Gone Again

Ginny thought her life was going to be perfect after Harry killed Voldemort, but it didn't turn out the way she had planned. Harry refused to let the Aurors round up the last of the Death Eaters, despite Ginny's desperate begging. Instead of being content with his life, he felt as if he had done an incomplete job. Harry and Ginny usually got along very well, but the source of their biggest arguments was Harry's longing to finish what he had started.

One morning Ginny woke up to find a small note on Harry's pillow

Dear Ginny,

I know you won't understand, but I have to leave you for a while. Until all of the Death Eaters are dead, I'll never have any peace. You probably think I'm abandoning you again, but I'm not. I do love you above all things and I hope you can still love me. I don't want to say this, but if you don't hear from me within a month, I'm probably dead.

Yours truly,

-Harry

After first reading the letter, Ginny was outraged, but it didn't last long. Once she had read the letter three more times it hit her. I'm not his only love; he loves saving the day more than he loves me. I don't want to be second in his life... he might as well be cheating on me! Ginny broke down; switching between crying her heart out and sitting in complete silence staring at a wall.

For three weeks, Ginny tortured herself. She blamed herself for not making Harry love her enough to stay with her. Then finally one day it happened; she was trying to force herself to eat something, when a large white object hit the window of the kitchen. Ginny immediately got up and open the window to look out. As soon as she had unlocked it, Hedwig burst through it. Landing on the table, Hedwig collapsed.

Without thinking about the fact that Hedwig was probably carrying a letter for her, Ginny grabbed a dish of water for the wounded bird. After Ginny had watched the bird satisfy its thirst for five minutes, Hedwig began pecking at Ginny's arm. Finally, Ginny noticed a small folded up piece of parchment tied to Hedwig's leg.

Ginny, listen carefully. I have been capture by Bellatrix. I sick and I am going to die very soon. Bellatrix will probably come after you so I need you to hide. Leave the house immediately and go somewhere that Bellatrix won't expect. Do not try to rescue me; you need to take save yourself. Take care of Hedwig.

-Harry

For a second Ginny didn't know what to think; she was frozen in her place and her mind had gone blank. Suddenly it all rushed back to her. Captured... what does that mean? And why is he dying, oh Merlin, what should I do? Oh, I've wasted so much time sitting here! I have to go after him; he would do the same for me.

Ginny grabbed her coat, wand, Hedwig, and the invisibility cloak Harry had left her for emergencies and then set off. She used Floo Powder to get to Hagrid's place, where she left Hedwig. Without even stopping to tell Hagrid what was going on, Ginny continued on. She traveled all over, demanding that people tell her when they had last seen Harry. After a month of searching, Ginny encountered Pansy Parkinson.

"Well, if you must know, last time I saw Potter was a little more than a month ago," Pansy said after being assaulted with questions by Ginny, "he asked me if I knew anything about the whereabouts of that Bellatrix woman. I told him that I had heard that she was living in Ireland, killing Muggles for pleasure."

After thanking Pansy weakly, Ginny set off to Ireland. It wasn't hard to find a place where a lot of Muggles had been dying in mysterious ways as it had become a notorious location.

It was a small village, almost entirely abandoned except for a few stubborn Muggles. It wasn't the worst place that Ginny had searched for Harry in, but it certainly was dreary. Everything seemed to be gray and Ginny kept finding old newspapers lying around that were full of stories about the "haunted" village.

It took Ginny an hour to find someone to question, but she finally found an old man in a small shack on top of a hill. The man told her that an evil spirit lived in the house in the east side of town. She was told that she would be able to recognize it by the midnight black smoke that always billowed out of the chimney.

Ginny found the house next to a dark pond that seemed to still to be natural. Wrapping herself with the invisibility cloak, Ginny entered the tomb-like home. The house was almost pitch-black inside and Ginny had to strain her eyes in order to walk without bumping into anything. After walking as quietly as possible for a few minutes, Ginny noticed a metal door with a huge lock on it. To her surprise, it wasn't bolted. She pushed open the heavy door to reveal a room completely without light. Ginny used her wand to light up the room just enough to see what was inside.

It was a huge room that appeared to be completely empty. Ginny took a step inside and then she saw him. Running to his side, Ginny collapsed onto her knees next to his lifeless body. Harry was completely white except for the bruises on his face and arms. Ginny put her hand to his neck to felt for a pulse, but immediately withdrew when she felt the deathly cold that plagued his body.

Ginny just sat there, not crying or even trying to revive him. To her, Harry had already died. She had already mourned him when he first left her the note about leaving her. He had already been cried over enough, but Ginny still didn't want to leave him, as he had left her.

After what seemed like hours, Ginny heard a sound. Someone was walking past the door. Ginny quickly stood up. She was not longer afraid, she would kill Bellatrix. Ginny stepped into the hallway just in time to see Bellatrix's long black hair whip around the corner. Without bothering to put the invisibility cloak back on, Ginny ran around the corning. Pointing her wand straight at Bellatrix she screamed, "Avada Kadavra!"

Ginny walked slowly up to Bellatrix's dead body and stood over it. Ginny had never killed before, she had half expected Bellatrix to block the curse and kill her, but she had somehow failed to do so.

Ginny took a step back and turned around. She ran back towards the entrance of the house. As she passed the room containing Harry's body she suddenly stopped, "I'm so sorry Harry," she said in a soft voice. Ginny left the house and returned home where Hagrid was sitting on the couch and petting a healthy looking Hedwig.

"Now, Ginny," he said, "I dunno what yuh've been up to, but I want you tuh know that I'm always here fur yuh."

"Thanks Hagrid," she said gratefully.

"No problem," he said smiling, "oh yeah, if you're wonderin' why I'm in your house, I came here cause' I ran out uh sugar... yuh don't mind do yuh?"

"No, Hagrid, of course not," Ginny said laughing, "I'm glad you're here."