I need a Hero

Disclaimer: The song "I need a hero" was sung by Bonnie Tyler; I claim no credit for the lyrics.

A/N: I know the first half of the fic doesn't fit the action style of the song, but I wrote this from the version the fairy godmother sings in Shrek 2, where she begins much more quietly and less actiony. Enjoy!

I need a Hero

Ginny sat down on the bed hard, tears already welling up in her suddenly shadowed eyes. The letter fell from her hand, the heavy parchment falling on the floor with a soft swishing sound. Pig, perching precariously on the edge of her bedside table, hooted softly, unsure whether to wait for a reply or go. Ginny ignored him, refusing to look at the words that stared at her accusingly in harsh blue ink from the floor...

Ginny, I don't know how to tell you this, but Percy owled us to say that death eaters stormed the house yesterday. Mum's fine physically, but the healers don't think she'll ever recover from Dad's death. Apparently she barely recognised him when he went to visit...

Ginny hadn't read further.

Where have all the good men gone

And where are all the gods?

Why? Why did it have to happen to her? Dad... An image swam to her mind, of her father laughing, running with her down the street when she was little, explaining some obscure piece of Muggle technology for the third time in the hope she'd understand...

Where's the street-wise Hercules

To fight the rising odds?

A white sheet covering him as he lay silent and unmoving. She buried her face in her hands, biting her lip in an effort not to cry. Why hadn't anyone been there? Because they were needed elsewhere, an unfeeling part of her said. Not as much as Dad needed them, she replied fiercely. And Ron - how could he write that? As if Mum had just had a cold she'd get over, as if - as if it didn't matter to him.

Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?

And Harry? She remembered him on his last day at Hogwarts, just before he left through the barrier with Ron and Hermione. Just before she went to her parents. He'd promised to protect her, keep them all safe from everything, make everything all right... Didn't he understand? How could he fail her? How could he break his promise to her?

Late at night I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need

Ginny's rational half - or maybe the part that was already numb to pain - knew it was hard for him. Knew he was trying, knew the danger to him. The ghost of his heartbeat was her constant companion, ever since he saved her from the diary years ago. She didn't know how it had happened, and she'd never dared to tell anyone she always knew where to find him for fear they'd take it away from her. She doubted she'd survive without it - she'd lost count long ago of the times the comforting rhythm of Harry's heart had reassured her. Kept her sane.

I need a hero

I'm holding out for at hero 'till the end of the night

Thinking of Harry made her feel better - somewhere out in the world Harry was fighting. And he was fighting for her - sometimes it felt like he'd been fighting for her all her life, protecting her. She'd grown up listening to stories of The Boy Who Lived, and the amazing sacrifice he'd made for all of them. Wasn't it natural to pretend he'd made it for her? To want to find the boy who'd given up so much for her, and to give it back? Wasn't it natural for Ginny Weasley to love Harry Potter, her hero?

He's gotta be strong

And he's gotta be fast

And he's gotta be fresh from the fight

Yes, and more than natural. Ginny smiled weakly, tasting salty tears on her lips. For a moment she forgot why she was crying, lost in thoughts of Harry - and then it came back to her, along with guilt for forgetting her father so quickly. She glanced at the letter again, noticing that halfway through there were a couple of lines of green ink. Emerald green. Ginny bent to pick up the letter again, her eyes drawn to the green ink. I love green, she thought vaguely.

I need a hero

I'm holding out for a hero 'till the morning light

Ginny, the letter said in his writing. Her hands tightened on the parchment.

He's gotta be sure

And it's gotta be soon

And he's gotta be larger than life

I'm so sorry for what happened, so sorry I wasn't there to stop it happening. I know I promised, I know I failed. Please believe me when I say I'm doing all I can, though I wish there was something I could do for you now.

I love you, Ginny.

Lager than life.

And then the letter continued in Hermione's precise handwriting. Ginny reread what Harry had written, then reread it again. Somehow the world wasn't such an empty, desolate place when someone loved you. Ginny closed her eyes and lay down on the bed, curled around the letter with Pig hooting softly in her ear to let her know he'd wait, however long, for a reply.

Somewhere after midnight

In my wildest fantasy

Her dreams that night were fractured and unsure. She dreamt of the letter first, trying to read Harry's words again, but they kept fading and disappearing, replaced by someone else's words. Then the letter snapped shut, and suddenly it was a diary, with words dancing across the cover. Tom Marvolo Riddle, she read in flaming green letters. The diary disappeared, leaving just the flames, and they rearranged themselves. I am your saviour. No, the dream Ginny started to protest, Harry - The flames spread out like a sheet showing a house - her house, with the dark mark over it. Failed, a mocking voice told her, then the green flames rose up and engulfed her. Ginny woke with a flash of green light in her eyes and high, cold laughter in her ears.

Somewhere just beyond my reach

There's someone reaching back for me

She glanced down at the letter for comfort, panting from the nightmare. Gasped, looked at her hands in horror. Stared at the two halves of the letter, and the torn side of each. Ginny brought her knees up to her chest, resting her head on them and crying silently. She'd torn right through Harry's words: I love you, Ginny. She couldn't even read them now, let alone draw comfort from them.

Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat

It's gonna take a superman to sweep me off my feet

When her friends woke up they found her bed empty. Ginny wasn't at breakfast either - neither was she in her first lesson, Herbology. Harry would have found me, Ginny thought bitterly when the bell rang for afternoon lessons and she was still in the corner of the library, alone and unnoticed. Harry would have noticed she was missing. Harry would have cared. He came in her first year, when not even the teachers could save her, Harry could.

I need a hero

I'm holding out for a hero 'till the end of the night

Because she loved him, and he loved her. And that made him her hero. Well, she thought, settling down to be more comfortable, I can wait. That was something she could do for him; and she'd always wait.

He's gotta be strong

And he's gotta be fast

And he's gotta be fresh from the fight

Ginny yawned. She didn't know how late it was, but she was almost certain it was past midnight. And she was hungry.

I need a hero

I'm holding out for a hero 'till the morning light

She was about to get up when she heard quiet footsteps and froze. The footsteps came closer slowly, as if someone were taking care not to be noticed. Ginny closed her eyes. Please, please, go away, go somewhere else, please... A strip of light fell across her face, as an incredulous voice whispered, 'Weasley?'

He's gotta be sure

And it's gotta be soon

And he's gotta be larger than life

Ginny's mind seemed to freeze frame at that point. She was aware of the person coming forwards to stand over her with a lighted wand. She opened her eyes, refusing to blink in the wand's glare. 'Malfoy.' He stared at her. 'What the hell are you doing here?'

I need a hero

I'm holding out for at hero 'till the end of the night

Ginny opened her mouth to reply scathingly, then stopped. 'I don't know,' she said instead in a small voice. 'I thought I was waiting for someone, but they couldn't come.' Suddenly Harry's heart rate spiked. Ginny started - it hadn't done that for weeks, and she'd got used to its steady, if sometimes fast, beating. Suddenly she panicked - if Harry's heart was beating this wildly this suddenly, then the only explanation could be that something unexpected had happened, that something had gone wrong...

Up where the mountains meet the heavens above

Out where the lightning splits the sea

'Weasley?' Malfoy asked in an unsure voice, which Ginny ignored. If she wasn't so scared for Harry, she might have been interested in the sudden change from the usual, self confident Malfoy. As it was, her mind was already too far away to listen, racing across miles through the magical tie she had with Harry, trying desperately to find him.

I could swear there is someone somewhere

Watching me

Ginny stood up suddenly, pushing Malfoy out of the way and running out of the library. She had her wand, a coat... Ginny almost fell down the stairs trying to transfigure her school shoes into boots as she ran. She thought she heard Malfoy shouting after her, but didn't turn to look. In her mind's eye she heard Harry, yelling and throwing spell after spell... Even with the magical bond she couldn't see him through the smoke and the dark that cloaked him.

Through the wind and the chill and the rain

And the storm and the flood

Ginny threw the first unlocking spell that came to mind at the entrance doors. They opened soundlessly; they were designed to keep attackers out, not in. She bolted across the slippery ground, grimacing as the rain soaked through her transfigured boots. Now she wished she'd paid attention to Professor McGonagall's lecture on transfiguring clothing. She skidded to a halt as a thought hit her, then whirled and pointed her broom in the vague direction of her dormitory. 'Accio broomstick!' she yelled above the wind, smiling as she remembered Harry doing the same in her third year.

I can feel his approach

Like a fire in my blood

Ginny hardly allowed the broomstick to halt before she leapt astride it, barely avoiding sitting on Pig, who was gripping the twigs for dear life and looking absolutely terrified. She picked him up and let him huddle under her cloak in the relative dry as she pushed off from the ground, flying faster and harder than she thought she could, the wind whipping her hair out behind her and making her eyes water.

I need a hero

I'm holding out for a hero 'till the end of the night

Ginny didn't notice how long she'd been flying until the sky started to lighten. She glanced up in shock; how far away was Harry? The rain had stopped some while back, though she hadn't noticed at the time. Shivering slightly in the chill wind, Ginny urged her broom faster still.

He's gotta be strong

And he's gotta be fast

And he's gotta be fresh from the fight

She landed in the clearing where Harry had been fighting. A couple of Death Eaters lay around her on the floor, one next to a burnt bush. She shivered and looked away from his mangled body, refusing to notice the many spell marks - scorched grass and trees oozing sap, cracks in the stone cave behind her, the blood staining the grass in the centre...

I need a hero

I'm holding out for a hero 'till the morning light

Ginny bent to pick up her broom again, wiping away tears with a half frozen hand. Pig huddled tighter into her neck, hiding under her hair from the destruction around them. Of course he wasn't here; he wouldn't have waited. When she was in the air again Ginny focused on Harry's heart beat, trying to find where he was, but her own heart was almost drowning his out. She swallowed a sob, despairing at the sheer hopelessness of the world. She was stranded in the middle of nowhere, who knew how far from home, and she couldn't even find Harry...

He's gotta be sure

Pig peeped gently in her ear, nibbling it affectionately. She batted him away, and he hovered in front of her face, reminding her of all the times he'd delivered her letters before... Ginny gasped, reaching into her pocket and pulling out the letter. Hurriedly she tore off a mostly dry part from the bottom, then cast around for a writing spell.

And it's gotta be soon

'Scriptis,' she muttered, then directed the stream of ink as if she were conducting a muggle orchestra. The words, when she had finished, were shaky, but legible. Ginny tied the parchment to Pig's leg, then released him. 'Take us to Harry, Pigwidgeon.' She whispered as the tiny owl bobbed slightly in the wind.

And he's gotta be larger than life

She flew slower now, lead by an owl and a heartbeat in the grey light of dawn to the place where Harry waited.

Larger than life.

- Fin -