Of Death, Love, and Rebirth

Of Death, Love, and Rebirth

Death. 01

Ginny sat underneath the giant willow beside the lake, reading a muggle novel she had borrowed from Hermione's infinite library of resource books. She had finished her lunch earlier on, having fed much of it to the giant squid that resided in the lake. For some strange reason, the giant squid had taken an instant liking to her, whether it was her that it liked or the lunches that she brought for it, Ginny wasn't sure. But at least one thing was for certain, the giant squid seemed to enjoy her lunch much more than Ginny herself, sometimes it'd even stretch a tentacle lazily out of the water for Ginny to shake.

She could see a few other students about the school grounds, mostly in pairs and partially covered by bushes and shrubs they had taken camouflage in. As she was settling herself more comfortably on the grass, ready to immerse herself once again in the book, a loud rustling noise paused her movements. Thinking it was another snogging couple, she was about to turn around and shoo them away when the loud rustling became louder, it was definitely not just a couple snogging. In fact, it sounded rather like a whole herd of animals, or perhaps people, trudging through the forest.

As if on cue, a group of black clad figures, a dozen or slightly more, sprung out from the low bushes at the entrance of the Forbidden Forest. Most of the students on the grounds hadn't noticed the new arrivals, but one first year Ravenclaw stood in direct line of vision of the figures. Ginny tried to catch her eye and tell her to run away but she was frozen stiff with fear, staring at the figures with wide eyes.

Cursing quietly, Ginny picked herself up and strode over to the girl, blocking the black figures' view of her. Through the corner of her mouth she whispered,
"Go get Dumbledore," before giving the first year a firm shove toward the castle. Turning back around, she whipped out her wand and directed it at the figure in the center.

"Who are you? I demand you all to reveal yourselves!" she said, silently congratulating herself for keeping her voice steady. She could hear shouts and some murmurs behind her and knew that the other students had finally spotted their 'guests'.

"They're going to alarm everyone, silence them," one of the black figures ordered. All at once the figures began to spread out, some running to the other side of the lake, others heading for the front door of the castle.

"Stop!" Ginny cried, as the hooded figures swept past her as if she were a mere garden statue. She lunged toward the nearest figure who sidestepped her easily.

"Silencio," the figure said almost lazily. "Stupefy!" he cried, aiming his wand at a couple that had come out from the bushes.

Unable to use her voice, she once again threw herself at the figure while his wand was still aimed elsewhere. They landed on the ground in a heap, tumbling around, each trying to get the upper hand. Finally, in a burst of strength, the figure threw Ginny off him.

"Avada Kedavra!" a voice hissed. Ginny felt her stomach drop as she heard the words.

"No!" she silently screamed, before the world turned black.

~~~

Harry sat at the table in the far corner of the library staring intently at his hands, which were clasped tightly in front of him on the table. He willed himself not to look up at the expectant face situated directly opposite him, because he knew the moment he did, control would begin to seep away.

"Where's Ron?" He winced as his voice came out high pitched and squeaky.

"He's in the common room supervising," Hermione answered vaguely, staring intently at Harry. "Harry, it's not like you to shut yourself up like this. Usually, you'd be storming about thinking of ways to join the action," she said softly, touching his arm in a gentle gesture.

Harry stared at Hermione's pale hand gently grasping his arm, and felt his muscles tighten up involuntarily. "Look, the last time I stuck my nose in where it didn't belong, Sirius died. I'm not going to go about pretending to be a hero while those around me die to save my acts of stupidity," he said quietly, mentally forcing his eyes to look away from those slender fingers.

"Harry, you did what you thought was right, even Dumbledore admitted it was wrong of him to keep secrets from you. We're all counting on you," said Hermione, her brown eyes staring back at him in sincerity. Harry felt himself losing his grip on sanity; he leaned forward, his mind full of images of Hermione's soft lips over his... "Especially Ginny," Hermione added.

Harry snapped out of his daydream and blinked, focusing on her face. "Ginny?" he asked dumbly.

"Yes, Ginny's been really worried about you this past week, but you won't even talk to her. I saw her over by the lake on my way here, I think you owe her an apology," Hermione said, her expression turning stern. Harry nearly groaned as reality set in; all he wanted to do was take Hermione and snog her senseless.

"I'm not in love with Ginny! I'm in love with YOU!" He wanted to shout at her; instead, he ran his hand through his hair and slumped back into the seat. "I'm fine, I just want to be alone for a while," he said tiredly.

He walked over to the window and peered out at the forbidden forest, only turning back around when he heard the library door close. Sighing, he sat down on the floor limply. Why does everyone expect me to save the world? If only they knew, if only they knew that I was a mistake. I'm a hero because Voldemort made a mistake, if he had chosen Neville then I would be a nobody right now.

His stomach grumbled and he unconsciously looked up at the plate of sandwiches Hermione had brought in, sitting neatly on the table. Hermione. All sane thoughts told him to stay away from her, that she was his best friend's girl and no good could come from his attraction. Perhaps that's why he dwelled so frequently on the voice of insanity, Harry thought wryly as he took a bite of his sandwich. The voice of insanity that assured him it was natural to develop an attraction to Hermione, she was smart, she was pretty, she was direct, never playing games with you like Cho. Yet he knew that none of that mattered because even if she was none of those things he'd still love her. The numerous life and death experiences they had gone through together had forged a bond too thick to break, he couldn't imagine a life without Hermione in it, it was simply unthinkable.

Making his way out of the library, Harry headed toward the direction of Gryffindor Tower, his face set into a determined grimace. A voice at the back of his mind vaguely told Harry that it was insane to tell Hermione about his feelings, that it would only ruin their friendship, but Harry pushed it away and let his insanity take over. It was now or never.

~~~

Hermione stepped into the common room tiredly, looking around for a familiar mop of red hair above the crowd of chatting students. Sure enough, she spotted him playing exploding snap with the boys, she watched as Ron made his way through the crowd toward her.

"How's Harry?" he asked, as they walked over to the couches.

"Still won't talk to anyone. I just don't understand, he always tells us everything Ron, no matter what it is, but now it's like he can't even trust us," Hermione said dejectedly.

"Let's go see Hagrid, maybe he'll be able to talk some sense into Harry," Ron suggested.

"But you know we can't Ron, we're supposed to be supervising the first and second years, what if someone gets hurt?

"Hermione, don't be a prat, they'll be just fine without us," Ron replied impatiently.

"Well what if Professor McGonagall catches us walking around while we're on Prefect duties?"

"You've got a point there, let's borrow Harry's invisibility cloak then," Ron said, warming up to the idea.

"Oh alright, but I still don't like it," Hermione agreed finally at the childish glee on Ron's face.

They made their way up to the sixth year boys' dormitory, Ron rummaging around in Harry's trunk while Hermione sat on his bed. A gentle breeze swept in through the open window and she raised her head to meet it.

"Ow!"

"What's wrong?" Ron asked, turning around from Harry's trunk. Hermione was covering one of her eyes and wincing in pain.

"Something went into my eye," she complained, rubbing her eyes.

"Don't rub your eyes! It only makes it worse, here, let me take a look." Ron walked over to where she was sitting on the bed and tilted her chin up, resting one hand beside her on the bed, he bent down to examine her eye.

Both of them were so focused, Ron on Hermione's eye and Hermione on not blinking, that neither of them heard the slight creak as the door to the dormitory opened, admitting a black-haired boy.

Harry gaped at the scene before him, unwilling to believe his eyes, there in front of him were his two best friends snogging on his bed! Ron had one hand on her face and the other rested beside her lap, as her head tilted itself up to meet his lips.

He slowly backed up against the wall and let himself out quietly, limbs still numb from the shock coursing through him. As the numbness wore off, he began to feel the anger seep in, how could they, his two best friends not even bother to tell him that they were together? Even though everyone had known they'd eventually get together, he would have appreciated some notice. Some kind of warning so that he could prepare his crazy heart for that explosion of pain, to prepare his frozen limbs to carry him quickly and silently from that heartbreaking sight before him. Harry paused his thoughts as he realized he sounded like an excerpt from a bad romance novel. He shook his head, and his old English teacher had often commented on his lack of dramatics, he ought to write it all down and mail it to her.

He sighed at his lame attempts to redirect his crazy thoughts, the sight of his two best friends on his bed came back to focus and Harry found himself punching the stonewall violently. When he finally stopped due to the sharp pain traveling up his arm, his knuckles were already bloodied and swollen. He sank to the floor as a single moan escaped his lips, was he destined to lose every person that he dared to love? First his parents, then Sirius, and now Ron and Hermione had found solace in each other.

What about him? He was the great Harry Potter, hero of the wizarding world when he saved them from Voldemort. But when he tries to warn them of their impending doom, they treat him as a mental patient and suspect he is actually the dark heir himself. When would everyone stop judging him and allow him to live his own life? He could feel the pressure of being Harry Potter pressing down upon him, crushing him; he got up and made his way down the hall quickly. He had to find a place to be alone, somewhere where nobody could find him and judge him, or worse, hurt him.

Eventually he found himself in the entrance hall facing the suits of armor, briefly, the thought of kicking it in the shin flickered through his mind, but he decided that he didn't want to risk the idea of being chased down the hallways by clanking metal. He heard the distant sound of a scream pierce the air and was about to go out onto the grounds to investigate when the great oak front doors of the castle were thrown open. By the time he had taken out his wand, one of the black-cloaked figures had raised his wand at Harry.

"Expelliarmus!" A blinding pain burst through Harry's body as he was flung against the wall before his vision dimmed and darkness took over.

~~~

Ginny woke up with a splitting headache; every inch of her body was aching with the tightness of sore muscles. She pressed a hand to her ribs and immediately hissed in pain, she was sure she had broken a few ribs, though she couldn't recall when she had been hit. She felt an odd sort of nervousness as she slowly opened her eyes, squinting her eyes to focus on her surroundings. The blurry image of a large room with white walls and a window to the right greeted her. She rubbed her eyes a few times and blinked, but still her vision was hazy as if she were seeing everything through a thick fog. Another strange thing besides her eyes was her body; it felt heavier and more bulky and she had a hard time maneuvering her limbs to her desire.

Thoroughly irritated, she got up slowly and eased herself along the wall of the room in search of the bathroom. She found it with some difficulty and stepped inside. Immediately there was a scream, Ginny jumped back in surprise.

"What are you doing here? You have your own bathroom next door! Why, if you weren't a patient, I'd report you straight away Mister!" a shrill voice cried, shoving her out the door.

"Sorry miss," Ginny managed to get out before the door was slammed in her face. Ginny frowned, her voice sounded rather hoarse, deep, like that of a man's. Her eyebrows knotted together as she began wondering why the lady had called her 'mister', and why there were separate bathrooms for patients. Shrugging, she made her way next door and pushed it open, going to the sink to splash some water onto her face. As the cool liquid spread over her flushed cheeks she breathed a sigh and looked up at herself in the mirror.

She squinted slightly and leaned closer to the mirror, strange, she could have sworn a tall figure with black hair was staring back at her. Then it struck her, Harry!

"Harry? What are you doing here?" There was no reply. She tilted her head to the right; the figure tilted their head to the right. She leaned back and waved, the figure leaned back and waved. A wave of shock passed through her aching muscles, numbing it for a moment. Making her way back to her bed, her hands felt on top of the bedside drawer in search of something familiar, a gnawing suspicion in the pit of her stomach. At last, her hands closed over cool glass, using both hands, she found the rims of the glasses and pushed it onto her face.

The world came into clear focus immediately and Ginny stared at her surroundings for a moment. The white walls, and white beds that lined the room clearly indicated she was in a medical clinic. She looked around for any familiar features but found none, so it couldn't be the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts, could it be she was at St Mungo's?

"Oh goodness you're awake Mr Potter!" a female voice cried, Ginny whipped around at the mention of Potter. Could it be that Harry...

"Are you talking to me?" she asked tentatively, backing away slightly from the short, smiling woman in front of her.

"Well I don't see another Harry Potter here, do you?" the woman replied pleasantly, beaming. She steered Ginny back to her bed and sat her down, proceeding to take her temperature and examine her bandages to see how the ribs were mending. "You had some rather nasty injuries, Mr Potter, but don't worry, another two days and we'll have them fixed right up."

"What happened? Why am I here?" Ginny asked, feeling a headache coming on.

"Oh it was terrible, you must still be in shock to have forgotten what happened," the mediwitch replied, tears glistening in her eyes. "Hogwarts was attacked by Death Eaters! We've got over three dozen injured students here at St Mungo's, but I heard one poor soul didn't make it," her voice cracked at the last words and Ginny felt her stomach twist into a knot.

"W-who was it?" she asked, dreading the answer.

"It was one of the Weasleys! Ginny, I think her name was," the mediwitch replied. "She's a friend of yours isn't she? Oh I'm so sorry!"

"G-Ginny Weasley?" Ginny repeated, as her legs collapsed from under her. She sat down on the hospital bed heavily and shook her head in denial. "When did this happen? How long have I been in hospital for?" Ginny demanded.

"You've been unconscious for a week now, I heard the funeral is today, at the small Weasley family graveyard."

"I have to go, I have to go now," Ginny muttered, getting up again. The mediwitch firmly pushed her back.

"No no, I couldn't possibly let you out of the hospital in these conditions Mr Potter, you're still in a critical state. Besides, the funeral's already started, I doubt you'd make it," she said with concern.

"I have to go! I'm not-" Ginny paused, telling the mediwitch that she was not Harry Potter but Ginny Weasley was just like asking for a life sentence in the psychiatric ward. "I have to see Ginny one last time, she was a very dear friend of mine. Please...Judy," Ginny pleaded, reading the nametag the mediwitch wore on her uniform.

"I-I, oh all right, but I warn you, if your wounds get worse, you have only yourself to blame Mr Potter," the mediwitch said sternly. Then more gently, "I'll ask them to arrange a portkey for you, you couldn't possibly travel by floo in this state."

After thanking her profusely, Ginny followed the mediwitch to the ground floor and waited as the mediwitch obtained a portkey from an elderly man with silver white hair.

"Here you are Mr Potter, this will take you right to the entrance. Please extend my condolences to the Weasleys," the mediwitch said, pressing a box into Ginny's hand.

"Thank you, I will," Ginny replied, quickly sliding the top of the box open and touching the green stone inside it. A pull began from her navel and she felt herself being sucked into the stone. As soon as the feeling had come, it went, leaving Ginny stumbling to regain her bearings.

She was standing outside a large cemetery with row upon row of headstones; it was familiar to her, as this was where her grandparents' ashes were buried. It was the Weasley tradition to be cremated after death, Ginny's stomach dropped at the thought of her body being cremated. Hurriedly, she made her way through the rows of headstones looking right and left for any sign of a gathering. Finally, near the last few rows, she saw a small group of people gathered to the left. Most of them had the telltale red hair of the Weasleys; she hurried over.

"Harry! You're awake! What are you doing here, you should be at St Mungo's!" Ron cried as he spotted Ginny. He came forward to greet her but Ginny brushed past him and through the crowd. What met her eyes made her knees weak and she felt herself fall to the ground, kneeling. In front of her, stood a large urn ready to be deposited in the ground.

"No! No, this can't be happening, how could I have died?" Ginny cried, the tears spilling from her eyes.

"Harry, I know it's hard for you to accept, but Ginny's gone, she isn't coming back," Ron said as gently as he could, trying to pull Ginny up. Nobody had noticed Ginny's slip of the tongue in the mournful atmosphere surrounding the group.

"No! You don't understand! I'm not dead! I'm Ginny!" she cried, looking into the eyes of everyone present. Her mother looked away as Ginny met her eyes, in her hands was a large black and white photo frame with her picture, silently, Ginny studied her portrait; trademark freckles and a slightly toothy grin, wild hair that frizzed at the ends and tied down in two plaits. She could feel everyone's curious glances at her, wondering if perhaps their Harry was in shock. With a frustrated growl, she grabbed the photo frame from her mother and smashed it to the ground, listening as the glass shattered into a thousand pieces. There was dead silence as everyone stared at her, horrified.

"He's probably in shock," Hermione spoke up, glancing nervously at Ron.

"Yeah, he doesn't mean any of this, he probably woke up and heard about Ginny's death and went into shock. It's all right. We should probably get him back to St Mungo's," Ron agreed, looking at his family pleadingly.

Everyone slowly nodded their heads in agreement, shooting sideway glances at Ginny when they thought she wasn't looking.

"We know you loved her very much," Molly Weasley said, patting Ginny on the shoulder as she dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief. Defeated, Ginny could do nothing else but watch as they finished the ceremony and her ashes were buried up and her marble headstone planted, her name gleaming in the sun.