10Not Alone
Summary: Harry found himself taking it out simply to stare at Ginny's name in the girls' dormitory, wondering whether the intensity with which he gazed at it might break into her sleep, that she would somehow know he was thinking about her, hoping that she was alright.
However, Ron did not appear on the map, and after a while Harry found himself taking it out simply to stare at Ginny's name in the girls' dormitory, wondering whether the intensity with which he gazed at it might break into her sleep, that she would somehow know he was thinking about her, hoping that she was alright.
Ginny awoke in cold sweat, a scream ready to let itself lose from her throat. Nightmares had been plagueing her since the wedding. Horrible images kept flashing through her dreams, images of her family being found and massacred, Neville getting caught one day and being tortured, Hermione getting caught and sent to Azkaban, of Harry-
She shook those thoughts from her mind, holding her head in her hands and breathing deep. She had no idea what was going on. The Daily Prophet was completely unreliable and it was hard to get one's hand on The Quibbler.
It was moments like this that Ginny was exceedingly grateful Hermione was one of her best friends. Hermione had taught Ginny to rationalize, which was what Ginny found herself doing after every nightmare.
If anyone in her family had been caught and was dead, she too would most likely be pulled from school and killed, so they had to be okay. Neville was extremely careful, so there is no way that he would be caught. If You-Know-Who had caught Hermione, it would be highly publicized, of that Ginny was sure of, and since there hadn't been even a whisper of Hermione's name, Ginny knew the bushy-haired girl was safe. Then came Harry, whom Ginny could rationalize the same as Hermione, but for some reason, this never really comforted her. All she could say was that she knew he was not dead because if he were – or if something was horribly wrong – she would know, somehow feel he was in trouble, and Ginny felt nothing, so he was okay.
Still, Ginny felt restless. Moments like these led her to Neville's room. She got out of room – shivering when her feet touched the cold hardwood – and ran silently to Neville's. The room was incredibly empty since there were only two inhabitants in the dorm. She snuck past Seamus' bed and sat on the edge of Neville's. His eyes opened immediately.
"You couldn't sleep either?" he asked, sitting up. She nodded. "I feel…weird. I can't really explain it," he said.
"Me too." She sat next to the boy, placing her head on the dashboard. Neville was still looking at her and Ginny shifted closer. "What?" she asked.
"You had a nightmare." It wasn't a question. It was weird how well Neville knew her, eerie even, but then again, Neville had changed a lot over the last few months. Ginny nodded. "What about?"
"The usual." Neville made a sympathetic noise, and she knew he had the same fears, even though his biggest was not about a certain green-eyed boy but rather a blue-eyed, blonde-haired eccentric girl.
The bed creaked and Ginny looked up to see Seamus sitting on the edge. He laid back, just out of reach of their feet.
"Ginny?" Seamus asked. "Okay now, don't smack me for saying this, because it is not my opinion at all, but rather some annoying girls' opinions, but uh…do you actually…you know…like Harry?"
"What the bloody hell type of a question is that?" Neville demanded, although amusement was evident in his voice.
"Well…and again, don't shoot the messenger, but a lot girls kind of think that you're crush on him is…well, like you're more in love with Harry Potter the celebrity and not Harry Potter the person," Seamus struggled out. Ginny annoyance level, which was extremely high on a normal day, spiked.
"Oh, and those cackling and giggling girls aren't in love with the celebrity?" Ginny demanded.
"Please don't hex me," Seamus squeeked out. Ginny rolled her eyes.
"I'm not going to hex you, relax."
"So…"
"I…" Ginny paused, trying to figure out how to word her thoughts without sounding incredibly cheesy. "It started out as a crush on the celebrity, I'm not going to lie. Then after the Chamber, it was more of a hero worship type thing, because he saved me," she started out.
"When did it become…you know…real?" Seamus asked. Ginny raised an eyebrow.
"Why do you care?" she asked suspiciously. Seamus turned a shade red that could rival even Ron's shades.
"Well…you know…"
"It's your mum isn't it?" Neville asked. "She doesn't think Ginny really likes Harry." Seamus turned a deeper shade but nodded.
"Merlin Seamus. I haven't even met your mum and I think she's a freakin' sweetheart already," Ginny said sarcastically. "Well, you can tell your mum that by the end of my third year it was…different. That was when I was going out with Michael Corner. He was okay, although he turned into a major prat by the ending but the entire time I wanted to be with Harry. It wasn't a hero worship or a crazy crush because even when I had that crazy crush, I could forget about Harry sometimes," Ginny blushed as she went on. "I kind of had a crush on Colin Creevey in my first and second year and when I was with him I could forget Harry, until the middle of my second year when I just…couldn't. And it didn't get better with Michael and then…"
"Since Dean is my best mate I'm going to pretend like you didn't realize you were in love with Harry Potter until after the two of you started going downhill, m'kay?" Seamus told Ginny with a small smile. Ginny let out a short laugh.
"Yessir," she said. Ginny snuggled up closer to Neville, soaking up his warmth as the older boy put his arm around her.
"Watch it there mate," Seamus warned Neville. "Harry strikes me as one to get jealous."
"Piss off Finnigan," Neville muttered, closing his eyes, and smiling softly. Ginny rolled her eyes.
"I'm just trying to warn my friend of his early death," a sleepy Seamus said, rolling over. Ginny closed her eyes, willing herself to go to sleep.
After what could have been an hour or simply five minutes, Seamus started snoring and Neville's breathing evened out. Sleep, it seemed, had finally come to claim the thankful Weasley as she felt herself relax.
Ginny…
Ginny stiffened and opened her eyes. There was nobody in the room except Seamus and Neville. Confused, Ginny closed her eyes.
Ginny…
The red-head sat up again. No one was saying her name exactly. It was different, a sound that was coming from…her heart.
Merlin that sounded stupid. Ginny had spent much of her time following around her brothers when she was younger and they were probably the most unromantic boys in the entire world. She wasn't exactly what many would call a hopeless romantic.
However, there was no other way to describe the sound. Ginny lay back again, this time focusing on that all too familiar voice.
Ginny…
It had to be Harry. Somehow she knew he was thinking about her, at that very moment. It had been months since they had seen each other and he still thought of her. The thought was comforting and exhilarating. For the first time in months, Ginny slept soundly.
Harry's arms were wrapped tightly around Ginny and she didn't mind one bit. Everyone thought Harry was taking everything well, but Ginny knew that he had barely been able to keep it together, as did Hermione, Ron, Luna and Neville. Luna and Neville created another distraction, Ron and Hermione left Harry to himself, and Ginny slipped away from her mother to find the boy. She found him in his old dorm, sitting on his old bed. The moment she walked in, his defenses came down. She ran up to him and held him as the horrors of the past year came crashing down around him and he cried. Eventually, they had lain down and he had held her close, needing her comfort, and she gave it willingly.
"I'm sorry," he finally whispered. "I didn't mean to-"
"It's fine Harry. Considering the situation, perfectly acceptable," she said wryly. She heard him give a small laugh.
"I guess," he said. Ginny kissed the top of his head softly and Harry pulled her closer at the contact. "Ginny…"
"What's wrong?"
"I shouldn't…I mean, there's a chance you that…you know…"
"What? Harry?" Ginny asked, pulling back to look at him.
"Well, you might have, you know…moved on and I wouldn't want to-"
"Harry!" she said with a smile. "Don't worry." She smiled wider. "I didn't. I…Merlin, I wouldn't be able to even if I wanted to," she said. "I love you Harry and I have for a really long time," she told him. Harry smiled back.
"I thought about you," he said softly, looking up into her big eyes. "I thought about you a lot." Ginny looked thoughtful.
"I think…I think I heard you," she said slowly. Harry's brow wrinkled in confusion. "I was trying to get to sleep and I heard you and I just…knew, you know, that you had been thinking about me." Harry smiled again and Ginny leaned in closer. "I held onto that when the Carrows would do…and when we were stuck in here, I would hold onto the fact that you were thinking about me," she quietly.
Harry leaned in the rest of the way and their lips met and Ginny fought back a satisfied moan. She put her arms around Harry, remembering how much she loved the feel of him. Harry laid back and pulled Ginny on top of him, to which she happily obliged. She pulled back and stared into his eyes.
"I missed you," he whispered.
"Me too." Ginny put her head on Harry's chest and he put his arms back around her waist. They stayed like that, pulling strength from each other, leaning on each other, and knowing that no matter what awaited them – death, grief, memory, loss – they would face it together, side by side.
And yes, the title was inspired by the song from A Very Potter Musical. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, LOOK IT UP! It will totally be worth your while!
Shout out to Dani5683 and rather lovely and uplifting review! I appreciate it very much!