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Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I write this purely for fun. I make absolutely no money off this story. Please don't sue me.



The Savior of the Wizarding World
Chapter 2 -Memories

Harry opened eyes as his memories faded to find Ron and Hermione still standing beside his bed. "I want to see her. I need to say goodbye," he told them, blinking rapidly to prevent them from seeing him cry.

Ron shook his head. "She's not dead, Harry. Not yet."

Harry's heart, which had soared at hearing Ginny wasn't dead, came crashing back down at those last two words. "What?"

"Voldemort's curse didn't kill her, probably because it was wandless and not as powerful as it would have been had he used his wand. But she's unconscious, she has been for days. They say she probably won't ever wake up," answered Ron. His voice broke as he finished. Hermione grabbed his hand and squeezed it in comfort. Ron smiled at her, a smile that didn't reach his eyes, and then looked down at the floor.

Harry's mind was reeling. Ginny... unconscious for days... might not wake up. It was so much to take in at once. Suddenly he realized something. "Wait! Unconscious for /days/?"

It was Hermione who answered. "It's been almost a week, Harry. You've been unconscious the whole time. We weren't sure you would ever wake up."

"Is Voldemort dead? And why a week? Didn't he hit me with a stunner? And where's Ginny? I want to go see her." He started to climb out of bed, wincing at the pain throughout his body.

Hermione rushed forward and pushed him back down on the bed. "You're not going anywhere," she said in a firm tone. "Not yet. You can see Ginny soon, but for now you have to rest. Madam Pomfrey's orders."

"But..."

"No." Her voice softened. "Yes, Voldemort is dead. Yes, he hit you with a stunner. As for why you were unconscious for so long, nobody really knows. Madam Pomfrey can explain it better, but it has something to do with your magic. She said your magic was overused and that your body had all but shut down to give it time to recover."

"What caused that?" Harry asked, still glaring at her for preventing him from getting out of bed.

"We were hoping you could tell us that," she answered. "We didn't see much because of the curse..."

"Are you two ok!" Harry almost shouted. "I forgot... the Cruciatus... are you..."

"We're fine," Ron said shortly.

Harry looked at him and opened his mouth to say more, but stopped when he saw Hermione shaking her head. She gave him a look that was pleading with him not to say anymore so he didn't, filing it away to ask about later.

"We're ok, Harry. But we weren't able to see what happened. The next thing either of us knew, all the Death Eaters were knocked out and you were holding Voldemort's wand. What happened?"

Harry opened his mouth to reply, and then closed it. He paused. What had happened? "I... I'm not sure," he said at last, frowning with confusion. "After he used Crucio on both of you he had me disarmed. About 50 of them tried to disarm me all at once. My wand flew out of my hand, but there were so many curses pulling it in so many different directions it exploded. He then turned to Ginny and raised his wand to kill her.

"I felt so helpless. I didn't have a wand, the two of you were screaming in pain, he was about to kill Ginny, and I couldn't do anything with all the Death Eaters there. All of a sudden I was so angry, angrier than I've ever been in my life. But just as quickly it was gone, pushed aside by something stronger..." he faltered, suddenly embarrassed.

"Go on, Harry," Hermione urged softly.

"It was love," he mumbled, staring at his hands to avoid looking at either of them. "It wasn't until that moment I realized how much I love Ginny. Knowing that, and knowing I was about to watch her die, it was all too much. I felt like I was going to burst. Actually, I felt like I did burst, just as he started to say the killing curse. I can't explain it, but I felt this surge of ... something. Power? I don't know, something. I think I blacked out for a second or two, because the next thing I knew I was on the floor, all of the Death Eaters were knocked out, you two weren't under Voldemort's curse anymore, and Voldemort was wandless.

"I don't know how any of it happened, but all I could think of was to get to Ginny. I started to run towards her but stopped when I felt something in my pocket. It was Voldemort's wand. He was looking at me with such fear in his eyes that I got arrogant. I wanted to make him feel some of the fear, some of the pain, he's caused in so many others. I was so stupid..." he trailed off, struggling to control his emotions.

"Harry," Hermione said. She stepped forward, still holding Ron's hand, who had remained silent through the whole thing and was staring at the floor. She put her hand on Harry's face and made him look at her. "It's ok, Harry. Please, finish telling us what happened. We have to know."

Harry just looked at her and she could see the pain in his eyes. Her heart went out to him. "Harry, you can't keep this to yourself. Ron and I were too affected by Voldemort's curse to be aware of what was going on." Ron tried to turn away but Hermione held fast to his hand, keeping him standing next to her. Other than that she ignored him. "We need to know what happened," she continued. "And you need to talk about this. Please, tell us."

Harry broke eye contact and looked back down at his hands for a long moment. Finally he nodded. "I'll only tell this once," he said, his voice quiet and thick with emotions.

"We understand," said Hermione.

"In a flash the look in his eyes changed from fear to triumph. He raised his hand and cast the killing curse at me. In the split second I had to think as the curse was rushing towards me I realized how stupid I had been. He had been trying to lull me into complacency long enough to use his wandless magic without me having time to defend myself. And it worked perfectly, I didn't have enough time to do anything. But Ginny did..." his voice broke. He stopped speaking and fought with his emotions, determined not to cry. Not yet, at least.

"She jumped in front of me. More like fell in front of me, actually, since she was still bound. She took the curse that was meant to kill me..." his voice broke again. A few tears finally managed to escape his eyes. He swiped them away in anger. He would not cry in front of his friends. The lump in his throat threatened to overpower him as his mind replayed Ginny being hit with a jet of green light and falling to the floor. He shook his head violently and finished his story.

"I... it... she... THAT BLOODY BASTARD!" he suddenly shouted, causing Hermione to jump. Ron still looked at the floor. "Everything flashed through my mind. My parents. Cedric. Sirius. Dumbledore. Tonks. The endless stories of muggles being killed. And then Ginny. I couldn't take it anymore, I let my hatred for that bastard take over. I stopped fighting it. I used his wand to cast Avada Kedavra at him at the same time he cast Stupefy at me. I saw my curse hit and him fall to the floor just as I was knocked out. That's all I remember." He was breathing heavily, the sudden surge of anger having tired him out.

For a moment nobody spoke. "So I guess I should turn myself in," Harry said, breaking the silence.

"What are you on about?" It was Ron who spoke, finally looking up from the floor to fix Harry with a piercing gaze.

"I used an unforgivable, and the killing curse at that. That's an immediate life sentence in Azkaban," Harry said with a sigh. He wasn't looking forward to that, but killing Tom was worth it to him.

"You can't be serious!" Ron exclaimed. "You're a bloody hero now! Nobody will care how you killed the bastard, all that matters is that you did. Why do you think you're in Hogwarts instead of St. Mungo's? The press would never leave you alone there. Azkaban!" he let out a bitter, bark-like laugh that, for some reason, reminded Harry of Sirius. "You're mental. Completely mental!" He wrenched his hand away from Hermione and stormed out of the hospital wing.

After a few seconds of shocked silence Harry turned to Hermione, who was staring at the door Ron just left through with a torn expression on her face. "What's with him?" he asked.

"I don't know," Hermione sighed, still looking at the door. "But I can guess. I think he feels bad about not being able to do anything. I mean, I do too. I feel terrible about it," she said, finally looking at Harry. "We were so useless! But I think it's worse for him. His sister got hurt and he wasn't able to do anything."

"Oh." Harry hadn't even considered that, but it made sense. "Hermione, you weren't..."

She waved her hand at him, looking at the door again and biting her lip. "I know. I /know/, in my mind. But it will take awhile to really believe it. But it's worse for Ron."

Harry watched her staring at the door, emotions flickering over her face. "Go after him," he said quietly.

She looked down at him. "He'll be ok. Somebody should stay with you, and everybody else is at St. Mungo's with Ginny."

"Hermione, I'm ok. Well, no, I'm not," he added when he saw the look she gave him. "But I really need some time to be alone. Please? Go after him. He needs you."

She looked torn for a second and then smiled at him. It was the first time since Harry woke up that any of them truly smiled. "I'm so glad you woke up, Harry. We were so worried. I love you so much!" she said, throwing her arms around him.

"Hermione!" he exclaimed, caught off guard by her sudden burst of emotions.

She pulled back and smiled at him. "I mean that, you're like a brother to me." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll be back soon, and I'll bring Ron with me." She straightened up, walked over to the door, and left.

Harry laid back and sighed, suddenly unsure if he wanted to deal with the quiet in the room. Without anything to distract him his mind strayed to the memory that would probably haunt him for the rest of his life.

The fear disappeared from Voldemort's eyes and was replaced by triumph. He raised his hand and pointed a finger at Harry, who had only enough time to realize he had been tricked. "Avada Kedavra!" Ginny let out a muffled cry and lunged forward despite being bound by magical ropes, placing herself directly in the path of the green light flying towards Harry. It struck her square in the chest and she crumpled to the ground.

"Ginny..." he whispered. A tear fell down his cheek, and again he angrily wiped it away. He wasn't sure why, nobody was there to see him cry. But he still wasn't ready. Suddenly he knew what he had to do. He pushed back the bedcovers and sat up, ignoring the pain and stiffness shooting through his body. He stood up and took a few shaky steps towards the door.

"I heard voices, is he awake?" a voice Harry instantly recognized as belonging to Madam Pomfrey asked as the door to her office and private chambers opened. She froze when she saw Harry out of bed. They stared at each other for a second before she recovered. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT OF BED, MISTER POTTER! GET BACK THERE THIS INSTANT!" She took a step towards him, but halted when he held out his hand.

"No," he said quietly, but firmly.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "What did you say?"

"I said no. I'm going to see Ginny."

"You are not. The only thing you are doing is going back to bed. Now!"

Harry sighed, realizing a different tactic was needed. "Madam Pomfrey, I have to go. I can't take another second of laying in bed without seeing her. All I know is that she's unconscious and probably won't ever wake up. It's killing me to know that and not be sitting by her side. I have to go. I have to..."

Something in his voice gave her pause. Being a healer she was naturally a compassionate woman, and the pain in this young man's voice nearly broke her heart. It was a pain no 17 year old should ever know. Letting him go went against everything her training told her, but not letting him go went against everything her very being told her. She was about to relent when the door opened.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT OF BED!" Hermione shrieked as she walked in, Ron trailing behind her. He still looked horribly depressed, but at least he wasn't staring at the floor any longer.

Harry winced. With the two of them teaming up against him, his chances of getting out of there to see Ginny suddenly dropped dramatically.

Madam Pomfrey felt a smile tugging at her lips when she saw the look of panic that flashed over Harry's face. Hermione was a force to be reckoned with when she wanted to be. "He's going to St. Mungo's," she said.

The smile finally won out and spread over her face when all three of them turned to stare at her in shock. Hermione was the first to recover.

"But... but..." she sputtered. "He's not strong enough yet. He has to..."

Madam Pomfrey held up her hand. "He is extremely weak, yes. But as I said earlier after he woke up and then fell back asleep, he is no longer in any danger. I believe that keeping him here against his will can only hurt him at this point. I assume you two will accompany him?"

Hermione nodded. "Of course."

"Good. Like I said, he is weak. He will need your help. Frankly, I'm surprised he's even on his feet right now." She turned to Harry. "I expect to see you back here before noon tomorrow so I can check you over. And if you feel ill before that, return here immediately, or at least ask somebody there for help. I'm letting you go against my better judgment as a Healer, Mr. Potter, because I trust you. Do not disappoint me."

Harry finally recovered from his shock enough to nod. "I won't," he said. "And thank you for letting me go. This is something I have to do."

"I know," she said softly. "Come now, the three of you can use my fireplace." She turned and walked back into her office, Harry, Ron, and Hermione following. She walked over to her desk and picked up a jar of floo powder, handing it to Hermione. You go first, dear. Ron, you follow, and take Harry with you. It'll be a tight fit, but I don't want Harry doing it on his own."

"I'm fine," Harry snapped, irritated at being treated like a child. He wilted under the glare she fixed on him, however. "Fine, maybe I'm not," he grumbled, scowling when she smiled knowingly at him.

Hermione went first, throwing a pinch of powder into the fire, stepping into the green flames, and calling out "St. Mungo's!" As soon as she was gone Ron threw in a pinch as well and stepped into the fire. Harry stepped in behind him and the two of them crammed themselves up next to each other, just barely fitting in the small fireplace.

"St. Mungo's!" Ron called out.

- - - - -

Harry fell out of the fireplace and onto the floor, rubbing his elbows, which he was sure would be bruised tomorrow. He reminded himself to never try a joint-floo again. Fireplaces simply weren't large enough for that sort of thing. Although, he grudgingly admitted to himself, he probably would have never made it on his own. Ron's arm around him was all that had kept him upright during the unpleasant experience of floo travel.

He and Ron, who was on the floor next to him, stood up and brushed soot off themselves. They walked over to Hermione who was standing a few feet away, looking at both of them with amusement. She gave Harry a searching look as they approached.

"Are you ok, Harry?" she asked, noticing he was trying to cover up a limp and grimaces of pain with each step.

"I'll live," was all he said in reply. He walked towards the reception desk of the deserted waiting room, Ron and Hermione hurrying to catch up with him. When they reached the desk a young, bored-looking witch put down a copy of Witch Weekly and asked "Can I help you?" in a dull voice, not really even looking at them.

"Ron Weasley, here to see Ginny Weasley," Ron spoke up.

"Visiting hours are over, come back at..." she started to reply, sounding as if she was reciting from a cue card.

"Look at her file," he interrupted.

She gave him a scathing glare for the interruption but looked down and shuffled some paperwork on her desk. "Vynn, Vyrkpop, Waller, Wanderer, Wazzap, Wean, ahh, here we go. Weasley, Ginevra. 'Family allowed to visit at all hours.' Very well," she looked back up at Ron. "You can go in. But who are these two," she said, waving her hand towards Harry and Hermione.

"Hermione Granger. She's with me, and she's going in, whether you like it or not," Ron said, becoming impatient. She narrowed her eyes and started to speak, but he cut her off. "And /Harry Potter/, also with me," he finished.

Suddenly her face changed. Her eyes widened in surprise and her head whipped around to look at Harry. She stared at him for a second, her eyes automatically drifting to his forehead and looking at his scar. "You... you're... but... I mean..."

"Yes, that's wonderful," said Ron. "We're going now." He set off for the doors leading to the rest of the hospital, Harry and Hermione behind him, leaving the witch sputtering at her desk. As soon as they got through the doors Ron stopped, letting the others catch up with him.

"You handled that wonderfully, Ron," said Hermione. Ron blushed and turned to Harry. "Sorry for using your fame like that, mate, but I think it was the only way I was getting you in here."

Harry waved his hand in dismissal. "It's ok. But her reaction... I mean, I'm used to being stared at and everything. But that?

It was like she met the bloody Queen or something."

Ron and Hermione exchanged a look, which Harry saw. "What?" he demanded.

"You just killed Voldemort, Harry," Hermione said. "The most powerful Dark Lord our world has ever seen. A wizard that Albus Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of the age, wasn't able to defeat. To most people, meeting you would be way more important than meeting the Queen of England."

Harry stood frozen in his spot. He had never really thought about that before. His thoughts turned to Ginny, laying in a hospital bed somewhere in this very hospital, and two emotions warred within him. Anger at the whole world for Ginny's situation, and a deep longing to see her. The longing soon won out. "Let's go see Ginny," he said.

The three of them set off down the deserted corridors, quiet due to it being the middle of the night. Ron and Hermione put Harry between the two of them and walked slowly, despite his protests that he was fine. They could see how tired he was and how much each step caused him pain, even if he was trying to keep it to himself.

A few minutes later they were standing outside a closed door. Ginny was on the other side of that door, laying in a bed barely hanging onto life. Dying, if what he had been told was true. He wanted to see her with every fiber of his being, but he was suddenly afraid. Would he be able to face seeing this? Would he be able to face her entire family, knowing he had failed to protect her?

Harry turned to Ron and Hermione, who were standing in silence and giving him time to work things out. "Is your family in there?"

Ron nodded.

"I can't..." he faltered. Ron looked at him, confused, but Hermione nodded in understanding.

"We'll be right back," she told him, and she pulled Ron into the room.

Harry sighed and slumped against the wall across from the door, letting himself sink to the floor. He was glad Hermione understood. He felt like a coward, but he just couldn't face her family yet. He couldn't face the thousand questions they would have for him. He couldn't face the anger and betrayal he expected to see in their eyes. It might not have been very Gryffindor-like of him, but he was glad Hermione understood. He wasn't ready for the Weasley family yet.

The door opened and he struggled to his feet. Charlie walked out first, nodding at Harry as he did. Next came Fred and George, the solemn look on their faces looking unbelievably out of place. Bill came next, looking tired and haggard. Hermione and Ron walked out next, holding hands. Despite himself, Harry felt a small smile when he saw that. But the smile quickly faded when Mr. and Mrs. Weasley walked out of the room. Mr. Weasley looked tired but strong, while Mrs. Weasley looked dreadful. Her face was red and swollen, and her eyes looked haunted. When she saw him she broke away from her husband and rushed to his side. He braced himself, expecting a blow, either physical or verbal. But instead she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a rib-crunching hug.

"Oh Harry," she sobbed, tears flowing down her face.

"Come now dear," Mr. Weasley said, gently pulling her away. "Come on, Molly. That's it, there you go." He put his arm around her, gave Harry a weary smile, and set off down the hall. The rest of the Weasleys followed them. Hermione hung back for a second.

"We're going to tell them everything, Harry," she told him. "Everything. About where you and Professor Dumbledore went last year, about the Horcruxes, about what we've done this past year. About last week. They have a right to know."

Harry nodded, staring with dread at the door they had all just come from. "Go on in, Harry," she whispered, a lone tear escaping her eye. She turned and followed the others, leaving him standing there alone.

Harry stood frozen to the floor staring at the door, for how long he didn't know. Summoning every ounce of courage in his body, he walked forward and entered the room. It was dark, he stood just inside the doorway for a minute to let his eyes adjust to the dim light. The room smelled of hospitals, a smell Harry was all too familiar with due to the amount of time he spent in the Hogwarts Hospital Wing over the last seven years.

As his eyes adjusted he saw a bed in the room, along with several chairs. He walked over to the bed feeling like he was in a daze. He looked down and felt his heart shatter into a million pieces. There on the bed was Ginny, her brilliant red hair spread about her head on the pillow like a beautiful explosion of color. She was breathing slow, shallow breaths. Her face looked peaceful, if it wasn't for the terrible lack of color in her skin she would look like she was simply asleep. He sat down on the bed and brushed her hair out of her face, barely aware of what he was doing. He could only stare at the face of the most beautiful girl he had ever met. Suddenly a memory came to him, a memory of the last time they had spoken...

- - - - -

It was Christmas. Ron had convinced Harry to stay at the Burrow for a few days, even though he wanted to keep searching for the Horcruxes. Eventually he had relented, admitting to himself that a few days at the Burrow did sound nice.

It was late on Christmas Eve, the Weasleys were all sleeping. Harry stood at the window over the sink in their kitchen looking out at the full moon. He was thinking of Remus, who was enduring unimaginable hell tonight. Not only because of his transformation, but also because of Voldemort's latest attack. Harry still couldn't believe Tonks was gone...

"Can't sleep?"

He spun around, his wand in his hand, but quickly lowered it when he saw Ginny smiling at him. She was dressed in her nightclothes, her hair was a mess, and standing there in the glow of the moonlight Harry thought she had never looked more beautiful.

"No, not really," he admitted. "You?"

"No. I was thinking about Professor Lupin," she said with a sigh. She walked over to stand next to him.

"Yeah, me too." The two turned back and stared out the window for a long time, each lost in their own thoughts and drawing comfort from the presence of the other.

"It's all so ridiculous," Harry said at last.

"What is?" Ginny asked, turning to face him.

"Life," he said. "What's the point of it all? All you ever get is heartache. Remus is a good man, he deserves happiness. And what does life give him? A huge stinking pile of dung!"

"Feeling sorry for yourself?" she asked quietly.

"What?" he asked, surprised. "I was talking about Remus." He scowled at her, not at all willing to admit to her that he had, in fact, been feeling somewhat sorry for himself.

She reached up and cupped his cheek. He tried to pull away but she wouldn't let him. "It's all right, Harry. You don't have to pretend around me. Life has dealt you one of the worst hands of us all yet you don't give up. You keep pushing forward. You keep fighting. You keep believing things will get better. You are one of the kindest, most loving people I have ever met, and all you've gotten out of that is heartache. You don't have to pretend it's only about other people. It's about you, also, even if you don't want to admit it."

"It sounds selfish if I admit it..."

"No, Harry, it doesn't. Everybody that knows you knows how much you care about others. You always put others ahead of your own happiness and well-being. But that doesn't mean you don't feel, that you aren't human. To deny yourself those feelings is to deny your own humanity, and if you did that, what would you be fighting for?"

Harry stared at her. "You sound like Professor Dumbledore," he said.

Ginny smiled. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"I meant it as one." They were silent for a few seconds. "I miss him so much," Harry said, surprised at himself. He didn't usually like to talk about these sorts of things. "He was..." he trailed off, not sure how to put into words what he felt.

"... a rock," Ginny finished for him. "He was a rock we could all anchor to. He was the strong one for us all."

Harry nodded. "Exactly. I feel so lost without him."

"We all do, Harry. But we'll survive this, I'm sure of it."

"How can you be so sure?" he asked her, his insecurities and worries about the future making him ask.

"Because Professor Dumbledore believed in you. That's enough for me," she said.

Harry said nothing, touched by what she just said. He looked at her, lost in the deep feelings she was stirring inside of him. He stared into her caring brown eyes and before he even knew what he was doing he leaned in to kiss her.

Suddenly he pulled away, mentally berating himself. Ginny was staring at him. Her cheeks were flushed and the look in her eyes told him his feelings for her were most definitely returned.

"Ginny, I can't. I shouldn't have done that."

She smiled at him, a sad, knowing smile. "I know. I wish you would tell me what you, Ron, and Hermione are up to, why you aren't at school this year. But I understand why you won't. I don't like the way you try to protect me from Voldemort when I can easily take care of myself, but I understand why you do it. It's not the same as when my idiot brothers get overprotective. I understand, even if I don't like it.

"I just wanted to kiss you one last time before I go back to Hogwarts after the holidays. Who knows when we'll see each other again. But Harry, I want you to know this. I will wait for you. I will wait for you to finish what you're doing."

Harry took her into his arms. He wanted desperately to tell her that he thought he was falling in love with her, but couldn't. Such strong feelings scared him more than anything had ever scared him before, both because he wasn't used to them and because he was afraid of what Voldemort could do if he learned of them. So instead he said nothing and simply held her.

After a long while they broke apart. "Just don't take forever, Harry. I miss being with you." She gave him a light kiss on the lips, turned, and left the kitchen, leaving Harry alone with his thoughts.

He turned back to the window and stared at the moon, now quite low in the sky.

"I promise I won't ever let him hurt you, Ginny," he vowed to himself.

- - - - -

"I didn't keep my promise, Ginny," Harry told the deathly still girl laying on the bed. All the emotions he had been trying to keep bottled up since he first woke up finally came rushing out. He was alone in the room except for Ginny. He was sitting on the bed watching her lay there, powerless to do anything to help her. He had failed in his promise to himself to keep her safe. Now was the time to let his grief out.

It started slowly, a single tear burned as it left his eye and traveled down his cheek. He wiped it away, but it was soon replaced with another. Soon it was as if the floodgates had opened, and Harry cried like he had never cried in his life. He lay down on the bed next to Ginny and pulled her close to him, breathing in her scent and burrowing his face in her hair.

"I'm so sorry, Ginny," he choked out in between the sobs wracking his body. "Oh, god. Oh, god! It wasn't supposed to happen like this. It was supposed to be me, not you! Why did you do that! Why! Why did you jump in front of that curse! I was supposed to be the one that died!"

For a long while he simply held her as he cried for a life of broken dreams. He cried for his parents, taken from him before he could even know them. He cried for Cedric, who died after selflessly giving up the sort of glory his House hadn't seen for centuries. He cried for Sirius, ripped from the world before he could even enjoy his freedom. He cried for Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of the age. He cried for Tonks, killed while heroically saving Hogsmeade from Death Eaters. He cried for Remus, once again completely alone in the Universe. He cried for all the people he didn't know, the people he would never meet who had lost loved ones in the War. But most of all, he cried for Ginny. The beautiful, wonderful, sweet, gentle girl that captivated his heart but lay next to him unable to wake up from what Voldemort did to her.

"I'm so sorry, Ginny. I wasn't strong enough. I wasn't strong enough..."



Author's Notes: Well, there's chapter two. It's a bit longer than the first chapter, and, at least for awhile, the chapters will probably get steadily longer. I'm not really sure how long the story will eventually be. I doubt it will turn into one of those 300,000 word epics, but it will be quite long most likely. I have a pretty good idea where I want to get to, but how exactly I get there still isn't completely worked out.

Also, just to make a few things clear that I should have made clear in the first chapter's notes. There will be something of a plot, but this is primarily going to be a character-driven story rather than plot-driven. I also forgot to mention the ships. It's obviously starting out as Harry/Ginny, but it won't exactly stay that way. You'll see what I mean as the story progresses. It will be Ron/Hermione also. Probably others among minor characters, but those are the major ones.

Please review!