Ginny truly was the most incredible person he knew.
/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*
For the first time since Harry's memories had returned, the mood at the Burrow was quiet and sombre. Without planning it, they'd all woken early and huddled together around the table in the kitchen. Ginny's hands were wrapped around a steaming mug of hot chocolate, but that did nothing to ease the pain she felt. The expressions on her parents' and Harry's faces told similar stories.
Somehow, it had already been a year since the day of the battle. The sun had risen a couple hours ago. This time last year, she and Harry were sleeping together in his dormitory after it had all ended. This time last year, their family had lost one of its own. This time last year, she'd lost a brother and a sister, and Teddy had lost his parents.
It wouldn't ever be fair that life continued on without the people who made it so vibrant. They stayed alive in their memories and the way the living honoured them, but Ginny couldn't lie to herself and pretend it was the same. Things hadn't been the same for a long time. Most days were better now, as they all worked to overcome the difficulty of losing loved ones, but a day like today brought the pain back, almost as fresh as the day it was created.
They were going to meet everyone at The Hog's Head at noon. They didn't really speak until they were leaving. She and Harry had packed everything into her bag to take to Hogwarts afterwards, and they wouldn't be returning to the Burrow for a couple weeks while they reacclimated to school.
One piece of instruction that Amelia had given Harry that Ginny was ensuring he followed was that he couldn't apparate himself anywhere. That he hadn't protested suggested to Ginny that his pain was much worse than he was letting on, but she figured he'd bring it up if it became unbearable. She wouldn't get anything out of him otherwise.
So she side-alonged Harry to Hogsmeade, arriving at the same time as her parents. Harry winced when they landed, and Ginny gave him a concerned look, but he brushed it off, as usual.
"I'm fine," he promised. "Just… not super comfortable."
Ginny nodded. "You better let me know if it gets worse."
"Yep," Harry replied, clearly gritting his teeth. Ginny rolled her eyes at his stubbornness and held his hand as they walked towards The Hog's Head. It was slow going– Harry's limp hadn't improved much since he'd returned from the hospital– but her parents waited for them before opening the door.
Apparently, her dad and Hermione had kept their promise about spreading the word. There must've been close to forty people in the rundown pub, between Dumbledore's Army and the Order of the Phoenix. And as soon as they walked in, Harry was rushed by several people who were very happy to see him.
Dean, Luna, Neville, Hannah, and several more of Harry's old classmates crowded around, relieved to see he was okay after hearing so little about him other than what the Prophet had printed.
"Oi! Give him some space!" Ron shouted from near the back of the group, causing everyone to take a half step back.
"Demelza said that you'd told her Harry was okay, but with everything in the Prophet, we weren't sure," Dean said, clapping Harry on the back once more.
"I think I've been saying for years that you can't trust that paper," Harry replied with a wry smile.
"Daddy's been saying that forever," Luna chimed in. "It's wonderful to see that you still have all ten fingers, Harry."
"Er– thanks, Luna," Harry said as Ginny stifled a laugh. "I'm happy I do too."
The crowd parted suddenly as Hagrid practically bowled over everyone in his path to scoop Harry up into a monstrous hug that left him gasping for air. "Yeh gotta stop scarin' everyone like tha'," Hagrid teasingly scolded, even though Ginny saw immeasurable relief in his eyes.
"I'm doing my best, Hagrid," Harry responded. "Can't always help it though."
"No, I s'pose you can'. Still, I was abou' ter go to tha' hospital and pull yeh out myself."
Ginny watched Harry pat Hagrid on the arm, trying to comfort his old friend. It was definitely for the best that nobody here knew just how perilous Harry's situation in the hospital had been. Except for the woman who had stepped up next to Hagrid.
"Potter, if I ever find out about you being unconscious in a hospital bed again, I will personally see to it that–"
They never found out what McGonagall would've done. Surprising everyone, including himself, Ginny thought, Harry hugged Professor McGonagall. Her severe expression softened a degree or two, and she gingerly placed her hands on Harry's back.
"Thanks for checking on me," Harry said quietly after they'd separated. "Ginny told me."
McGonagall cleared her throat and straightened her hat. "Yes, well… I do have a responsibility to ensure the safety of all my students."
Harry smiled a little and nodded, well aware, like Ginny was, that McGonagall didn't view them as two ordinary students. Not that she'd ever say anything like that in front of other people. Or to their faces. Or probably ever.
After the initial excitement of seeing Harry wore off, everyone seemed to remember the sad circumstances of their gathering in The Hog's Head. It wasn't necessarily a quiet affair, but it was much more solemn than the raucous reception Harry had received upon entering the pub. They stayed together as they caught up with several of their friends who had left Hogwarts.
Seamus approached them, slightly hesitantly, after a while. Harry grinned as he greeted his friend. "Hey, Seamus! How's the Auror Academy treating you?"
Ginny had forgotten that Seamus had enrolled in the Auror Academy after the battle. He definitely did look more grown up than he had a year ago. Then again, they all did.
"It– it's been a lot. They recently had us doing some field work on collecting evidence and examining crime scenes."
"That sounds pretty cool," Ginny said, reminded of a book series she'd read as a girl about a sorcerer detective and his Muggle sidekick.
"Yeah, it is. Um… we were at Diagon Alley," Seamus blurted out.
Ginny blinked, understanding now why he'd brought it up. "Oh," Harry managed.
"Not to… you know, really investigate anything. The witnesses apparently had most of the story already. But– I mean the stuff we saw, before it got cleaned away… I'm just glad you're here, Harry," Seamus said, far more open and emotional than usual.
"Me too," Harry replied, rubbing the back of his neck.
Seamus might've sensed that he'd made things a little awkward because, after that, he quickly spotted Dean and said it was great to see them before leaving to join his best friend.
"You good?" Ginny asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Little weird, but… I guess it probably looked pretty bad to anyone who showed up after."
Ginny tried not to imagine it, but her mind supplied images of blood soaking the cobblestones with knives and shattered glass littering the street.
Shaking her head to clear it from that thought, she noticed George in a corner of the pub, talking with Dennis Creevey. It was honestly a bit of a surprise that George had come at all, and Ginny felt incredibly proud of him for choosing to be around people today instead of mourning alone. He'd grown so much since the battle.
She'd never noticed before, but George and Dennis had several things in common. They both shared a very mischievous side– Dennis had proven that several times. And, more sadly, they both knew what it was like to lose a brother. It was probably a good thing that they were talking today, of all days. Maybe it would help them feel slightly less grief as they remembered the sacrifices of their brothers.
HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG
It wasn't as sad as the memorial held a month after the battle. Everyone had healed compared to that first month, and even though today did reopen some of those wounds, they were able to remember the ones they'd lost with more fondness than sadness.
It was still relatively quiet in the pub though. Harry caught up with several of his old friends, people he hadn't seen since his birthday or earlier. Parvati told them that she had decided to train to become a Divination professor, like Trelawney. But before she did, she wanted to visit magical schools around the world and see how they taught Divination. Harry wasn't entirely sure that other schools would be willing to share their locations, but he figured that she knew more about it that he did.
Angelina and Alicia both remained coy about the upcoming Quidditch World Cup that they were helping to plan as part of the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Ginny, especially, wasn't happy that they knew information about it that she didn't. Wherever it was, Harry was positive that he'd take her to watch it… if she wasn't playing in it.
Katie came up to them while they were talking to Angelina and Alicia, hugging all of them. "We're all so glad you're okay, Harry."
Before everything happened, Harry might've grown tired of people continuously expressing that sentiment to him. But now… it didn't bother him like it used to. It actually felt good that they meant it and weren't just saying it to be nice.
"Thanks, Katie. How have you been?" Harry replied. He did appreciate it, but he also wasn't too keen to linger on the subject.
"Great, honestly. Been seeing a lot of your brother," Katie answered, nodding at Ginny.
"My brother– oh, you're working with Bill at Gringotts, right?" Ginny asked.
"I'm… kind of working with him, I guess. It's an apprenticeship for curse breaking, and Bill's one of the best. He's not really in charge of the apprentices though, but he does still speak to us pretty often."
"How long's the apprenticeship?" Harry asked.
"A year, so I've got about three months left. Then, if they want me permanently, I'll get an international assignment."
"Anywhere you're wanting to go in particular?"
Katie grinned at Alicia and Angelina. "Wherever the World Cup is."
Angelina mimed zipping her lips while Alicia shrugged innocently. "Damn it," Katie laughed. She wouldn't be getting it out of them that easily, especially after Harry and Ginny tried interrogating them already.
About an hour later, Harry and Ginny were sitting near the rest of their family when Harry's shoulder was gripped firmly. He jerked his head around and inhaled quickly, looking into brilliant blue eyes that reminded him so much of Professor Dumbledore.
"A word," Aberforth Dumbledore said brusquely, almost pulling Harry out of his seat. Harry shrugged back to the Weasleys and followed behind at a slower pace, still hindered by his leg.
Aberforth took him into a room behind the bar and closed the door. Then he turned and regarded Harry carefully for several moments. When the silence couldn't get any more uncomfortable, Aberforth said, "You can't catch a break, can you?"
Harry exhaled sharply and shook his head. "Apparently not."
"I never had a chance to speak with you after your hearing last summer. I was there, you know." Harry actually didn't know that. He'd been far too focused on the Weasleys and the Wizengamot to notice anything else. "It was quite the story."
"It was all true," Harry responded, not understanding what Aberforth was getting at.
"I know it was," Aberforth said, a little softly, before falling silent again. Then, in a gruffer voice, he said, "I told you a year ago that it was over and you should run. You ignored me, and it should've gotten you killed."
"I've been told I'm difficult to kill," Harry replied, probably more antagonistically than he intended.
Aberforth didn't seem to mind though, brushing off the comment and continuing like he hadn't said anything. "My brother and I had our disagreements. Many disagreements. I've spent a lot of my life resenting him, for one reason or another. He'd be proud of you though."
The abruptness of it surprised Harry. "Er– thanks. I– he'd probably be glad that you helped us, too."
Aberforth shrugged like it didn't matter to him. "I didn't do it for him. But I know you did."
"I didn't," Harry responded instantly. He wasn't sure how true that was though. He didn't just do it for Dumbledore, at least.
Aberforth scratched at his beard disbelievingly. "Regardless, he'd be proud, I'm sure. Personally, I'm almost more impressed by the fight in Diagon Alley, but that's not important. I just thought you should know."
Harry cleared his throat and nodded. For some reason, the incredibly odd conversation had made him a little emotional. Maybe the emotional stuff was a side effect of the brain trauma.
"Thanks," Harry finally replied stiffly.
Aberforth inclined his head and exited the room without another word, leaving Harry perplexed for several seconds before he realised he could leave the room too.
He made it about halfway back to the Weasleys before the door to The Hog's Head opened again, and the Minister for Magic walked in. Before Harry could say anything, he was pulled into a tight hug by Kingsley.
"You do remember how we met, right?" Kingsley asked, smiling a little even though he was very clearly relieved to see him.
"I don't think I'll ever forget meeting you at Privet Drive," Harry replied. Seeing Kingsley's raised eyebrow, he belatedly added, "Again."
Kingsley chuckled, and Harry asked, "Weren't you supposed to be somewhere else today?"
"Just left the official ceremony. Didn't bother sticking around for different politicians to tell me I made a good speech. This was more important."
"So you're not gonna give a speech here, then?"
Kingsley raised his eyebrow again. "I wasn't sure if you'd like to speak instead. It is your army, after all."
"It's Dumbledore's Army."
"And the Order of the Phoenix. But you were the one we rallied behind."
Harry still didn't really agree with Kingsley, but it wasn't really important. He wouldn't win an argument anyway. "I don't– I don't really want to speak in front of everyone. They all heard what I said last year."
"Fair enough. I am, unfortunately, used to these speaking arrangements by now. Although… this is different." Harry nodded, and Kingsley clapped him on the shoulder. "It's really great to have you back."
Then Kingsley walked away from him, towards Professor McGonagall on the other end of the room. A small smile crept on Harry's face as he returned to the Weasleys.
"Anything good?" Ginny asked, weaving her fingers back into his.
"It was… weird. He told me Dumbledore would be proud of me."
Ginny squeezed his hand. "Duh."
Kingsley cleared his throat at that moment, drawing everyone's attention to him. "Thank you all for being here, and thank you to the Weasley family for planning this. And of course, we must thank Aberforth, our gracious host."
Everyone raised their drinks in salute before Kingsley continued.
"This is an incredibly special group of people. I don't need to make a political speech here like I do at public events, so I won't. You all represent the best of us, the ones willing to sacrifice when nobody else was. The ones who– who chose what was right instead of what was easy." Kingsley's eyes flickered over to Harry for a fraction of a second.
"You're all heroes, and you always will be. You know what it was like, being there that night. I hope nobody else ever has to learn what it was like. But… we all know the real reason we're here. We all lost someone. Many of us lost more than one. We remember the fallen every day, but today is especially painful. Being together is what makes us stronger, just like it did on that night.
"I've spoken my piece on the war, many times already. Harry's done so even more eloquently. There's nothing more to be said, except that we will continue to be there for each other. All of us– the defenders of Hogwarts– are bonded by that night. We were there when we were needed, and we'll be there whenever any of us are in need. That's why we came together today, and why we'll continue coming together every second of May. To honour the fallen heroes and support those of us who remain."
There was no applause for Kingsley's short speech. There was a solemn silence that followed instead. Kingsley was right. They did all know exactly what that night was like. They were bonded because of it. And if today, a disorienting mix of happiness and misery, was any indication, they would continue to be there for each other.
HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG
They were about to leave the memorial and return to Hogwarts when possibly the last person Ginny would've expected to see approached them.
"Can– can I talk to you both?" Cho asked nervously.
Harry glanced over at Ginny, brow furrowed, like it was her choice. After everything in the hospital, Ginny figured they could spare a minute. "Sure."
"I– I just wanted to apologise. I wasn't in control, but I know what I did. I'm sorry for flirting with you, Harry, and for spying on you in the hospital. And I'm sorry for everything that happened. I'm just… it's really good that you're both okay."
Ginny hadn't thought about how she might react if Cho apologised. She'd spent a lot of the past year being annoyed at the thought of her blatantly hitting on Harry at his birthday party. And for a long time before that, she'd held a grudge against Cho for being fancied by Harry. It wasn't mature, and Ginny knew that. She'd known it for a long time.
"Thank you, Cho," Ginny replied, deciding to do her best to bury the hatchet. She doubted she'd ever really be friends with Cho, but she also knew Cho didn't deserve the grudge she'd been holding. Harry didn't have feelings for her anymore, and Cho had actually apologised, even for the things she couldn't help. It hadn't been her fault that she'd been under the Imperius Curse, and showing some empathy was a far better option than continuing to hold an immature grudge.
Harry was still glancing at Ginny warily, like, at any moment, she might decide to snap and attack Cho. "Er– yeah. Thanks."
Cho nodded and quickly backed away, showing some embarrassment now. She probably also recognised that they could be on good terms without being friends.
"D'you know what that was about?" Harry asked as soon as Cho was out of earshot.
"Yeah, I do," Ginny answered, realising now that, in the insanity of the days after Harry had woken up, she'd completely forgotten to tell him about Cho being under Alecto's Imperius Curse. "I'll tell you about it when we get back up to the castle."
People had slowly been filtering out of The Hog's Head, and the Weasleys were soon the last people remaining.
"Harry, are you sure that you feel up to returning to Hogwarts? Nobody would judge you for needing more time to recover," Ginny's mum said, concern etched on her face.
"I'm fine, Molly. Or… fine enough to go back to school, at least."
"And you'll let me know if anything changes with your health?"
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Mum, we're gonna be fine. Don't worry."
Her mum huffed. "I wish it were that easy."
Her dad chuckled and kissed the top of her mum's head. "They really are going to be fine, dear. There are more than enough people at Hogwarts who will do whatever they can to keep Harry safe."
"When are you coming back?" Ginny's mum asked, apparently deciding that a new approach would be better.
"A couple weeks, Mum. We're gonna have a bunch of homework to catch up on, and the match is the Saturday after next. Honestly, we're going to be fine," Ginny replied.
Her mum sighed before pulling them both into a hug. "Oh, I know. Just– just take care of each other."
"Always," Harry responded immediately, making Ginny smile even though he couldn't see it.
Her brothers were less emotional about them returning to school. "Honestly, it's about time," Charlie said. "Make sure to win the Cup next week."
Ginny and Harry both grinned. "Definitely," Ginny promised.
"I think Mister Trumble will send me to scout you both again. He may even be there since he's wanting to give you both practice interacting with professional teams," Ron told them.
"That'd be great! I'd love to see him again," Ginny replied honestly, remembering the kind old man fondly.
"I'll let him know then," Ron said. Then, he pulled her to the side while Hermione said goodbye to Harry. "Don't let him get on a broom if he's not ready," he added in a hushed tone.
"What?" Ginny asked, thinking Ron was the last person she would've expected to hear that from.
"I know, I know. But… I dunno, Ginny. After– after everything in the last month, there are– there actually are things that matter more than Quidditch. If he's anywhere close to ready, he'll do it. I know he will. But you've gotta stop him if he's not ready."
Ginny pressed her lips together. Things hadn't gone well the last time she tried to tell Harry he couldn't play Quidditch. And she trusted him to make the right decision. She really did. "I'll talk to him if he doesn't seem ready," Ginny settled on, hoping that conversation never had to happen.
Ron nodded, apparently content with that answer, and gave her a very brief hug before returning to the rest of their family.
Within a few moments, all the farewells and goodbyes had been said. They exited The Hog's Head, and their family disapparated, returning to their various homes across the country, leaving Ginny and Harry alone in Hogsmeade.
He took her hand, and they began walking towards Hogwarts. Almost immediately, he was wincing as he limped.
"What's wrong?" Ginny asked.
"Nothing," Harry lied. Ginny narrowed her eyes, and he let out a long breath. "Leg's just a little off. I'm fine. Let's keep going."
Ginny put a hand on his chest when he made to start walking again. "Are you sure you're fine? We can go slower, there's no rush."
Harry sighed but nodded. "Slower's good."
They moved at a fraction of their normal pace, and she could still see pain in his expression, but he wasn't stopping. "I hate feeling like this," he muttered.
"Like what?"
"Like– like an invalid. Like I'm not me anymore because I'm– I'm weak and hurting."
Ginny stepped in front of him, looking into his eyes fiercely, irate that those evil people had made him feel like that. "You're not an invalid. You were hurt being a bloody hero, like you always are. You're strong and brave and amazing. I don't ever want you to feel like anything less. You're my best friend and the love of my life, no matter if you have trouble walking or not. You're–"
"HARRY POTTER!"
Startled, Ginny looked past Harry to see a woman older than them sprinting right at them with a slightly crazed look in her eyes and a wand in her hand.
Ginny didn't think twice. "Petrificus Totalus!"
The woman toppled over, motionless, just a few feet away from them. She was frozen with the manic expression still on her face.
"What the hell?" Ginny muttered before the door to The Three Broomsticks opened and Hannah walked out.
"What in Merlin's name happened?"
"This– this crazy woman screamed Harry's name and started running at us. I didn't know what she was doing, but she wasn't stopping, so I stopped her."
Hannah shook her head as she looked down at the woman. "Fantastic. This is one of my regulars. Guess she had too much from another one of the bartenders, and… yeah."
That didn't seem like much of an excuse to Ginny, who'd been pissed before and hadn't ever considered attacking someone. "So what should I do with her?"
Hannah frowned for a moment. "We've got some spare rooms. I'll put her in one of those. You two go on, I'll take care of it."
"Thanks, Hannah," she said earnestly. It didn't really matter to her; she just wanted to not be near that crazy woman when she was released. Hannah nodded like it wasn't an inconvenience, even though Ginny was sure it was, and levitated the woman back into the pub as if she'd done it before.
Ginny turned back to Harry, who was staring at her with his eyebrows raised and his mouth slightly open. "What?" Ginny asked.
Harry blinked and his eyebrows lowered. "I just– that was pretty cool. You protected me."
Now it was Ginny's turn to raise an eyebrow. "That's what we do. We protect each other, right?"
Harry blinked a few more times before he let out a shaky breath and smiled. "Yeah. It's just… usually it's me doing the protecting, not the other way around, so–"
Ginny crossed her arms and cocked her head. "So you're surprised I protected you? Or think I need protection more than you?"
"No, that's not what I meant," Harry responded shaking his head. "I– it's getting dark. Can we go up to the castle and talk?"
"You trying to get out of this conversation?" Ginny jokingly challenged.
He smiled again. "Definitely not. I just know how long it's gonna take me to get back."
"D'you want help, or is it weird that I'm helping you?" Ginny teased.
Harry chuckled and rolled his eyes at the same time. "Nothing weird about it."
"Damn right," she replied, putting an arm around his waist to help support him as they made the slow trek back to Hogwarts.
Once they made it to the grounds, Harry stopped and withdrew his Invisibility Cloak from the pouch hanging around his neck. "Don't really wanna deal with questions tonight. I'd rather talk to you," he explained.
Ginny nodded, and he pulled the cloak over both of them. They continued walking slowly across the grounds, and Ginny tilted her head to kiss his cheek. He looked curiously at her, but she didn't offer an explanation, so he just smiled. The truth was that sneaking around under the cloak reminded her of the day they got back together, after the battle, and she thought he deserved a kiss for how special that moment was, in spite of all their pain.
The Entrance Hall was empty, and they were able to use their extensive knowledge of the secret passages within Hogwarts to make it to Gryffindor Tower without coming close to anyone. They were waiting by the Fat Lady's portrait for about five minutes before a pair of second years gave the password and opened the entrance to the common room. Harry grimaced as they hurried in right behind them, but he didn't say anything until they'd successfully navigated the mostly empty common room and made it back into their private dormitory.
"So–" they both began at the same time.
"You first," Ginny said, sitting with him on the end of their bed, looking forward to his explanation of his comments in Hogsmeade.
"Oh– okay. Er– what was Cho talking about?"
Ginny thought she might've bitten the inside of her cheek hard enough to draw blood. She'd chosen to move on from the whole business with Cho, but she wasn't a saint. She'd known that Harry was going to ask about it, but she at least would've thought that he'd talk about the slightly more pressing thing first. At least she didn't tear into her boyfriend for bringing it up. Although, she did consider it for a moment.
She took a slow breath and then said, "Cho was under Alecto's Imperius Curse when she flirted with you at your birthday party. They removed it after catching Alecto."
Harry frowned, like that wasn't a satisfactory explanation. "That's awful. I can't believe how many people… damn. But– how did they catch Alecto, by the way?"
Ginny's expression and mood softened slightly. She hadn't ever told him. "Oh. On your second– no, it was your third night in the hospital, Mum and Dad made me go home because I hadn't really slept since you got hurt. As soon as everyone went to bed at home, I used your cloak to sneak out and go back to the hospital."
He smiled at that. "Couldn't go a night without being with me?"
She shook her head. "I just– I'm sorry, Harry, but you have no idea what it was like. I was so worried you weren't ever going to wake up, and I wasn't going to be away from you for any longer than I had to because I was afraid of losing you, and–"
Harry pulled her into his embrace, kissing the top of her head repeatedly. "I'm sorry," he whispered, like it was somehow his fault, like he'd been doing since he'd woken up. She wrapped an arm around him and closed whatever remaining gap there was between them.
"It– it's okay now. It wasn't then, but I have you now. And I'm not gonna lose you."
"Never," Harry promised, kissing her once more.
Feeling warmed and emboldened, she continued, "I fell asleep on the floor with the cloak on me, but I woke up when I heard noises in the hallway. A second later, the door opened, and I saw Alecto pointing her wand at you. I body-bound her before she could do anything. And then… I– I really thought about killing her. Or torturing her. I think I might've if Mum and Dad hadn't woken up. But I couldn't do it in front of them, so I settled for breaking her nose and stunning her. Cho ran in right after, begging me to body-bind her before Alecto woke up and started controlling her again. So I did, and then we called Kingsley and the Aurors."
She was still wrapped in Harry's arms, but he was practically motionless. After a few seconds of silence, she leaned back to see tears forming in his eyes. "Hey, what's wrong?" Ginny asked, reaching her hand up to cup his cheek.
He shook his head and cleared his throat, but his voice was still a little coarse when he spoke. "It's just– it's like what happened in Hogsmeade. You protected me then, you protected me when I was unconscious. I mean, I've always had Ron and Hermione, but… I dunno how to explain it. It– it feels better when you protect me. Like– like you're the one I trust most to protect me. And you want to protect me, like I want to protect you. That's what I meant back there. I know it sounded stupid, and I'm still not saying it well, but that's what I meant."
Something very warm felt like it was blossoming in her chest, and she bit back the smile she wanted to wear as she said, "I'm always gonna protect you, Harry. Just like I know you're always gonna protect me. That's what we do. We love each other, and we're partners. No matter what, we're always gonna be there for the other, right?"
He nodded. "Right," he answered, his voice still lower than usual, heavy laden with affection.
Ginny couldn't hold her smile back any longer. "Maybe me protecting you should go on your list."
He surprised her by shaking his head. "It's already on there."
"It is? Wait– you've actually memorised it?" Ginny asked, even more surprised.
He frowned. "Um, yeah? Of course I have. Haven't I been saying that?"
"I thought you were joking about keeping a list!"
Harry chuckled and shook his head. "Nope. I've got almost thirty things on the list already, and I'm still finding new things to add every day. Like how you're my partner, and you're always gonna be there for me. That's number twenty-seven and twenty-eight, I think."
She was stunned and absolutely positive that she'd never loved him more than right now. "I cannot believe you have an actual list," she repeated.
He bent down like he was about to kiss her. Just before their lips touched, he whispered, "You're the best person I know. You deserve a list."
Then their lips met in a remarkably gentle kiss before he pulled back, grinning. "And that's number twenty-nine."
Ginny laughed. "Merlin, I love you."
"I love you too," he answered as he tilted his head down to kiss her again. But, like before, he stopped centimetres from her lips. Ginny almost whimpered and closed the gap, but she saw the gleam in his eyes as he whispered, "By the way, you protecting me was also really damn sexy."
The gap closed itself immediately, both of them surging into the other as their lips and tongues met in a ferocious kiss that reminded Ginny of the first night after Harry got his memories back.
Harry pulled her on top of him as he fell back onto their bed. As their shirts came off and Harry began lavishing kisses on all her newly exposed skin, Ginny smiled. They were in their bed. It was really good to be home.
HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG
Ginny truly was the most incredible person he knew. He didn't want to admit it, but he'd been much later to noticing the woman running at them than she had been. He was pretty sure he would've stopped her anyways, but it meant everything that Ginny protected them, even though he'd already come to expect that from her, just like she expected it from him.
Maybe more impressive was that she had saved him from Alecto while he was in a coma and shown the restraint to not kill her. He wouldn't have blamed her if she did, honestly, but he would've hated himself for not fully defeating Alecto in Diagon Alley and putting Ginny in that position.
Maybe most impressive, considering he knew how proud and jealous Ginny could be, was that she'd not only helped Cho but seemed to have forgiven her. Jealousy was far from her best trait, and he was sure that it wasn't easy or that she was fully over it, but still, she was clearly trying. She was just such an amazing person, and he was so grateful that he had survived and was back at Hogwarts with her.
Actually, the most impressive part of them returning to Hogwarts was that she didn't just throw him to the wolves the morning after they arrived. She stuck by his side and kept people from crowding him too much. He'd woken up feeling great, but he knew from experience that his pain could return without warning.
They didn't even make it out of the common room before people freaked out, seeing them. The younger kids were very eager to hear about what had happened in Diagon Alley, and they were disappointed that Harry didn't want to talk about it. Ginny softened the blow by telling them that he single-handedly defeated four Death Eaters, which wasn't entirely true and left out the very important detail of his days-long brush with death, but that was more than enough for the kids, who got excited and ran out of the common room, no doubt to tell their friends that they had news straight from the source.
None of their close friends were in the common room, and, thankfully, the older students who hadn't gone to breakfast yet just wore expressions of relief or happiness at seeing them without crowding around. They were both hungry though, so they left and made their way to the Great Hall.
They almost made it when they ran into Mia and Demelza. Or, more accurately, Mia and Demelza almost literally ran into them, practically sprinting around the corner from the Great Hall. When they saw Harry and Ginny, they skidded to a stop. Demelza grinned, and Mia exhaled, relieved.
Then Mia was hugging him and Ginny. "For fuck's sake, don't do that to us again!"
"Er– sorry?" Harry offered.
"Not you! I mean, don't get yourself almost killed again, but your stupid girlfriend sends a panicked Patronus, then a letter a couple days later, and then nothing!"
Ginny blushed. "I was a little busy."
"Yeah, I hope you've got a real good reason for not letting us know– I don't know– that he was still alive?"
Demelza pulled Mia back, holding her shoulders firmly. "She's been… a little worried."
"You were too, quit trying to act all tough," Mia snapped.
"You've been worried, Demelza?" Harry asked, grinning in spite of himself.
Demelza's eyes narrowed. "Yeah. I was worried that we'd have to replace the two of you for the Slytherin match."
Mia threw her hands in the air. "You are impossible!"
Demelza shrugged. "I wanna win."
"Mia, I really am sorry, and I– I promise I do have a reason that I didn't think about it. Can we just tell you after we eat?" Ginny asked.
"We're starving," Harry added, trying his best to garner sympathy.
Mia sighed. "Fine, yeah. Whatever."
They started walking, and Mia pointedly watched Harry limping. "For the record, I am glad you're back," she said rather than mentioning the limp.
"We couldn't tell," Ginny replied, making everyone, including Mia, laugh.
Just before they reached the entrance to the Great Hall, Harry said, "Hopefully not many people notice."
Demelza chuckled. "They're gonna notice. There's a group of first years telling everyone you're back. That's how we knew."
"Brilliant," Harry groaned.
Ginny squeezed his hand. "You think you can be brave enough to face some excited fans?"
Mia and Demelza laughed, and Harry rolled his eyes while trying not to smile. "Don't say it like that. Makes me sound like a baby."
Ginny raised an eyebrow and looked up at him like she agreed with his assessment, which finally made him laugh. "Whatever, let's do it," he finally said.
Ginny pecked him on the cheek after Demelza and Mia walked ahead of them, and somehow, he felt a little more ready to face everyone, so he entered the Great Hall, just behind his friends, and was immediately hit with a wave of deja vu.
In an instant, he was taken back to the day after the battle, when he'd entered the Great Hall and everyone had applauded. Except nobody was applauding now, possibly because nobody really had any clue what had happened. Ginny had told him that the Prophet had been spotty in its reporting, as usual, and the rumours being circulated by the first years likely weren't helping. He wasn't really planning on clarifying anything publicly though, so he figured he'd have to deal with it.
He did his best to keep his head down and not look bothered as he sat down at the end of the Gryffindor table, next to a very excited Emily, who flung her arms around him and then Ginny.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so glad you guys are here! I was so worried you weren't going to come back or something was really wrong!"
Harry smiled at her. "Come on, you knew we weren't gonna miss the end of the year!"
"We like hanging out with you too much," Ginny added, making Emily practically glow with excitement.
"So was it all true? In the papers, I mean. Everyone's been talking about it since we came back from break."
Harry and Ginny exchanged a glance that was noticed by Emily. "You don't have to tell me. I'm just glad you're okay," she said suddenly. She really was pretty smart.
"I am now," Harry replied, giving Emily a fist bump before asking her about her break.
The seventh year Gryffindors slowly joined them, but none of them brought up everything, which was pretty impressive, especially considering Harry knew most of Ginny's former roommates enjoyed gossipping. He wondered if Mia had threatened them. However it happened, the conversations were much lighter than he was expecting, with much of the discussion centering around the match against Slytherin in less than two weeks. Apparently, aside from his and Ginny's absence, that had been the other topic everyone had been talking about since Easter.
Harry engaged in the conversation and did his best to not show the worry he had that he wouldn't be cleared to play. It killed him that it was even a possibility. But he'd promised everyone he'd be safe. And as much as he wanted to play, if Amelia told him it wasn't safe, he couldn't risk putting his family in the position of worrying about him again. He especially couldn't do that to Ginny. All he had to do was keep healing, and he wouldn't have anything to worry about.
Transfiguration with Hufflepuff was the first class after breakfast, and Harry realised that Owen wasn't sitting in his usual seat near the front of the classroom. Instead, he was sitting at the back, with his head down every time Harry glanced back. He and Ginny both wanted to talk to him, but Owen left the classroom the second McGonagall dismissed them, so they had no choice but to go on to Charms.
Astoria was waiting for them outside the door to the classroom, and she greeted them both with a warm hug. When she pulled back from him, Harry saw that she was crying. She smiled exasperatedly and wiped her eyes.
"Don't look at me like that, Harry. I– I've been– it was just, you were at my house right before, and then I didn't know, and I was so worried. And then Owen…"
"So you know?" Ginny asked gingerly.
Astoria nodded and blinked back tears. "Yeah. He– he said he wanted to give me some space. I just… I don't have any idea what to do."
"Let's talk after class," Ginny suggested. Astoria nodded and wiped her eyes once more before leading the way into the classroom.
Surprisingly, Harry didn't really feel any animosity from the Slytherins in Charms. They just seemed… generally okay with him being there. If this had been the Slytherin class he'd grown up with, it probably wouldn't have felt nearly as peaceful when returning from defeating Death Eaters and narrowly escaping death.
Professor Flitwick nearly toppled off his stack of books when he saw Harry, but otherwise, he was gracious enough to not say anything. Harry couldn't help but smile, reminded of the very first time he met Professor Flitwick.
They had a decent amount of homework after those first two classes, but he was pretty sure both McGonagall and Flitwick were going easy on them. At any rate, both he and Ginny were more interested in catching up with their friends than doing homework anyways, so they and Astoria gathered Mia, Demelza, and Luna to go to the Room of Requirement.
"Give us a sec," Ginny told their friends after they'd all taken seats in the replica of the Burrow's living room that she'd created. She pulled Harry to a corner of the room. "Is there anything you don't want them to know?"
Harry thought about it for a moment. Really, there wasn't anything too secretive or sensitive about what had happened to him, especially since he'd recovered. He hadn't done anything wrong or embarrassing or anything. The only concern he had was the story becoming more public and drawing further attention to himself. Not like he needed any help with that. But he trusted all of them. Granted, he would've trusted Owen up until a couple weeks ago too, but he pushed that thought out of his mind. He couldn't stop trusting people because of what had happened with Owen. He'd be completely alone if he acted suspicious of everyone for no reason.
"No, we can tell them everything you're okay with. I trust them."
Ginny smiled slightly and nodded. "Me too."
They rejoined their friends, who had been waiting almost anxiously for them. "So… we'll tell you all everything, including–" Ginny looked pointedly at Mia "– why we didn't contact you all more. And you can probably guess that we don't want this to be public knowledge."
They all nodded, confirming they'd keep the secret. Harry realised it was probably best for him to start, considering it had all started when he was alone. "After I left your party, Astoria, I went to Diagon Alley." He omitted why he was there in the first place and avoided glancing at Ginny. "The street was empty, and I was looking in a shop window when I saw something behind me. It turned out to be a Death Eater. Well, Death Eaters. There were four of them– Rookwood, Travers, and the Carrows."
It was a terrible testament to the damage that the Carrows had done last year that the name alone brought horrified shudders to everyone, even Astoria, who hadn't ever actually been on the receiving end of their torture.
Harry nodded. "Yeah… basically, I did my best to fight them off. I stunned Amycus, and these shop owners helped me stun Travers before I pushed them back into their store with a shield to protect them. They were way too old to be fighting. And… I accidentally cut off Alecto's hand when she cast a Cruciatus on me."
"You what?" Demelza asked in disbelief, halfway grinning at the image.
Harry grimaced, not particularly enjoying the memory. "I heard her shout the curse, and I had a split second to react. I dunno, I used a curse I'd used before when I thought the Cruciatus was going to be cast on me. And it worked, luckily. But… I was pretty badly wounded. I– I'd been hit with several Cutting Curses, and Rookwood was somehow casting curses made of lightning. It… honestly it gets really foggy, trying to remember how the fight ended. I just remember getting blasted in the face with a bolt of lightning, and then I was out."
Ginny was holding it together, but she was also holding his hand rather tightly. Not that he minded. He'd rather be doing this than not touching her at all. "Rookwood died after that. He was old, used a bunch of energy in those curses, and he was hit by stunners from Harry, Ron, and Hermione at the same time. Harry had asked them to meet him in Diagon Alley, and they showed up as the fight was ending. They took him to the hospital and told us where he was. We just knew he was in trouble because of that clock over there."
It was convenient that Ginny had made the room look like the Burrow because she was able to point right at the family clock. "His hand was– it was pointed to mortal peril," she said quietly. Without saying anything, as she continued talking, he raised her hand to his lips and pressed a soft kiss to it. "We apparated around the country and sent Patroni to everyone, trying to find him before Ron and Hermione got word to us."
Their friends looked horrified, only now fully understanding the context for the terrifying Patronus messages they would've received on the day he was attacked. Ginny continued, "They– they didn't tell us anything for a while, and when they finally did, it wasn't good news. He'd had a lot of internal damage from the Cutting Curses, and he was in a coma."
"A coma?" Mia asked, dumbfounded. The Prophet had reported that he'd been injured, but it hadn't said anything about that.
"Yeah," Ginny answered, furrowing her brow momentarily before continuing. "He was in a coma for three nights. The third night, Alecto snuck in and tried to kill him, but I stopped her, and she was arrested. Then he– Hermione figured out how to wake him up with some Muggle thing I still don't get. However she managed it, it worked, and he woke up. He just– he didn't have… any memories."
That admission hung in the air, and somehow, it felt like the room was quieter and warmer than it had been before. Ginny's mention of defeating Alecto was completely overshadowed by his amnesia.
"How?" Astoria asked quietly, eyes darting back and forth between the two of them.
Harry cleared his throat and answered. "My Healer said that after… everything last year, my body and brain are more vulnerable to electrical damage. The lightning bolts Rookwood used… they basically fried my memory."
"But your memory is back now," Demelza clarified.
He nodded. "Yeah, it is. It– it took a while though."
"Eight days," Ginny said, clenching her jaw as she did.
"That must have been a terrible eight days," Luna said sympathetically.
Ginny nodded. "It– it was really bad. We tried to tell him as much as we could, but his memory didn't ever come back the whole week he was in the hospital. He just– he didn't remember anything. But when he came back home…"
"I remembered," Harry finished her sentence, smiling at her. The exact circumstances of him remembering didn't matter in telling the story to their friends. All that mattered was he did have his memory again.
"You remembered," Ginny repeated, squeezing his hand tightly.
Astoria and Mia were both wiping their eyes. Luna said, "He couldn't forget you forever."
Ginny smiled. "I suppose not. But that was about a week ago… since then, he's been trying to recover physically."
"I've still got a limp– one of the Cutting Curses almost took my leg off. And– and sometimes I get pain in my stomach or chest from things that are still healing. I only got cleared to come back to school on Saturday."
"You can still play Quidditch though, right?" Demelza asked, earning a smack on her shoulder from Mia.
Ginny looked curiously at him, allowing him to answer, and he sighed. "Hopefully. But I– I'm not positive yet. My Healer said she was gonna keep checking in to make sure I'm okay to play. But… if she says I can't, I'm not gonna risk it."
Even though it wasn't happy news, Ginny kissed his cheek. "Thank you," she whispered, so quietly that nobody else would've heard. He imagined she was relieved, after him neglecting his own wellbeing in the past.
"But it's the last–" Demelza started, but Mia clapped a hand over her mouth, cutting off the protest completely. A second later, she yanked her hand back, mouth open in shock.
"Did you just lick me?"
Demelza smirked. "Can't blame me. It worked."
Mia rolled her eyes and wiped her hand on her robes as everyone else laughed. Everything felt a little less heavy after that.
Ginny eventually brought them back to the other important topic of conversation. "Something we found out from Kingsley is that… Owen was under Rookwood's Imperius Curse all year."
Luna, Demelza, and Mia all had similar reactions of confusion. "What do you mean he was under the Imperius Curse?" Mia asked, her eyes wide with surprise.
"He told the Aurors that Rookwood was trying to get Harry alone and out of the castle all year, using him. At first, Owen tried to break me and Harry up by spiking his drink with Veritaserum and paying that Slytherin prick to take Polyjuice to look like Harry and kiss Romilda. He also tried to make us feel unsafe by leaking things to the press. And… Harry told Owen that he was going to Diagon Alley by himself, just before he left Astoria's that day."
Realisation clicked in everyone's minds, one by one, and pretty soon, they were all looking sadly at Astoria, who was staring at the floor. "He told me the first day we came back," she said in a cracking voice. "He promised his– his feelings were real, but he– he wanted to give me some space."
Harry let go of Ginny's hand as she moved to sit next to Astoria. "He told the Aurors that the curse didn't change who he was. It just made him… look for ways to get Harry to Rookwood. Most of the time, he was in complete control. Rookwood was just so good at the Imperius that he was able to give Owen a goal he had to complete."
"Have you talked to Owen since he said he'd give you space?" Mia asked delicately.
Astoria shook her head. "He's been avoiding me. I just– I know I need to talk to him. But how can I… I don't know, continue our relationship? Knowing that there were times when he wasn't fully him?"
Harry wished he had an answer for her. She was in an impossible position. He had no idea how he'd react if he found out that Ginny hadn't been completely herself during their relationship. Really, Owen had done the best thing he could in giving Astoria space. Harry still firmly believed that Owen was his friend and a good person. He was a victim in all of this as much as any of them were.
"I think the only way you'll figure that out is if you talk to him," Ginny said gently. "He's letting you choose what the path forward is for both of you. If– if there's any part of you that wants to try to work through it, talking to him will help."
Astoria nodded. "I know. I do want to try. I– I care so much for him, and I– I know this is hard for him too. Just– yeah," she sighed. Ginny put an arm around her shoulders comfortingly.
Luna was the one to offer the best advice. "Owen's had Erosprites floating around him all year. He cared about you, even when he was under the Imperius Curse."
Astoria sniffed and smiled at Luna. "Thanks. I– I'm going to talk to him. Soon. And– and for the record, he cares about all of you too. I know it."
They stayed in the Room of Requirement for a while longer before Harry and Ginny finally had to leave to get started on homework. The library was fairly empty, and they made quick work of their Transfiguration essays, further reinforcing Harry's belief that McGonagall was taking it easy on them.
They didn't speak about everything with their friends until they were in their bedroom that night. "Do you think they're gonna stay together?" Ginny asked Harry.
"Yeah, I think so. It's like Luna said. He still had feelings for her, even if he wasn't completely himself."
"I just feel so bad for Astoria. She has to be so confused."
He nodded. "I know. I was thinking earlier that I had no idea how I'd be if I found out you'd been under the Imperius Curse."
"We'd stay together," Ginny said like it was obvious.
Harry cocked his head. "Good thing we don't have to worry about that, right?"
Ginny shrugged innocently. "Who knows? Doesn't matter, though. You're not allowed to break up with me anyways."
"Right. Because you're not under the Imperius Curse."
"That's what you think," Ginny replied, standing on her toes to kiss him. Harry grinned as they kissed, knowing that he would definitely stay with her, even if she'd been under the Imperius Curse, just like she would've stayed with him when he didn't have his memories. They just belonged together.
The next day, there was slightly less attention on them, thankfully. Owen avoided them in Potions, sitting at another table, and Harry figured it best to let Astoria talk to him before any of them did.
That afternoon, as was habit, Harry went to Professor McGonagall's office for his lesson. She wasn't expecting him though.
"I didn't think you'd be coming today," McGonagall said from behind her desk when he walked in.
"Why not?"
"I can't teach you anything while you're still injured. If your magical ability is lacking at all due to your injuries, you could get hurt. And I personally believe you've been hurt enough this year already."
"Oh," Harry replied. Instead of protesting, he just took a seat across her desk.
"Is there something else I can help you with?" McGonagall asked, setting down the quill she was writing with.
"I wanted to thank you," Harry said. "For teaching me. If I didn't know how to do transfiguration in a fight… I probably would've died in Diagon Alley."
McGonagall surveyed him for a moment. "I wouldn't be so sure about that. You're rather adept at surviving."
He shook his head. "No, I– I seriously would've died. I have no doubt about that. So thank you."
McGonagall nodded stiffly. "I'm… happy that you were a quick study."
"He always has been," Dumbledore said from behind her, his eyes glistening with pride. "When he puts his mind to it. It's good to see you, Harry."
Harry smiled up at his mentor. "It's good to see you too, sir."
"How are you feeling?"
He couldn't lie to Dumbledore. "Mostly good. I've had some rough patches though. Couldn't sleep last night with the pain in my stomach. But it's much better than it was a couple weeks ago."
"I would hope so. Minerva informed me of your injuries, and Kingsley was here last week to provide an update on the investigation and your condition. You did well, Harry. Very few wizards could've emerged from a fight against four Death Eaters, especially those Death Eaters, with their life."
Harry nodded, appreciative and uncomfortable at the same time. "Sir, I– I was wondering about the Imperius Curse."
Dumbledore stroked his beard. "You're referring to your friend, Mister MacGregor?"
"Yes, sir. He– the way he described being under it to Kingsley… apparently, he said that he was still himself most of the time. Just…"
"He had a mission to accomplish," Dumbledore finished.
"Yeah, exactly."
"Augustus Rookwood was very accomplished with magic relating to the mind. He was a rather accomplished Occlumens and Legilimens, and, as you know, he specialised in the Imperius Curse. You've seen people under the influence of… crude Imperius Curses before, correct?"
Harry nodded, grimacing slightly. He'd been responsible for some of those crude curses before, having no experience or desire to learn any further.
"Then you will know that, in most cases, someone under a poor Imperius Curse would not be able to pretend to not be. They will perform the task they are assigned, but they are not themselves. For someone under the curse to not be detected, they have to retain as much of who they are as possible. The best way for the caster to accomplish this is by influencing as few decisions as possible.
"Augustus Rookwood, as proficient as he was with the Imperius Curse, would've known how to do this masterfully. Mister MacGregor described the symptoms exactly to Kingsley and the Aurors. He was almost always himself, and the only thing he didn't possess control over was his internal motivation to somehow deliver you to Rookwood. Mister MacGregor will likely feel confused for some time, having been under the influence of very subtle mind control, but I do believe that he genuinely was himself for most of this year."
"I would add that he has acted and performed exactly as I hoped when I named him Head Boy. I did not notice any difference between his behaviour or demeanour between this year and previous years," McGonagall added.
Harry nodded, feeling similarly. He and Owen hadn't ever been close before this year, but it seemed like everyone agreed that he'd acted like himself all year. It gave him hope, both for his friendship with Owen and Owen's relationship with Astoria.
HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG
None of their professors had been too strict with them with making up work. To say Hagrid wasn't strict would be an incredible understatement. He spent Ginny's entire first class back covering everything she'd missed in the previous two weeks, and nobody seemed too bothered by it. By some miracle, Hagrid had decided to start teaching them about a non-deadly creature– unicorns.
It was easily the best Care of Magical Creatures class she'd ever been in, especially when she got to pet the majestic, snow-white unicorn. Her fur was so indescribably soft that Ginny practically had to be pulled away or she wouldn't have ever stopped petting the unicorn.
She did have somewhere to be after class though. As was their usual custom, Harry met her at the pitch shortly before practice was set to begin. He was only carrying her broom instead of both of theirs.
"You watching practice?" Ginny asked, taking the broom from him after kissing him.
"Yeah," Harry answered. "And I've gotta be here for your strategy session anyways."
"Do you ever really pay attention in those?" Ginny asked with a smile, remembering many occasions where Harry had zoned out while she was talking about strategy.
He blushed and grinned. "I pay attention to you. You get pretty… Blaze-y when you're talking strategy."
"I do?" Ginny teased. "Maybe I should lecture you about strategy more often then."
He laughed and leaned down. "I'd rather just kiss you." He made good on that, capturing her lips in a kiss that was so familiar and perfect and that she'd never take for granted again.
It didn't last long enough though. Without warning, they were separated by Demelza, who was trying her best to manhandle Harry as she pulled him away. Ginny glanced worriedly at him and saw that even though he was laughing, he was doing his best to hide a grimace of pain. Almost imperceptibly, he shook his head when they locked eyes. He didn't want them to know just how bad his pain was. Ginny wasn't entirely sure she agreed, but it was his call.
Once the team was all assembled in the changing room, Ginny pulled out the board with a diagram of the pitch and began reviewing the tactics they thought they were most likely to employ. Satisfied that those had been covered, she ran through a variety of alternate strategies that they may use– what to do if they had a big lead or, Merlin forbid, were trailing by a lot. She even discussed rest strategies if the match went over six hours. It hadn't ever been needed in her time at Hogwarts, but, with how good both Gryffindor and Slytherin were, it wasn't entirely impossible.
Finally, she discussed the strategy she was dreading most. "All of you know that Harry's not fit to play right now. We're hoping he gets clearance from his Healer in the next ten days, but if he doesn't, I'm playing Seeker. Dean, you would sub in as Chaser."
Dean, the best performing of the three reserve team Chasers, nodded slowly, looking conflicted between his excitement at the prospect of playing in another real match and his dismay that Harry wasn't fully recovered already.
"I know there's a lot of uncertainty still. But I have all the confidence in the world in this team, whether we have to make a lineup change or not. We're gonna win."
Training went well, at least. Demelza had kept the team sharp while Ginny and Harry had been gone. Ginny spent most of practice with the Chasers, but she did give Dean a chance to play with Natalie and Demelza while she alternated between coaching and chasing a Snitch.
Jimmy and Ritchie were very clearly on top of their game, and Zoe had totally grown into her role as Keeper, to the point that Ginny genuinely thought she was already a better Keeper than Ron, even though she wouldn't ever say it to his face. The only real concern was that Slytherin's Chasers were really good. If she had to play Seeker, as much as she believed in her Chasers, she worried they'd be overrun. Hopefully she wouldn't end up needing to worry about it.
Ginny could tell how much it was eating at Harry, watching practice from the stands instead of playing. A few times, she flew down to him and talked with him about what he was seeing in their training. He made several suggestions for improving their Chasing strategies that she wouldn't have ever noticed, being in the thick of it all, but still, it was obvious he wanted to be up there too. Her heart ached for him, and all she could think about after they concluded practice and returned to the castle was that she'd give anything for him to be able to play in his last match at Hogwarts.
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A/N: Chapters like this one are hard to write for several reasons. Obviously, there's the difficult emotion of it, but after everything Harry and Ginny have just gone through, it wasn't as hard to write as it could've been. Really, the harder part was doing the whole 'keeping tabs' on everyone we don't see very often. My cast of characters that I'd consider to be 'major' characters is already ridiculously long, and I don't have the bandwidth or energy to be able to include every side character more, so people like Angelina, Alicia, Katie, Seamus, and Parvati get kind of left out to a certain extent. For the world to exist and feel real though, they still need to be around and have lives of their own so that there is some change whenever Harry and Ginny do cross paths with them. There aren't chapters like this very often because it's hard to write everyone in a way that doesn't feel like speed dating (which I feel like part of The Hog's Head portion does unfortunately), but also because it would just require so much more planning. It's much easier (and better imo) to give a very broad strokes description of where these people are in their lives without going overboard with detail as I'm wont to do. But I will say that, eventually, my goal is to eventually bring characters like that to the fore somewhat, and there are a lot of small hints and setup in this chapter for things in the future that I'll eventually point back to very smugly as having been in the works for ages because that's just the kind of writer I am!
I guess I should say because it blew my beta away literally a week ago that there is, in fact, an actual list; Harry isn't just joking when he says he's adding things he loves about Ginny to the list. I couldn't believe my beta didn't realise that, but it was quite funny too. I keep track of that list in the same Appendices doc that has all the other lists I could need- Ginny's memories, Harry's panic attacks, Daily Prophet articles, new spells, every picture in their photo album, etc. Yes, despite my very disorganised but meticulous planning, I am rather well organised when it comes to documenting what I've already written. And, conveniently, Harry is exactly right about what number each of the items he's adding to the list are.
We will see more of Owen next chapter, but for this one, it felt important to build some tension about what his dynamic with our group is going to look like in the future without giving immediate resolution. It was also important to me to get somebody more reliable, like Dumbledore and McGonagall, to confirm Owen's claims about the Imperius Curse not changing who he was since, realistically, Owen could've been lying. The way Dumbledore explains the Imperius is pretty much exactly how I understand it– if someone wanted it to be undetected, they have to influence as little of the person they've cast it on as possible, which has to be something so subtle that only someone who is a master of magic of the mind, like Occlumency and Legilimency, could do well, hence Rookwood being so good at it.
That brings me to the end of the discussion of this chapter, which also officially means that we have been with Harry and Ginny for a full year in-universe. And, as so often happens because this writing process has been ridiculously serendipitous, this release also coincides with me writing exactly one year ahead from now. Last weekend, I wrote the chapter in Book 3 that covers 2 May a year from now, and it's wild how different things are, both on that day and in everyone's lives, which continues to make me even more excited for the future of this story. And, since I'm on the topic, I'll also say that I finished writing the 100th (and 101st) chapters of this story in the past week, and, pretty much just as notably, officially crossed the one million word mark in my writing. It'll be a while before that much is released, but it felt like a milestone worth sharing, even if I didn't realise it right away. So yeah! It's been a ton of writing, and there's still soooo much more to go, but I thought it was pretty cool that it all lined up with this week's release! I doubt anything too crazy will happen– actually, that's already a lie because I know what next chapter's release is and I know what I'm writing this weekend, but I was gonna say that nothing too crazy and coincidental would happen with the next chapter to make it worth sharing. And while you all would absolutely love me sharing things if you knew what I was writing, I have to keep some secrets still! Trust me, it'll all be worth it, and, in the meantime, there will be an epic chapter to enjoy next week!
Coming Friday: Calm Before the Storm- "Better make it count."
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Finnspa23: Haha I definitely understand not wanting the fluff to end! The bright side is that, even though there's still a few not so fluffy things for them to deal with as the year wraps up, there is far more fluff than anything else in the rest of this book, so we've got a lot to look forward to!
Flutterbye123: Thank you, I definitely needed the fluff too haha!
Percabethforever: Me alegro de que os haya gustado el último capítulo y de que hayáis terminado con la angustia. Pasará un tiempo antes de que Harry y Ginny vuelvan a enfrentarse a algo parecido, ¡así que por ahora estamos tranquilos! Annerb es el maestro y una de las principales razones por las que escribo este fic. The Changeling y The Armistice Series realmente dieron forma a mi forma de entender el fanfiction y lo impactante que puede ser una historia de fanfic a la hora de llevar a los personajes a lugares emocional y físicamente en los que nunca antes habían estado. No puedo pretender acercarme a ella a la hora de escribir, pero espero hacer justicia a su legado, porque es brillante y se lo merece.
(I'm glad that you enjoyed last chapter and are happy to be done with the angst! It'll be a while before Harry and Ginny deal with anything even close to that again, so we're in the clear for now! And I loved Gone Was Any Trace of You- Annerb is absolutely the master and genuinely one of the main reasons I'm even writing this fic in the first place. The Changeling and The Armistice Series really shaped my understanding of fanfiction and how impactful a fanfic story could be in taking the characters to places emotionally and physically that they've never been before. I can't pretend to be anywhere near her when it comes to writing, but I hope I do that legacy some justice because she's brilliant and deserves it!)
Scrappy8: It really is about time he listens to his Healer, isn't it haha?
Etschi89: Hi Etschi! I'm really glad that you enjoyed last chapter and the conclusion it serves as to the whole hospital arc! It was definitely meant to be a nice break from everything, where even though there are some emotional things that happen, the main thing is just a lot of happiness and love, which is why even Ron couldn't be bothered in the slightest when he walked in on Harry and Ginny kissing!
I really appreciate your comment about the more spicy scenes! It's something I remember stressing about quite a bit when I was writing as well as when I published the first big spicy scene last summer. There were points when I questioned whether to do it at all because I don't really think I'd be good at writing smut, and as I wrote SoR, it felt like smut wouldn't fit the tone of the book at all, so I eventually landed on the emphasis on the emotions as opposed to detailing everything that's physically happening. Now though, I do feel like I have my voice when it comes to that and feel very comfortable writing scenes like that one, and I'm glad you enjoy them!
In theory, they definitely shouldn't fail their NEWTs, especially now that we've seen how they're being eased back into the swing of things. It's certainly something we'd expect them to be fine with, although there is still the point of how Harry's magic is actually doing to consider. I was rather intentional in not showing him using any magic just to make everyone keep wondering, so we'll see how it goes!
Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I completely agree, dragon poachers deserve any sentence you deem appropriate, including that rather nasty one!