Oblivious

Chapter 15: Please, Remember Me

-R-

When Harry appears in my room, I think I am still asleep and dreaming. But when I throw a pillow at him and he throws it back, hitting me square in the face, I jump up and embrace him.

"Harry! You bugger, where the bloody hell have you been?"

"I seem to be generating that reaction from a lot of people today. But look, Ron, there's something I really need to tell you. It's about Hermione . . ."

I pull back, feeling that dull anger that hits me every time her name is mentioned. "I already heard, first-hand."

"Oh no, Ron. It's not what you think. She didn't reject you like that letter said."

"How do you know --?"

"It's not important. What is important is that Mrs. Granger was under the Imperius Curse before Malfoy died, which was just about an hour ago. And Dr. Granger is Stunned. And Malfoy put a Memory Charm on Hermione to make her forget all about being a witch and made her think that she was his fiancée." He seems to say this all in one breath. "Now, we need to go and check up on them."

Harry barely gets all this out before I throw a cloak over my blazing orange Chudley Cannons jumper and Disapparate.

When I arrive on the Granger's front lawn, I dash up to the house and throw open the front oor. Harry Apparates right behind me and grabs me by the back of my cloak, causing me to wheel on him sharply.

"What?!"

"Ron! You can't just barge in there like that! You know that breaking a Memory Charm like the one that Malfoy no doubtedly put on her could damage her mind. It has to be slow."

Tears prick my eyes. "Harry, you have no idea how I've longed to hold her, to touch her, to gaze into her eyes. It's agony to be in the same house as her, knowing she might not remember me. I have to see her. I just have to." With that, I pull out of my cloak, leaving it dangling in Harry's hand, and go to Hermione's parents' room; instinct tells me that's where she is.

She's kneeling in front of a trunk full of wizard paraphernalia, holding a copy of the Daily Prophet.

"What is going on here?" she says.

I can hold my silence no longer.

Please, remember me.

"Hermione?" I say quietly, fighting the urge to run over to her and take her into my arms.

She turns around and drops the newspaper in her hand.

-H-

After I Disapparate from the Grangers', I reappear back in the Burrow. I have to see Ginny.

I owe her an explanation.

Before she boarded the Hogwarts Express three days before the graduation ceremony, I caught up with Ginny to tell her goodbye, and to do that which I knew I had to.

To protect her. It's for her own good, Harry. You have to. It'll hurt like bloody hell for the both of you, but it has to be done.

Despite our newfound feelings for each other, she seemed shy as she folded and unfolded her hands in front of her. I looked away when she looked up at me, smiling.

"So, you'll come to the Burrow this summer, won't you?"

I couldn't bring myself to wipe that smile her face, so I just hugged her, hoping that time would freeze so she'd never have to leave, and I'd never have to tell her the biggest lie of my entire life. Of course, that didn't happen.

When I eventually pulled away, I decided that I couldn't avoid it any longer.

"Look, Ginny, I . . ." I faltered.

"I have been mistaken in my feelings for you. I just think of you as a sister, like Hermione. I don't love you." Come on, Harry! You can say it! You have to say it! You don't want Voldemort's followers to get her . . .

"Oy, Ginny! Come on!" Colin called to Ginny as the train began to let off steam, signaling that it was almost time to go.

I tried not to look into Ginny's curious expression as she took my hands. "What is it, Harry? You can tell me, whatever it is."

"I . . ." I hesitated, bracing myself for the look of heartache in her eyes, which was inevitable. "I . . . I'm sorry, Ginny. I have been mistaken in my feelings for you. I just think of you as a sister, like Hermione. I don't love you." Pulling my hands from hers before I could see her reaction, which was surely absolute disbelief, I turned back toward the Hogwarts ground, leaving her on the platform, and ran back to the castle.

I purposefully avoided looking back, knowing that if I saw her face, I'd crack and not be able to do what I knew I must for the Ministry, and for her protection . . .

When I enter the sitting room, I find her curled up with a copy of the Daily Prophet from my seventh year. The headline reads, HARRY POTTER, QUIDDITCH CAPTAIN OF HOGWARTS' GRYFFINDOR HOUSE TEAM, TOP CHOICE FOR OPEN SEEKER POSITION FOR CANNONS. The accompanying picture is of me in seventh year, sitting on the shoulders of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, holding up the Quidditch Cup. A surge of guilt runs through me and I consider turning from the room and leaving. But just then, she stirs and opens her eyes, which widen at the sight of me.

"Harry," she whispers. She is in such shock that she hasn't left her chair. Or maybe she still believes what I told her all those months ago.

"Ginny . . ." I say it so softly. I haven't spoken her name in all the time I was gone. Now, the simple word brings such strong emotions to me that I can't control how I speak. "Ginny, please, before you get angry, let me explain --"

"What's to explain?" The sharpness in her voice cuts through me, making me wince. She stands and crosses her arms in front of her chest. "You left without telling anyone, and after breaking my heart, shattering my spirit. You think that you can just waltz in here and I will have forgiven you for utterly betraying me? Even you can't be that thick."

I take a step forward. "Please, just listen to me. The reason I said what I said was to protect you. I know it was cruel, but it was the best I could come up with at the time. I was so frightened I'd lose you to the Death Eaters, and I couldn't stand losing anyone else. After Hagrid, Cedric, and Oliver . . ." I sigh. "You must understand. Please, just give me a chance to make it up to you. I promise I will never do anything to intentionally hurt you again. Ginny, I swear on my parents' graves . . ."

She must be softening ever so slightly, for the fire in her eyes dies down. "All right, Harry. Since you are my friend and the best friend of my brother, I will give you another chance. But I want it clear that you still have to earn my trust again. You lost it with that . . . stunt."

I let out a sigh of relief I didn't even know I was holding it, and I fight not to smile. "Thank you so much, Ginny. I swear I won't let you down again. I won't --"

She holds up a hand and steps forward, wrapping me in an embrace. "Welcome home, Harry."

I wrap my arms around her, savoring her warmth, which I haven't felt in months.

But she pulls away all too soon. As she turns toward the kitchen, I see a smile pulling at the corners of her lips.

"Coffee? You look like you could use it."

"I'd love some, thanks."

This is more than you deserve, you understand that. It's a start, Harry. It's a start.

~H~

The redhead! It's the redhead! He does exist!

Following what something inside me says, I stand and run toward him, jumping into his arms and holding on for dear life. As soon as we touch, my left ring finger tingles and I feel as if a wall in my mind has disintegrated, allowing a flood of old emotions and memories to inundate my mind.

"Ron . . ." I whisper into his neck, squeezing him tighter. "Oh, Ron . . ."

His arms wrap around my back as he kisses the top of my head, my cheek, and my neck repeatedly. Lifting my chin, he gazes into my eyes and kisses me.

It's unlike any feeling I've ever felt.

There is such raw, unbridled passion in the kiss. It's like our first kiss all over again as his lips reintroduce themselves to mine, and his tongue searches out my own. My cheeks are flushed and I'm sweating with our combined body heat, but I don't know anything or anyone but Ron.

When we pull away, I can't look at anything but him.

"Oh, Ron, I'm so sorr--"

He places his finger on my lips.

"Don't," he says hoarsely. "Harry explained it all to me." His eyes well up and he closes them, squeezing out a tear. Then he opens them again and gazes at me. I wipe away the tear and embrace him again.

Suddenly, there's a groaning inside of Mum and Dad's room. Rushing past Ron, I see that they are coming to; they were obviously Stunned. When they see me, they smile weakly. I jump onto the bed and pull them each into a one-armed hug at the same time. Then they put their arms around each other and me.

Ron enters the room gingerly, keeping a watchful eye on Mum.

I smile and invite him into the embrace. When Mum nods, he climbs onto the bed and my parents put their arms around him.

"Welcome to the family, Ron," Mum says.

He positively beams at me.

THE END