A/N: Argh! I was going to put this chapter on last night but-shock horror-the real world had different ideas and just as I was adding this there was a power cut! Stupid, useless real-world electrical service...can't help thinking they would not of had this problem at hogwarts! Never mind, it was a good excuse to eat ice-cream and re-read Order of the Phoenix by candlelight!

So this chapter turned out really differently to how I meant it. Originally it was just something to make the plot happen but it turned into a chapter about Ginny's side of things, I like it. R&R please. Oh yeah, and again a special thankyou to Tx-Dancegirl-9657 for the ongoing comments on the chapters, great help & v. encouraging, if only everyone was as willing to review as her sigh (that was a rather unsubtle hint by the way!) Anyhoo...

Disclaimer: Um…the same as the past four chapters!

Gatherings, Godfathers and Last Testaments

The Burrow's small kitchen was packed again. Ron, as usual, found himself in charge. A strange side effect of having a job where you are responsible for a lot of people, is that instinctively and out of habit in a situation where chaos could reign you try to take control. To Ron's surprise and bemusement, no-one had tried to stop him, so now he found himself at the head of the table for almost every family meeting.

The mood was far more sombre than usual, however. Ron sighed, the task ahead of him was not going to be easy and it would only darken everyone's spirits further. Hermione, on hearing his sigh, went to sit by him, placing a comforting hand on his arm.

It was strange how their dynamic had changed over the past few years, when Ron had become capable of doing so she had taken the 'backseat' in their relationship and allowed him to try 'driving' by himself for a while. Her personality was still dominating, fiery and challenging, that was why he loved her, but now she was also the rock, as if she had been waiting for the moment all along, now she was here to support him.

"Now that Harry has been declared legally dead, something has to be done about his things, his gold at Gringotts and Twelve Grimmauld Place."

They all looked at him silently. He looked back, taking in their faces. All the Weasleys were there: Arthur, Molly, George, Charlie, Percy, Bill, Fleur-who was now, technically and in spirit, a Weasley- and Ginny, cradling little Teddy Lupin in her lap, who was bouncing obliviously. Neville Longbottom was there; along with Luna Lovegood, they had also seemed to become part of the family along the line.

Some things had to be done with certain people, even if they weren't specifically needed. Some people were so part of something, so wrapped and knitted into the fabric of a life, an event…a person, that despite technical necessity, they had to be there, is was almost impossible for them not to be. Ron cleared his throat.

"Harry did not write a will," Ofcourse he didn't, Ron thought, he was too young, but Merlin knows, he came up against death enough times, he risked his life enough to have one. It's ironic isn't it, he escaped it all those times only to end up wanting it, only to end up…

Ron started again, he was dwelling too much, he needed to get this over and done with. "Harry did not have a will, so law states that all his property should go to his next wizard relative but…all his relatives are dead so, well, I looked it up, and the person with the most legitimate claim, according to wizarding law…is Teddy." They all looked at the little four-year-old in Ginny's lap, he looked back at them with large hazel eyes, which quickly, thanks to his mother's genes, turned blue, along with his hair.

He grinned, unaware of the situation apart from the fact that he seemed very important in it. "What? What do I get?" he asked, still smiling. Ron addressed Teddy but spoke for the benefit of them all:

"Harry was you're godfather Teddy, which means, now that he's…gone," Ron struggled to stop his voice from cracking, "when you become old enough, everything he owned, goes to you."

Teddy eyes grew grey and large, the colour in his hair fading to a dull black, his four-year-old mind registered that people were upset, and he didn't know why, and it made him sad also. His lip began to tremble, and a sudden and uncharacteristic shyness came over him as he realised all twelve sets of eyes were on him, he buried his face in Ginny's neck. She patted his head, a mournful look in her eyes.

"But, Ginny, as his guardian, you would be in charge of it until he comes of age…" Ron continued, she looked at him, a trace of reality coming back to her. "Oh, that's okay; do I need to sign anything?" she responded quietly, well, she responded, that was something at least. Percy smiled encouragingly at her and began rummaging in his bag. "Actually, I have the forms right here…" he pulled out some thick sheets of parchment.

As if by some unspoken agreement the crowd dispersed, leaving Ginny some space as Percy explained to her the official forms. She set Teddy down on the ground, who, now that the concentrated cloud of sorrow had evaporated around the kitchen, perked up considerably and went to chase gnomes in the garden, his hair turning an unusual shade of pink as he did so.

Ginny knew she was distant and had become more so recently, but everywhere she turned Harry was being mentioned, and it forced her to delve deeper into memories of him, whether through will or not. She knew she would never truly let him go, but it had been getting easier, when she had adopted Teddy, it was like she was accepting that all she would have was memories of him now.

Teddy was, in some strange way, her legitimate claim to Harry, they had loved each other, but the War had taken up their lives and after that Harry's depression had left him in too dark place for her to get through. So on paper, all they had ever been to each other were girlfriend and boyfriend for a brief, few weeks, five years ago.

But if Harry was still there, he would have been Teddy's guardian as his godfather, Teddy would have belonged to him, so adopting the small, lively boy she loved so much was her way of keeping hold of Harry. They had been more to each other than it looked on paper, they had been in love, she was sure of it, but every now and then this sureness slipped away, and she wondered if it was ever true.

Teddy was her light, her guidance in the tunnel of overwhelming uncertainty and despair, he would have been Harry's and now he was her's, that was all the proof and assurance she needed. She signed the last form and, after a hug from Percy, went to sit in the garden to watch her light play, letting those memories she had left come to mind…

Four Years Ago

They sat in silence around the kitchen table, most of them sipping cups of tea or coffee. It had been months since they had dragged a struggling and cursing Harry to the Burrow, hoping that getting him away from being alone, from lying in the empty house of Grimmauld Place, where memories of the order and Sirius hung like dark clouds, would help shift his continual despair.

But to no avail, slowly, despite all their best efforts, they saw Harry slip deeper and deeper into oblivion. It was no use; the dark recesses of his mind that he had retreated to now had too firm a hold on him. Just as he had in his own house, he now lay in his room at the Burrow for hours without moving, staring at the wall. He rarely left it anymore.

But here there were people to witness his desolation, spectators to the slow fading away of the person they all loved. With him part of their hearts were being broken, because there was nothing they could do, no matter how hard they tried…

"I can't take this any more!" Ginny stood up, breaking the silence that had enveloped them all, they turned to stare at her, startled, "We sit here, doing nothing, NOTHING, whilst he wastes away up there, not listening to anything we say, acting as if we don't exist!" She turned and stalked up the stairs, pained determination burning in her heart.

She flung the door to his room open, he barely flinched, and she couldn't help herself but to hesitate, fleetingly, to register the small stab of hurt she felt when she saw him in the position he always was, the position she knew he would be, staring at the wall mindlessly.

"Stop this!" she yelled into his face, tears streaming down her own, "Snap out of this-this thing you've become!" He lowered his head, clenching a fist that shook fractionally, this only enraged her more, of all the time she'd spent trying to get a reaction from him, this tiny movement was all he could muster. "Answer me, goddammit!" she sobbed through her tears, and slapped him hard across the face.

Nothing, no reaction, just the dull staring emerald eyes and a quivering fist.

"You stupid, stupid bastard!" it was not just her voice, but her whole body that shook as she pushed her way out of the room, unable to look at the shell of the man she loved. Downstairs, they sat around the table in silence, hearing the grief-ridden sobs of Ginny from her room, and listening for the reaction from Harry they knew would never come.

That was the night he killed himself, of all the weeks spent in his room when he had disappeared it had caused utter panic. The only witness to his death was an old lady who had said she'd seen someone matching his description pacing a bridge in the early hours of morning. Ginny had remembered her words: I can't take this anymore, well according to his suicide note, apparently neither could Harry.

Ginny snapped out of her reverie, she had not meant that memory to swim back into her mind with such clarity, and the pain of it was unbelievable. Hermione found her in the garden, tears dripping into her lap. They sat and held each other, remembering the days when Harry could have been seen chasing the garden gnomes, as Teddy was now, when a cold autumn wind howled above them.

A/N: Thanks to all of you who have already reviewed and any constructive criticism would be welcomed, you know, if there is anything I've gotten wrong, or that doesn't tie in with the books then let me know. :)