A/N: Sorry it's taken me so long, had a few crazy things going on at work. Thank you for all of the reviews. Just a few things to address:

This is obviously not the same Harry, because canon Harry didn't run away. Everything that happened is the same until the very last few chapters where you can see the slight AU thing going on.

Oh, and I'm going to blame Hermione for introducing Ginny to Taylor Swift

Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

Harry sighed and fell back onto the hotel bed. It had been a week since the memorial and he had not returned to the Burrow since. Ron and Hermione would come over and they would hang around for awhile but they all seemed to agree that for now, this was the way it would be. Harry thought back to their last conversation the day before:

"Look Harry, her life was revolving around her future with you. Don't tell me you expected that she could let that all go," Hermione had told him for what seemed the eighteenth time.

"Yeah, mate. I know I'm thick when it comes to feelings and stuff, but I know my sister even more and she hasn't moved on. And bringing Theresa didn't help either…"

For once, Ron had been right and now he was paying the consequences for his actions all those years ago. The door clicked open and he saw his blonde beauty coming towards him, but something was wrong. She had been crying. He was up and had her in his arms in a second.

"What's wrong, love?"

She looked up at him, "I just got a call from my Mom…my Dad passed away last night. I have to go home."

He pulled her close to his body and hugged her tight, "I'm sorry Terri. You're Dad was a good man. Do you want me to go with you?"

She pulled away from him and wiped her eyes clean, "No, definitely not. You need to be here. You need to get your life back on track. And without me, it'll be a little easier. Don't worry though, I'll be back as soon as I can. But you better owl me! And no two sentence crap, you hear?"

He chuckled and nodded his head. "Yeah, I hear you. Now let's get you packed. When do you leave?"

"I have to get to the airport in just under two hours. My Mom will meet me there. She's known for twenty years that her daughter's a witch and she still doesn't understand floo travel," she giggled again and shook her head at her mother's ignorance.

They fell silent and Harry helped her pack her few things she brought. He drove her to the airport and kissed her good-bye, "I'll see you soon. Call me or owl me whenever you need to."

He drove off and wondered what he was going to do all by himself in that big hotel room. He soon got his answer. As he walked into his room he saw an old hyper active owl flying around, "Pig, aren't you getting a little old to still be so crazy?"

The owl only hooted in response and dropped his letter. He recognized Ron's untidy writing:

Harry,

I know that Hermione and I said it would be best to stay away from the Burrow, but we are having dinner with my parents tonight and we'd love for you to come with us. Just send your reply with Pig.

Ron

He quickly wrote a yes and hopped in the shower. As he was drying himself he felt himself wanting that letter to have been different, addressed to him and Ginny instead of just lonesome him. That's what he had wanted all those years ago, but he ruined that. He silently berated himself that was ancient history. Besides, she probably doesn't love him anymore. His mind had a quick answer, "But what about that song?" What about it? Some of the things were applicable, but that doesn't mean that the "in love" thing was true. "Oh yeah?" Yeah, and besides I'm with Terri now… "That doesn't mean you don't love Ginny still. And she still loves you…" "SHE DOESN'T LOVE ME!"

"Who doesn't love you," asked a familiar voice.

Harry jumped a mile in the air and turned around quickly, his towel around his waist falling down.

Ginny blushed profusely, "Oh my," she whispered.

"Ginny! What are you doing here?" he practically yelled as he tried to get his towel to cover himself up.

She turned away from him, "We heard that you were coming for dinner tonight and mum wanted me to come over and ask if you'd like to come a few hours early…"

"Erm….yeah. Just let me get dressed real quick." He closed the door and started to change. Ginny took this time to look around the small hotel room. She noticed a few photos around the bedside table. There was one of Harry and Ron at the Burrow, one of his parents, another of Harry Ron and Hermione by the lake at Hogwarts; you could just see the giant squid in the background, one of Harry with a red-haired man she didn't know in an unknown setting, and the last one nearly made her heart break: it was a muggle photo of Harry and Theresa kissing under the night sky.

She jumped a mile high when Harry spoke next to her, "I tried to keep as many photos as I can. I still have the book that Hagrid made for me all those years ago, but I keep a copy of my favorites in frames. I don't go anywhere without them."

"So…where is Theresa anyways? We were expecting her to come with you."

Harry busied himself by trying to push his hair down, "She went back to America. Her father died and she was needed."

"Oh, erm, I'm sorry to hear that," and she genuinely was. She could only imagine what she would feel like if her father died, "shall we go?"

He nodded and as he turned on the spot, Harry realized how easy that conversation had come and how easily his feelings had come back and then cut through him like a knife. He popped back into existence with a loud crack! And noticed that she was already heading back to the Burrow, "it's now or never," he thought.

"GINNY! Wait," she turned around to look at him, "Will you take a walk with me? Please?"

She nodded, but didn't say anything. They walked around for a long time, never saying anything to each other and each slightly okay with it. It had been more than an hour when Ginny grew tired of the silence, "Harry…why did you ask me to walk with you?"

He sighed and stopped walking. He noticed a shady tree and motioned towards it. They both sat down and felt the warm summer breeze hit them. "I wanted to apologize Ginny. For everything. For leaving…twice. For coming back and expecting things to be normal, for bringing Theresa into it all immediately. But I wanted to explain a little more in depth, if you will allow me. I'll tell you more reasons of why I left and what happened after I did." He looked at her and when she nodded he began again, "I will start from where I went to see Voldemort in the forest. I knew what I had to do, I walked up to him and did not fight. He shot the curse at me and I died, but since I was a horcrux only his soul inside of me died. I met Dumbledore there and we talked for awhile. It came down to whether I wanted to live or die and I decided to live. For many reasons that probably don't make sense seeing as how I ran away anyways. Narcissa Malfoy lied about me being dead so she could get her son and I was carried back to the castle. As you saw, I sprung back up and I killed him. Afterwards, I got under my cloak and I looked around at all the bodies. I saw Colin, Tonks, Remus, Fred, and everyone else. And I felt guilt. And I couldn't face anyone. I couldn't face Dennis, or Andromeda, or Teddy, or your family. And I especially couldn't face you. After everything, I thought you would hate me. For all the reasons you said in atrium. I left you after Dumbledore died and when the wedding got attacked, I left without helping and didn't check you were okay. I watched you on the map though…while you were at Hogwarts. Just to see you, sort of. But I'm getting off track. I couldn't face you after everything I did and all the guilt I felt. So I snuck out to the gates and I apparated, what no one knows though is that I had a plan of where to go. When Snape transferred his memories to me, of my mother, I saw her brother. I found that I had another uncle. That's the man you saw in the photo. He was another wizard in the family, but he didn't go to Hogwarts. He had also gotten a letter from Durmstrang and he went there instead. I tracked down his records and found that he was living in Bulgaria. I went to his house and explained who I was, I stayed with him for a year. Learning about my mum and who she was. I learned about him and about my roots everyday. He even showed me some magic that they don't show us at Hogwarts. It was amazing. He told me that although it wasn't okay that I ran away, it was okay to let go of the guilt and try and get a life now that the cloud that had been over me since I was born was gone. So I followed his advice and went to the first place I could think of, America. I remembered my aunt and uncle saying that they had always wanted to visit New York, so I went there first. I didn't like the crowding though so I imagined greenery and country living like we do in England and I apparated. I found myself on the outskirts of Nashville, Tennessee. After three years, I found myself enjoying my life. I went to a concert one night and a blonde haired woman ran into me and spilled her drink on me. I told her I didn't mind and I bought her another one. I found out her name was Theresa and we finished watching the concert together. Afterwards, we drove out to the country and we talked all night. At first I thought she was a muggle, but then she told me she recognized me from all the newspapers. Her brother lives in England, so she kept a close eye on the war to make sure he was okay. After a year of seeing each other, we moved in together. Before you ask, we are not married and I don't know if we ever will be. I do feel love for her, but I don't know if I could marry her, even after six years. After all of our time together, I felt a stronger and stronger need to return to Britain and get at least part of my old life back. We talked about it and agreed to go together. And well….you know the rest. So please, think about what I've said and I hope one day you can fully believe me." He looked at her and saw that she was trying to not cry. He wasn't sure what part it was but he offered a hug and she hesitantly took it. He couldn't help but admit how nice it felt for her to be there, even if she was crying.

After him explaining all of the ten years in just under an hour, they headed back to the Burrow. The Weasleys came crashing out of the house, "There you two are! We've been worried," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Sorry Mum. Harry was just explaining a few things to me is all. Is dinner ready yet," she looked at Harry and saw that he was talking in hushed voices to Ron and Hermione. Even though the latter two were married, they still acted like they were at Hogwarts. They were always in their own secretive little world.

They ate dinner with everyone having their own conversations, except Ginny. She was quiet for most of the time and mainly just thought about what Harry had told her. Ron and Hermione left early to get to bed because Hermione had an early start in the morning and her parents soon went to bed, leaving her and Harry alone.

"Well, I guess we should get going. I'm sure you have things to do tomorrow," he said awkwardly. She nodded and walked outside with him.

He started to apparate, but she stopped him half turn, "erm, Harry? I—" she stopped and stood up on her toes, she wanted to kiss him but knew it was too soon so she settled to kiss him on the cheek, "good night Harry." She apparated immediately and left him alone in the dark for the second time that week.

Another chapter up! I hope you guys liked it. Please review!