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

Author: rich.sanidad

Story: One Blink

Part: 11 - Ending and Beginnings

Rating: Teens

Setting: Pre-DH

Status: Completed

Warning: Violence, character death, extreme language

Reviews: 3

Words: 4,586

Updated: September 26, 2009, 11:58am

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11 - Ending and Beginnings

Harry looked around the Room of Requirement and tried to ignore the feeling of his heart swelling with pride. He did not want to admit it, but it was true: despite his reservations about putting his friends into danger, he was humbled by their willingness—their enthusiasm—to stand beside him and end the nightmare tonight, one way or another. Despite all the rumours and other misunderstandings that had hung over him over the years, they were here now when it mattered most. Perhaps the last time he had felt so accepted was the Leaving Feast of his first year, when the final points awarded by the headmaster had turned the tables on Slytherin, awarding the House Cup to Gryffindor. He hoped he would remember all of the positive emotions he was feeling right now for the rest of his life however long or short that might be. And in an instant, it all vanished.

He looked up at the last figure to come through the secret passage from the Hog’s Head and saw red—literally and figuratively. What the hell was she doing here? He thought they had reached an understanding the night before he left Muriel’s house to break into Gringotts. (Wasn’t that only earlier tonight?) He thought she understood him, why he was continuing with the path Dumbledore had laid out for him, and what was driving him to finish it. He just stared at her, his mouth agape, until she made eye contact with him.

She saw the expression on his face and clenched her jaw. No, he thought to himself. Not now. Now was not the time for her to display the trademark Weasley stubbornness. Not when he was so close to seeing it through. Why did she have to come here? He pursed his lips and intensified his gaze. All that did was cause her to set her jaw even firmer as she stared him down.

Didn’t she know how much he needed her to live through this? If something happened to him, she would still have... And then it hit him. He looked at her eyes, and behind her anger there was something else—something he had continued trying to deny was there, no matter how many times she told him. If he did not make it through this, she would not have what she wanted either. It was all or nothing for her.

He gave in to her unyielding stare, frustrated. This was undeniably the worst conversation they had ever had. It was too late for her to go back anyway. Not knowing where the Death Eaters were convening, Hogsmeade was potentially less safe than being here. He took a deep breath as he dropped his gaze to the floor. He closed his eyes and shook his head, as he began trying to focus on the last Horcrux. Maybe he could end it before anyone got hurt.

Despite the clamour of battle around them, Harry cracked a smile at Percy’s attempt at humour. He looked to see if Ron had similarly been affected when there was a sound like a cannon beside them. Everyone ducked as pieces of stone broke from the wall, covering them in a cloud of dust. When Harry looked up again, he saw that Pius Thicknesse (at least he thought it was Thicknesse; the figure looked more like a giant sea urchin than a human) and the other man they had been fighting were down—but so was Fred. Percy and Ron immediately rushed to his side, while Harry checked on Hermione. She reassured him that she was all right as she sat up, and he looked over to where the debris had originated. The wall was in bad shape, but it was still standing. When Harry turned back to check on his friends, he saw Percy kneeling next to Fred, trying to rouse him.

“Come on, you stupid berk! I finally came back! Don’t die!”

Harry felt his breath catch at Percy’s last word. Despite the fact that Voldemort’s forces were not as numerous as they had anticipated, he knew that he and his allies could not possibly be making it through the battle completely unscathed. He tried not to think of who else might be lying somewhere on the grounds, waiting to be carried away when all the carnage was done. Finally, after several heart-stopping moments, Fred came to, coughing as his brothers tried to sit him up.

“You stupid git! Why didn’t you wake up sooner? You scared the hell out of us!” said Percy.

Fred merely lifted his wand and made some familiar motions with it. “Enervate,” he said weakly. “Handy little spell. You should try it some time.”

Percy laughed weakly as he stood up and pointed his wand at their two fallen adversaries. “Petrificus Totalus! Incarcerous!”

Ron looked at him with his eyebrows raised. “A bit much, isn’t it, Perce?”

“Not tonight, it’s not.”

Suddenly, they heard the unmistakable sounds of someone descending a nearby staircase. They all took defensive positions as the footsteps approached the bottom stairs. Harry thought the rhythm of the person’s pace was odd, as if they were walking with a limp...

“Fleur!” cried Hermione.

The battle-scarred witch ignored the greeting and looked at the damaged wall. She then looked at the relatively unharmed group in front of her and nodded to herself, exhaling slowly. Then she said, “You are all unharmed?”

The Weasley boys nodded slowly as Percy said, “A bit worse for wear, but nothing serious.”

Fleur responded with her own nod. “So be it. I believe you were charged with securing some of the lesser known entrances to the castle?”

Fred looked at Percy, who shrugged his shoulders. Finally, Fred saluted her and said, “Yes, ma’am!” And the two of them ran down the opposite hallway.

After they had gone, Fleur and Harry looked at each other, wands gripped tightly in their hands. He knew that he was finally doing what she wanted—trying to end this whole bloody war. Why was she looking at him like that?

“Have any of you seen Greyback?” she said in a low voice.

Harry looked at Hermione and Ron, who was shaking his head.

“Sorry,” said Hermione. “We haven’t seen him.”

Fleur nodded as she said, “Then I shall take my leave of you and rejoin the battle.” She then pointed her wand at the wall and said, “Finite.” The swollen wall finally crumbled, but to everyone’s horror, its collapse revealed a hideous Acromantula that had scaled the castle wall. The four of them began firing spells in unison, knocking it and the one behind it from its perch. It was not long before a third one attempted to put one of its forelegs through the opening.

“Go!” shouted Fleur. “I will hold them off. Do what must be done!”

She and Harry made eye contact as Hermione and Ron continued to hold off the giant spiders.

“Come on!” said Harry after a few tense moments. “Let’s go!”

“But—” said Ron, as another of his Stunning Spells found its mark.

“She’s right. We’re the only ones who can end this,” countered Harry. “The sooner we get going, the sooner we can make sure everyone is safe.”

With a grunt, Ron fired off an astonishing volley of red flares, flinging the closest of Aragog’s children away from the gaping hole in the castle and down to the grounds below. “That should give you enough time to set up a good defensive position,” he said to Fleur.

She nodded and the three friends ran down the hallway. Harry was already trying to focus on his mysterious link with Voldemort when Hermione suggested to him that they use it to learn where Nagini was being hidden.

Underneath his Invisibility Cloak, Harry carefully placed one foot in front of the other while his mind reeled at everything he had just learned in the headmaster’s office. The revelation that Snape had really been Dumbledore’s agent all along was shocking. But the truth of his own intended role in Voldemort’s downfall was simply staggering. Perhaps it was better that he did not have much time to dwell on it—he almost wished that the one hour deadline that Voldemort had offered was shorter. But no, that was not really true. The way he was dragging his feet as he made his way through the castle was proof of that.

Of all the thoughts that overwhelmed him as he took step after fateful step through the hallways of his beloved school, the overriding one was regret. And it mostly took the form of the youngest Weasley. He knew now that he would have been better off using some place other than her Aunt Muriel’s residence to plan the break-in to Gringotts with the treacherous Griphook. Those weeks in the same house with Ginny, despite the constant presence of others, only made what he had to do now more difficult. Although the two of them had done little more than acknowledge how much they wished things could be different, he knew he was closer to her now than he would ever be with any other girl, including Hermione. The last thing he needed was to see her on his way to the forest and let all of his resolve slip away.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he made his way past the Great Hall. Everyone else had gathered there, giving him a clear path to exit the castle without having to be so vigilant about making too much noise. He was tempted to stop and look for Ron and Hermione, but he knew they would try to dissuade him from what he had to do. And there was no longer any time to argue. Besides, if he found them, he might find Ginny as well, and he already knew he did not have the strength to see her one last time.

When he reached the exit to the castle he froze as he watched Neville and Oliver Wood pass by him, carrying the wretched body of Colin Creevey. Oliver said something, and Neville allowed the older boy to hoist Colin over his shoulder. There was a dull ache in Harry’s stomach, but he forced himself to watch as his former Quidditch captain disappeared around the corner with the young boy. And with that sight, all thoughts of Ginny were pushed from his mind. He set his jaw and followed Neville out into the darkness.

Ginny had tucked herself away in a corner of the courtyard behind one of the many columns. It was one of her secret places where she could see almost everything, but no one could see her. She used to spend a lot of time here during her second year, when she was trying to avoid everyone’s pitying stares. Things had improved slowly after that year, but she found herself using the little nook again several times during the past term when she needed a quick hiding place from the Carrows. The rest of her family was probably inside, tending to the wounded and deceased, which by some miracle did not include any of their number. Ginny briefly wondered how much of that miracle should be attributed to Fleur before she remembered that the casualties included Remus, Tonks and Colin. And then she was reminded of why she was sitting there.

She tried to keep her attention on the front entrance to the castle, but her mind was unfocussed and dull. The vivacity that had burned within her during the first part of the battle was now gone, replaced by what could only be described as desolation. There were only thirty minutes or so left before the battle was to begin anew if Harry did not turn himself over to Tom. But there was no doubt that he would do it. Even if they had not just spent the last few weeks together, she would have known that he would do it.

She saw some movement and the fog began to clear from her head. The front door opened and Neville stepped out, but just as the door was about to close, it opened again. Although she did not see anyone else pass through it, it swung wide enough for one person to do so before finally closing. And she knew that he had finally come. She wondered to herself whether she would have felt his presence even if she had not been monitoring the door.

Ginny looked over the courtyard closely, but could find no other evidence of Harry. She was not surprised, but still had to bite her bottom lip to keep from swearing out loud. Her eyes swept the scene again, and she ended up setting her eyes on Neville for lack of something else to watch. She wished she had the courage to retrieve more bodies as he was doing, but something held her back. Harry held her back. She just needed to see him one more time before—

And there he was.

Part of his leg appeared to be missing where the Invisibility Cloak had not been tucked into its hiding place. His clothes were filthy, as if he had been crawling in the dirt like a mole. There was dried blood trailing from a few places where he had been unable to avoid spell fire. And yet, as he stood there talking to Neville, he looked every bit the hero she knew him to be. The one, that for the first time, she wished he was not.

Ginny screwed up her eyes and wrapped her arms more tightly around herself as if she were trying to hold herself back, which was truer than she wanted to admit. She wanted nothing more than to run to him and beg him not to go, but to do so would have meant losing everything she loved about him. He might pity her for doing something like that. And she would loathe herself if she did.

When she opened her eyes again, he was gone. Off into the distance, Neville had found someone else to carry back to the castle. To her left, the courtyard was empty, and off to her right, towards the forest, there was only a young girl with light brown hair lying prone on the ground, perhaps injured. Ginny sighed tiredly. She had wanted a glimpse of him, and Providence had granted it to her. It was time to stop wallowing in self-pity. She stood up and began walking to the girl, wondering if she would have been better off having not seen Harry after all, and whether he wished he could have seen her too.

Harry made his way around the crowd until he reached the vantage point he sought. He knew he should have been more interested in helping Kingsley and his former professors in subduing Tom, but he was drawn to Ginny and he chose not to fight it. He wondered if his brief conversation with Dumbledore in King’s Cross station had revealed the underlying selfishness in his decision to return. He doubted his former headmaster would have begrudged him that one desire regardless. He redoubled his mental efforts to find a way to overcome Bellatrix, when the duel turned for the worse.

The tip of the vile witch’s wand glowed green, and Harry felt his stomach knot. He wanted to throw off the Invisibility Cloak and run to Ginny, but his feet were inexplicably rooted to the floor. He opened his mouth to warn her, but no sound came out. And panic set in. Time crept agonizingly by, and he could almost hear the green streak of light mocking him as it flew closer and closer to Ginny. From where he stood, there was no mistaking the trueness of Bellatrix’s aim.

A hundred suppressed dreams flickered before his eyes. Harry on one knee, looking up hopefully at a surprised Ginny. Ginny in a flowing white dress with yellow flowers in her hair and holding her father’s arm. Rocking a redheaded infant to sleep late into the night. Caressing Ginny’s face in the darkness, just after the children had finally fallen asleep. Walking into Ollivander’s shop on a warm summer morning to purchase a wand for a smaller version of himself. He could almost touch those images and so many more, and then they were gone, replaced by the cold reality of a green light that had already caused him more pain than any one person could ever deserve.

Then there was a flash of silvery hair, and suddenly time was moving at its normal pace once again. Ginny was on the ground covered by a slightly larger form in a black cloak. The duel slowed as Hermione and Luna prayed that Ginny was all right, and Bellatrix licked her lips, waiting for confirmation that another life had been taken by her wand.

Molly pulled herself from Arthur’s grasp and rushed over to them. “Ginny! Fleur!”

Harry’s heart sped up as he watched the matron of the Weasley clan lift up her would-be daughter-in-law. The blank stare in her eyes told him all he needed to know. Molly’s breath quickened and he could hear the faintest of whimpers each time she exhaled.

Harry saw Molly’s face contort as utter grief and then rage overcame her. She gently lay Fleur’s body down on the floor and pulled out her wand as she began marching towards the fallen Veela’s cackling murderer.

“YOU BITCH!”

She felt as if the room was spinning and grabbed her mother’s arm to hold herself up. Her legs were weak and she did not know whether to cry or cheer. It wasn’t really over, was it? Ginny shook her head, but everything was just as it was before. The remains of Tom Riddle were lying on the floor of the Great Hall, with Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall inspecting the body. And beyond them... was Harry. He looked exhausted and jubilant at the same time. She tried to remember the words he and Tom had exchanged before the last fateful confrontation, but it was like trying to grab water with her fingers. It seemed as if her mind wanted to forget, that it was ready to move on from this whole bloody affair and begin living again... hopefully, with him.

Ginny could not have taken her eyes off of Harry even if she had wanted to. It was beyond joy to know that he had actually won, that Tom was gone and that Harry had made it through alive. Part of her wanted to run to him, but he was still engulfed in a mass of humanity led by Ron and Hermione. She could not deny that she was somewhat jealous of their opportunity to be the first to hold him now that the ordeal was over. But she thought about what she wanted to do once she finally got her hands on him and she realised that some privacy would be in order before succumbing to her desires. She thought to herself that there would be time for it all—later, and she smiled. It was a foreign feeling to know they had all the time in the world to finally make things right.

And suddenly he was walking... towards her. He had a hard blazing look in his eyes, and she felt herself swoon a bit, just as she used to when she was twelve or thirteen. She became unaware of everything else; her eyes were locked onto his and would not have loosened their hold even if she had stopped breathing. Time was both moving too fast and not moving at all. And before she knew it, he had reached her. He did not say a single word, but swept her up into him. She felt a strength of purpose in his arms, and the tension in his body faded away as she moulded herself into his form.

The rest of the world faded away and there was nothing else to know or feel except Harry. She was oblivious to the fact that his face was stained with dirt, that his clothes were a mess or that he had burn marks on his arms. She ignored the fact that dozens of people were watching them, many with encouraging smiles on their faces. He looked at her in the way she had always pictured him doing so in her childhood dreams. Then he leaned his face down, and she tilted her head and closed her eyes.

And she was filled with a warmth that consumed all of her senses. She could feel his arms around her, with one hand behind her head and the other on her waist. He took his time, and though it was their first kiss, it felt like something they had known and enjoyed forever. There was no worrying over whether her lips were too dry or if her hands felt clammy. There was only them, surrendering to each other and knowing that it just felt right.

When they finally broke apart, all she could see were his eyes. The beautiful green that she had come to know and love were glowing like no other time that she had ever seen them. She felt her heart swell at the knowledge that she had made them twinkle like that. She heard a small cough behind her, and she turned to see her parents beaming at her. Her mother’s arms were wrapped around her father’s waist, while he had one arm hung lazily around her shoulders. Where she hoped to see approval in their faces, she found it and so much more.

“Ginny?”

She turned to look back at Harry. She raised her eyebrows to acknowledge his question, though her mouth still held a funny little grin.

“I... I... need to talk to some people. Can... can I...”

“I’ll be waiting for you with my parents.”

The happiness in his smile seemed to reflect what she was feeling. “I won’t make you wait long.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” she said and gave him another kiss. This time she heard the cheers from the crowd.

Nineteen years later...

Harry frowned as he watched Ginny pull Lily into a comforting hug. It had felt quite surreal watching his redheaded daughter run down the platform, waving at a spitting image of himself and their brother. He had no doubt that his wife was reliving the moment from years ago when she had watched the Hogwarts Express take away her girlhood crush and her last playmate. It was going to be a long term for all of them.

Ginny made eye contact with him and he arched his eyebrows in question, but she shook her head. Apparently, this was a mother-daughter moment, and he sighed quietly to himself as he stepped away to give them some privacy. He was startled from his reverie at the sound of his name.

“Harry?”

The newly promoted head of the Auror department turned and found his godson smiling down at him.

“Ted! What brings you here?”

“I wanted to see off Bill and James, but it seems I arrived too late.”

“Yes, well...” Harry stole a glance at his watch before looking up at the departing train. “Five past eleven. You should know better than that by now.”

“Yeah, I do...” The young wizard looked up and took a few moments to stare at the legendary scarlet engine.

“Bill asked about you,” said Harry as he looked over Teddy with a watchful eye.

“Did he now?”

“I told him to go ahead and find a compartment with his mates and I’d send you along if you showed up.”

“Sorry.”

Harry shook his head slightly. “Don’t worry about it. He’ll be fine. It’s James I’m worried about.”

“First year jitters?”

Harry nodded in assent. “Of course... And he was worried about what house he might be sorted into.”

“As if he would be in anything other than Gryffindor. Once you named him after your father and Sirius, I was surprised he wasn’t sorted as such at birth.”

Harry grunted noncommittally as the Hogwarts Express became little more than a speck in the distance. Next to him, the young man he loved like a son exhaled loudly.

“Something on your mind then, Ted?”

“I’ve been thinking about your offer to join the Aurors.”

“Oh?” The surprise in Harry’s voice was evident. “I thought you were worried about the appearance of nepotism and all that.”

“I was—that is, I am,” said Teddy as he ran his hand through his dark blue hair. “But I’ve decided that if that’s the only reason not to join, it’s a rather weak one.”

Harry nodded, but said nothing. Over the years, he’d learned that some of his own mannerisms had rubbed off on his godson, and that if he wanted Ted to speak his mind, the best thing to do was maintain silence.

“I’ve also been thinking that it would be quite poor of me to honour my parents’ sacrifice by becoming some low-level Ministry assistant to the assistant or something or other.”

“No one would think less of you if you did—provided that it was what you really wanted to do. Your parents fought so you could have the opportunity to make that choice.”

“I know... but I can’t deny that Defence Against the Dark Arts is in my blood. Between my mum and my dad...” The handsome young man paused and his mouth became a tight line as he controlled his emotion. “Furthermore, I’ll never have a better time to do it than now. I’ve been out in the real world for a year now. I’ve no family, other than Grandmum, or other obligations to hold me back—”

“No prospects, then?” Harry bit his tongue after he said this. It was normally not his habit to pry into his godson’s affairs.

Ted smiled ruefully. “Things didn’t quite work out with Morgana. Sorry.”

Harry held up his hands, palms out. “Don’t feel bad on my account. I just thought she was a nice girl...”

“... with these huge—”

“Ted!”

“... tracts of land.” The young Metamorphmagus smiled wickedly at his godfather.

Harry rubbed his forehead, and he could hear Ginny trying to hold in her laughter behind him. “Please don’t do that in the office when I’m around.”

“No promises.”

“So you’ll be applying for the autumn trainee programme?”

“Yeah. I just need to collect a few letters of recommendation—”

“You never asked me to write you a letter...”

Teddy rolled his eyes. “Nepotism, remember?”

“Oh. Right. Go on...”

“Yeah, well, Neville’s letter should be waiting for me at the Leaky with Hannah. And I’ll be by The Burrow tomorrow to get the one from Arthur.”

Harry nodded. “And the third?”

“Hermione said she’s still working on it.”

It was Harry’s turn to roll his eyes. “I’m not reading anything after the first eighteen inches.”

Teddy laughed a free and deep laugh. After the laughter of his own children, it was Harry’s favourite sound in the world. And it confirmed that Ted was doing just what he was destined to do.

Harry turned to take one last look at the train, but there was nothing left but wisps of smoke. He thought of the conversation he just had with his godson and what the future had in store for his own children. If Ted’s life was anything to go by, everything was going to be just fine.

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