Life Begins at 40
Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe and all the characters in it belong to J.K. Rowling. This story is a work of imagination and is directed solely at readers of this website. No infringement of any rights is intended and no criticism of J.K. Rowling or her work should be considered to be stated or implied.
Author's Note: The final part finds Harry trying to mend bridges. Once again, thanks to those of you who took the time to review. This is the first story of any type that I have submitted anywhere and so it was a bit of an experiment for me. All comments, both good and not so good, have been greatly appreciated.
Part 6. New Beginnings
Harry was just throwing a few final books and CD's into his sports bag, when he heard Ginny entering the house. He stopped and looked up. Ginny had come in from the cold outside; her cheeks were flushed and she dabbed at her pink nose with a tissue.
"Hello Ginny," Harry forced a smile. "I'm just going."
"No rush," she answered wearily. "Have you got everything?"
"Pretty much." Harry hesitated. "Look Ginny, about you and Hermione…"
Ginny held up her hand to silence him. "Can we not talk about that just now?"
Harry shrugged and they stood looking at each other in silence. There was no real animosity remaining, they had been through their grievances too many times for that; all that was left now was a sense of resignation.
"Are you going to be alright?" Harry asked eventually and now it was Ginny's turn to shrug.
"Yeah, I guess so. Neville has been very helpful; really sweet."
"Good old Neville," grinned Harry. "He always did have a bit of a soft spot for you. But then he wasn't the only one, was he?"
Ginny couldn't help smiling, recognizing the compliment. Her posture softened and she shifted uncomfortably. "Look Harry, if it's any consolation, I don't really think that Hermione is a bitch; I just get a bit carried away sometimes. I do think that she's not as innocent in all of this as you want to believe, but I can't really blame her for falling for you. I did - even though Mum liked you and that was normally a real passion killer for me. And I should have realized that you couldn't just sever your links with Hermione after what you two went through together. That was wrong of me." She looked up defiantly. "You can't expect me to like it, though."
"I don't expect that Gin. I just don't want us to hate each other."
"Well that's OK then." Ginny gave a resigned sigh. "I don't hate you Harry, although I probably should; I'm just really disappointed in you. And so is Mum by the way. I would stay away from the Burrow for a while if I was you."
Harry couldn't prevent the beginnings of a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth at the reference to Molly Weasley's undoubted displeasure. He looked at Ginny standing forlornly in the centre of a room in which they had spent so much time together and took a hesitant step towards her. "Thanks for the advice." Slowly, he reached out, placing both hands on her shoulders and pulled her tenderly towards him, touching her forehead with his lips and then wrapping his arms around her small, sturdy frame. He held her for a short while until she moved her hands up to his chest and pushed him gently away.
"OK Potter, that's enough. You're not off the hook just yet. I haven't forgiven you or forgotten what you did. So don't get any ideas."
Harry grinned, realizing that even this level of response represented significant progress. He knew from bitter experience that Ginny never found it easy to apologize or show remorse. "I'd better be going." He hoisted his bag onto his shoulder, buttoned his coat and headed for the front door.
"Don't be a stranger," Ginny unexpectedly muttered, almost as if the words were being drawn out against her will.
"Fat chance," Harry called back from the doorway. "The kids will be home next week and I'll be coming over to see them; if that's OK?"
Ginny shrugged again, noncommittally, but Harry just gave a rueful smile and a parting wave of his hand before going out into the street, closing the door firmly behind him.
***
"So you didn't waste much time then." Harry was sitting opposite Ron at their normal table in the Leaky Cauldron. He was perched on the edge of the bench seat as usual, while Ron leaned precariously back in a chair, warming himself in the flickering glow of the log fire. It was the first time that they had met up in over a month.
"Look, I'm not taking that from you, mate. You didn't waste any time either and you're dating my ex-wife!" Ron sounded scandalized.
"Touché," Harry responded with a grimace.
"Things are different with Luna though," Ron continued. "Very relaxed; easy going. She just seems to drift through life, but everything appears to get done anyway and she's great with the kids. They really like her. She seems to be able to respond on their level and understands all of their problems. Hermione was a lot more demanding. I suppose that applied with me as well."
Harry smiled gratefully. "You know Ron, I can't believe how well you're taking all of this."
"Well, I won't deny that at one time things would have been very different. I was so jealous of your relationship with Hermione, who I had somehow designated as the girl of my dreams. But I think that Luna has taken the edge off things and in any case, the last few years haven't been a bed of roses." Ron took a sip of his drink and leaned forward setting his glass back down on the table. "Hermione was never an easy woman to live with; not for me at least. She has her own ideas, as you well know, and she just didn't seem to be able to accept that I couldn't match up to her high standards. I didn't want to either, if the truth be told. Not only that, but I was never really into the whole "save the underdog" thing that she has going. You're the only one who could ever stomach that." He paused reflectively. "No, I don't really miss living with Hermione. At least now we can go back to how we used to be. Friends; good friends, who don't have to pretend to agree with each other all of the time for the children's sake."
Ron's expression suddenly became more serious. "If anything, the thing that I should be mad with you about is what you've done to Ginny, but I can't seem to manage even that. I suppose it would be different if she seemed more upset herself and, in any case, it's hard to be mad at you for doing something that I've just done as well. Anyway, from what Ginny tells me, it sounds as if you and she had almost as many problems as Hermione and me." Ron looked at Harry sympathetically. "I know that she's still giving you a bit of a hard time, but the last couple of occasions that I've seen her, she's seemed to be fairly cheerful. Almost back to her old self. No, overall I think that things have probably worked out for the best; for me and Ginny at least, although I doubt that Ginny would quite see it like that at the moment." He chuckled. "It's you I feel sorry for. I hope that you know what you're letting yourself in for."
Harry nodded his head, flicking idly at a beer mat with his fingers. "Oh, I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to manage."
"Yeah, I suppose so," agreed Ron. "After Voldermort, even Hermione must seem pretty tame. Anyway, I wish you the best of luck mate; I really do."
"Cheers," Harry laughed, raising his glass and letting out a sigh of relief. "Your round, I think."
***
Harry and Hermione leaned on the metal railing and looked out over the deserted, pebble beach. Low waves slithered over the surface and sucked small stones from their rest as they retreated. The sky was clear and a weak, low sun couldn't begin to counter the chill of the winter morning. The soulful cries of a few brilliant white seagulls provided a discordant accompaniment as they crisscrossed repeatedly overhead.
"I forgot to tell you that I bumped in to Ginny and Neville last week," Hermione offered. "It was still pretty strained, but at least we were talking. I think that Ginny finds it hard to stay too mad at me when Neville's around. He has to be one of the nicest and most genuine people I know."
"Yeah," Harry replied thoughtfully, "and just imagine, he could have been "the boy who lived" instead of me, if Voldermort had seen things differently."
"Well he wasn't - and if he had been, nothing would have been the same and we might not be standing here today."
"Perhaps…" admitted Harry, "…but we also might have got here a lot quicker. You know, when I think about my great period of insanity, I can't help wondering if I stuck with Ginny and didn't attempt to do anything about you and Ron because I was trying to put the past firmly behind me. To me, Ginny was never really associated too closely with the struggle against Voldermort, while you were entwined so intricately with it that I just couldn't escape from all the bad memories when you were around. It turned out though that the cure was far worse than the sickness."
Hermione smiled. "Well, I can't really say that I've got too many regrets. Obviously, we missed years together, but by rights none of us should have survived our teens in any case. I've got two great kids, a career that I enjoy and I'm finally extremely happy; with plenty of years to look forward to." She sighed. "Just think of all of the people who didn't make it: Sirius; Lupin and Tonks; Fred; Colin Creevey; even Cedric Diggory."
"Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining either," Harry answered quickly. "But I really thought that you were happy with Ron and I convinced myself that Ginny was what I wanted. We seemed to have so much in common; but in fact we were probably too much alike, as it turned out. I never felt as comfortable with her as I do with you. We seemed to connect straight away, you and me; right from our first year at Hogwarts. It's just a shame that it took such a long time for me to work things out. Anyway, it's better now. This feels right, although I'm glad that we followed your advice to wait a while before moving in together. I realize that this cooling off period is really going to help Ron and Ginny come to terms with things in the long run, but I'm getting sick of the Leaky Cauldron." Harry shook his head despairingly. "Why am I so hopeless at this sort of thing?"
"All part of your charm," Hermione replied playfully, nudging Harry with her hip. "It wouldn't do for you to be good at everything, would it? If you were, what would you need me for?"
"Oh, I'm sure that I'd think of something," Harry joked. "For one thing, I need you to help me recover. I'm still mentally scarred from that stunt you pulled in the restaurant after I revealed my deepest feelings to you."
"Come on Harry, where's your sense of humor?" Hermione laughed. "I know that it was a bit cruel, but I was stunned at first; I couldn't quite believe what I was hearing. Then I thought about all of the anxiety that you had caused me over the years and I just couldn't help myself." She shrugged. "Anyway, you should really blame Ron. It's impossible for anyone to live with him for any length of time without perfecting the subtle art of the scathing remark. And if you're honest, don't you think that you deserved it, after keeping me waiting for so long?" Hermione left her question unanswered.
"But speaking of waiting," she continued more positively, "I don't think that it will be too long now before we can start looking for somewhere to live. Ron and Luna aren't exactly keeping up the pretense any more; he spends most of his time around at her place. Ron and I have decided that we are probably going to sell our house and split the proceeds; so now we've just got Ginny's reaction to worry about. You are going to let her and the children stay in your house, aren't you?"
"Yeah, for the time being," Harry sighed. "It's seems the least that I can do. I know that Ginny is going to be OK and that she'll probably be better off without me. I know that I'm going to stay close to the children and that I'll continue to support them, but I can't help feeling guilty about all of this. Why is that?"
Hermione was ready with her answer. It was an answer that she had formulated a long time ago. "Basically, it's because deep down you're still "the boy who lived" and you feel that you're responsible for everything and everyone!" she replied, squeezing Harry's arm. "We are going to have to see what we can do to sort that out. You can't carry the weight of the whole wizarding world on your shoulders for ever; after all, I need most of your attention now." She smiled affectionately. "But that's for the future; for the moment let's just enjoy this weekend away together."
Hermione shivered and pulled her coat more tightly around her.
"It's getting cold. Shall we make our way back to the hotel?" Harry suggested.
Hermione nodded and they both turned and headed away from the beach; Harry's arm draped loosely over Hermione's shoulder and her arm clasped firmly around his waist.