In Your Heart

Chapter One: Lost Memories

Tears were streaming down Ginny Weasley's dirt-smudged face as sobs wracked her body. Leaning over the figure on the ground, Ginny yelled frantically, "Harry! Harry! Harry!" as if screaming his name would bring him back to her. She shook him slightly in desperation, and then collapsed into a ball next to him, rocking back and forth.

She was so consumed in her own grief that she didn't hear the soft fall of footsteps approaching. Startled out of her trance by the malicious snickering behind her, Ginny froze.

"Well, well, well, mourning over the loss of Harry Potter. I must say I don't find anything tragic about it at all, really," the cold voice sneered.

Ginny's first thought was that Voldemort was speaking to her, but it couldn't be him. She had seen Harry take him down just seconds before his own death. Standing shakily on her feet, she turned around to face the man standing a few feet away.

He looked over her with a smirk and she saw him register her unruly, fiery red hair and prominent freckles on her deathly pale skin.

"No one will miss him. He was useless and pathetic, and look where it got him," he jeered at her as he casually waved his hand towards Harry's body.

Instinctively, she reached for her wand in her robe pocket and realized with a jolt that it wasn't there. Frantically searching her robes, she stopped when she remembered dropping it in shock when Harry had been killed. The tree she had been hiding behind was too far away. She would never reach it in time.

Ginny looked up into the face of the man standing before her. She didn't recognize him at first glance. She knew he was definitely a Death Eater though. She could tell by the stench and state of his clothing, the hard look in his eyes, and the jeering tone.

"No wand? What a shame. I was looking forward to seeing your pathetic attempts at fighting me. No matter, I shall enjoy killing you all the same. My master died on this battlefield and I will make sure you pathetic blood traitors pay for it," he spat at her, rage and anger etched into his mud-splattered face.

Slowly and tauntingly he pulled his wand out of his pocket and focused it on her chest.

"Take a good look around you. This is the world you'll be leaving behind." He gestured at the blood-streaked landscape behind him. Bodies lay everywhere.

Ginny could hear moans and cries of pain in the distance. But what unnerved her the most was that she and the Death Eater seemed to be alone. Where is everyone? she thought desperately. Although she knew there must be plenty of casualties, surely she wasn't the only survivor.

Eyes darting back and forth, Ginny looked for anything that she could use to distract the Death Eater in order to try and run for it. Her search yielded nothing. Slowly, she looked up into the Death Eaters cold, pale eyes.

He seemed amused by her anxious searching. "Nothing to help you here, nothing at all. No, I'm afraid you're all alone," he mocked her. "All of your little friends have died, and have died for nothing. You fools don't realize that while you may have managed to kill the Dark Lord, there are plenty willing and able to take his place. You fight a fruitless battle. Dark will always prosper, no matter how you try to stop it prevailing."

Obviously expecting her to cower in fear over his chilling monologue, the Death Eater smiled threateningly at her. "Say goodbye to the light, my dear, and say hello to the dark." He lifted his wand and pointed straight at her heart.

She closed her eyes and waited for death to come.

"Avada Kedavra!"

A flash of green streaked out and hit its target square on the chest, as its victim fell in a crumpled heap to the ground.

Ginny looked around, rooted to the spot, daring not to breathe. Looking at the heap on the ground a few feet in front of her, it took her a few seconds to realise someone else had cast the curse. It had come from a hooded figure in the shadows a few feet away.

Panting heavily, she looked up into the stranger's eyes, the only part of his face visible. She thought something about those eyes looked familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had seen them before. Holding her glance for a brief second, the masked figure turned on his heels and stalked away.

Shivering from, cold, lack of food, exhaustion and grief, Ginny sat on the ground to keep from fainting. For what seemed like hours before someone found her, she kept from going mad with sorrow by wondering about the masked stranger who had saved her life.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A year later, Ginny sat in her mum's kitchen in the Burrow sipping steaming French vanilla coffee while her mother scolded her.

"Honestly, Gin, I don't know why you won't go and at least apply. You got top grades in almost all of your NEWTS. You are plenty qualified," Mrs. Weasley rambled. "It'll be good for you to get out of the house and do something. Not that your father and I mind you being here."

She paused in her breakfast preparations and came over to give Ginny a hug. "But you're eighteen, and a beautiful girl with your whole life ahead of you." She ran her hand over Ginny's long French braid. "We want you to have a career and be happy."

"I'll think about it Mum," Ginny replied sleepily. "It's just been hard for me since, well, you know." Silence greeted the end of this sentence. Mrs. Weasley made an attempt at a comforting smile before returning to her morning tasks. Snapping back into reality, Ginny informed her mother of her plans that day.

"Hermione and I are going to head into London for the day. Do some shopping. Eat a lot of food and all that stuff. She says I need to buy things. Honestly, how could walking around in the hot sun all day, carrying loads of heavy bags and spending tons of money on things I'll probably never use be fun?"

Her mum looked relieved to see that Ginny was smiling. "I'm glad you're getting out and about dear."

"Mum, you act like I hole myself up in this house all day, sleep all the time and never see another living soul," she responded sarcastically.

While it was true that after the war Ginny had in fact refused to come out of her room and talk to anyone, she had long since abandoned that approach to forget the past and now tried to go about things as usual.

Still, she didn't go out as much as she used to and every now and again she would stay in her room for a few hours and cry, probably causing her mother to over worry about her as she was doing now.

She wasn't the only one who was still slightly depressed. Her older brother Charlie had died during an early battle and by the end of the war many close friends had been viciously murdered. Many Order members - Professor McGonagall, Sturgis Podmore, Mad-Eye, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher and Hestia Jones - had all met an end in the final attempt at destroying Voldemort.

Although it had been a year, Ginny still found herself daydreaming about the pure emerald green colour of Harry's eyes, his unruly black hair that never sat right, and the way the muscles of his chest felt through his cotton robes as his arms held her tight.

She sighed. There was no use reminiscing, she told herself sternly. Taking the last gulp of her now cold coffee, Ginny bounded up the rickety steps two at a time and went into her room. She still had the same twin bed she had when she was eight and her nightstand was still that midnight blue she painted it after her second year at Hogwarts.

Hogwarts, she thought to herself, oh how she missed it. How the Gryffindor common room always smelled like burnt paper because Fred and George were always setting things off. How the decorations during Christmas and Halloween were always so beautiful, even those ugly hangings on the four-poster beds in the dormitories. The way she and Harry would cuddle up in front of the fire and tell each other funny stories from their childhoods. The way Harry used to always tilt his head a little to the left when he was thinking and how he used to point at things he thought were funny.

Ginny felt tears well up in her eyes and stopped her train of thought. She needed to move on. She thought about what her mum had told her earlier about working at the Ministry and resolved to consider it.

She glided over to her tiny closet and perused her options of what to wear. They would be in Muggle London today, so she donned a pair of dark denims and a fitted black t-shirt that read Gryffindor Babe in maroon. She bent over and picked up her shoes when she heard the Intruder Alarm go off.

Downstairs, she could hear her mum as she practically yelled, "Hermione! How perfectly wonderful it is to see you again, my dear!"

Hermione's voice was softer, but still audible. "Thanks, Mrs. Weasley, good to see you too. Is Ginny all ready to go yet?"

"Who knows? That girl takes forever to get ready."

Ginny smiled. It was true it did take her a long time in the morning to get ready but that wasn't because she wore excessive amounts of make-up that took forever to apply or could never pick anything to wear. She just always caught herself daydreaming or staring off into space, causing her to forget what she was about to do and lose time. She quickly grabbed her purse and hopped down the stairs.

She found her mum and Hermione chatting amiably. They both looked up and smiled when she entered the room. Ginny halted in the doorway, unsure why they were looking at her so strangely.

Hermione was the first to recover. "Hey Gin! You look great!" she said enthusiastically.

Ginny raised an eyebrow. She wasn't wearing anything fancy. "Uh-huh, well, we should get going, loads to buy and all." She smiled mischievously as Hermione giggled, gave Mrs. Weasley a quick hug and walked out the door.

Her friend still looked like the same Hermione from school. She had the same bushy brown hair, only today it was up in a messy bun, and the same plain features. Of course she still always had her nose stuck in a book and was constantly rattling off random facts about magic. Most importantly, Hermione was still Ginny's best friend, and she still fancied Ron.

After leaving Hogwarts, Ron and Hermione were too busy helping Harry find and destroy the Horcruxes for anything romantic to develop and after the war both were too emotionally drained from the death of their best friend to start a relationship.

Now however, Ginny idly wondered how she could try to get them together. There was no doubt that Ron still fancied Hermione too and they still bickered over everything, which was all the proof Ginny needed.

Before she knew it, they had reached the heart of Muggle London. She and Hermione had been wandering around the shops all day, trying on ridiculous outfits and laughing over how funny each of them looked. Ginny had just finished buying a pair of dangling earrings and a cute black mini skirt when Hermione suggested they stop for lunch.

As they were discussing the newest gossip, Hermione carefully slipped in that she had asked a couple of friends to meet up with them. After Hermione refused to say who, Ginny became slightly hesitant. She didn't like surprises and there were definitely a few people who she was not up to meeting at the moment.

However, Ginny caved when curiosity got the better of her. Inside the restaurant, she waited while Hermione scanned the crowd of lunch goers, looking for the friends they were supposed to meet. Following Hermione to a back table, Ginny spotted Dean Thomas and Ron lounging in a booth.

Dean was an old boyfriend from Hogwarts, and Hermione was obviously hoping that seeing him would set off an old spark. Well that explains the funny looks from mum earlier, she thought to herself, realising that Hermione had probably told Mrs. Weasley about meeting Dean. Sighing and sliding in next to Hermione, she amiably greeted Dean and her brother. They settled down into a quiet chat and hungrily ate when the food arrived.

Halfway through the meal, Ginny heard the bell on the door jingle. Glancing up at the noise she spotted Draco Malfoy entering with Blaise Zabini. The platinum-haired Slytherin looked even more handsome and self-assured than she remembered from school. She subconsciously noted his muscular body and perfectly groomed hair and immediately stopped the train of thought. Thinking about it only made her glare at him more fiercely as he headed towards them.

He had changed sides before the end of the war, giving the Ministry valuable information concerning the Death Eaters, and the Wizarding community had forgiven him. Ginny never did. He had never missed a chance to taunt her or her family and had done his best to make Harry's life as miserable as possible.

Ginny was so wrapped up in her own thoughts, she was startled when the men passed by their table and Zabini said, "Fine restaurant you chose, Malfoy. Filled with Weasels and Mudbloods."

Ron rose from his seat and snapped, "We have just as much right to eat here as you!"

Dean started to rise too. "If you don't like the clientele, leave, Zabini."

Arrogant dark features tightened. "Why don't you leave, Thomas, and take your filthy friends with you?"

People had stopped eating to watch the scene unfold.

Malfoy said coolly, "Don't let them ruin our lunch, Blaise. We'll talk business on the other side of the room."

Ginny stared. What was this? Malfoy passing up on a perfect chance to taunt them? Maybe he was protecting his new image as a changed man. She didn't buy it.

Zabini noticed her and sneered. "Finally came out of mourning for the late, unlamented Harry Potter, I see."

Ginny's whole body froze over when she heard Harry's name spit out like he was nothing. Narrowing her eyes, she told both men fiercely, "He was a hundred times a better man than either of you will ever be!"

Malfoy put his hand on his friend's arm and pulled him away. "They're not worth hexing. Let's find another restaurant."

Zabini curled his lip at them before following his friend toward the door.

When the men left and the other diners had gone back to their conversations, Ginny sat shaking with anger while Hermione told Ron, "I'm proud of you for keeping your temper."

Dean said, "I expected you to beat them both to a pulp."

Ron looked embarrassed but pleased with their praise. "I would have...if we'd been in an alley where I could get away with it."

Dean laughed. Hermione shook her head and smiled. Ginny stood up. "I have to go."

She grabbed her bag and headed out of the restaurant before she started screaming or

crying uncontrollably. Instead of walking the short distance to a public Floo, she Apparated right into her bedroom at the Burrow.

Ginny jumped onto her bed without even taking off her shoes, vowing she would go to the Ministry the next day and finally apply for a position as an Auror. She wasn't going to sit back and do nothing anymore.

As darkness fell, she cried herself into a deep and dreamless sleep.