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SIYE Time:18:22 on 28th March 2024
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Third Time Lucky
By Fire_kei

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Category: Three Little Words Challenge (2011-1), Three Little Words Challenge (2011-1)
Characters:All
Genres: Action/Adventure, Fluff
Warnings: Mild Sexual Situations
Story is Complete
Rating: PG-13
Reviews: 8
Summary: They day after the war ends, Harry wakes up to a number of surprises.
Hitcount: Story Total: 4778



Disclaimer: Harry Potter Publishing Rights © J.K.R. Note the opinions in this story are my own and in no way represent the owners of this site. This story subject to copyright law under transformative use. No compensation is made for this work.





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Third time lucky

Harry woke up after the Second Battle of Hogwarts bruised, battered and, oddly enough, relived. He had slept through an entire night, no nightmares, no burning scar to jar him awake. He didn’t feel good, but too many years at the hands of Uncle Vernon and Riddle had taught him to disregard little things like pain and soreness, and he used those to help protect himself from the grief that was threatening to crash down around him. He knew it would come, he knew the grief would take him, but right now, he needed a shower.

After showering, Harry walked into the room and stopped. He had figured that only the boys he had shared a dorm with for the last six years, seven, if you count Ron, would be there. He had only a towel around his waist, hoping to summon Kreacher to get some of his clothes for him, or send Ron to get them from Hermione.

Apparently he needed not send Ron to find Hermione at all. They were both snuggled on his bed, Hermione on top of Ron, kissing him for all she was worth.

“Eh,” Harry babbled, not sure what to do. Apparently his sound roused the new couple and they had the dignity to look abashed, though, Harry was sure he was blushing right along with him.

“Ron, we’ve talked about this, right? I know I don’t have to say it,” Harry said, the memory of Hermione’s tears when Ron had left them intermingling with her screams at Malfoy Manor and Ron’s pleads, underpinned by the images the damn locket had shown Ron.

Ron nodded. “I get it, mate, but don’t worry. I’ve been waiting for her too long to mess it up.”

Hermione scoffed at them both, “The two of you, honestly. What are you talking about?”

A voice Harry had not heard in the last year, except for in his dreams, came from behind his shoulder. “Harry’s warning Ron. I’m pretty sure in the same way all my brothers warned him about me. It’s just a thing brothers do. It’s annoying, but sweet, in a way.”

Harry turned around, his shock causing the towel to pull away, leaving him completely naked, and worse, as the morning light streamed in from the far window, every single one of his innumerable injuries were plain as the scar on his forehead.

There was a moment of absolute silence as Harry’s eyes continued to widen in terror. Not only was Ginny in the doorway, her face frozen in a half smug, half terrified, completely shocked expression, Mr and Mrs Weasley, George, Bill, Fleur, Charlie and Percy were behind her, also gapping. Ginny, as Harry should have known, recovered first. “Naked Wizards have contributed very little to Magical civilization,” she paused, and then, “though, I can’t see why not.”

“Ginny!” Mrs Weasley, Bill, Percy and Hermione shrieked at the same moment. Ron banished a towel at Harry, unable to say anything because of his laughter. Apparently, Harry thought, snoging Hermione has put him in a good mood.

There was another silence before George snorted. “Oh, this is priceless. Thank you, oh golden trio, for giving Fred one more reason to prank you from above.” Harry caught the look in George’s eye, and understood it. Harry knew he still hurt, that he would always hurt, but right now, there were other people who needed George, and he would do as was necessary.

“Like you would prank Harry,” Ginny noted. “He’s your financial backer. He’s exempt.”

Mrs Weasely turned towards George so quick that he paled noticeably. Before she could say anything, Harry called out. “Mrs Weasley, I gave it to them. They didn’t ask me. I didn’t need the money, and they are doing something just as noble as anyone else. The shop is there to make people laugh.”

Mrs Weasely turned back to Harry, and eyed him. “I don’t know what you are doing, but you need to get to the hospital wing. Look at you. You look like you’ve been...” she stalled out for words, and Ron laughed in the background.

“Mum, you can pick just about anything, and we probably did it.” There was no mirth in his voice, just hard, cold steel. Harry turned, to see Hermione place a gentle hand on Ron’s arm. They were sitting on the edge of the bed, and Ron’s eyes were cold, hard. Harry heard the eldest Weasleys’ sharp intake of breath. Ron’s parents knew that tone. It was one of a man who has faced his own death, and barely walked away from it.

Harry turned back to the group, and sheepishly looked for some clothes. He turned to Hermione. “Do you still have any of my clothes in that magical bag of yours?” Hermione nodded and began rummaging though the bag.

Mrs Weasley spoke, a little shaken. “The three of you need to get ready. We’ll be heading home soon. Hermione, Harry, you know The Burrow is your home as well, although,” she eyed Ron and Hermione, “You two, we’ll be needing to have a...”

Hermione laughed. Not her normal laugh, but a near hysteric one. “Mrs Weasely, the three of us have hidden from Death Eaters, Voldmort himself, broke into the Ministry, Gringots, and Hogwarts. We broke out of the Ministry and Gringotts. Between Harry, Ron and me, we’ve been to hell, had tea, and walked back out. I really don’t think you can, or should, stop us from finding comfort any way I, we, can.”

Mrs Weasley seemed taken aback for a moment, and then launched into one of her normal parental rants when Hermione silenced her with one simple statement. “I love Ron. He loves me. There is nothing going to keep neither me from him, nor him from me. Trust me, when you hear a man screaming and begging to take your place under that bitch Belatrix’s wand, you know he loves you.” Hermione stood up, Handed Harry his clothes, and walked to the window, looking out towards the ground. Ron stood, and looked down at both his parents and his siblings.

“The last year, well, I won’t talk about how hard it was. Nobody but us three will ever truly know how hard it was, but that doesn’t matter. You all need to understand that we did things that will haunt us for the rest of our lives.” He changed his glare to Ginny, “I know some of you did things just as hard, but we dealt with dark forces better left alone. Everyone needs to understand that we all have our own way of healing. Hermione and I, well, we never thought there was a future, so we didn’t get involved with each other during those months alone. Now, well, we have a lot of time to make up for. Please, we’ll respect the rules, Mum, Dad, but understand, the nightmares, they aren’t so bad when you wake up to see the subject of them sleeping peacefully beside you.” He turned, and walked towards Hermione, pulling her into his arms. She turned, and started to weep silently into his shoulder.

Harry turned back to the crowd of Weasleys. “We’re alive now, Mr and Mrs Weasely, I hope you understand that we didn’t think that would happen. Please, let them celebrate, mourn and heal, together.” Harry’s eyes landed on Ginny, and she nodded. George nodded as well. Charlie, Fleur, Percy, Bill and Mr Weasley each nodded in turn when Harry looked at them. Mrs Weasley thought for a moment, and then nodded as well. Harry turned to gather his clothes on the bed, now suddenly very aware that he was standing in a towel.

“Harry,” George called, and Harry turned to catch a folded piece of parchment. “Since she spilled a secret, I can do the same.” Harry looked down and saw that it had his name written on it, in Ginny’s handwriting. He looked up to see George holding back his little sister, who was fighting like a mad woman to break free of his grasp. “Harry, quick. You need to, oy!” Harry had flicked his hand, and sent George flying away from Ginny, who ran towards Harry, reaching for the note.

“Harry, please, don’t read that.” She pleaded. Harry looked at her curiously.

“Why not, Gin?” he said, hopefully the nickname he had used for her would cause her to soften.

Instead, she hardened, and reached for the note. He held it high, away from her. “Gin, tell me what’s in it. Is it for me, telling me that you found someone else?”

Ginny looked at him for a moment, and then punched him in the chest.

Harry went down, hard. She had, unwittingly, hit him in the exact spot Riddle’s curse had. He fell to one knee, and without thinking, banished Ginny away. Hermione and Ron, at hearing Harry’s groan, turned and fired off wards at the door, thinking to defend Harry from his attacker. They had trapped him in with her, instead.

“Harry?” Ginny asked, sounding mortified.

Harry wheezed, and then stood up. “It's alright, Gin. You just hit a tender spot.”

Hermione and Ron both snorted. “More than tender, mate. Much more then tender.”

Ginny turned to Ron. “What happened?” she demanded. Harry looked at Ron pleading not to say anything. His best friend, both of them, shot him apologetic looks.

“She needs to know, mate. If you two are ever going to heal, you need to tell it, and she needs to hear it,” Ron said.

Ginny looked at Harry, and Harry held out her note to him. “Trade, then. Your note for that secret.”

Ginny looked at the note, and then, nodded. Harry opened the note, and told her, rather absentmindedly, “It’s where Riddle’s curse hit me,” he said.

Harry blocked out the stun silence as he read through the hastily scribbled note note.

Harry, If you are reading this, then you survived, and I did not. I want you to know something. I never got to tell you this, but I need to. I love you. You will be the last thing I think about before I die. Forever yours, Gin.

Harry looked at the note, in complete and utter shock. He looked up to see both Ginny and Mrs Weasley in a tirade. He didn’t care.

“What do you mean by this?” he asked, cutting them both off.

“What?” Ginny said, taken aback.

“What do you mean by this?” He yelled this time, his anger building. How could she...

Ginny looked at him in stun silence, as if she could not believe that he was really asking that. and then went off as well. “Exactly what it says, you idiot!”

“You should have never written this!” he yelled.

“Well I’m sorry! It’s true!”

“It was never supposed to be! You were never supposed to get that close!” Harry yelled. Didn’t she understand?

“Why the effing hell not!”

“It wasn’t safe for you, that’s why!”

Ginny looked at him, and then walked up and slapped him, hard.

“I don’t give a damn, Harry, if you have this big effing problem about people who love you! I love you, my mother and this family love you. Ron, Hermione, every one of us loves you. You need to get over that. I have been in love with you, in one way or another, for nearly half my life. First, you save me from that damn snake, and then you teach me to defend myself, something nobody was willing to do. Then you take me to save the last member of family you have, and didn’t protect me, you let me fight. You are the only person who knows how strong I am, I have to be, to have fought that dirty snake bastard off.” She was heaving, her cheeks flushed, her eyes brilliant in the sunlight. Her hair was moving, crackling along with her anger, like a living flame. She looked like the incarnation of riotous fury. Harry was stunned by what she was saying.

“What are you talking about!” he bellowed, not bothering trying to be gentle with her. She’d much rather honesty than platitudes. “I know you love me. I know Ron, Hermione, your parents, all of you, love me. I do, too. That is the only way I could let Riddle kill me. My sacrifice would allow you all to be protected the same way my mother protected me.”

“So you let him kill you!” she yelled, her fury and passion reaching new levels.

“Of course I had too. That’s why I never wanted you to write this note!” he kept going, getting in on her edge wise, “I never wanted you here at Hogwarts. I didn’t want you to fight. If anything happened to you, I wouldn’t be able to go on. Keeping you safe and alive. Those were me drives, not anything else.”

“What?” Ginny asked taken aback.

“What what?” Harry asked her. There was a moment as Harry tried to play back the conversation.

However, Hermione got there first. “Harry,” she began, “Ginny thinks you are mad because she told you...” Hermione trailed off, not wanting to say the words for them.

Harry turned back to Ginny. “This makes no sense.” He said, holding up the note.

Ginny eyed him. She placed her hands on her hips and arched an eyebrow. Over her shoulder, Harry could see every single one of the male Weasleys nearly double over from restrained laughter at her pose. Mrs Weasley seemed quite proud.

“You wrote that you never told me you love me,” Harry said, and Ginny nodded, not even slightly embarrassed. “But I thought you did, that day on my seventeenth, with that kiss.”

“Kiss?” Bill, Charlie, Percy and Mrs Weasley said, in different degrees of surprise. Bill took up the questioning. “How long have you two been kissing?”

Ginny’s eyes never left Harry’s. “We dated for a few weeks my fifth year. From the final Quidditch game till the day Dumbledore was buried. Then this stupid, noble boy left me.”

Harry’s eyes arched at her description. He guessed that the family hadn’t known. Smart girl, she was. “The day of my Seventeenth, Ginny gave me one amazing kiss, different than our first one, but better, too. That’s when I knew she loved me.”

Ginny’s eyebrow arched higher. “And why is that?”

Harry closed his eyes, remembering, then, eyes still shut, he said, “I can’t imagine you kissing someone like that if you don’t love them. Mind you, I’ve never heard the words aloud, until you just shouted them at me, but Sirius, Remus, the few times I’ve seen my parents, they never told me they loved me. Their actions did. Your parents, they never tell each other they love each other, but I know they do. Ron and Hermione, same thing. You, same thing, Gin. That’s why I didn’t want you to fight. Not because I question your strength, but because I know you would have done anything for me, and I was nearly sure I would not live till sunrise. In a way, I was right.”

There was a moment of silence, before Harry took a moment to open his eyes. Ginny was looking at him, and she tenderly placed a hand on the same spot she had punched, in the same spot the Killing Curse had hit him. There was a long, simple, loving moment between them, which Harry felt down to his bones, and he knew what he had to tell her.

“I walked by you on my way to the forest. I saw you, and I know you felt me pass. I wanted to stop, I really did, but I knew that if I did, you would insist on going with me. I couldn’t allow that. When I stood there, no wand, in front of Riddle, the last thing I thought of, the last thought of my second life, was of you, running towards me like you did the first time I kissed you. I am not sure why I am alive, but I know why I chose to return from the brink, that point where you go before you cross over. I had to protect you, to end Riddle, to have a life with you. There was never any doubt that I would find my way back to you, Gin.” She sighed a bit and smiled at his name for her this time. “I love you, Ginny, and I always will.”

There was a moment when Ginny looked up at him, and her eyes were full of hope, of longing. He hesitated a moment, again aware that he was in nothing but a towel, with her parents, and all remaining brothers, looking at him. Then the reckless part of his mind, the one that sound a little too much like Sirius, screamed don’t just stand there! Kiss her you idiot! So, Harry did.

He tried for it to be chaste, for it just to convey the simple feelings he felt, but Ginny, his Gin, was like a firestorm, a firecracker. Once lit, she had a life of her own, and she pulled him in, deepening the kiss, until he cared about nothing else but her. After a moment, or a lifetime, Harry wasn’t sure, they broke, and she looked dead into his eyes. “This is your third shot at life, Potter. If you leave me, I will make sure it is your last, understood?”

Harry smiled at her. “Third time lucky, Gin.”

Reviews 8
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