The Boy Who Lived

Chapter 2: Chasing the Past

The next day Harry, Ron, and Hermione arrived at the Burrow to exclamations of delight, hugs, and food. Harry smiled and enjoyed Mrs. Weasley's fussing over the three of them. It was a welcome change to being asked to be in charge of various Wizarding organizations he had never heard of, being Headmaster, and hearing about those who were in favor of making him Minister of Magic at the age of 17!

Many probably thought he was a great and powerful wizard. Most probably had no idea that the spell Harry had cast that did Voldemort in was "expelliarmus!" Pity. It might stop some from harassing him.

"Harry?" He looked up to see Hermione staring at him. She seemed to be gesturing with her eyes to look next to her. He turned his head fractionally and met Ginny's eyes. Startled, he realized that she was expecting something. "Ginny was just asking you how you've been doing for the last two weeks," Hermione said helpfully. Harry looked at her again and then back at Ginny.

"Fine," he said. "Fine. How have you been Ginny?"

"Fine," she bit back, seeming a little upset. He stared at her, confused at what he had done wrong, and tried to look at Hermione for any clues. Hermione only shrugged, this apparently was Harry's battle. As it was Ginny finished her snack and left the table quickly, retreating presumably to her room.

"What's up with Ginny?" Ron asked his mother when Mrs. Weasley reentered the room to hand each of the trio a steaming mug of her special tea.

"Ginny?" Mrs. Weasley's eyebrows raised as she deposited the drinks. "Nothing. Why? Did something happen?"

"She just seemed mopey," Ron shrugged and turned back to his half eaten plate.

"Tonks and Remus' deaths seemed to have hit her hard," Mrs. Weasley said with a sigh. She picked up Harry's plate, which he had pushed away from him unable to eat anymore and busied herself with wiping Ginny's recently vacated spot clean. "She stayed with them for most of Winter Break helping with the baby. She goes there during the days now to help out Andromeda. Poor woman I can't imagine first her husband and now her daughter and son-in-law." She mopped her brow. There was no mention of the Weasley family's own lose. Not now.

"I should go see Ted," Harry said, surprised that he had completely forgotten the little Tyke. "I haven't yet and I'm his godfather. Do you think I should bring him a present?" He looked at Hermione and Ron with this last question.

"Oh I doubt he is in need of anything, though you're a dear to even think of it," Mrs. Weasley said. "Why don't you go with Ginny tomorrow? You can go arrange that with her now I suspect."

Harry felt his body go clammy. After that last encounter with Ginny he wasn't too excited about going to try to talk to her again. Well, he had things to say to her and he might as well say them now. He rose to his feet. "Thank you Mrs. Weasley, I'll go do that now." He didn't miss Ron and Hermione giving each other a knowing look as he slipped upstairs and knocked on Ginny's door.

"Who is it?" Came her soft voice.

"It's Harry," he said, feeling slightly awkward. There was a pause and then she opened the door, but only just enough to let him speak to her properly.

"What do you want?" She asked. She wouldn't even look at him. What had happened? What had he done to make her so angry?

"Your mom said that you go to Andromeda's everyday now and I thought I should go visit my godson," Harry said quickly, hoping his intentions might take some of her anger away. "Look, can I come in a moment? I really want to talk to you about some stuff."

"Some stuff?" Ginny echoed disdainfully, but allowed the door to swing open and permit him. She closed the door behind him, disregarding the fact that her parents might not be altogether pleased that she was alone in her room with a boy. "You can sit you know," she told him, gesturing to her bed. He sat down hard and then had to move a stuffed animal so that it wasn't quite so uncomfortable. She flushed when she saw the motion, but neither made comment. "So?"

"Can I come with you tomorrow?" Harry asked. First things first.

"Why wouldn't you be able to?" She asked stiffly. "I'm leaving at 10 though so you better be up and ready early."

"Also..." Harry trailed off. Should he really invite her? "Would you like to go with me to Diagonally tomorrow morning before that?"

"At what? 8? When everything is just open?" Ginny asked. She still looked extremely guarded. He wasn't used to seeing her like that and didn't know if he liked it, but also did not know how to get her guard down.

"Uh, yeah, I guess," Harry said, confused. Why was it always like this with girls? He never knew quite how to decipher them and it had never been this hard with Ginny. It had been a relief after Cho... "Will you please tell me what's wrong?"

She froze. Obviously, she was not ready for the direct question. "What's wrong?" She scoffed, her voice high and desperate. "I waited for you!" That's what's wrong. "I waited for you to finish your business with you know who! And what do I get? I could have had anyone at Hogwarts, but I waited for you to come back. And for what? You don't even care. You obviously never cared about me!"

Harry felt himself blinking rapidly. "But I do care," he said barely above a whisper. "I didn't know... I would have..."

"No you wouldn't've!" Ginny said, practically shrieking. "The world comes first. Everyone else comes first! You didn't even think of me in the last two weeks sitting there, waiting for you to come and tell me that you wanted me back. You only cared about burying you-know-who! A man everyone hates and no one can fathom why you wanted him buried and not burned!"

"I did think about you," Harry said, insistently. He felt stunned. Was this really what she thought? Did she really think that he didn't care about her at all? Didn't think about her that entire time he was away from her the last year? "I just didn't know that you were waiting for me. I had to sort out some things at Hogwarts, before I could leave. I didn't want to bring any baggage with me this time."

Ginny's eyes softened, but her color was still flushed and there was still an angry line around her mouth. Harry stood up and reached for her. She came to him and let him take her into his arms without a fight. He pressed his fingers to her mouth, trying to smooth that line with them and then pressed a kiss tenderly to her lips. They parted and allowed his tongue to slip into them without protest. They finished that kiss and then Harry led her back to her own bed to sit down. He kept an arm around her and she leaned against him, her face buried in his shirt.

"I've thought of you a lot during the last year," Harry told her. "I wondered where you were, what you were doing... I was so tempted to go see you on several occasions, but I knew that it would be the exact opposite of a good idea. I want to know what you've been up to. I want you to tell me everything. I want to be with you from now on."

"No more chasing down dark wizards?" Ginny murmured into his chest, her voice filled with somewhat of her normal humor. She looked up at him and caught his fond smile as he stared down at her.

Kissing her soundly on the lips, Harry agreed: "No more chasing Dark Wizards. I'm yours for what that's worth."

Yay. Second chapter down... A lot more to go :)... I know where this is going now for the most part unlike last night, so I hope that everyone keeps reading.

Thank you ALL for your reviews, I appreciate them very much. I like to know what everyone's thinking and I'm open for suggestions :). Also, i will try to update this fanfic at least once a day.

Hope you guys enjoyed this second chapter as much as the first...