I Saw My Lady Weep

Chapter Three: There's Nothing Yet Has Really Sunk In

Harry quickly moved to support Ginny. With one hand he made sure she wasn't about to slide off the bench on they were sitting. With the other, he gently held her hair back out of the way. When the convulsions and dry heaves were over, Harry rubbed her back, gently, as she collected herself. He looked around at the table, but didn't see any...

Out of nowhere, Luna, still acting as the guardian for the pair, conjured a water goblet in front of him. He nodded a thank you and handed it to Ginny. "Here. Swish around... it'll get the taste out of your mouth." Her eyes closed, Ginny only nodded and did what she was told. Harry continued to rub her back, gently and lovingly, until she recovered. She sat up, but wouldn't look directly at him.

It was clear she was embarrassed, though to Harry she had absolutely no reason to be. Casually, as if trying to safeguard her dignity, Harry Scourgified away the puddle at her feet, then acted as if it hadn't happen. "Are you going to be okay, Ginny? Do you need to lie down and rest for a moment?"

Her eyes teared and she wiped them with a sleeve. "You held my hair."

Harry nodded. "Of course I did." She sputtered at that point, the build up to what would likely be yet another good cry suddenly defused by the humor of the situation.

"But... you held my hair." She wiped at her nose vaguely. "Oh, look at me, I'm such a mess. I'm gross... how can you possibly want to be here with someone who's gross. I threw up on you, and I've got snot pouring down my nose, and I'm blubbering like..."

Harry put a finger over her mouth, then kissed her. "Think of it this way... Now you know how much I love you. Only someone who really loved you would let you throw up on them, then kiss you when your nose ran." He picked up a napkin from the table, dabbed it in the water goblet, and proceeded to clean off her face.

"You held my hair," she said, finally. "I love you, you know."

He grinned at her. "I know. I love you too. Feel better?"

She grimaced. "No, not really..." She chuckled. "I think it's going to be a while until I feel better. There's just too much going on." She took a deep breath and held it for a moment. "It's almost like I'm caught in the middle, Harry. So many people have..." She stopped, trying to find the right way to go on. "My brother... "

"Don't... Ginny, It's okay. We've got time to work all this out. There's no rush." Harry looked around at the rest of the Great Hall. "Your brothers are staring at me. Percy looks like he wants to throttle me with his bare hands right now." He pointed to where Percy and Bill sat with their father.

Ginny turned to look at her siblings and blushed; Harry found it endearing. She waved and nodded at them, and the two men visibly relaxed. "Don't worry, Harry... it's not like they can kill you. They're just worried about their baby sister." She turned to face him once more, wiping the last tears from her eyes.

Several seconds passed without either of them saying anything. "Harry," Ginny finally broke the silence. "I don't know how to feel. I'm heartbroken about Fred, and Tonks, and Lupin, but I'm happy that you, and Ron, and Hermione are all alive. I don't know how to feel right now. I feel happy that you're alive, but pissed off that you didn't tell me what you were going to do." Harry could see her anger and sorrow transforming, being replaced with feelings of solace and melancholy.

"Ginny, if I had stopped to talk to you, I never would have been able to do what I absolutely had to do." Harry held her hands in his and willed her to understand, or if not truly understand at least to accept. "It was the only way to..." He floundered as his words failed him.

"To destroy the Horcrux that was inside of you?" Ginny interjected. "No, Harry... there had to be another way."

"There wasn't. I had to let him kill me. And I had to do it willingly, without fear, for the sake of you and Ron and Hermione, and Neville."

"But it didn't work. He didn't kill you." She pulled him into a tight embrace. "You're alive. You're here." She let him go, but kept hold of his hands. "You survived." She gave his hands a squeeze, as if to reassure herself that he really was there, and to remind him of it as well.

"Yeah... I survived. I had to come back, because you were waiting for me. Nothing will ever keep me from being there for you, ever again. I'll never, ever leave you." Harry lifted one of her hands and kissed it, gently.

"Promise?"

Her eyes sparkled with the devotion and yearning she felt for him. For the first time in nearly a year, Harry finally felt safe enough to let his guard down, to no longer keep his emotions in check and to finally allow himself to feel hope. "Yes, Ginny... I promise."

He leaned in and lost himself in her kiss.

XxxxxxxxxX

From across the Great Hall, Arthur Weasley watched his daughter kiss the boy... no, he corrected himself, a boy no longer... he watched his daughter kiss the love of her life and sighed. It was difficult for a father to watch his daughter become a woman; it was painful to realize he no longer had a central role in his little girl's life. But as painful as it was, it was also beautiful; a blessing.

"Our death is not an end if we can live on in our children, and the younger generation. For they are us, our bodies are only the wilted leaved on the tree of life." Arthur smiled at himself, surprised that he said anything.

Bill looked questioningly at his father, confusion rampantly displayed on his face.

But it was Percy who replied. "Harry and Ginny, Bill. Harry and Ginny. They've got it all figured out. Here we all are, all broken and heart-sick over the death of our family and our friends." Percy gestured, including everyone in the Great Hall. Then he pointed back to Harry and Ginny. "But there... right there... is the beginning of the future. They're doing it right. They're carrying on."

Percy looked at his hands, for a moment. The death of his younger brother had hit him harder than anyone expected. Just when it looked like reconciliation... "That's what the war was about." Percy grinned, but it never reached his eyes. "Giving people like Harry and Ginny... or you, for that matter, Bill... you and Fleur... a chance to have a future together."

Arthur nodded. "Fred would be happy for them, I think."