Restarting the Heart
Chapter 4:
Disclaimer: You guys get it by now, I'm not J.K. Rowling and I never will be.
Ginny rushed out of the Great Hall and up the stairs before she stopped for a moment. She knew she had to find and talk to Harry, but she had no idea where he was. She simply stood there for several moments, trying to think of places he could be. Then she remembered Hermione had said he was in the Hospital Wing. She rushed up the stairs and straight into the overcrowded ward. She was immediately asked to help, and found herself handing out pain potions to various patients.
She noticed that the last bed in the ward was surrounded by large white screens. When she finally had a spare minute she went down to check who it was, although she was fairly certain it was him. Although she had expected the worst, she wasn't prepared for what she saw.
He was covered in bruises and cuts, and had even more scars than when she had seen him at Bill and Fleur's. Madam Pomfrey was leaning over him, examining the wound which scared Ginny the most. On the left of his chest, around where his heart was, was a lightning-bolt scar which matched the one on his forehead. Fear and horror washed over Ginny as she realised that Harry had been hit.
'Maybe he actually did die,' thought Ginny. The wound was bright red, and looked fresh. She wondered in dread, how many chances Harry had left, was he immune to the killing curse? She needed answers.
Madam Pomfrey was carefully pouring drops of potion into some of Harry's worst cuts and hadn't noticed that Ginny was there until she moved closer to the bed. She saw Ginny's anxious face and knew she was worried about him.
"He should be perfectly fine, Miss Weasley," Madam Pomfrey told her. Sensing that Ginny wasn't satisfied, she offered her the bottle of potion. "It's Essence of Dittany. Just pour a drop onto and wound and it will heal."
She showed Ginny exactly what to do before hurrying to attend to her other patients. Ginny moved to where Madam Pomfrey had stood and began healing Harry's many wounds. For once, she felt almost glad he was asleep, as it would have been terribly awkward. She wondered to herself how anyone had managed to get Harry to go to the Hospital Wing in the first place. She guessed that it may have been Hermione or her mother's decision.
When she finished treating Harry's cuts, and they were beginning to heal, she saw Harry's eyelids flutter and began to panic. She needed to talk to him, and he was going to answer all of her questions, but not yet. She got up and left, handing the half-empty bottle of Dittany back to Madam Pomfrey as she passed.
Ginny would not usually walk away from anything, but she didn't want to have to talk to Harry yet. She angry and upset that he had left her to go fight Voldemort and that he had let her think that he was dead during the battle. She needed to clear her head first, and then she would talk to him. She walked down to the Great Hall slowly, and found Professor McGonagall making an announcement.
"Firstly," she called out in an authoritative voice, while Ginny sat down with her family. "Restoration of the castle will begin tomorrow morning. Those willing to volunteer may sign their names on any of the pieces of parchment which may be found at the Head Table. If you sign up, you will then be placed on a team, and each team will attempt to repair a different area of the castle." Professor McGonagall paused, indicating the sign-up sheets which were on the table in front of her, before continuing. "Secondly, a memorial will be held in a week for all who were lost during the battle. Funeral and burial ceremonies may be arranged by the families of the deceased."
Ginny sat there for a few moments, watching the line of people going to sign-up to rebuild the castle. She was first to stand from her family, but before long, the rest of her family followed her up to the Head Table. Most of the hall went and signed up, before returning to their seats for lunch. They ate in silence, before a loud bang was heard and the hall was lit up with colour.
The whole hall watched as hundreds of fireworks went off, whizzing and popping before spelling out 'R.I.P. Fred Weasley'. At this, Mrs Weasley burst into tears, while Mr Weasley, Ron, Hermione, Bill, Fleur and Charlie stared at the fireworks. Ginny, however, looked over at George where he sat with Percy and Angelina Johnson who were grinning. Even George was smiling slightly, although he was looking down at his plate. Ginny went over and sat with them, and reached out to touch George's hand.
"Fred wouldn't want us to cry," he said, looking up at Ginny. "He would want us to laugh."
When Ginny realised how true these words were, she started grinning herself. "They're amazing," she said. "Reminds me of the ones you set off for Umbridge."
"Wait until you see the finale." George replied, smiling again. This time the smile seemed a little more sincere, although it was nowhere near his old smile. Ginny turned her eyes back to the sky, and the watched in silence for a moment.
All of a sudden, the fireworks exploded again, displaying a picture of Fred laughing. They staled as this for a few seconds, before changing again to say 'To all those who lost their lives during both wars and their families'. This also waited a second before transforming into the words 'You will never be forgotten'. These words then exploded with a loud bang and separated into many small fireworks, which fizzed and whizzed around the hall before slowly wearing out.
There was silence for a minute before a whisper of "Bloody brilliant!" from Ron, and the whole hall erupted in cheers.
"That was amazing!" cried a familiar voice from behind them. "Fred would be proud."
Ginny turned around to find Harry behind her, grinning broadly. "By the way, when I find out who sent me to the Hospital Wing …" he said, while Hermione blushed. He 'tut'ed to himself and shook his head before turning to Ginny.
"Gin ... Can we talk?" he asked, and the use of her nickname flared her temper.
"Fine," she said stiffly, giving him the best death glare she could manage. She could see it worked to some extent from the anxious look on her face.
"Come with me?" he asked, looking hopefully into her eyes. She couldn't resist his eyes; they were like an open view into his mind, and she could tell from the look in them that he was sorry.
"Lead the way," Ginny said, a little softer and followed her out of the hall.
After Harry and Ginny had left, Bill turned to Charlie smirking. "Bet you they come back a couple," he said confidently.
"A galleon?" asked Charlie, who was trying to sound equally confident. Bill nodded and the pair shook hands. "Ron would never allow it, and I reckon Harry's too good a mate to go against him."
Bill smirked to himself and watched Ron blush. Charlie looked between the two of them and groaned to himself. 'They must know something I don't' he thought.
Meanwhile, Bill had turned to Fleur, who handed him a picture. It was the copy Fleur had made of the picture of Ginny and Harry which Ginny had had at Shell Cottage. Fleur had left it under Harry's pillow for him to find the next morning, but as far as she knew, Harry had never seen it. When she had gone to change the sheets on the bed, the picture had fluttered to her feet.
Bill handed it to Charlie who gaped at it for a moment before handing it to Ron. Charlie's eyes grew wider when he showed it to Ron who simply shrugged and handed it to George.
George smiled at the image of the two who looked so happy. "Honestly," he said. "You're telling me you never guessed?" He passed it on to Percy who muttered something under his breath about Ginny being too young to have a boyfriend.
He handed the picture to his mother, who nearly fell off her seat. "Harry and Ginny!" she cried happily. "Oh, I wondered why she was so sad all year! She said she was having boy troubles but I never knew it was Harry! And they hid it from us all this time!"
Charlie was stunned at his family's reaction. He had expected them to play the defensive brother roles and go have a very serious talk with Harry, but they all took it very lightly. When Arthur saw the photo, he simply smiled at how happy the couple looked, smiling back at him. He placed it down on the table and Charlie turned to Ron.
"Since when?" he asked, still feeling annoyed that everyone else seemed to know or at least suspect something about Harry and Ginny's relationship except him
"Quidditch final last year," he said, looking down at his feet.
"And they hid that all summer?" Charlie asked. "They don't look like they're hiding it there!"
"Eh, well, no, they didn't exactly hide it." said Ron sheepishly. "And they broke up at Dumbledore's funeral." Sensing that this wasn't enough to satisfy Charlie, Ron continued. "Harry knew we had a mission from Dumbledore and he did it to protect Ginny. He thought Voldemort would go after her if he found out they were ... close, like he did with Sirius."
The protective older brother in Charlie was not happy, but he had to admit he couldn't blame Harry for breaking up with her.
"She's crazy about him, you know," Bill said, looking up from the photo. "When you guys were at Aunt Muriel's house, she overheard me telling Dad that Harry, Ron and Hermione were at our house. She ran off and came to find them. Fleur found her watching him outside, and she had this picture with her. When we brought her inside, she told us everything. Fleur made a copy of the picture to give to Harry, but he never took it."
"He's crazy 'bout her too," said Ron reluctantly. "He talks in his sleep. When we were gone he would say her name over and over again."
They fell into silence again before Hermione spoke up. "I think Colin took that photo," she said, and tears came into her eyes as she said his name. "Colin Creevy. He was always taking pictures of everyone and I'm sure I saw him by the lake that day."
"How'd they get together?" George asked, finally speaking up. The question brought smiles to both Hermione and Fleur's faces, while Ron shook his head. It was Hermione who answered.
"For that Quidditch match, Snape gave Harry detention, so Ginny had to play seeker. Well, we won anyways, and when Harry came into the common room, Ginny came running at him, and he kissed her."
"In front of the whole of Griffindor?" asked Charlie, unwilling to believe what he had heard. "What did Ron say?"
"Well, Ron wasn't too happy about it at the start, but he came around," replied Hermione. "He was the reason they weren't together sooner actually, because Harry was afraid of what Ron would think."
"Anyways, Hermione, how do you know so much about Harry's feelings?" asked Charlie. "You'd expect him to tell Ron, but since it was Ginny, I can see why he didn't."
"Well," said Hermione evasively, biting her lip. "Ron had a girlfriend that year, and so Harry and I were feeling the same things." She finished the last sentence it a rush, blushing furiously.
The rest of the Weasley family smirked at them; both of them were blushing and looking down at the ground.
Charlie sighed and turned back to Bill. "May as well hand over that galleon now." he said, pulling a galleon out of his pocket and handing in to Bill.