The Love of Harry and Ginny

By Felix Felicis

Disclaimer – All the characters belong to J.K. Rowling, I’m just borrowing them for a bit and promise to return them no worse for the wear.

A/N – Hmm, okay, this is completely different from anything I’ve ever put my fingers to before.  I’d love to hear what you think of it, especially compared to my other work.  Please review, good and bad.

 

The wind whipped outside, lashing the windows and bringing in the darkness.  In her room, a girl lay unmoving on her bed, as if death itself had her in its very grasp.

 

Pain she felt.  Pain beyond pain, because he was gone.

 

No one had seen him since… that day.  That day now four days past.  Voldemort was defeated, and in a flash of light, he too was gone.  The boy with the messy black hair, the deepest green eyes, and the smile that could at once express joy and pain, and often did both.

 

It had been four days, that was all she could think… four days.  It felt like four years.  Now and then her brain engaged with reality long enough to wonder if anyone else really cared or whether they were only interested in Voldemort’s final defeat.  What about the boy? she wondered, What about the sacrifice he made?  Doesn’t it count for anything?!?  Doesn’t anyone… love him… like me?

 

She had stopped crying after the first day.  Her body disconnected from her mind.  She couldn’t feel her arms.  She couldn’t feel her hands.  The skin around her eyes hurt from the remains of old tears, but that was a welcome pain.  It was one she wanted.  Just to feel something, anything, beyond the pain in her mind.

 

Trapped, she thought, with a twinge of panic, I’m trapped!  Suddenly, she threw herself off the bed and dashed for the open window, wanting to see what it would feel like to fly through the air and wait for him to catch her.  It made her throat tighten up again.  She hadn’t even moved off the bed.  No feeling, none at all.

 

The blanket wrapped tightly around her like a burial cloth, her white-knuckled hands grasped at it, pulling it even tighter, trying to push out the world, and lock in her agony.  Her mind whirled.  It doesn’t matter if I make it through this, she thought, he’s not here, and there’s no one else.  What would I do?  Where would I go… without him… without him?

 

She threw her arm across her face and rolled onto her side, facing the window.  Her lifeless eyes drifted across the room, glazed, but then opened wide with fear as they fell on the photo by her bed.  In it, he sat reading, while she leaned back against his knees in front of the fire.  It was a picture of bliss and happiness and warmth.

 

It took only one swing for the picture to fly across the room and shatter against the opposite wall.  Inside her, something heaved like a lead block, and it pushed its way up into her throat.  The ache!  She struggled to overcome it, to continue to feel nothing, but it crept slowly up and a hot tear slid down her cheek, etching a new line of pain with it.

 

“Harry,” she cried softly, “why did you have to leave?  I wasn’t done yet.  It wasn’t your time, we still had years to go, a life to live.  You can’t be gone!  You can’t be… you can’t be.”

 

She wiped a tear away with her finger and watched the candlelight flicker off its glossy surface.  Her hands went to her face and covered her eyes, wishing she could block out the light forever.  To never have to feel pain again!  What a wonderful thing that would be!

 

Her eyes rolled up in her head and she was asleep once again.  The candle burned low and finally went out in a small stream of smoke.  It drifted over her wretched form, then disappeared in a moment.  The night air closed in around the house, and with it came dreams of darkness, of flashes of light, of screams, and then… nothing.  No one remained behind in the inky blackness.

 

Her arms out in front of her, she pelted blindly ahead through the rain, screaming, until she slipped on something hard and fell to the muddy earth.  Her eyes ran behind her and caught a glimpse of a ghostly hand holding a wand pointed straight ahead.  The face was deathly white and unmoving.

 

And above the blank eyes, a lightning bolt scar glistened in the rain.

 

Her screams startled her back to reality and she found herself prone on the floor, locked up tight in her own tightly wrapped blanket.  Yet again wishing for real pain.  Anything to make her feel something, to give her mind an outlet for its insanity.  But none came, and her unblinking eyes stared at the ceiling, seeing but unseeing.

 

His last touch had been one of tenderness, his fingers on her cheek like a feather, brushing back her tears.  He was going, he had to go, to protect her as well as the others.  His last kiss was light and quick, but filled with passion.  As he slipped from her arms in her memory, the room faded slowly away.

 

She was standing outside in the rain, her eyes searching for him.  Always searching.  It was what she had done for hours after the last battle.  Nothing mattered; not food, not family, only him.  She knew she would find him if she only looked long enough.  Hours, days, weeks, it didn’t matter, she wouldn’t give up.  When they finally dragged her in, her arms and legs shook, but her eyes still unconsciously searched.  They were meant for only one person, for him.

 

She would find him.  She had to find him.  Life couldn’t exist without him.

 

The sound of knuckles on wood lifted her mind back to her room long enough to deceive herself into hoping, but then fell back into emptiness.  Only Ron stood before her, looking down with eyes that held all of the same pain, but bottled up behind an unmovable barrier.

 

She was limp as he moved her body from the floor back to the bed.  The covers were cold, but she didn’t feel them.  As he moved about the bed, casting warming spells and tucking her in, only one thing kept her in the same room as him.

 

“Your tear,” she said, reaching a pale, shaking finger toward his face.  He turned away, sniffing, and wiped his eyes on his sleeve.

 

“You rest now,” his voice shook, “he… he wouldn’t want… us to feel like…”  His shoulders shook and his voice was lost.

 

And she was lost too.  Her mind drifted back again to their last moment, to his words and the way his mouth looked as he said them.

 

“I’m in love with you, Ginny.  I’m in love with you, always and forever.  No matter what, I promise I’ll be here with you, in you.”  He touched his hand to her heart.  His green eyes burned with passion; he had never sounded so serious in his life.  Her heart ached, feeling him pulling away, a small part of her knowing she would never see him again but unwilling to believe it.  His hand lingered in hers only for a moment, and his eyes tore into her.  They were filled with the weight of the world, when they only wanted to be filled with her. 

 

Her thoughts drifted away from that moment, but didn’t land anywhere.  Only darkness remained, no light, no candle, only darkness so thick it pressed on her like dead weight.

 

Then a voice.  Small at first, but growing stronger, calling her name.  She opened her eyes and once again found herself in her room.  Her cold fingers found the edge of the heavy blanket and peeled it back.  She forced herself to walk to the window, unknowingly pulling it open and kneeling on the floor.  Drops of warm rain splashed her face, mixing with salty tears that crept slowly from her eyes, as they began their work again.  Searching, always searching.

 

The rain slowed but grew colder and she reached outside to pull herself onto the roof, unfeeling of the change.  A valley between her window and the next held her in silence while her eyes did their work.  Her fingers trembled and her mind wrenched again and again.  A small voice from somewhere cried out, claiming his loss forever, and her mind was gone once again.

 

His fingers caressed her hair, and his eyes followed them through, as if memorizing every strand.  In the light of the fire he watched the sparkling crimsons and auburns as they teased his senses.  Then a small grimace, and he began to pull away.

 

“I watched you walk away,” she said into the rain and the night, “and I didn’t even say ‘I love you’.  You never heard me say it!  I love you, Harry.  I love you, I love you.  Why didn’t I say it?”  She clawed at her face with her hands and shook with guilty sobs.  The rain streamed down on her, chilling her unfeeling skin.

 

‘Harry,’ she mouthed silently.  Her eyes continued to grow weaker, until they slipped shut again.

 

She was running in fear, chased by something only in her mind, stumbling, falling, and getting up again.  The earth grasped at her feet, her fingernails clawed at it as she desperately tried to get away.  It was consuming her, and her screams went unheard.

 

Suddenly there was pain, real pain, and she gripped her elbow in her other hand, feeling the blood trickle down.  A sick smile came across her face as she turned and saw the metal that had gouged her fair skin.  Her smile turned desperately to screams that got lost in her throat, as her eyes frantically covered everything in sight, while the rain plastered her hair to her neck and thinned the blood that ran from her arm.

 

She fell slowly back against the slate shingles, fighting to remain conscious.  Her tears were suddenly real again and for a moment she felt her body shake with pent up emotion.  Her mouth wailed quietly, only to herself, while her arms lay at her side, caressing the cold stone.

 

“Why did I let you love me back?” she cried, “Why didn’t I just leave you alone?  Harry, look at me.  I can’t find my way back without you.  I want to go with you.”  She looked up, “Where are you, Harry?  I want to come.  WHERE ARE YOU?!?”  She looked around frantically.

 

She screamed, and when her voice was lost there was no noise but that of the rain hitting the siding.  Her love was lost.  Gone.  Forever.  And she couldn’t even find a way to go with it, for it went off in a thousand directions at once, still searching.  Her very soul cried out to him, reaching for him, her last lifeline before all was lost.  Her heart burned with fire and pain, but she steadily grew colder inside.

 

She let go of the cold stone shingles and felt her body begin to slide with the rain.  Like her mind, there was nowhere to go but down.  Her senses didn’t even register as she slipped past the edge of the roof and plummeted toward the ground.  Only a bush stopped her from her deadly fall, slicing into her arms and legs with its fine branches.  She rolled onto the ground, grasping at the muddy soil to pull herself up.  First onto her knees, then standing, wavering slowly back and forth, her eyes searching wildly about.

 

One step.  Another step.  A third.  She was crying openly again, hugging her arms around her, unconsciously shivering from the icy cold that was now reaching into her soul.  Like a hand grasping at her, clutching her life, it continued to drain her, and each step was agony.

 

In her drenched, blood-stained nightgown she appeared as a corpse standing in the lane, leaning on each fence post for support.  Her mind was blank, with only one thought surviving, him.  For him, her eyes searched and searched, pale as her skin.  The brown that once shown deeply from within was now dull and lifeless.

 

Her last ounce of strength took her from the fence into the lane, where she collapsed, and all was quiet.  The raindrops touched her skin, trying to steal away the last bit of warmth left in her.  Her lungs screamed at wanting to cry and her voice was but a silent whisper now.

 

Suddenly, as if flipped off by a switch, the clouds parted, and her mind cleared.

 

“My love will always be with you, Harry.  My life was only for you, and even though we weren’t together very long, it was real.  I love you.  I loved you.”

 

Her voice was lost, and now only sounded in her mind with the words she so desperately wanted to say.

 

‘I love you.’  Her mind played these words over and over again as her eyes closed.  The darkness of the night gave way to pure, soothing black, and she knew it wouldn’t be long until the end came.  Her only thought was that she would be with him again.

 

Her mind began to go dark and, in her dream strong arms lifted her, cradling her close while a soft weeping came to her ears.  She was moving, but not of her own accord.  The darkness was all-consuming, blotting out all sight, all sound, but for the hot breath of the one bringing her to the end.  Soon, warmth began to spread through her body, a feeling like she had never known before.  It grew from the inside, slowly at first, but more rapidly as it spread.  She felt her skin drying and a warm red light began to filter through her eyes.  The strong arms never left her, and she felt comforted by them, as if they were feeding her very soul.

 

“Ginny,” a disembodied voice cried sadly, tweaking her senses with its deep strength and awakening her further.  The light grew in brightness to a dull pink, nearly hurting her mind.  She tried to shy away from it, but it continued to grow until she couldn’t ignore it anymore.

 

Her eyes flitted open for a moment and reality mixed with dreams as she stared into depths of green that cradled her close, rocking her slowly.  That voice, the pain of it ground all thought to a halt, and she could only listen.

 

“Ginny,” it said again, softly, tenderly.  “Stay here with me, don’t go.  I’ll never leave your side now.  We can be together, forever.  We can l-love each other.  Stay with me, girl.  Please, stay with me.”

 

Somewhere she heard the muffled sounds of crying, and wondered why anyone would cry in this place.  Warmth and peace filled her, and she felt no pain now.  She struggled to open her eyes, wanting to look around and see the wonderful world she had entered.  With all her might, she forced them open, and looked into the eyes of love.

 

It was him.  The boy she loved.  It was Harry.

 

She couldn’t move her head, but she flicked her eyes around and saw her family, standing, holding each other.  Their tears ran unchecked, and their eyes filled with something new as they saw her stir.  But Harry, Harry was so close.  Holding her in his arms, cradling her to his chest.  His face but inches from hers, and his eyes… she had missed those eyes so much, and now they were there, burning with life and pain.

 

A tear ran down his nose, and without knowing it, she reached a shaky hand toward it.

 

“Your tear,” she managed to whisper. 

 

“And yours,” he answered, wiping a finger across her cheek and bringing with it a single, hot tear.

 

Her voice trembled, “Harry?  Is it really you?  Harry?”

 

“Shh,” he calmed her, “It’s me.  I’m still here.  I was gone for a while, but I’m back now.”  He tried to control his own voice, but his worry still shown through, “Ginny, don’t you leave me now.  You… you were nearly… gone when I found you.  I – I love you, please don’t go.”  Another tear dropped down onto her arm, and she felt its warmth on her skin.  It was a feeling she could hardly remember, it was warm and unexpected.

 

“Harry,” she tried to speak, but he put a single finger on her lips, silencing her and shaking his head.  “No,” he said, “You need to rest.  I’m not going anywhere.  I won’t leave your side for a second.”

 

She shook her head a fraction of an inch, so much so that he almost thought he imagined it.

 

“Harry, I… I l-love you.”  Her eyes closed, and she fell quietly to sleep.

 

True to his word, Harry never left her side for a moment until she woke up and he was satisfied she would be okay.  After that it was many weeks of intense recovery, both for him and for her.  They spent many nights in St. Mungo’s, and many hours resting and taking healing potions.

 

In the end, no one ever knew what had happened to Harry.  His own memory left off when he fought Voldemort, and began again when he lifted Ginny’s lifeless body from the lane by her house.  Some believed it was her love calling him back, but no one ever really knew.

 

As for their love, it grew by leaps and bounds, seeing them through their wedding day, children, grand-children, and on.  Through all that happened, though, they never forgot that they had both faced death and returned, and they lived each day like it was a new day, full of life and happiness, remembering that their love had kept them alive, even when only an inch from death.

 

For such is the love of Harry and Ginny.

 

~ The End ~