Chapter 3-Saying Goodbye
The next few weeks were spent preparing for the Horcrux hunt.
The trio had split their time between researching, such as possible locations, Voldermorts past, Death Eaters, who they were and where they spent their time, their strengths and their weaknesses, and with the help of Kingsley Shacklebolt, Tonks and Mad Eye Moody, battle training.
They had spent many hours practicing possible battle scenarios. All 3 had been injured quite a bit, thankfully, it had been little more than cuts and bruises, although Harry had been hit with a loss of senses charm which had caused him to lose his sight and hearing for 30 minutes.
All in all, they were completely prepared for the hunt, physically and mentally at least. Emotionally, they were no where near ready.
Harry had continued to hound Ron and Hermione to tell the other how they felt, that is until they had both, though separately, argued with him about his feelings for Ginny.
He had been avoiding her since the wedding. It wasn't fair to her, he knew that, but it was too hard to spend time with her without acknowledging the huge amount of tension in the room.
He had managed to ignore the matter by throwing himself into training, but now, sitting in his room on the night before they left, he found that no matter how much he tried, he couldn't come up with a reason no to go to her.
Ron had sensed his frustrations, and , wanting to spend some time alone with Hermione before they left, he had eventually convinced Harry to speak to Ginny, explaining that Harry would never forgive himself if he left the situation unresolved.
Walking to her bedroom, Harry realized he had never been so nervous in his entire life. He was scared of what would happen, and of what wouldn't happen, but ultimately, he was scared of saying goodbye. It was a high possibility that after tonight, he'd never see Ginny again.
He knocked on the door, and after a few seconds, Hermione opened the door just a crack.
"Harry, erm, hello, is everything alright?" she asked, slightly surprised to see him.
"Erm, yeah, everything's fine. I just came to see Ginny… if that's ok?".
Hermione smiled at him proudly, then nodded her head and told him that they would just be a minute.
Finally, Hermione opened the door again and walked out. Before he went in, she stopped him, placing her hand lightly on his forearm.
"Thank you for doing this Harry. I know how much this means to her" Harry nodded and replied; "Ron's upstairs, alone, just in case you're in a confessional mood".
Hermione laughed sarcastically, then turned a scowl on him, letting him know that she didn't find it amusing in the slightest. She left him and went upstairs to see Ron.
Harry took a long deep breath and exhaled slowly before gently tapping on the door and letting himself in.
"Hey you" he said as he sat down at the end of her bed.
"Hey you back" she replied shyly, "Are you all packed?".
"Yeah, your mum wanted more time for goodbyes in the morning". He hated this. There had never been any awkwardness between them, yet you could cut the tension with a knife.
"I just wanted to explain things Gin. Why I'm doing this" Harry said desperately. There was no point in beating around the bush, that would just make things worse.
"I know why you're doing it, Harry. But it doesn't make it any easier. I still love you and I always will".
Harry flinched at her words. It was the first time she had told him that and it killed him.
"Malfoy and Snape know about us, they'll tell him and they'll still come after me, you can't stop that just by dumping me" she had held back her feelings when Harry had dumped her, of course, she understood why he did it, but it didn't make any sense to her, and she wasn't going to start an argument at Dumbledore's funeral.
"You think I don't know that" Harry stated harshly, "I didn't want any of this to happen. But I have to do this, and it's not fair, none of it is. But if we're together, they'll use you against me. If we're not together, they won't make it their priority"
"So you're just delaying it then?" Ginny retorted sarcastically.
"It gives us the advantage. While they're trying to figure out the best way to get to me, we can go after them. I'm not delaying it, I'm trying to prevent it from happening" he explained passionately.
Ginny found that she didn't have the strength for this anymore. She had hardly slept in the last 6 weeks, and the dark circles under her eyes were proof of that.
"You just do what you have to do Harry, and I'll be here when you get back".
Harry nudged up on the bed so he was closer to her. Pushing her auburn hair behind her ear he said; "I'm not asking you to wait for me Gin, that's not fair on you"
"You didn't ask me, and I know you never would, but I'd wait anyway".
Harry nodded. He knew she would, and if he was being completely honest, he wanted her to. There was no way he could go back to the wizarding world if she wasn't there with him, and he didn't belong in the muggle world.
"Ginny, I lo…." "Don't say it" she cut him off abruptly.
"But if something happened to one of us… and I didn't get a chance to tell you"
Ginny smiled her understanding, but she wouldn't give up on this.
"Then you'll just have to make sure nothing happens to either of us then, won't you" she told him lightly. "You can tell me when you get back. When you've saved the world."
This was it, Harry thought. This was their goodbye for however long. He knew she wouldn't see them off in the morning, and in ways, it was easier that way.
Not wanting to miss the chance of one last kiss with Ginny, he leant forward and lightly brushed her lips with his and she captured his in turn. It was a kiss full of hope and an unspoken promise. Hope that the world would soon be as it should be, and a promise that he would come back to her.
When they broke the kiss, neither said anything. No words needed to be spoken. Instead, they smiled at each other lovingly, then, with a final squeeze of her hand, Harry turned and left her room.
He decided to head out to the garden. He didn't want to impose on Ron and Hermione. They were already giving up so much, he wouldn't dream of taking this away from them as well, just in case they had miraculously decided to admit to everything.
Besides, all he really wanted right now was to be alone.
"Harry's talking to Ginny. Is it ok if I sit with you?" Hermione asked Ron as she poked her head round the door to his bedroom.
Ron was lying on his bed, head propped up on his elbows. He was flicking through one of the comic books Hermione had bought for his birthday that year. He looked up at her and nodded, closing the magazine and throwing to the end of his bed.
"Did he seem nervous?" Ron asked her, referring to their mutual best friend.
"Yes. He's gone to say goodbye, hasn't he?" She answered sadly.
"Yes and No. He felt that he had to explain why he had ended it, but to tell her that he's gonna come back".
Hermione nodded, and after a few moments of silence, said; "She's been thinking about coming with us. She brought up a valid point. What her and Harry feel for each other is what would give Harry the strength to defeat Voldermort."
"He'd never let her come, he'd never put her in that much danger." Ron cut in. Not that he had a problem with that anyway.
"Have you thought about not letting me go?" she asked curiously, a slight amount of accusation in her tone. Ron laughed.
"Like we could stop you. But yeah, the thought had crossed my mind…. Not that you aren't capable" he added quickly when he saw the flash of annoyance cross her face.
"I just… We just… want you to be safe. But then there is no way that we could do this without you"
"We couldn't do it without you either you know" she smiled. He shrugged his shoulders and Hermione knew that he didn't believe her.
"It's true" she urged.
"No it's not. You're the brains, Harry's the magical miracle that is gonna kill You-know-who and save the world. What do I do?" he finished irritably. Hermione sighed and sat down next to him. "You're the one that saves us" she said simply. Ron blushed at her compliment, but soon brushed it off, "Whatever" he grumbled.
"Ronald!" she scolded. "You are. When Harry feels as though he can't go on, you'll be there to remind him of what he's fighting for, and that he can do it because he's Harry Potter. You're his best friend and he couldn't do this without you" she explained, looking deeply into his eyes. "And then there's me" she added softly, blushing a little. Ron looked up at her, his blue eyes piercing into her brown ones. She suddenly forgot what she was talking about.
"What about you?" he asked shyly.
"Well, erm, you know. You've always saved me. First from the troll…"
"You taught me the spell, and Harry was there"
"…Then there was the time I was petrified…"
"Harry killed the Basilisk and saved Ginny. And I had nothing to do with the potion."
"… You've never stopped defending me, even when we weren't talking. And you never let me go when I was cursed in the department of mysteries" She continued as though Ron had never interrupted her.
"Harry was there too Hermione." Ron reminded her. He couldn't understand how she could believe this.
"But Harry's not my hero, you are, remember" She smiled, he smiled back, but then quickly shook his head, shrugging his shoulders, "But why me?"
"Because you're, you know, you're Ron!" How else could she explain it without actually explaining it?
"My point exactly" Ron replied, frustrated.
"Mine too" she shot back desperately. "I'm serious Ron. You need to stop putting yourself down and start believing all the good things we say about you, because they are all true. You're my hero because you saved me from the troll, and faced spiders to get to the truth about the chamber, cursing Malfoy, only for it to backfire on you. How many girls can say that someone threw up slugs for them" she joked.
"But I'm a coward Mione"
"No you're not. You're a Gryffindor and one of the bravest people I have ever met" she tried to convince him.
"Hermione, I was too much of a coward to dump Lavender. I couldn't even pluck up the courage to ask you to dance at the wedding" he growled at that last part, knowing that he had said too much.
"Did you want to ask me to dance?" Hermione asked shyly, trying so hard not to show the beaming smile she felt bubbling inside of her.
Ron nodded hesitantly, not bothering to look at her. "I was gonna ask, then I saw you with Vicky, then Harry, and then by the time you were alone, Moody was already talking to me".
She had to bite down on her lip now to stop the smile coming out. He actually wanted to dance with her. And better than that, he had admitted it. Maybe this meant that he was ready for more. She felt as though all of her insides were swelling up and would burst at any second.
"Do you think we'll get to go to another Ball or Wedding?" Ron asked.
"Certainly. But maybe I should ask you to dance instead!" she replied jokingly.
"How about we just agree that the next time there's going to be dancing involved, we go together?" Ron suggested bravely. It wasn't exactly how he had imagined this conversation, but as long as he got the point out, he thought.
"I'd like that" Hermione replied grinning.
They sat in silence for a while, just enjoying each others company, but both too shy to say anything else.
Finally, Hermione let out a small yawn.
"You should go get some sleep. We've got a long day tomorrow"
"What if Harry's still there?" she asked, not wanting to ruin their goodbye. Ron thought for a moment, looking round the room, a blush creeping onto his cheeks.
"What?" Hermione asked.
"Nothing" he replied as he started to fiddle with the bed covers. "It's just… well you erm… you could stay here, you know, maybe, if you wanted"
"Er, I don't know if that would be a good idea"
"Uh, I wouldn't look or anything. You can put the curtains up around the bed and you can put a charm around it" Hermione sighed, almost giving in. he didn't want to spend her last night at the Burrow sleeping on the couch, and maybe staying would push Ron into doing something. No, can't think like that" she thought, shaking her head and blushing at the thought.
Just then, the door opened and Harry miserably stumbled over to his bed. "Alright mate?" asked Ron.
"Humpfrr" mumbled Harry as he threw himself onto the bed and pulled the curtains round his bed. Hermione and Ron looked at each other, eyebrows raised.
"Right then, I'm off to bed. Night Harry" again, another incoherent mumble was the response.
"Night Ron" she said, smiling sweetly at him.
"Night Hermione. See you in the morning."
Hermione closed the door behind her and descended the stairs that led to Ginny's' room feeling considerably lighter. They were going to the next dance together. It was the closest he had got to telling her. Maybe it wouldn't be too long now.