Harry Potter A New Star

Harry Potter was wandering the darkened halls of Hogwarts, very late at night. Harry knew he should be in the Gryffindor Common Room with the rest of the survivors, but he needed to find someone, a certain someone with flaming red hair, and a temper just as fiery.

Harry's night wanderings weren't that unusual, really. But today was a little different than him sneaking off when he was in school.

Harry no longer went to school at Hogwarts; his previous year on the run had certainly left little room for schooling.

Harry passed the Great Hall, but couldn't bring himself to look inside. _Fred is in there, Colin, Tonks, Remus. _Harry swiftly pulled his thoughts away from the people lying, ice cold in death, in the Hall.

Harry wasn't looking for anyone dead. He was looking for someone very much alive.

Harry was looking for Ginny Weasley.

Ever since he had left with Ron and Hermione to go into Dumbledore's office, he had not seen her. After his defeat of Tom Riddle, Harry had barely even glimpsed the girl he was longing to hold.

He needed to hold her, touch her, make sure she was alive, and unhurt. He needed to apologize for leaving, he needed to talk to her, and get her reassurance that she wasn't completely furious with him.

He needed to beg her to take him back.

Harry was an idiot. At least, that's what he thought of himself. He walked away from Ginny Weasley, and now he needed her back.

Sure, he thought he was doing the right thing at the time. He was keeping her safe, keeping her out of the war. He needed her safe. And he had hoped that by distancing himself from her, it would also keep her family safe.

But now, Harry was thinking that he had made the biggest mistake of his life. He hadn't really kept her safe. She had almost been killed tonight, by Bellatrix. He hadn't kept her family safe at all. Ron, lying bruised and exhausted in his bed, Mrs. Weasley, torn by the grief, a broken George, Fred's body… they were all hurting because of him, it was all his fault. He hadn't kept them out of it at all.

The Death Eaters had taken over Hogwarts, they had tortured the students, Neville had been proof of that. _They might have tortured Ginny._ The thought alone made Harry's blood boil, and only strengthened his resolve to find her faster.

Harry slipped out of the castle, and strode across the Hogwarts grounds. He suddenly knew where she was. He mentally smacked himself that it had taken him so long to think of it.

Harry marched down to the lake, more specifically a large beech tree that was sitting right on the edge.

This was their tree, the tree they spent so many stolen hours under. This was Harry's favourite place in the whole school as of his sixth year. It seemed like so long ago to him, now.

And he knew that this is where Ginny would go to think, because the only person that would think to look of her here was Harry Potter.

And she wanted him to find her.

Sure enough, as Harry got closer, he saw Ginny's hair, unmistakable even at this distance, lit by the moonlight.

Harry got closer to her huddled figure, and his heart wrenched when he heard her quiet sobs. Ginny never cried.

She heard him approach, he wasn't exactly the world's stealthiest person, but she didn't acknowledge him.

This was fine for Harry. He knew she would talk when she wanted to.

Harry sat down, joining her silent gaze over the black waters of the lake.

Ginny launched into speech, and Harry was not surprised by what she said, but it didn't mean it hurt any less, or made him any less depressed.

"He's not here anymore Harry, I know that. I know he won't open his eyes ever again. But George… George…" She chocked a little bit, before continuing in a wavering voice, "George keeps shaking him. He's telling Fred to wake up, and he keeps at it. He won't listen to any of us. He think's Fred's playing a joke on him."

"That's a bloody cruel joke, even for Fred."

Ginny did not smile, but kept talking as if Harry had never spoken.

"I know he's in denial. I'm not lying to myself, not like George. Fred's gone, he's not coming back. But that's not the hard part. I think I could deal with just Fred, but I've lost George, as well. And Ron's not the same person he was before he left. They're both gone, just like Fred. They're new people, Harry, and I don't think I can deal with that."

Harry slipped his arms around her shoulders, and lowered them both to the ground, keeping Ginny's face buried in his chest. As sobs raked her body, she lost all ability to speak.

Harry's heart was breaking to see Ginny like this, and did the only thing he knew how. He whispered sweet nothingness in her ear, kissed the top of her head, and rubbed her arms. He clung to her as tightly as she gripped him, neither willing to let go.

After about half an hour, Ginny seemed to get her tears under control, only letting a dry hiccup escape her lips every so often.

Ginny finally stopped making noise altogether, and Harry lay perfectly still, not wanting to waken her from whatever she was thinking about.

Ginny was again the first to break the silence.

She lifted her head from Harry's chest, instead placing her chin upon him, gazing into his brilliant green eyes. "Thank you, Harry. Thank you for being here, thank you for not dying. I wouldn't have lived without you."

"I'm sorry too, Gin. I'm sorry I left you here; I should have brought you with us. You had to go through all kinds of shit, you and your family, and it was all because of me."

She didn't confirm or deny this, just looked at him. Harry seemed to be struggling with something.

"Can you promise me something, Ginny?"

"Anything."

"Promise me that no matter what, you won't tell me what they did to you here, at least not until you're ready. I mean, you may be ready now, but I'm sure as hell not. I can't hear what they did to you because of me, not yet. Promise me."

Ginny slid farther up the grass, until her face was hovering over his. "I promise." She breathed against his lips, before softly lowering her mouth to his.

Harry didn't know how empty he had felt until his heart suddenly flooded with feeling. He let himself go, and was shocked at how much he had slipped away. He had almost forgotten the feel of Ginny's lips on his. He swore to himself that he would never come close to forgetting what this felt like ever again.

They kissed softly, both a little nervous at how familiar this felt, when really it should feel awkward, because of the time they had spent apart. But Harry and Ginny could easily slip back into the previous year, and for a moment they forgot the dead Voldemort, the dead Fred, Colin, Tonks, and Remus. For a moment, they forgot Ginny's hurt, and broken family, and simply dove into the feeling of being together again, after so long.

When they broke apart, it was reluctant, but necessary. They were both too drained from the day to keep kissing each other.

Ginny rolled over so she was on her back next to Harry, snuggled into his side. Harry had one arm draped across Ginny's shoulders, keeping her firmly pushed against him, reveling in the warmth radiating off of her body.

Ginny looked up at the cloudless sky, and let her eyes drift over the stars. Ginny had been looking at the stars since she was a little girl. On particularly clear nights, Ginny used to sneak out into the garden in front of her house, and just look up at the sky, memorizing the patterns of the stars. She could look at them for hours, and never get tired of them.

Right as Ginny was about to close her eyes and enjoy Harry lying next to her, her eyes locked onto a group of stars directly above the castle.

Ginny looked at them for a long time, trying to remember if she had ever seen them before. No, they were definitely new.

"Harry?" Ginny whispered into the calm summer air.

"Yes?"

"Do you see that group of stars over there? Right above the Astronomy tower."

"That cluster of three?"

"Yes, those. Have you ever seen them before?"

"Well, I can't say that I have. But I don't usually spend a lot of time looking at the stars, Ginny. I haven't had much of a chance over the years."

"Yes, but look. The one off to the right, it's bright red, see? And then the two next to it, the ones really close together, the one on the left looks… pink… almost, and the other one is really, really bright. Doesn't that seem a little odd to you?"

"I guess so, but who knows what they are?"

"It's Fred." She said, quietly, not removing her gaze from the bright group of stars.

Harry sat bolt upright. "What?"

"It's Fred. And Lupin, and Tonks. They're up there, Harry; they're looking out for us."

Harry contemplated the three stars. The brightest one seemed to be winking at him.

Harry turned and grinned at Ginny. "You know what, Gin? I think that it is them. I don't think they could leave us like this, still rebuilding and mourning. It would have been damn selfish of them."

Ginny let out a wet laugh as more tears welled in her eyes.

"Do you think they'll always be up there, Harry?"

"Oh yeah, Ginny. They're not going anywhere."


End file.

Harry Potter, Hurt-Comfort, Romance