Ginny didn't have any more tears to cry.
/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*
Her family was always going to allow her to be one of the two people to visit Harry, so it probably wasn't necessary for her to say, "I will hex anyone who tries to go ahead of me."
"Believe it or not, we're not actually that stupid," Charlie replied.
The more difficult decision was who would be joining her. It was safe to say everyone wanted to, but they all seemed to recognise that her mum, Ron, and Hermione had the most pressing need to be there. Ginny was growing impatient because of the indecision. The Healer would be here any minute to take them back, and if they hadn't made up their mind, she would go by herself.
"Molly, I think you should let…"
"He's my son, Arthur!"
Her dad pulled her mum into a hug as she started crying again. "I know. I know. But he'll still be there in a few minutes. Let Ron and Hermione go first, and then you can go in after."
He seemed to believe her sniffles constituted an agreement because he nodded at Ron and Hermione. They exchanged a pained look, and Ron sighed. "You go first. But don't take all day."
Hermione kissed him gratefully, and he blushed slightly at the show of affection in front of his entire family. "I love you. I'll only be a few minutes," she promised him.
Just when Ginny thought she couldn't wait any longer, a knock kickstarted her heart again.
The young blonde Healer who had brought Harry's personal effects opened the door. "We're ready to take two of you to him."
Ginny and Hermione stepped forward immediately and followed her down the corridor without a second look back. Ginny felt like she was on pins and needles, knowing every step was bringing her closer to Harry while wondering if her imagination was somehow less gruesome than reality.
Once they got on the lift to go up to the fourth floor, the Healer began reciting instructions for them. "Only two of you are allowed in the room at a time, but you can trade out whenever you want. Don't be loud. Don't try to wake him. Don't touch him. He's being magically monitored, but if you notice anything changing, there is a green button on the wall that will bring a Healer to you immediately. Do either of you have any questions?"
They both shook their heads, but Ginny suddenly felt gripped by the feeling that she was walking into an exam unprepared. She knew enough of the medical stuff that was going on with Harry, but nobody had told her what he'd look like or how she'd feel when she saw him. She wasn't sure she was ready to find out, but she couldn't wait any longer.
The lift opened, and the Healer led the way out, turning to the right. She followed a corridor all the way down before taking a left and following that corridor to its end. Outside of a door on the right were two Aurors, dressed in brown. Kingsley had kept his word about providing Harry protection.
She turned back to them apologetically. "We were told to provide as much privacy as possible. Please call us if you need anything. He's in a much better condition than he was last night, but…"
Ginny barely heard her, focused on the closed door. She could hear her heart pounding, and her lungs suddenly refused to breathe properly. She didn't know if the Healer said anything else. She was just staring at the door until the Healer opened it. Ginny's legs were shaking terribly as she walked through the doorway with Hermione on her heels. In the middle of a room was a bed, and what she saw in the bed made her stop in her tracks.
Her first thought was that this couldn't possibly have been the right room. The Healer had said that he was better now than he had been. Whoever was in the bed now did not look like a better version of anything. It was Hermione's gasp that forced her to look again and confront the truth that she didn't want to believe.
He was lying on top of the covers, in case the Healers needed access to him in a hurry. She wasn't sure she could focus on the head of the bed, so she looked instead at the foot. She saw his two feet. One of them was several shades paler than the other. His leg had almost been severed, she reminded herself painfully.
His dressing gown hid any potential scar. She didn't know if that was something they could fix or not. Her eyes landed on familiar hands that looked unblemished. Tracing further up his body, she could see mottled blue, black, and purple bruising peeking out from under the neckline of the gown and tubes of some sort trailing out over the bruising.
She took a shaky breath and forced her eyes slightly further up. His lips, the lips she loved to smother in kisses, were parted slightly. His nose seemed to be crooked, and there were ribbons of blue and purple peeling away from it. His eyes were closed, and they weren't moving under his eyelids. He wasn't dreaming. And slightly further up, she could barely make out the familiar lightning bolt scar. His forehead was sickly grey and purple, swollen, and the front half of his hair had either been shaved or scorched off.
He was battered, bruised, and terribly injured. But Ginny knew, as much as she wished they were in the wrong room, that this was Harry.
Ginny started to walk to the bed, wanting to touch him or kiss him or something, but Hermione grabbed her hand and held her back. Ginny turned and saw that Hermione understood, but she wasn't allowed to touch him.
Still taking shaky breaths and doing her best to remain calm, Ginny sat down in one of the two chairs in the room, alongside Harry's bed. In the silence, she could hear his laboured breathing.
"I– I know it doesn't help," Hermione began unsteadily. "But he– he does look better."
Ginny didn't want to imagine what it was that Hermione and Ron had seen in Diagon Alley for this to be an improvement. But she understood why Hermione still had a haunted look in her eyes.
She wanted to break down and cry, but there wasn't any point. The one who was best at comforting her through her anguish wasn't in any state to do that right now, if he ever would be again.
"He's just so still," Ginny whispered. It reminded her of how lifeless his body had been when he was in Hagrid's arms, faking his own death at the battle a year ago. And that was not a memory she ever wanted to be reminded of.
"He's never still," Hermione replied, equally quietly. Hermione probably knew that even better than Ginny. They'd grown up together as best friends, and she would've seen Harry constantly on the move. Even when he did sit still, he was always bouncing his knee or drumming his fingers on something. This was just so unnatural for him. In his sleep, he moved and talked some. He hadn't moved in the ten minutes they'd been in his room.
A couple minutes later, Hermione said, "I'm going to go get Ron. You're staying, right?"
Ginny nodded. "I'm not leaving."
Hermione squeezed her hand and then walked out the door, leaving Ginny alone with Harry. She missed when every moment alone with him was the highlight of her day. Right now, she didn't know how to feel.
Time was somehow moving faster in Harry's room. It seemed like Hermione had just left when Ron walked in. The grimace on his face said it all. His face was ashen as he shook his head and took the seat Hermione had been in. And without saying anything, he took her hand in his.
"Harry told me he wanted to propose to you."
The knife in Ginny's stomach twisted again. There wasn't any emotion in Ron's voice, but there didn't need to be. She had enough for both of them. "I figured," she replied weakly.
"When he started telling me, I thought he was gonna say you were pregnant."
Ginny blinked and turned to Ron, who had the faintest trace of a smile on his face. "What?"
"Well, he pulled me away from everyone and was like 'we need to talk.' Then when we sat down, he seemed like he was trying to tell me something he thought I wouldn't like, and that was the first thing I thought of."
Ginny shook her head, and for the first time in what felt like forever, she almost smiled. "You probably scared him more than he scared you."
"I think so. It was easier for him to talk about it after though."
"What did you say?" Ginny asked, unable to help herself. She was just begging to be hurt more by it, but she had to know.
"I told him it was great. And that I was relieved that I didn't have to give him a hard time about it because Charlie would. I just didn't realise the lengths he'd go to to get Charlie to be okay with it without getting mad at him."
The smile found its way onto her face before she knew it. "I always said it was unbelievable how The Saviour of the Wizarding World was afraid of my big brother."
"Not like he's supposed to be brave or anything."
"And the worst part is that Charlie will still be mad at him when he wakes up."
Ron gave her a questioning look. "I doubt it. I'm pretty sure Charlie cried himself to sleep last night."
Ginny sighed, brought back to the present reality in a flash. "That makes two of us."
"Three," Ron corrected, turning to look at Harry sadly. "He looks better than he did yesterday though."
"That's what Hermione said. I just– I don't see how. He looks terrible now."
Ron shook his head, with the same haunted look in his eyes that Hermione had. "I'm glad you didn't see him before."
Ginny didn't know what to say to that. She was too, based on how they were acting. But she wished she could've been there to help. Harry wouldn't have ever gone ring shopping while she was around though.
"You've got the box, right?" Ginny asked, and Ron nodded glumly.
"I can show it to you if you want."
"I don't want to see it. If Harry's not putting it on my finger, I don't want to see it. I just wanted to be sure it was safe."
"I'm gonna hold onto it until he wakes up."
Ginny nodded. She appreciated that Ron said 'until,' like Harry waking up was an eventuality rather than a possibility.
Ron glanced down at his watch. "Mum's gonna kill me if I don't go back down there and let her come up."
"Probably," Ginny replied, glancing back at him.
He locked eyes with her. "Are you okay? D'you need anything?"
"If you could figure out how to wake my boyfriend up, I'd really appreciate it."
He smiled thinly and exhaled sharply. "I'm sure Hermione's already working on it."
Ron squeezed her hand and left, and once again, Ginny was alone with Harry. He hadn't moved at all. The door opened almost immediately, and Ginny looked up, expecting to see her mum. She was surprised to see a middle-aged man in green Healer's robes. He smiled kindly at her.
"Hello. I'm Andrew, and I'm Mister Potter's primary Healer while Amelia isn't in the hospital. I take it you're Ginny?"
She nodded.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Ginny, although I'm sorry our paths had to cross like this. I'm here to give Harry his next batch of Blood-Replenishing Potion and apply a salve that Amelia wanted us to try that may help with the bruising. Do you have any questions for me?"
Ginny shook her head.
"That's okay. If you do, don't hesitate to ask. I'm happy to explain anything about Harry's care to you."
Ginny watched as Andrew pointed his wand at Harry's throat, and her eyes widened slightly in alarm. He saw this and lowered his wand momentarily. "It removes his resistance to swallowing. Makes administering potions much easier," he explained, and she nodded again, watching him cast the spell. Next, Andrew inserted a tube into Harry's mouth and slowly started pouring the potion into it. It took about a minute for the entire flask to be emptied. Then he set the tube and empty flask back on the side table and waved his wand again to conjure the salve Amelia had recommended.
He very gently applied the salve to Harry's forehead and nose before unbuttoning Harry's dressing robe. When Ginny saw the skin underneath, she gagged involuntarily. The bruising on his chest and shoulder were terrible. There were also large scars across his chest and stomach that seemed to be stretching and threatening to rip from whatever was sealing them. Tubes were protruding at disconcerting angles from several spots near his scars, holding oddly coloured fluids that she couldn't identify. Ginny also saw that Harry's stomach seemed to be slightly misshapen, like things were still being rearranged inside, which nearly made her sick again.
"Do you have any ideas on how to wake him up?" Ginny asked, desperate that someone would have a different answer, when Andrew finished applying the salve.
Andrew's gaze was soft but slightly detached, like he'd delivered this bad news to hundreds of people before. "We're working on it. We have several apprentices who are researching, along with myself and Amelia. We're doing our absolute best to find an answer."
Ginny tried to smile gratefully as Andrew exited the room. She couldn't help but notice that he hadn't made any guarantee of finding a solution, but it probably wasn't a good idea for Healers to make promises like that. He didn't seem pessimistic though, which was better than nothing. At this point, Ginny was desperate for any positive signs.
Her mum opened the door a few moments later and gasped in shock when she saw Harry's lifeless body on the bed. Ginny nodded, empathising with that reaction that she still had to suppress every time she looked at Harry. Her mum hobbled over to the chair and pulled Ginny over into a tight hug.
"Oh, Harry. My poor boy," she whispered sadly, which was almost enough to make Ginny break down in tears for the first time today. "How are you doing, angel?"
Ginny pulled away slightly and looked at her mum as she wiped her eyes. "I don't know, Mum. I– I have no idea what to feel. I thought he was dead, and now he's only possibly dying or never gonna wake up again. I'm terrified that I'm never going to get to talk with him again, and to top it all off, the last thing he did before this happened was buy an engagement ring for me! How am I supposed to feel?"
She knew there was desperation in her voice that she couldn't restrain. She was fighting every second not to explode in anger and grief. But she was so lost. She couldn't make any sense of all this. Usually, when she felt like this, she'd talk to Harry. But that wasn't an option anymore.
Her mum rubbed circles on her back without saying anything for a while. "You aren't supposed to feel anything. When your father was in here a few years ago, I was far less composed than you are. There's no right way to handle anything like this. You're doing as well as you possibly can. And I'm so proud of you for that, angel."
"I just want him to be okay."
Her mum nodded. "He will be."
Both she and her mum jerked their attention to the bed when they heard something. Ginny realised a moment later that it was just Harry taking a slightly louder breath than before, and her shoulders slumped again. Somehow, a tiny part of her had thought it was him waking up.
"Harry asked your father and I for our blessing. Your dad told me he told you."
Ginny nodded, even though she'd forgotten that moment at Shell Cottage in the torrent of events that had happened since. "I assume you gave it to him since he bought a ring?"
Her mum smiled slightly. "That would be a good assumption. I– can I tell you something he said since it's not a secret? I don't want to upset you if it's too much, but it might make you feel a touch better."
Ginny nodded, knowing that she wasn't going to turn down learning more about this.
"I asked Harry what had changed since last summer, when you told me the two of you weren't planning on getting married anytime soon."
"Mum!" Ginny interjected, shocked that her mum had actually interrogated Harry.
"It was a reasonable question, Ginny. And besides, there wasn't much he could've said that would've made us not give him our blessing. But when I asked him that, he thought about it, and then he said nothing had changed. Bill had told him that he decided to marry Fleur when he knew he couldn't live without her, and Harry said he hasn't been able to live without you since the war ended. He's been ready to marry you for a long time, even though it took a while to realise it."
Ginny looked back at Harry, lying motionless on the bed, horrifically maimed by evil people that he'd valiantly fought. She'd never loved him more, and all she wanted was to be able to tell him that, now and forever. She wasn't going to rest until they woke him up. Because the truth was that she felt the exact same way as he did. She didn't want to find out if she could live without him because life without him would be so empty.
"Am I gonna like the ring?"
Her mum actually smiled even though she was crying, and she nodded. "It's beautiful."
Ginny smiled a little and let her mum hold her in a warm embrace. "He's going to be okay," she said to herself.
Her mum hugged her a little tighter. "I have no doubt."
She was in Harry's room with her mum for a while before she felt pangs of hunger in her stomach. She didn't really want to leave, but she knew more people wanted to at least see Harry. And besides, she would be staying overnight with him. So she stood up and stretched, not surprised by how tightly wound her body was from sitting and watching Harry.
"I'm gonna go get Dad. I need to get something to eat."
Her mum nodded, and Ginny left, passing by the Aurors in the corridor on her way to the lift. The ride back down felt much faster than the ride up had felt, and quickly, she was reentering the room where the rest of her family was waiting.
Spirits seemed to be somewhat higher here than when she'd left, likely because Hermione and Ron had been able to bring some news back with them. And there was a pile of sandwiches on a tray in an empty chair. Ginny's stomach growled loudly as she realised she hadn't eaten in at least twenty-four hours. And somehow, that involuntary noise sparked a round of laughter that alleviated her tension and anxiety even more.
"Dad, you can go up," Ginny said, still smiling at everyone's laughter. "I clearly need to eat something."
"Thanks, sweetheart," her dad said, standing up immediately and kissing the top of her head before leaving. Ginny took a sandwich and sat down between Charlie and Bill, eating ravenously as her hunger very suddenly overcame her.
Three sandwiches later, she sat back and allowed herself a calming breath. She felt better now that she'd eaten. She was just thinking that this was the best she'd felt since everything had started until Charlie cleared his throat.
"There's something you need to see."
About the last thing she was expecting was him placing a copy of the Daily Prophet in her lap. But the headline told her that she'd been ignorant to not be prepared for this.
HARRY POTTER DEFEATS FOUR DEATH EATERS IN DIAGON ALLEY BATTLE!
POTTER'S CONDITION: 'CLASSIFIED'
In the early evening of the fifteenth of April, Harry Potter, The Saviour of the Wizarding World, was in Diagon Alley when he was ambushed by four former Death Eaters. Without any outside assistance, Potter managed to incapacitate or severely injure all four of his attackers, proving once again that he is one of the most heroic wizards of all time.
Speaking to the press early this morning, Minister for Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt said: 'Harry is a very close friend of mine, and I cannot say that I am surprised by the feat of defensive magic he performed last night. He has proven that he is a great wizard and a better man for as long as I've known him.'
When asked about the Death Eaters in question, Minister Shacklebolt did not mince words. 'In the course of the fight, Augustus Rookwood died. Tomas Travers and Amycus Carrow are both in custody. However, Alecto Carrow remains at large. She is severely wounded and highly dangerous, and we ask anyone with information about her location to contact the Auror's Office as quickly as possible.'
Several eyewitnesses stated to this reporter that they saw Potter being brought into St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries with 'gruesome wounds.' Minister Shacklebolt refused to entertain any speculation of Potter's condition. 'Revealing details about his condition is entirely Harry's choice. He has sacrificed much for our world and has asked only for privacy. From the perspective of myself and the Ministry, all information about Harry's wellbeing is, and will remain, classified.'
Potter has released no statement at this time, but we will update our readers if a statement does come. With the details of his health unclear, we wish Mr. Potter the best and hope he returns to full health as soon as possible.
For further reading about Potter's growth into the greatest wizard of his time, see page 3.
For speculation on what this attack means for the safety of our world, see page 9…
The picture accompanying the article was one that had been used regularly in the articles about Harry over the summer. He was standing in the Great Hall, seconds after defeating Riddle. Ginny had been there the day the picture was taken, even if she couldn't remember it. People were surrounding him, but he still stood out, with his long, messy hair and a triumphant, but haunted, gleam in his eyes. It was the picture of a hero.
"I suppose this was bound to happen," Ginny lamented resignedly.
"They should rename it to the Daily Potter," George quipped in a low voice. Ginny glanced over at him and saw that he looked slightly better than he had yesterday, but it was obvious that he, like the rest of her siblings, were still on edge, terrified that they could lose another brother so close to the anniversary of…
"There are reporters in ze lobby," Fleur informed them. "But nobody eez allowed in this area of ze hospital now."
That figured. At least St. Mungo's meant it when they said they wanted to respect Harry's privacy. Already, the vultures were circling, probably thinking about how many papers they could sell if they could be the ones to break the news of something even more tragic happening to Harry. They'd eat it up if they learned he was in a coma.
For what seemed like the hundredth time since she'd gotten to St. Mungo's, Ginny wondered what she was supposed to be doing. She detested not having something that she could do to help. Every moment she spent in the hospital, she felt like there had to be more to do. It was humbling and miserable, feeling reduced to the role of grieving girlfriend. She was supposed to be more than that. For the past year, they'd been there to help each other in their lowest moments. He'd held her while she'd cried about Fred, and she'd pulled him out of his panic attacks. They didn't sit idly by and hope that things got better. To know that there was nothing she could do was the most devastating feeling of all, forced to wait for a solution to present itself.
Hermione was at least trying, but based on what Ginny had heard from the Healers, it was unlikely that she'd find an answer in the book she was reading. Still, Ginny had to hope, even though she knew that the Healers were fervently searching their own reference materials for a cure to Harry's condition.
"Found anything yet?" Ginny asked quietly. Hermione glanced up from her book, mirroring Ginny's pain in her expression.
"Not yet. There are some references to ancient lightning magic, but… well, it didn't leave any survivors to learn how to treat. But I think this is different anyways. Most of these stories involve wandless magic. Wands channel magic safely and allow for more complicated spells, but it also dampens the power of the magic. Wandless magic is raw and unfiltered and can often harness the natural elements, including lightning. But wands mixing with that type of magic… it's not something we're taught here, for good reason. It's no wonder the effort killed Rookwood."
"I want to know what possessed Rookwood to use that magic in the first place," Percy said. "It's obviously better that he hit Harry with that than a Killing Curse, but still… there's all manner of spells that could've been used before that."
"It doesn't seem like they were trying to kill Harry," Bill replied, rubbing his chin as he thought about it. "Based on what Kingsley said happened, they don't think any of them were using Killing Curses."
"Not like they were holding back anything, even with that," Ron commented, shaking his head.
"But if they weren't trying to kill him, then what was the point?" Hermione asked rhetorically. Nobody had an answer to that.
The door opened, and Ginny's mum walked in, quickly swiping at her eyes, as if she didn't want them to know she'd been crying. "Bill, your father said you might want to go up for a moment."
Bill stood. "Yeah, I– I really would." Then he glanced back at Ginny. "I won't be too long. I know you're probably wanting to go back up."
Ginny nodded, already missing Harry and thinking she should be by his side, even though it couldn't have been more than thirty minutes since she'd left. While Bill walked out of the room, Fleur slid over into the seat he had been occupying on Ginny's left.
"Could we speak outside for a moment?"
Ginny shrugged, wondering what Fleur had to talk to her about. Nobody else seemed too surprised by it though, especially her mum, who tried to give them a bracing smile.
Fleur stood, poised and elegant at the same time, in the corridor with her. For some reason, Ginny was suddenly aware that she probably looked like shit and probably didn't smell much better. Yet, even though they'd both been living in the same conditions, Fleur was radiant.
"You didn't like me when Bill and I began dating," Fleur said calmly.
Ginny at least had the decency to feel a little embarrassed at that accurate accusation. "No… I really didn't," she said after a moment, wondering why Fleur wanted to talk about this now of all times.
"Do you like me now?"
This answer was much easier than the first one. "Yes. Sometimes you still get on my nerves when you seem like you can't help but be perfect. But yeah. I like you a lot more than I did a couple years ago."
Fleur's smile was placid and almost patronising, like she already knew the answers and was quizzing Ginny for the fun of it. "When did your mind change about me?"
Ginny shifted her weight on her feet, trying to pinpoint exactly when that change had happened. She found that she liked Fleur much more the summer before her wedding than she had the previous summer. A lot had changed in that time though. She'd started dating Harry, she'd grown a lot, Dumbledore had died. Then Ginny figured it out.
"After the fight at Hogwarts… the night Dumbledore died. When you told my mum that you loved Bill even after he'd been attacked by Greyback. I decided you couldn't be that bad if you loved him that much."
Fleur nodded like she expected that, and her smile became less self-satisfied and more empathetic. "Eet eez interesting that ze worst day of my life is ze day you decided you liked me."
Ginny was unsure how to respond to that. That was definitely one of the worst days of her life too, but it had been far worse for Fleur.
"Not that I blame you. I don't believe either of us gave ze other any reason to be liked before that."
"No, we didn't," Ginny agreed, remembering the jokes she used to make about Fleur. They hadn't been entirely unwarranted, but they certainly hadn't helped Fleur's relationship with her family.
"I wanted you to know, in case you had forgotten, that I know something of what you are going through. Seeing ze man you love, terribly wounded, with nothing to do but hope."
For some strange reason, Ginny found herself holding Fleur's hand. Fleur smiled and brushed some hair off of Ginny's face. "Eet eez not easy for women like us to be patient. To feel like there eez nothing we can do to help."
"It's the worst feeling ever," Ginny agreed. Even when things had gone to hell at Hogwarts last year, she'd been able to fight back with Dumbledore's Army. There wasn't an enemy to resist or a mission to complete now though.
"Don't give up hope. That eez what you have to do. Harry is very well-loved, and ze people here will find a cure for him. I sense that you will not be separated from him for long."
Ginny raised a dubious eyebrow. "You sense that?"
Fleur smiled. "We will call eet a part of my Veela magic."
Ginny barely held back a snort, but she didn't hold back when Fleur pulled her into a hug. She wasn't used to hugging Fleur, but, like everything else, Fleur was great at it. Ginny felt warmed and calmer now, and for a minute, she really believed what Fleur said about Harry recovering soon.
Fleur released her after several moments, smiling like she knew the effect that the hug had on Ginny, and then she led the way back to the room. Just before Ginny followed Fleur inside, the door from the reception area banged open and a very haughty looking Professor McGonagall walked in, ignoring the protests of the reception witch behind her.
"How is he?" McGonagall asked without any preamble.
Ginny felt the weight returning to her stomach, growing weary of explaining his condition to people while she was still trying to process it herself. "He's… in a coma. They don't know how long it's going to take him to wake up," she admitted, barely keeping her voice from breaking.
She narrowed her eyes when McGonagall seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "I thought, with all the secrecy, that it was possible he might…" And Ginny understood that feeling completely. "Harry's been through worse than this. He'll wake up."
McGonagall's confidence was so encouraging that Ginny just nodded, not wanting to tell the Headmistress that his condition was actually much worse than she could ever remember. McGonagall must've mistaken her reticence to speak as grief, which wasn't an altogether inaccurate assumption, because she put her hands on Ginny's shoulders suddenly in an awkward sort of half hug. Ginny just nodded again, trying to look more hopeful.
"Your messages had the castle in a bit of an uproar last night," McGonagall added. "Several of the remaining students and professors were intent on forming a search party for Harry. It wasn't until I received word from Kingsley that Harry had been found that I was able to calm everyone down. I would've been here sooner, but there was another disruption at the school following the arrival of the newspaper."
"I think we'd be better off banning the Prophet from Hogwarts," Ginny replied disdainfully.
McGonagall gave her a small smile. "Yes… well, maybe one day. I'll pass word along that Harry is recovering to the students and staff."
Ginny nodded. "Thank you for coming. I'll let you know if anything changes."
"I expect to hear good news soon, then," McGonagall said before turning away.
A painful realisation came to Ginny, just before McGonagall made it through the doors. "Professor… I don't think– we're not going to be back when the term starts."
McGonagall surveyed her for a moment, eyes crinkling sadly. "Come back as soon as you're able. Hogwarts isn't the same without you. Both of you."
Ginny returned to the family room after McGonagall left, wondering how it was possible that the older woman could be so stoic so often but raw and vulnerable in a time like this. Ginny personally thought it might be nice for McGonagall to show affection more often so that it wasn't so jarring when it did happen, but that seemed unlikely to change.
She was just contemplating going up to Harry's room and asking to trade spots with Bill or her dad when they both came into the room. Ginny's instinctive reaction was to worry that Harry had been left alone, but then she remembered that there were both Healers and Aurors upstairs with him still.
"They asked us to leave while they change out some of his tubes," Bill explained. "And then Amelia should be here for the night shift soon."
"Some of you really should go home and get some rest," her mum said pointedly.
Like before, everyone protested, but her mum was more unrelenting this time. "They'll allow two people to stay in the room with him overnight. If anything happens, whoever's up there can send a Patronus home, and everyone would be able to get here just as quickly as if they were in this room to begin with."
"I'm staying in his room," Ginny said firmly, and nobody, not even her mum, disagreed. The bigger issue was deciding who would stay with her.
"I should stay with you," her mum said. "It only makes sense to have someone older there with you."
"I'm older than her," Ron butted in. Ginny thought that was a pretty weak argument, and her mum shot it down immediately.
"I know you want to be here for Harry, dear, but he really needs someone here who understands more about how hospitals work. And if they have to make a quick decision, someone with more experience can give Ginny advice."
"Then I'll stay."
Ginny was very happy to hear Bill speak up, looking as resolute as she felt.
"You and Dad need to rest too, Mum. I'm fine. I'll stay with Ginny tonight, and once you get some rest, you can stay tomorrow."
"It does make sense, Molly," her dad agreed, even though he looked like he wished he was the one staying in Harry's room.
Finally, her mum gave in. "Fine. But you will contact us if anything changes with him."
"Absolutely," Bill confirmed while Ginny nodded.
It wasn't easy, saying goodbye to their family. Ginny fought to keep herself from crying as she hugged everyone, while they all whispered something encouraging to her. She really thought she was going to break down when her dad said, confidently, "You're stronger than this." Somehow though, she and Bill were able to return to Harry's room with dry eyes. Or at least, she did.
Harry was in a slightly different position than before, but she knew that was because of the Healers and not him actually moving. He still seemed completely lifeless other than his slow, laboured breathing. Just looking at him like that was enough to make her feel even more overwhelmed than when her family had said goodbye.
She blinked back tears and shook her head at herself. "You'd think I'd be used to this by now."
"Harry being in a coma?"
"Him being hurt and me just hoping he'll be okay. Being with him in a hospital. We've done it enough times at this point."
"And he's always been okay before," Bill pointed out. "You've gotta believe he's gonna be okay this time too, Ginny."
She nodded and kept staring at Harry, thinking about how good he usually was at being okay, even when it didn't seem like it should've been possible.
"I just want to know how you managed to get a Snitch."
Ginny gave Harry a coy look. "Shame you'll never find out then."
He laughed and flew closer to her. "Doesn't matter to me too much. I'm much more interested in catching it."
"Well you're gonna have to beat me to it," Ginny taunted.
"Oh, that's the plan, then? You know, just because you won a match last season–"
"We won the Cup, thank you very much!"
He grinned and tousled his hair in an effortless way that made her heart flip in her chest. "I remember. Still glad you managed that. But I've been the Seeker for a long time before that. So I'm really sorry, but I'm going to destroy you."
Ginny busted out laughing at Harry's attempt to be menacing. Harry looked insulted, which only made her laugh harder. "You're cute when you think you're all tough like that," she choked out between spurts of laughter.
"I– I am?" Harry asked, sounding a little dazed.
Ginny nodded, wiping her eyes and trying not to laugh anymore. "It's not convincing at all, Harry. You're gonna have to work on being intimidating by next season."
"I can be intimidating," Harry protested weakly.
She chuckled and reached up to put a hand on his shoulder. His eyes darted down to her hand and back up to her eyes quickly, and she realised she was probably making him uncomfortable. So she quickly patted his shoulder like that was all she intended to do. "You're very talented. And your reputation is intimidating. But you need to back that reputation up by actually intimidating the opposing Seeker."
"I mean… I can beat any Seeker in any other house to the Snitch without them being scared of me."
"True. But what if you're going up against someone as good or better than you? Because I am, and I hate to tell you Harry, but I'm not intimidated at all."
Ginny smirked at his dumbfounded look and released the Snitch without warning. "Ten seconds," she reminded Harry, who nodded, whispering the count under his breath.
Ginny didn't really think she was a better Seeker than Harry. It was close between them, maybe, but Seeking wasn't her real passion anyways. Still, she knew she stood a better chance of beating Harry to a Snitch than anyone else at Hogwarts. But she'd forgotten, in all her taunting, that Harry had a far superior broom to hers. So when they both took off in the direction of the last place they'd seen the Snitch, he had a slight advantage. It was lucky that he at least weighed more than she did, so the advantage wasn't as much as it could've been.
Most of the time though, they weren't flying around at top speed. Instead, they flew slowly together, looking all around the orchard and surrounding fields for the Snitch. They didn't talk much, but Ginny found herself continuing to sneak glances over at Harry, who had a very determined and concentrated look on his face. She had to admit that that expression was slightly intimidating. She was pretty sure that she would have a compulsion to become shy and awkward around him like she had been years ago if he turned that look on her.
Ginny finally caught sight of the Snitch, flitting around the base of a tree near the edge of the orchard. She restrained herself from shooting after it though, knowing Harry would probably beat her there if he wasn't distracted. Then she knew what to do, and she thought Harry might appreciate it too, after he got over being embarrassed by it.
As quickly as she thought of it, she dove straight down at the ground, feeling Harry already on her tail, despite her having the head start. They broke through the treeline with Ginny just slightly ahead of Harry. She reached her hand out and wrenched the handle of her broom up, barely avoiding smashing into the ground. She heard a thud behind her and grinned to herself, unable to hide her excitement at it working properly. With Harry out of the way, she was able to easily fly over and practically plucked the Snitch out of the air.
Ginny flew back to where she'd left him, still grinning widely, and saw that he was still lying on the ground. She landed and dropped her broom to the ground, hurrying over to his side and growing more worried by the second. She rolled him over and her stomach lurched, seeing a trickle of blood tracing his hairline. Without thinking, she placed her hand on his head to wipe the blood away. She was about to run for help when his eyes fluttered open, and she breathed a very heavy sigh of relief.
"I cannot believe you did that," Harry half moaned before coughing. "Knocked the breath out of me."
"You bloody scared me!" Ginny practically shouted, swatting his chest to make her point.
"Jeez, Ginny. Sorry you're the one who got hurt here," he responded before grinning unevenly at his own joke.
"Well, don't scare me like that," she said in a much quieter voice.
They both seemed to come to the realisation that she still had a hand on his face at the same time. Ginny could almost feel her heartbeat in her fingers as she pulled her hand back. "So you're okay?"
Harry sat up, looking much more red in the face than he had when she'd come back to him. "Yeah, I'm okay." Then he brightened. "We have to practise that!"
Ginny laughed, still feeling relief that she hadn't just killed him. "I like the sound of that. But you really need to clean your face off before Mum sees and has a cow."
Harry apparently hadn't noticed until he saw her blood-tipped fingers. "Ah– yeah, I guess I don't look too good right now."
"I don't know about that," Ginny started before embarrassingly feeling herself getting tongue-tied. Harry smiled a little and stood up. He reached a hand out to her, and she pulled herself up, thinking that he looked more than good at the moment. And for some reason, Harry was looking at her curiously too. She raised an eyebrow at him, and he blinked twice before smiling again.
"I'll be back in a sec and we can try it out again!"
Then he was running back up to the house, and Ginny could only shake her head and smile. He sure was something else. But at least he was okay.
A knock on the door broke her out of her memories of far better times than this. She and Bill looked at the door, and she smiled a little when Amelia came in. That smile disappeared completely when somehow, as if she wasn't dealing with enough already, Cho Chang walked in behind her.
Amelia acted like everything was perfectly normal. "I've just spoken with Andrew about the steps we've taken with Harry today. We've been replacing all of his tubes for sanitation purposes, and we're hopeful that in the next day or two, Harry won't need any more internal potion infusions. Once we reach that point, we'll remove the tubes altogether."
Amelia walked over to the bed and opened up Harry's dressing gown, and Ginny could've exploded at the curiosity with which Cho was staring at Harry's exposed torso. Logically, she knew that in this state, there wasn't much that was conventionally attractive about Harry, but that didn't make her any less angry at Cho's presence. Ginny was allowed to think he still looked good because he loved her. Cho didn't get to do that. Ginny had too much to worry about without this too.
"He had a small wound in his stomach that wasn't magically induced. That's almost completely healed now. The larger wounds were caused by curses, and, as such, they take longer to heal. I've… admittedly never seen Cutting Curses this vicious before, but I am confident that with enough time, a week or two maybe, they will heal completely. And… I should tell you that we have found a few leads on dealing with Harry's electrical damage that I'll be doing further research on tonight. I don't know how promising it is yet, so I don't want to get your hopes up too high, but that's where we're at right now."
Ginny nodded, and Amelia must've seen her contemptuous glance at Cho, who was still staring at Harry, because she introduced her like they didn't already know each other. "This is Cho Chang. She's an Apprentice Healer. I've brought her onto Harry's case because she's done exemplary work here, and she told me that she and Harry are old friends."
"Mmm," Ginny replied coolly. Cho finally looked over at her and smiled like nothing was wrong at all. Like Harry wasn't unconscious between them. Like she hadn't flirted with Harry in front of Ginny the last time they saw each other.
"I'll do everything I can to take care of him tonight," Cho said in a sticky sweet voice that made Ginny want to either vomit or break Cho's nose… or both.
"Thanks," Bill replied belatedly once Ginny didn't respond, and both Healers left the room.
"I take it you knew her?" Bill asked.
Ginny grimaced, trying to ignore the bad taste in her mouth. "We've met."
"Clearly," he responded dryly. "So what– oh, I get it."
She pressed her lips together before elaborating on what Bill had already figured out. "Harry fancied her for a few years. Her boyfriend at the time was Cedric Diggory– the one who died when Riddle came back. The next year, she and Harry got together– for like a month– before breaking up because Cho was jealous of Harry spending time with Hermione and couldn't stop crying about Cedric to him. And then her friend got the D.A. caught and Dumbledore kicked out of Hogwarts, and she's just the worst!"
Bill twiddled his thumbs for a moment, looking down at his hands. "She… doesn't sound that bad."
Ginny huffed, very annoyed at her older brother now. "It's not just that, okay! At Harry's birthday party last year, she showed up and she was flirting with him in front of me! Even when he tried to turn her down, she still wouldn't stop. And then just now, she was staring at him like a piece of meat instead of someone who–" Ginny's voice hitched.
Bill put a hand around her shoulders. "I get it. You're also tired and emotionally drained from all this. I don't blame you for being jealous."
"I'm not jealous!" Ginny snapped. "He chose me, not her. He loves me, not her. He– he was going to p–propose to me. Not– not her."
She couldn't fight the tears that were flowing now. Bill pulled her closer to him without saying anything. "We were supposed to go on a date. To the beach," Ginny choked out. It sounded stupid, but it was just one more tiny thing that may have been lost forever. Cho didn't matter at all to her anymore. All that mattered was not losing Harry.
The Aurors outside could probably hear her crying, but she didn't care. She'd cry in front of anyone, as much as she hated it, as embarrassing as it was, if it would bring him back.
Her tears slowed to a stop after a while. She let out a shaky breath and leaned away from Bill to find that he had the traces of tears on his face as well.
He rolled his eyes when he saw her looking. "Don't judge me. This is horrible for me too."
Ginny just nodded and hugged him again. "So I was gonna say that people look at Fleur all the time," Bill started, "and it makes me want to punch them. But since you're clearly not jealous, I guess I won't finish that thought."
Ginny shook her head and wiped her eyes. "Go ahead. I know you want to."
One corner of Bill's mouth tugged upwards in a wry half smile. "All I was gonna say is the reason I finally got over it was when I realised that I'm the only person that Fleur looks at with love and desire."
Ginny shuddered involuntarily at the word 'desire,' and Bill smiled more fully. "It's the truth. And you already know it, but from an outside perspective, I've definitely seen girls fawning over Harry in public before. But he looks at you with so much love that it wouldn't be possible for him to ever consider anyone else. Even if it does make me a little put off, as your brother and all."
Ginny tried to smile before biting her bottom lip, glancing over at Harry. "I just love him so much. I don't know what I'm gonna do if–"
"You're not gonna have to find out. I'm sure of that," Bill said firmly.
Ginny's reassurance at that statement didn't last for long. An hour or two later, well into the night, Amelia knocked on the door once again. Ginny tensed, expecting Cho behind her, but Amelia was alone. And she didn't look like she had good news.
"What is it?" Ginny asked urgently, before Amelia could say anything.
Amelia sighed and cast a forlorn look at Harry. "We need to talk about something."
Ginny's heart dropped, and she exchanged a terrified glance with Bill before looking back at Amelia, who was struggling with whatever it was that she was about to say. "Some of the research I've been doing has revealed… concerning possibilities. I've told you that there's no precedent for this sort of electrical damage before, and we've also discussed Harry's vulnerability to electric pulses, particularly in his brain."
Ginny nodded, wishing Amelia would spit out whatever it was that was bothering her.
"There's something I had been reluctant to consider, but I feel I should warn you about. With Harry's current condition, the longer that he remains comatose, with his brain in a vulnerable state and not functioning properly, it's… possible that, if he does wake up, some of his cognitive abilities, like his memory, could be affected."
It felt like her heart had stopped beating altogether. Bill's voice was muffled. "Affected?"
"Damaged or… lost," Amelia answered, clearing her throat as she looked back towards Harry once again. "Obviously, we are going to do everything we can to prevent that from happening but…"
"Now the problem isn't just waking him up," Bill finished hollowly.
Amelia nodded sadly. "I'm so sorry, but I thought you should know. I'm going to be back in a few hours to check on him again, but until then, I promise I'm going to keep trying to find a solution."
Ginny couldn't even nod as Amelia left the room. This news was almost as devastating as learning about Harry's injuries to begin with. Now, there was a possibility that, even if he woke up, which seemed more unlikely by the day, he wouldn't have any memories. He wouldn't remember anything about his past. He wouldn't remember her.
"He's going to be–"
"Don't," she interrupted, becoming angrier at the world by the second. "Just… don't."
So Bill didn't. They sat in silence. She refused to give up on Harry, but it looked more hopeless every time she learned something new. Ginny didn't have any more tears to cry.
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A/N: Surprise! And a very Happy New Year to you all! I'll be completely honest; I wasn't planning on releasing a chapter today, but I woke up after returning home from the UK last night feeling grateful and generous, so here we are with a surprise chapter to close out the year! Another bit of honesty: this chapter didn't exist until about an hour before I posted it. The teaser in the last A/N referred to "Don't Give Up", which was a nearly 17k word chapter that combined this one and the chapter I'll release on Friday. I kept waffling back and forth between splitting it into two or leaving it as a massive chapter. So this chapter is a bit shorter than a usual chapter, which is another part of the reason I decided to split them up and release one today and one on Friday. The one on Friday will also be shorter than a usual chapter, but, overall, there's a lot more content this week than usual!
On the plane yesterday, I wrote the A/N for the combined chapter, and I didn't really have the time to split that as well with my own holiday plans, so I'll dive more into this chapter on Friday, but for now, this is it!
I'll end with a brief thank you, even though I say it often, to you all for reading this and being here with me on this journey! It's crazy to me that we're already at the end of 2024 and that I've been releasing this story since March. It's been a wild ride, and I'm immensely grateful to you all for continuing to encourage me throughout it! You all make me want to be better and motivate me to continue writing every day! Here's to a great 2025, for all of us and for this story, and I'll see you on Friday!
Coming Friday: Don't Give Up (for real this time)- She wasn't going to win this battle.
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Flutterbye123: I'm sorry about all the angst, and I know this chapter doesn't help a whole lot with that, but, in my defence... actually, there isn't really a lot of defence, other than there was going to be a part two to this chapter that now isn't coming out until Friday... so yeah!
Guest: That's a good point! They did definitely show up for him before it was too late, just not quite as early as he probably would've hoped. There definitely is a possibility that Rookwood could've survived if not for Ron and Hermione stunning him too, so it's a very good thing they were there!
Merendinoemiliano: Thank you so much! It's always so hard to put myself in that mindset of Ginny's emotional devastation, but I appreciate that you're enjoying my descriptions of it!
Etschi89: I definitely understand that, and maybe I should stop advertising this book as fully canon-compliant, just to add more stakes to the books haha! I promise you, nobody feels more sorry for Charlie than himself, because he does his best to mess with Harry, and it works sometimes, but it'd be sooo much easier if Harry wasn't Harry! I like your theories a lot, and we'll have to see if any of them are right!
Finnspa23: Thank you! I loved those parts of the chapter a ton too. The letter, in particular, was something I was very happy with, considering it worked on both the level of Harry on the run in DH as well as his current situation... even though it was really sad too!
qUg060: Welcome back! You still have a ways to go before you read this one, but I hope university is going well for you, and I'm very happy to have you reading ToG again! That method of showing rather than telling is something I try so hard to accomplish. Sometimes, I worry I'm showing a little too vaguely, but comments like yours make me feel a lot better about that because that was absolutely the intention with George talking so openly about Fred at the opening of WWW. There's a lot of that, in particular, with how everyone talks with Fred, but I'm always trying to find new ways to put you all in the story in more immersive ways than just telling you what happened. I'm really looking forward to finding out more about how you feel about the chapters you have left to read before catching up!