here she seems to think I'm going to hurt you somehow.
They both fell silent for a time as they considered ways to break the situation to Mrs Weasley more comfortably. As it happened, Harry and Ginny weren't given much time to think before footsteps were heard coming closer, and the door swung open to admit Molly, Arthur and, following them, looking quite put out about something, Lily.
Molly paused briefly upon seeing Ginny looking back at her from her position in Harry's arms, before she huffed and sat down in the armchair closest to the fireplace. Arthur flashed them both a small smile as he sat in the opposite chair, leaving Lily to sit on the unoccupied couch.
Lily looked over at Harry, "As you've probably noticed, Harry, Dumbledore has decided to trust you not to betray us or attack us. I don't know what took him so long, I could have told him that from the start!"
"Thanks, Mum," Harry said quietly. "I wish he'd let me see Ginny sooner, but I'm glad he's come around now."
There was a snort from the armchair as Harry spoke, and Ginny looked around at her mother.
"Mum?" Ginny said with an edge in her tone. "If you have something to say, why not just say it?"
"Ginny," Arthur said warningly. "We don't need to have this conversation now."
"Why not, Arthur?" Molly snapped. "Why shouldn't we talk about how she directly disobeyed me, disobeyed Albus himself. Why don't we talk about how she is sitting there wrapped around a boy she just met! It isn't right, Arthur! Oh, yes, they may all say he is Harry, but I'm with James on this one! Harry Potter died seven years ago. People don't just come back to life, even from another world!"
"You were more than happy to try and summon Neville after he died, though, weren't you?" Ginny snapped back, sitting up sharply as her face began to go red with anger. "But for some reason you won't accept my Harry!"
"YOUR HARRY?" Molly shouted. "You're only eighteen, Ginny, and you've just met him!"
"He is my soulmate, mother! We're soul bonded! Do you have any idea what that means?" Ginny fired back.
"I know that it doesn't give you the right to shout at me, young lady! And it doesn't excuse your behaviour either!" Molly spat, standing up, her hand on her hips.
"Don't you talk to her like that!" Harry suddenly shouted, leaping up. "She is my soul mate, and I've already had to watch her die once! I'll do anything to make sure that never happens again!"
"I'm not sorry, mother!" Ginny pitched in. "I'm with Harry now! And I'll be damned if you ever so much as think of trying to separate us!"
With that, Ginny grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him rapidly out of the room, ignoring Molly's insistence that they come back immediately. Ginny dragged Harry up the stairs, and into the attic space. There, she moved quickly over to a small door hidden in one corner and pulled Harry out onto a small balcony on the side of the roof. There, she finally dropped his hand and gripped the railing around the edge of the balcony so tight her knuckles were white.
How DARE she? Ginny raged. She is seriously going to try for the 'too young' angle now? When I'm eighteen? And to call me irresponsible for finding you! What was I meant to do, live with half my mind missing for the rest of my life?
Harry meanwhile tried desperately to calm himself down, which was no easy feat. With the anger rolling off of Ginny through the soul bond, his own emotions were being completely overrun by Ginny's, making them both angry.
She won't separate us, Gin, he promised. If it means us against all of them, then we'll just go our own way.
A memory blinked through their minds briefly of Ginny saying the same thing to Harry in Harry's old world, when Molly was on a similar rampage. Ginny snorted as she saw the memory.
At least when I was fifteen she could be justified in being upset about my age, she grumbled.
Harry walked over and leaned on the railing next to Ginny in silence, as he continued to calm himself and, by extension, Ginny down.
I think we're both different in this world, he thought. I would've never yelled at your mother before, I always knew you were more than capable. But now…I just don't want to see you hurt. Even more so than before.
I know, Ginny replied. I'm much more scared for you this time around. Last time, I thought if you had me with you, we could win the war easily. Now I'm afraid. I don't know if we can do this all again.
Harry sidled over, and put an arm around Ginny's shoulders. We can do it again. But we've both seen life without the other now. It only makes sense that we're more scared than last time. I always assumed we'd die together. And when we didn't…I don't know how I survived the few months that I did. But you, you survived for years, Ginny.
Ginny leant into Harry's embrace more, without taking her eyes off of the view over the houses in front of them. I got angry. Tom…he betrayed me, and then killed you. I had to survive to make sure he was gone. Mum and Dad always thought he might come back, even though most people disagreed. Even Percy didn't believe them, but I did.
We'll make sure he is gone for good then. And, hopefully, we can keep this world in one piece compared to our last world, Harry replied, feeling the anger finally ebb away to be replaced with determination.
After a few more minutes, he sighed.
"We should at least try to talk to your dad. Maybe my mum too, they need to know that we're staying together from now on. And they need to get used to the idea," he said.
"I doubt my mum will take that well, especially given that we're not married." Ginny said.
Harry snorted, "We don't need to get married, we're bloody soul bonded!"
"I know, Harry, but she won't see it that way. Remember in the last world? She was angry and upset that she couldn't organise her daughter's wedding."
Harry's eyes widened, "Would that help your mother? If we asked her to help organise a bonding ceremony? We never got the chance in the last world, maybe this will be our chance."
"If that was your idea of a proposal, Harry, I might decide not to show up," Ginny said, a smile starting to flicker on the edge of her lips as she fought between amusement and the remaining anger.
Harry grinned suddenly and pulled away from Ginny. He quickly dropped to his knees in front of Ginny, still wearing a cheeky grin.
"Oh, fairest Ginevra, will you do me the very greatest honour of being my bond mate? Also, my wife?" he cried dramatically.
Ginny rolled her eyes and pushed away the last of her anger as she got into the spirit of the thing.
"Why, dearest Harry, how thrilled I am that you asked!" she said, flashing a cheeky smile right back at him.
Harry leapt back up and kissed her hard on the lips before pulling away.
"If we're going to do this, we're going to do it properly!" he said. "I always imagined how I might ask your parents for your hand. Guess it's time to find out."
Ginny just smiled, indulging him. It's good to see you happy again, Harry, she thought.
The humour dropped from Harry's face as he looked at her seriously. We're together again, we're complete. Yes, there might be a war, but that's all the more reason to be happy now.
I seem to remember being the one who told you that last time, Ginny commented idly.
Harry just smiled back, Well, you were right. And we both have our families back and alive. How often does this kind of second chance come along?
Just often enough for us.
Come on, let's go find our parents. Harry took Ginny's hand again and they went back inside and headed down the stairs.
Before the teens found their parents, they ran into an unexpected group in the library. Harry pushed open the door to look inside and froze. Ginny quickly felt his shock and, unable to see around him, pulled her mind into the bond and peered out through Harry's eyes to see Ron and Hermione lounging on the reading couch chatting to another girl with short dark hair worn around her shoulders. Ginny quickly shoved Harry in the back, pushing him into the room, and following him in.
"Hi guys," she said, trying to ease the tension Harry's presence had brought to the room.
The dark-haired girl stood up slowly, looking at Harry carefully.
"Hi there, big brother," she said slowly, the caution clear in her tone.
"Rose?" Harry said, eyes taking in every detail he could.
There was a pause as the siblings stared at each other.
"Umm, hello! I'm Hermione Granger. Are you really from a parallel dimension?" Hermione said, unable to hold the question in.
Harry just blinked at her, suddenly aware of Ron and Hermione in the room.
"Hermione! Ron! You're both here!" he said suddenly, as his face lit up.
"What am I, a piece of furniture?" Rose muttered sarcastically.
Ginny smiled sadly at the girl as Ron and Hermione looked surprised at Harry's reaction.
"Harry is from another dimension, it's true. But you didn't exist in that one, Rose. Ron and Hermione were our best friends. It has been a while since we last saw them," she said.
"What are you talking about, Ginny? You saw me two days ago!" said Ron.
"Harry and I both have memories from both worlds. And in that one, it has been a while," Ginny replied.
There was an awkward silence as Harry continued to study his friends and his sister. He noticed this Ron and Hermione had obviously not been in the front lines the way his had been; neither of them had any of the scars to show. He also took the time to examine how his sister had changed from his memories of her at only 10 years old. She must be about 17 by now, Harry realised. Not a full week ago, he had no family and no friends left. Now, he had parents, a sister, and all his friends were alive. The only downside was that none of them, save for Ginny, knew him now.
"So, what was the transfer process like, umm, Harry?" Hermione asked. "It must have taken a lot of power to set up that kind of interdimensional travel."
Harry smiled softly, "I see you're just the same in this world, Hermione. Well, before the war hit our world."
Hermione looked nonplussed to be told she was no different despite being in a new world.
"Umm, I don't know much to tell you anyway. It was dark, and felt a lot like an uncomfortable apparition. Then I passed out. But, anyway, how've you all been?" Harry continued awkwardly. "Last memories I have of you lot is from over seven years ago now."
Ron, Hermione and Rose glanced at each other, shifting uncomfortably.
"Well, nothing was really the same after, umm…after our second year," Hermione said, apparently choosing to be the speaker for the others. "Ron and I mostly stuck together, and became friends with Rose and Ginny. We weren't really affected by the war at Hogwarts, seeing as Dumbledore keeps the school safe. Now we're out, Ron and I both want to join the Order, but they mostly have us doing research."
"Like research into cross-dimensional travel?" Ginny asked.
"How did you –" Hermione broke off, and blushed. "Oh, I guess you would know about that. It was a very secret project Dumbledore asked me to help research. Though we were actually aiming for Neville as the Boy-Who-Lived."
Ginny frowned, "I, for one, am very glad we got Harry instead."
"He isn't our Harry though, is he?" Rose said flatly. "My brother is still…he's not…"
She broke off, looking away and swiping slightly at her eyes before looking back in apparent anger.
"Who do you think you are, coming here, and looking just like him?" she demanded. "My brother is dead; do you have to rub it in?"
Harry flinched back slightly at the venom in his sister's voice.
"Rosie, it is me," he said quietly. "Just, me with another life of memories. I do remember you from this world still."
Rose just shook her head, looking away and saying nothing. Glancing back at Ginny, Harry straightened up, promised to see everyone later, and pulled Ginny back out of the room.
I'll have a talk with her later, Ginny promised. She and I used to talk about a lot of things together, so she should listen to me.
I hope she still listens to you. She might not like me being in your head for that conversation.
I'll just not tell her until afterwards then.
Harry smiled down at Ginny and gave her a hug. Why don't we go find mum?
"So, let me get this straight," Lily said. "You seem to share an overpowered magical core, you can use one another's senses, talk telepathically, and you want us to let you share a bed at night?"
"We share our minds, might be a better way of putting it, rather than just speaking telepathically. I can hear what Ginny thinks, if I try, and sometimes it is hard to tell which one of us comes up with a thought or idea."
"And sharing a bed?" Arthur asked, not to be dissuaded.
Knew this would cause trouble again.
"Daddy, in our last world, we found it very difficult to get any sleep away from one another. Something about the bond thriving on closeness, Dumbledore decided," Ginny said. "His best theory was that the bond expends more energy the further apart we are, so we both feel most comfortable when in contact."
"So, you're not actually required to share a room, it is just a matter of what you're both used to?" Arthur said, frowning.
Ginny huffed impatiently, "Technically, yes, we can sleep apart. But it is harder to get a good sleep, and we'll both be tired and grumpy afterwards."
"I'm not sure that your mother will accept that, Ginny. For that matter, I'm not sure I accept it either. You're eighteen, yes, but sharing a bed with a boy, even one you're soul bonded to, just isn't a habit you should get into," Arthur said, not dropping the frown.
"Actually, I wished to talk to you about that, Mr Weasley," Harry interjected before Ginny could respond.
Arthur raised his eyebrows as he looked at Harry standing there, slightly nervous.
"Sir, I may be bonded to your daughter, and I may have only just been reunited with her, but I've known her for years. In this world, she was one of my closest friends from a young age and in my world, she was the not just my soulmate, but also my partner in winning the war. I know you don't think we've been together for more than a few days, but for us, it has been too long. I love her and I'd…I'd like to request your daughter's hand in marriage," Harry fell silent, and tried his best to not show his discomfort or fear. The feelings of love and support coming through the bond form Ginny helped him to relax, if only a little.
Arthur sighed as he took in the young man standing next to his only daughter.
"I must admit, I had always expected to have some kind of warning before having this conversation," he said carefully. "But, from what you've explained about the soul bond and given that you both know each other from another world too, perhaps it makes sense."
He paused, his eyes distant.
"I doubt Molly will like it much, but if I know my daughter, she'll encourage you to elope before ever leaving you alone, so you have my blessing. I don't want to miss my Ginny's wedding," Arthur said.
Ginny pulled away from Harry to give her father a warm hug.
"Thank you, dad," she whispered in his ear.
"Will you be happy, Ginny?" he whispered back. "Am I doing the right thing?"
"Yes, dad. I wouldn't be happy any other way," Ginny said, smiling.
As she turned back towards Harry, she suddenly remembered something they had forgotten. As soon as she did, Harry picked up on the thought and his eyes went wide suddenly.
"Oh! I haven't got a ring yet!" Harry exclaimed. "I'll need to get you one, if we're going to do this all properly!"
Harry quickly turned to Lily, where she still had tears running down her face after watching her son proclaim his love for Ginny.
"Is there any way I can get to Diagon Alley, mum? Mum?" Harry moved over to Lily, as she wiped the tears away and smiled at him. "Are you okay?"
"I fine, dear. It isn't every day my son returns from the dead and asks to marry his soulmate," Lily said thickly. She took him into a hug and whispered, "I'm so proud of you, Harry."
She let go, and stepped back, letting Ginny wrap her arms back around Harry.
"I suggest, if you want a ring, you might want to talk to James. It might be good for the two of you to do something together. And he always did want to go ring shopping with his son," Lily told Harry.
"How about you go talk to your dad, and I'll go find my mum?" Ginny said. "I hope she can be happy for me, and not too angry."
"I'll help you talk to her, Ginny," said Arthur.
"Thanks, dad," Ginny said, relaxing a bit.
"Are you sure dad will want to help me?" Harry asked Lily. "He doesn't seem that keen on me apparently replacing the memory of his son."
"Harry, you are our son. Yes, you may have been born in another world to alternative version of ourselves, but we should be happy to all be here together in this world. James will come around eventually. And when he does, he'll be even more upset if you didn't offer him the chance now," Lily said gently.
Harry just grimaced, before squeezing Ginny's hand tightly and making his way out of the room towards the study, to find James.
A/N: I'm sorry this chapter took so much longer to come out than the previous ones. It gave me a lot of trouble to figure out where I wanted it to go without being boring and I had to rewrite sections of it a few times. I now have a pretty good plan for the next few chapters though, so I know where the story is heading again. I've also figured out some character arcs for some of the characters.
I had a lot of trouble with the tone of this chapter. The first half of the story ended up a bit darker than I had anticipated and the first version of this chapter was much too light and cheerful. I hope this strikes a bit of a balance here, and the lighter elements (mostly interactions between Harry and Ginny) don't clash too greatly with the overall story.