Harry Potter and the Starship Enterprise

Christine had been invited to the wedding of Bill, the eldest Weasley brother, and his intended, one Fleur Delacour, a former student at Beauxbatons, the French school of magic--and though she had met and got along well with them both, the one that really struck her where she lived was the lovely young red-headed girl, Bill's almost-sixteen-year-old sister Ginevra, otherwise known as "Ginny".

Harry had told her a lot about himself, including his interactions with the majority of the Weasley family, but not about this. But then, he didn't need to--the way he looked at Ginny, acted around her, told Christine that he was very much in love with her. All the same, he tended to avoid her, not being alone with her if he could help it ... and the pain that Ginny couldn't help but show when he did this showed that she loved him every bit as much.

Why was he keeping her at arm's length? Was he afraid of how her brothers might react if they knew of his feelings for her? Was it her parents? Ron himself? Did Harry think his friend might be upset if he found out about Harry's feelings for her? It was going to take longer than overnight for her to make up for sixteen years of separation, but Christine had made a good start with Harry and vowed to do everything she could to find out the details of this situation and help put things right--if she could.

When had the relationship began? How long had it lasted--or was it still going on? Most importantly, why was Harry fighting his feelings? Did the prophecy she kept hearing about but that Harry would not elaborate on have something to do with it? Was what she sensed through her Legilimency true, that he didn't plan to return to school in the fall, but instead go out and look up Voldemort and company, including Snape, himself? Had Ginny asked to go with him and he refused her?

It was frankly uncanny how much Ginny resembled Lily; they could almost have been sisters. The only difference between them was in the colour of their eyes--Lily's had been a bright, sparkling green like her son's; Ginny's were a warm, soft brown. Christine vowed to find out the details--whatever it took--if the inexplicable behaviour of the young pair went on much longer, especially without some explanation.

A talk with Harry and his friends, perhaps, or even with Ginny herself--if not both. Sirius had also once told her that the Potter males had a penchant for redheads; could that have something to do with the way Harry was acting toward Ginny? Probably at least part of the reason.

But surely he knew he could not hope to win against Voldemort alone; he needed all the help he could get. It was for sure that Voldemort wasn't going to show up alone, so it would be totally foolhardy for Harry to do so. Even at that, he definitely had his share of his parents' stubbornness, that was for sure--stubbornness which bordered on pigheadedness. He likely intended to try, if nothing else, however foolish the idea was. That was surely James coming out in his son, for Sirius had once told her that the risk was what would make a given adventure exciting for him.

Speaking of Sirius--not to mention Dumbledore--Christine had definitely picked up on Harry's obvious affection for both and hoped, if nothing else, to be able to ease his pain at losing them ... if only a little. Which reminded her, of all people, she should have known better than to automatically think the worst of Sirius and assume that he had betrayed James and Lily, especially when she knew as well as anyone how close they and Remus had been to one another.

Her attitude was more in keeping with an immature mind, not an adult mind. Of course, at the time, Christine hadn't been half as mature as she was now, so maybe that had something to do with it. Even Harry had eventually had a change of heart upon learning the truth. In fact, she could still recall the pain in Sirius's eyes, in his entire demeanour, when she had broken off their engagement during the funeral for James and Lily, then left the wizarding world behind for what would turn out to be sixteen years. For the moment, however, the questions in her mind that demanded answers centred around Ginny and Harry's obviously very deep feelings for her. The main one: Why hadn't Harry told her he was in love?

As it turned out, she had inadvertently overheard him and his friends discussing their plans to leave and hunt down Voldemort and company--not to mention something called "Horcruxes". She had frankly never heard of such things; all she could assume was that they had something to do with the Dark Arts, which Voldemort was a master of.

She finally learned that Horcruxes were magical objects with a lengthy history, and that Voldemort had started out with seven of them, hiding a piece of his soul in each one. But to do so, he had to kill at least one person to be able to divide up his soul into several parts. At the moment, however, there were just four left; Harry had told her about destroying at least two of them, even though he had not mentioned the word "Horcrux" at any time in his explanation.

Fortunately she got at least part of the answer as to why Harry was acting as he was around Ginny as she continued listening. "Mate, you said yourself that love would be your ultimate weapon against Voldemort. Taking Ginny would double that love and make it all the easier for us to win against him. Remember what the prophecy said: 'It is a power that the Dark Lord knows not.' We're going to need all the help we can get, you know."

"No!" Harry had shot back. "I won't risk her life! It's bad enough you two are going without her risking her life as well! And may I remind you that I have already memorised that bloody prophecy, word for word, so the last thing either of you need to do is remind me of any part of it! Besides, we're already taking most of the Order and the D.A. with us! What more do you want? I'm not about to risk Ginny if I don't have to, so don't even think of trying to convince me to take her!"

Even at that, Hermione didn't give up. "But you know just as well as we do that it's just as likely that Voldemort, the Death Eaters and dementors could track her down and capture her, then bring her to where we are and force us to watch as they do Merlin knows what to her!

"Also, may we remind you that the Dark Lord is a top Legilimens, so no matter how you fight your feelings for her, he's going to detect them and likely use them against you anyway - so what point is there to leaving her behind, much less breaking up with her? You know that your feelings for each other aren't going to automatically stop, so I would think it'd be only logical to have her along to help us out, if nothing else!"

"Drop it, 'Mione. Now! Or I'll leave you behind too!" Harry's tone told everyone concerned that he meant business; Christine couldn't help but note that he had Lily's hair-trigger temper as well as her eyes.

"Not if I hex you into the middle of the next century first!" she threw back. "Or at the very least, put a permanent Sticking Charm on your bum so you can't leave the house!"

Christine couldn't help but smile at this; obviously Hermione could give as good as she got and then some. She even sounded like Spock with that logic bit, that was for sure!

At that point she heard them get up and head for the door, so she knew she had best make herself scarce. Maybe go find Ginny and talk to her now ... at least she now knew that Ginny and Harry had been romantically involved but had broken up, supposedly to protect her. That was likely to be the reason why he was so steadfastly avoiding her ... or attempting to do so, at any rate. If he allowed himself near her for any length of time, she would likely convince him to take her along with him--among other things--and he couldn't allow that.

But Hermione was definitely right about one thing, even if Harry was unwilling to admit it--feelings didn't automatically stop because of a breakup and a trained Legilimens, especially one like Voldemort, would surely detect them despite any efforts to conceal them--particularly feelings as strong as Harry's and Ginny's still were for one another.

Maybe he hadn't mentioned his romance with Ginny because he didn't think it counted due to the supposed breakup, but Christine knew that as long as deep romantic feelings still existed, there was always a chance for a reunion of the couple involved. As the old saying went, "Where there's life, there's hope." And she knew all too well that despite all the risky situations that she, Spock and company had gotten themselves into over the years, they usually managed to get out of them ... but by working together, not trying to do everything on their own!

All the same, it was best that she go find Ginny now and see if she couldn't get "the rest of the story," as it were, as to the romance between herself and Harry--when his feelings for her had begun to develop, when the romance had become official, their first kiss, things like that. Things that only a young man's steady girlfriend (or one-time steady girlfriend) would know.

Christine went upstairs to the room she'd been told was Ginny's and knocked softly.

"Who is it?" she called, sounding as if she'd been crying--and Christine could guess why.

"It's Christine. You know--Harry's godmother. Can I talk to you?"

"I suppose so," Ginny returned dully. "What did you want to talk about?"

"I'm told you were Harry's steady girlfriend."

"'Were' being the operative term," Ginny agreed. "What did you want to know?"

"I'd like to discuss your relationship with him. That is, if it's not too painful for you, especially I heard you ... broke up recently." Her voice was as gentle as she could make it.

"We don't have a relationship any more, at least not a romantic one--but I can tell you about the one we had, if you like."

"I would like." Christine sat down next to the young girl on her bed. "First off, when did you first notice that Harry was developing feelings for you?"

"During my relationship with my last boyfriend before him. I'm told he was very jealous upon seeing me kiss my former boyfriend. My brother Ron, his best friend, told me and swore me to secrecy after Harry had confessed it to him later."

Once the conversation started, the questions started coming more and more rapidly, such as "What was your first date like?", "When did your romance become official?", "When was your first kiss?", "How did your family feel about your relationship?" These were just a few of the questions Christine asked Ginny, and she answered them all, even though there were times that her soft eyes filled with tears, especially when Christine asked when Ginny first fell in love with Harry and the story of their (supposed) breakup.

"He claims it's merely to protect me, just a temporary thing until he manages to take care of Voldemort ... but the way he's been acting, it sure seems bloody final to me! Even at that, it could be done a lot faster if he'd just bloody well let me go with him and not be so godawful stubborn about the whole business!"

Christine laughed softly. "I assure you, dear, Harry comes by it naturally. His mother was every bit as stubborn. There were times, in fact, when I was sure that James--his father--was going to give up trying to get Lily to date him, much less marry him."

"But she finally did," Ginny remarked.

"With Harry, you've just got to out-stubborn him, that's all. Mainly because I happen to know he does still love you, despite his actions. I know a young man in love when I see one. I also know when one is in denial and trying to fight his feelings. This is basically what Harry's been doing. That's the main reason he's been doing his best to avoid you."

"You sound like you once had this problem yourself," Ginny observed.

"Big-time," Christine agreed. "For pity's sake, do you really think it was easy to convince Sirius to relax around me? Let me tell you, pulling teeth would have been easier!"

Ginny's eyes widened. "You were ... involved with Sirius?"

"We were ... engaged once," Christine quietly confessed. "About the time James and Lily got married. In fact, we were best man and maid of honour--and everyone there expected us to be the next to get married!"

"Why did you ... break up?"

"I thought--at first and erroneously, mind you--that he'd been their Secret-Keeper and betrayed them to Voldemort, which ended up getting them killed and Harry orphaned. I wanted to take him and raise him myself, but my grandfather insisted that he belonged with blood kin."

Ginny thought of the abuse Harry had taken from the Dursleys and her lips twisted. "He'd have been better off with you, that's for sure. Oh, just out of curiosity--who was your grandfather?"

"Dumbledore. I was the daughter of his daughter, but my father was a Muggle."

"Are your mum and dad still alive?"

"No. They were killed by Death Eaters when I was a teenager. I left the wizard world to join Starfleet shortly after Lily and James were killed and just recently rejoined."

"Do you ... really think that Harry and I will eventually ... get back together?" Ginny asked hopefully.

"Definitely. Can't say just when, of course, dear, but it will happen, I promise you. If Harry's anything like Lily, and he seems to be, it takes him a while to fall in love, but once it happens, it's for life. You've just got to hang in there."

Just then a knock came on the door; both females froze for a moment, listening. "Gin? You still awake?" Harry's voice. The ladies exchanged glances and knowing smiles. "It's Harry. I need to talk to you for a minute."

"I'm awake, Harry. Just give me a minute."

"All right. Let me know when you're ready."

The two females gave each other a reassuring hug. "Good luck, dear," Christine whispered to Ginny, then breezed past Harry. "Excuse me, Harry. Got to get ready for bed."

Harry looked--and sounded--surprised. "What were you doing with Ginny?"

"Just some girl talk," Christine returned ambiguously. "Good night."

"Good night." Harry looked after her, a frown crossing his lips. Why had she been talking with Ginny, and why didn't she seem at all surprised to see him at Ginny's door? Had she guessed that he loved Ginny despite his outward actions? She must have; that was the only answer that made sense. Just the same, "girl talk" could cover a lot of ground. He'd better watch his step.

"I'm ready, Harry."

"All right. I'm coming in."

But what he didn't know was that Christine was simply waiting around the corner for him to go inside the room, then tiptoe back to listen at the door.

"What did you want to talk to me about?"

"I've been a stubborn git. I'm sorry. I never meant to take it out on you. And I just realised something."

"Like what?"

"I can't leave you. You must come with us."

Ginny was stunned but happy, although she fought not to show it. "What made you change your mind?"

"Let's just say that I was convinced by a wisdom greater than my own and leave it at that. What matters is that we'll be together."

"When will we be leaving?"

"Shortly after Bill and Fleur's wedding."

Ginny smiled knowingly, daring to picture an eventual wedding of her own--to Harry. Even if she had to wait a while, he would definitely be worth the wait. She also wanted to ask if this meant that they were back together, but didn't think it would be a good idea just yet. What mattered was that Harry wanted her with him--and together, they would beat Voldemort and the forces of Darkness before they could take over not only the wizard world but the universe.

"Thank you for deciding to let me come."

"I'm still doing this against my better judgment, mind you--so thanks are a bit premature."

"We'll make it, luv. Besides you did say that we'll need all the help we can get."

"And we'll have it. Most of the Order and the D.A. are going with us." He was even considering asking Christine whether or not Starfleet would be willing to help them too, but hadn't done it yet. After all, Bill and Fleur's wedding was in just a few days, and they were leaving shortly after that, so he'd better do it soon.

"Us. What a lovely word." She moved to stroke his lips even as his arms slid around her. "I love you, Harry."

"I ... never stopped loving you, Gin." In the next moment he bent his head to find her lips with his. As the kiss deepened, the door closed and locked. Christine moved away toward her designated room, unable to help feeling a twinge of envy for Ginny. If only she could have convinced Spock that easily ...