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Author: critmo Story: Per Asperissima Ad Astra Rating: Young Teens Setting: Pre-HBP Status: Completed Reviews: 9 Words: 28,635
Harry's last three years at school were the most painful of his entire life. Ten years with the Dursleys had been no pleasant experience, but he had been used to being the target of their cruelty. The following years at Hogwarts had been the very best he had had. For the first time in his life he had friends and at least a promise of a family. But he had lost it all: Voldemort had returned; Cedric was murdered; Umbridge had tortured Harry; Snape had kindly assisted in his own perverse way; Sirius had been killed; Harry had fallen out with Ginny; more people had been killed ... so many were dead. Hagrid was dead. And Harry felt deeply lost. Ginny was looking forward to her final year at Hogwarts. Today Harry Potter would leave the school for good and rid her of his annoying presence. Next year would be so wonderful. She would finally be able to relax, to pursue other ... possibilities, to achieve academic qualifications. She could almost begin to feel the beneficial effect Harry's absence would have. Mr and Mrs Weasley had come to Hogwarts for the end of term festivities to celebrate the end of NEWT tests with Ron and his friends. When it was time for them to leave, none of the three were around to say goodbye. Professor McGonagall remembered that she had seen them walk out by the front doors, and Mrs Weasley asked Ginny to get them. She would have liked to refuse, but she was so relaxed that she really did not mind too much. Her future lay bright ahead, a future without Harry Potter. She found the trio standing in the warm evening sun under the castle walls. They were in deep discussion. Hermione was clinging to Ron, who seemed to be pleading with Harry. Harry shook his head with a determination that was unmistakable, even at a distance. He quickly embraced Hermione and kissed her cheek. Hermione would hardly let go of him, and Ginny could not hear what he said, but she could see that Hermione was crying. Harry hugged Ron and put a small parcel in his hands. Her brother said something, nodding his head in her direction, and Harry turned round. He smiled at her. It was ... sad, the saddest smile Ginny had ever seen in her life. It cut right through her heart to see his blindingly green eyes turned on her, alight with the waning sun, smiling as if all hope, all happiness, all mirth were lost. And then he was gone. After years of Hermione's assurances that Apparating was impossible on Hogwarts grounds, Harry proved her wrong. One moment he had been standing there, the next he had disappeared without so much as a sound. Ron stared at the lake with unseeing eyes, while Hermione cried in his chest. Ginny gingerly stepped closer. Without looking at her, Ron said, "Harry is gone." She swallowed hard. Ron turned his eyes on her, and they were stern and cold. "He's going for Voldemort." He wrapped both arms around Hermione and buried his face in her brown hair. * * * * Ginny's hopes for her last year at Hogwarts were not fulfilled. Her first reaction to Harry's disappearance was deep shock. After it had subsided, her anger returned. That was not the way it should have been. He should have left school, but not like this, ... he should not have gone away leaving her behind – again. Did you expect him to care for you? the small voice asked, and Ginny had to admit it was right. Of course, Harry would never care for her. He never cared for other people, but had to play the hero once again. His people-saving thing, the voice confirmed her. Always saving, but never really caring. Hogwarts proved to be a much less cheerful place than she had expected it to be. Harry was gone. She had not lost a friend, but her favourite enemy. Concentrating on her formidable foe had prevented her from forming many friendships, and now it was difficult to catch up on that. Now that Harry had left the school, public opinion turned to his advantage, and many people saw Ginny as the girl who had made Harry Potter's difficult life hell for him, and few were ready to be convinced of the contrary. Harry's ghost continued to haunt her. Saint Potter, the little voice scoffed. * * * * Nobody knew what Harry had planned when he left Hogwarts, but it became obvious very soon: he began turning the Death Eater's tactics against them. He picked on them, and none of them were safe. Well known Death Eaters like Lucius Malfoy or Crabbe or Macnair were found stunned or bound, some in a death-like sleep. Most were delivered to the Ministry as parcels, although, some were found in the places where they had been overwhelmed. That seemed to give an indication as to Harry's whereabouts, because those Death Eaters who were able to speak gave a similar account: Harry Potter had appeared out of nowhere and had fought them. Curses and hexes did not seem to affect him the least. Some of the Death Eaters spat their story out in disgust and hate, some spoke hesitatingly ... in awe of his power, but none seemed to able to resist the urge to tell the world that there was somebody out there on the hunt for Voldemort and his followers. Bellatrix Lestrange was found on the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch, helplessly dangling from one of the goal loops - Harry's tribute to Madam Hooch. Ginny was there when Dumbledore let her down and Bellatrix snarled the story of her capture. So Harry had been there, he had been on Hogwarts grounds, but he never cared enough to stop by. Who does he think he is? asked the little voice. Merlin himself? That seemed to sum it up. Harry Potter, on his private vendetta, had not even the time to see some old friends at his school. Ginny did not count herself among them (Neither would he, the little voice told her), but obviously he had not even bothered to see Dumbledore. With great determination to ignore any further thoughts of him, Ginny returned to the castle. Only days later did she learn that she had been wrong when she overheard Professors McGonagall and Sprout on their way to dinner. "Potter?" Professor Sprout asked. "Who else would lay a flower like that on Hagrid's grave the same night Lestrange is found on our Quidditch pitch?" McGonagall retorted. "Besides ...." Ginny did not hear anything else, because she was already almost outside the castle. Hagrid's body had been laid to rest near his hut on the brink of the Forbidden Forest - half way between the castle and the wild, just like Hagrid himself. Ginny had not been there in a long time, because she could never stand thinking about the friendly giant too much. But now she sped down the hill with all the swiftness she could muster. And true enough, there on the grave was a single white flower. It was a Selmerila rose, a wild magic flower only to be found in the depths of the Forest. Ginny knew that Hagrid would have loved it, and as she knelt before his tomb her tears flowed freely. The little voice in her head mocked that Harry valued the dead higher than the living if this was the only place he had cared to visit, but this time she could not help but agree without slighting Harry. His quest had indeed taken him into the realm of the dead, far away from life. And it felt to her bursting heart, as if she had helped to drive him there. * * * * As the year went by, fewer and fewer Death Eaters were found. The press were speculating wildly if You-Know-Who's personnel resources were already wearing thin, if he was preparing a desperate all-out attack, or if Harry Potter was moving in for the kill. Ginny pointedly abstained from taking part in those conjectures, trying to concentrate on her NEWTs. While she would do well during the hours of daylight ... more or less, her mind was free to wander its own ways in her sleep. And each night she felt herself drawn to a deep, cheerless place that was far away; whatever lurked in its shadows desperately nurtured one fear and one hate: Harry Potter. She began to fear sleep since it brought her to that desolate place, so she avoided sleeping as much as possible. But she would drift off eventually, losing control of her overstrained consciousness, only to wake up drenched in sweat and hardly refreshed. When NEWTs were over, Ginny was almost frantic with lack of sleep. She dozed, on and off, on the Hogwarts Express, but even her return to the Burrow that night did not make her feel much better. After dinner she sat outside in the garden, trying to calm her racing heart pondering the beauty of the sunset. * * * * It happened that night. The day had been warm and unspoilt by clouds, but just before dusk a vapour seemed to form out of nowhere. It grew rapidly to fill the sky and changed colour to a sickly glowing green. It took on the shape of a skull with a serpent protruding from its mouth. It could be seen everywhere; wizards and Muggles had halted, they stood still in the streets and at windows, staring at the Dark Mark that rode in the sky. Ginny's unbelieving eyes were fixed on the loathsome skull, but her mind felt drawn to that deep dark place she had seen too often those days. All the attention of the being there was focused on one spot: a pale face with a scar the shape of a lighting bolt, partly hidden under messy, jet-black hair and two jade-green eyes behind round glasses. A fight ensued, the air was thick with spells and screams. There was a flash of silver, two wands locked with each other and burst. And in all this din Ginny heard that little voice at the back of her head that sounded so very much like herself. Your hero is here, little Ginny, it said mockingly. He's here to get rid of me ... He might even be successful, I'm afraid. The voice distorted, it lost its quiet and soothing tone and all likeness with her own voice to grow furiously high-pitched instead. In front of Ginny's eyes the skull in the sky was covered by a high-cheeked, whitish, flat face with maniacally burning red eyes. I have to go, stupid little Ginny, but you'll never be his now, because you'll always remember that you were mine! All of a sudden bright light filled the hideout, it glowed with powers unheard of. There was a tremendous flash and the dark place was shattered. The last thing Ginny saw was a pair of piercing green eyes looking directly at her.
(A/N: Thanks to my pre-beta and beta, Wolf’s Scream and Jenadamson. This chapter explains a few things, I suppose.)
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