DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters created by J.K. Rowling (bless her!) and the events described in her books. No copyright or trademark infringement intended.
Autor's note: This is my second fanfic and my very first post. Please be gentle! I want to thank my Beta-Readers Michelle and Danielle; you girls rock! I hope you like it ;-)
Always By Your Side
It was very cloudy outside Harry’s window. Rain clouds threatened to empty their contents over Privet Drive. Harry, who had locked himself in his room ever since he arrived at the Dursleys’ four days ago, was sitting in a corner of his room. Miserable, that was the best word for describing the state in which he was immersed. Sitting on the rather cold floor, his knees pulled to his chest, he cried in his grief in loneliness. He felt lonely and vulnerable, and yet he didn’t want anyone to see him in this condition.
“How can he be gone? How?” he thought repeatedly.
Voldemort and his Death Eaters had already taken his parents and his godfather away from him. And now, they took his mentor, the one person Harry respected the most; the one that, perhaps, cared about him and believed in him the most; the one man Harry was, and would always be, most loyal to. It was exactly because of this that he took one of the most difficult decisions in his life: breaking up with Ginny. There was no way he would allow her to get hurt. He could not picture his life knowing Ginny was dead, and he would not give Voldemort a chance of getting to her. As long as she had a bond with him she would never be safe.
Harry stood up from the floor and wiped the tears off his face. It was past noon and he hadn’t eaten breakfast yet, even though he had been awake since six in the morning. He descended to the kitchen and looked in the fridge for a glass of milk and some leftovers of lunch. The Dursleys had been almost ignoring him, although Harry had seen Aunt Petunia looking at him rather worriedly the few times he was out of his room. It seemed like if she knew something. He sat alone at the table and ate his meal in complete silence. It was at that same moment that he heard a gentle knocking in the window to his right. There was a tiny owl taping the window with his beak, an envelope tied to his leg.
“Pig!” he said surprised as he opened the window to let the minuscule bird in.
He took the bird in his hand and sprinted towards his room, leaving his food half eaten on the table. He shut the door behind him and let Pigwedgeon loose after taking the envelope from his leg. Inside of it was a blank piece of parchment and an empty matchbox. He didn’t understand; why would Ron send him such thing? After closely analyzing the parchment he noticed it wasn’t totally blank. There it was, watermarked on the top of the parchment was the crest of Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes.
“Could it be?” Harry asked himself puzzled. He took his wand from his pocket and taped the parchment. “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”
Instantly, a message appeared on the paper, like if the ink was coming from within the parchment itself. Harry couldn’t help but smile at the twins’ ability with magic; they had managed to work out the Marauders’ secret.
Hello, mate
We knew you would work it out. The matchbox is a Portkey. It will take you straight to The Burrow at six in the evening. The Order reckons it will be safe for you to stay with us. They placed a Fidelius Charm on it for your stay. Remember, six in the evening, tonight. We thought it would be nice for it to land you on the toilette, but mom went murderous when we mentioned it, so it will take you to the living room instead. See you later then.
Fred & George
Harry knew this day would come, but he just never knew it would be so soon. A part of him longed to be with the family that was like his own, but another part didn’t. It had been just a few weeks ago that he broke up with Ginny and he wasn’t ready to face neither her, nor the rest of the family yet. Knowing the Weasleys as he did, he knew it was a matter of time for some one to ask why it all ended so suddenly, and he didn’t want to talk about it.
“How can I possibly face her? God, I miss her so much!” He thought as tears ran down his face once more.
There was no way around it. Harry knew he would have to face them someday. Besides, this was the only way he could be in contact with The Order and the rest of the wizarding world. He started gathering his stuff and stuffing them in his trunk. He still had four hours until the Portkey worked, so he decided to try to get some sleep. He set his alarm clock to five thirty and then he lay back in his bed.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~*
A gentle shower bathed The Burrow since very early in the morning. Ginny sat absentmindedly by her window in her bedroom, starring at the rain washed backyard. Hermione, who had arrived the day before, was sitting on the bed Mrs. Weasley had fixed for her beside Ginny’s. She had a book on her knees but she wasn’t paying any attention to it; she was too busy watching Ginny closely. The redhead had been very quiet ever since Hermione arrived and when asked what was wrong, she would only shrug and say it was nothing.
“Ginny?” asked Hermione tentatively.
“hmm?” responded Ginny without looking at Hermione.
Hermione stood from bed and walked to sit beside Ginny so she was facing her.
“Ginny, I know there’s something wrong, and I don’t have to ask what. Why don’t you just talk about it? It may make you feel better.
“I don’t know,” breathed Ginny. “It’s just…I don’t know what to expect next. He is being foolish about this. I know he’s trying to protect me but you know that we are all in danger, Harry’s couple or not.”
Ginny sighed as she pressed her forehead to the window, her breath fogging a spot on the crystal. She distractedly traced an H on the misty window and then wiped it clear.
“I don’t want to loose him Hermione, I can’t.”
“You will not loose him,” said Hermione as she placed her hand over Ginny’s and gave it a little squeeze. “Everything is going to be fine, just give him some time. He is confused and, no matter how wrong he is, he thinks he’s doing the best for you.”
“And what about when he arrives today?” asked Ginny gazing through the window once more. “What will I do? How will he act?”
“I don’t know will he act,” said Hermione. “But I advice you to act normally, at least for the first couple of days. I’m afraid you will eventually have to face him and solve this up, and knowing you, you will. Now, let’s go downstairs, your mom wants us to help her get everything ready for his arrival.”
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~*
It seemed like no time at all had passed when the alarm woke Harry up. He had half an hour left until the Portkey worked, so he double checked everything to be in his trunk. After all, this was the very last time he would be at Privet Drive. He had no intentions at all to ever come back; he could not afford the chance of leaving his possessions in this house. He decided to send Hedwig off to The Burrow and pack her cage; she definitely deserved a nice flight after four days of being kept indoors and eating only owl treats.
It was almost six now. Harry stood in the middle of the room, the empty match box in one hand, his trunk’s handle in the other. Just as he started to think how stupid he must look in that position, he felt a pull in his navel and everything went blurry. Instantly, he landed hard on his feet and he found himself in the living room of his second favorite place in the world.
“Oh, Harry, my dear!” said Mrs. Weasley embracing him in a motherly hug. “I’m so glad you decided to come.”
“How could I possibly refuse?” asked Harry smiling, a strange thing for him to do lately.
“Hi, Harry. Good to see you again so soon.” said Ron, who came to shake Harry’s hand.
“It’s great to see you too, all of you,” added Harry looking around.
The whole Weasley Klan was in the living room to greet him. Near to his left were the twins showing identical smiles; sitting on the couch were Bill accompanied by Fleur, and Charlie, who had come for their wedding; standing behind Molly was Mr. Weasley; and at the very back, standing near the stairs, were Ginny and Hermione. When Harry met Ginny’s eyes she smiled slightly, but he didn’t return the smile. He was too ashamed to look, let alone smile at her, so he just looked away.
“Well, time for dinner,” said Mrs. Weasley. “I’ll take Harry’s trunk upstairs and I’ll join you in a minute.”
“I got it, mom,” said Charlie jumping from the couch and taking the trunk from Mrs. Weasley’s hands. “You go with them; I’ll be down in a flash.
He ran upstairs and the rest of them proceeded to the kitchen. Hermione and Ginny helped Mrs. Weasley with the food while the others sat. When the girls were done helping Mrs. Weasley, Hermione noticed the only chairs left were the one beside Mr. Weasley, one at Harry’s left and one exactly across him. Naturally, Mrs. Weasley would sit by her husband. She thought it wouldn’t be good for Ginny to sit right next to Harry, so she headed towards that chair and left Ginny to sit across him.
Needless to say, dinner was very uncomfortable to both Harry and Ginny. Harry was decidedly not looking at her and that made Ginny both nervous and angry.
“Could you please pass the potatoes, Ginny?” asked Ron from Harry’s right. “You should try these,” he offered to Harry after pouring large quantities of potatoes to his plate.”
“Thanks,” said Harry taking the bowl and getting some for him.
He was forced to give the bowl back to Ginny. When she took it from his hand she stared pointedly at him in the eyes. Harry gazed at her beautiful, honey colored eyes for a moment and then directed his attention back to his food.
“God, this is killing me!” he thought. “I don’t want to do this to her, but I have to.”
The rest of the evening went on pretty normal. Harry spent some time with Ron and the twins, the later telling him all about how the managed to decipher the magic behind The Marauder’s Map. This was quite a feat considering the map had been in Harry’s possession for the past four years. Hermione and Ginny had retired early to their room. This helped Harry loosen up a bit and have a good time with his friends. It was really nice to have the chance of getting things off his mind and have some fun after a week of crying in loneliness.
At ten in the evening Harry was very tired and decided to go to sleep. Ron decided he would join him and they both headed upstairs to Ron’s room. Harry knew Ron wasn’t sleepy at all, but he appreciated his best friend wanting to keep him company.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~*
“I knew it would be like this, Hermione,” said Ginny doing her best to suppress her sobbing. “I knew he was going to completely ignore me.”
She was curled on her bed, facing the wall. Hermione sat by her and was stroking her hair, trying to calm her down.
“You need to take it easy, Ginny. You know he’s the most stubborn guy in the world. He is convinced he’s doing the best for you. Just give him some time and I’m sure he will talk about this with you.”
“He won’t talk, Hermione, you know it. I’ll have to bring the subject up and I know exactly how to do it. Tomorrow evening he will have to face me. I will not wait any longer because I can’t take this another day.”
“I hope you know what you are doing, Ginny,” said Hermione drying up her own tears. “You and Harry really belong together, it just feels right.”
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~*
Harry and Ron slept until past nine in the morning. It had been quite a long time since the last time Harry had had a good night’s sleep. After breakfast he went with Ron to the backyard and helped degnoming the area. Mrs. Weasley didn’t want any gnome to run around the garden disturbing the guests during Bill and Fleur’s wedding, even though the wedding was three weeks away. Harry was sure they would have to do the job again. The girls spent most of the time with Mrs. Weasley and Fleur. It seemed they always had something to do for the decorations and general arrangements. There were moments when Harry could see Ginny through a window while chasing gnomes. It felt like a thousand daggers stabbing his hearth to see her from far away and not being able to hold her in his arms.
After getting rid of the last of the gnomes (and watching three of them sneaking back) they went inside to rest. Harry and Ron played some Wizard Chess while the twins scribbled new product ideas for their shop in a piece of parchment.
“And what if we make it bite instead of punshing?” asked Fred.
“Nah, we’ve got too many biting stuff already,” replied George.
“Spiting!” yelled Fred snapping his fingers and pointing at his twin.
“Genius!” replied George smiling evilly.
The afternoon passed by rather quick. Harry and Ron were watching the twins closely while their chess pieces battled it out.
“Do you reckon those two will ever grow up?” asked Harry after watching the twins run frantically to their room, giggling like little girls.
“Nope, I lost all hopes of that ever happening a long time ago,” answered Ron thinking hard on his next move.
“Harry, dear, could you please come here a second?” asked Mrs. Weasley from the kitchen.
“Of course, Mrs. Weasley,” replied Harry standing from the floor and heading towards the kitchen.
When Harry entered the kitchen he found Mrs. Weasley standing in front of the table. She was serious and looked a bit worried about something.
“What’s wrong, Mrs. Weasley?” asked Harry apprehensively. “Did… did I do something wrong?”
“I don’t’ know, Harry, I have no right to judge. But it is not me with whom you need to talk.”
She stepped aside to reveal Ginny sitting at the table. She was looking at her hands and slowly raised her head until her eyes met Harry’s. Mrs. Weasly drew her wand from her robes and she cast a spell on the backdoor. Harry didn’t know those wand movements but he could guess she was performing an Imperturbable Charm. She headed towards the living room and closed the door behind her. The door glowed for a moment indicating the charm working on it too.
Harry stood frozen to the spot. He knew this moment would come, but he never expected it to happen so soon. Now he would have to fight his feelings and break Ginny’s heart. He looked at her only to see that she was still staring at him, her face emotionless, almost sculpted like a statue’s. Harry’s heart was pounding so hard against his chest he was sure Ginny could hear it.
“If I was you, I would make myself comfortable. The doors will be locked for an hour.”
Harry swallowed hard and walked slowly towards the table. He first thought of sitting across Ginny, but then decided to sit right next to her. That way it would be harder for them to look straight at each others face. He sat, placed his hands on the table and fixed his eyes on them. He had no idea what to say, so he just waited for her to start.
“I am not expecting you to talk much, Harry,” she spoke finally after some agonizing minutes of silence. “What I do expect you to do is to listen to me.”
Harry knew she was watching him, so he nodded to let her know he understood. Ginny took a deep breath.
“What you are doing to us is absolutely incomprehensible. No matter how hard I try, I can’t understand your actions, I can’t see why is it you are doing this. I know what you are going to say,” she added quickly when Harry opened his mouth to reply. “You think you are protecting me, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do. And I know…”
“I can’t believe you really believe that,” she cut him in mid sentence. “Harry, by your side or not, I am already in danger, we all are. As long as Voldemort is out there no one will be safe, Muggles nor Wizards. Besides, if you think you can hide our feelings for each other from him, then you are more stupid than I ever thought. Malfoy knew about us, and so did Snape. He knows, Harry. He knows. But you know what? I don’t care.”
“Maybe you don’t care but I do, Gin. I care, and I won’t let anything happen to you.” He was still looking at his hands. He could feel his eyes warm and a knot in his throat.
“That’s the thing, Harry. You can’t control if something happens to me or not, and I will not let you go through this alone.”
“Gin, please, you have to understand.”
“No, Harry, it is you who needs to understand. Damn you, Potter, look at me!” she hissed slamming her fist on the table.
“I can’t. It hurts too much,” he said, his voice giving away the fact that he was at the brink of tears. “Ginny,” he said finally looking at her in the eye. “I would never forgive myself if anything wrong happened to you.”
“And that’s exactly the way I feel,” she said. “That’s why I will go with you the whole way. The only way I can make sure you will be safe is by fighting by your side.”
“You are not coming with me,” he said shaking his head.
“What, do you want me to beg on my knees? Because I will not, and do you know why? Because I have already spent too much time on my knees, Harry. I have been on my knees praying for you to notice me. I have been on my knees praying for you to be safe. I have been on my knees praying for you to have a happy life; for your destiny to change. And now, Harry, I am sick and tired of being on my knees. I have learned your destiny cannot be changed, but I can help you fulfill it. Tonight I’m standing from my knees. Tonight I’m standing by your side, Harry.
Harry was just staring at her while tears ran down his face. He could not believe the things Ginny was saying. He never knew she cared about him so much.
“Harry,” she spoke wiping the tears from his face. “For the past six years of my life I have dreamed of having you, of being able to say you are mine,” she said, tears running down her own face. “Now that my dream has come true I am not letting you go.”
She stood from her chair and sat on Harry’s lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. He looked up at her and was instantly lost in her eyes. She slowly lowered her face and gave him the most delicate kiss. Harry felt like his world was different the moment their lips met. Everything felt perfect, everything the way it should be.
“I love you, Harry,” she said in a whisper.
“I love you too, Gin,” he said holding her tight. “I love you more than I can possibly let you know.”
They kept hugging each other in silence for a long time. Harry wondered how in the world he believed he could make it without Ginny. There was no way that he could let her go. They were meant to be together.
“I think he was right,” he said at her ear.
“Who was right?” asked Ginny puzzled.
“Dumbledore was. He said the power I have that can defeat Voldemort is my ability to love.”
Ginny smiled warmly at him, her hands flowing through his hair.
“We will get through this together, Harry. Shoulder to shoulder, now and forever. I will always be by your side”
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