Forever Yours

FOREVER YOURS

It was a new year for Ginny Weasley. It was a new year in terms of the school and also in terms of a new start. Ginny hoped that everything that had happened would be washed away from her mind, and she would be made anew, become someone else. Push all the worries away from her mind and concentrate on her education.

Ginny was looking forward to her sixth year, because it would finally mean stability after the year that was spent in havoc.

In the summer before her sixth year, Harry had finally defeated Lord Voldemort but had died in the process as well. The wizarding world was safe but not without some sacrifices. Harry had sacrificed himself, because by killing himself, the last Horcrux was destroyed. Then while Voldemort was distracted by Harry, Mad Eye Moody shot him with the killing curse. Then the war was over.

Many other people's lives were also lost, including that of a few professors at Hogwarts like Flitwick, Snape and Vector. Percy had also died, along with several other people from the Ministry, as well Lucius Malfoy, Umbridge, Cornelius Fudge and many others.

Even though Percy was her least favourite brother, he was still her brother. And he had just apologized to his family about the fight and was getting one well with them, right before a Death Eater in the battle killed him.

Ginny felt as if her world had been torn apart by this war. Not only was the guy that she had loved dead, but also homes were destroyed, and the wizarding world had to be rebuilt.

Harry's death impacted Ginny in more ways than even she knew. Their last moments were spent saying good-bye to one another on the battlefield where the battle was about to take place. Ginny loved him and she vowed that she would never forget him.

She thought about all of this as she crossed the lake with the other sixth years, going up to the castle.

Everyone in the wizarding world was in mourning for all the lives that had been lost, but also for one another. One thing that nobody could get over was the death of the Boy Who Lived.

Many people on the wizarding news and at his funeral, spoke words of remorsesaying that they were sorry he was gone, but it was truly Ginny who was sorry. It was Ginny to whom he had promised to marry when the war was over. It was Ginny to whom he pledged his heart and life. It was Ginny to whom he said he would love forever.

So who were these nameless and faceless people that said they were sorry for the death of Harry Potter? It was Ginny who was sorry for the death of Harry Potter, and she would be sorry for the rest of her life.

"Ginny," came a voice from her right. "Ginny."

Ginny looked up from her spot on the boat. It was empty and they were on shore. People had left their boats and were following Hagrid, the gamekeeper who had fortunately survived, up to the castle.

Ron stood in front of her, holding his hand out towards her, with Hermione beside him, both waiting for her.

"Sorry?" said Ginny.

"We're here," said Hermione, in a soft voice, glancing at Ron, clearly worried. "Are you ok?"

Ginny took Ron's hand, and he helped her out. "Of course. My attention just drifted. Let's go."

And she started walking up the stone steps towards the castle, while Ron and Hermione exchanged looks with one another.

After Harry's death, Ron and Hermione were deeply stricken with grief as well. Their best friend was gone and they were no longer the trio. They were just....a twosome.

Ron, who had always been in the middle and had always been forgotten when was around Harry, forgot about this when Harry asked him to help him win the war and watched as his best friend sacrificed himself just twenty metres away from him. Then he watched as his younger sister, her face shining with tears, ran to him and pushed him to see if he was alive, to finally see her sob uncontrollably onto the ground beside him. After that day, she had never cried again.

Even though Harry had been his best friend, Ron vowed to stop mourning, because that was what Harry had wanted. He had wanted for the wizarding world to be safe and for there to be no more You Know Who and no more fear.

He had promised he would take care of Ginny to Harry, who had told him that if anything happened to him, he was to make sure she was happy and that she moved on with someone else.

But he didn't believe this would happen for a long time, as he watched his little sister walk absentmindedly in front of him in the hallway.

Ginny reached the Great Hall and took her spot at the Gryffindor table, beside her brother and his best friend.

As the Beginning of the year Speech started by professor McGonagall, Ginny couldn't help but start to daydream again.

She looked around at the faces around her. In front of her was Parvati Patil, whose twin sister had died in the war. Beside her sat Seamus, whose mother had died. Beside him sat Lavender Brown, whose father and mother both died, and beside her was Dean Thomas whose Muggle mother was murdered by Death Eaters. Beside him was Neville Longbottom, who's Gran had been murdered by Bellatrix Lestrange, who in the end Neville ended up killing.

Behind them, was the Slytherin table. Even though Ginny had thought that most of the Slytherins' families were Death Eaters, she was wrong. Several Slytherin families were on the good side, but not many of them were lost since they were mostly purebloods.

The few that were lost were, lost in the power struggle, and some had tried to shift from bad to good. Crabbe's father was killed by Ministry officials and so was Goyle's. Pansy Parkinson's parents were good, yet they both died and several of the Slytherins' families did as well.

Blaise Zabini was one of the few students in the entire school whose entire family was left unscathed. This didn't make him any less of a slimy git though, him being Malfoy's right hand man.

Sitting in the middle of Crabbe and Blaise, was the Slytherin king himself, Draco Malfoy. He also looked as if he wasn't paying attention, as his eyes were wondering around looking at other students.

Draco Malfoy's father was killed by Ministry Officials and his mother was murdered by Lord Voldemort himself, after she tried to come over to the good side. She sent Draco back and pleaded with Prof. McGonagall that they wanted to fight for the good side; in the end she agreed to let them. Draco Malfoy became an asset to their side, but his mother was killed in the end and he was an orphan.

His grey eyes suddenly connected with her brown eyes. Ginny blinked when she realised he was looking at her just as she had been looking at him, in an absentminded way.

She quickly looked away and looked down at her plate, to see that food had magically appeared there and that the speech had long ago finished.

So she picked up her fork and began to eat, without talking to anyone. The beginning of the year feast, Ginny remembered had usually been so lively and loud, but now was filled with subdued voices.

After the meal, Prof. McGonagall told them she had a few end of the term announcements. After the usual stay out of the Forbidden Forest and no magic in the corridors announcements were over, she began to speak in an excited way.

"It is our wish this year, that we spread some inter-house unity and become friends with other houses," she began.

Ginny glanced around at her fellow house members to see their reactions.

Lavender and Dean looked annoyed and were mumbling, "What's she playing at?" But Hermione was staring at McGonagall as if in a trance.

"Shh Ron. I've been telling you about this for ages. Remember back when we had the Triwizard Tournament?" she reminded Ron.

"Yeah but I'm not speaking to a Slytherin, no matter what..." Ginny's older brother grumbled.

"Honestly Ronald, hush!"

Everyone quieted down to listen as Prof. McGonagall continued. "So we, the teachers have thought of a way that will get each of you to mingle with the other houses and discover new people and make new friends. It is similar to the Muggle custom of having a pen pal, except your letters will be delivered via owls and not Muggle post. So you will think of a pen name for yourself so that the others will not know that who it is, and you will magically be assigned a partner with whom who shall have to write letters to and after a period of time, you will meet," she said, smiling.

"I have great hopes for this, because I believe that since you will write letters for a few months, perhaps until Christmas time, you shall get to know the other quite well, and when you shall meet, you will get over any preconceived notions you had of the other person and begin to develop better relationships with the other houses," she said. "So for tonight, I want you to ponder the name that you will employ in this assignment and tomorrow the heads of house will collect the parchment, and we will magically hand them out. You may leave now."

'Suddenly the hall was filled with noise again as students pushed back the benches and stood up, going off to their dormitories.

Ron, Hermione and Ginny walked off to Gryffindor tower, while discussing this new assignment.

"What's the deal with having different names?" asked Ron, as they walked upstairs.

"It's so that whoever you get as a partner won't know who it is. So say that a Gryffindor and a Slytherin got paired up, we all know who the Slytherins are, and I'm sure they know who we are. So by having a pen name, they'll still write to us, without actually knowing who in the school it is," explained Hermione. "It has to be really good too, so that no one can figure it out..."

"What do you think of Roonil Wazlib for me?" asked Ron, as the fat lady's portrait swing open. Both Ron and Hermione were Head Boy and Girl and so they knew the password.

Ginny cracked a smile. "I think I like Won Won better."

Hermione laughed and Ron scowled. "Ha ha, very funny. I bet I know what yours is going to be Hermione?"

"What?" she asked, immediately stopping laughing.

"Mrs. Victor Krum, isn't it obvious?" he said.

"Oh Ronald, grow up. Honestly," said Hermione. "We're just friends."

"Friends my foot," they heard him mumble, as they went up to the girls' dormitory.

Ginny went off to her dormitory with girls from her year, and Hermione went up her dormitory from the seventh year girls.

A pen pal, thought Ginny. The idea sounded good. It would be cool to get to know someone knew and talk to them.

With that happy thought, Ginny closed her eyes and for the first time in a month, fell into a dreamless sleep.