"I know Riddle's gone for good, but that– that doesn't stop him from returning in my dreams."
/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*
He looked over the crowd of people, pleased to see their encouraging faces. He breathed to steady himself and looked one last time at Ginny before beginning his speech. Behind her, a tall, thin, cloaked figure rose, binding her and levitating her in front of everyone. Ginny tried to fight, but everyone else watched in fear.
He couldn't believe what he was seeing as the cloaked figure pulled back his hood. "You thought you won, Harry?" the high, cold voice of Voldemort asked, sneering at him as he tossed Ginny up in the air.
"Please, don't hurt her," he whispered desperately, unable to move as Ginny screamed in terror.
Voldemort's smile grew wider. "Oh, I'm going to do much worse than hurt her, Harry. I'm going to make you watch as she begs for death. And I, being a merciful lord, will give her that gift, eventually. Did you really think I was gone? I'll always come back. You'll never be rid of me. Your loved ones will never be safe because Lord Voldemort always wins in the end."
He raised his wand, pointing it at the trembling body of Ginny, now on the ground in front of him. "Crucio!" he shouted.
Ginny was on top of him, begging him to calm down. "Please Harry. You're okay. Nothing's happening, I've got you. I love you, please wake up. Come back to me."
He blinked, breathing deeply again. "Gin?"
She threw herself on him, hugging him tightly. "Are you okay?" she whispered, and Harry could feel a wet spot on his shoulder where her head was resting. She'd been crying, watching him dealing with another nightmare.
"I– I am now. Are you okay?"
She nodded against him. "I just get so scared, seeing you like that."
He kissed her gently. "I'm sorry. I wish there was something I could do–"
"You're doing everything you can. I still want to be here, as scary as it gets."
He smiled slightly, grateful for her wanting to always be there for him. "Was I screaming again?" he asked.
She shook her head. "No, you just kept saying my name."
He grimaced, remembering the nightmare vividly. "I dreamed I was about to give the speech at the memorial when Riddle showed up. He– he said he wouldn't ever be gone, and he was going to make me watch him torture you. I woke up right as he cast the Cruciatus. I know he's gone and won't ever be back, but it– fuck, Gin, it feels so real, every time."
She looked at him sadly, rubbing his chest gently. "I'm so sorry, love. It's not fair that you have to be dealing with this. But you know he's gone, and I'm not going anywhere."
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before nodding. "I know." He suddenly realised that it was still dark in Ginny's room. "Merlin, what time is it?" he asked.
Ginny shrugged. "Not sure. All I know is it's not time for you to get up yet," she said, wrapping herself around him as if to make sure he couldn't leave her.
"I love you," Harry whispered.
She kissed his cheek. "I love you more." He smiled and fell back asleep, wondering how it was possible for her to love him more.
HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG
Harry's panic attack had once again scared Ginny awake, and even though it looked like he was trapped in another terrible dream, at least he didn't scream this time. Maybe that was a sign of progress they could tell Amelia about at the next appointment. He slept peacefully the next night too and was in a very good mood that day. Andromeda brought Teddy over to dinner again, and they were both very happy to spend plenty of time with him.
Ginny found herself watching Harry again when he was holding Teddy. He was continually becoming more comfortable with it, and Teddy seemed very taken with him. Today, Teddy had started changing his hair to match the colour of whoever was holding him, so right now, it was jet black. Harry was smiling at Teddy and tickling him, and when Teddy giggled, Harry looked so pleased with himself that it was absolutely adorable to watch.
"What?" Harry asked with a smile when he noticed Ginny looking at them.
She just shook her head. "The two of you are very cute."
Harry grinned and leaned down to Teddy. "You hear that Teddy? That gorgeous witch over there thinks we're cute! Can you believe that?"
Teddy looked up at Harry and giggled once more. Harry laughed with him. "Now don't get any ideas, mate. There will be loads of pretty witches interested in you one day, but that one's mine."
Ginny leaned over to kiss Harry's cheek before wrapping one arm around him and another under Teddy. "I love my two boys," she said quietly, and Harry smiled so sweetly at her that she couldn't help it and kissed him again.
At dinner, Ginny's dad asked Andromeda if she'd seen the Prophet. "No, I stopped subscribing to that rag almost a year ago." Ginny saw a small smile of pride on Harry's face, knowing that the primary reason someone would've cancelled their subscription to the Prophet then would be because they disagreed with what it was saying about Harry.
"Oh– I don't know if you've heard then, but your sister is going to be going on trial before the Wizengamot next month." Ginny's dad said cautiously.
"Which sister?" Andromeda asked, and Ginny's eyes widened as she looked over to her mum, who had gone incredibly pale.
"Narcissa, of course," he answered before glancing over to his wife.
Andromeda nodded and Hermione fumbled over her words a little, saying, "Umm– you do know– about your sister? Your other sister?"
"What about Bellatrix?" Andromeda asked, becoming stony-faced at the mention of the two sisters who disowned her.
Hermione opened her mouth to answer, but it seemed like she got choked up and couldn't tell Andromeda the truth. "She's dead," Ron said simply when Hermione couldn't answer.
Andromeda's face softened slightly in surprise. "Oh. I– I didn't know about that. And that– that happened at the battle?" Everyone around the table nodded. They all knew exactly how she died.
They sat quietly for a moment, nobody really looking at anybody else. It felt so uncomfortable, and it became even more uncomfortable when Ginny's mum said with a shaky voice, "You should know… it was me that– that did it."
Ginny winced hearing her mother describe it like that. Andromeda looked at her sadly, and Ginny felt the need to interject. "She was fighting me, Hermione, and Luna. My mum stepped in after Bellatrix nearly killed me."
Andromeda turned towards Ginny as Harry gently rested his hand on her leg. Andromeda's face was sad, but Ginny realised that she felt sympathetic to their troubles as well as her own. "I'm sorry you all went through that. Thank you for telling me. But… to be honest, I lost my sister a long, long time ago. This hurts less than it did the first time."
Ginny found herself amazed at the grace and kindness of the older woman. She couldn't imagine what it would've been like to have a sibling as evil as Bellatrix Lestrange, but Andromeda had already lost so much. It was a wonder that she was still holding things together and taking such good care of Teddy.
"So the trial?" Andromeda asked Ginny's dad, trying to keep people's minds off death and guilt.
"Oh, right. It'll be sometime in the middle of June. All the arrested people with… Death Eater affiliations are going to be tried by the Wizengamot before being sentenced."
Andromeda nodded. After a few more moments of silence, they all stood to move into the living room, but Ginny watched as Andromeda lingered behind to give her mum a reassuring hug. Her mum seemed on the verge of tears, and Ginny thought it was very sweet of Andromeda to make sure her mum was okay.
They eventually all made their way into the sitting room, and Ginny was holding Teddy when she noticed Ron looking at her curiously. "What is it?" she asked.
He shrugged. "I'm just surprised at how good you are with him." Ginny feigned offence at that, but Ron just rolled his eyes.
"Do you wanna hold him and see how good you are with a baby?" Ginny asked, and Ron could barely keep the fear off his face. Ginny and Harry both laughed. "Next time then," she said. On the other hand, when George came downstairs from his room, just like last week, he was very eager to hold Teddy. There weren't a lot of things that were making George smile right now, but he seemed very happy when he was around Teddy, especially when Teddy changed his hair to match George's. At least one of Ginny's brothers wasn't afraid of babies.
The next day, an owl came for Ginny and Harry. It was from Emily Brooks' parents, letting them know that she was awake and they were welcome to visit. Excited but slightly nervous, they apparated to the back entrance of St. Mungo's the following day. After they made it through the dumpster and into the Spell Damage Ward, Harry squeezed her hand, obviously having seen the apprehensive look on Ginny's face.
"It'll be okay. I'm right here with you," he promised, and Ginny nodded before they knocked on the door to Emily's room.
Her father opened the door, smiling slightly when he saw them. "Thank you for coming. She'll be very glad to see both of you."
When they walked in, Ginny was surprised that there weren't any real visible indications that she was injured, other than the fact that she was in a hospital bed. She was sitting up in bed reading the Daily Prophet, surprisingly, and Ginny could see that the headline on the front page said something about Kingsley. At least it wasn't Harry on the front page for once.
Emily looked up from the paper and smiled at Ginny. "Hi Emily," Ginny said quietly.
"Hi Ginny!" Emily responded enthusiastically. Ginny was glad to see that the hospital and her injuries hadn't taken away any of Emily's youthful vibrancy. Emily's jaw dropped as she saw Harry walking in behind Ginny.
"You're Harry Potter," she whispered, and Harry chuckled awkwardly.
"Last time I checked," he responded.
"But– what are you doing in my room?" Emily asked, still looking in awe at Harry.
He smiled an extremely warm smile, and Ginny felt a new rush of love for him. "I wanted to see you. Ginny told me you were at the battle, and I thought I should come see one of the bravest heroes of Hogwarts."
Emily blushed but frowned. "I'm not a hero. I didn't beat a single Death Eater."
Harry stepped closer to her bed. "You know, someone much smarter than me told me once that it's our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. You were supposed to leave Hogwarts–" Emily blushed again "– but you made the brave choice to stay behind and fight for what you believed in. That's pretty heroic to me."
Ginny marvelled at how easily Harry made Emily feel good about herself. There was something so attractive and amazing about his kindness and ability to relate with her. Emily grinned at him. "But you were a hero too. A real hero. I read what they said about you in the newspaper."
Harry smiled a little. "You can't always believe what you read," he said quietly, and Ginny cut in.
"But everything in the Daily Prophet was pretty accurate. He just doesn't like being told that he's a hero."
"But you killed You-Know-Who!" Emily protested, and Harry grimaced a little. Ginny swiftly put her hand on his to comfort him, and his smile returned almost immediately. That distracted Emily, who stared wide-eyed at their hands. "Is he really your boyfriend?" she asked Ginny.
Ginny smiled brightly. "If he isn't, I'd like to know just how much he kisses his actual girlfriend."
Harry chuckled and kissed her quickly. "I wouldn't have any more time in the day if I was kissing someone more than you."
Emily was beaming at them both. "I knew you weren't broken up!" she said happily, pumping her fist.
Ginny giggled. "I guess we didn't keep that secret very well."
They spent an hour with Emily before telling her goodbye and promising to come visit again. Emily's mum walked them out. "Have the Healers changed their opinion of her outlook at all?" Ginny asked once they left the room.
She shook her head sadly. "Everything in her body is completely healthy, other than her spine. There's so much nerve damage that they think it's unlikely she'll walk again."
"I'm so sorry," Ginny said sympathetically, wishing there was more she could do.
Mrs. Brooks nodded thankfully. "We're doing our best to manage. It's not always easy, but today was very good for her. You have no idea how much it meant for the two of you to visit; she's always talking about one or both of you."
"Let us know when we can come back again, or if there's anything else we can do to help," Harry requested, and Mrs. Brooks nodded again.
"Thank you both so much."
She gave them both a brief hug before reentering Emily's room. Ginny took Harry's hand and started walking toward the exit, but she stopped when Harry slowed down, looking at a directory for the hospital.
He tapped the description of the Ground Floor. "St. Mungo's Admissions Department. Come with me," he said without any further explanation. Ginny followed, curious why he wanted to go there, as they took a back staircase to the ground floor. When they found the door to the Admissions Department, Harry walked in without hesitation.
A thin, balding wizard at the front desk looked up, startled that someone had entered so abruptly, and then he became even more startled when he saw that that person was Harry Potter. "Is this where the hospital's money and bills are handled?" Harry asked.
The wizard nodded meekly and wordlessly pointed to a sign reading Financial Office. Harry nodded his thanks and walked into that office, where a well-dressed witch with short brown hair was poring over documents in front of her. She didn't even look up when they entered.
"Excuse me," Harry said after a moment. The witch finally looked up, and, though her eyebrows raised slightly and her eyes flicked towards Harry's scar, she gave no other indication that she recognized him.
"How can I help you?" she asked brusquely.
"I was wanting to know if it was possible to pay for the medical expenses of a patient here. I don't even know if she has expenses, but she's been here for almost a month, and I wanted to find out."
Ginny beamed internally with pride at her boyfriend, who truly was the most selfless person she'd ever met.
"What's the patient's name?" the finance witch asked.
"Emily Brooks."
She looked through a couple documents before finding what she was looking for. "Miss Brooks does have some expenses that she or her family will be responsible for paying, and if she continues staying for more than a week or two more, those expenses will rise."
"Take the money for it out of my Gringotts account," Harry said without hesitation.
"Are you sure? I can go over the expenses with you first if you'd like," the witch said in a more kind and reasonable tone than she'd used before.
"I'm sure. The amount doesn't matter. Just tell them they didn't have any expenses to worry about," Harry responded, giving her this vault information before they left the witch looking rather impressed with Harry.
When they stepped out of the dumpster, Ginny stopped Harry before he could disapparate. "You're really incredible, you know?"
He blushed. "It's just money, Gin. If it helps them out, it's worth it."
She shook her head in amazement, stunned that he didn't understand just how fantastic what he'd done was. "I love you. Never change," she said, kissing him softly before they returned to the Burrow, where she spent much of the rest of the day showing Harry just how impressed she was with his selflessness at the hospital.
HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG
Smoke clouded the sky and the smell of burning flesh and blood clogged his nostrils, making it difficult to breathe. He forced his body forward against its will, desperately begging to turn around. Take a step. Breathe. Take another step. Don't forget to breathe while you still can. Everything clawed at his senses, reminding him how beautiful life was, even in the tragedy of a battle like this one.
He steeled himself, walking on while his heart tried to squeeze a lifetime's worth of beats into the short walk to its end. He was so focused on remembering to breathe that he almost missed the girl crouched on the ground near him. "It's going to be alright," she said though her voice broke, holding the hand of a crying, injured girl.
For some reason, he felt himself drawn to the scene. Nobody would know he was there, and if it prolonged his short life for a few extra moments, it was worth it. He inched closer to the two girls. Suddenly, he saw the red hair splayed on the ground. Broken legs and a twisted torso made him nauseous, but he couldn't look away. He crumpled to the ground in agony, seeing Ginny succumbing to her injuries in front of him.
"I always win, Harry," the high, cold voice of Voldemort reminded him. Harry looked up and saw the snakelike man sneering at him. He didn't bother resisting, didn't want to resist. He just wanted to be with her. Voldemort's lips moved, and he thought he saw Ginny running towards him, beckoning him towards her. There was a flash of green light, and everything went dark.
Harry's eyes opened, and, once again, Ginny was on top of him almost immediately. Her eyes were closed and a tear leaked out of one of them. "I love you, Harry. You're going to be okay. I love you. I love you. Please be okay. Wake up. I love you."
Harry felt his heart breaking as he reached up to touch her face and wipe the tear away. She opened her eyes quickly, looking relieved when she saw that his breathing had slowed and he was aware of his surroundings again. "I love you too," he said softly. She was on him desperately then, kissing every inch of his face and neck.
He chuckled while she was nibbling on his earlobe. "If this is the reward I get every time I have one of these, I'm never gonna learn to stop."
She pushed up off him slightly, holding her head just above his. "That's just the reward you get for being you, with or without the panic attacks."
He smiled. "I really love you, Gin." She answered by kissing him again before rolling off him and onto the bed. He noticed that light had just begun peeking into her room.
"I don't think I'm gonna get any more sleep," he told her.
She sighed and nodded. "Better beat Charlie downstairs then," she whispered, already yawning as sleep pulled at her again. He chuckled and kissed her before letting himself out of her room and going downstairs. He was very surprised when he found Arthur sitting at the kitchen table, drinking a cup of tea.
"Good morning, Harry," he said pleasantly.
"Morning," Harry responded.
Seeing the questioning look on Harry's face, Arthur explained, "I've got an early meeting with Kingsley. He's still running the Department of Magical Law Enforcement while he looks for a replacement, and he wanted to meet with all the departments under MLE today."
Harry nodded, thinking it insane that Kingsley was working two of the most difficult jobs in the world at the same time. "Are you alright, Harry? You seem a little under the weather," Arthur observed.
Harry shook his head. "My panic attacks seem to have stopped during the day, but they're happening in my nightmares now. I just had another one a few minutes ago."
Arthur nodded sympathetically, and Harry asked a question he wasn't sure there was an answer for. "When you started dating Molly– or when you realised you loved her, did that scare you at all?"
Arthur considered his question for a moment. "I don't think so, but I'm not sure I understand what you're asking. Are you scared that you might love Ginny?"
Harry quickly responded, "No, I know that I love her. She's the best thing in my life." He blushed a little as Arthur smiled at him. "But I keep having these nightmares now where she dies. My panic attacks I'd been having were all mostly things that had actually happened and my brain just interpreted in… interesting ways, but now my nightmares are things that never happened, and they terrify me. I know Riddle's gone for good, but that– that doesn't stop him from returning in my dreams."
Arthur frowned and gestured for Harry to sit down next to him. "I'm no expert, so I don't know what to tell you about your panic attacks. But I do know what you mean about having nightmares that someone you love is dying. Molly and I got married and had kids as the First War was really becoming more dangerous. There wasn't a day that went by where I wasn't terrified that I might lose any of them."
"How did you get past that?" Harry asked.
Arthur shook his head sadly. "I don't know if that's something anybody can ever truly move past. After he disappeared the first time, it was years before I stopped feeling anxious every time one of us left the house. When he came back, the nightmares slowly returned. I've seen Molly's duel with Bellatrix several times in my nightmares since the battle, and it never ends like it actually did. Now, my nightmares clearly aren't as visceral and gripping as your panic attacks, but I completely understand the feeling. There's only one thing I ever found that made me less worried."
"What?" Harry asked, desperately hoping for a solution.
Arthur smiled at him. "I let myself love and be loved. I spent as much time as I could with Molly and the kids. Even though the nightmares haven't ever completely gone away, they're fleeting compared to all the good times and memories I've had with my family. You know better than anyone, Harry, that we all must die one day. Fred– I lost my son a few weeks ago, and that's been tremendously difficult. I've had more nightmares about that than anything, and I wake up and reality is just as bad. But the one thing that's getting me through it is the good memories I made with him and being surrounded by the people I love."
Harry nodded, thinking intently about Arthur's advice. "You're really good at this… thing," Harry said, gesturing between the two of them.
Arthur chuckled. "Well, I do have a little experience being a father." Harry smiled at that, feeling very grateful that he had a father figure like Arthur in his life.
"I meant to thank you," he said suddenly. "For last week. I know you said to be discreet, but I– I truly appreciate that you're treating us like adults. I'll do everything I can to honour the trust you and Molly have put in me."
Arthur smiled and put his hand on Harry's shoulder, looking deeply into his eyes. "Molly is a very fiery woman, much like Ginny, as you know–" Harry smiled, knowing that was one of his favourite traits in his girlfriend "– and she's gone through a lot of change in the past year with the three of you being gone and… losing Fred. It's easier for her to imagine that you're all still children who need us to take care of you, and she just needed to be reminded why we love and trust you both. We see how good you've been for each other, and I don't want to do anything to discourage that. Frankly, Harry, you're such a selfless person that I really don't think you're capable of breaking our trust. And even if you or Ginny did, we would still love you."
Harry smiled again at the man who was as close to a father as he knew. Arthur added with a mischievous smile. "Ginny's brothers might not agree, though."
Harry chuckled. "Believe it or not, Bill and Ron both know. Bill surprised me by encouraging it. He said we're good for each other. And Ron… well Ron gets to share a bed with Hermione, and Ginny scared the wrackspurts out of Ron the last time he said something about us showing affection to each other."
Now Arthur chuckled with Harry. "That doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Ginny is easily the fiercest out of all her siblings, especially when she's being protective of something she cares about."
Harry nodded, lost in the memory of the blazing look on Ginny's face when she put Ron in his place when they first came to the Burrow. Arthur left soon after, and Harry shared another peaceful day with the people he loved at the Burrow, trying his best to take Arthur's advice to heart.
HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG
"You know what we haven't done in a long time?" Ginny asked Harry while they were walking in the orchard the next day.
"I mean it's only been like ten minutes, but I'm not complaining," he said, grinning as he leaned in to kiss her again.
Once he pulled away, Ginny chuckled. "I'll always be ready for another one of those, but that's actually not what I was talking about." Harry laughed unapologetically with her before she explained, "I was actually going to say it's been forever since we've played Quidditch together."
Harry grinned, and Ginny was even more proud of herself for coming up with that idea. "That's brilliant! Let's go get Ron and Hermione!" He was like a little kid full of energy, running into the house to get his friends to come outside and play a game with him. Ginny loved this part of Harry, the one who still saw so much of the magical world with childlike wonder and got excited about things like this. Granted, she loved every part of him, but he'd had to grow up so fast, between his rough upbringing and then constantly living in mortal peril since he entered their world, so his childish side didn't emerge all that often.
Ginny entered the house a few steps behind Harry. "No," Hermione said defiantly, shaking her head for emphasis. Harry must've already asked, then.
"But Hermione–" Ron started to plead with his girlfriend, who was lounging on the couch with a book.
"No, Ron. It's always the same when we play Quidditch. I don't particularly like flying on a broom, and I definitely don't like playing Quidditch, so why would I make myself miserable?"
"Because you care about us," Ron mumbled. Hermione exhaled sharply and rolled her eyes in disgust, standing up to leave the room.
"Honestly, if after everything, I have to play Quidditch to prove how much I care, then forget it! I don't care!" She stormed up the stairs and slammed the door to Ginny's room, causing them all to wince.
Ron sighed. "She'll be fine in an hour or two. Just needs to blow off some steam," he said hopefully.
"Yeah, but now we don't have a fourth," Harry responded, frowning as he sat down where Hermione had just been sitting.
At that moment, Charlie walked down the stairs. "What the hell was that noise?" he asked.
Ginny grinned. "Found our fourth!"
"Fourth what?" Charlie asked, furrowing his brow as Ron and Ginny looked hopefully at him.
"Oh, duh," Ron said. "Charlie, do you want to play Quidditch with us?"
"Oh, I forgot that you played Quidditch," Harry stood up, much happier now that it looked like they'd have a fourth to play with.
"Charlie was a brilliant Seeker," Ron said. "Could've played for England."
Charlie shrugged. "Dragons were more interesting. Although I was still the best Seeker Hogwarts has ever seen," he bragged.
"Had seen, you mean." Ginny interjected. "Harry's taken your place as the best Seeker anybody's ever seen at Hogwarts." She did believe this fully, but a small part of her was also curious to see how both Harry and Charlie would react to that.
"Oh, I'm sure he is. I saw him on that Firebolt at the Triwizard Tournament. With a better broom than anybody else on the pitch, he probably looks way better than the competition," Charlie praised sarcastically, becoming defensive of his Quidditch reputation.
Interestingly, Harry also seemed to be a little defensive against that accusation. He responded, "They did make me the youngest Seeker in a century based on how I flew on a school broom."
Charlie nodded. "Still never played a match on anything worse than a Nimbus though, right?"
"Nope. Oh, I guess I didn't mention though– that was my first time ever flying on a broom. Professor McGonagall said you couldn't have made the catch that I did."
"You seem pretty sure of yourself," Charlie said, stepping up so he was much closer to Harry than before.
Harry shrugged, but he stood his ground. "I don't know if I'm the best. But I do know that the broom model didn't make me a good Seeker."
"Guess we'll find out," Charlie said threateningly before looking at Ron and Ginny. "Yeah, I'll play."
He walked out the door with Ron, but Ginny stayed behind with Harry. He grinned and shook his head at her. "You provoked him," he accused.
Ginny blinked innocently up at him, which made him laugh. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Although–" she leaned up to whisper this in his ear "– you bragging about your Quidditch ability was ridiculously hot." She nipped at his ear for good measure, and Harry turned extremely red. He looked back at her after she stepped away, and she assumed an innocent expression again.
He snorted and shook his head again. "You drive me wild, Ginny Weasley."
She grinned wickedly at him. "Just wait and see how wild I'll drive you after we win." She ran out the door and Harry moaned hungrily, chasing her to the orchard. Charlie had already conjured hoops on either end, and Ron was holding four Cleansweep Fives. They each took one.
"We only have a Quaffle, so no seeking competition today," Charlie said disappointedly.
"Next time we're in Diagon Alley or something, we'll get a Snitch," Ginny promised, very eager to see Harry compete against Charlie.
"What are the teams?" Ron asked.
"Well, I thought Ginny and I would be together," Harry offered.
Charlie snorted. "Gotta hide behind the only natural Chaser out here, I see."
Ginny was very happy at Harry's response. He shrugged unapologetically. "Boyfriend privileges," he responded simply, causing Charlie to roll his eyes. Not liking that reaction, Ginny pulled Harry into a deep kiss before pulling away, smiling at all three of them.
"For luck," she said, winking at Harry while Charlie glared angrily at Harry and Ron did his best to keep a neutral expression. He was really growing, apparently.
"It's on, now." Charlie growled, and they began the match.
Harry wasn't a natural Chaser, but he was still a fantastic flyer. More importantly, he was able to sense what Ginny was going to do before she did it, allowing them to stay a second ahead of Ron and Charlie. Charlie was also a great flyer, but he was flying angrily, causing him to be reckless and chase the Quaffle more than playing his position and forcing Harry or Ginny to make a mistake. On the other hand, Ron, who may have had the best mind for Quidditch out of all of them, did his best to make up for Charlie's overplays, not ever straying too far from the goal and positioning himself very well defensively to make life hard on Ginny and Harry.
Ginny and Harry's plan was simple– they played keep away from Charlie until he overcommitted, and then they'd do their best to beat Ron on a 2-on-1. This worked very well for them, allowing them to score three early goals, but Ron was still a good Keeper. When he finally saved a shot, he was able to throw the Quaffle over both their heads to Charlie, who'd been retreating from a misplay, and he was able to score easily with a head start.
When that worked for a second time, Ginny knew they had to change tactics. Instead of luring Charlie in, they'd use their flying prowess to rush at him and Ron. Neither of them had ever had to play defence as a Chaser before, and it was obvious when they didn't know how to react to Ginny and Harry's rush. They scored another four goals like that while Ron and Charlie struggled to generate offence without using their breakaway plan that had worked before.
Weasley rules were that the first to 100 points won. Ron had finally caught on to their strategy enough to stay by the goal so that he wouldn't have to retreat, but that left Charlie by himself again. Ginny had the Quaffle and rushed right at Charlie, but instead of making a move around him, she just dropped it, somehow knowing that Harry would be under her, and he was. He caught the Quaffle and fooled Ron with a headfake before scoring. Ginny and Harry were both whooping and hollering at that goal, and by that point, the score was 80-20. Both Ron and Charlie were frustrated, so Ginny and Harry were able to revert back to their first strategy of luring Charlie in to win the game.
When they landed, Charlie glared at Harry. "Doesn't prove anything about Seeking," he grumbled before both he and Ron trudged off, annoyed at the humiliation Ginny and Harry had just inflicted on them. Ginny laughed, but she stopped when she saw Harry staring at her.
"What is it?" she asked, confused at the expression on his face.
"I forgot how good you look after playing Quidditch," he answered hungrily before pressing her up against a tree. His lips crashed onto hers and Ginny felt the breath leave her body as Harry took full control of the kiss. He wasn't usually this forceful, but Ginny could tell how much she liked it by the way her body was responding to him. Without even thinking about it, she jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his lower back and pulling him closer to her. His hands firmly gripped her bum, and she moaned into his mouth as she ran her hands through her hair. He tore his lips away from hers and desperately started kissing and sucking on her neck and the small bit of her shoulder that was exposed under her shirt.
"Harry–" she whispered as he moved one hand up and lovingly stroked her hair, even while his mouth and other hand were still exploring her body with great enthusiasm. "Love you–" she worked out right before he put his lips back on hers. She started to reach her hand under his shirt, feeling the muscles and Harry's breathing.
"Oi! Dinner's ready!" Ron shouted from the porch. Harry regretfully pulled away from her, breathing heavily and staring intently at her face.
"You're so perfect. I love you," he gasped. Ginny barely heard what he was saying. She was lost in his eyes and the hungry look that made her feel tingly all over.
"I'm gonna hex Ron," she groaned, and Harry snorted before hugging her.
"That belongs on the list– you'd hex anyone, including your own family, for interrupting our kissing."
"Without question," Ginny confirmed.
After dinner, Hermione pulled Ginny upstairs to the landing. She pulled out her wand and said, "Celivor." Ginny felt a brief warmth on her neck.
"What was that?" she asked, and Hermione giggled.
"You had a couple love bites on your neck. I thought you'd want me to take care of those before anybody said anything."
"Really? Merlin, you should've told me sooner," Ginny said, blushing slightly.
Hermione giggled again. "I don't think anyone noticed or someone would've said something, knowing your brothers. Glad to see you and Harry are… enjoying your time together," she commented suggestively.
Ginny smiled happily. "I love him," she said without reservation.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "And Ron likes to eat. Tell me something I don't know."
Ginny crossed her arms. "Well, when Harry gets really worked up–"
Hermione raised her hands quickly. "Ew, gross. Never mind." Ginny laughed, pleased that her joke achieved the desired effect.
Hermione smiled at her. "I'm really happy for the two of you. This has been a really sad month, but I've never seen him happier other than when he was with you last year."
Ginny beamed. "I feel the same way." She hugged Hermione, who seemed a little surprised but returned the hug, all the same.
"What's that for?" Hermione asked.
Ginny looked earnestly at her friend, suddenly feeling a little emotional. "Thanks for protecting him this year."
Hermione smiled. "He's like a brother to me. I'd do anything to protect him. Besides, he did just as much to protect me and Ron."
She nodded. "I know. But still… you never left him." She didn't need to explain why that mattered so much. They both knew.
Hermione's face fell a little. "Ah– I– honestly? There were times when I thought about it. Especially when… we were on our own. It was a hard year, but I couldn't do it. I loved Harry too much to leave him on his own."
Ginny smiled and hugged her again. "That's why I'm hugging you." Hermione returned the hug immediately, both knowing what the last year and Hermione staying meant to them.
HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG
"I don't think I can go." George said at Sunday dinner a few days later. Harry had been surprised that he'd joined them at all, but he'd seemed interested in being around more whenever Andromeda brought Teddy over. Teddy was currently sleeping in his cot, and Molly had brought up the memorial, asking Andromeda if she wanted to come to the Burrow ahead of time. The memorial was two days away, and Molly bringing it up reminded Harry that he still had to think about what he was going to say.
Arthur looked at George when he said this. "If you don't want to go, we understand, son. Just think about it."
George nodded, but Harry could tell from his expression that he was set on his decision already. After dinner, Harry picked up Teddy and walked out onto the porch with him and Ginny. A few moments later, George wandered outside, and Harry offered him Teddy. George took him, holding him gently while he slept.
"What are you feeling George?" Harry asked. Ginny tensed next to him and George looked like he was surprised someone asked him that. Harry wasn't entirely sure why he had himself.
"I'm fine," George said quietly, but Harry shook his head.
"I asked what are you feeling, not how are you. You're obviously not fine, and there's nothing wrong with that. But this is me and Ginny you're talking to. You don't have to lie to us."
George exhaled and pressed his lips together. "I miss my brother, Harry. It's like half of me is missing. I start to say something and then I stop because I'm expecting him to finish my sentence. We always told each other good night after we turned the lights out. And I haven't heard my brother tell me good night in a month. I was so scared that he'd been in pain and death would be scary for him, but you said that it was so peaceful and calm, and I'm thankful that he's okay. But now I'm sad and pissed off. I hate that he left me. It's not bloody fair that I spent the first twenty years of my life with a twin, and now I have to learn how to live without him."
George was tearing up, and his voice was shaky. Harry looked at Ginny and nodded toward Teddy. She picked him up wordlessly from George and took him back into the house, returning to the porch empty-handed as Harry stood up and looked down at George. "You need to let that anger out," Harry said simply.
George looked up at him with a blank expression. "What?" he asked.
"You're sad about Fred. But you also said you're pissed off, and I understand that." He conjured a large stack of plates that looked like they were made with expensive china. George looked down at the plates and back at Harry.
"What the hell am I supposed to do with plates?" he asked incredulously.
"You break them. At the end of my fifth year, when Sirius died, I destroyed Dumbledore's office because I was so mad. It didn't really help with my sadness and grief, but it felt real bloody good to break some things."
"You destroyed Dumbledore's office?" George asked in disbelief. Ginny was looking at Harry similarly.
He nodded. "Yep. And he just watched me do it. Then he told me some stuff that made me feel even worse, and I was sadder than I'd been before, but I can't imagine how hard it would've been to deal with that sadness if I'd held in all that anger. So break the plates. Break as many as you want, and I'll repair them all and let you go as many times as you want."
He stepped back towards the door, taking Ginny's hand in his as they watched George consider the stack of plates in front of him. Taking precautions, Harry pulled out his wand. "Indicens," he whispered, hoping an Imperturbable Charm could work on the outside of a door as well as it could on the inside. George stood up and abruptly threw a plate down to the ground. It shattered into several tiny pieces. He took another one and did it again. George started getting in a chaotic and destructive rhythm, and Ginny squeezed Harry's hand tightly as George flung plates at the ground and at the walls of the Burrow.
"Fuck war!" he screamed. "Fuck death! I want my brother back! He shouldn't have left without me!" George broke a plate with every shout.
Harry pointed his wand at all the shards. "Reparo."
All the plates fixed themselves immediately, and George began throwing some more. "I! Miss! My! Brother!" George screamed before picking up the entire stack of plates and throwing them on the ground at once.
Harry raised his wand, ready to repair the plates again, but George turned to him, shaking his head, and he saw that there wasn't any more anger on George's face. He was just sobbing, free of the anger for now and, like he said, missing his brother. Harry squeezed Ginny's hand before letting go, walking up to George and wordlessly pulling him into a tight hug. George seemed to collapse into the hug, and Harry held him up as George cried on his shoulder. Ginny joined them a moment later, wrapping her arms around both of them.
When George's tears finally dried up and his breathing evened, he clapped Harry on the back a couple times before stepping away, wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt. "Thanks for– for that," George said, pointing at the broken plates.
Harry nodded and vanished the plates. "Don't mention it. You know where to find me if you need more."
George nodded and patted Harry on the back again. Ginny hugged him quickly and kissed him on the cheek before he walked into the house as Harry lifted the Imperturbable Charm, which had apparently worked. Andromeda left a short time later and everyone slowly made their way to their beds soon after. When Harry went to Ginny's room, she was sitting on the edge of the bed.
She looked up when he entered, and he looked questioningly at her before she gestured for him to sit next to her. "That was great, what you did for George today."
Harry shrugged. "I don't know exactly what he's feeling, but I've dealt with my fair share of loss and grief. It's never easy, but I thought that might help."
Ginny wrapped an arm around him. "You've dealt with so much more than your fair share," she said quietly, and Harry nodded, unable to disagree with that.
"What– what happened when you destroyed Dumbledore's office? I guess… I've sorta realised that even though we've been in each other's lives for so long, we didn't really become friends until that year, so there's quite a bit we don't really know about our histories at Hogwarts. Granted, we were friends when that happened, but I doubt that was something you would've talked to anyone about anyways."
Harry looked at her. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," she assured him quickly.
He shook his head. "It's not that. It's just– I'm not used to someone being interested in me like that. Like people have always seen me and wanted to ask me about Riddle or my scar or what they'd heard through rumours, but not very many people have just wanted to know about me. It feels nice."
Ginny smiled and rubbed his leg. "I'll always want to know more about you."
Harry smiled at that. "I was just so mad at Dumbledore. He'd ignored me the entire year while I dealt with Umbridge alone. Then… Sirius died, and Dumbledore had to make me wait before he could talk to me. I snapped when he told me he knew how I felt and that the fact that I could feel pain proved that I was a man and it was my greatest strength. I screamed at him– told him I didn't want to be human, that I'd had enough and wanted out of all his games and the whole damn thing. And I broke a lot of stuff in his office. I even threw a table," he admitted quietly, feeling a little bad at how he'd acted.
"That anger had been building up for a long time," Ginny observed, still rubbing his leg.
Harry nodded. "I was… so mad after Cedric died, and I had nobody to help me deal with it. They just packed me up on the Hogwarts Express and sent me back to the Dursleys. And then the whole thing with the dementors happened, and Dumbledore didn't even look at me at the hearing, didn't speak to me or anything. I'd been mad since then, and Umbridge and then Sirius only made it worse."
She leaned towards him and kissed him on the cheek. Harry continued, "I understand more now. About what Dumbledore was trying to tell me. He understood what it was like to lose someone he loved and feel the guilt of it. That was the night he told me the prophecy. He said that he cared so much for me that he hadn't wanted me to feel the burden of knowing I'd have to defeat Riddle, in the end, or die trying."
"Dumbledore was a very complicated man," Ginny stated simply, and Harry snorted.
"That's an understatement. I still can't figure out exactly what I feel about him anymore. I felt so betrayed with all of that, but then we became so close in my sixth year, and then he died, and I started finding out all the secrets about his past with his family and Grindelwald. When I saw Snape's memories, I almost couldn't believe that after everything, he'd known that I'd need to die. Obviously it– it all worked out, and I can be grateful that he believed I'd have a chance, but he– he didn't know for sure. He could've been wrong. The whole walk to the forest… I didn't know he believed there'd be a way out. I just– I wish things were easier to understand sometimes."
Ginny sighed and squeezed his arm. "I think that's part of growing up. Realising there's no such thing as black and white, really. Just like there are good Slytherins like Professor Slughorn and Andromeda, and there are bad Gryffindors like Peter Pettigrew. Most people are complicated and have some good and some bad in their past and in their character. Dumbledore's no exception. Even the best people have their faults."
"I don't know what you're talking about. I clearly have no faults," Harry joked.
Ginny snorted. "You're right. That whole keeping secrets thing, your hotheadedness, and your overprotectiveness are three of your best qualities."
Harry laughed. "To name a few," he responded, and Ginny laughed with him.
"You're right though," Harry said once they finally stopped laughing and crawled into bed together. "It was just easier when there were only good guys and bad guys. Now there's good guys with confusing pasts and bad guys who might deserve a second chance. It's so much more complicated," he complained.
Ginny patted his cheek sympathetically. "Welcome to the real world," she said with a smile.
He rolled his eyes but kissed her anyway. "Really, it's all okay. I know the one person who will always be faultless, and that's all I need," he said, nuzzling his head into her hair.
She chuckled and rolled over. "I am far from faultless."
Harry blinked and mentally braced himself, knowing she'd hate him for this. "I was talking about Fleur."
Ginny gasped and slapped Harry's arm as he started laughing hysterically. After a moment of pretending to be upset, Ginny finally joined him. This was a much nicer way to spend a night in bed with Ginny than all the nights they'd spent crying; although, any night in bed with Ginny was a good night to him.
Finally calming down, Ginny wiped tears from her eyes and shook her head at Harry. "You're insane, Potter."
He smiled. "Only for you. And you are most definitely faultless in my eyes. Every part of you, even the difficult parts like your temper, make you who you are. And I very much love who you are, faults and all."
Ginny smiled and kissed him softly. "How in Merlin's name do you always say stuff like that that just melts my heart?"
He grinned as he pulled her close and whispered the only answer to that question that he had: "Magic."
/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*
A/N: I'm so glad we finally met Emily! Her character is so fun and will be very prominent in these books; it's just a little weird to me, knowing how important she is to the rest of the story, that we didn't meet her until Chapter 17. Then again, there are several more important people who we won't meet until Book 2, which is even crazier to me, but it does mean that there's still so much to look forward to! What Harry said to Emily about choices defining who a person is something Dumbledore told him at the end of CoS. I thought it was a totally appropriate sentiment for the moment and also really sweet that Harry would remember it all these years later.
I worry that I'm revealing my American-ness too much with having Harry cover Emily's hospital bills. I am definitely aware that Britain's healthcare is essentially free/paid for by taxes as opposed to the American system of paying an insurance provider. My in-universe explanation is that there's never any mention of wizarding taxes in any book, so there's no telling how much wizards in Britain are taxed, especially when considering how slow the Ministry is to update and reform. At St. Mungo's, I would assume that most basic procedures are free of charge because they'd be easy for a Healer to perform. However, for something like a very extended stay at a hospital, I don't think it's entirely unreasonable to think that some sort of payment would be required. Again, it all sort of depends on how the wizarding government and economy are structured. The out of universe explanation is that I thought it was an incredibly touching moment for Harry to do that without any hesitation because he doesn't care about money. I hope it's not too distracting for any of my non-American readers, but that's about the only explanation I have.
I feel like I should also say that the reason I use British English (which should just be called English in my opinion but what do I know) to spell words is because I feel like it puts me in a sort of character when I'm writing, just like using British vernacular does. It might be a little odd, but it's my process and it's definitely too late to change it now!
Another fun part of this chapter was writing the Quidditch scene. I did write the scene in Ginny's memory in Chapter 11, but that felt like I was writing something that already existed in universe so I wasn't making a lot up (even though I was), so this was my first real exercise in writing Quidditch completely originally. Unlike JKR, I absolutely love it. I think sports are one of the only things I might be more knowledgeable about than HP, and it's so fun to combine those two passions and write what (hopefully) feels like authentic sporting action.
Speaking of my American-ness, there are some times when I'm not really sure how things translate to British English. Hickeys was one of those weird examples because I felt like it sounded like such an American word. Google told me that they were called love bites in British English, which made enough sense, and I didn't see anything that contradicted that, so I hope the meaning got across and am sorry to say that won't be the last time I have a confused moment like that! I also wanted to note that the spell for removing it is one I made up. The Latin phrase "celare livorem" literally translates to "to conceal a bruise". So I combined the start of each of those words to make a spell that does exactly that– celivor.
And that does it for Panicking and Healing! It was a bit of a roller coaster chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it and are looking forward to the next chapter, which sort of marks the end, in a lot of ways, of the immediate post-war aftermath.
Coming Friday: Memorial- "Every single person who defended Hogwarts a month ago chose to do what was right."
P.S. I wanted to share some pretty big news here in case you're interested. I have officially finished a comprehensive 17 page outline for Book 3 and have started writing the first chapter! I'm not going to do updates every time I finish a chapter (realistically, when I get in the zone, I write faster than my release schedule anyways), but I wanted to let you all know that there is still plenty more to come from the Happier Every Day universe. In case you've missed me saying so before, SoR covers the entire summer of 1998, after the battle, and is completely finished. Book 2 (name TBA) picks up where SoR left off, goes through the middle of 1999, and is completely finished. Book 3 (name also TBA) will take place from the middle of 1999 to the middle of 2002. I anticipate it being a bit longer than either of the first two books, but I really have no clue. I guess we'll find out! All I can say about the book now is it's going to be a ton of fun and I can't wait to really get into the writing!
/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*
It's been a while since I've said, but I wanted to thank all of you here for your continued support and really kind comments! I wish there was a way to reply to all of you, but I do read every comment that's made, and it makes such an impact on me and my motivation to continue writing when I see just how many people are enjoying the story I've created. So definitely keep letting me know your thoughts and if you have any questions or want to start a discussion with me about the book, my inbox is always open!