Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Harry Potter characters. A/N: I'm rather proud of this chapter and hope you all enjoy. MK
Chapter Seven: When A Hero Stops Being A Hero
Thunder boomed ominously in reflection of Harry's mood, making him wonder if his elemental powers had developed to the point where the weather now actually did reflect his mood.
Lightning arced across the sky as the Chudley team, sands a keeper, took the pitch. The thunder overhead drowned out the startled response of the fans at seeing the ludicrousness of a team actually attempting to play without a keeper on the pitch as the papers had actually reported the truth for a change.
"Ron,… don't let him do this." Hermione pleaded next to her husband, her hand clutching his bicep in a death grip.
His family murmured her sentiments down the row as all eyes watched Harry lead his team out to the center pitch to meet a nervously shuffling Harpies squad.
"Harry knows what he's doing, 'Mione. No matter how angry he is, he wouldn't do anything to harm Ginny, and you know that." he consoled.
"Not Ginny, no, but what about himself, Ron?"
Ron scoffed at that.
"You can't know, not for sure. He hasn't talked to anyone since,…since you and G-Ginny saw him last Tuesday."
Harry hadn't seen any of the family since that terrible Tuesday. Hermione and her mother went to Potter Mansion as soon as Ron had relayed what happened, but Harry wasn't there when they arrived, or any day since, as they had repeatedly tried to catch him at home during the course of the week.
Practices had been closed from the public and even Ron had been denied entrance at the gate- due to his current suspended status.
"Please, Ron, Please? You're still team captain. Call off the game if you have to. It doesn't matter. You can't let Harry and Ginny play- not like this?" Hermione sobbed into his shoulder.
Ginny had been nearly as incommunicative as Harry, isolating in her room, crying often. It had been almost as bad as that first time they'd thought Harry killed by Voldemort. She hadn't emerged until a visibly shaken, but still determined; Gwenog Jones, had arrived at the Burrow and personally dragged Ginny out of her room to practice Friday morning.
Ron shifted his eyes to his worried family lining the row next to his distraught wife.
His mum was crying next to his father who had a sickly pallor. Arthur Weasley had tried to utilize the weight of his office to postpone the second game of the Chudley- Harpies series, but to no avail as he had no official authority over the International Quidditch League.
Fred and George nodded their worried agreement next.
Fleur was like Hermione, weeping and frightened, seeking the reassurance of her husband, who despite his calm exterior, Bill's eyes told a different story as they caught Ron's.
"Alright, Alright! Merlin, he's going to be furious." Ron grimaced at what Harry's reaction would be to his intervening and calling the game. As captain of Chudley, he did have the authority to concede a game, suspended or not, he was still the only named Captain for the team.
"Something's happening down there." Bill pointed toward the pitch.
Instead of Gwenog Jones moving forward to shake hands with Harry as expected, Ginny stepped hesitantly forward with her hand extended.
Harry looked down warily at the proffered hand.
"If you look into the abyss long enough, Ginny,… the abyss looks back into you." he quoted dejectedly.
Harry offered a conciliatory, wane half smile and "Good luck, Weasley", mounted his broom and blasted like a comet into the far north sky of the pitch, way out of position for a seeker, Ginny thought in confusion.
"What the….?" Ron's eyes went wide as he watched his teammates mount their brooms and rise up into a formation he'd never heard of before, let alone seen.
Six men were lined up on either side of the pitch,(including the keeper) each directly in line on an intercept course with a Harpies' player across from them, leaving a clear channel running north and south across the pitch between Harry's north position and the quidditch balls about to be released at the southern corner of the pitch.
"Christ-No!" Ron swore in sudden realization of what he was looking at. He turned on the spot and apparated directly onto the pitch.
He sprinted toward the judge's stand praying he'd get there before they whistled the start of the game.
The whistle blew starting the game and the crowd gasped as the sound was all but drowned out by the scream of a broom being pushed far beyond its limit.
Ron knew he was too late when he heard the whistle blow and knew Harry had already started his run.
In slow motion he watched as his teammates moved to block out their Harpies counterparts forming a channel down the pitch as he'd predicted.
Harry was making a suicide run at the snitch.
To even have a chance at catching newly released, freshly rested snitch, a rider would need to be going faster than the max speed of most brooms, even a Firebolt couldn't make that acceleration, but add gravity to the mix by coming in from a high altitude, that might just give a rider enough momentum to catch the snitch,… if he didn't plow himself against the stadium wall in the attempt, which was a certainty at that speed.
That's why it was called a suicide run. It had only been tried one time before and the results were self explanatory.
Ron had just sworn and apparated from his family's box when the whistle blew starting the game and the scream of an over taxed broom assaulted their ears.
"What's Happening?" Hermione screamed over the noise.
Fred grabbed at her elbow and bellowed trying to shout over the din, "It's a Suicide Run! Harry's making a run at the snitch. The rest of the cannons are blocking out the Harpies to give him a clear path toward the snitch; a gauntlet."
"That's insane! He'll kill himself."
Fred bit back the ironic comment on the tip of his tongue. His mother feinted away into his father's arms while Fred held back a wildly clawing Hermione, who was trying to get to her already dead friend, while the rest of the family watched impotently.
It was too late. Ron knew it was too late. Even if the judges whistled the game dead, Harry was going too fast to stop now.
His heart ached to bursting when he heard his sister desperate scream of "Harry No!", from above as he raced toward the judges box.
The scream of the Firebolt was deafening. People clamped their hands over their ears to avoid going injuring their ears.
Succumbing to the futility of the gesture, Ron stopped. Despite himself, he turned his eyes up in time to see an orange/black blur hit the edge of the north east edge of the stadium at an approximate fifteen-twenty degree angle.
He swiveled his gaze to the southwest corner where the snitch and the rest of the balls had just been released
The quaffle had just left the referee's hands when Harry screamed past , catching the quaffle in his wake causing it to be sucked back down and plough a dozen foot trench into the pitch.
The arc of Harry's descent carried him across the retaining wall of the pitch where he continued at unbelievable speed around the stadium in a horrifically tight unending spiral.
Ron sank to his knees in abject wonder as he watched in helpless awe as Harry Potter did, yet again, the unimaginable.
Twenty laps, fifty, a hundred, a thousand? It was impossible to tell how many revolutions he made around the confines of the stadium interior, his speed was so great.
A vortex was created from his tailwind and rose into the afternoon sky, buffeting the players above, sending them careening into each other as they struggled to hold onto their broomsticks.
Slowly,… painfully slow, the blur that was Harry gradually slowed ever so slightly until a distinct form emerged and finally came to a rest on the eastern rim of the pitch, just meters away from where Ron was kneeling.
A dizzy and staggering, Harry Potter stepped away from his smoldering Firebolt and held a glittering golden winged ball aloft in his right fist, directly in front of the judge's box, giving them a moment to verify it's serial number for validity.
Once the judge's were satisfied, the referee's whistle blew, signaling the end of the game and the stunned to silence crowd erupted in great ear numbing cheers.
Harry haltingly staggered toward the lower seating section and handed the limp snitch in his hand to a young girl with vibrant red hair ,very reminiscent of another girl's hair , Ron thought.
Harry brushed his hand gently across the awestruck young witch's freckled cheek, smiling wanly down at the young girl. Harry left the stadium in a flash of lightning while his team mates drifted slowly down to the pitch, too stunned to celebrate their victory.
The tension within the room was palpable. Ginny, still dressed in her quidditch robes was shuddering uncontrollably, her face buried in her hands and George rubbing her back in a futile gesture of trying to console her.
Hermione had returned only moments before, having collected her parents and bringing them to the Burrow. Now she was buried in Ron's comforting arms, each drawing as much security from the other as was humanly possible.
Molly was still recovering upstairs with Arthur at her side. While relieved, the stress of the event was still too much for her to bear.
"Was he trying to kill himself?" Jane Granger voiced the thought that everyone else was to afraid to ask.
Ginny sobbed at that.
"He wouldn't. Harry's a fighter. He'd never…" Bill began before Hermione cut him off.
"Your wrong, Bill. You're so wrong. He would, but only if he had to. "
Ginny sobbed harder as the rest of the room reacted in disbelief.
"Enough!" Jane Granger shouted them down.
"Hermione, please explain what you mean by that?" her mother asked her to clarify.
Hermione explained by telling them what she viewed in McGonagal's pensieve; when Harry turned his wand on himself to try and destroy himself before Voldemort could take him over and possess him.
"Please understand?" she begged. "You have to understand. He was in a terrible pain. A remnant of Voldemort's soul was tearing its way through Harry's magic, vying for control over his body. There was no known cure for the bite of a Spectral Basilisk. There was no hope-none. Eventually Voldemort would have taken him over or the Spectral venom would have destroyed his soul and he would have ceased to exist. Can you imagine it: Voldemort reborn in Harry's body, with Harry's power at his command vs. an eternity of oblivion? H-Harry had nothing left but that damned prophesy guiding him: Neither can live while the other survives!" she quoted in reminding them
"He was protecting the world from what he would become. He was protecting us. We'd abandoned him, and still he was protecting us. It was either sacrifice his life and condemn his soul, or let Voldemort ultimately win and the world would suffer for it. There was no choice really.
Despite his resolve, it was a terrible place to be in. Harry believes as I do, that the gift of life is the greatest of the Creator's gifts and to destroy one's life is an affront to the Creator. Even though he chose to sacrifice himself to save the rest of us from what he would become and salvage what was left of his soul, he still was afraid that God would deny him the chance to rejoin his lost loved ones.
Can any of us even begin to imagine such a horrific choice to have to make? Harry's whole life up till that moment had been one long example of 'damned if you do, damned if you don't'. His ending would prove to be the epitome of that adage.
I saw him ,… on his knees, broken. A single silent tear tracked down his face as he put his wand to his head and uttered the killing curse,... only, it didn't work because Voldemort's influence prevented him from meaning it in its entirety.
I'm afraid he'll slip down into that bad place again. I can feel it here." Hermione held a hand to her heart.
"I'm afraid for him, afraid like I've never been before. He wasn't trying to kill himself, but,"
"He doesn't seem to care if he lives either." Ron added knowingly.
"It's my f-fault." Ginny hiccupped sadly.
"Ginny, it's not…"
"It is!" She insisted more forcefully, silencing any rebuttal. "If I had been stronger, none of this would have ever happened. Giving up on him having survived the final battle with Voldemort was my first mistake If I hadn't let my own petty fears keep me from relearning my lost memories and allowed myself to embrace what Harry and I once felt for each other was my second or tenth, or twentieth,.. I don't know, I've lost count of all the mistakes I've made where Harry and I are concerned. In all of this he's never made any demands on me. He's never pressured me in any fashion; never even so much as asked a kind word from me? Last Tuesday was different though. I could see it in his eyes when we all stood their gapping at him like he was some sort of zoo exhibit. His eyes,… his eyes asked me for something? They asked me for understanding. They asked me not to judge the soul by the package it's forced to walk around in, but I let my own aguish get the better of me. I- I couldn't stand to look at him and I'm ashamed of myself as I've never been before. His body, his eyes, everything,… he's absolutely beautiful. He's the most handsome man I've ever seen." Ginny gasped unashamedly
"His body,… those scars, they're a horrific testament to cruelty of pain and unimaginable suffering. Suffering that was taken in sacrifice to spare others that same cruelty and therein made the whole package that much more appealing, awe inspiring even. It was the most humbling experience of my life, and with Harry around, that's saying something."
A few relief snickers of agreement echoed around the room at that.
Hermione stepped forward and kneeled down in front of Ginny. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, giving herself an extra moment to organize her thoughts before asking.
"Do the scars really matter so much, Ginny? Can you look past the scars and see the man?"
Ginny's shook her head wearily. "It's not the scars,'Mione, but what they represent that frightens me. I could never be that brave. How could anyone possibly give that much of themselves and still go on? I felt like a moth before the flame. I felt small, incredibly small."
"Do you care about Harry?" Hermione asked, but cut her off before she could blurt out a quick generic reply.
"I mean really care, Ginny. Not as just a friend, or even as a surrogate brother but as…?'
"Yes" Ginny butted in before she could even think to reconsider.
Ginny's face flamed at her admonition, but she found more courage than she knew she had by continuing.
"I ,… I was in love with Harry once,.. And he was with me, I think? But , but, the feelings went away." Ginny scrunched up her face trying to puzzle through her emotions, but caught the despairing look that Hermione cast back toward, Ron..
She cupped her friend's chin and turner her watery brown eyes back to look at her.
"I don't mean because of anything you did, Hermione. You saved me, and probably Harry too in the greater scheme of things. Think about it; if Harry had come back to me, we would have had a short time together while we tried and failed to find a cure for Voldemort's taint before Harry died,… and he would have died. Maybe this was all 'Devine Intervention', I don't know, but what I do know is that Harry not only saved a lot of lives at that World Cup when he took on Morvis and his goons, but he also inadvertently cured himself as well, and I don't think that was an accident, or fate, or anything but God's own will. We all know what came next?" Ginny made quotation marks in the air as she continued
"Magical Knight- Gargoyle Hoard-Saving Hermione- Saving the world; in that order." She smirked as several others shared a chuckle.
"Somewhere in there I lost my way and started to doubt myself and my own feelings. A part of me loves Harry as a friend and a surrogate brother, but there's another part too. That part loved him fiercely as a school girl. I could have easily lost myself in him back then, but Voldemort happened,… then,... well, you all know what came next. Later, I had the chance to get my memories back, but I was afraid of what I'd find. I got over my fear eventually, but too late I realized what I'd lost and Harry fell in battle saving you, 'Mione, and trying to save Shadow."
Ginny brushed away the tears that fell down Hermione's cheeks with the pads of her thumbs. Many around the room were finding it difficult, if not impossible to hold their tears in check at such a heartfelt admonition, but Ginny didn't really seem to notice, or just didn't care anymore. She felt she needed to unburden herself. To free herself by admitting the truth that she had so long denied herself.
"I started to remember that night. Something Harry said when we were dancing together triggered my memories. I didn't really know what I was feeling then, deep affection- something, I don't know? I could see myself in those memories, loving Harry and he loving me in return, but I still couldn't feel what I felt back then when we made those memories together.
Then at the hospital, we'd given up hope, just like we always do where Harry's concerned." Ginny lamented.
"Just walking into the place, you could feel it? Unspeakables lined the hallway as an honor guard, but they alone dared to hope that Harry would once again defy the odds. Whether or not, they were with him to the end, but not us. We gave up, said our goodbyes and left him to his fate, but not the Unspeakables."
Ginny's bitter words struck a nerve, but that wasn't her intention, quite the contrary.
"Do you know what they told me when I finally plucked up the courage to come and see Harry? They told me they had been waiting. With tears in their eyes they were waiting for me to come and give Harry the peace he deserved. Even Draco, Draco Malfoy had tears in his eyes for one that had once been his most hated enemy. It was Draco that opened my eyes. I don't know if it was something he said, or something in his voice, but he struck a nerve and something shattered inside of me. He said, "He loves you, you know." I asked him why, why was he telling me this now? Draco gestured across the breadth of his fellow Unspeakables and said, "Because in our humble opinion, there is no greater compliment."
Several family members were openly crying now, but Ginny continued oblivious to their reaction, or because of it.
"To hear Harry's once nemesis, now his most staunch supporter make such a claim, was eye opening. It was shattering, and I,…I could feel the shell around my heart shatter and break away. I felt love. I remember what it was to love and be loved, and, and I could feel his love. I could feel it!"
Ginny clutched a hand to her heart for effect "I could feel it!"
"I went into his room and watched you all say your goodbyes, but when you'd all finally left and my turn came,… I just couldn't do it. I couldn't say goodbye. I refused to. I talked to him as I hadn't been able to in years. I told him how I felt. I traced the lines of his scars with my fingers. There were no surprises for me the other day in the Chudley shower room. I'd seen all those scars dozens of times before. I'd run my finger over them and wept in my heart for the pain and suffering each and every one of them had brought my Harry." She was unconsciously aware of using the possessive in describing Harry as she continued… "Then I knelt beside his bed and I prayed. I prayed as I had never prayed before, only,… I didn't pray to God or to Merlin. I prayed to Lily Potter. On my knees, I begged his mum to find a way to send him back to me,… and she did."
Ginny paused in her venting to wipe at tear filled eyes. Her mind was a jumble of contradictions, the greatest of which was what she witnessed on the pitch today. For one terror filled moment, she'd thought Harry was going to kill himself, right there, right in front of her,… and she knew she was the final straw that had broken him.
"When he showed up at your reception, I thought my heart would burst right out of chest in the joy of it. I should have ran to him and threw my arms around him and never of let go, but I didn't. I let my pride hold me back,… and now look where it's gotten me? I had wanted him to come to me. I prayed he'd come to me. I thought he would? I was sure of it. Oh,.. he stood me off at first, dancing with 'Mione."
Ginny gave her sister in-law a knowing smirk, enjoying the faint blush that stained her best friend's cheeks.
"He was teasing me to an extent. All the while he was dancing with you, he was shooting me cheeky looks. He had me right worked up he did, and he knew it too, the git."
Chuckles of agreement came from around the room.
"I couldn't take it anymore. I swallowed my pride and was making my way toward him and,… and… I don't know what happened then, I,.. I can't seem to recall, but the next thing I can remember is that when I next saw Harry, he was acting different."
Puzzled expressions and a few murmurs of agreement followed her revelation as vacant minds tried and failed to recall what happened that evening after Harry had danced with Hermione.
"How,… How was he different?" Hermione asked, her eyes searching the faces around her before settling back on Ginny.
"H-He seemed, I don't know, you and Ron had just left on your honeymoon and,… and, well, he was….?"
"'E ws a total flirt, was what he was." Fleur interjected.
"He was what?" Hermione questioned, thinking she hadn't heard her sister right.
"He was dancing and singing amongst the , er, ladies on the dance floor." Jane added.
"He was dead sexy and, I swear, he knew it too?" Ginny put in.
"He was teasing all the women there shamelessly. Fortunately, we veela are immune to such overtures." Fleur sniffed imperiously, ignoring the derisive snorts from her twin brother s in-law.
"That right, Bill? I seem to recall that you and the missus left shortly after Harry's, er, performance?"
Bill blushed a telltale Weasley hue, as he eyed his wife suspiciously. "That explains you're sudden interest in..?"
"Be quiet, William." Fleur scoffed haughtily, rolling her eyes at the guffaws at her expense.
"I was ovulating, if you must know. It is a delicate time for we veela." she sniffed disdainfully.
"Did this er, 'delicate time' occur before or after, Harry's performance?" Percy asked in his usual, innocent tone of blindly seeking knowledge for knowledge's sake, but his eyes danced merrily with anything but innocence.
"Oiy! Well played brother o' mine." Fred quipped.
"We've never been more proud." George added before the two broke into side splitting guffaws, that only worsened when Fleur huffed and left the room acting scandalized.
Ginny and Hermione shared a cleansing laugh at their sister's expense, but once they settled and the conversation renewed, things turned more serious again.
"He was having a bit of fun, then?" Hermione asked wiping at her eyes.
"A bit." Ginny agreed, but then amended. "Though in retrospect, the whole thing seemed a bit forced? Do you think he was taking the mickey, or was he really, I don't know,… acting?" Ginny pulled a face as she tried to put her suspicions into words.
Puzzled expressions were her only immediate answer.
"If he was, as you say, 'just acting', then why was he doing so in the first place?" Jane Granger speculated.
"Something's missing?" Her husband added from next to her.
"I take it that we're all in agreement that Harry was playing some sort of role later that night?" Ginny questioned the room.
"Harry… being capable of duplicity?' Fred questioned incredulously, with a knowing smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth.
"Suspicious natures the lot" his twin added with a snort.
"Can't you two find something constructive to do?" Ron growled at his twin brothers.
"My very point!" Fred chortled "Take Ickle Ronnekin's for an example?"
"Maneuvered you right well, he did." George threw in. "Suckered you into betting a whole years wages, I heard."
Ron's face went deep puce. "Do you think he was actually planning something like that all along?" he barked incredulously. "He could have just as easily plowed himself as pulled off that stunt! Harry's a brilliant flyer, but come on? It's a miracle he survived, let alone pulled it off."
He paled at hearing his wife's and Ginny's gasps at his bluntness.
"S-Sorry." he stammered in apology.
"G-Getting back to our original point, I think we can all agree that Harry's playing at something, but I know Harry, we all do, and he doesn't just do things for no reason. So what's the reason for him to do a complete turn about that night?" Jane Granger brought them back on topic.
"I believe I can answer that."
All eyes turned to Mr. Weasley as he wearily descended the Burrow's stair way, looking drawn and gaunt as if the weight of the world were on his shoulders and the weight was bearing him down.
"Dad?" Ron breathed out worriedly, alarmed by the expression on his father's face.
Arthur waved off his son's concern. "I wouldn't have known the answer myself, if it hadn't become common practice for certain key Ministerial officials to be randomly scanned for compulsion charms, memory blocks and imperious curses.. The last war has made us necessarily paranoid. Moody's warning of "Constant Vigilance" had become a Ministry edict- he'd be so proud. Anyway, during one such routine scan, a memory charm was discovered on my person, one that took no small amount of effort to remove, I might add."
"Who did it?"Ron growled.
"The knowledge that the charm concealed made the perpetrator obvious." Arthur Weasley gazed around the room with a profoundly apologetic look on his face. He eyes at last fell on the face of his troubled daughter.
"I'm sorry, Ginny" he apologized to his daughter.
"Daddy?"
Arthur sighed and seated himself on the last steps of the stairwell. "Harry put the charm on my person, on your mother too."
The Burrow erupted at that, but Arthur Weasley immediately shushed them.
"I can assure you that Harry did so with the noblest of intentions. He did this to spare Molly and me from hurting our children."
Again a surprised uproar ensued, this time Arthur waited for the room to sort itself out.
Once the room quieted, per the urging of the Granger parents, Richard Granger took the initiative and asked what the rest of the room was to uncomfortable to ask.
"Look, Arthur this may not be any of mine or Jane's business, but if Harry's involved, well,.. We sort of have a vested interest in Harry's welfare and if this concerns Harry, then I can't help but feel that it involves Jane and I as well?" Richard began to apologetically broach the subject at hand.
Arthur nodded his understanding. "You have that right, Richard. I believe we all have earned that right to one extent or another, where Harry is concerned. For someone not born of this family he certainly has become an integral part of all of our lives, and deservedly so."
Arthur began to explain his position before divulging the reasoning behind Harry's somewhat erratic behavior.
"I think it safe to say that most of, if not all of us present in this room owe our lives and to an extent, our livelihoods to that young man. And what a young man he is too. We all know the story, but more importantly, we know what Harry himself had to go through to get to where he is now. I don't need to see the scars on his body to know they're there. They are but a visual testament to courage and self sacrifice of the highest order. But the scars on Harry's body are but a pittance by comparison to those placed upon his heart. He's the last surviving Potter, should he pass without issue, it will be as if his family has never been. He will eventually be relegated only to the annals of history."
Arthur paused to gather himself before continuing.
"James and Lily were so proud when Harry was born,… so very proud. Do you know that they had planned for Harry to be the first of many children? Can any of us imagine what that would have meant for Harry; to have brothers and sisters of his own; for him not to be alone in the world?"
"He's not alone in the world!" Hermione interrupted him with an emphatic growl.
Arthur smiled and nodded to his daughter in-law. "No, no he's not." he agreed
"Thanks to all of you, Harry has a family, but Harry still wants what fate and prophesy continue to deny him- a family of his own; a wife and children. It is this last that brings us here today…
Yours and Ron's wedding began so bitter sweet, Hermione. Tears turned to joy with Harry's arrival at the reception. That day could have ended spectacularly had I but the courage to have let it be so?" Arthur paused grimacing. His eyes sought his daughter's and held them fast.
"Harry came to Molly and me that night. He asked us formally for permission to court you, Ginny."
Ginny's mouth fell open as others gasped in wonder around the room.
Jane Granger's troubled gaze found her daughter's. The charm Harry placed upon their own respective memories melted away at this revelation. They remembered what Harry had told them last Saturday, everything that he had told them. Unfortunately, they suspected they already knew what was coming.
"T-Then why hasn't he asked me,… I mean why….?" Ginny tried to fathom why Harry would seek her hand, yet not have asked her out on a single date.
Wizards didn't seek a parent's permission, unless they were extremely serious in their intentions toward the witch in question.
Ginny's brother's shared glances with each other, afraid they already knew the answer, it was there, written in their father's anguished eyes.
"B-Because your mother and I refused to give Harry our blessing, Ginny."
There it was. It was out in the open now. Arthur Weasley braced himself for receiving his fair share of his daughter's well deserved wrath.
It never came.
A few of her brother's groaned at their father's pronouncement, none of them, save Ron, would meet her eyes as she gazed around the room expecting their support.
Ron's eyes held the most profound look of sympathy for her.
Ginny scrubbed a sleeve of her quid ditch uniform across her moist eyes before the tears that threatened could fall.
"M-May I ask w-why?" she reluctantly asked her father.
Arthur sighed, putting his trembling hands in his pocket. He shifted uncomfortably, but held his daughter's gaze, despite the discomfiture of the room around him. Briefly, he considered taking his daughter aside and doing this privately, but as he had said earlier; everyone here had a vested interest in this family, and that included Harry.
"Many reasons, Ginny. At times those reasons seem inconsequential when I consider what you two might share together. At other times those same reasons frighten me by their sheer magnitude. Harry is a man first and foremost. Be it a young man, but one that has been tempered in the fire of war and emerged a better man than most. He is also a wizard, an exceptionally powerful wizard." Arthur Weasley chuckled wistfully at that.
"I realize that's putting it mildly, but for the sake of expedience, let's just say he's exceptional and leave it at that." he implored the room around him.
"A man, a wizard, and,… a knight. The first such wizard to be named a Magical Knight in nearly millennia. Upon a time, wizarding folk would claim that a true Knight was not appointed, but was born to the position. None, but the bravest and most gallant of wizards were named knights, and Harry is certainly no exception to that rule. Add to the growing list of Harry's attributes the fact that he's a world class seeker, perhaps the greatest seeker that the world has ever seen? On top of that, he's a fabulous entertainer- that last one still throws me for a loop. I swear, I never saw that one coming." Arthur chuckled along with many others in the room.
Notably, his daughter and youngest son saw no humor in the situation.
"My point is this; Harry Potter is already a legend. At the young age of nearly twenty-three years old, he's a legend to rival Merlin, himself.
Despite all those attributes, and all the well deserved accolades they entail, he's a constant source of immense danger to associate with."
The room started to grumble their disagreement, but Arthur motioned with his hands to settle and let him finish.
"Don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying that anyone of us is ever in any danger when Harry's in the vicinity, because, let's face it; nothing short of,… well, I was going to suggest a heard of Dragons, but he's already disproved that point. I don't really know what exactly would be more than Harry could handle, but as I said, Harry's still, just a man. Despite all his immense power, Harry cannot be in two places at once. He cannot be on the other side of the world and protecting a wife and family back home. Harry's always going to be a target, and a wife and children would share that target equally, if not more so.
My first and most ardent concern is that Ginny and any children she and Harry might have would always be in considerable danger every hour of every day.
Secondly, and just as importantly, Harry; for all his power and exceptional ability is one day going to find himself in a situation that he can't handle. I'm afraid it's not a matter of if, but of when.
One could argue that it may never happen, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that Molly and I worry endlessly that the day is coming.
Harry attracts trouble. He always has, and I fear he always will. It's not a knock on Harry, not by any stretch of the imagination, but there it is. Personally, I think it's the light's will. I think Harry was placed here for a greater purpose, one that may be contrary to what he wants, perhaps even needs for himself.
He offered, you know." Arthur grimaced in regret at that. "On his knees he swore to me that he would give up the mantle of a knight and devote himself to Ginny and her happiness."
Ginny gaped at that.
Arthur choked up at that and brushed a tear from the corner of his eye.
"I wanted to say yes. With all that I am, I wanted to say yes. No father could ask for more for his own child then for them to marry someone their daughter deserves. Can any one of us think of a better man?" Arthur challenged the room.
"I nearly said yes, but something, some will greater than my own held me back. Who am I do deprive the world of the light's own champion. How many lives might I be condemning if I were to accept Harry at his word and allow him to relinquish his sword and devote himself not to the world, but to my only daughter? I- I would that I could be so s-selfish.
I-I am so terribly s-sorry,Ginny,… s-so sorry." Arthur collapsed into the sofa, sobbing his anguish into his hands.
Surprising, Ginny was the first to try and comfort her heart sick father. Both clung to each other in shared grief and disappointment.
Many murmured their understanding around the room. Some even acknowledged their agreement with Arthur's reasoning and ultimately his decision, much as it pained them to do so.
Ron and Hermione did not share their opinion.
They approached Arthur, where he clung forlornly to his heart broken daughter. Each consoling the other.
Ron glared down at his father. "I'm sorry too, dad, but you and mum made the wrong decision."
"Harry would have found a way. As daunting as that sounds, he would have found a way." Hermione steadfastly voiced her trust in her friend.
"You gave up on him when he defeated Voldemort, we all did,.. And look where that got us?" Ron reminded his family.
"He stood his ground at the World Cup in Romania and held back an entire army of dragons and dark wizards, allowing thousands to escape safely. Anyone else would have died impotently within seconds, but not him, never him. He did the impossible. He not only saved us all, but triumphed." Hermione added proudly, brushing bright tears from the corners of her eyes.
"We're all Hippocrates, all of us." Ron growled at the room. "We'd hoped for, prayed for even, someone like Harry too come along and save us. Despite any rational expectations to the contrary, he did the job every time. How do we thank our heroes? - with a pat on the back and a useless medal for a job well done. We do almost anything to show our appreciation. Anything but our daughters- their off limits." Ron scathed, shooting a dark look at his father.
Hermione pulled at her husband's arm. "Come on, Ron. They don't understand and we're wasting our breath trying to explain."
"E-Explain what?" Ginny stammered.
Ron shook his head sadly down at his father and sister. He pitied them, but it was Harry who he held his empathy for.
"Maybe you've been married too long, dad. Maybe you've forgotten over the years, become complacent having so many healthy and happy children of you own and a loving wife at your side through it all? You and mom got together after school, but it was still during the first war with Voldemort and people we're dying every day; mum's own brothers died. You were both in the Order of the Phoenix right after graduation. You both knew the risks, but you still fought against Voldemort and you both still got married and had children. Tell me something? If you knew back then that you might not live to see those children would you have done anything differently? Would you and mum have loved each other any less? Do Ginny and Harry deserve any less of a chance than you and mum had?"
Arthur Weasley's face paled dramatically at that.
His daughter burst into tears and ran from the sofa they'd shared and flew up to her room, shrugging off attempts by her siblings to try and comfort her with reaching hands.
Ron nodded his head toward his in laws. "You two ready, I think Hermione and me have had enough of this?"
"Yes, thank you, Ron" Hermione's father rose from his seat and offered his wife an arm which she gratefully accepted.
As the two joined Ron and Hermione, Jane Granger paused to deliver her thoughts on the matter to a still gapping, Arthur.
"Do all Ministers of Magic lose their common sense when they take office? All our time on this earth is preciously short, its how we spend the time we have that matters. I understand your reasoning, but I cannot sympathize with your choices. The war was raging when Hermione fell in love with Ronald. You're whole family was in the thick of it then. Was I to tell my only child that she couldn't love and be loved because it wasn't safe? Was I to tell the both of them that they couldn't go off with Harry to fight because the safety of the rest of the world wasn't worth the price of their own lives?"
Jane Granger shook her head sadly at the broken man sitting before her.
"I'm disappointed in you, Arthur. You're a better man than this, but you'll never be a better man than the one you condemn to heartache and loneliness."
The next day, Ron received an official notification that Quidditch practice was set for Tuesday at 9am sharp, CLOSED-SESSION, which meant, No press. No visitors.
That was it. No return message from Harry despite the owls they had sent and the numerous fire calls that had went unanswered over the past two days to Harry's home.
They'd gone to Hogwart's, the stadium and training facilities-nothing.
Ron had even gone to the extreme of fire calling Draco Malfoy, though he was secretly relieved his former school nemesis wasn't home to receive his call.
Tuesday morning could not come soon enough for him or Hermione, who was beside herself with worry over Harry.
Ron arrived at the Chudley training field twenty minutes early only to find Harry had already completed his training, was showered and heading out for the day.
Harry greeted him politely, pleasantly even, but left before Ron could so much as even think to try and engage him in any kind of meaningful conversation.
The most startling thing was that Harry was not wearing any sort of glamour, his scars on his jaw line and exposed shoulders and arms were readily noticeable and he seemed completely unconcerned about it.
Every day was the same. No matter how early Ron went in, Harry had already trained and left for the day. It was unusual not to have the whole team train together, but in truth, it was technically unnecessary for the seeker to drill with the rest of the team.
Ron returned home to apologize the his wife who's anxiety worsened everyday he returned without securing something, anything, in return from Harry.
The final practice on Friday was the most grueling yet. Ron dragged himself wearily home to deliver yet another disappointment to his wife on the Harry front.
Instead of a worried tension filled home he found a gaggle of Weasley/Granger women cavorting conspiratorially over afternoon tea in his dining room.
All conversation died when his presence was noticed. Gulping nervously he steeled himself for disappointing his wife once again.
"Anything?" Hermione asked, though her tone seemed more curious than worried, which was a notable change for the better.
Ron shook his head. "Sorry, no. I didn't even see him in passing today. I wouldn't have guessed he even practiced this morning if it hadn't been for the wet towels by his locker. If it wasn't for the game day roster posting on the locker bulletin, I wouldn't have even been sure that he was even going to play tomorrow, but his name was posted as starting seeker."
The women at the table all shared a pointed look.
"What's up?" Ron asked noticing the uncomfortable feeling shared amongst them.
"Have you seen this morning edition of the Prophet?" his mother asked.
Ron was about to answer negatively, but his eyes caught the pile of not only the Daily Prophet but a slew of other publications piled up in the middle of his dining table.
Ron's face went a touch pale as he asked knowingly pensive "What's he done now?"
Several amused snorts came from that, except his mother who hissed her displeasure at the rest, quieting them.
Though better after clearing the air Tuesday night at the Burrow, things with his mother and father were far from entirely comfortable. Most of his siblings, hell, all of his brothers were less than pleased with their parent's rebuff of Harry. Ron and by extension, Hermione were still at odds with his folks over the issue and neither side had a clue on how to move forward from here.
Even if they were to immediately accept Harry and everything that entailed, there was still this gap left by the original damage done. Seeing his mother sitting at his table enjoying afternoon tea with his wife was perhaps the last thing he expected today.
For Ron and Hermione it was a black and white issue. Harry was good enough to be considered a part of the family in every way that matters, except for -Ginny. He could fight their country's wars one day and attend family picnics the next, but he was forbidden from dating their daughter. The whole thing stunk and Ron and Hermione had been quite vocal regarding the issue.
His parents agreed, but their decision still remained unchanged.
As tense as things were with his parents, they stood by their decision.
As difficult as that was for he, his brothers and extended family to accept, it was Ginny's stance on the issue that was the most unsettling to Ron and 'Mione.
Ginny sat in the Burrow living room professing her love and willingness to commit to Harry only to later accept her parent's decision with rather surprising grace.
When he'd cornered his sister to ask in no uncertain terms "Just what she was playing at".
She'd had the audacity to state that "If Harry isn't willing to fight for me, for us, then I'm better off without him."
Ron had gone ballistic at that. Things had escalated till the two had gone for their wands and started throwing hexes at each other. If there was one thing that could be salvaged out of this whole mess, it was Ron's smug attitude in the knowledge that the little terror of the family had finally received her comeuppance from one of her elder brothers.
He'd given her a nice set boils that was sure to make practice on a broom this week- an uncomfortable experience.
His distraction passed and Ron was about to ask his mother what she was referring to when his floo blazed to life and his sister sauntered into the room.
The tension in the room went up a hundred and fifty percent when the two siblings caught sight of each other.
Ginny's hand twitched toward her robe pocket, only Ron hissed "Try it? I'd like that Ginevra, I really would." he threatened.
The challenge was one thing, but calling her by her given name, usually set Ginny off in a heartbeat.
Her eyes narrowed to slits, but her brother just smirked back at her reaction. His recent victory had boosted his confidence considerably where the 'little terror' was concerned.
His mother clearing her throat meaningfully had them backing off a step, but Ron still pressed.
"Practicing hard?" Ron threw out smugly.
"Whatever for?" Ginny returned sarcastically sweet.
"That's enough you two" Their mother warned.
"It's my house." Ron reminded her irately, Molly gaped at that.
"You wouldn't have a house if Harry hadn't given you one." Ginny quipped.
Ron just raised an eyebrow at the slight and returned confidently. "Yes, Harry's quite generous to those who are loyal to him."
Ginny's expression turned molten at that and her hand twitched again, but Ron already had his wand in hand and was twirling it nonchalantly in his fingers, humming to himself the Battle Hymn of the Republic.
"Enough, Ronald" his wife warned.
"Ginevra" Her mother intoned warningly.
Both reluctantly backed down.
"Why's she here?" Ron thumbed in his sister's direction.
"Because I asked her. I think you both might be interested in the want-ad posted on the Prophet's front page today." Hermione explained, passing them each a copy of today's newspaper.
MAGICAL N/KIGHT!
Witches everywhere, beware. Break open those piggy banks, Hell- empty your Gringott's account, for this once in a lifetime opportunity!
Chudley Seeker, World Cup Champion, Order of Merlin Recipient, International Singing Sensation, Magical Knight ect, ect…- Harry Potter is offering lucky witches everywhere the opportunity of a lifetime.
For the price of one galleon, Witches can purchase a raffle ticket to win a Dream Date with the Magical world's most eligible bachelor!
Raffle tickets can be purchased at all Gringott's locations, Weasley's Wizarding Wheeze stores and threw the Chudley Cannons box office.
One hundred percent of all sales go to charitable causes, such as the Knight Way foundation.
When asked by this reported if he had any preference regarding what sort of lady he might be interest in; Harry Potter had this to say:
"Certainly no witches under the legal age nor those already in a committed relationship."
When pressed further about traits he found attractive in the fairer sex, Mr. Potter replied: "While I would rather the witch be closer to my own age, I don't really have any preferences except; must dig scars and… NO RED HEADS NEED APPLY!"
I can only suggest this to you unlucky red heads out there- HAIR DYE! -Rita Skeeter
The two siblings finished reading about the same time; though each was surprised their individual reactions were far different from one another.
Ron beamed winningly suggesting he'd have the ad framed as it was the finest piece of reporting the Prophet had ever produced, before breaking down into fits of laughter.
Ginny on the other hand screamed her outrage and tore the paper to shreds before storming back to the floo and leaving without a backward glance, her sympathetic mother followed distantly in her wake.
Hermione had a hand over her mouth as she stared at the far wall, trying to keep from laughing.
"It seems war has been declared?" Jane Granger chuckled
"Yeah, and after the first round it's Potter =1 and Weasley = 0 ." Ron added chortling.
Hermione smiled and wiped an amused tear from the corner of her eye as she sighed under her breath "Nicely done, Harry. Very nicely done."
"Whoa ,… now that's what I call a kiss!" Lee Jordan's voice cackled in astonishment over the air waves.
Gwenog Jones went over to Potter with hand extended to wish him luck and Potter just spun,( the startled, but obviously willing chaser and captain of the Harpies), into his arms and planted kiss on her that has the usually stolid chaser swooning like a school girl at mid pitch."
"Now what's happening down there? Chaser Ginny Weasley appears to be trying to collect her captain from Potter's clutches, but Jones looks reluctant to depart the Cannon's seeker. I'd give anything to hear what they're saying down there. Whatever it is, Weasley looks none too pleased."
"You've got a nerve!" Ginny growled pulling a dreamy eyed Gwenog Jones from Harry's embrace.
"What? She's not seeing anyone is she?" Harry asked innocently
"That one? She plays for the other team she does" A Cannon beater remarked.
"She used to." his comrade added pointed out laughingly, the rest of his team joining in.
"How was it Potter?" A Chudley chaser asked.
"She likes peppermint." Harry called over his shoulder with a smirk.
The rest of his team guffawed.
"We'll settle this in the air, gentlemen." Ginny hissed in challenge.
"On brooms?" Harry feigned surprise. "Well, if Gwenog's up to it, I'll give it a try, but can we at least wait till after the game and everyone's left the stadium,… I'm a bit shy, ya know."
"No, I didn't know." Ginny huffed and turned with a growl, guiding her dazed captain back to the Harpies' side of the pitch.
"She's just jealous cause she's a RED-HEAD!" One of the cannon's called out mockingly, the rest of his time sniggering at the remark.
Ginny paused in mid step, her back quivering in anger, but she shook it off and with a growl under her breath and pushed her captain back to her waiting broom.
Hermione turned to her mother in the box next to her and chuckled quietly:
"Make that Potter = 2 and Weasley = 0"
The game was both brutal and one for the record books. Both sides played with fierce intensity and at the two hour mark the score stood Chudley 180, Harpies 140. The Harpies' chasers were playing fantastic, but Ron was the league's premier keeper, and it showed.
"Potter's diving toward the Cannon's right goal. I think he's seen the snitch. Morely's hot on his tail….. Watch Out! Potter pulled out at the last possible instant and Morely fell for the diversion. She poled herself!"
With a deafening clang, the Harpies' unsuspecting seeker slammed into the right goal post and slid brokenly to the grassy pitch below.
Harry pulled up center pitch watching the medi-wizards cart off the unconscious Harpies' seeker.
Ginny pulled up next to him and growled out "Bastard." under her breath.
Harry shrugged indifferently. "Does that leave you as emergency seeker, Ms. Weasley?"
Ginny narrowed her eyes in his direction. "Don't think you can pole me, Potter." she hissed in challenge.
"I already poled you- remember?"
Harry's broom shot away before a gapping Ginny could even think of a comeback. His laughter drifted back on the wind to a hissing and spitting red headed hellcat.
Jane Granger pulled her omnoculars away and sniggered to her daughter. "By the looks of things, I'd say it's: Potter = 3 and Weasley = zip."
Hermione nodded her agreement her eyes still pressed to her omnoculars, watching in amusement as Ginny swore profusely at Harry's retreating back.
At the four hour mark the teams were nearing exhaustion and the score was tied at 250 even. It was up to both teams' seekers at this point.
The Harpies reserve seeker was young but good, though she was no Harry Potter.
Though the Harpies seeker was the first to spot the snitch, Harry had easily over taken the inexperience seeker and his hand was just nearing the tiny winged ball when his ears heard the distinct "CRACK" of a broom stick shattering and a voice he easily recognized screaming…."Har-reeeee!"
Harry pulled his eyes from the prize and scanned the pitch below him. Ginny was in a freefall, screaming in terror as she plummeted toward the rapidly approaching ground beneath her.
Both teams were moving at break neck speed to try and intercept her, but even at the distance he could tell that they'd never reach her in time.
The stadium was silent except for Ginny's desperate screams of terror. Time stood still and Harry threw himself off his broom, disappearing in a burst of flame and smoke.
Several bursts of smoke tracked Ginny's descent, before Harry appeared in a flaming burst just beneath her wind milling form, and pulled her into his arms, clamping his legs around her legs and midsection protectively.
They both disappeared in a ball of flame and a split second later reappeared in another burst on the Harpies' side line.
Thousands upon thousands watched in silent wonder as Phoenix song filled the air around the stadium and Harry Potter's body burst into golden flame.
The stunned crowd remained silent as Harry held Ginny close and the golden flames enveloped her for a moment, before he passed Ginny's limp form tenderly to a team of medi-wizards.
No one even registered the whistle blow when the Harpies seeker caught the snitch that Harry abandoned to save Ginny. It wasn't till after Harry Potter staggered away from the Harpies side, fell to his knees in exhaustion and disappeared in a flash of lightning,… thunder faded away in the distance.
The Sunday paper's second page announced the Harpies win and their subsequent World Cup berth for the first time in forty years.
The paper's front page was reserved for a full page picture of an incredible act of selfless good sportsmanship.
The headline read: Potter Loses in Spectacular Fashion!