Chapter Twelve

A/N: I just can't believe this story is done. Thank you all so much to those that read this story from beginning to end. I hope you all like this final chapter.

Disclaimer: Must I say it again? I don't own anything.

Epilogue-3 years after the war ended-

Harry Potter was in a bit of a situation. He was supposed to have found the table clothes weeks ago, the ones for his wedding, but he kept putting it off. Now he was frantically searching through the attic of the Burrow (now used for storage, the ghoul having died the previous summer) looking through boxes to find them. His wedding was tomorrow. Forget Ginny, Mrs. Weasley was going to kill him if he ruined this, because it was her only daughter's wedding. He didn't really see what was so important about these specific table clothes, but it was important to Ginny, so it mattered.

He was looking through some of the older looking boxes to see if they were there when something caught his eye. It was a small red diary. He picked it up curiously, because he knew that all of the Weasley's hated diaries after, well, Voldemort and the whole Chamber of Secrets fiasco. Not that he blamed them. He thought it was strange that there would be one just lying in a box in the attic. He opened it, but to his confusion, it was completely blank, as if it was brand new. He was about to throw it away, when the pages seemed to shimmer with magic. He looked down at the diary again and saw writing. Having an eerie sense of deja-vu from Tom Riddle's diary, he was going to drop it when he saw something that made him freeze. This was written in his fiancé's familiar handwriting.

He sat down on an old wooden chest and flipped to the beginning and started reading. After the first few sentences, his throat closed up and he felt the stinging of tears in his eye. He never knew. Three years, many dates, and long midnight conversations, and she never told him that she had kept a diary while he was away hunting Horcruxes.

He read through the many letters with tears in his eyes. He knew she had missed him, but he never knew just how much. He felt terrible. The very tiny rational part of his brain said that it was over and done with, and she loved him, and that it didn't matter anymore. Harry's more prominent state of mind told that other part to shut the hell up. For a while after reading it he just sat there staring at it, wondering how he never knew all that happened while he was away. He tensed slightly when he heard her voice.

"Hey Harry, have you found the-"her voice cut off abruptly when she saw what he was holding. He watched as her beautiful chocolate brown eyes widened with shock. "What…how did you find that?"

"I found it in a box while I was looking for the table clothes," he said hoarsely, as he had been crying a few minutes ago.

She walked towards him silently and sat beside him. "Are you angry?" she asked after a minute.

"No, just…shocked I suppose. Why did you never tell me Gin?"

She searched his eyes for a minute, making sure he wasn't lying about not being mad, then sighed. "I'm not sure. After the war I just wanted to forget everything that happened, and Fred and George had given that diary to me….." she trailed off, but Harry understood. It was still hard after all this time to have things that reminded them of Fred. He supposed that would never change. Fred was gone, and it hurt, but they had healed as much as they could, together.

H nodded absently. For a few moments they just sat in comforting silence. "I never knew." He said softly.

She laughed quietly. "Yeah, I never meant for you to read that. It was my one connection to you while you were away and I sort of spilled my heart out into it. Not very smart considering my past of telling a diary everything, but I needed the outlet. I forgot it was up here actually."

"I love you. I did when I left, and I wish I had told you. I missed you so much. I even watched your dot on the Marauder's map to reassure myself you were safe. When I went into the forest to meet Tom, you were the last thing on my mind. I loved you, and I still do. Gin, I am so sorry that I had to leave. I know I've said it before, but really, I wish I hadn't put you-"she cut him off with a kiss. She pulled back and looked at him.

"I know," she said gently," I know. That wasn't your fault. It was all Tom's. You were gone, and it was terrible, but everything is okay now. I don't blame you, I never have. So don't feel guilty over something you can't change."

He looked at her. Merlin he loved this woman so much. If it had been him, he would have been furious about not knowing, like he did during the summer before his fifth year. Then again, he always knew Ginny was strong, stronger than him.

She stood up and took the diary from his hand. "Should I throw it away?" she asked him.

"No, I want to keep it," he said without really thinking about it. He didn't know why, but he just wanted to keep it. He never wanted to forget what Ginny had been feeling while he was away. Technically, it was the first time she had ever told him that she loved him.

She nodded and set it aside. Then she turned and grinned at him mischievously. "Come on Mr. Potter, we have table clothes to find. We don't want Mum to pitch a fit at us for misplacing them. She's already gone mad as it is, this would make her kill us. And I would rather not die by my angry mother before I get a chance to say I-Do."

He smiled and took her offered had, standing up. "Yes, dear." Then he kissed her before she could think, and looked her deep in the eye. "You have my heart as well Ms. Weasley, never forget that."

"Never," she promised fiercely with that blazing look in her eye that he loved. They would always give each other all of their love.

End.

A/N: well there you have it folks, the end of the story. Hope that it worked for you all. Thank you so much for reading. Cheers.

-hawkeyeforever