Unofficial Portkey Archive

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document.write(''); Death or Something Like It

Author: Elizabeth lissag7@juno.com

Rating: Probably more around PG, but I'll PG-13 just to be safe. Some violence and allusions to more adulty things.

Summary: The final battle has taken place, and Harry and co. mourn their losses. Kind of angsty, but will become more hopeful in time.

Ships: H/Hr, D/Hr, H/G..... To be honest, I'm not really sure exactly where this is going to go, ship-wise. Give me your opinion, and I might decide to listen to it. :)

Disclaimer: Sadly, none of these characters are mine. On a side-note, I started a similar fic with Buffy, Angel, and Spike a while back that I never finished. So if you happen to be one of the three people that read that and think that I'm stealing that idea, don't worry. It's mine.

Author's note: I wanted to post these first four sections right away because they all sort of cover the same area, plot-wise. The next installments will be more about moving forward than dwelling on the past. Hope everyone enjoys, and please review.

~Ginny~

Of course, she was not so daft as to not recognize that he was hurting. When she was being romantic, she would tell people that she had loved Harry Potter from the first moment that she met him. Which wasn't true-- not really. She had been infatuated with him, of course, had practically worshipped him, but it hadn't been until the past few months that she had grown to love him. Like most people could sense a change in the weather, she could detect an alteration in his mood. And though he put on the pretense of being happy now, of being normal, she knew that he hadn't stopped mourning. Not since Hermione died.

Truth be told, she didn't really know what this meant. Being a female, she had always carried a tiny jealousy toward Hermione. No matter how much Harry grew to love her, there would always be that bond with Hermione. Whether he realized it or not, he carried her on a pedestal, which no other girl could possibly reach.

But at the same time, Ginny knew that Harry loved her. Fate had brought them together, and fate wouldn't be cruel enough to take him away now.

Still, as she watched him from across the room at his and Ron's graduation party, her mind couldn't help but wander. She saw a sudden image of him cradling Hermione's body in his arms and sobbing. Never in her life had she seen anyone cry like that; it terrified her still.

Quickly, Ginny shook her head to clear her thoughts. Then, forcing a smile, she made her way across the room and linked her arm through Harry's. He looked at her in that same dazed way that he almost always did these days, then smiled. " Hey, Ginny."

" Hey, yourself," she teased lightly. " Come on, walk with me outside. I need some fresh air."

Obligingly, he followed after her. They walked through the darkened night, winding their way through the thicket until they had reached their tree. A scene flashed quickly before her eyes, of Harry teasingly pulling her out here, necking with her behind the tree. One time, not too long ago, he had taken out his wand and solemnly inscribed their initials into the bark. That had been just a week before the battle.

Wonderingly, Harry reached out and traced his thumb over the scab of the bark. HG + GW it read.

Ginny let him have his moment, then tentatively reached out and touched his arm. " Harry...?" she inquired.

In an instant, he had turned to her and crushed his lips onto hers. Surprised, Ginny stumbled back a bit, then readily complied. His kisses had never been this way before; all of the sweet hesitancy was gone, replaced by a desperate urgency. Still, for once it seemed as though he was living, and that was something.