Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.

A/N: This is a companion fic to my story Different Worlds and basically takes place during the Harry Potter books timeline and how things are different in my story. This fic is a Harry/Ginny story mostly from their point of view. Different Worlds is Ron/Hermione fic and is about them meeting for the first time after the war in a Muggle coffee shop. I had originally written a fic, A Different Life, and a good portion of the material for this fic comes from that one, especially the later chapters. I'm posting these chapters separately because I didn't want to have this side plot to distract from my main story.

While you read this fic, keep in mind that all the major plot points that happen in the book are still going on in this story. I'm just trying point out the difference that takes place without Hermione being at Hogwarts.

Chapter One

First and Second Year

Harry Potter had no idea how to describe what had happened to him in the last two years. It all started when he received a letter, the first letter that he ever got, and how that led to him finding out that he was a wizard. He could hardly believe it when Hagrid had told him. He could hardly believe anything that Hagrid had told him, starting with being a wizard, to learning that he would be going to a wizarding school call Hogwarts, to visiting Diagon Alley and all the wonders there.

However, it was when Hagrid told him why everyone knew the name Harry Potter that he realized that there were dangerous things in the wizarding world too, and more importantly that he was involved in the danger. Apparently, there was a bad wizard name Voldemort that had caused terrible things to happen, which included killing Harry's parents, but had vanished when he had tried to kill Harry himself. And that was why he was famous, because he was the reason why Voldemort had vanished, most people believe that the dark wizard was dead, but Hagrid said that he was still out there somewhere.

Harry hadn't put much thought to the dark wizard for nearly a year, as he was too engrossed with going to Hogwarts and learning about magic. The best thing that happened to him actually occurred on his way to Hogwarts, though he was on the train there. That was when Ron Weasley had sat across from him and they talked about themselves, their worries, and all sorts of other things. Sometime while they ate the candy that he bought, Harry realized that he had just made his first friend of his life, and it didn't take much longer before they were best mates. That was probably around the time that they had both been sorted into Gryffindor house.

It was a good thing that he had Ron as a friend, because there were a lot of crazy things that happened at Hogwarts that seemed normal to Ron, but Harry had never heard about. Even though Ron knew a lot about magic, when it came to actually learning the spells Harry found that he was equal footing as his friend, and pretty much everyone else in his year. It was hard work, but he had managed to do well, at least no worse than anyone, in all of his lessons (except for potions but he wasn't sure that had anything to do with his effort and more to do with Professor Snape hating him). Then there was Quidditch! Probably the best sport in the world … he loved the feel of flying and the nervous excitement he got while trying (and succeeding) to catch the Snitch.

It was during Harry's first Quidditch match that he was reminded that there was an outside threat to him. Of course, even before he got to school, he had found a mystery starting with a small package being taken from a Gringotts's vault, then he stumbled across the vicious three-headed dog, and of course there was the troll in the dungeon on Halloween. But none of those things affected Harry directly (well except the dog, but that was his own fault). However, at the Quidditch match, someone had cursed his broom, making it throw him off it and he hated to think what might have happened to him if Fred and George (Ron's twin brothers) hadn't braced his fall. The fall was still bad, having broken his leg (which luckily was a quick fix with magic), but worse was nearly swallowing the snitch making it even more difficult for him to breathe once he landed.

After that match, Harry started trying to figure out what was going on at Hogwarts, however, he and Ron didn't make any headway until the second Quidditch match months later. That was when he had heard two of his professors (Snape and Quirrell) talking about the Philosopher's Stone, and it was clear that one of them was after the stone. However, the really threat became clear after he served a detention in the forbidden forest … which he received after he (and Ron) got a dragon (name Norbert) out of Hogwarts. Voldemort was definitely still alive, and he was trying to get the Philosopher's Stone so he could come back to power.

That's why he and Ron had gone through the trap door to try and stop Voldemort from regaining power, even though in the end he didn't really do anything that helped. They were nearly killed by the plant (that he later found out was called Devil's Snare) and if it wasn't for the candle that Ron had brought, they never would have been able to get pass it. Then there was the last obstacle, where he had to solve a riddle to get through a magical fire. He had no idea how long he had stood there trying to figure it out before he just looked at the bottles and noticed one that had some missing. Throwing caution to the wind, he drank the small vile, glad it wasn't poison, and hesitantly walked through the fire.

Then he had to face one of his professors (Quirrell), just not the one he thought it would be(Snape), and worse was when he came face to face with Voldemort, who was sticking out of the back of the head of his professor. Everything seemed to happen so fast after that, he was staring in a mirror one second and then he had the Philosopher's Stone in his pocket, and Voldemort was attacking him using his professor's body … then Quirrell was screaming in pain … and he realized that his professor couldn't touch him … and he had then decided to grab Quirrell …

Harry shook his head. This event was why he was looking through his memories right now, psyching himself up so he could talk to Ginny, Ron's little sister. As bad as his first year was, Harry knew that Ginny's first (his second) was worse. That year was worse for her than it was for him.

Last year, when Harry had arrived at the Burrow, after Ron had saved him from the Dursleys, he couldn't believe how incredible the place was. From the obvious signs of magic, to being able to play Quidditch, to the excellent food, and most importantly the Weasleys themselves, it all just felt like a real home, and he was happy to be invited there. He remembered how Ginny had been really shy around him, always blushing and acting nervously, or just disappearing altogether. He wondered if he had made more of an effort with her then, would things have been different that year.

Now everything seemed so somber, with everyone in a grim mood and Ron told him that Ginny had locked herself in her room since they got back from Hogwarts two months ago. Harry couldn't blame her. After being possessed slowly over time because she had opened herself up to her diary, sharing her soul with the monster that was within it. Harry didn't think he could hate Voldemort more than he did before, but creating a dark object like the diary was just vile. He hated Lucius Malfoy almost as much for planting the diary on Ginny, knowing that this was all going to happen to her.

Harry knew he was concentrating on his anger so he could distract himself from thinking about the real tragedy that happened that year. A girl had died. And Ginny blamed herself for that.

O

Harry wasn't sure why he was here, he wasn't good at talking to anyone about his feelings, but he couldn't just leave her alone … not when he might be able to do something to help her. As he knocked on the door, he was convinced that he could help her, because he had at least some kind of idea what she felt.

Ginny didn't answer the door, she didn't care who it was that was out there … she didn't want to talk to anyone. She felt disgusted … disgusted because she had been so close to that monster … she had trusted the diary without a second thought … had thought of him as her friend …. But the thing that she couldn't get out of her head … it was all her fault that a girl had died. She had tried to fight … she had thrown the diary away. Why the hell did I have to take it back? Why did I have to write in it again!?

"Ginny?" Harry said, opening the door and walking into her room.

Ginny flinched and shied away from him, though it was different than the way she normally had with her crush, this time it was in disgust. She couldn't help but feel that she had forever lost him because she didn't deserve to even be near someone as pure as Harry was. He was literally the hero that saved her life … that went into the sewers knowing that he would face a monster, just to save her. No, she could never be good enough for him, not now.

"Ginny, please look at me," Harry pleaded, hating to see how small and scared she looked as she held herself in a ball, flinching when she heard him and turning farther away. He sat on the corner of her bed, facing away from her, feeling that if he didn't have to see her, it might help him to be more open with her. "I don't know what you're actually going through … but I do have a pretty good idea … the shame … the emptiness … the blame that you put on yourself.

"Last year I ki … I was the reason why someone died," Harry sighed heavily. He didn't often think about this but he had gone over this in his head a few times (especially when he was in the hospital wing at the end of his first year) and it always made him sick. "It's different I know. Quirrell was evil, he was working with Voldemort."

Ginny flinched hearing the name, but she had also turned to look at Harry taking in his words.

"But I'm still the reason why he is dead," Harry choked on the word, it was the first time he said this out loud. "I knew that my touch would hurt him, was burning him, but I still did it …."

"You were protecting yourself," Ginny said in a thick voice (as she had only said a few words to her parents in the months that she's been home), but she couldn't let Harry blame himself for that.

"I know," Harry turned to her and smiled sadly, which caused Ginny to blush and turn away from him, but this time that reaction from her had felt more natural to him. "I'm not sure if you have it worse than me or not, I mean I did … I am the reason why he's dead … even if he would have died no matter what when Voldemort left him … I'm still the reason, if I hadn't touched him … but he was evil, he decided to follow Voldemort."

Harry took a breath to gather himself and then added, "You had nothing to do with what happened, no control over it, but she was a good person, that was just at the wrong place …."

"Don't," Ginny said softly, she was feeling better as she listened to him, until he started talking about her and she knew how wrong he was. She wasn't innocent, he didn't know all the bad things she had done, and she couldn't let him continue to think that she was. "It was my fault! I wrote in that d …" she faultered and couldn't say that word outloud but she didn't stop, "book … I didn't fight hard enough … and then I took the book back!"

"Why?" Harry asked unnerved at how she was crying now, he was trying to make her feel better after all. He hoped that by asking his question he could make her see what he was saying.

"What?" Ginny said, startled by his interruption. She tried to look at him, but she couldn't meet his eyes, so she looked down at the floor.

"Why did you take the d … er … book back?" Harry asked the question, he had wanted the answer to this for a while now, but he never could ask before.

"I saw you had it … I didn't want you …" Ginny admitted and she remembered her fear of what the diary might do to him … but she also feared what Tom might say to Harry … such a stupid selfish fear that had led her to write in the book again.

"You thought he would try to possess me too," Harry said frowning, he almost wished that she would have let him keep it.

"I couldn't let that happen," Ginny said softly as a tear rolled down her face. "But I didn't have to write in it again … I was just weak …"

"Ginny listen to me," Harry said awkwardly but this time making sure she was looking into his eyes. She didn't want to look at him, but she couldn't look away. "This is not your fault. You fought as hard as you could … I know you did because how else would you have been able to get rid of the book. But it was Voldemort! He's evil and powerful … and he was the one that did this!"

Ginny opened her mouth to say something, but Harry continued.

"I know it's hard to live with this … knowing you had any part in someone …" Harry paused again, he couldn't say the word death, but Ginny understood what he meant. "But you can't let that pain, the guilt take over, because what was the point of me going down into the Chamber. Please Gin … don't let him win … don't sit in here and let the grief take you over …"

"I …" Ginny said as her lip trembled; she didn't know what to say about that; could she really try to live her life after what happened to that other girl? It didn't seem fair and yet, what Harry said made sense too. To give herself time to think, she asked. "Do you really feel guilty about Quirrell?"

"I don't think about that too often," Harry said in a even voice and Ginny gave him a questioning look. He bit his lip, he really didn't want to tell anyone this, but he came in here to try and help her and this just might do it. "If it wasn't for me … my parents would still be alive."

"What?" Ginny gasped, shocked by what he said.

"I don't know about my dad, but my mum, she definitely could have lived … but she chose to protect me," Harry said heavily, and it looked like he wanted to cry.

"Don't be ridiculous Harry; you had nothing to do with your parents' death!" Ginny said firmly.

"And you had nothing to do with that girl's!" Harry said just as firmly back at her.

"Harry …" Ginny said in shock, but then she gave him a watery smile. "I'll try …"

"Good," Harry smiled at her and soon after that he left the room, hoping that he could go up to Ron's room and brood over the emotions this conversation brought up in him. However, he couldn't because Ron was in the room, but soon enough his friend was able to cheer him up beside himself.

What was even better was that Ginny had come out of her room for dinner that night, which was a first this summer. Everyone was so pleased to see her that dinner was a bit louder than usual, though no one tried to force Ginny into the conversation (she really wasn't up for that, but she enjoyed being with her family). As the last week and a half of summer vacation went by Ginny became more and more like herself, complete with blushing at Harry every time she saw him.

A/N: I sort of skipped the details in second year because pretty much everything is the same (except they never did the Polyjuice Potion) until the attack before Harry's second Quidditch match, since someone died. In my original fic, the girl was Penelope Clearwater but I'm not sure I wanted that this time, so I just said girl. I think someone would die because Hermione wasn't there using the mirror looking around corners. I was thinking about not having someone die in second year, but I thought Harry's speech to Ginny was good, and it's part of my characters development in the other fic.