Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all other characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this version of the Mask belongs to New Line Cinemas; I'm just using them for this story. Oh, and 'You Raise Me Up' was released last year by Westlife, so that's not mine either
Feedback: I'd appreciate it, believe me
Harry Potter and the Mask of Loki
Later that night, as Ginny lay in her room, staring idly up at her room, the last thing she'd been expecting was to wake up to a light tapping on her window.
She'd been hoping to manage a few hours' sleep now that she didn't feel obliged to wait up for Mark, after their little 'talk' last night. After all, the day had been a hectic one, even if she hadn't been allowed to hear about most of what had happened; based on some stuff she'd overheard in the kitchen, Voldemort had apparently launched a mass attacks on the abandoned Hogwarts facility, for reasons that she wasn't entirely clear on, and taken control of it from the aurors who had been sent to try and reclaim it once the alarm reached them.
She still couldn't quite believe that Riddle could be so arrogant as to actually attack Hogwarts. Admittedly it was a highly secure location that had been left mostly undefended since the funeral, and the victory would be a major blow to moral once it got out- so far only members of the Order of the Phoenix knew much about the recent development of things with the Death Eaters- but still…
She groaned as she slumped back onto her bed once more, only to be stirred into consciousness by a light tapping on her window.
What the…? she thought to herself, confused. As she staggered to her feet and hurried over to the window, she vaguely saw what she thought was the corner of a cloak of some kind out of the corner of the window, but it vanished from view before she could pay more attention to it. As she reached the window and opened it, she noticed a small note pinned to the frame outside her door, flapping slightly in the wind. Reaching out, she grabbed the note, tore it from the thin nail that had held it onto the window, and read the brief message that was written on it in block capitals, presumably to disguise the handwriting.
From where I stand, the stars shine only for you…"Huh?" Ginny said to herself, staring in confusion at the note.
What does that mean?
Then she clicked her fingers as an idea came to her.
Maybe the note was referring to something on the roof of the Burrow…
A part of her knew that there was a possibility that this could all be a trap by the Death Eaters, but she doubted it; if they wanted to capture her, it would have been far easier for them to just break into her room rather than get her up to the roof. Besides, she was going to take her wand up just to make sure if things went wrong.
As she closed the door behind her, she cocked her head to one side slightly, puzzled by the faint trace of music that seemed to have started…
On the roof? Ginny mused to herself as she glanced upwards. She was grateful that most of her family were out at the moment; Ron and Hermione had gone on a date down to the village earlier that night, her parents had gone off to a meeting at Order headquarters, and most of her brothers were away on various bits of business for the Order. The only other people in the house at the moment were the twins, who'd come home to keep an eye on Ginny in case anyone tried to mount an attack, and they were down on a lower floor at the moment anyway.
As she began to walk towards the stairs leading to the roof, Ginny slowly began to hear more of the song that was playing at the moment; a slow-paced song that somehow, managed to really appeal to Ginny on some level.
"When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until you come and sit a while with me…"
Ginny smiled wistfully at the lyrics as she began to climb the stairs. In their own way, they sounded almost like they were describing what she wanted Harry to see her as; his reason for continuing to fight Voldemort and the Death Eaters, no matter what had happened between them. She knew she was only guessing what the song as a whole was about, but the content seemed to fit; when the singer was feeling at his worse, someone came and, apparently, made them feel better.
She could almost hope that it really was Harry up there, singing to her- or, at least, playing the music to attract her up to the roof…
But no; this kind of thing was more the sort of thing Mark would do, rather than Harry.
As much as she loved him, she couldn't see him as coming up with something like this on his own, and he was unlikely to have asked someone else for advice given that he was currently on the move searching for the horcruxes.
No, it was almost certainly going to be Mark behind this thing.
Of course, the fact that she and Mark had broken up- if they could ever have been said to be together in the first place; it may have been impressive, but Ginny needed more than a flight around the world and a few dances to consider a guy her boyfriend- made it a bit harder to work out who was behind this whole thing.
"You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up…
To more than I can be…"
Shaking her head slightly sadly as she reached the door to the roof of the Burrow, her mind briefly lost in dreams of what could be if Harry had been more open, or if she'd been more open to Mark, Ginny reached out, swung the door open…
At the sight awaiting her on the other side of the door, Ginny's jaw dropped.
There in front of her, on the roof of her house, was a table and two chairs, the table set for an elegant dinner. Two large, dripping steaks lay on two plates, bottles of butterbeer and firewhiskey stood on the table, a large basket of bread sat in the centre between two tall, elaborate candlesticks, the candles burning merrily in them…
And standing behind the table, what looked like a muggle radio on a small collapsible desk just to the left of him, dressed in blue jeans, a blue shirt, and a dark red coat that came down to his knees, staring at the door she'd just come out of with a hopeful smile on his face, was Harry Potter. As he saw her come through the door, Harry smiled, raised what looked like a microphone to his mouth, and continued to sing along to the song, one hand stretched out as though asking her to take it as he walked up to her.
"You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas; (Reaching her, Harry placed a hand on her shoulder, staring into her eyes as he continued to sing.
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up…
To more than I can be…"
"Harry…" Ginny whispered uncertainly. Harry didn't answer, however; he just walked up to her, a small smile on his face as he put the microphone in his pocket, the radio simply continuing to play the music, and took her in his arms.
"Mark told me what you said to him," he whispered to her, a small smile on his face. "I just had to let you know…"
He pulled back from her ear to look her in the eyes, and smiled softly.
"I love you," he said, his voice just as soft as his smile, even as a look of joy flashed in his eyes, as though he'd never thought he would ever find someone who would actually want to hear him say those words. "I think… on some level… I've always loved you."
Leaning over, he placed a gentle kiss on her lips, silently asking her to just remain quiet and enjoy the moment for a while, even as he began to slowly sway their bodies to the music from the radio behind him. A part of Ginny noted that the words were still being sung despite Harry having stopped singing, but she shrugged it off; he'd probably just had the words on mute earlier to make it more romantic, but now wanted to focus on her instead.
"You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up…
To more than I can be…"
Looking up at Harry, Ginny blushed slightly as she saw the way he was looking at her; a look that somehow made her feel as cold as ice and as warm as any phoenix.
Just the look in his eyes…
It made Ginny want to pin him to the roof and do all kinds of things she'd never have even thought about doing in the past.
Of course, the fact that they were on the roof of her house and her parents might hear the noise and come to see what was going on was a bit of a turn-off, of course, but a girl could dream right?
Ginny still couldn't believe that Harry had come up with this on his own. She knew that it could be done, of course- maybe he'd contacted that house-elf he knew, Dobby if she recalled Hermione's stories about him correctly- to help him arrange the food or something like that- but the idea of a rooftop dinner under the stars by candlelight and music alone was, as far as she was concerned, very romantic…
"You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up…
To more than I can be…"
As the song began to die away, Ginny felt like tugging Harry back to her as he stepped away from her, but the desire faded as he indicated the table behind them.
"Hungry?" he asked, the small grin he'd worn since he spoke still evident on his face.
"In more ways than one," Ginny replied, giving him a brief attempt at a seductive grin, but quickly changing it to a normal one as he stared at her with a slightly confused look; evidently she wasn't quite capable of pulling that off yet.
"So…" she began to say, as she sat down opposite Harry and started to cut into her steak, before her voice trailed off.
"Yes?" Harry asked, looking at her curiously from the opposite side of the table, a piece of steak already half-way to his mouth.
"Nothing," Ginny said, smiling reassuringly as she shook her head and finished cutting herself a piece of steak. "Nothing at all."
She knew it was the coward's way out, of course. She had been intending to ask Harry where he'd been over the last week or so, how Mark had been able to contact him when nobody else could, why he'd decided to come back now of all times…
But then she'd stopped herself.
Call her childish, but, for the moment, at least, she'd rather live with the illusion that Harry had created here than let reality break in and spoil it.
As far as she was concerned, right now, Harry and her were just an ordinary couple, enjoying an ordinary romantic night-time dinner as music played in the background; the fact that it was on the roof of her house was irrelevant in the overall scheme of things.
Maybe the real world would intrude on them later- in fact, given who Harry was, it almost certainly would, to some extent- but, for the moment, she'd just enjoy the present.
As the night went on, thankfully, it was clear that Harry was just as resolved to enjoy the present as Ginny was. He casually but subtly deflected any attempts on Ginny's part to ask where he'd been over the last week or so, but he was so open otherwise that she barely even minded about that. He told her all kinds of things that she'd never have guessed he would want to tell her in the past, ranging from some stories that he'd heard from Lupin and Sirius about assorted Marauder pranks to the more personal stories such as the time he'd escaped his cousin's gang by unintentionally using his magic to jump onto the roof of the school before they could reach him.
Of course, Ginny knew that there were certain details about the last story- as well as its fellow accidental-magic-at-the-Dursleys stories- that Harry still wasn't telling her, but she was prepared to let that go for the moment and try to get the rest out of him later.
It was only towards the end of the meal- Harry had somehow managed to summon two large bowls of ice-cream from under the table, although Ginny suspected that he'd had some help from Dobby or another house-elf- that Harry stopped smiling and looked at her seriously.
"Ginny…" he said, taking a deep breath as he looked at her, the slight trace of regret in his eyes, "I have something to tell you, and I need you to tell the others as soon as possible."
Her eyes widened slightly in fear as Ginny looked up at Harry, uncertain what she wanted his next words to be.
On the one hand, she definitely didn't want him to do something stupid and impulsive like… propose to her to apologise for leaving her or anything like that. As romantic as it might be for him to promise after the time they'd just spent together, it was too soon for that kind of thing, in her opinion; she'd prefer to have spent a bit more time dating him before committing herself to something like that…
But, on the other hand, if he told her that he was about to go off and kill Voldemort (He couldn't be here to tell her that Voldemort was dead; he'd have just staid so straight away if that was the case), she knew very well that, no matter what she'd like to pretend, Harry stood a very good chance of dying in that fight…
Then, after a moment's pause as though to gather his thoughts, Harry finally spoke, his voice cutting through her train of thought.
"I've destroyed three of the four remaining horcruxes, Ginny," he said, as he turned to look at her, a solemn expression on his face as he faced the girl he loved.
Ginny's jaw dropped.
That hadn't exactly been something she'd expected to hear this soon after he'd left…
"You destroyed them on your own?" she said, staring incredulously at Harry. "This fast? How did you do that?"
Harry shrugged nonchalantly.
"Well… let's just say that I had a bit of help from the right people," he said casually, in a tone of voice that suggested there was more to it than that but he wasn't prepared to tell her what it was yet.
Then he sighed and looked at her once again. "And… as long as we're on that topic, I'm going after the last remaining horcrux- and Voldemort himself, of course- tonight."
"WHAT?" Ginny yelled, staring incredulously at her… boyfriend, she supposed would be the correct term once again… after that statement. "You can't be serious!"
"Ginny…" Harry sighed, as he looked back at her. "There's not going to be a better chance than this. His takeover of Hogwarts may have given him a more secure permanent base, but it also means that I know exactly where he is, I know how to get in there, and I know that his forces are going to be weakened after the effort it would have taken to get into the place."
Taking a brief, deep breath, Harry looked at Ginny once more. "It has to be tonight, Ginny… and… well, I wanted to be sure that someone knew that I was going to attack him tonight, so that I know for certain that, after tomorrow… the world wouldn't have to live in fear any more."
"Harry, no offence intended, but are you INSANE?" Ginny yelled, walking forward so that she was standing directly in front of Harry, glaring critically up at him as she did so. "What makes you think even have a chance of stopping Voldemort on your own? I mean, it's not that you're not a pretty good duellist, but he's got decades more experience than you do, even without the fact that he's a completely demented homicidal maniac with a penchant for mass murder! What makes-"
Before Ginny could continue, Harry had grabbed her face in both hands, pulled her body close to his, and was giving her a deep kiss on the lips.
Despite her anger towards her boyfriend at the moment, Ginny was too stunned to even think about pushing Harry away from her as he kissed her. For a moment, her mind turned blank, nothing else existing for her in that moment by the slight movements of Harry's mouth and tongue as they softly probed her own mouth and lips…
Then he pulled back, looking apologetically at her as he did so.
"I have to, Ginny," he said, regret in his eyes as he looked at her. "Believe me… if there was someone else who could do it, I'd be perfectly willing to leave Voldemort to them… but there isn't. It's just me."
Then he smiled slightly, as though at some secret joke, and looked her in the eyes once again. "And don't worry about Voldemort's skills as a duellist; in my current plan of attack, he won't have time to duel me if all goes well…"
Before Ginny could say anything to that, Harry had reached into his jacket pocket as though to pull something out of his pocket. For a moment, Ginny's mind flashed back to her earlier concerns about Harry's purpose here- what would she say if he actually did pull out a ring…?
Then there was a brief, loud pop, and Harry vanished, his hand still in his pocket.
He'd apparated.
He'd come all this way to tell her that he loved her, given her an incredible date, stayed away from anything relating to Voldemort or his apparent 'destiny' to defeat the most powerful Dark Lord for several centuries…
And then he'd gone and left her?
OK, so he was most likely going off to confront Voldemort and didn't want to put her at risk by asking her to come along…
But for crying out loud! As much as she understood his reasons, hadn't she shown that she could handle herself over the last few years? OK, so she hadn't exactly shone during the battle of the Department of Mysteries, but that had just been an accident caused in no small part by her inexperience in a combat situation. Stick her in that fight now, with her prepared for what she'd have to deal with, and she was sure that she could manage to do some serious damage to her opponents…
It was right then and there that Ginny made up her mind.
Harry wasn't doing this alone.
Closing her eyes, hoping and praying that she was doing this right, Ginny Apparated…