Disclaimer I do not own Harry Potter and everything recognisable belongs to J K Rowling.
Thanks for all the wonderful reviews!
A note on the revisions for Darkness Within: It is not anything major. It's really for the new readers. It's just a slightly different beginning. It doesn't affect the overall story in any way.
This chapter is dedicated to WETBOY who asked for Harry & Ginny in every review! This my friend is for you. I hope you like it! Enjoy everyone!!
Chapter Thirty Eight
Lily looked up as the door opened to reveal a tired looking Harry. He walked in, Damien trailing him. Both boys had spent the last four hours training outside. Damien looked like every move he made was causing him pain. He quickly reached for the closest chair and sat down gingerly on it. Harry sat down next to him and although he looked more tired than usual, he didn't look as bad as Damien.
Lily smiled at the sight. It was nice to see both boys behaving properly again with each other. Ever since they had made up, they had become inseparable. Lily had even heard the boys talking in Harry's room, late at night. She had to drag Damien from Harry's room just so that both boys could sleep.
Lily quietly observed her eldest son. He had a look of fatigue that had nothing to do with his training. He was still suffering from nightmares. She knew that as James had to still cast the sleeping spell on him in order for him to sleep. But Harry had insisted that James only cast the spell once, as opposed to twice in the night.
Lily put down her quill and watched as Harry and Damien talked amongst themselves. Harry was telling Damien off for being apparently 'lazy' and 'easily worn-out' and was obviously trying to encourage him to join him outside again. When Damien finally won the argument and refused to move from his seat, Harry left since he was not finished with his work out yet.
Lily turned her attention back to James as he was holding up two brochures.
"Lily, which one?"
"Huh? Oh, right. I like this one." Lily said taking the brochure in his left hand. "It's got a really big hall and it says here that they can arrange the party to be held outside as well. It looks perfect. Look at the beautiful scenery!" Lily gushed, staring at the brochure.
"Lily honey, its Harry's 18th, not his wedding." James said with a smirk.
Lily threw him a sly look and smiled.
"Oh, Merlin! You have the venue picked out for his wedding, don't you?" James asked with a horrified look.
"Of course not, I have a few pre selected venues. I figure Harry should choose where he wants to get married." Lily answered with a smile.
"Lily Potter!" James playfully scolded.
"Oh, relax. It's not like I'm booking anything just now. I'm just planning ahead. Something women are very good at and since I am the only woman in the house, it's my responsibility to make sure everything is well planned." Lily said.
James looked quite disturbed by Lily's future plans.
"Let's just stick with plans that involve what's happening this weekend, no further!" James said wearily.
Lily huffed at him but started going over the guest list with James, while Damien sat and listened to them plan Harry's 18th which was happening on Saturday.
The fireplace behind him turned green to reveal Sirius.
"Hey Prongs, Lils! Hey pup!" Sirius greeted, ruffling Damien's hair as he walked in. Remus was not far behind him and greeted everyone as well.
"Where's Harry?" Sirius asked, scanning the kitchen for his eldest godson.
"He's still training outside." Damien offered.
Sirius nodded his head and reached into his robes to pull out the rolled copy of today's Daily Prophet. James still liked reading the paper was too stubborn to reinstate his subscription.
Damien picked up the paper and started reading as his dad was busy talking to his best friends.
"We have everything set. Well, nearly everything. We still can't decide on whether it should be an outside party or inside. The hall is big enough but I was thinking…" James started before Sirius jumped in.
"Outside, it should definitely be an outside party. We could do that Quidditch theme we were planning!" he said excitedly.
"Lily's not letting me do it this year." James said with a fake pout.
"Aw, Lils, come on! It'll be fun. All of us on brooms, flying around, throwing cake at each other! It will be awesome, come on!" Sirius said.
"How old are you?" Lily asked with a sigh.
James and Remus joined in the good natured argument. They didn't see Damien until he was standing next to them, the newspaper clutched in his hand.
"Before you start making huge party plans, I suggest you take a look at this." Damien said, throwing the Daily Prophet before them.
All four looked at the headline.
'Extravagant celebrations expected to mark the first year Anniversary of the fall of Lord Voldemort!'
Lily looked away from the newspaper and pushed it away. She knew this was going to happen. It was expected. The whole wizarding world was going to celebrate the fall of Voldemort.
Sirius looked at Damien. He had already read the paper before bringing it. It wasn't really unexpected news. It was only natural that celebrations were going to be held to mark the day Voldemort's region of terror ended.
The problem was how this was going to affect Harry.
"Somehow, I don't think Harry will appreciate a huge party on Saturday." Damien told them.
They all knew that as long as Harry lived he would never celebrate his birthday because that was the day Voldemort had died. His death was going to be forever linked to Harry's birthday.
Lily closed her eyes as the awful memory of last year flashed before her eyes. She had come very close to losing both her sons that day. She rubbed at her forehead, warding of the headache.
"I don't want him to think about what happened last year. That is why I thought a party would distract him and he could enjoy the day." Lily said tiredly. No one had forgotten the link between Harry's birthday and Voldemort's death.
"Mum, how can Harry not think about it? He spends every night reliving it. Even if Harry didn't want to think about it, he will with the whole word out partying and celebrating his death." Damien said bitterly.
He knew how much this was going to affect his brother but sadly there wasn't anything anyone could do.
"We can't just ignore his birthday. We have to do something." James said.
"Do what you think is best but I can guarantee, Harry won't be in any sort of partying mood. If you still want to go ahead with this, then fine but don't complain when Harry walks out." Damien finished.
With that said he walked outside to go and join Harry in his training grounds, not wanting to stay inside any longer.
xxx
"Are you ready?"
"Yes"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes!"
"Okay, when you're ready." James said as he pulled out the memory of watching Ginny's attack.
Harry watched with a frantically beating heart as the silver thread of memory dangled from the end of James' wand. James carefully dropped the memory into Lily's Pensive. Harry watched as the silver substance swam in the bowl, not quite liquid and not quite gas.
"Whenever you're ready." James prompted him.
Harry looked sharply at him before returning his gaze to the pensive. Taking a deep breath, Harry dipped his head into the bowl before falling into it. He landed on his back and for a moment he just lay there, catching his breath as it was knocked out of him. Harry got to his feet and looked around him. He was standing on the astronomy rooftop.
Harry felt his heart jump at the sight of Ginny. Her eyes were red rimmed and her face was slightly red, indicating that she had been crying. Harry watched as she looked over at the door. Harry followed her gaze and saw the silhouette of the 'Dark Prince'.
Harry watched numbly as the figure approached Ginny. It was a bizarre sight, to see someone who looked just like you. Harry was momentarily stunned at how well the wizard had morphed himself to imitate Harry. His height, body shape, hair, eyes, everything was identical.
He watched as the masked man threw a spell at Ginny which was absorbed by Ginny's full body shield. Harry couldn't help but feel proud at the sight of Ginny conjuring the full body shield.
Harry watched with difficulty as the man attacked Ginny. He couldn't stand seeing what Ginny had went through at the hands of the impostor. His heart was thumping madly and painfully in his chest.
As Harry watched the painful memory, the image before him flickered suddenly and became fuzzy and out of focus. Harry couldn't understand what was happening. There wasn't anything he could do to clear the memory so he remained where he was and tried to take in as much information as he could.
A few moments later the memory cleared up and Harry could see Ginny being dragged towards the masked man by a cord wrapped around her foot. The sight made Harry's blood boil.
Ginny was crying out in pain and was trying to get free but none to avail. The masked figure reached down and pulled Ginny to her feet by grabbing a fistful of her hair. Harry had to look away.
He looked back up when he heard Ginny cry out, 'Why are you doing this?'
The masked figure pulled Ginny close so their faces were only inches apart.
"Because it would destroy him!"
Harry felt his stomach lurch as he heard the hissed words. He didn't wait for the memory to finish. He looked up at the darkened sky and soon felt himself being violently pulled from the memory. Harry landed on his feet, in his dad's office. James was waiting for him.
"How did it go? Did you get anything?" James asked as he gently pushed Harry to sit down on the chair. He wasn't looking very good.
"I don't know. He definitely sounded familiar. I'm sure I know him but I can't figure out who he is or where I now him from." Harry said, rubbing at his head in frustration.
"Dumbledore thinks that he may have been using a spell to disguise his voice, to mask any accent or anything distinguishable about his voice." James informed him.
Harry nodded his head. He thought that too. But there was something about the way he spoke that was very familiar. Whatever spell he was using to mask his voice, it didn't mask the rage and, strange as it was, hurt in his voice. That was what had unsettled Harry.
"There was something wrong with the memory." Harry said, remembering how it had become distorted.
"Wrong? What was wrong?" James asked.
"It became distorted. It cleared up again but for a while it was difficult to make anything out." Harry answered.
James thought about it for a few minutes.
"Maybe it was like that because it's not a direct memory. What you saw was my memory of watching Ginny's memory. Maybe that's what caused the distortion." James offered.
"Maybe" Harry agreed.
"Well, it was worth a shot." James said dejectedly as sat down.
"When are Sirius and Remus coming with the files?" Harry asked.
"In a few days. They said that it was proving more difficult than they thought to slip out the files. The security at the Ministry has been tightened." James said.
"Why is that?" Harry asked.
"It seems that Fudge has learned how unpopular he is. After your arrest, there have been numerous protests held to show how much the public disagrees with him. As a result only authorised people are allowed inside the building. He's afraid that someone might do something to endanger his life. He has every Auror searched both entering and leaving the building. Personally, I don't think he'll be in office for much longer." James answered.
Harry couldn't care less at the moment. The last thing he needed on his mind was Fudge.
"If you speak to Sirius or Remus, tell them I need those files on Metamorphmagus' as soon as possible." Harry said getting up from his seat.
"I will do." James answered but he didn't think Harry heard him as he was already out the door.
xxx
On Saturday morning Harry walked into his kitchen to find Sirius and Remus already at the table along with a fresh faced James. Damien and his mum weren't in sight.
"You're here." Harry said to Sirius and Remus, caught off in surprise.
"Hey, there you are! Happy…" Sirius started.
"Did you get them?" Harry asked, rushing towards him, ignoring everyone else in the room.
Sirius looked confusedly at him.
"Your gifts? They're right here. You're a little impatient aren't you?" he said with a chuckle.
It was Harry's turn to look confusedly at him.
"I'm talking about the files. The files of Metamorphmagus' that you were supposed to bring from the Ministry. Did you get them?" Harry asked.
"Oh, that." Sirius said looking a little disappointed that Harry wasn't talking about his gifts. "We got them. It wasn't easy but we managed to sneak a few at a time. We still have lots to get but it's going to have to wait."
Harry looked impatiently at him.
"Where are they?" Harry asked annoyed.
"I didn't bring them with me. I figured you wouldn't want them today." Sirius said.
"What? Why? What's wrong with giving them to me today?" Harry asked, anger creeping into his voice.
Sirius looked at James and Remus before looking back at Harry.
"Because it's your birthday today." Sirius answered back.
"So?" Harry asked with a frown. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"I think what Sirius is trying to say is that he didn't think you would be in the mood to study today." Remus answered, saving Sirius.
"I really need those files. The sooner I can start researching them the better." Harry said, now in a much calmer tone.
"But today is…"
"Perhaps you should go and get them." James said quietly.
Sirius looked at James with a bewildered expression but at the meaningful look James sent him, he sighed and turned towards the fireplace to go and fetch them.
"It's okay, Padfoot." Remus said, putting down his mug of tea.
He reached into his robes pocket and pulled out a shrunken stack of paperwork that had a band holding them together. He removed the band and put the files on the table and ran his wand over them. The pocket sized files enlarged to their normal size.
"Here you go, Harry." Remus said with a smile as he handed Harry the fifteen bulky files.
Harry took them and at once left the kitchen, heading back to his room to start researching them.
As soon as Harry left, Sirius turned to Remus.
"You brought them with you?!" he exclaimed.
"I knew Harry would want them so I brought them along." Remus replied with a smirk.
"You couldn't have told him that before he started grilling me?" Sirius asked with an embarrassed expression.
"I could have, but where's the fun in that?" the werewolf answered.
"Great, now Harry's going to be stuck in his room until he reads all those files. Some party we'll have without the birthday boy." Sirius said gloomily.
James didn't say anything but felt his heart twist. Harry hadn't even given anyone the chance to wish him a happy birthday.
xxx
Sirius was right. Harry didn't come out of his room. He was engrossed in reading the fifteen bulky files that were detailing the lives of fifteen Metamorphmagus' with the initials C.B.
Damien had come in and offered to help but Harry turned him down. The thing was that Harry knew only he could recognise the 'Dark Prince' impersonator. From what he had seen and heard so far, he was more than certain that he had met this person at some point in his life. Something about him seemed too familiar and it was eating away at him. He felt at times that the answer was right there, in front of him but it slipped away before he could focus on it. It felt like the answer was like trying to hold water in your hands, it slipped away from him no matter how hard he tried to hold onto it.
Harry was still busy reading through the files when his mum came inside.
"How is it going?" she asked.
"Fine" Harry answered without looking up from his file on a Christopher Brighton.
"How much longer do you think you'll be?" Lily asked.
"Why?" Harry asked, finally looking up from his file to look at his mum.
"I thought it would be nice to spend some time with you especially since today is your birthday." Lily answered.
Harry looked tiredly at her. He was sick of this happening all day. Near enough everyone had come in at some point to wish him a happy birthday, to which Harry gave no answer. They had then tried to get him to leave all the researching and go downstairs with them.
"Mum, I already told you, and dad and Damien and Sirius, that this is more important. I need to see if I can recognise any of these people. This is only a fraction of the possibilities. I need to get through these to see if I can recognise any of them. If not, then Sirius and Remus are going to have to keep on looking up more records."
Lily looked grimly at the bulky files.
"At least let us help." She tried but Harry shook his head.
"You don't know what to look for." He answered, focusing back on the file in front of him.
Lily suddenly pulled the file out from under his fingers.
"I know this is important. I understand the severity of this matter, I really do." Lily said holding up the file. "But you have to understand that today is an important day too. I didn't spend forty eight hours in labour with you just to have you ignore me and sit by yourself when you should be with family."
"Mum…" Harry started.
"Look, I'm not asking for much here, Harry. All I'm asking is for you to spend a few hours with us. You can go back to your studying tomorrow. Don't spend your 18th birthday sitting alone." Lily interrupted.
"I've spent the last 17 birthdays doing the same." Harry commented.
Lily went quiet. She looked at Harry with a heart breaking expression.
"You celebrated your first birthday." She corrected weakly.
Harry smiled a little.
"Yeah, I guess I did." He whispered.
Lily sat down so she was on the same eye level as Harry.
"I know how desperate you are to catch this guy. I feel the same, as does your dad. But just for today I want you to forget about all this horrible stuff. I want you to enjoy your birthday. If you can come downstairs and celebrate your birthday, even if it's only for a few hours, it would mean a lot to me." Lily said a note of pleading in his voice.
Harry suddenly remembered Narcissa's words. 'You treat your true parents like they wronged you in some way…Focus on your true family, the ones that never used you.'
Harry swallowed the argument he was about to put up. Instead he nodded his head and forced a smile on his face.
"Okay, mum. I'll be downstairs in a few minutes." He managed.
The expression on Lily's face made Harry smile. He recognised that his mum wasn't asking for much. He knew that although he couldn't care less about his birthday, it meant a lot to his parents.
He got up and dragged himself away from his researching. As he neared the stairs he told himself that taking a break would probably do him some good anyway. He opened the door to the living room and walked in to find only Lily inside.
"Are you not going to get changed?" she asked.
Harry looked at his clothes. He was wearing his black hoodie with his blue jeans.
"What's wrong with these?" Harry asked.
Lily wrinkled her nose at him.
"Nothing is wrong but if you could wear something more…fancy." She said.
"Mum, we're not having a party. It's just us with Sirius and Remus." Harry said.
Lily suddenly averted her eyes from him, a guilty expression on her face.
"It is just Sirius and Remus, right?" Harry asked, not liking the look on his mum's face.
"Well, I may have casually invited a few…friends over." Lily said.
Harry blinked at her.
"I'm going back upstairs." Harry said turning around.
Lily grabbed him from the back of his hoodie to stop him.
"Harry, wait! It's not what you think. It really is only a few people." She tried.
"Yeah, like the house warming party we had last year? I know exactly how many a few people are for you." Harry told her.
"No, no, honestly, Harry. I have only asked Frank and Alice over. Tonks will be here soon and other than them, it's just the Weasley family." She said.
Harry's expression changed. He gaped at his mum.
"You asked the Weasley family over? Why?" he asked, mortified at the thought of facing Ginny again.
"Why not? They are good friends of ours." Lily defended.
"Mum, I'm not up to this. I don't want all these people over. I'd rather focus on finding…"
"Harry, please. Just for today, for the rest of tonight, don't think about him. A few hours isn't going to do any harm." Lily said.
Harry looked torn between doing what he wanted and giving in to his mum's pleas. The decision was taken out of his hands when the fireplace turned green and Tonks appeared. She was dressed up and had worn her hair down today in long black curls.
"Wotcher Harry! Happy Birthday!" she said with a cheery smile. "How come you aren't dressed for the occasion?" she asked looking Harry up and down.
Harry only smiled back weakly at her. Sending his mum a glare, Harry turned to the door and headed back upstairs. He had to change his clothes.
xxx
Harry walked back to the living room after ten minutes. He was dressed in his fine black suit, with high collars and immaculate tailoring. It was one of Harry's best suits that Lily had got made.
Harry felt angry with her for tricking him into coming downstairs. He really didn't want a party and he was certain he didn't want to see any of the Weasley family, especially Ginny. This was the first time he was going to see her properly after the attack. He had only recently seen her attack and it made him feel guiltier when facing her.
Harry walked inside to find the room filled with people. They all burst into a chorus of 'Happy Birthday' which irritated Harry to no end. He grit his teeth and managed to stay put as the birthday song came to an end. He caught the sight of Lily looking at him apologetically. He ignored her and walked further inside to meet Frank and Alice.
"Happy Birthday, Harry." Alice said while taking Harry into a hug.
Harry pulled away and looked for Nigel. He couldn't see him anywhere.
"Nigel?" he asked.
"He's not feeling very well. He's home with Neville." Alice explained.
"Oh" Harry answered disappointedly. He would have liked to see Nigel again.
Harry had just met with Mr and Mrs Weasley when he came face to face with Ginny. For the first few moments, Harry found he couldn't look away from her. She had her long red hair tied back in a pony tail and was wearing a pale blue dress. She looked beautiful. Harry forced himself to look away.
"Happy Birthday, Harry." She said, while looking Harry in the eyes.
"Thanks." Harry managed stiffly.
Ginny looked away after a few awkward moments. Harry was almost glad when Ron came over to wish him happy birthday. All in all it was the most awkward minutes of Harry's life. He threw his mum another glare for getting him in this mess.
The party went on with everyone generally having a good time. Even Harry relaxed after speaking to Frank and Remus.
"I can't believe he's not here yet." Lily said to James, her eyes glued to the fireplace.
"Who?" Sirius asked, jumping into the conversation.
"Draco. I sent him the invite. I was sure he was going to come." Lily said, upset that Harry's best friends wasn't here.
"He'll be here. Don't worry. Malfoys like to make an entrance." Sirius commented with a laugh.
Harry found Tonks next to the kitchen door, just about to fetch more drinks. He pulled her aside to talk to her.
"Hey, enjoying your party so far?" Tonks asked.
"Yeah, listen I wanted to talk to you. Is everything alright between you and Remus now?" even though Harry had seen them together, he wanted to make sure.
Tonks smiled a wide grin.
"Yeah, he's forgiven me. He realised that what happened wasn't really my fault. He said what he was really mad about was the fact that I kept such a big secret from him. But after a few days he realised that I never did it intentionally or to hurt him. I did it for a reason, it was to help someone." Tonks looked at Harry intently before adding, "You can understand that, can't you Harry?"
Harry understood exactly what she was hinting at.
"Yeah, I do." He said quietly.
Tonks gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder before walking into the kitchen. Harry looked over to see Ginny talking to Damien next to the window. He knew that Tonks was hinting at Ginny.
What had happened between Remus and Tonks wasn't all that different from what happened between Ginny and him. Both Remus and he were angry about being kept in the dark and being lied to. But just like Tonks didn't want to lie to Remus, Ginny hadn't wanted to keep secrets from Harry. It was at that point that Harry realised that the way he had forced Tonks to help him must have been the way Hermione and Ron had forced Ginny and Damien to agree to keep him in the dark about the Sedare potion.
Harry watched as Tonks handed Remus a drink before both shared a kiss. Why didn't he see this before? He had wanted Remus to forgive Tonks for a crime he himself was still holding against Ginny.
Harry suddenly found the party too much to deal with. He quietly made his way over to the balcony and stepped out to get some fresh air. Harry stayed outside in the cool summer night. He watched in the distance as colourful fireworks made all sorts of patterns in the night sky.
The celebrations marking the anniversary of Voldemort's death were well under way. Harry watched as the fireworks lit the night's sky and he vaguely wondered how many people were celebrating today. It seemed rather odd, celebrating someone's death like that, no matter how hated they were.
Harry had forced himself not to think about today and what had happened exactly a year ago. He knew that tonight was going to be torture. He was sure to get no sleep.
The door behind him slid open and someone stepped on the balcony behind him. Harry didn't bother turning around.
"Your mum is looking for you." Harry heard Ginny say. He didn't reply back but stayed where he was.
Ginny turned to leave when Harry spoke.
"Ginny"
Ginny stopped in her tracks and looked back at the dark haired wizard. Harry turned to face her, keeping his eyes carefully averted from her face.
"I wanted to say sorry." Harry continued.
Ginny looked genuinely shocked to hear Harry apologise.
"What?" she asked.
"I never meant for you to get hurt. I never anticipated an attack on you. I'm sorry for what happened." Harry said with difficulty. He still wasn't used to saying sorry.
Ginny didn't say anything for long minutes. She stood where she was and stared hard at him. Finally she spoke.
"You should be sorry." She said in an even voice.
Harry's head snapped up to look at her. He was not expecting that.
"Excuse me?" he asked.
"You should be sorry." Ginny repeated. "After everything you put me through, the least you can do is apologise!"
Harry was completely lost. Why was Ginny being like this with him?
"Well, I said I'm sorry. What else am I supposed to say?" Harry asked rather coldly.
"You can say sorry a thousand times! It doesn't change what happened. I could have died!" Ginny said, her eyes sparkling with rage.
Harry felt guilt surge inside him, squeezing at his heart.
"Ginny, I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say." Harry said with sincerity.
"You can say sorry all you want, I'm never going to forgive you!" Ginny stated before turning on her heel and marching away.
"Ginny! Ginny wait." Harry called. He couldn't have her walk away like that.
Ginny stopped and turned around to face him, the look of anger gone from her face. Instead there was a smile on her lips. Harry was confused with what was going on.
"It hurts doesn't it? When you apologise and the person doesn't accept it. I don't think there is anything quite as hurtful." She stated.
Harry realised what Ginny had done. She wasn't mad at him but just pretended to show him how she had felt when he had refused to accept her apologies.
"Did you just play me?" Harry asked.
Ginny shrugged her shoulders as she stared at him.
"You should know me better than that, Harry. Why would I blame you for something you had no control over? You never asked him to attack me. What happened wasn't your fault." Ginny said. Her eyes met with Harry's before she continued. "But, you didn't have to treat me like you did." She said with hurt in her voice.
"What do you mean? I didn't do anything to you." Harry said in his defence.
"You ignored my apologies and didn't give me a chance to explain what happened. You avoided me when you could have given me one chance to explain." Ginny said, true anger coming out this time.
"There was nothing left to explain. You lied to me, even though you knew how much I hate people lying to me." Harry said with his own anger showing.
"I never meant to hurt you! How can you not understand that?" Ginny asked.
"It doesn't matter anymore! It's over and done with." Harry said, trying not to dig up the hurt he had buried.
"No, Harry. It's not over. If it was over, you would be able to look at me when you speak to me." Ginny said.
Harry looked up at her in surprise. For a few minutes Harry just stared at her. Silence rang between the two; the only sounds were those of the party happening inside. Harry was the first to look away.
"Ginny, I can't do this right now. All I wanted to say was that I was sorry for endangering your life."
"Why are you sorry? What happens to me shouldn't matter to you?" Ginny asked with hurt.
"It does matter to me. Just because we broke up doesn't mean that I'll stop caring what happens to you." Harry said before he could stop himself.
"Really? Well, I seem to remember you saying that I was a stranger to you. Why should you care about a complete stranger." Ginny asked angrily.
"You know that's not true!" Harry retorted.
"So you're accusing me of lying again?" Ginny asked, feeling her temper really get out of hand now.
"No, I'm not accusing you of anything! But you should know that I still care about you. I shouldn't have to tell you that!" Harry yelled.
"Well I don't know what you feel for me anymore, Harry! You broke up with me, remember?!" Ginny shouted.
"Yeah, because I was mad at you, not because I stopped…" Harry caught himself just before the words slipped out.
Ginny was quiet and found she could only stare at Harry. She knew what he was about to say and it made her heart beat painfully fast. She moved closer to him, her eyes fixed unwaveringly to his face.
"Stopped what?" she asked, her voice breathless.
Harry didn't say anything but looked up into her eyes for the first time since they broke up.
"Harry? Stopped what?" Ginny asked as she moved even closer to him to close the small gap between them. She was standing so close to him now that he could smell the sweet flowery scent of her perfume. Her eyes were searching Harry's, almost pleading him to say what he was about to say.
"Stopped loving you." Harry finished, looking straight into her brown eyes.
Ginny was rendered speechless. Wordlessly, she tilted her head up just as Harry lowered his and their lips met. Harry was kissing her with a longing he didn't know he possessed. It felt so good to kiss her again. His hands travelled up from her waist and soon they were cradling her head.
Ginny kissed him back with all her might. She missed Harry so much. Their time apart was torture for her. She had her arms wrapped around him and she knew she would never let go of him again.
Both were oblivious to the presence of the fourteen year old who walked onto the balcony looking for his brother. Damien stopped short at the sight and quickly scrambled back inside. Even though the sight of Harry kissing Ginny was disturbing for him, Damien couldn't help the smile that came at the knowledge that Harry was back with Ginny.
He walked back inside and saw Lily come charging at him.
"Damy, I sent you to get Harry! It's time to cut the cake. Where is he?" she asked.
"Um, Harry is…well, he is…" Damien didn't know how to say what Harry was doing to his mum. "He's with…he's…Ginny is giving Harry his gift." He said, finally coming up with something.
Lily looked at Damien in confusion before understanding hit home.
"Oh! Oh, well. Um, okay then. A few more minutes won't hurt." She said and hurried into the kitchen.
Despite the blush, Lily was smiling as well. She knew how Harry felt towards Ginny and it was good to know that they had finally made up.
Out on the balcony, Harry and Ginny broke their kiss.
"I love you too." Ginny whispered, arms still wrapped around Harry.
"Never lie to me again, Ginny. Please, I can't deal with people lying to me." Harry said it in a way that sounded more like a plea than a request.
"Never again, Harry. I swear. I'll never lie to you again." Ginny promised, hugging him closer.
Harry smiled a genuine smile and hugged Ginny before kissing the top of her head. Ginny moved closer into Harry's chest, allowing the sound of Harry's beating heart to soothe her.
"I'm not sure if this is a good idea." Harry said, still hugging her.
"What is?" Ginny asked.
Harry pulled Ginny away so he could face her.
"Getting back together." He said. "You've already been targeted once because of me."
Ginny smiled and wrapped her arms around Harry.
"I don't have anything to worry about. I know you'll always be there to save me." She said with a small kiss.
"Ginny, I'm serious." Harry said.
"Look, Harry. I'm going to be targeted anyway. We had broken up when I was attacked. And in any case, it doesn't matter to me. I would rather be with you and be in danger than be safe but be without you."
Harry smiled and kissed Ginny again.
"Come on, we better go inside." Ginny said, wrapping her fingers around Harry's.
Harry walked inside with Ginny's hand wrapped in his own, all thoughts of the Dark Prince impostor and Voldemort temporarily gone from his mind. All he could think about was that he was back with Ginny.
xxx
Well, there you go, all you Harry - Ginny fans. I hope you liked it. For those of you that aren't Harry – Ginny fans, Sorry!
Let me know what you think, I have one more sappy chapter, that is very important, before all the action happens. It's getting near to a finish; I don't know how many more chapters though.
Please review. Cheers!!