He Was Supposed To Live

    Ginny awoke to see bright lights, and a fuzzy face hovering above her. Crying out in alarm, she jumped up, fully expecting to slam heads with whomever had been watching her. Instead though, her head passed right through the other’s head, and a sharp pain hit her from her chest.

    “Ginny!” the fuzzy-faced person exclaimed. The redhead blinked several times in succession and focused on her visitor. When black hair, green eyes, and a vivid scar were what she saw, she knew she had to be dreaming.

    “Harry?” she murmured, holding her stomach and rubbing at her eyes vigorously with her free hand. He nodded, an excited look upon his face. Ginny eyed him and he came into sharper focus. It was then that she realized he was transparent. “Oh no, Harry!” she cried mournfully. He reached out with ghostly limbs and caught her hands, lacing his fingers through hers.

    “Ginny, are you okay?” he asked worriedly, his emerald eyes sweeping her form. Then they returned to stare intensely into her own brown ones. She nodded slightly without breaking eye contact. She felt that she could stare into those green orbs all day, just drinking in the sight of him.

    “Y- yeah, I think so,” she whispered. Still staring into his eyes, she leaned forward slightly. Without thinking, she tried to brush her lips against his in a gentle kiss, but unlike their joined hands, his lips were illusory. Her attempt to kiss him though, seemed to break Harry out of a trance.

    “Ginny, why did you try and kill yourself? How could you? I told you I wanted you to live! And what, did you think killing yourself would bring us back together? Well, it wouldn’t! All your suicide attempt did was upset everyone! It brought me back here, sent your family into St. Mungo’s to wait in some sterile room in fear of your life, it hurt you! There was no good in it! None at all! Ginny, I love you so much, and the thought of you dying pains me beyond words! I don’t want you here, where no one can see you! I don’t want you to miss out on the joys of life! There’s so much to live for!” Harry went off, now quite angry with her. Ginny recoiled, letting go of his hands and pulling herself into a small ball on the bed. Tears sprang to her eyes as she listened quietly. She had only wanted to be with him. The thought of living without him was unbearable, she had to find some way to tell him that… and make him believe it. Then, something he had said hit her.

    “Wait a minute!” she interrupted, stopping him in the middle of his tirade. “What do you mean, no one can see you? I can see you!” He looked down at her miserably and sat down in one of the chairs by her bedside.

    “No one but you and Hermione can see me. You can see me because you're the one that brought me back. Hermione can see me because something strange happened and we connected in the waiting room, when Ron was having a fit about not being allowed to help you,” Harry explained. Ginny still felt confused. Weren’t ghosts visible to everyone? Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost at Hogwarts, was pretty much easy to see. Before she could say anything though, a red haired head poked through the hospital room door cautiously. Upon seeing that Ginny was awake though, the face filled with joy and let out a whoop. Ron rushed into the room and enveloped her in a huge hug, crushing her to him. Ginny winced in the pain in her chest the hug caused, and Harry frowned.

    “Ron, stop!” Harry growled, looking frustrated when the elder boy showed no signs of hearing him. Ginny sighed and made a small noise of pain.

    “Ron, let go. That’s hurts,” she wheezed. Eyes wide, Ron immediately let go and pulled away. His eyes, however wide, were filled with joy though.

    “Ginny, you’re okay!” he cried, clearly restraining himself from hugging her again. “Oh, we’ve been so worried about you!”

    “I know…” she replied wryly, rubbing her chest. “Har-ry told me…” Ginny trailed off when she saw Harry waving his arms frantically and shaking his head no. Ron was suddenly giving her an odd look.

    “Harry told you?” he asked, crossing his arms. “Harry as in the Harry that just died?”

    “Tell him no, tell him no!” Harry said vehemently, shaking his head to emphasize it. “Tell him that Harry’s the name… of some medi-wizard! Just don’t, whatever you do, don’t tell him you're talking about me!”

    “No, no, of course not…” Ginny fibbed, looking at Harry out of the corner of her eye. “Harry’s the name of some- the medi-wizard who came in to check on me.”

    “Oh. Oh good…” Ron sighed in relief. “I was afraid that…” He trailed off and didn’t finish the sentiment. Now it was her turn to eye him.

    “You were afraid that what?” she asked. Ron gave her a fake grin and shook his head.

    “Nothing. Don’t worry about it, Ginny.” Ginny looked at Harry for an explanation. Harry had a grim look on his face.

    “What is he talking about?” she asked Harry.

    “Ginny, I’m not here!” Harry exclaimed, putting a hand to his face. “Stop talking to me or he’ll have the medi-wizard come get you, just like he did to Hermione when she told them that she could see me!”

    “You what?” Ginny cried, glaring at Ron.

    “What- what are you talking about?” Ron repeated, sounding unsure of himself. Ginny gave him a death look and he began to back away, amidst Harry’s laughter.

    “You had Hermione taken away just because she said she could see Harry?” Ginny’s tone was dangerous, and Ron looked suitably scared.

    “H- how did you know that?” he asked frightfully.

    “Harry told me. And no, not some medi-wizard named Harry, Harry as in the man I love!” Ginny swung her feet over the side of her bed to go after Ron, but Harry grabbed her and tried to hold her back. To his surprise, he was actually able to hold on to her.

    “Ginny, calm down. Ron’s been under a lot of pressure lately. Let him alone,” Harry said soothingly as Ginny struggled against him. Then he bowed his head down and kissed her on the cheek. That made her stop.

    “Wha- what’s going on?” Ron cried, eyes wide. “I don’t get it!”

    “How could you?” Ginny whispered. Harry reached down and wiped at the tears that now stained her cheeks. She turned and buried her face in his chest. Ron stared at Ginny incredulously as Harry pet her head, running his hands through her hair. Then, Ron’s eyes glazed over. Harry recognized the look.

    “Ron?” he asked hesitantly, reaching out an arm to his best friend. As soon as his finger tips brushed up against Ron’s form, sparks ignited and Ron jumped. The redhead looked at Harry, blinked and rubbed his eyes, then simply stared.

    “Harry?” Ron whispered. Ginny looked up cautiously to find Ron staring straight at them.

    “Ron? Can you see him?” she asked hopefully. Suddenly Ron was moving. Ginny darted to the side as her brother enveloped Harry in a tight bear hug.

    “Lucky I don’t have to breathe…” Harry wheezed, laughing slightly. Ron flushed and backed off. He put his hands on Harry’s shoulder and held him back, looking him over.

    “Hermione wasn’t mad, was she?” he said, more of a statement than a question. Harry shook his head.

    “No, she wasn’t. But you called the medi-wizard and got her taken away.” Ron bowed his head slightly, looking ashamed.

    “But, Harry-” Ron started. Harry cut him off before he could continue though.

    “Ron, you know how smart Hermione is. She’s not to type who falls apart under stress. Don’t you remember what happened on the train home fifth year? When Voldemort took me and you were sure he’d killed me? She didn’t fall apart then, why would she now?”

    “I- I don’t know. It was just so… I mean, you were gone, my best friend in the world, my sister was near death, and then it seemed Hermione had gone mad… I didn’t know what to do…” Tears welled up in Ron’s eyes and he visibly held them back. Ginny came up and wrapped her arms around both Ron and Harry.

    “It’s okay, it’s going to be okay…”

*    *    *

    Blue eyes peered through the crack in the door to Ginny Weasley’s door. Keen ears listened as two redheads conversed with someone unseen, but who most probably had green eyes and black hair. The eyes observed an invisible force comforting the sixth year Gryffindor, then the seventh year. And an acute intellect put two and two together.

    Harry Potter died. At his funeral, the woman he loved most, the woman who most loved him, attempted to commit suicide. At the hospital, Hermione Granger, seemingly mad, said she could see Harry Potter standing before her. Now, in Ginny Weasley’s room, both Ginny and her brother Ron claimed to be able to see Harry standing there.

    The ancient magic had been invoked. For the first time in centuries, the primordial Life Bond had taken place. Through their love, Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley had pulled each other back from the brink of death.