PhoenixSong.net :: A Harry/Ginny Fanfic and Fanart Archive

Author: jedi34

Story: Lost in Transfiguration

Part: 8: Together Again

Rating: Teens

Setting: Post-DH

Status: Completed

Reviews: 21

Words: 4,130

Updated: August 3, 2008, 7:09am

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8: Together Again

A/N: Hey to everyone out in HP land. I thought that it was about time I started trying to repair this train wreck. I know some of you will think this is too easy and others will think it’s still too hard. I thought very hard about this chapter and even harder about a discussion I had with BJH, but finally decided on this course. Big word of thanks to Arnel, Majolie, and BJH who each contributed to the final product in some shape or form. You guys totally rock.

~*~

Harry looked into the mirror in his bedroom and tried once more to flatten his hair. He had been trying to get his hair to look tidy for the past hour and a half and, quite frankly, he was getting tired of it.

Relax, he told himself. It’s not like they haven’t seen your hair like this your entire life.

Harry knew that his hair wasn’t really the problem. He was extremely nervous about seeing them again. It had been several months since the Weasley family had discovered him and Ginny on the couch together, although it seemed like a much longer amount of time.

Harry and Ginny had not spoken since that dreadful scene when she had slapped him in the living room. After that, they had somehow managed to completely avoid each other. Ginny left early in the morning, and Harry returned late at night, often after going out with George. The only clues he had that she was even living there were that the dishes occasionally got done, and random schoolbooks would be moved about the flat from where they had been sitting when he left in the morning.

Harry checked himself in the mirror one last time. He had on Muggle clothes, but he was dressed up from his normal attire, wearing slacks and a dress shirt. He wanted to look good for tonight.

He thought back to yesterday, when he had met Hermione for lunch at Diagon Alley during one of her breaks from the Ministry. It was during their conversation that he had begun to form his plan. He had, thanks to the memories he’d obtained from Ginny, mostly forgiven the majority of the Weasley family. He wasn’t sure he trusted them yet, however, and he knew he would probably never look at Percy without an insane desire to curse him into oblivion. But he also knew that if he didn’t make an effort to reconcile things he would probably be estranged from the closest thing he had to a family for the rest of his life.

My family... are they really? Was I ever truly a part of their family?

The thought had bounced and rolled around in his head as he turned inward in deep introspection.

If they really are my family, then I’ve got to make a decision. Either I can completely forgive them or I can’t. No matter what, I’ve got to move forward, I can’t live like this much longer. I’ve got to try to find a way to talk to them... I wish everything wasn’t so complicated.

At that moment that Hermione had intruded on brooding and brought him back to reality.

“Harry! Harry! Pay attention. Sometimes you are worse than Ron, I SWEAR!” she said with an exasperated smile.

“As I was telling you before you spaced out on me, Ron and I aren’t going to be able to come over and watch the Cannons’ game with you tomorrow night.”

“Oh?” Harry asked as he raised his eyebrows, becoming interested in the conversation again.

“Molly and Arthur have invited the entire family over for dinner. Every now and then they have the family over beyond the normal Sunday lunch. It has become a new tradition since the war. When we made plans, Ron and I had forgotten. We’re sorry, Harry. Can we come over the next night?”

Harry had barely heard her question as his mind quickly kicked into gear.

“Yeah, sure. That’s fine,” he mumbled, not really paying attention to her.

Later in his flat, Harry began to form the initial pieces to a plan. He noticed that Hermione had never even thought about Harry coming to the dinner. Harry had truly separated himself so much that it appeared they were giving up on him. Perhaps, he reasoned, they were giving him space and letting him come to them on his terms. After much planning and thinking all night, Harry now found himself in front of the mirror, trying to dress nicely, in order to crash the Weasley family dinner.

He looked again and sighed.

Does this make me the biggest pushover in Wizarding history? Probably.

Harry checked his watch and realized that the Weasleys were most likely sitting down to dinner. Despite his continued worrying and nervousness, Harry turned and Disapparated.

~*~

Molly Weasley beamed at her family as they sat around the table. Charlie was still in Romania, but Bill, Percy, George, Ron and Hermione had made it to what she had dubbed the midweek get-together. Bill and Percy had, of course, brought along their wives. Ever since the war and the loss of her son, Molly was determined to do as much mothering as her family would possibly allow.

She tried very hard to not think of the members of her family who not here. Fred would never sit at the table again. Harry and Ginny seemed to be lost to the family, at least for the moment. Harry had not spoken to them since that dreadful night, while Ginny…

Ginny and her mother had done too much speaking since that night after Ginny had returned to the Burrow. She and Molly had got into one of the most spectacular arguments the Burrow had ever seen. Molly was ashamed at the way she had lost her temper, calling her daughter a lying scarlet woman and a hussy, but she was not sorry for the general sentiments she had expressed. As far as she was concerned, Ginny had betrayed her entire family and made the situation with Harry even worse.

Molly had been surprised when Arthur had agreed with her. Normally, all Ginny had to do was scrunch her face and say “But Daddy,” and he lost all hope of being angry with her. After the argument, Ginny had stayed in the Burrow for a time, avoiding everyone. Since she had left again, she had not spoken to her parents and had not been to a family dinner.

Despite this, Molly Weasley was honestly happy as she began serving the food. She believed in her heart that she would have a chance to be a mother to Harry again. As for Ginny, she was still her daughter, and she loved her. Molly would have been ashamed to admit it, but part of her was glad that Ginny was not around for a while. It had given everyone a chance to work though the sorrow and anger that her behaviour had caused.

As she took her seat, Percy was talking again about his new job at the Ministry.

“As I told the new deputy department head, we need to start at the beginning and find a whole new measure to get the entire project back to where...”

“Give it a rest, Perce!” George bellowed good-naturedly from his chair. “Blah, blah, blah. Let’s talk about something else.”

Percy pressed his lips together in a grimace.

“What would you have us discuss then, George? The latest exploding product from your shop?”

George laughed again.

“It would be far more lively than listening to Ministry measurement details. I know! How about we discuss Ron’s little mishap at Auror training class today?”

Ron, who was in the middle of taking a sip of pumpkin juice, spit all over the table.

“How did you find out about that?” he yelled, spraying more juice over everyone.

“Ron!” Mrs. Weasley and Hermione scolded in exactly the same tone.

The entire table paused for a moment and then burst out laughing at the two women and their identical expressions.

Unexpectedly, a loud knock filled the kitchen. Arthur, still chuckling, got up and answered the door. As he opened it, he gasped in shock.

~*~

Harry could see past Arthur to the family sitting around the table all looking at him as if he had grown a third head. It seemed so alien to him, a scene he had convinced himself that he would never be part of again. He almost turned to leave, and yet he didn’t.

Mr. Weasley, noticing the neatly pressed clothes and seeing the conflicting emotions running across the young man’s face, spoke softly.

“Harry, it is so good to see you! What are you here for? Would you like to come in?” he asked with his most welcoming smile.

Harry hesitated for a moment and then answered. “Hermione mentioned a family dinner, and that it had become a tradition. I thought that maybe, if there was room… I thought that… I could join you. I thought…” Harry nervously adjusted his glasses.

I was wrong. I can’t do this. I can’t.

“Whatever I thought, I was wrong. I’m sorry,” Harry turned and quickly walked away from the shocked family.

Without hesitation, George was out the door chasing after him.

“Harry! Harry! Wait up you prat,” George called as he ran, finally catching up with Harry.

“What’s going on, Harry? Why did you come?” George asked gently.

“I thought, I don’t know,” Harry sat on the ground next to a tree, sad and confused. “I thought I could do this. I miss everyone and I’m tired of being alone, but it’t too hard. I am too scared of being hurt again.”

George sat next to Harry and leaned against the tree deep in thought. “You don’t have to come back inside, Harry. Merlin, I wouldn’t blame you if you never forgave them at all.” George picked a blade of grass and began lazily chewing on it. “If you think there is the slightest chance you can move past this, I would come back inside. No one expects you to just forget, but the longer you wait the harder it will be.”

He stood and patted Harry on the shoulder. “No matter what, you’re still my friend and my brother.” George walked back into the house, leaving Harry sitting by the tree.

The last words were heavy with emotion and meaning. Harry felt awkward and wasn’t sure what to do.

He turned and saw Arthur standing in the doorway, waiting. Harry walked toward him slowly, his mind a mass of confusion.

“I thought, maybe I could join you and the family for dinner,” Harry stood there, again unsure of what to do.

Arthur Weasley had no such problem. He lunged forward and caught the boy in a hug similar to ones his wife was famous for. Harry tensed for a moment and then allowed himself to return the gesture. The family was quiet for a long moment, absorbing the scene. Suddenly, George started yelling and yipping in excitement. It broke the spell, and soon all of them, including Percy, had Harry surrounded in a hug the likes of which the world has never before seen and quite possibly will never see again.

Molly dragged Harry into the kitchen. He was touched when he realised there was a place set for him with a plate and silverware.

“Mrs. Weasley,” he stammered, “how did you know I would be coming tonight?”

Mrs. Weasley again crushed him to her.

“I didn’t, Harry. We’ve set your place everyday for almost two years now, hoping that you would come back to us.” She cried into his shoulder as she held him.

Harry’s heart fluttered. Any remaining doubt he had about coming tonight was whisked away by that simple revelation. They had never given up on him. They had always wanted him back. He still wasn’t sure he could trust them, but they were his family.

Harry had always to keep his emotions bottled up. He had never been allowed to cry as a child, and as an adult he only did so in extreme circumstances. As he stood that night, in the arms of his surrogate mother, in the presence of his family, all remaining defences he had broke down. Molly Weasley and Harry Potter held each other surrounded by their family. They shared their mutual pain at the losses the war had inflicted. They cried together over the misunderstandings that had driven a wedge between them. Mother and son wept tears of joy at having found each other again. As Harry was cradled like a small child, he berated himself for the stupidity that had kept him from them for so long. When the tears finally reached an end, he sighed a sigh of a child that knew he was always accepted. He sighed the sigh of the young man who was once again certain in the love of his parents. Harry Potter was home.

~*~

Some time later, after the excitement had died down and dinner had long since past, Arthur Weasley touched Harry on the shoulder. “I would like you to see something, Harry, if you don’t mind.”

The rest of the family was silent as Harry and Mr. Weasley walked out the door and strode to the edge of the property. There, underneath a climbing tree that had once served as a base of operations for a young set of twins and their practical jokes, was a marble tombstone.

Fred

Loving brother, fierce friend, adoring son.

Death is the next great adventure.

Mr. Weasley turned to Harry. “I thought you would like to see this, considering how badly we messed up last time. He loved you, you know. He loved all of us.”

Mr. Weasley fell silent as Harry approached the grave and knelt down. After a moment, he stood again and walked back to his dad.

“Thank you for showing me. He was a great friend.”

Arthur and Harry again were sharing another hug when an unexpected voice broke the stillness of the night.

“Harry? May I have a word?”

Harry looked up to see a very contrite looking Percy emerge from the shadows.

“Sure, Percy. Just don’t start on me again, or I’m going to hex you,” Harry replied tersely as Mr. Weasley made his was back to the house.

“Yes, speaking of starting in on you,” Percy began. He stopped and looked at the sky and then at the ground. It seemed he couldn’t look Harry in the eye as he talked. “I would like to offer my sincerest apologies for that day. I have no excuses. I was still hurting from being separated from my family for so long. When I had just got them back, we lost Fred. I know it was not your fault. Please forgive me for giving into my anger and saying those things to you.”

Percy cleared his throat and hunched down, clearly embarrassed by his behaviour.

Harry blinked in shock. Not only had that been the longest speech Percy had ever given him without lecturing him, he had also apologised and admitted he was wrong. Harry shook his head; he wasn’t sure it was enough.

“I’m sorry, Percy. I don’t like you. I’m not sure I will ever be able to look at you again without getting angry. However, I appreciate your sentiments. I’ll do the best I can, and maybe in the future we can work this out.”

Percy hung his head. “I understand, Harry, and I look forward to that day.”

He stuck out his hand for Harry to shake. Harry found himself laughing at the gesture, but he grabbed Percy’s hand and shook it. Together they walked back to the Burrow, both feeling better but realizing that there was still a lot of work before they could be friends again.

Another few hours found Harry and the family gathered in the sitting room telling stories of the past year and a half. Harry was amazed at how quickly the feelings he had buried for so long had welled back up in his heart. He truly loved this family, and despite everything, he knew they loved him. However, all was not right in the Weasley world, as Harry soon found out. During one of the stories, the entire room was thrust into silence when Harry asked, “So where is Ginny tonight? I thought this was a family dinner?”

Everyone looked uncomfortable. Finally, Ron broke the silence. “We thought you would know better than us. She hasn’t spoken to anyone in the family in weeks. Surely she told you this at the flat?”

At this, it was Harry’s turn to look uneasy. “I haven’t seen her at the flat in weeks myself. I mean, I know she is there,” he added at the immediate worry on everyone’s faces, “but we haven’t spoken in a while. I think she is avoiding me. Why has she not spoken to you all?”

Molly Weasley looked ashamed. “We had a row over some of her… behaviour. She hasn’t spoken to us since.”

She turned to Arthur. “Perhaps we have been too harsh. Should we go check on her?”

Arthur nodded slowly. “Maybe Harry can feel out the situation for us. Can you do that, son?”

Harry slowly nodded back. “I can. First, however, I need to say something though. Tonight has been great, and I’m really glad that I came. I just can’t forget everything that’s happened. It’s going to take a while, and I just need you to know that.”

He faced hardened and he looked at Hermione who shrank back against his gaze. “I also need a promise from each of you, that you won’t meddle in my life again for my 'own good.' I appreciate your insights and your opinions but you need to understand my life is mine. I fought for it, I died for it.”

He again drilled Hermione with his gaze. “Go behind my back again, and I promise you, we will never be friends again.”

Harry looked at each in turn as they nodded. He sighed to himself as he thought about his next steps.

Ginny

It appeared he was going to have to face Ginny after all.

~*~

Ginny Weasley was having a rotten term. Sure, things had got better at school when she moved back into Harry’s flat, but the rest of life had seemed to implode all at once. She wasn’t talking to Harry, and her parents had all but told her not to come back to the Burrow. Family was at the center of her life, and now that it was gone, she was miserable. Ginny knew that there had been a family dinner that evening, but she had not attended any since leaving the Burrow. Her only worry was that, with George at the dinner, Harry wouldn’t have a drinking partner so she wasn’t sure when he would be back at the apartment. This made it harder for her to avoid him.

She sighed as she reread her notes for her Beginning Healing Potions final. That class had started with such promise, including helping her solve the problem of Harry’s memory loss. The past month had been hard on her school-wise and she felt woefully unprepared. The term was rapidly approaching its end, and Ginny was trying to put Harry out of her mind so she could concentrate on her studies and keep her appointment.

Ginny just couldn’t do it. She couldn’t put Harry out of her mind. Ginny longed to touch him, to breathe him, to feel the blood pounding in her ears when their lips touched. She blushed as she remembered the potion-induced passion they had shared on the couch. The woman in her longed for more, but she doubted it would ever happen again. Ginny checked the clock and sighed. She began collecting her books to move back into her room. She didn’t want to be around when Harry came back.

As if thinking his name summoned him, Harry appeared in the flat.

Ginny gasped and made a move to rush into her room. Before she could get there, Harry stopped her with nothing more than his voice.

“Ginny.”

She froze at the sound. It was the first time he had addressed her since she chased him from the Burrow so long ago. At least, it was the first time he had addressed her with all his memories intact.

She stopped, but she did not turn around.

Harry took her silence and hesitation as an invitation to continue speaking. “Ginny, you need to go see your mum and dad. Your whole family, actually. They miss you, and they are worried.”

Ginny snorted. She turned with a hard look on her face. “How would you know that? I thought you hated them?

Harry hesitated. This was a different Ginny than he remembered dealing with.

“I went to the family dinner tonight and had a long talk with your family, including Percy. We’ve pretty much made up. I’m not going to say it’s all perfect, or even that I still don’t have some anger. I realized tonight that they are still my family though.”

He walked up to her and looked down into her eyes.

“They love you, and they want to know that you are alright. Believe me, Ginny, you don’t want to keep yourself from them over arguments and hurt feelings. Go to them. They will forgive you.”

Ginny found herself lost in his eyes as he gazed down at her. She saw something there that she had not seen the night of his restoration—understanding. Somehow Harry knew what she had gone through when she saw him lying dead on the grass in front of Hogwarts.

“And you, Harry? Can you forgive me?” she asked pleadingly.

Harry broke eye contact with her and moved away. “It’s not that easy, Gin. Things just can’t go back to the way they were. The only reason I’m talking to you at all right now is so that you’ll go see the family. I can’t talk about anything else with you. I’m sorry.”

With that, he turned and walked into his room. She hesitated for a moment and then followed him. When he noticed her, he turned but he didn’t speak. He looked at her and waited. Ginny, for her part, didn’t slow down at all. She walked right up to him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him.

Ginny was banking on whatever she had seen in his eyes to keep him from pushing her away. She also knew, in the depths of her bones, that he loved her. He stood still, not breaking the contact but not really accepting her either. She pushed forward, moving him backwards until they came in contact with his bed. Harry allowed himself to fall backward as she crawled on top of him.

Ginny decided then and there that she was going to win Harry back. She was driven by a desperate need that she didn’t understand for him to accept her. Harry didn’t stop her as her hands began roaming his body, seemingly on their on accord. For the second time in their lives, Harry and Ginny became one. As she moved above him, Ginny couldn’t help noticing that he wasn’t quite looking at her, and that his eyes were fixed on the ceiling. She also saw the single tear that ran down the left side of his face. Blinded by her own desperation, she ignored these signs and continued on. Harry closed his eyes and whispered so quietly that Ginny almost couldn’t hear.

“I do love you, and I always will.”

~*~

Ginny awoke the next morning after one of the best night’s sleep she had ever experienced in her young life. She rolled over, taking in her surroundings. As she remembered exactly why she was in Harry’s bed, her face flushed. Not with embarrassment, but with joy. Harry hadn’t pushed her away! Somehow he had forgiven her. She turned again to kiss him on his head, and she realised he wasn’t next to her. She sat up bewildered and looked around the room

Surely Harry wouldn’t make love to her and then just leave! He loved her! He had said so himself last night. Ginny sat on the edge of the bed confused and angry. Hot tears coursed down her checks as she struggled to make sense of what had happened. Ginny wiped her face and quickly dressed. She needed to find Hermione. She needed to find her family. She packed a small bag and disappeared to the Burrow. It never crossed her mind that her final exams started that morning.

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