Promise

Chapter 4

SIX YEARS LATER

Harry Potter busily made his way through the thick crowds of Diagon Alley, his mind elsewhere. He was making his way to meet Ron at Flourish and Blotts and was already very late. Checking his pockets for money he collided with a stranger.

"Oh my!" squealed a women. Shopping bags went everywhere.

"Oh...Sorry miss. Here, let me help you with that..." Harry began as he attempted to help the forlorn looking women struggling to stand.

"No, no, it's fine, I can manage," the women protested, but trailed off as she looked up and was met by the startled emerald gaze of Harry Potter...someone she knew very well, and hadn't seen in six years. He was much taller, and no longer weak and scrawny, but instead trim, fit, and muscular.

'Extremely muscular...' said the annoying voice in the back of her head. 'I wonder what he looks like- SHUT UP!' she mentally scolded herself, blushing a little.

"Harry!" she exclaimed at the same time as Harry cried out, "Ginny!"

"Wow," she let out a nervous laugh, unsure of what to make of this all. "It's been a while, hasn't it?" she remarked.

"Yeah...Yeah it has..." Harry said eyeing her. She had filled out in all the right places, had grown a good two inches, and now looked like a women instead of the girl he once knew her as. She had been carrying about five shopping bags filled to the brim with purchased items.

Just then, a little girl with flaming red locks and vivid blue eyes flounced forward in the crowd.

"Mummy!" she cried. "Mummy! I don't wanna leave uncle Ron!" she started to tear up and clung to her mother's trench coat possessively, suddenly aware of Harry's company. "Who are you?" she asked curiously. Her question remained unanswered.

"Mummy?!" Harry exclaimed smiling. "Wow! Ginny...I never thought..."

"Yeah, I know...me neither. It was sudden." she smiled rather sheepishly. "Harry, this is my daughter, Annabelle Finnigan." Another surprise for Harry.

"Finnigan? You mean as in Seamus? Wow! Where is the old bloke?!" Harry asked eagerly.

Ginny looked as if he just brought the subject up as a cruel joke. "Harry, you know perfectly well where he is..."

"Ginny, what do you mean?" Harry asked dubiously, craning his neck over the crowd expecting to see the bubbly, Irish teenager he once shared a dormitory with.

'Oh my god, he doesn't know.' Ginny thought to herself. She bit her lip for a few moments, trying to figure out a way to put the words delicately.

"Harry....Seamus is dead. He died two years ago...didn't you know that? We thought the news had reached you...Oh, I'm so sorry, I thought you knew..." she said. The look in her eyes still held sorrow from his death, and Harry could plainly see that.

Seeing the shocked face Harry was wearing, Ginny decided to leave Annabelle with Ron, and take Harry to The Leaky Cauldron to talk things over.

Making their way towards the Leaky Cauldron, Ginny couldn't help but smile as a familiar scent drifted off of Harry. The smell of shampoo, and something masculine, was so comforting to her she almost caught herself regretting ever letting him go. Not until they had got their drinks, Harry brushed his stubborn black hair out of his eyes, and attempted to speak. He opened his mouth several times, tongue-tied with all the questions forming in his mind. He wanted to know everything. Every little detail. How he died, when Ginny found out, where and when the funeral was, did they ever get married, was he even invited if they had? He opened his mouth again, and thankfully words came out.

"How did it happen?" He looked over at Ginny who was fiddling with the ring on her finger.

She took a deep breath. "Well, to tell you the truth, I don't know. They wouldn't tell me. They said that it was too brutal...and that alone just makes me terrified. I know it had something to do with Voldemort, but that's all the information I had gotten. And you know what, Harry? I'd rather live not knowing. I think it's better that way." Harry nodded understandingly and glanced at her ring that she was fingering once again.

Once again, Harry couldn't speak. Ginny knew that he didn't want to remain on the subject of Seamus' death anymore.

"Were you married?" Harry asked, and Ginny snapped out of her daze.

Ginny looked puzzled, then looked down at her ring and laughed. "Hell no, Harry! We were merely dating, and much too young to make the right choices. That's when Annabelle came along...and well, we didn't know what to do. We knew we shouldn't force marriage just because of a child, so we didn't. This ring," she gestured towards her hand. "is called a Claddagh ring..." she paused. "It symbolizes love, royalty, and friendship. You see, Seamus gave it to me when we started dating. He said that for hundreds of years throughout Ireland, these rings have been made to give to women in a relationship. If the heart in the middle is facing out, it means that you're heart isn't taken. But if it is facing inwardly, you're heart belongs to someone else. It's kind of like a promise ring..."

She looked up at him and a familiar feeling of admiration washed over Ginny and she realized that she felt increasingly comfortable talking to him, and at the same time, he felt his old feelings for her come surging back over him, after being buried for years in the depths of his soul.

"What? What'd I say?" Ginny asked smirking.

"Nothing..." he had a pensive look on his face as he reached up and tucked a loose curl behind her ear.

"Okay...well, it's getting late. I should be going. Ron is going to think I've eloped with you." she said, laughing softly. 'Actually, that wouldn't be so ba-STOP IT GINNY!' She scolded herself again.

"I'll walk you home," Harry offered.

"Oh no, I'll be fine, you don't have to." Ginny declined, blushing.

"I want to..." he persisted.

"Well, okay. But we better be going."

After leaving several galleons on the counter, Harry and Ginny made their way outside into the whirling blizzard. Ginny pulled her cloak around her tightly and felt a protective arm pull her close. She was glad her face was hidden inside her cloak's hood, for she was sure she was blushing furiously. She was baffled by the fact that, STILL, whenever he touched her she became gigglish and terribly girly.

As they were nearing Flourish and Blotts Harry stopped dead in his tracks. Ginny sensed him stop walking and turned around.

"Harry? Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

"Ginny...About that night in the common room--"

"Oh Harry..." she said, tears forming in her eyes. "It's ok, I know..."

"I never meant to hurt you or force you into something..."

"I know..." she said understandingly, and squeezed his hand reassuringly.

Harry didn't have to say anything, he knew she understood. Without saying another word, they started walking again, but this time closer together. It was like a new understanding had formed between them. They came to the old bookstore and Harry announced he'd better leave. They stood awkwardly in front of one another, not sure whether to hug, kiss, or shake hands.

"Well it was grea-" Ginny began, but was interrupted by Harry's lips gently brushing hers. She found herself kissing him back and ran her fingers through his unruly black tresses. After several moments of pure bliss that they were deprived from throughout all these years, they broke away, and gazed starry eyed at one another. Very subtly, Harry reached for Ginny's ring finger and gently reversed the ring, so the heart was facing inwards.

"You're taken," he whispered, and his lips formed into a brilliant smile.

*~FINISHED~*