Hi, welcome to yet another chapter. I hope this one goes down better for some of you. Thank you for all the continued support and reviews.

Ginny sat, legs tucked beneath her body, unable to do anything. Nothing about Harry's flat felt right. He should have been here, laughing or complaining. He was supposed to have come straight to the flat after visiting the Burrow. The cushion held tightly against her chest provided little comfort. Kreacher had come and gone a few times, but never once could he tell Ginny anything more. Harry Potter was missing without a single trace.

She had been sitting on the couch for hours, the sun already well beneath the horizon, her fingers wrapped around a cup of tea long since empty. The people in the moving picture of Harry and his adopted family moved relentlessly; their smiles frustrating. Her body cried out for sleep, but how could she? Harry was out there somewhere. She hoped alive.

A sudden, almost uncontrolled, pop echoed from behind; the sound much louder than Kreacher's. Ginny leapt to her feet, the cup tumbling from her hands towards the floor, to face the noise. Harry strode, rather staggered towards a chair, his back turned towards her.

"Where have you been, Harry?" Half a day's worth of concern and fear quickly bubbled over into anger. "I've been worried sick for hours."

"I was busy," Harry replied without turning to face her. "I'm sorry… b…but I don't think I c…can see you anymore."

"I... What!" Ginny shouted. "How dare you say something like that, Harry?"

"I'm not g…good for you. Being near me will only g…get you hurt." Before she could reply Harry Apparated away leaving her standing alone in the lifeless flat.

Paralysed from shock, she fell back against the couch. What should she be feeling? There was nothing except a dull ache deep within her chest. Harry could not have been serious? Had he been? Two fingers pinched her forearm in desperation, hoping that this was all some twisted nightmare.

When she arrived at the Burrow the pain had yet to lesson. In fact it had grown steadily worse. It swelled and throbbed each time bringing her closer to understanding, nearer to the brink of tears. The emotions near overflowing.

"Ginny," her mother called. "Is Harry with you? I wanted to ask him about his..."

She'd not had the courage to tell her parents about Harry's disappearance and Gwenog had helped to get Dumbledore involved. Her mother's words, however, pushed her to the edge and over. "He's not going to be here anytime soon!" Ginny shouted. Her lips began to tremble. "He just left me!"

Mrs. Weasley looked up at the outburst; her face an image of confusion. "But this morning, he looked so happy."

Ginny nodded dumbly, a tear, the first of what might be many slipped down her cheek. Thankfully only the one leaked down her left cheek. "He did, didn't he?" She tried to laugh, the action threatened to shed more tears. "I mean everything was going so well."

The world grew misty and the only sensation was her mother's embrace. "It's going to be alright, Ginny. I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding. He probably didn't mean what he said."

She sobbed louder, her hands unable to keep her face dry. "I just don't understand. I went to his flat, waited all day, and then he comes in, doesn't even look at me, and then tells me that it's over."

Hands moved through her long hair. It just made the pain all the more real, those should have been Harry's hands. She stood abruptly. "I... I need some time alone." Ginny sniffed and tried to walk with some dignity to her room.

She was halfway up the stairs when her mind put the pieces together. "Malfoy!" she growled. "I'll skin that bastard alive!"

Gripping her wand tightly she ran out the back door, passed her stunned mother, and disappeared to Harry's flat. Her heart was beating loudly. Harry would sit down and talk to her. They would discuss this. He would not be leaving her over some fool Death Eater. When her vision stabilised she saw Harry standing in the kitchen.

Her mouth opened to shout; it died in her throat. His entire face was bloodied and bruised. Green eyes, filled with life these past months, looked empty and his hands trembled, the motion exaggerated by the large spoon in his right hand. When he spoke every word seemed forced and he stuttered. "I g…guess you d…didn't t…take my words well." He sagged unsteadily into one of the kitchen chairs.

"Of course I didn't," she said carefully while letting her mind take in the sight of him. "Do you expect me to just give up on us without a fight?"

His head dropped down in shame. "I c…can't do this to you, G…Ginny. Look at me." He tried to wave his hand before his face, but could not control his arms well enough. "I c…can't let this happen t…to you." His voice remained unsteady and grew steadily more hoarse.

Her legs began to move and before she knew it they were sitting across from one another. The scars on his face didn't look deep, but blood continued to leak slowly from them. Each looked to be terribly painful.

"Malfoy?" she whispered. Harry nodded in reply. "Can I heal them for you?"

"No," Harry barely managed to say. "They're… c…cursed, they'll need t…to heal by themselves." He raised an unsteady hand to his cheek and winced.

She reached out and took his hand in hers. It continued to shake. "Why are you shaking like this? You're voice?" He looked away jerkily. Anger welled up in her. "If you don't tell me how can I understand or help?"

Her loud words made him wince. "I... the C…cruciat…tous."

"Harry..." Ginny gasped. "How long?"

He shrugged and immediately hissed in pain. "D…don't know, you sort of lose c…count after five minutes."

"Five!" she cried out. "I'll floo..."

"N…no," he demanded fiercely. The reaction had him gasping in pain. His voice softened and he placed a weak, unsteady finger on her lips. His green, pain filled, eyes looked pleadingly at her. "I'm b…brewing the p…potion already. I'm just..."

"You need some help," she finished for him. It took all of a second for her to bounce to her feet. "So where do I start? I did rather well in Potions despite Snape."

Harry snorted. "He i…is a rather s…strange man, but g…good."

She worked methodically under Harry's direction. No wonder he had trouble, some of the ingredients needed to be chopped finely, others needed to be peeled. In his present state he would never have finished.

Eventually the potion lay simmering in a copper cauldron. She wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. Sometime during the process of making the potion, Harry had nodded off into a fitful sleep.

Most of the cuts on his face had finally closed, but even in sleep his body trembled. Ginny wished there was something she could do for him, but he'd been adamant that cursed wounds like these could only heal with time. The bruises as well, and those would take until Christmas probably.

"Harry," she called out softly. "Harry." This time a little louder. Groggily he woke from his slumber. "The potion is ready."

"T…thank you." His voice extremely hoarse. "C…can you please g…get me a g…goblet? T…top shelf..."

She rolled her eyes. "I know your kitchen better than you do, Potter."

With goblet in hand, she poured the rapidly cooling potion into it. Harry took it gratefully and downed the contents. His face scrunched up. "Dreadful." Then he sighed and his eyes closed in relief. "Feeeeels goooood."

Ginny took the goblet from his unsteady hands and went to place it in the kitchen. Blood drained from her face. "Harry?"

"Yeesss," he replied slowly.

"Please tell me that's not your wand on the table?" Her voice had risen a few notches. Harry did not reply. She reached out and grabbed the two pieces. "Merlin, Harry! Your wand!"

She faced him again, his eyes were damp, and his head hung. "He snapped it mere inches from my face." He choked out the words. "It resisted, but…" his head shook slowly. "It's broken."

"But…"

He stood, a wand emerged from an invisible holster on his forearm. "Kreacher retrieved my other wand." He stared at the wood in his hand. "Should've just asked the elf from the beginning."

"Other wand?" she questioned.

He nodded. "Not as warm and fuzzy as my own." The wand vanished from view. "Honestly, I hate the thing, but it works as well if not better."

"Two wands?"

He shrugged. "Bad luck, really."

"Do I want to know?"

He laughed. "You really can say something other than a question. And no, you probably don't want to know."

She tried to give him her best glare. The only effect it had was to make them both laugh. The jovial atmosphere lasted only as long as it took for Harry to grow lightheaded. She grabbed him before he could fall.

"We best get you to bed before you collapse." Harry nodded and allowed Ginny to lead him into the bedroom. She removed his jeans and shirt; both of which were covered in dried blood and riddled with holes. Free from the clothes he lay staring up at the ceiling. She sat beside him, trying her best to not wince at the wounds.

"Are you really leaving me?" she asked even though the answer troubled her.

He shook his head. "I don't think I could stay away from you even if I tried." He rolled his head to the side to look at her. "If I had half a brain I would be chasing you out again."

She hated herself, she was not the crying type, but tears formed again. Ever since meeting Harry he'd opened some deeper part of her. "How do you do this?" she muttered while wiping at her face with the back of a hand.

"Do what?" Harry asked.

"Make me cry, I only cry when you're involved." He reached up and stroked her hair.

"I told you I'm not good for you."

She trailed a finger along his arm. "Why do you keep saying that? I need you, Harry, like I need air to breathe."

He swallowed. "They'll hurt you if they knew we were dating."

Ginny sat up straight. "I thought Malfoy already knew. Wasn't that why the Bludger went after me?"

Harry shook his head. "I thought the same, we all did, but no. Malfoy is playing some game and you happened to be a pawn. Me saving you and nearly getting myself killed just helped."

"Then what is the man doing?" Ginny asked.

"He's trying very hard to orchestrate a public and nasty end to Harry James Potter."

She bit her lip to stop it from trembling. "Then stop playing, Harry. Leave the world of Quidditch." She looked around anxiously. "Pack your bags! We can leave England tonight."

He closed his eyes. "I can't. Besides I know what his game is now. He is going to come at me during a game. I can be prepared. If I go into hiding then he might find you and your family." His eyes opened, they were a bright green again. "As long as I am playing he will focus on me there." He brushed a strand of damp red hair away from her cheek. His hand trailed along her neck before he pulled her down gently for a kiss. "I love you, Ginny, and as long as I keep flying you and probably many other people as well will be safe."

Frustration and anger welled up inside of her at the thought a single person causing so much pain. She wanted to argue with Harry, but there seemed to be a strange logic to his words. She pulled away, eyes narrowed. "And don't ever try to leave me like that again, Potter. I love you and I will stand by you."

"You know I don't deserve you."

"I know, so count your lucky stars that I didn't hex you either."

He gulped. "I don't think I've got any stars left."

She smiled. "Then you'll just have to rely on me for your luck." She lowered her face again and their lips touched softly. Even so she felt a small wince of pain coming from him.

Afterwards she lay next to him. "Besides, you couldn't have left me now. The invites for our wedding have already been sent and I need a date for Ron's wedding next weekend."

"That's come quickly," Harry said. "And I still need to show you something." He groaned as he stood.

"Harry Potter," Ginny said loudly. "Get back into bed."

He grinned as he awkwardly dressed into some fresh clothes. "I really need to show you something." He held out a hand. Ginny rolled her eyes and took hold of the still trembling hand. The world warped and then she arrived in the middle of a dark room. Harry whispered an incantation and a fireplace roared to life. A few more whispered spells had the entire room illuminated by dozens of candles.

The room felt homely, but yet not in the same way as the Burrow or the house they'd given Ron and Hermione. From the brief months spent with Harry and the few times she'd been to Hermione's house she knew what the difference was. It had strong Muggle influences, but balanced by a slight magical vibe.

She inhaled while trying to take in the room. "Harry?" it came out slowly. "Is this?" she questioned, some part denying what it had to be.

Harry smiled, the candle light danced in his eyes. "Welcome to what I hope might be our home."

The breath she'd been holding escaped in a sigh of relief. "Is this what you wanted to show me earlier today? The reason why you were so happy this morning."

"Things got a bit side-tracked." He admitted.

She rounded on him. "I thought you were going straight back to the flat, where did Malfoy get hold of you?"

Harry looked unsure. "I was on my way to Gringotts."

"Merlin, Harry, why?"

"To get my second wand," he admitted. "I put it in my vault after you stunned Malfoy. No point in carrying two around if you're not in danger."

She shook her head. "All the more reason for me wanting to know why you have it. But first I want to see more." Taking his hand she dragged him to the nearest door.

The house ended up being much more modern than the one Harry had given Ron and Hermione, but the size was about the same. Instead of stone walls large glass windows looked out to what he said were beautiful landscapes of green forests and rolling hills. The garden was much larger and hidden deep within the English countryside. Well as far away as one could be from anything or anyone else in England.

"So?" Harry asked once he'd given the tour. "Do you like it? I know it's very different to what you're used to."

She stood before one of the large windows, which could slide open, her reflection stared back. Within it, she could almost see a family moving about and outside little kids running around happily. Some of them were even flying about. Her arm carefully wrapped around his waist and he let his weight settle on her shoulder. "I love it, Harry." Her other arm waved about in front of the glass. "I might need to get used to all this, but I can see us living here."

"You can?" He sounded relieved and almost disbelieving.

"I think this might just be perfect." They fell silent for a few minutes. "But, Harry."

"Yeah?"

"You're in no shape to play host this year."

He groaned. "I know, but I bet the Burrow is a great place for Christmas."

She smiled. "The best."

"I need to get to bed," Harry said finally. Ginny did not want to leave, but Harry really did not look well. In the end she nodded. He waved his wand and the house went dark. "Until March." He said to her and the house.

"Until March," Ginny agreed just before she took them back to his flat.

A/N

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. A bit different from the previous chapter. Things might also be a bit clearer now that Harry has some idea of what's going on.

Thank you for reading.