Ginny Potter and the Boy Who Lived, chapter 2

[rumpelsnorcack]

Title: Ginny Potter and The Boy Who Lived, Chapter Two
Characters/Pairing: Harry/Ginny
Word Count: 2,350
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Angst, General
Summary: Sequel to Ginny Weasley and The Boy Who Lived, detailing her life after the battle and up til the epilogue.
A/N: If you want to read Ginny Weasley and The Boy Who Lived, you'll have to do so at ff.net, as I am slack and haven't cleaned it up and got it on here yet.  It's probably not necessary, as that one follows canon up to the end of the Battle For Hogwarts, but there are some references to made up scenes from it in this one. 

 

Chapter Two:  Resurrecting Hogwarts.

An enterprising reporter followed us back to the Burrow, so now they knew where Harry was living, and a whole contingent of them set up reasonably permanent camp on the boundaries.  Every time we wanted to apparate anywhere we had to go outside the wards Dad had set around the house, so we always had to run the gauntlet of the reporters when we headed off to help with the repairs of Hogwarts.  Harry was besieged with questions every time, and even though he never once answered them, they refused to let up on the relentless pursuit of the ‘story’ about him.

 

We didn’t let it affect what we were doing, though.  Every day, the castle became slightly less ravaged.  Every day it took on the shape of its old self, and for some reason that always made me feel a little maudlin.  We were restoring the castle to what it had been, yes, and that was a wonderful thing.  But we were also obliterating every sign of the battle that had claimed my brother’s life.  Every brick that sailed back into place, every ward that was strengthened, every window that knitted itself together, was wiping out a little more of the memory of that day.  It finally became too much for me and I sought refuge from what we were doing.

 

Hermione found me first.  I was sitting with my hands clasped around my knees, staring out at the lake.  She sat down with me and gave me a quick hug.  I was reminded of the day, which seemed so long ago, when she had hugged me as I cried over the knowledge that Harry was leaving me behind.  I smiled and squeezed her back, already happier because I knew that those days were over, and at least I had Harry back with me, despite all the odds.  She wasn’t fooled, though. 

 

“What’s the matter, Ginny?”

 

“Nothing.”

 

She gave me that Hermione look and I relented.  “Ok, fine.  It’s just me being silly.  I feel like we’re going to wipe away everything that happened.  That Fred, and Tonks and Lupin, and everyone else will be gone then.  Truly gone, and it hurts to think that one day we’ll be finished here and it will all be forgotten.”

 

“But don’t you see, their blood is deep within these walls.  If we didn’t rebuild, if we didn’t try to make the world normal again, then that would mean they died in vain.”

 

I shrugged, and she pulled on my arm, dragging me to my feet.

 

“I need to show you something.  Or, actually, I think Harry does.”

 

She refused to say another word until we were back in the castle and she had found Harry and Ron.  They had been assigned to Gryffindor Tower, and I could hear them as we approached.

 

“I dunno, Harry.  I don’t think that ward needs to go back up.”

 

“You might be right.  I always thought it was particularly unfair.  Why should girls be allowed in the boys’ rooms but boys not be allowed in the girls’?”

 

“I think we should leave it.  Let the new generations of boys work it out for themselves, though.”

 

I snorted, unable to help myself.  Being with them here, seeing Harry so carefree for once, did make it seem worthwhile.  They spun around at the sound, however, Ron going brightest Weasley red and Harry a sickly pale green.  Both wore identical expressions of guilt, both of which turned to relief as they saw who it was.

 

“Blimey, Ginny.  Don’t sneak up on a bloke like that!”

 

“Well, if you weren’t busy making mischief you might have heard us.  We weren’t exactly being quiet.”

 

While we talked, Hermione had pulled Harry aside and was whispering furiously in his ear.  As I turned to them, he nodded once and then grabbed my hand. 

 

“Harry, what ...?”

 

He stopped my words with a hasty kiss and said, “trust me.”

 

He was so happy, so at ease and in control of himself, that I mentally shrugged and followed his lead.  We didn’t even have to go that far to get to our destination.  It was a stretch of corridor that I remembered all too well.  There was the niche that Fred’s body had been hidden in, the suit of armour still missing; there was the fallen masonry looking exactly as it had that day; and there was the gaping hole in the side of the castle.  There was an eerie sort of peace around it, and my heart clogged my throat as I looked at it.

 

“We’re leaving it like this,” Harry said quietly. 

 

“What?”  I looked up at him, and saw sympathy and understanding beamed back at me in his eyes.

 

“Everyone’s been feeling the way you do, Ginny.  No-one could bear the idea of restoring the entire castle, and leaving no trace of the devastation.  So, we decided to set up a weather charm over the hole in the wall, and strengthen the surrounding walls so it won’t cave in or anything.  We’re keeping it this way so people can see what it was really like.”

 

I was gripping his hand tightly, unable to take in what he was saying, but with a sense of relief that I wasn’t going mad.  Everyone felt the same way, and they had done something about it.  I wondered why they had chosen Fred’s place though, and Harry must have read my expression.

 

“It’s one of the most damaged places in the castle.  You can see the thickness of the walls where they’ve been destroyed, and it was the easiest of those places to weather-proof and strengthen.  There are charms on this place like you wouldn’t believe.”   He chuckled.

 

“I love it,” I said.  “I love it, Harry.  Knowing this is here and always will be, makes it easier to go back to patching up the rest.”

 

He smiled and kissed me, saying, “And I guess I should go back and see if Hermione has managed to talk Ron into putting that ward back up.”

 

From then on, the work was less daunting to me.  Knowing that there would be something left to show what had happened to the castle made it easier to get rid of the traces of the battle.  It was only about a week later that it was finally done, and there were few signs that anything had happened that day.  I was actually thankful, in the end.  Hogwarts had that aching familiarity again, that sense that this was a place to come to study and learn.  I looked over at Hermione and could see the same feeling reflected in her face.

 

We were standing outside with Ron and Percy, who was fussing around putting final details into the outer walls.  Harry was inside making sure all the student records were in order, and we were making the most of the warm summer day while waiting for him.  I threw my head back and revelled in the feeling of the sun on my face, so I missed the moment when Harry came out of the castle and headed towards us.  When I opened my eyes and saw him, however, I grinned.

 

The grin faded as he reached us.  He looked stressed and worried, which didn’t seem quite right considering we were now finished and had several weeks left in which to enjoy ourselves before I had to come back here to start my year at school.  I was sure something was wrong when he made some stupid excuse to drag me away, while still looking anxious.

 

“Harry. What’s the matter?  You look like someone who’s going to start a hard job, not someone just finishing one.”

 

“Well, I kinda am.  But, that’s not what I want to talk about.”

 

“You’re going to start a new job?”

 

“Yes  ... yeah, I think so.  But, Ginny, you never told me.”

 

“Told you what?”

 

“About what happened at school last year.”

 

Oh.  He was right.  I hadn’t said anything about what we had been through last year.  I hadn’t wanted to worry him unnecessarily.  I mean, this was Harry we were talking about; he was always trying to protect everyone.  I knew he wasn’t going to take what happened very well at all.  Looking at his face, however, I realised that keeping it to myself had been the wrong course of action.

 

“I didn’t want to worry you, Harry.  It’s all over and done, so what was the point of telling you?”

 

“The point?  I don’t know, Ginny.  Maybe, the point would be to share things with each other, to trust each other.”

 

Dammit, he was right, too.  He’d told me all about the horcruxes and bits and pieces of what he’d been up to last year, but I’d been vague on what I had done.  I realised I’d done to him exactly what I did to Mum and Dad while it was all happening.  I glossed over the bad stuff in order to spare them, or perhaps to spare my own feelings in dealing with it.   And now I’d done the same thing to Harry.  But where Mum and Dad just accepted it, Harry was clearly hurt.

 

“I’m sorry, Harry.  It was never about not trusting you.  I just wanted to forget it, I think.”

 

“I remember hearing about you trying to steal the sword of Gryffindor.  I was so proud and impressed by you, but underneath it all I had this terrible fear that it would put you in danger.  I tried so hard to keep you safe, Ginny, and I wish so much that you hadn’t put yourself in that position.  Going up against Snape and the Death Eaters like that, you could have been killed.”

 

My temper surged to the surface at his words.  Even now, I know that Harry is a protective git, that he always wants to do all the dangerous things himself so his friends aren’t affected.  That doesn’t mean I like him doing that, and I didn’t like it any better back then. 

 

“Oh, like you were sitting safe at home through it all?”

 

“I wasn’t underage at the time, Ginny.  And I was hardly ever in the actual presence of Death Eaters, whereas you ...”

 

“I had every right to do what I did.  You weren’t the boss of me, Harry Potter, and you still aren’t.  And you’re a fine one to talk about getting into dangerous situations while underage.”

 

We had been walking while we argued, and found ourselves at the gates to Hogwarts.  Without waiting for Ron and the others, and without asking my permission, he grabbed my arm and apparated us back to the Burrow.  As soon as we got there, I struggled out of his grip.

 

“You will never take me anywhere without asking again.  Is that clear?”  My voice was icy cold this time.

 

“Why don’t you get it?  You could have been hurt, and I could have lost you,” he shouted at me, ignoring my words.

 

“And I spent that whole year knowing I could lose you, too.  You don’t get to pull that one on me, Potter.  In fact ... I bloody thought I had lost you.”  I was right in his face, and was shouting back, paying no attention to our surroundings.

 

I suddenly became aware of flashes of light going off around us, and became aware of the group of very interested reporters recording the moment.

 

“Merlin’s bloody beard!  That’s all I need,” I groaned.  Still furious with Harry for bringing me here without asking, I snatched my hand away as he tried to take it, and stalked away from them all, past the wards and into the house.

 

When Harry had managed to avoid them and got himself inside as well, I had already calmed down.  He looked shell-shocked too, and I went to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. 

 

“I’m sorry.  I’m sorry we fought and I’m sorry those idiots saw it.  It’s going to be bad, isn’t it?”

 

“Yeah, I think so.”

 

I sighed, frustrated.  We couldn’t even have a bloody fight without it hitting the press.

 

“Nevermind.  It’s done now, and we can’t take it back.  So, what’s this job you’re ‘kinda’ starting soon?”

 

“Oh.  Oh, well, Kingsley asked me to join the Auror department.”

 

“Really?  Harry, that’s great!  I know it’s what you’ve always wanted.  But ... then you definitely won’t be coming back to school.”

 

“I never was, Ginny.  You know that.  After last year, I couldn’t just go back, not seriously.”

 

I did know it, too.  During the war he had become a man.  I had noticed it that last day during his final showdown with Voldemort.  There was no way that someone who had been through that transformation could go meekly back to school, but I had still held out a tiny bit of hope. 

 

This made the next few weeks even more precious.  For the first time since the war, I really confronted a future that didn’t have Harry in it, at least a year’s worth of future.  I shivered, realising that he was once more going to be putting himself in the line of fire while I was cooped up at school waiting for him.  This was becoming unbearably familiar.

 

“Well, on the bright side I guess Death Eaters won’t be running the school and Voldemort won’t be after you.  It’ll be positively tame compared to last year.”

 

He chuckled and nodded, and we headed outside to enjoy the remaining sun.  I was determined to enjoy every second of the time that remained to us, and it seemed he was too.  We took advantage of this rare opportunity to be alone together to do some of that talking we hadn’t been able to do in company.  We snogged as well, of course, but the talking seemed more urgent at the time.  After our fight we needed to clear the air, and this was the perfect time to do it, without our watch dogs being on top of us for once. 

Chapter One   Chapter Three