Healer Endlemire insisted that Harry remain in St. Mungos for three more days and would only release him upon the condition that he promise to stay at the Burrow under Mrs. Weasley's care for the following two weeks. Thus Harry found himself waited on hand and foot and continually admonished for doing practically anything for himself except going to the loo.
The first few days after he arrived he had remained in the room he shared with Ron under the guise that he was too tired to venture downstairs. If he was going to hold to his resolve that he continue to distance himself from Ginny he might as well start sooner rather than later.
It turned out that he didn't have to try very hard to avoid her. Ginny had remained conspicuously absent having asked Fred and George for a summer job at their shop; although it had taken some doing to get her mother to agree to it. Most days Ginny arrived home after dinnertime and since Harry found he still tired easily and usually turned in early, several days would go by without him even catching a glimpse of her.
He spent most of his time rereading Dumbledore's journal in the Weasley's garden and talking with Ron, Hermione, or whoever else happened to visit. On one particular day Fleur had stopped by to see him while he was in the garden.
It might have been because he had been extremely bored for nearly a week but he actually had found her pleasant to talk with and it had nothing to do with the fact that she was part Veela. While she could be very blunt in her opinions (a trait she shared with her sister-in-law though Harry thought it best never to point that similarity out to Ginny), he discovered Fleur had a good sense of humor and was actually enjoyable to be around.
The eve of the day Harry would be allowed to return to his own flat finally arrived although Mrs. Weasley had been commenting all day about how tired he still looked. She continued to hint that he should consider staying at the Burrow for at least another week. Ginny, Fred and George had arrived just before dinner during which Fred treated Harry much the same way he always had. George on the other hand had remained uncharacteristically quiet towards him; he was not rude but Harry noticed George barely spoke to him and he no longer teased and joked with him like he had in the past.
It was after dinner and Harry was in the living room with Ron and Hermione when she approached a topic of conversation that he suspected she had wanted to bring up for a while.
"I've been meaning to tell you, Harry… and Ron," she started. "I have to take the amulet back to Nadia and Ivan. Before I left I had to promise that I would bring it back as soon as possible."
"It makes sense, I guess," Ron said. "It's not like that's something they would want out of their possession for very long, is it? I'll come with you if you'd like."
"That's great, Ron, I was hoping you would. But there is something else they made me promise," she said, looking at Harry.
Harry asked, "Oh? What was that?"
"She made me promise that I'd bring you back, too, if the spell worked."
Harry asked, grinning, "If? You mean you really weren't certain it was going to do the trick after all, huh?"
They had filled him in on the history of the amulet and the spell they had used. The incision marks had almost completely faded from his chest by now.
"You know I was sure. Well, pretty sure, anyway," she said with a laugh. "But really; I did promise to bring you back with me. Please say you'll come. You aren't supposed to use magic for several more weeks so it's not like we'd be losing any time in going after Voldemort. And we could travel there by floo or portkey. It'd be nice to spend a week or two with them."
She was right; he couldn't continue his search for Voldemort and the last Horcrux until he had recovered completely.
"Sure, why not," he said. "There are some entries in Dumbledore's journal that might be helpful to talk to Ivan and Nadia about. I'd like to spend a few days at my flat before we go but we could leave on Saturday."
"Great!" Hermione said, but Harry could tell there was something else on her mind.
Over the past year he had gotten much better at controlling his temper; but he still felt both Ron and Hermione were often afraid to bring something up in front of him that they thought he might get upset about. He usually found Ginny's openness and unabashed way of saying exactly what was on her mind preferable.
He asked, "Is there something else?"
Hermione said at last, "Nadia made me promise to bring Ginny with us, too."
Harry asked frowning, "Ginny? They haven't met her. Why would they want her to come?"
He was just starting to adjust to the idea that once he left the Burrow he would not be seeing much of Ginny anymore. Now Hermione wanted to put him in the position where he'd be around her constantly for nearly an entire week or more.
Hermione answered, "They knew she would have an integral part to play in successfully performing the spell. It's my guess they want to meet her."
"I don't see why," Harry countered. "How about you three go then? Tell them I'll stop by some other time after I get my strength back."
Hermione gave him a hard look. She was debating whether she had the nerve to express her opinion of his continued insistence that he avoid Ginny when it was obvious he still had feelings for her. It seemed boys definitely did not become less dense about their dealings with the opposite sex as they got older.
Instead she said as if it would settle the point, "I promised Nadia."
"Well that's not my problem is it? Tell her, Ron," Harry said, looking to Ron for support.
Ron was looking very uncomfortable as he glanced between his girlfriend and best friend.
"Well, she did promise Nadia," he said tentatively.
At the murderous look Harry sent him, Ron said sheepishly to Hermione, "But, um, if Harry still doesn't feel up to it maybe you shouldn't push him…"
Hermione groaned in frustration and said, "Oh, Ron, honestly! He was all set to go until I mentioned Ginny—" She halted as Ginny walked into the room.
"Until you mentioned what about me?" Ginny asked and took a seat opposite Harry.
Harry sent Hermione a warning look meant to convey that they should continue this conversation later but she chose not to take heed.
"I have to take the amulet back to Romania. Nadia made me promise that I would bring all three of you back with me when I did."
Harry crossed his arms irately. The anger Hermione saw snapping in his eyes made her very glad he was under strict doctor's orders not to perform magic.
Noting Harry's reaction to Hermione telling her this, Ginny realized that he obviously did not want her to accompany them on the trip.
Ginny asked, "Nadia wants me to come with you? Why?"
"Like I was telling these two," Hermione answered, "she knew you would be helping to perform the spell, so it's my guess that she wants to meet you."
"I see," Ginny said. She looked at Harry and asked, "And there is some disagreement as to whether I should go?"
Suddenly Hermione stood up and yanked on Ron's arm. "I just remembered! I brought that dress from my parent's house that you wanted to see. Why don't you come up and take a look at it?"
"A dress?" Ron asked confused.
"The short, blue, tight one… remember?" she said pulling on his arm again.
"Huh? Oh, right, that dress. Sure… I'd, um, love to see it…" he said letting Hermione drag him out of the room.
Harry watched them leave and said somewhat bewildered, "Since when has Ron become interested in dresses?"
"Since Hermione expects that we're about to have a row," Ginny answered.
"We are?" he asked, looking at her apprehensively.
Ginny nodded and said evenly, "She knew I'll be asking you why you don't want me to go to Romania with you."
"Oh, er… well… You don't know Nadia and Ivan, so I figured you'd be uncomfortable and it wouldn't be much fun for you…"
Ginny said quietly, "I'm sure she also knew you'd come up with some lame reason why I shouldn't go and that I'll call you on it."
Harry sighed and rubbed his eyes under his glasses. Ginny had realized long ago that it was a gesture he had a habit of doing when he didn't want to deal with or talk about something.
He said, "I just don't think it would be a good idea for you to go with us."
She queried back, "Not a good idea for you or not a good idea for me?"
"Not a good idea for either of us," he answered.
"Care to enlighten me as to the reason why?" she asked.
"No," he stated flatly. "Just trust me."
She looked at him for a few moments trying to decide how much to push him for a better explanation.
Finally she said, "I think I deserve to have you tell me a bit more than that."
Harry replied, "We've been through this before. It'll be best if I stay away from you. You took a big risk in helping to perform that spell on me and I can't tell you how sorry I am about what I did to you. I never did get around to thanking you for believing in me and taking such a chance. I think it's amazing that you were willing to do that for me. But what happened with Voldemort this last time made me realize it's even more important that I put as much distance as possible between us."
She asked him, "Don't I get to have a say in any of this? What if I don't think it's for the best?"
Harry still had his arms crossed in front of him with his feet up on the coffee table. He remained silent and refused to look at her as he stared at his own toes.
Ginny continued, "You've told me about what you are up against and about the prophecy. You told me about the Horcruxes and all that it's going to take for you to destroy him. During the spell we got a glimpse at what he did to you and how he tortured you. I can't even begin to imagine how much it took for you to fight him and how terrible that was for you to go through. But have you forgotten that I've had a run-in with him, too? I found out at the age of eleven what he is like and just how cruel and terrorizing he can be. I'm not blindly asking you to let me help you. I know it will be dangerous. I understand and am willing to take the risk if that means it will give you even the slightest bit more of a chance to beat him. What makes me helping you any different from Ron and Hermione helping you?"
Harry wouldn't look at her but he had been paying attention to what she was saying. Given what had happened to her during her first year at Hogwarts, she had more of a score to settle with Voldemort than either Ron or Hermione. But he couldn't he bring himself to accept her offer of help or to answer her last question.
She was looking at him and waiting for an answer he wasn't sure he completely understood himself.
Finally he said, "I'm not sure what more I can tell you. If he ever found out what you still mean—" he stopped short. He was surprised by what he had been about to say.
Instead and still not looking at her he said sincerely, "Do you have any idea what it would do to me if something ever happened to you because of me? If he used you to get to me or hurt you or killed you?"
"Yes, I think I do," she answered him softly, causing him to look at her now. "When Dad told me you were dead, I felt like I had died, too. I felt empty and hollow; I didn't know how I was going to face another day thinking I would never see you again. Then when they found you alive I felt alive again. At least until the Healer told us there was a good chance you might not recover and you could still die. Aside from my first year at Hogwarts, those weeks were the worst of my entire life. But even knowing how I will feel if something does happen to you, it doesn't make me want to stay away from you. If anything it makes me even more certain I want to be with you and help you to put an end to him."
Harry had never considered how his near death had affected her but all he could manage to say was, "All I know is that I need to know you are safe. If you are with me that will never be the case."
"Haven't you realized that no one is safe anymore?" she asked.
Harry closed his eyes and said, "Please, Ginny. Please stay here and don't come with us."
"Fine, Harry," Ginny sighed. "If that is what you really want, I won't go with you. But answer just one more question for me."
He looked at her warily and said, "If I can."
She looked him directly in the eyes and asked, "What is the difference between you and Voldemort?"
He gaped at her; how she could ask him such a thing?
He felt himself growing angry and he countered, "What the bloody hell kind of question is that?"
She didn't flinch and she said, "Tell me what makes you different from Voldemort."
He glared at her and said, "Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's that I'm not out to rule the world and I don't go around killing, threatening and torturing people to get what I want. Or maybe it's that I don't think one person is better than another because of their bloodlines and family tree. What do you think?"
"I think maybe you need to rethink the prophecy," she stated.
Her answer was a far cry from anything he expected her to say. He blinked at her in surprise, and said "I what?"
"I said, I think you need to rethink the prophecy."
"I already have thought about it; for nearly three years, in fact. I don't see what—"
Ginny interrupted him and said, "What gives Voldemort his power?"
Harry continued to stare at her and she answered for him, "Fear. He rules through fear. So if his power is fear what is yours?"
"Dumbledore and I already had this conversion," he said irritably.
"Just hear me out, Harry," she replied. "People follow him because they fear him and fear what he will do to them if they don't. They do what he demands because they are afraid not to."
Harry snorted; he was growing frustrated with the conversation and said, "Tell me something I don't already know."
"Alright," she said. "I think you have the power to defeat him right under your nose but you are too stubborn or too afraid to use it."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes, really. Can't you see it? Ron, Hermione, Mum, Dad, Bill, the Order, me… we all want to help you. We will always be there for you because we want to be, because we care for you… because we all love you."
She paused for a moment and when Harry remained silent, she continued, "How long do you suppose most of them would stay loyal to him if they thought he was weakening? They went into hiding or denounced him pretty fast when he disappeared after trying to kill you when you were a baby; it's no different now."
Harry demanded, "So now you think I'm weak because of what happened? Because I couldn't fight them and stop them from torturing me?"
Ginny sighed and said, "No. That's not what I'm saying. I think you'll be stronger because of what happened. Yes, you got beaten badly but—"
"Thanks for the reminder," Harry said sarcastically.
Ginny continued as if he hadn't interrupted her, "…but even after what happened to you, everyone has told you that we care about you and we want to do whatever is necessary to help you. We will continue to stand by you. We are loyal to you because we choose to be and because we love you, not because of some control you happen to have over us at the moment. Frankly, I'd bet on loyalty based on love over loyalty based on fear any day of the week."
Harry watched her as she came over to kneel in front of him. She took his hands gently into hers, looked into his eyes.
She said, "Use what you are being offered so you can fulfill the prophecy and destroy him! Stop being so caught up in trying to protect everyone that you aren't able to clearly see all that you truly have."
He looked into her eyes and saw that hard, blazing look that had become so familiar to him. He knew she was not only talking about what the others offered him but what she was offering him of herself. She was not begging to go on with him but no matter what happened or what he decided, he knew she would support him and accept his decision.
Words failed him and she released his hands and stood up to leave the room. On her way out she passed Ron and Hermione coming back down the stairs.
Ginny said to them, "Thank Nadia for the invitation for me but I won't be going to Romania with you."
Hermione and Ron looked over to Harry expecting some kind of explanation. He stood up from the couch and watched Ginny exit the room but his expression was unreadable. When they heard her bedroom door close Harry brushed past them without saying a word. He went up the stairs to his and Ron's bedroom and he, too, closed the door.
Harry had trouble falling asleep because Ginny's words kept playing through his mind. He didn't want to acknowledge it but she sure had a way of putting things into a completely different perspective.
He also kept thinking about her question of what made her offer of help different from Ron's and Hermione's. She was an extremely strong and gifted witch. If it ever came down to a duel between Ginny and Hermione or any of her brothers, maybe with the possible exception of Bill, he'd definitely place his money on Ginny; whether it was a duel of wits or wands. She certainly would have come in handy when they had gone after the last two Horcruxes.
He knew he would be devastated if anything were to happen to either Ron or Hermione; but the briefest thought of something happening to Ginny caused a cold dread to wash over him that made it nearly impossible for him to breathe.
He turned over in his bed and punched his pillow. What he had told her earlier was for the best. While Voldemort was alive he had to know that she was somewhere safe and that meant she had to remain as far away from him as he could keep her.