Chapter Seven: Moving On

"Alright, I'm coming, I'm bloody coming!" Harry yelled at whoever was on the other side of his front door. He had just been about to sit down for his tea when the wards in the kitchen had gone off, telling him that someone was at the front door. He knew it wasn't Hermione or Andromeda, the former was at work and in roughly an hour he would be seeing the latter anyway. So, armed with his wand and knowing deep down that it couldn't a threat as no-one but his friends knew where he lived but not wanting to take any chances, he had headed for the door.

"Hi," a voice all too familiar said when Harry opened the door. Rain plastered his hair to his scalp and the owner of the voice looked as if he had been standing on the doorstep for a few minutes. Probably working up the courage to knock. It had been the knock which had set off the wards. An awkward silence ballooned out in front of them, filled by the sound of rain, typical of a British summer. Harry had long since come to the conclusion that no matter the season somehow it was always semi-likely that the clouds would darken and the heavens would open up. It was just one of the perks the British grew used to. Constant dreariness punctuated by occasional rays of sunshine.

"Can I come in?" Ron Weasley asked, "it's a bit wet out here."

Harry shrugged and opened the door wide, letting a rain-soaked Ron in before shutting the world out again. The all too familiar hush overcame him, as it always did when he shut the door to Grimmauld Place, yet this time it was shattered as Ron mumbled a few spells to dry and warm himself up. Harry said nothing. If Ron had appeared only a few days earlier, just after his meeting with Eliza, Harry was sure he would have slammed the door in Ron's face. He hadn't wanted to talk to anyone that day. He thought he was doing quite well with stony silence, given the fact he had barely seen Ron in months.

"I'm sorry I'm here so late," Ron said when he had dried his clothes. "I know you've got to go see Teddy in a bit, but I had to come round." He waited for a moment, wondering if Harry would say something, when he didn't Ron ploughed on. "Well, it's just – I mean – Look, Harry, mate…"

He stopped again under Harry's intent listening. It was a tactic Harry used at work, as he had often discovered the best way to put people off was cling to their every word. Ron wasn't the first to fall in the face of Harry's aggressive listening. A small part of Harry enjoyed watching him squirm. The bitter part. The part that wanted to hate Ron. The part that wanted to hate everyone.

"I just wanted to say, I'm sorry, for, you know, not being here much lately. It was stupid and I get that but-"

"Save it," Harry said bluntly. Daphne had been right. There was no point clinging to something which made him miserable and Harry had missed his best friend, more than he cared to admit.

"What?" Ron asked stunned, faltering in the middle of a speech that Harry was sure he had taken hours to rehearse and prepare.

"It's fine. I get it. I hated it but I get it. She's your sister and I'm your best mate. You couldn't take sides. It's as much my fault as anyone's, I never told you why it happened or anything. So, I get it, Ron. You don't need to apologise."

"So, are we okay?" Ron asked densely clearly unprepared for Harry to take him back so readily.

"Yeah, we're okay," Harry confirmed. Ron nodded slowly as if finding it difficult to take in. But Harry's fight had never been with Ron. It had been with Ginny, for what she had done - but Ron hadn't known. Hermione had only known bits, fractions of what had happened and Harry had sworn her to secrecy. He wasn't about to badmouth Ron's sister to him. Ron's position had been impossible and Harry knew he hadn't been the only one to suffer because of it. Ginny had lost her brother too.

Harry wasn't sure how it happened, only that they went from standing in the hall to hugging and then Ron was laughing. No doubt thanks to the relief washing over him and the nerves that had built up on the doorstep. But Harry didn't care. He had his best mate back. It was a strange sensation. Part of Harry had blamed himself for the position Ron had been in, forced to choose between friends or family and ultimately choosing neither. But it was all out now. They could move on. Everyone knew what had happened.

"I wasn't meant to come today," Ron confessed when he and Harry had headed downstairs. Harry - after the initial shock of seeing Ron soaked on his doorstep and apologising - remembered about the meal he had cooked for himself. "Hermione wanted to come together. She's been working herself up about the ball, Merlin knows why but she blames herself for what happened."

"But she didn't know Ginny was going to be there," Harry said as they entered the kitchen and he took his place at the table. Ron, however, helped himself to a drink first. A habit that he seemed to have fallen back into without realising. It was a habit both men shared when they visited one another to treat the other's house as their own. Neither minded, despite how odd Hermione thought they were for doing so.

"Try telling her that,"

"I will when she comes round," Harry told him as Ron took a vacant chair at the table. "Let's face it, she'll be here as soon as she realises you've been."

"That won't be 'til tomorrow," Ron said opening his bottle of butterbeer with a wave of his wand. The bottle cap bounced down the table. "She's at work all night. Something about a Dutch bloke. Minister something or other. Anyway, they're having a big meeting tonight. After the ball she managed to convince him it'd be a good idea to settle to an agreement this week."

"Let me guess, since then she's worked at it non-stop?" Harry asked although he knew he didn't really need to.

"Yep," Ron nodded before taking a swig of butterbeer. "You know what Hermione's like, work comes first."

"Are you two alright?" Harry asked frowning slightly, he recognised the signs. He should, given the circumstances. Having gone over every scrap of time he had spent with Ginny in his head, he finally began piecing together the hints of bitterness she had thrown at him. Scornful looks, the odd snide remark that he hadn't noticed and very occasionally the odd argument. But he had put the arguments down to them just being a normal couple. Everyone argued. But it had been more than that and he hadn't seen it coming.

"Yeah, why wouldn't we be?" Ron said clearly confused. Typical Ron. Oblivious to everything.

"Because Hermione's living to work," Harry explained, "not the other way around. D'you ever actually see her these days? I know I haven't really. She pops round occasionally but she's usually just working."

"I guess not, but with the shop and everything I'm pretty busy too." Ron pointed out although his frown didn't leave his face.

"Look, mate, I'm not saying things aren't fine or anything. But this is how things started with me and Ginny. I thought everything was fine, got wrapped up in work and didn't notice she wasn't there until, well…" he trailed off, Ron knew exactly what had happened after that. "I'm just saying that maybe you guys should put each other first for a change, before it's too late."

"Thanks mate, but we both know Hermione'd never -"

"I know, just think about it alright?" Harry asked. "Eliza's made me do a fair amount lately and to be honest, Ginny probably had a good reason to get out while she could. Mind you, according to her Ginny never got past the Boy-Who-Lived either so it wasn't the only reason. I just don't want it to happen to you guys, that's all I'm saying."

"Cheers mate," Ron said clearly unsure what else to say. "How are things going with Carnell? Reckon she'll let you back soon?"

"I don't know, she doesn't really ask about auror stuff much," Harry answered when he had swallowed his mouthful of stew. "It's more about me and Ginny or the Dursley's."

"You told her about that?" Ron asked, his eyebrows shooting out of sight in surprise, hiding under his flame-red fringe.

"Yeah, most of it. It was weird, I didn't mean to, I just sort of happened. One minute we were talking about trust issues and then I was telling her about living with them. But it helped, talking about it. I guess I never really got past it." Ron was silent for a moment, seemingly too shocked by the sudden revelation to speak. "But yeah, I don't know when I'm going back yet. Though, Daphne seems to think that Davis will let me back as soon as he can."

"Daphne? Not Daphne Greengrass, the Slytherin?"

"The very same," Harry replied, unsurprised by Ron's apprehensive reaction. Despite having seen first-hand that Death Eaters could come from any house, Ron still firmly stuck to the idea that the only thing to come from Slytherin were dark wizards. It was a prejudice he had grown up around and was hard to shake off, not that he had ever had much cause to try.

"But she's a Slytherin," Ron said nonplussed. "What'd you wanna talk to a Slytherin for?"

"Was, Ron, was," Harry pointed out exasperatedly. "Doesn't make much of a difference now we're out of Hogwarts. She's actually alright. I think you'd like her."

"I'll take your word for it," Ron grimaced making it clear that he'd do no such thing.

"Don't worry she's not evil, no master plans to kill me or anything."

"How are you meant to know, that's the point of a plot. Be a pretty rubbish one if you knew all about it," Ron pointed out unable to hide his grin. Harry just shook his head and carried on eating, while Ron spun off mad theories about how Daphne Greengrass could kill him or use him in a plot to bring back Voldemort from the dead. Harry's personal favourite was his murder would facilitate the end of a blood feud but only if he was killed naked and at full moon in a brass bath. It really was good to have Ron back.

It took Harry time to adjust as the weeks rolled by. He had gone from having practically no-one for three months, barring Teddy and Andromeda and occasionally Hermione, to suddenly have his best friend back as if nothing had changed. He and Ron would meet up a few nights a week, after he got off from work and after Teddy had fallen asleep, for a few quiet drinks, usually at Ron's. Harry wasn't about to argue, he had been cooped up in Grimmauld Place for far too long. On the odd occasion Hermione would join them after work, although they were incredibly rare as there was always some diplomatic 'crisis' that needed her attention. Day or night. But it was good to have them back, even if it was only for a few hours a week. It had taken them coming back into his life for him to realise just how much he had missed them. It had been almost on a par with how much he had missed Ginny those first few weeks. But even that pain was starting to go away, thanks to Eliza.

The sessions, despite how much he had initially been against them, were actually helping. More than he cared to admit. Daphne was the first to notice the change, or at least voice her opinion. Hermione had no doubt noticed before but refrained from touching on such a delicate subject. She was the diplomat, after all. But Daphne had no such qualms.

"You seem better," Daphne said after their food had been served by a polite muggle waiter. They were sitting in a small restaurant in Oxford. The beauty of magical travel was that they could go anywhere in the country and still be back in time for her shift. Their meals - he refused to call them dates even in his mind - had become more regular, moving from once to twice a week. Every Tuesday and Friday they would meet, usually somewhere in muggle London. The location changed regularly due to Daphne's new found interest in muggle life, having never been exposed to it before seeing Harry on a regular basis.

"Tactful as ever," Harry remarked dryly. He had learned over their time together that Daphne wasn't one of those people who skirted around a point. If she had something to say she did, generally speaking. There had been times he got the feeling she had wanted to snap at him, especially when Eliza had shattered everything he had believed about his relationship with Ginny. His reaction had been a little self-indulgent and he wouldn't have blamed her for losing her temper with him. But instead she had held her tongue. It had been one of the rare occasions that she had.

"Doesn't stop me being right," Daphne pointed out with a small, cock-sure grin. "Seriously though, it's good to see you smiling."

"It does make a nice change," Harry agreed. For the first time in a long time he wasn't constantly wallowing in self-pity about Ginny. Sure there were moments, times when it all came back or something reminded him of her, of them. But it was getting less and less. It wasn't that he'd moved on, but rather he was moving on. Step by step. Inch by inch. Sometimes without even realising it.

"Speaking of change," Daphne said moving the conversation swiftly away from him, as conversations about him so often did. "Tori's no longer going to be a Greengrass."

"They've set a date?"

"Not just a date, they were talking about sampling cakes when I left."

"You sound so excited," Harry commented dryly. The glare he got back was one he would remember for a long time.

"It's going to be awful. I'm going to have to smile and pretend to be happy. She better not expect me to hug him."

"I'm sure you can manage one day," Harry said trying his best to sound optimistic.

"I'll have to," Daphne moaned, stabbing a piece of chicken with more viciousness than he had been expecting.

"It won't be that bad, Tracey will be there and so will your dad. Besides, it's only one day."

"I think I preferred you when you looked on the dark side," Daphne remarked the sarcasm practically dripping from her words as she smirked at him. There was a slight pause, filled with careful thinking on her part, although Harry was enjoying his food too much to notice and was therefore blissfully unaware.

"I have to bring someone," Daphne said slowly. "A plus one. As sister of the bride there are certain things I have to do. Being seen with a date is one of them.

"How civilised, who's the lucky guy?" He looked up, their eyes met and suddenly he was aware of the real reason for the conversation being piloted towards her sister's wedding. The situation was all too familiar. He really should stop being so available. He should probably fill up his social calendar or something, maybe take up a hobby or a sport. Then he wouldn't be free to be invited to these damn things. Or perhaps a better term was emotionally blackmailed. He couldn't quite make up his mind. "Seriously?"

"Imagine his face, it would be worth it for that alone," Daphne pointed out. "Come on, all of his family are going to be there and they are really annoying."

"Not really selling this to me here, Daph," Harry countered. "Mind you, guess it isn't a surprise anyone related to Malfoy is a git."

"Aren't you technically related to him too?"

"Thanks for reminding me," Harry scowled. But it wasn't saying much, most pureblood families were related to each other somewhere along the line. James Potter was no exception to this rule.

"Pleasure, so, will you come? I can personally guarantee there will be free food."

"Fine," Harry answered a smile pulling slightly at his lips. The reference to the first time they had met had a strange sort of symmetry to it. The difference this time was that Ginny wouldn't be invited. Malfoy might have to swallow his invitation, Daphne's plus one could hardly be refused. But Ginny wouldn't stand a chance of being able to tag along on anyone's sleeve. Not that she would want to. She hated Malfoy almost as much as he did, and that was saying something.

"Tracey will be thrilled," Daphne said before taking a sip of wine. "She's been dying to meet you."

"Why?" Harry frowned.

"Because you're not an unspeakable," Daphne answered with a small shrug. "She seems to think all my friends come from work. Though, she can hardly talk, she's never out of St. Mungo's these days. Bucking for a promotion as a healer isn't easy."

"I bet, I don't know how she does it," Harry said shaking his head a little. Being Healer was something he had the utmost respect for, it was one of those jobs he knew he would never be able to do. It took a special kind of person to sit by anyone's sick bed, whether they knew them or not. For all his experience in them, Harry would never be able to stand the other side of the curtain. He had seen enough wounded at the battle of Hogwarts for a lifetime.

"She's always wanted to do it, ever since we were kids. Merlin only knows why."

"Got to give it her for doing it though,"

"I know I couldn't," Daphne confessed her face going serious for a moment. But then it was as if the shutters came down, locking away the memory that caused her eyes to go dark. She looked up at him, forcing a smile that went nowhere near meeting her eyes.

"How long have we got?" Daphne asked shifting the conversation away from healers with the subtlety of a rampaging Hippogriff. Harry didn't question it. If she had wanted to tell him she would, if not, then it wasn't any of his business. Wanting privacy was something he could respect. It would be more than a bit hypocritical if he didn't.

Harry glanced at his watch, "Not long," he answered. That was the one problem with going to a restaurant for lunch, sometimes serving took time they didn't really have.

"Go when I finish this?" Daphne asked noting his practically empty plate.

"Sure," Harry agreed.

A few minutes later and they were back in London, standing outside the visitor's entrance. There was no way to apparate into the Ministry these days, not unless the caster fancied either being splinched or sent massively off course by a few hundred miles. Ernest Pendergast, ironically the head of the Department of Magical Transportation, had forgotten this particular fact and ended up somewhere in Aberdeen. In the fright he'd dropped his wand, which was then summarily run over as it had rolled away from him and onto the busy road in the town centre. It had taken him three days, a snow plough, a helpful muggle named Pam and a joyriding cocker spaniel called Colin before Ernie had gotten home.

"Guess I'll see you next week then," Harry said as Daphne stepped into the phone booth. They had stopped heading to the Ministry together ever since a 'friend' of Rita Skeeter's had seen them together. It had taken a few galleons to make Rita's 'friend' forget that she had seen Daphne and Harry together. They had both decided it wasn't worth the risk. Neither of them much fancied being the front page story of Witch Weekly.

"Sure, meet me in Diagon Alley at twelve?" At his arched eyebrow Daphne said, "Well, we've got to get you measured for robes sometime, haven't we?"

She flashed him a quick slightly forced grin and a wave before he had chance to retort and shut the door. A moment later there was slight juddering and the inside of the phone box slowly descended out of sight with Daphne inside. Harry just shook his head and walked away, heading for the newsagents on the corner. It was a habit had grown into after having lunch with Daphne to get a copy of The Times before having a slow walk back to Grimmauld Place. Although, sometimes the walk was rained off but that day the sun was mercifully out and he was going to enjoy it while he could.

The rest of Harry's day passed all too quickly, his evening with Teddy went by in a blur until he found himself sat with his sleeping godson. Moonlight drifted in through the window, all of the other light in the room had long since been extinguished. Teddy lay beside Harry, fast asleep, his hair slowly and rhythmically shifting between colours in time with his breathing. It wasn't something that happened very often, but sometimes as dreams claimed him, Teddy's untrained abilities would kick in. He still had a lot of learning to do.

There was a gentle knock at the door, he turned to see Andromeda smiling fondly at the pair of them. Slowly Harry got to his feet, careful not to make a noise that would cause Teddy to stir as he headed out the door.

"Thought I'd better come and get you," she whispered as Harry gently shut the door. "Before you stayed in there all night."

"It would be easy to do," Harry admitted as they snuck down the stairs.

"For you, maybe," Andromeda said her voice going back to normal when they entered the living room. She paused before speaking again, setting herself down on the sofa an air of seriousness coming over her as her flicked to the picture of her daughter on the mantelpiece. She looked younger than Harry had ever seen her, but it was undeniably Tonks. The heart shaped face gave it away, even though everything else was different.

"Thank you, Harry. For everything. I know it's not always been easy for you to find the time to come up here. But we both appreciate it."

"It's okay, I don't mind." Harry said quickly before she could add anything else. She hadn't taken the idea that Teddy was somehow to blame for Harry's engagement falling apart well. It had only been a throw-away line in one of the articles circulated after the ball but it had stayed with her. No matter how much Harry tried to tell her otherwise. If anything had been eating into his time it was the aurors. Not Teddy. An hour or two every night was nothing compared to the time he had dedicated to work. It wasn't the only problem they had had. But it was the one he was the most to blame for. He could have spent less time there, but he hadn't and there was no going back.

"I want to be here," Harry assured her.

She smiled, a mixture of sadness and warmth radiating from her. It was times like these that he found it hard to see how he had ever mistaken her for Bellatrix. Not that anyone could make that mistake anymore. Andromeda didn't look like a skeleton, after all.

"Did I tell you, I'm going to Malfoy's wedding?" Harry asked, forcing the conversation down a route that was less awkward for everyone involved. Thinking about Tonks and Lupin even after all these years was a sore topic for them both, one that he didn't like to dwell on. "Daphne insisted."

"Two months and already you're chaperoning her," Andromeda smiled. He had been wrong. This wasn't a topic that made him feel any less awkward. Damn. "Can we expect a happy announcement soon?"

"We're just friends. Besides, I went with Hermione to that stupid ball, it's the same thing."

"Hermione has Ron."

"So?"

"It is different, whether you see it or not. Just, do me a favour? Be careful." Harry could practically feel the phrase 'after last time' hanging over the conversation like petulant raincloud eager to open up and drench him.

"When am I not?" He asked, knowing that any continued protestations would be shot down. Andromeda, once she got hold of an idea, wasn't exceptionally good of letting it go. A fact that probably explained why she had gone and married Ted Tonks instead of letting her parents talk her out of it. This time though, she was wrong. Not that she would realise it, of course.

"Do you want the full list or just highlights?"

"I'm good for either, thanks." Harry said glancing at his watch. It didn't make fun reading. He sighed, getting to his feet, noticing the dull ache in his neck and back. Sitting in an uncomfortable chair all night really wasn't a good idea. "I'd better go, it's getting late and -"

But before he could finish a knock at the door, hesitant at first. Then the knocker stopped before trying again, this time harder as if somehow they had worked up the courage to carry on. Harry waved a hand at Andromeda who had started to get to her feet before heading to the door glanced at him, frowning slightly. Who would be visiting at this time of night? Slowly and almost without realising it he pulled out his wand, realising as he did so that this was probably how Mad-Eye started down his path of paranoia.But at the same time he wasn't about to let his guard down, he'd seen what happened to too many people if you did.

"Sorry to come round so late I just…" a voice started as he opened the door. But as soon as the moonlight hit his face it came to a sudden, awkward halt. So did he. They both stared. He felt his wand against his leg, he hadn't even realised he'd lowered it. The confusion he had been feeling moments earlier was rapidly being overtaken with a mixture of anger and surprise. Anger though was starting to outstrip surprise the longer he stared. "Hi."

"What do you want?" he demanded, stepping outside the door and closing it before Andromeda came to investigate. Why, when he was starting to get his life back on track did she have to turn up? Again. Why? The hand that had gone limp was slowly curling. He could feel his fingernails digging into his skin. It took all he had to restrain his voice from rising, to let the anger bubble out.

"To see you," Ginny Weasley said quietly, "Sorry. I know you don't want to see me or anything."

"Too right." He didn't bother to hide the venom in his voice. He was too tired of the past being racked up to observe niceties. Besides, he had done more than enough for her by letting the public go on believing her fairy tale.

"But I had to come, I've meaning to for a while, it was just… hard."

"I bet it was awful," Harry muttered, just about keeping hold of his voice. Before he would bottle all this in, let it implode inside him, but that wasn't the case anymore. He was sick of being the martyr. Following the stupid mentality that speaking out meant that they won had gotten him nowhere, well he was damned if he was going stay stuck forever. Sure, he was probably being petulant and childish, but being repressed and 'adult' had hardly done him any favours.

"Just shut up a minute, would you? I'm trying to say -"

"What? That it's all my fault? Save it. You made it pretty clear last time and you know what? I'm not perfect, I screwed up, but you don't have the right to -"

"I'm sorry!" she yelled, cutting across his tirade before he could get any further. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Harry asked sceptically. He stared at her, his brain taking a little while to catch up with what he had heard. All the pain, the heartbreak, everything, it had twisted how he saw her. Every time he thought about Ginny the worse it got, the more she just became selfish and stupid, the kid that had never grown out of her childhood fantasy and torn his life down with it. He knew he'd made mistakes too, he'd accepted that, but that didn't take away from the fact she wasn't free of guilt either.

"Yes, I'm sorry. I am sorry, okay? For everything. For us, for me, for not being understanding, for not talking about it with you, for pretending everything was okay. All of it. I didn't want it to get out of hand, Harry, I didn't. I just wanted you to pay attention, I know it's stupid, I know all that. I didn't want it to be like this. But I can't change that. So, I'm just here to say I'm sorry, Harry. I really am."

"Why?" he managed through gritted teeth, his mind racing as it absorbed the new information. "Why now?"

"It's better than if I don't," she answered. "I don't expect you to forgive me or for us to get back or anything. I just need you to know I'm sorry. For you," she paused, her eyes moving from his face to the ground, the confidence that had allowed her words to come tumbling out seeming to fade, "and for me. We need to move on, Harry."

"Kind of hard to do that when it's the papers every day," Harry retorted. Amazingly this wasn't a lie, even though it was weeks after their little fight in public the Prophet would still run the occasional article, his absence in the Wizarding World causing continued speculation. "Although, you'd know all about that, you're the one that gave them everything."

"I didn't -"

"They quoted you!" he roared.

"I didn't know they were listening!" Ginny told him quickly, her eyes meeting his now. "Really, Harry, I didn't. I was telling Luna about everything that happened and someone must have overheard us or something. I didn't want that, but when it happened, maybe I could have done something. I don't know."

"But you didn't. You didn't do anything, you just let them carry on destroying my life!" Harry yelled losing track of where he was, forgetting that in the house behind him was his sleeping godson and his grandmother who treated Harry like the only family she had left. All Harry could see in that moment was Ginny and how everything she had torn had ruined him. He knew that he was partly to blame, he understood that, but it had been Ginny who had crossed the line. Ginny who hadn't come out and corrected and of the stories which, in his mind, was almost as bad as going to the press in the first place.

"No. I didn't. I was selfish, hurt, I don't know. Part of me just wanted you to feel like I did." There were unshed tears in her eyes. But, typical Ginny, she wasn't letting them fall. Growing up with six brothers tended to put you off showing weakness to anyone.

"Well you did a great job there," Harry snapped bitterly, "Look, Ginny, no offense but sorry isn't enough. Not for this. I mean, sure, we both made mistakes, I get that. I should've been there more, seen what was going on and given you more time. But what you did, what I saw… I can't forgive you for that. Not now. Not in a few weeks. Not ever. You ruined my life, whether you went to the papers or not you still let everyone believe I was some kind of violent nutter."

"Harry I was just -"

"What? Upset? Lonely? There are some things you don't do to people you supposedly love or care about. Cheating on me and for the bloody world to see, that is one of them! So you want to move on? Fine! So do I!"

There was a long moment of silence. A single, solitary tear trickled down Ginny's cheek as she stared at him. Harry knew why, he hadn't held back and hadn't minced his words because once he had loved her. He'd let her know just how she had made him feel. The blame wasn't all hers, but from where he was standing she was more accountable.

"Harry?" Andromeda said from the doorway. Harry whirled around, he hadn't even heard her open it. "What's going on? I thought I heard -" Then her eyes looked past him, saw Ginny and narrowed. "What is she doing here?"

"Leaving," Harry answered bitterly, turning back to Ginny. "Go on, get out."

"Harry -"

"Get out!" Harry roared his anger bursting from under the surface once more. Something hot hit his leg. He looked down to see that sparks had been shot from his wand, which was still clutched in his hand but forgotten until then. It must have reacted to his fit of temper. When he looked up again all he saw was Ginny's retreating back as she walked away.

"Good riddance," Andromeda said, "come inside, Harry, I'll make you some tea. I won't have you apparating in this state."

"I'm fine!" Harry snapped with more venom than he'd intended. "Sorry," he said quickly, as soon as his brain had caught up with what he'd done. "But really I'm fine."

"No, you're not," Andromeda said flatly.

Harry just sighed knowing that Andromeda was right and there was no chance in hell that he would be able to convince her otherwise. Shoulders slumped with resignation he followed her back into the house. The anger was slowly fading being replaced with a sense of inexplicable guilt for the pain he knew his words had caused Ginny and relief. It was a strange combination and one he hadn't been expecting. The relief he could understand. She was finally out of his life. He could move on. But the guilt, that something which was wholly unexpected. But should he really be that surprised? He still had some feelings for her. It wasn't something he could just shut off and walk away from. Not easily anyway.