~ by Barbara Greer
She rang the doorbell, desperately hoping he’d answer this time, but was still surprised when the door actually opened. She was shocked to see the state he was in.
“Harry, you’re here! Where have you been? You look awful.”
“Come in, Ginny.”
He moved away from the door, being extra careful not to touch her. She followed him up the stairs to the main floor, remembering the last time she had been there. It wasn’t as clean as it had been then.
“Why are you here, Ginny?”
The weariness in his voice and on his face made her heart ache. She took in everything about him. The hollow face, the deep shadows under his eyes, and the frame even more slender than it had any right to be. It sparked her temper.
“Two months,” she said in a low voice. “Two months and not a word from you. What could you possibly have been doing to make you like this?” And she waved her hand to encompass his entire appearance.
He shrugged slightly and looked away from her. He couldn’t bear to see how beautiful she was, knowing the pain he’d caused her entire family, knowing he was no longer worthy of her.
She took a step closer to him and he took a step back, almost desperately. She thought this odd, so took another step. Again, he stepped back. They continued this odd dance until he was backed against the wall and she was just a few feet away.
“What’s the matter, Harry?” she asked with hint of pain in her voice. “Talk to me. You used to tell me everything.”
Harry looked at her and immediately wished he hadn’t. The tears in her eyes were nearly his undoing. He took a deep breath and steeled himself against the rush of emotions threatening to spill out. A promise was a promise, though. He’d made it to his best mate, and no matter how much he longed to hold her, he intended to keep that promise. He looked away from her again.
Temper flaring once more, Ginny advanced on him until she was just a foot away. “Mum and Dad have been worried about you! Ron and Hermione have been worried about you! Everyone’s been worried about you! I’ve been worried about you! When you disappeared, we didn’t know what to think!”
Harry looked at her with longing in his eyes. He wanted fervently to believe her.
“Why?” he asked, hoarsely.
Ginny did the only thing she knew to do. She rose up and touched her lips to his. He remained still and unresponsive so long she nearly gave up. Then he sighed and wrapped his arms around her – one at her waist and holding her close, the other hand threading through her hair to cup the back of her head.
He was kissing her! He couldn’t believe he was kissing her! He was kissing her with everything he had left inside him and she wasn’t pulling away. It felt so good to have her back in his arms. His world had been upside down, and with a single gesture she righted it. The emotions he’d been holding back finally broke free and tears fell down his face.
She felt them and pulled back slightly. “What’s wrong?”
“How?” His voice broke and filled with self-loathing. “How can you stand to be here with me? After all the pain I’ve caused you and your family? That’s why I stayed away. I would have been just a reminder of what you had lost. I couldn’t bear to see that pain reflected in your eyes whenever you looked at me.”
Ginny felt her own eyes fill with tears at the thought of him wandering around the past two months with all this pain locked inside, denying himself any chance of healing.
“Harry, I love you,” she whispered through her tears. “I’ve always loved you. Mum and Dad love you. Ron and Hermione love you. Everyone loves you. We could never hate you.”
Ginny then grabbed fistfuls of the front of Harry’s shirt, gave a little shake, and said fiercely, “Don’t you ever let me hear you talk like that again. I’ve got news for you. Fred fought with you, not for you. Don’t ever cheapen his sacrifice again.”
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to…” The tears were falling again and he couldn’t continue.
Ginny wrapped him up in her arms and just held him. He laid his head on her shoulder and let out all the guilt and sorrow he’d been feeling since seeing the numerous bodies in the Great Hall that day. After all the tears had been spent, she summoned the courage to suggest the one thing that would help heal him more than anything else.
“Come home with me.”
He flinched and tried to pull away, but she wouldn’t let him.
“I can’t face them, Ginny. Not yet.”
“It’ll just be Mum. I promise. Come home with me. It’s where you belong.”
To her surprise and delight, he took a deep breath, looked her in the eyes, and said, “Okay.”
Ginny took him by the hand and pulled him towards the stairs leading to the front door.
“You mean, NOW?” Surely she didn’t mean now, did she? he thought frantically.
“Of course, now. No time like the present, Harry.”
She got him all the way out the door before he started protesting in earnest.
“You know, maybe now isn’t a good idea. I really have a lot of stuff I could be doing around the house. It’s not as clean now, did you notice? I could be cleaning. It needs cleaning.”
“You’re right about that, it does. You can do that after you go see Mum, so shut up. You said you’d go, now you’re going.”
Ginny kept a tight hold on his hand and continued to walk. She was going to Apparate directly from Grimmauld Place, but decided a short walk first would help calm Harry down. They finally reached a secluded alley and she ducked down it, pulling Harry behind her.
“Hold tight.” And with a pop, they were gone.
They reappeared just down the lane from The Burrow. Harry could see it still looked the same. The same overgrown garden, the same old boots and stack of cauldrons on the porch, the same chicken coop. Just the same. Emotions started to bubble up inside him again and he had to swallow hard to keep them down. Everything he’d ever wanted, he’d found right here. Love, family, friends, acceptance.
What if they don’t want me here? I couldn’t live if they rejected me. His footsteps became slower and slower as these thoughts spun round and round in his head. He finally stopped right outside the door and just looked at it, willing it to tell him whether he was still wanted.
Ginny, sensing the turmoil in Harry, decided to take the decision away from him completely. Opening the door, she hollered, “Mum, I’m back and guess who I brought with me!” Then she turned, smiled at Harry, and walked in.
Harry noticed the room was much fuller than it should have been before a girl with bushy, brown hair threw her arms around him. He looked over at Ginny. She just shrugged with a small smile on her face.
“Oh, Harry!” cried Hermione. “We’ve been so worried.”
“Oi, mate. Where did you disappear to?” Ron was next to him, looking at him as if hurt by Harry’s disappearance.
“You gave us a right scare, there, mate. Don’t do it again.” George was on Harry’s other side, awaiting his turn to welcome Harry back.
“Harry, dear! My goodness! You have not been taking care of yourself at all. Now, why don’t you come in, sit down, and I’ll fix you something to eat. How’s that?” Mrs. Weasley took Harry’s face in her hands, looked at him with tears in her eyes, and said two very special words. “Welcome home.”
Harry was home. He knew it, could feel it. They didn’t blame him for anything. They still considered him family. Harry could feel his eyes begin to water again. Hugging her tightly, he whispered, “Thank you.”