I hope everyone reading likes long chapters! This isn't exactly 5,000 words, more like 4,700, but I was close! If you guys enjoy remember to review, follow, and favorite!
Chapter 16:
"Potter? Harry Potter? The Boy Who Lived, come to die?"
It's okay, I'm just dreaming.
"HARRY! Harry help us!" He turned, Ginny, bloody and beaten, standing next to him.
"Ginny? Ginny, you're sleeping right next to me! This isn't real! None of this is!"
He heard Voldemort, his cruel laugh as he cast a spell. Ginny writhed in pain and cried out, looking into his eyes. He saw the pain, and even though he knew it was all fake, it just looked so real.
"GINNY! I'm coming, you're okay!"
The more he ran, the farther away she got. He ran and ran, until he was nowhere. She was nowhere. Voldemort was nowhere. He closed his eyes.
"Wake up." He opened them again, and he was standing in a forest. He squeezed his eyes shut.
"Wake up!" He opened them, and he heard whispers.
"WAKE UP!" Once more, he opened them. There stood his parents. Sirius. Lupin. Tonks. Mad Eye, Fred, Snape, Dumbledor, Colin, and the list went on and on.
All of the people who died.
All of the people who I killed. I sent them to their death. He looked around, and their eyes. Red death, pouring out as they stared.
"YOU KILLED US!" His mother shouted. Her mouth was black, a black abyss.
"YOU KNEW WHAT WE WERE GOING INTO BUT YOU DIDN'T STOP US!" Colin was shouting.
"No, no! I didn't know any of you were going to die!" Snape sneered at him.
"Of course you did. You little disgraceful mutt." Harry turned, looking at all of them, looking into their faces for anything other than hatred.
"You should be here. Not me! I could be happy! Married, grown up to have a family of my own! Not ripped away from the people who I loved! They all hate you for doing this!" He shook his head, the monster he once called Fred shouting at him.
"Dumbledor!" Harry looked at the one person he always trusted, who always guided him.
"You knew. You could never have won! I did half of the work for you. Took you quite a while to find the rest of them you halfwit." Harry fell to his knees. Whatever hell this was, he wanted out.
"I should've let him have you! We always could have had another kid! A better one! One that wouldn't have murdered so many people!" His father screamed.
"I DIDN'T KILL YOU!" Harry stood up, anger coursing through him. The dead laughed. Yet he heard new laughs throughout the group. He turned around. Everyone he loved. Everyone he thought loved him. Their red, dead eyes dripping. Their mouths black and empty. Laughing.
"I didn't kill you!" He felt weak. He fell to his knees once more.
"I didn't kill you." He felt the tears, and looked down. He closed his eyes, and the world went black. The laughs got quieter.
"I didn't-"
"Harry!" He heard Ginny's voice. He felt her hands on his arm. He blinked his eyes open, taking in the world.
"Harry, are you okay?" She sounded scared. His stomach turned, remembering her in the hell he had just escaped from. He ran into the bathroom, vomiting into the toilet.
"Harry! Please say something!" He was shaking, and felt cold and hot at the same time.
"Ginny." He flushed the toilet, leaning against the wall. She sat in front of him.
"Harry, please tell me you're okay." She was on the verge of tears.
"Ginny." He repeated, reaching out and touching her cheek. She was warm.
"Harry, please, please, say you're okay!" He leaned out and pulled her close to him, and she started sobbing into his shoulder. They sat there for a few minutes, before he spoke.
"I'm fine." She looked at him, and he looked worn.
"I woke up and you were shouting. You yelled my name, and then you went silent. Then you started shouting you didn't kill them. Over and over." He replayed the vivid dream over, remembering every second, every face, every detail.
"Harry, you're pale. Are you sick?" He looked at her again, and he pulled her close again.
"It was just a dream."
"What?"
"It-it was just a dream. I'm fine." They stood up, and the world turned. He fell against the wall, and Ginny pulled him up.
"Harry, I think you're sick." She led him back to the bed, where he laid down. She sat on the bed next to him, as he tried to pull her into focus.
"Harry?" Her voice sounded distant. He blinked, and looked across the room. The sun had come up, and it was blindingly bright. He turned back, the room blending together as he tried to focus on her face.
"Ginny?" His voice sounded so clear. But why did she sound so distant?
"Ginny?" She touched his arm.
"Harry! You aren't okay." He sat up, and the room blurred as he moved.
"Harry, you're sick. Stay here." She stood up, but he grabbed her arm.
"Please don't leave me." She looked pained, but she pulled away and grabbed her wand. He saw her leave the room, and he was alone with his thoughts.
'What's going on? I was fine last night. I think I was. That dream messed me up. No, I'm just sick. At least, I think I am.'
Ginny returned, a glass of water in one hand and her wand in the other.
"Drink." He gulped the water down, realizing how incredibly thirsty he was.
"I talked to mum. I asked her to come over as soon as she could." He blinked a few times, and reached over for his glasses. As he put them on, the world got clearer, but he started to shake.
"Harry, you're shivering." He turned his body and stood up. Ginny went to push him back down, but she felt how cold he was.
"Please sit down."
"Ginny, I'm fine. At least, I think I am." She huffed.
"Stop being stubborn. Mum will be here in a few minutes. Until then, please sit down." He shook his head again, and the dream came back to him again. He felt his stomach turn again, and he ran back towards the bathroom. He had heard the knock on the door, but had been too preoccupied vomiting his intestines up to acknowledge it.
"Harry, are you okay?" He heard Mrs. Weasley's voice, and another surge of gagging came.
"Mum, I've never seen anyone this sick."
"He's probably just got the stomach flu. He won't be feeling well for a few days, but he will be fine." Ginny sighed, and spoke.
"He woke up before, screaming, then ran in here and vomited. He's a little off right now." Mrs. Weasley sighed and put her hand on his shoulder. He coughed, and started to gag again.
"He's very cold. Ginny, can you get a blanket?" Ginny left and returned with a warm, fluffy blanket, which she wrapped around him. A few minutes later, they got him sitting on the bed, yet noticed he was just staring.
"Harry?" The dream was haunting him. Every laugh was going through his head.
'What if they we're right? Those, things. Those, monsters. No, they can't be. I'm just thinking too much into it.'
Ginny sighed.
"I really hope he isn't going to get like this every time he gets sick." Mrs. Weasley chuckled.
"Harry, would you like anything to eat?" He blinked, returning from his thoughts, and he looked up at her. She wasn't one of those monsters. She was Mrs. Weasley.
"No. I-I'm fine. Thank you." He shivered and glanced at Ginny.
"I really am fine Gin. I'm just sick." She still looked worried.
"Harry, you didn't look fine when you woke up this morning." He shook his head and stood up. He walked over to the closet, grabbed a sweater out, and turned back to her.
"I swear, I'm fine." He left the room, walking down the stairs.
"Well, he recovered quickly." Ginny looked over at her mother.
"And, if I may ask, is that what you always sleep in?" Her mother looked at her outfit with concern. Ginny looked down, realizing she was standing there in a short, skimpy night gown.
"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry! I forgot I was wearing this." She ran into her closet, pulling on some shorts and a pull on sweater. Her mother laughed, and they went downstairs. Harry was sitting at the kitchen table, writing quite fast.
"Harry?" He jumped, but looked up.
"Yes?" He sounded stronger, and had regained some color.
"What are you writing?" He blinked.
"Letters." He was blunt, and continued writing.
"Well, I'm going to go, Arthur will be getting home soon. Had to work overnight. Ginny, call if you need anything else." She left, and soon, the only sound was Harry's writing. She walked over to the fridge, pulling out some juice.
"Would you like some?" He looked up.
"Yes please." She frowned. He continued writing, focused only on that. She set his juice next to him, yet he paid no attention. She glanced at the paper, and saw he was signing it. He folded it up, and went over to the window.
"Snowstorm?" He called. The owl popped up out of nowhere, and he attached the letter to his leg. He whispered where it would go, and the owl went off. He sat down, pulled another piece of paper out, and started to write. Ginny watched him for another ten minutes, until she saw he was signing his name again. He got up, made an envelope appear, and placed the letter inside.
"Harry, if I may ask, who are you sending letters to?" He looked at her.
"Family." He was keeping his responses short. She stood up, and went to pour herself some more juice. He picked up the bottle and poured more into her glass.
"Would you like any breakfast?" He asked, and she shook her head.
"I'm fine. Are you okay?" He hugged her.
"Stop worrying. I'm fine. Really. It was just a dream."
"What? What was a dream? You've been saying that for the past hour and a half." He sighed, and shook his head.
"Gin, I don't want to rethink it, okay? I'm fine." She pouted. He went over to the table, and drank the glass of juice she poured for him. He smiled at her, hugged her again, and went upstairs. He brushed his teeth, making sure every inch of his mouth was rid of that awful taste. He looked into the mirror and sighed. When he went back into the bedroom, Ginny was laying on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. He laid down next to her.
"Are you tired?" She glanced over at him, and saw he was looking up.
"Kind of. We didn't fall asleep until late last night, so that's probably it." He smiled, and looked over at her.
"I wonder why that was." She laughed quietly. She looked over at him.
"Who were you writing to?" She asked again. He sighed, but gave her an answer.
"Well, the first one is for Malfoy. The second is for the Dursleys."
"Why?"
"I'm not sure. I just felt like writing to them I guess." She snuggled up closer to him, and they quickly fell asleep.
"Really? It's the afternoon. I expected you two to be up by now." Harry blinked open his eyes, seeing Ron's face.
"Nice of you to join us." Harry heard Ginny grumble and roll over.
"Ron, go away." Ron snorted.
"Thanks for being so homely sis." He heard someone else coming up the stairs, probably Hermione.
"Ron, stop being a git and let them sleep." Ron huffed. Harry blinked a few times, putting his glasses on. He and Ginny got up, following the two to the kitchen.
"We heard you were sick this morning Harry." Harry sighed, getting some water.
"I'm fine." Ginny groaned.
"Stop saying that. You've been saying that since six in the morning." Ron raised his eyebrows.
"Why were you two up that late?" Ginny laughed.
"We didn't stay up we woke up."
"Sure." Hermione hit him, causing him to mutter under his breath.
"Harry, are you sure you're fine?" He huffed, clearly annoyed.
"Yes. If I'm not allowed to say it, then no one is allowed to ask me, okay?" Ginny, Hermione, and Ron sat at the table, while Harry stood, leaning against the counters.
"What do you think you have?" Hermione asked.
"Probably the stomach flu. Could've picked that up from anywhere." She looked over at Ginny, who nodded.
"Never saw anyone that sick." Ron started giggling, making everyone roll their eyes.
"What? It's funny that someone can puke and it not be me." Hermione made a face.
"Ron, ew." He rolled his eyes.
"What are you guys doing today?" She asked.
"Taking a walk down to the mailbox when I can, that's it for me." Harry answered.
"You have a letter to mail?" He nodded.
"Mmhmm. Want to get it out today also."
"Who's it to?" Ron asked, getting up to raid their food supply.
"Dursleys." He stopped, looking taken back.
"Why are you writing to them? They made your life hell for how many years?"
"So? Just because they were mean doesn't mean I can't write to them." Ron continued his search for food, sighing.
"You're too nice Harry. You should really just stop thinking about them."
"No. I want to make sure they're okay. I shouldn't have waited to write this long either."
"See? Stop caring about them. They probably don't care about you." Harry shook his head, going upstairs.
"Ron, Harry still worries about them because they are his family." Hermione was shaking her head at him, never noticing how inconsiderate he was. A few minutes of talking later, Harry came down, grabbed his letter, and walked outside. He was at the gate when Ron came out, deciding to tag along.
"The mailbox is just down the street. I'm not going to get sick again while walking there." Ron shook his head, walking next to him.
"Can I talk to you about something?" Harry looked at him, but motioned for him to continue.
"Well, how did you propose to Ginny?" Harry looked confused.
"I asked her if she would marry me? It really isn't that hard." He shook his head.
"No. How did you even decide that you wanted to marry her? How did you get a full, unjumbled thought that said, yeah, I want to marry her?" Harry sighed, thinking back.
"Well, of course I love her, so it came naturally. You can't force yourself to think something like that." Ron looked down at his feet as they walked. They approached the mailbox, and Harry put the letter in. They were a few feet from the house before Ron spoke again.
"Well, if you can't force yourself to think a thought like that, I guess I should probably do it then."
The next day, Harry was still sick. He had been up all night, and by morning, he lost five pounds from vomiting so much.
"Aww. Poor thing. I'll get you some juice, okay?" Harry was laying down in bed, feeling like he was hit by the night bus, until Ginny returned.
"Here. Are you hungry?" He laughed.
"I would say I am, but I don't think I can keep anything down." Ginny took care of Harry for the rest of the day, even though he asked her not to worry so much about him.
"You're sick. Telling your wife not to worry about you when you're like this just makes me think you're dying." He laughed, feeling a bit better. He wasn't out of it like the day before. And he wasn't shaking as much. But he had been stuck in bed, the only time he would get up was to go to the bathroom. But, by the next day, he was done with the flu. He felt better than he had felt in weeks.
"Hey Ginny, did Ron ask you anything about Hermione when he was here?" He had been sitting in the kitchen, thinking about his and Ron's conversation.
"No. Why?" Harry smiled, remembering what he said.
"He asked me how I proposed to you. How I even decided I wanted to propose to you." Ginny gasped.
"Is he going to propose? Oh, he better. I'm done with him breaking her heart with every fight he starts." Harry laughed.
"I'm not sure. You should ask if he did when we see him tomorrow." They were going to the Burrow the next day for dinner. Fleur had said she had some news, and wanted the whole family there. Mrs. Weasley had been very excited when she heard that, hoping that she would be having a grandchild on the way.
Around three o'clock that day, Snowstorm returned. There was a piece of parchment tied to his leg, and Harry hoped it wasn't his own.
"Is that from Malfoy?" Harry shrugged. He pulled the paper off of Snowstorm's leg, and scratched his head. He opened up the seal, and read.
"It's from Malfoy." Harry quickly read the note to himself, a smile tugging at his mouth. He handed the paper to Ginny, who then read it herself.
'Dear Harry,
I have received your letter, and I was quite surprised you sent it. You sent a few questions in it, so I decided to answer them. I see you have figured out that my father had made me get branded by the Dark Lord, even though I myself had figured out some time ago that his intentions were wrong. While my family had worshipped him, my mother and I had not, so I forced myself to. Thank you for getting leniency on my father's sentence, though the world might be better off if he was in Azkaban for a bit more. You said in your letter, that you no longer wished to be enemies. I agree, and never actually wanted to cause you harm. My childhood self was influenced by death eaters, and knowing that your parents were killed by the man my family worshipped must've made me think I had something over you. I am truly sorry for being such a twit, and hope that there are no hard feelings.
-Draco Malfoy'
"He never really hated you?" Harry shook his head.
"Well, I guess it is pretty good you sent that letter then." Harry smiled, getting up and kissing her.
"Was that why you sent them?"
"Why?"
"So you could feel better about your past? Make sure that there are no bad feelings?" He shrugged.
"I think so. I don't want to mull over things that happened a few years ago." She smiled and kissed him back.
The next day, the Burrow was very busy. A lot of noise was going on during dinner, and a lot of laughter. At the end of dinner, Fleur and Bill stood up.
"We uh, have a very exciting announcement. Fleur?" She was beaming, obviously she couldn't wait, because the second Bill stopped talking, she started.
"I'm pregnant!" Mrs. Weasley jumped up, hugging both of them. She couldn't wait for grandkids, and she had been made to wait so long. The next few minutes were very loud, as they were getting congratulated. After everyone had calmed down, Ron stood up, his face red, looking quite nervous.
"So, this may not uh, be the best time, but I wanted to ask Hermione a question." Ginny grinned, looking over at Harry. Ron turned to Hermione, who was looking confused, until she saw Ginny's face.
"Hermione, um, will you marry me?" Mrs. Weasley squealed, and Hermione nodded. The entire family was loud again, everyone congratulating the couple and chattering again. By the time Ginny and Harry got home, it was late, and they were tired out from Mrs. Weasley.
"Mum almost went into shock with all of the news." Harry laughed, pulling his shirt off to get ready for bed. He turned to look over at Ginny, and she walked over to him, putting her hands on his chest. He kissed her, and while they did go to bed, the rest of the night was not spent sleeping.
The rest of the week went by quickly, and Ginny had noticed Harry checking the mail every day.
"Are you still waiting for them to write back?" Harry nodded, looking down at his coffee.
"I really hope they actually read the letter." Ginny took his hand.
"Well, if they don't respond by next week, we should go there ourselves." Harry looked at her.
"Are you sure? I mean, they aren't the nicest of people." She nodded.
"I'm entirely sure. If you want them to hear you out, we'll go to them." He smiled, kissing her. She huffed.
"What?" She grinned.
"I'm pretty sure we get nothing done around here because you keep kissing me all the time." He grinned back at her.
"Well, if you don't like my kisses, I can kiss you less." She laughed.
"Nah, I think I'm fine with getting nothing done."
Another week passed by, and Ginny had to deal with Hermione starting preparations for her wedding. She got home from the Burrow late one night, to find Harry laying on the couch reading a book.
"Was I this annoying while planning our wedding?" He closed his book, making room for Ginny to lay next to him.
"What do you mean?" She huffed.
"Well, all she does is talk! She has every detail planned out, but then she wants to rethink every single one. And the colors! Damn all of the colors!" Harry laughed, wrapping his arms around her and picking up his book again.
"You we're nothing like that." She looked at him.
"Really?"
"Yeah. You were a bit crazier." She laughed, lightly swatting his nose.
"Well, I didn't rethink every single thing I did ten times." They laughed, and she kissed him. Harry sighed.
"What?"
"Well, I guess I'm done reading for tonight." And with that, he carried her upstairs.
Harry sighed as he walked into the kitchen, no letter yet again. It had been a little over two weeks, of course they had gotten it. Ginny had knew what he was thinking, and she was trying to get him to take her along with him for the visit.
"Ginny, they aren't nice people."
"We dealt with awful people our whole lives."
"You won't like them."
"I don't need to like them." This was back and forth for another two days, until he finally agreed. They would be heading to Privet Drive the next day, so Harry spent the night mentally preparing himself to see them again.
'What if they aren't there? Of course they'll be there it is their house. But, they may not want to see me. What if they were injured?' He eventually let his mind rest, falling into a deep, dreamless sleep.
Ginny took Harry's hand as he apparated them to the shaded corner near the Dursley's house. She gave him a slight smile as they walked hand in hand down to the house. He hadn't been here for over two years, but it still looked the same. The same perfectly manicured lawns. The same colored cars all the way up the street. The exact same house, over and over again. Ginny looked around, seeing all of this, taking it in.
"Quite boring here isn't it?" Harry smiled.
"You get used to it. Here's their house here." They walked up the path to the door, and Harry stopped. His stomach jumped. He looked at Ginny, and knocked on the door. He heard voices inside, and footsteps approaching the door.
"No Vernon. It's probably just a package being delivered." Aunt Petunia answered the door, putting on a fake smile.
"Hello. Are you-" She stopped as she saw her nephew standing there, with a beautiful girl at his side. Her smile dropped and she paled.
"Harry." He gave her a slight smile, seeing her eyes dart around, looking to see if any of the neighbors saw him.
"Who is it Petunia?" Vernon called, and she ushered them in. They followed her to the living room, were Uncle Vernon and Dudley were sitting.
"Hello Uncle Vernon." His uncle jumped when he heard his voice. His back had been to the door when they walked in, and he slowly turned, recognizing him immediately.
"Harry?" His cousin stood up, looking from his cousin, to his mother, to the pretty girl holding his hand.
"Potter. Why did you come here? We got your letter, we didn't think we had to write back." Harry sighed. His uncle hadn't changed since he left.
"I came here for that reason. I needed to see that you three were alright. I never heard about you after the war." His uncle's face went from anger to shock. The thought that Harry was there to see if they were okay never crossed his mind.
"Okay? You want to know if we're okay?" Harry nodded, expecting his uncle to start shouting.
"When I got back, I was fired. We have been living off of nothing for the past year! Our reputation in this neighborhood has been destroyed, and we still don't know if people are watching us or not!" He felt Ginny squeeze his hand, and he gave her a smile.
"If you need any help, I would be glad to help." His uncle gave a cruel laugh.
"Help? You've helped enough. I highly doubt you'd be able to give us anything, even though you owe us when we took you in when you were two!" Ginny let go of his hand.
"He owes you nothing. You treated him cruelly his entire time here, and now that he's going out on a limb to help you, it doesn't sound like you're going to accept that." Vernon gave her a look.
"I see you're still hanging around this group. Probably gave them all of your money, so you came here to get some from us. Well, I already told you, we have nothing!" Harry sighed again, reaching into his pocket.
"What are you doing? You aren't allowed to use magic in front of us!" Harry laughed, pulling out a check book.
"That was when I was in school. And I'm not using magic. I'm writing a check." Dudley had perked up when he heard check, because as of now, he had been staring at Ginny.
"I didn't run out of money, I have a lot more then you ever had. Would this be enough?" He walked over and handed his uncle the check.
"Five hundred thousand? Bet you've been robbing banks since that mold guy died. Probably trying to get us all thrown in jail." Harry was starting to get annoyed. His uncle was too much in denial that he wasn't accepting his help.
"I did not steal this money. It was left to me by my parents." Vernon reached to rip it apart, but Petunia stopped him.
"Vernon, the man my sister married came from a rich family. We need that money and you know it." Vernon looked at her like she was crazy, then looked to Harry.
"Well, if you're rich, then I think we deserve more!" It was Ginny who spoke.
"He has his own family to think about. Either take that, or you don't get anything." Vernon snorted.
"Family? We're his family." Harry shook his head, going to stand next to Ginny.
"I got married last month. I do have a family."
"Married?" Petunia seemed surprised. They hadn't gotten an invitation or anything.
"Yes. Me and Ginny. We had all of the people we love there." Uncle Vernon's face started to go red.
"If you actually cared about us, you would give us more. You know I'm right! I took care of you for eleven goddamn years and this is how much you repay us in? You owe us a lot more than this! And if you aren't gonna give it to us, then I suggest you leave." Harry smiled.
"It was nice seeing you three again. Nice to know you haven't changed." And with that, him and Ginny left the Dursley's house.