Chapter 11 - Focus

Standard disclaimer – don't own any of JK Rowling's works, nor am I profiting from them.

Summary: Harry returned to Britain and purchased some Muggle companies to prepare Harry's return. Ginny, Luna, and Ron were all injured severely in the attack in Diagon Alley. Harry and Kenji escaped the Gringotts' wards and resolved to meet at the Cauldron before taking vengeance on the Death Eaters.

A/N: I appreciate all the PMs and reviews, keep them up. They keep my writing honest and make my day. This has a bit of sexual material in it, but it's not even a mini lemon.

He was tall, around six feet, and had a strong, fluid build. His hands were weathered and tanned and in them he carried four small closed steel canisters in one hand, and two exquisite lacquered pieces of wood in the other. He wore Muggle clothes underneath his black cloak and she noticed that his face was angular and tanned with familiar rakish jet black hair.

And green eyes. Beautiful, cold, emerald eyes that showed malice that Hermione had never seen in him.

Her wand clattered to the floor as the icy numbness of disbelief overwhelmed her. "Harry?" The Chosen One. Her best friend, had returned.

Hermione stood rooted to her spot staring at the cause of her emotional angst for the last few months. His eyes tracked the sound of her voice and focused his wrathful glare upon her. She reeled and took a few steps backwards as if he had struck her. His gaze held power and malice that gave her a shivering flashback to Fred's funeral. It was only a few months ago, but she remembered how much she feared for her and Ginny's safety. That day, Harry didn't even seem as furious as he did now.

Her guilt she felt over forgetting about Harry when in Australia intensified to include how they parted after the war was over. She couldn't help but feel responsible for this Harry, the one whose ferocity and anger seemed destined to create the next dark wizard. When he needed her most she had abandoned him despite his loyalty, and now he would never forgive her. Her gaze misted over with tears at the loss of those qualities that made him so heroic.

His vengeful eyes spotted his best friend again and captured her brown eyes within his crystalline green ones, boring through her unshed tears to witness her bare soul. Hermione shuddered to see his absolute judgment of her weighing in his stare; but also felt a wavering in his ruthless assessment towards her; as if seeing her in some small way reclaimed who he was. Warmth flooded back into his face as it wrestled for control against the fury generated by the scene outside. She shrank a bit in anxiety as he closed the distance between them.

As he neared her, his stare shifted over to Ron and his severe injuries and sadness crept in to accompany his warmth and rage. He motioned over to Kreacher and sat down a few feet from Hermione in a lotus position. As his eyes closed and his elf neared, she felt something raw and elemental shift from Harry to Kreacher. She surely felt it, but also heard it; a faint thrum vibrated in her ears and core that responded to the energy. Kreacher renewed his efforts to heal Ron and Hermione exhaled in relief as the bruising continued to heal and dissipate.

As a spent Harry stood gingerly, he took his best friend's face in his hands and she felt forgiveness. And hidden deep within him, felt a real sense of sadness. As if he was wrong about her or that he felt guilty. Guilty, for having put her in such an impossible position of choosing between her and Ron so suddenly afterwards when he so desperately needed to feel something. She nodded gratefully against his hands and he felt Hermione's forgiving smile on his weathered palms.

George was watching Harry in astonishment, not only had Harry recovered faster than anyone could have reasonably expected, but he was emanating power and confidence. The first was only surprising due to the extent of his injuries, those same injuries that had George retching in a bucket. Confidence from Harry was generally reserved for times of crisis or battle; this intimate moment with Hermione was definitely not Harry's strong suit. He always shied away from emotional women; it was almost the running joke amongst the Weasleys and all of Hogwarts; admitting freely he was "pants" when it came to emotional situations. It was one of the reasons why Harry and his sister made such a good pair; she was rarely overly emotional and always upbeat.

George would always join in the gentle teasing of the unofficial Weasley about his terror when it came to the fairer sex's emotions; but rarely would he again. Those savage scars from this childhood explained with utmost certainty why Harry struggled to connect emotionally, cope with any powerful emotions, and why he never drew attention to himself or his accomplishments.

He envied Harry's new found confidence and resilience and wished he could share in that experience because Fred's death was still a crushing weight that depressed him. It was only when he saw the trepidation in Hermione's face that he began to realize how costly Harry's new found strength was. She was afraid of her best friend and the changes that allowed him to cope. The Weasley twin couldn't be completely sure as to what fueled this change, but for the first time he questioned Harry's mandate to him. Vengeance was a tremendous short term motivator, but it burned out quickly and left emotional scars. George glanced at the back door and wondered how long he could work in the Cauldron and forego moving forward.

His concern was mirrored by Kenji. While he noticed that the bushy haired witch was able to reach his kohai for a moment, the raven haired Magi recovered his wrath quickly when he looked at the devastation outside of the store. Kenji felt the pressure begin to mount again as Harry inexorably drew in the Fade. Harry's entrenched sense of nobility and morality worked against him; it was the same concern Kenji had with his compassion. All his righteous anger summoned that raw magic, slowly killing him. As Harry slid by Hermione to mete out agony to the Death Eaters, Kenji had to play his last desperate gambit to reel in his kohai.

Just as Harry marched towards the front door and was to pass Ginny and Teddy slumped on the floor, Kenji called out to his young charge. "Harry … she's hurt."

The last Peverell turned with a confused look on his face, "Who is hurt?"

The sohei gave a pointed look down to the crimson haired witch and with a bit of mild chastising, "Her, your woman is hurt".

If Harry hadn't been so surprised at seeing Ginny and the rest of his friends here while trying to satisfy his anger, he would have noticed the brief spasm of jealousy running across Hermione's face. Kenji was not so oblivious and saw the war of emotions play across her face, and filed that information for later. The wizarding war in Britain might have been over with the death of Voldemort, but his kohai was still fighting his own battle to return from unceremoniously exiled after being a war hero and hopefully he would assume the mantle of the Legion as well.

When fighting on that many fronts, they would need help; all the help they could get. Kenji grimly noted the witch's reaction. Harry would need her help whether voluntary or forced, and love, unrequited or even just familial was powerful leverage.

Hermione felt the gaze of the mysterious Asian stranger as he scrutinized her reaction to Harry's presence. It reminded her of both Dumbledore and Snape with how focused their concentration was, and she hated how naked it made her feel. She wasn't jealous of Ginny and Harry per se; she chose Ron and it was going pretty well.

What bothered and frightened her was that Harry, that one kiss notwithstanding, was a loving, noble man. It meant that everything he had, now that he was free from the burden of at least Voldemort, would be given to the person he loved. That was Ginny, she didn't know whether it could have been her, but she knew that Ginny would receive the very best of Harry. That was what she was jealous of. When they started dating, it was under the most trying circumstances and then they parted to go hunt for Horcruxes. Throughout their time at Hogwarts and on the run, she was Harry's confidante, but now that would be Ginny.

Hermione felt jealous because she and Harry were each other's rocks, their touchstones, and she finally understood the pain that must have been Harry's after the battle when she made her choice. It hurt because it wouldn't be the same between them again.

Harry looked down at Ginny, his Ginny, and his brow knit in concern. He quickly assessed the damage to her and sought out Kreacher. However, his elf was currently tending to Ron and given the sickening yellows and purples that were still emerging on his sides, Harry nodded to the elf to continue seeing to his best mate. Ginny, while injured was not in mortal danger, and she would have hexed him if he let her brother suffer. He noticed that Teddy was there and shared a quick smile with the infant as his hair changed to jet black. But his face fell when he saw Luna, she was pale and while the horrible splinching wound was no longer bleeding heavily, it was still something that required immediate medical attention.

Harry gritted his teeth in frustration. He had to do something, Kreacher couldn't do it all himself and was working on Ron so he couldn't channel Harry's magic. Channeling magic, that's all Kreacher was doing. He looked at Luna, and had a hard choice to make. Too much and it will be like at the clinic, too little and it will do nothing. Shape the Fade … needs to be soothing, healing for both Luna and Ginny. Harry concentrated in the lotus position for mere moments before his eyes snapped open. He could do it, but it would be inefficient due to inexperience with the Fade. That wasted energy would be released around the Wheezes, or Harry realized with a grimace the unrefined magic would have to be reabsorbed. The quicksilver scars on his back tingled with understanding and he winced but would not be deterred.

Luna needed him first, and while it required a tremendous effort to turn from Ginny, he wrenched his gaze from her and focused on the blonde haired witch. He examined her wound again, and while it registered that she had beautiful legs, he quickly sobered when he saw the amount of calf that was gone. Merlin that's the size of my fist. Harry knew he had to focus and push as much of the Fade as possible; he had no idea how much it would require for something like this. Three quick calming breaths and he touched Luna's leg and allowed the Fade to rush out.

Something was terribly wrong, the feedback was excruciating, much worse than the feeling at the clinic and Luna's leg was not healing. Just a bit more. As Harry pushed more, his back sang in agony and finally the scars split down the furrowed seams and quicksilver fluid began to flow. Harry tore his hands from Luna and closed his eyes against the pain threatening to put him under. Gasping, Harry looked down at the blonde Ravenclaw's pained face and reflected on what happened.

He pushed as much as he felt safe to, and it felt as if her body rejected it. Maybe it was too much or … or maybe it was too foreign. Harry's eyes grew wide as he realized what it must have been and he dropped his head in shame. At the resort, he felt like he was being torn in two when infused with the Fade and that's what he just subjected Luna to.

Harry tried again, much more slowly and forced himself to think of her, their friendship, her kindness, and how much he missed seeing her at Hogwarts. The feedback was considerably less and he felt Luna's body slowly accepting it. It was much more of his core essence than the ambient Fade, but Harry would have sacrificed everything for her safety if it was required. As his pain mounted, he stopped to check his progress and also see to Ginny. Luna's eyes fluttered open and startled to see Harry so close to her.

"Harry! I knew it!" Luna's arms flung themselves around the shocked Gryffindor. "I … felt your presence." She blushed a light pink at the admission while looking over at Ginny.

"Luna, I am sorry about your leg, it's only halfway healed." Harry saw her glance down, "That's going to leave a pretty nasty scar unless you can get to St. Mungo's soon."

Luna nodded, "Had no choice, Ginny and Teddy weren't going to make it back here…" She stopped when she saw the anger and concern in his face.

Harry snapped his focus to Ginny and felt his panic start to rise. Weren't going to make it? No, no. Focus, don't make the same mistake. He examined her wounds, fractured ribs, puncture wounds on the back, concussion, but he saw something he couldn't believe as well.

His magic and the Fade. It was the very first he could identify, his magic was in Ginny, not a lot but it was there. He stared at her relaxed face dipping in and out of consciousness with a look of utter confusion. How the fuck did HE end up in there? Did I heal her before? How could … Grimmauld Place. His eyes swept through the joke store and found Kreacher who refused to meet his eyes, neither would Kenji. Harry growled under his breath which startled Luna who was delighting in watching Harry's realization. He looked down at Ginny and gave her a chaste kiss.

He hoped that already having his magic within her would lessen the painful response but he began to prepare his magic regardless. It was much easier than with Luna to filter the Fade through his feelings for her. Her searing kiss when they parted, his love for her when in the Forbidden Forest. If he wasn't so lost in his feelings for her he would have realized there was no pain, no rejection.

When he felt it enough, he withdrew his lips and clinically looked at her back. There was still a lot of bruising, but nothing an overnight stay in St. Mungo's wouldn't fix. Breathing a sigh of relief and exhaustion, he leaned in and looked back at Ginny's peaceful face only to see a beautiful pair of light brown eyes fluttering open and staring back.

"This is real?" She rested her forehead against Harry's and let out a shuddering breath full of pent up emotion. She inhaled his scent, a smell of sandalwood and … ash. Her eyes flicked over to Luna, saw her partially healed leg and contented face. She smiled serenely at Luna, with a knowing glance. She turned her head slightly and saw her brother being tended to by Kreacher.

"They'll be fine Ginny." Harry whispered into her ear. Ginny's relief washed over both of them, but it was then that she realized this was the first time they had met since the funeral. Well consciously. It made her nervous and she hated it, hated that she might have screwed things up already; hated that she was unprepared to meet him, and hated that they were in a makeshift triage with him having to rescue her. Again.

Harry's eyes shrank from hers as he misunderstood her self-annoyance with justifiable anger towards him for his parting words earlier. He glanced at Hermione to find some reassurance and refuge from the impending Weasley rant and began to slowly pull away from Ginny. A fair bit of jealousy surged in her heart and she grabbed his forearms and pulled him back down.

"You are mine, Potter." She growled and kissed him fiercely on the mouth, trying to claim everything as hers. Harry's memory, the thought of him kissing Hermione, kissing him at Grimmauld Place all collided in her mind and she felt only one thing, she wanted him, needed him. Harry's eyes flew open in surprise and instinctively rocked away only to find Ginny's arms on his back pulling him into her again for another hard kiss. He couldn't help the long agonized hiss that slipped through his mouth. She smirked against his mouth but recoiled slightly when her hands felt the reason for that groan, touching the warm liquid seeping through his cloak.

Silvery ichor. She looked at her hands with alarm, and then looked straight into Harry's eyes. He barely nodded and gave quick glances to Luna and Ron and then his gaze rested back into her light brown eyes, piercing her with his intense stare. She felt her breath hitch and tried to calm her breathing from her second exposure to Harry's magic. Gazing at her wizard, her heart filled with joy knowing his healer was telling the truth. His eyes were darkened with love but barely hidden was his frustration as he glanced outside.

His saving people thing. Ginny groaned, of course. She made a snap decision to make it as hard for Harry to leave as possible. She snickered to herself at how surprised Harry would be with her boldness. She couldn't have known that Harry had come to the same conclusion; that this conceivably was the last chance to see each other and share their feelings.

She was still feeling pleased with herself when she felt his soft lips pressing insistently on hers. Shocked, her eyes flew open to see his fiery green eyes bearing down on hers. His naked desire immediately uncoiled the warmth in her core. Ginny's memory of Grimmauld Place flooded into every part of her being, bringing a gasp to her lips. She felt Harry smirk into her kiss.

Oh Merlin, he knows. He knows, and he's doing it on purpose.

Any clarity in thought evaporated as Harry's magic bore down into her core and uncoiled the remainder of his essence. She closed her eyes as the sensations surged into her body. She felt his weathered hands trace heat across her naked back and leisurely touch her toned stomach. Ginny cursed her audience as she knew Harry's kiss would remain chaste but her body knew better. She whimpered quietly into his lips as she felt his magic coil into her breasts, the heat of his breath and mouth was unbearable against her soft flesh. The idea that no one but them knew what his use of the Fade was doing tortured her even more.

As she wondered how far Harry would go, she froze when her mind registered the wet heat of his mouth and tongue down there. She let out a strangled moan and tried to deepen their kiss to draw in more from Harry's magic. When he refused, Ginny trapped his leg within hers and pressed deliciously close into his thigh, sighing her relief caused by the friction. Fine I can play that game too.

Whatever, Ginny had in mind was interrupted when her youngest brother let out a groan as he came to. "What the hell is Ginny doing with … Harry?"

Ginny didn't break contact with Harry's lips but looked beseechingly towards Hermione then Luna. Luna understood first and after she fought down the blush of watching her best friend grinding against Harry, replied dreamily, "Harry's quite skilled in healing though it requires physical contact." She gingerly showed her leg, "It's actually much better than it was, Harry helped you too."

"He didn't…?"

"No silly, Kreacher channeled his magic and just touched your sides." Hermione said with a huff.

"Then why …?" Ron looked puzzled at his best mate kissing his sister.

"Ginny's wounds were pretty severe and Harry needed something to work better." Luna's lie was sealed as truth. "He could have kissed you too I suppose, you could have healed faster."

"Bloody hell Luna. No thanks. But, why … why are Ginny's legs twitching like that? Is she having a seizure?" Ron asked incredulously, not noticing the other girls' faces erupt into flush redness or their rolling eyes.

"Ginny's close, err… close to finishing, her healing." Hermione ground out, still crimson in her face in embarrassment and flushed quite a bit watching Ginny coming undone. She looked to be in either a tremendous amount of pain, or nearing nirvana.

Ginny was half hearing the conversation between her clueless brother and her two friends. In any other situation, her brother's ignorance would be hilarious, but it was increasing difficult to concentrate on anything but the wetness pooling between her legs and the blissful friction of Harry's thigh. Her reverie was broken when Harry's deep voice whispered in her ear, "Don't worry, we're almost there." It took all she had to not orgasm at hearing the sound of his voice.

But when he pinned her grinding legs to the ground with his strong hands, there was only one place for his leaking Fade to go. Harry was fast losing control as he felt her spasms grow more erratic. More and more magic poured into her, and as Ginny came undone, Harry muffled her scream with his smiling mouth and shared in her physical and magical release. She bit down on his lips, only faintly registering the taste of blood and ground out another climax. Her eyes fluttered open and was surprised to see her old Harry, still staring back at her. He gauged her reaction tentatively, nervous that he had pushed her too much. She smiled through her deep exhale. Same caring, noble, loving Harry. That he was still in there in that hardened body and mind brought a tremendous relief to Ginny.

Kenji could tell the moment he pointed out that Ginny was hurt that his kohai would stop and help her. Even if he didn't know her, he probably would have helped. It was who he was, and Kenji hoped that would be enough to balance his rage. Once she kissed him back, he knew that Harry's only problem would be too much of the Fade, not an inconsequential problem, but one with more solutions.

However, he was not prepared for Harry to push her so far. His heightened sense of smell twitched slightly as the scent of Ginny's release was flooding the store. It wouldn't be too long before the other witches would notice, though judging by their faces, they already knew what was happening. A mixture of envy and shock splashed across their faces. Kenji took a small sense of pride in both. After all, it was our training that made his control so much better. Father would be proud his tantric focusing was put to good use. Though, the ability of his young charge to heal Ginny was miraculous, it pointed out just how vulnerable Harry was.

This Ginny, his witch, while admirably balancing his kohai, was dangerous. She was the ultimate leverage against him. Judging by his gaze, Harry would sacrifice everything for her, and given his standing amongst the Pureblood houses and his possible return as an Arcane magi, the enemies he would have would be too numerous to count.

They will both need protection once Harry announces himself fully. For now, he can remain in exile, biding his time. As it were, Kenji would much rather Harry stay safe in this store, while he tested his mettle against these men who deserved nothing less than a painful death. He began to slip towards the doorway when he heard a small cry from Teddy as the baby lurched towards Ginny.

As Harry looked on, he saw his family, Ginny, Teddy, and the future that it would hold for him. Teddy's cry also shocked him back to the present; these Death Eaters had attacked that family, his friends and ripped apart countless other families. These fanatics were the reason he was in hiding now. They will pay with their lives. Ginny saw the anger building in Harry and fought to keep her panic down. She could clearly recall the grisly scene at Grimmauld Place, and truthfully those photos of Alecto and Stevens had frightened her. She wouldn't allow him to be reckless and needed him to be focused. She grabbed his wrist as he stood and pulled him back down to her and Teddy.

"Harry. This is no longer about you, this is about us." She pointedly glanced at Teddy. Ginny hoped that recalling his mother's sentiments would temper his anger. His eyes softened both at his mother's memory and her feelings that allowed the snitch to open. One more card to play. She held up her fingers covered in that silvery ichor that she quickly learned to hate, "Stay focused. I don't ever want to see this again." She gave him a bruising kiss that left nothing of her feelings to the imagination. When she opened her eyes, she was relieved to see Harry's eyes.

Cold determination and a deep sense of fulfillment. With a quick nod of his head and quick smile, he flipped the lacquered wood and canisters to Kenji. "They're all yours." Harry called out as his sempai revealed the two enchanted swords. "Darkness powder for outside", as he gestured to the canisters. Harry pulled his holly wand from his robe and held up a warning hand to his mentor.

Before they reached the entrance to Diagon Alley, Harry turned, "Kreacher you stay here, protect them with your life. George, Hermione, Ginny, keep watch for families or victims, this will be a safe house. Kreacher can make sure they are safe. Do not come out here, my control is poor, at best." He finished with a pointed look towards Ginny that would brook no argument.

With that, they disappeared into the chaos followed by Ginny's whispered, "Be careful."

Kenji threw two canisters immediately upon leaving; one into the Alley directly in front of the store, and one as a distraction much further down the Alley to the left of the entrance. Harry gestured quickly towards that left, "I see a few stragglers down there, see if they need help. There is a pub there called the Leaky Cauldron, I imagine it's a safe house. I'll look down here, and no, I won't fight unless my life is in danger." Harry yelled over the din, knowing the exact look Kenji would be giving him.

Harry watched his mentor run with unnatural speed down towards the Leaky, while he assessed the damage to the right. It looked much less than towards Kenji's location, but perhaps that was due to a larger Auror presence. When he saw the Dark Mark hovering over the pub, he followed his sempai. They joined a small cadre of Aurors and wizards trying to flank the Death Eaters stationed outside of the pub, while spells were traded between a second set of Riddle supporters and wizards actually within the pub itself.

Harry and Kenji barely listened to the mumblings of an obviously young Auror in charge before interjecting. "Be ready to move to the second set in two minutes. Don't fire into the darkness" was all the warning the Aurors got before the third of four canisters landed amongst the Death Eaters. They stopped casting for mere moments in their confusion, but that's all they needed.

The inky blackness and the silence that followed was quickly torn open by the loud screams as Kenji asserted his birthright. Harry's blind fighting had gotten better and while his swordsmanship was not nearly the level as his mentor, amongst the helpless he was a master. Despite his anger, Harry used a simple wooden sword, the devastation that a real sword could do was still too fresh in his mind. Besides we will need prisoners to question and by the sounds of it, Kenji was taking none. Kenji with his altered senses and sword mastery was a Reaper in the midst of mortal men; Harry could've tracked his movement by the screams that followed, but relied on that silvery aura that his Arcane body emitted.

Within moments, all screaming stopped and Kenji emerged from the darkness covered in the terrorists' blood, slowly wiping the swords off against a scrap of cloth. Harry stumbled out covered in small cuts and bruises and rolled his eyes at his sempai and the pristine nature of his clothes. He coughed when his eye roll was met with grumbling about compassion and mercy. "The second set, we need to lead them away from the pub." Saito nodded, "Show them your pretty smile, kohai, I bet they can't wait to see you."

Harry snorted but couldn't argue; if they were Death Eaters, the chance to kill the Chosen One was almost too good to pass up. "Is that you Doholov, Amycus? You hurt one of mine, I kill one of yours. But this, this cowardly shit is pathetic even for you." He had to yell over the roaring fires and secondary explosions, but a jet of brilliant crimson light zipping by his head was all the response he needed to know they got the message.

"They heard me." Before his second quip, a rainbow barrage of spells shot towards the Aurors, Harry and Kenji. Luckily, the Aurors were ready with Shield charms and conjured walls to absorb the curses. They had recovered their wits after the initial barrage and after seeing the Harry Potter. The group began a strategic retreat, pulling the attacking Death Eaters away from the Leaky Cauldron and its patrons. Harry cursed his uselessness, using his traced wand would bring more combatants and if they were from the Ministry this time, may turn the Aurors against him, but using the Fade with all these people around was exactly what Matheson warned him about. An explosion, just like Pettigrew's escape.

Harry fought the bile back down his throat at the comparison. Matheson was right, his magic was dangerous. That thought helped ease the pain of seeing the Aurors' incredulity at his inaction. He was doing a good job as bait, however. The Death Eaters were now caught in a crossfire between the Aurors and the wizards emerging from the Leaky. Harry recognized the first wizard out immediately.

"Neville!" Harry couldn't help but smile at his fellow Gryffindor. He hadn't heard specifically from the healers he assigned to Frank and Alice, but he had paid for the best and hoped for the same. That hard edge he felt from the Longbottom scion at Hogwarts seemed alive and well. Neville's face was furious; ready to pay back those Death Eaters for his parents' torture. He would have his pound of flesh.

"Harry?" Neville's confused shout was drowned out by the sheer volume of spells cast back and forth. As he saw the situation, he changed from borderline dark spells to less damaging ones in case he missed. He noted Harry's nod of the head in appreciation and motioned behind the Aurors' position. Harry whipped his head around, expecting more trouble but sighed in relief when he saw his friends corralling families and children into the Wizard Wheezes.

The black robed fanatics noticed the positions they were in and began searching for an escape. They were surrounded and Harry felt the palpable relief from the young Aurors in his group. Harry's eyes narrowed as one of the Death Eaters eyed the families struggling down the street to the makeshift triage at George's store. He faintly saw the buildup of magic as the long incantation neared its end. He briefly considered using his wand, but didn't. However, when the first tendrils of fire emerged he wished he had.

"Fiendfyre!" The young Auror let loose a choice series of curses as he looked haplessly to his colleagues. "This spell is beyond any of us." There was no mistake where the cursed flames were headed and how devastating the flames would be when it arrived. All of the eyes quickly converged on Harry, the Chosen One. His only strategy three months ago was to run in the Come and Go room, but that wouldn't help anyone now. He couldn't meet the eyes of those looking for a miracle, there wasn't one to give. Only when his sempai's voice cut through the tension, could Harry look up.

"Harry?" There was a warning in his voice, but also proud resignation. He glanced down at Harry's wand questioningly. Harry shook his head no. "You could … like your father."

His feelings for Ginny won out … almost. There were too many families and if he could do anything to save them, he would. Before he though too much more about the fiery witch, he shifted to the front of George's store. Taking a deep breath after seeing the oncoming rush of cursed flame, he dared glance back to the windows in the store front. He sought out and found Ginny's beautiful doe brown eyes with his sorrowful ones and mouthed the words he so desperately wished he told her sooner.

"I love you."

A/N: A cliff hanger, I know. Leave angry comments if you must, but it really is a good place to stop, judging by the next two chapters. To the 12 new favorites and 19 new followers, welcome and tell your friends!