Chapter 26

Even after much begging and pleading by Mrs. Weasley, Harry refused to stay at the Burrow any longer, electing rather to return to Grimmauld Place. He wanted to be alone, to be where he and Ginny had been happiest.

He walked endlessly from room to room, picturing her everywhere. Her in the bottom floor bedroom after the fire, her coming towards him in her wedding gown, her in sweats and thick socks on the couch watching TV with him, making love to her on the staircase, her at the kitchen table, in their bed – God, it was torture.

Harry had never cried so much as he had the past few days. He couldn't grasp the very real fact that Ginny was gone and not coming back. It was impossible to think that he was going to live perhaps another sixty or seventy years on this earth without her. Every time he thought of that, a heavy weight pressed down on Harry.

The only thing that Harry could see to be thankful for was that he hadn't seen it happen. He was sure that if he had to relive Ginny's murder over and over again in his mind's eye it would surely drive him insane.

He spent hours thinking of a way that this was a mistake. Something had to be off. Maybe Kingsley was wrong – maybe Ginny had survived somehow. She was so strong and such a powerful witch, it just didn't seem possible that she couldn't fight against Dean. True, she hadn't had her wand with her, but maybe…somehow…

Harry sighed. It was futile, he knew, to try and rationalize what had happened. He just wanted Ginny back so badly that he ached for her. He just wanted to hold her in his arms one more time and tell her that he loved her.

He felt foolish now that he had let his guard down so easily. He so much wanted to believe that he and the people that he loved were no longer in danger from Voldemort or his followers that he had actually stopped carrying his wand everywhere, had stopped looking over his shoulder constantly, had stopped hearing people coming up behind him wherever he went. And Ginny had paid the price for it.

Harry hoped that wherever Ginny was now, that she wasn't in pain or scared or lonely. He missed her so much. He wished that he could turn back time and relive that day over again, and he would have been able to save her. Ginny…

Xxx

Dean reached around Ginny with his right arm and stuck his wand square in her face. He said, "stupefy!" and Ginny was instantly rigid, unable to move and unable to speak. Dean laid her gently on the ground and stood over her, then knelt down by her side. "It was nice knowing you, Ginny, even if you did turn out to be a real bitch in the end." Dean leaned down and kissed her.

Ginny's eyes were wild. She had to do something!

"Move! Move! Harry! Harry, help me! Oh God. Oh, God. Harry, I love you! I love you!" Ginny thought. "Concentrate, Ginny. Focus all of your power into this one thought, Ginny, it's now or never. Concentrate – now! Protego!"

She felt a small eruption of power explode from her center a split second before Dean cast the killing curse at her. It wasn't an extremely powerful shield, but it was enough to save her life. She felt the deep ripple of pain flood her body, and it was heaved off the ground by the power behind Dean's spell, but she was alive. Still alive.

She felt Dean roll her body towards to cliff, and she focused again, knowing what he was planning to do. She had no idea how to save herself, but she wasn't going to die while doing nothing. Ginny focused all of her hatred for Dean and all of her love for Harry into her spell. She hoped that casting it non-verbally and wandless was going to be enough.

Without hesitation, Dean pushed her off of the cliff and she was tumbling and twirling round and round headed for the rocky water.

Okay, focus, Ginny. Concentrate, envision it working. Now! Protego!

Again, she felt the eruption of the shield, stronger this time and more complete around her body. She concentrated and focused on keeping it strong. She tried to brace herself for the impact and she hit the rocks hard, the air in her lungs being expunged, rolling off into the deep, cold waters.

Her body ached. She could feel deep cuts and gashes all over, and she was sure that her right arm was broken along with a couple of her ribs. She went under the water, bobbed back to the surface where he inhaled as deep as her lungs would allow, and then she disappeared again under the waves, swimming as far down stream as possible.

She emerged about 100 feet from where she went under and hid herself behind the large rocks there. She swam slowly, and kept swimming until she was out of sight of any civilization. She hung on to the rocks, hiding still, for as long as she could, and then she climbed slowly from the water onto the jagged rocks.

She lay there exhausted, trying to get her breath back and nursing her wounded body and bones. She kept her soaking robe wrapped tightly around her, using the cloth belt to make a makeshift sling for her arm. She looked around and had no idea how she was going to get out of there, she couldn't climb the steep cliffs and there was nothing but water to her left.

She had no alternative – she had to wait to be rescued.

Xxx

Ginny must have drifted off on the spiky rocks, but was roused from her sleep by a man's voice. She was suddenly awake, frightened that it may be Dean coming back to make sure that she was dead. Her eyes snapped open and she was staring up into the grey eyes of a man she didn't recognize.

"Hey there. Do you speak English?" he asked.

Ginny nodded. "Yes." She tried to get up, but winced. She hurt everywhere.

"Wow, you're in bad shape. I'm John by the way. Let me try and help you - slowly, now."

John put his arm under Ginny and helped her to stand. She stood hunched over. A wave of nausea swept through her and her head ached.

"Ribs…hurt. Arm…broken," she said slowly, feeling the full extent of her injuries now.

"What happened to you? It couldn't have been a fall!" John said looking up at the sheer face of the cliffs and Ginny winced. She hadn't thought about what she would tell people. She improvised.

"I don't remember," she said feebly. She had always been a terrible liar.

"Let's get you some help." John helped her to walk slowly to the edge of the rocks and his friend helped her into his boat as John climbed in behind her. Ginny lay down on the seat there, and was taken across the sound to the closest hospital on the mainland.

It was there, four days later, where Charlie finally found her.

Charlie, upon hearing the news from his family, refused to believe that his only sister was dead. He headed straight to Italy and scoured the entire island of Capri searching for Ginny. Every nook and cranny of the hotel had been searched as well as the cliffs, rocks and waters surrounding the area. He couldn't find a trace of Ginny, but he refused to give up. Once he covered every inch of Capri, he took a boat to Sorrento and began searching for her there.

He started at the water's edge and asked every person he saw if they had seen Ginny. He carried a picture of her taken at the Burrow the night before she and Harry had left for this trip.

The hospitals and morgues were next. He brought her picture everywhere, hoping that someone would recognize her.

The hospital Della Santa Maria was his final stop in Sorrento before moving on to the next town.

"Mi scusi, si prega," Charlie began. "Avete visto questa ragazza?" (Excuse me, please. Have you seen this girl?)

He handed the nurse the picture of Ginny and her eyes flew open wide. "Segualo prego," (follow me) the nurse said, gesturing to Charlie. She led him to the lifts and got out on the fourth floor. They went through three sets of double doors to the intensive care ward. She went to the second door on the left and opened it slowly.

"E questo lei?" she asked (Is this she?). Charlie nodded and a wide grin spread across his face. He walked in the room and closed the door behind him, coming to sit on Ginny's left.

She was sleeping when he entered, so he sat staring at her, unable to really believe that he had found her. It was a thin probability that she was alive, he knew, but he had refused to believe it, and now his persistence had been worth it. Here she was, his beautiful little sister and he wept.

He took Ginny's hand and held it, assessing the injuries that he could see. Her face had deep lacerations all across it, adding to the scar that she had gotten from the fire. Her hands were bandaged and her arm was in a cast, but she was here and she was breathing on her own – a miracle.

His first thought was that he would have to get her back to St. Mungo's soon. He was sure that she could be helped more by Healers then muggle doctors.

Ginny stirred and flexed her hand. She woke instantly, feeling a hand in hers and she was stunned to see her brother there. The tears started as soon as she saw Charlie and she sat up and held him gently as they both cried.

"Charlie?" she said, lying back on her bed gently. "How are you here? How did you find me?"

"You know I would never believe that you were gone. Ginny, you're my sister, and we've always been close. We have a connection that no one else has – I just felt that you weren't gone. I just knew. Of course, I had to find you."

"I'm so relieved. I can't believe it. I didn't think that anyone would still be looking for me. How long has it been since the…what do I call it?" she giggled.

Charlie laughed, too. "Attempt on your life?"

She nodded, smiling. "Yeah, I guess that'll do."

"About four days. How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Not so bad right now. They've been giving me something for the pain, but to tell you the truth, I'd much rather be at St. Mungo's."

Charlie nodded. "I would you rather be there as well, but I don't want you to move for a while yet. I don't want to make your injuries worse by apparating with you. Do you want to talk about what happened yet?"

Ginny shook her head, twirling Charlie's hand over in hers. "I think that I'm still trying to come to terms with it all. Soon, though, okay?" Charlie nodded, understanding how difficult it must have been.

Ginny said softly, "Thank you, Charlie." He leaned down and kissed her temple.

"Anytime, Squirt." She smiled at his nickname for her. He hadn't called her that in years.

"Does everyone think that I'm dead?" she asked and Charlie nodded again.

"Yeah, they called me with the news, but I came here instead of going home. They seem to be in pretty bad shape, as you can imagine."

"Poor Mom, poor Harry! He must be crazy right now. I can only imagine if I was the one thinking he was gone. I couldn't bear it. How is he – have you spoken with him?"

"No, I never talked to Harry. According to Mom, he wasn't really speaking with anyone at all. Keeping to himself really."

"I can't let him go on like this. If I know Harry, he's probably blaming himself in some way. Can you get him Charlie? Can you bring him here?"

Charlie nodded, "Sure. What about the family? Should I tell them, too?" He wanted the decision to be hers.

"Yes, please, but I only want Harry to come back with you, okay? I don't need Mom fussing. And, anyway, when I'm a bit better, we can go to St. Mungo's. It won't be long before that happens."

Charlie nodded and stood up. "Then, the Burrow first, and then I make Harry the happiest man in the world. See you soon, Squirt." He bent down and kissed his sister and apparated with a pop.

Xxx

Charlie waved to his Mom and Dad, leaving them with smiles and tears after hearing the amazing news of Ginny's survival and he flooed from the Burrow to Grimmauld Place. As he stepped from the fireplace, Kreacher was there in an instant.

"Your business here?" Kreacher asked.

"I'm Charlie Weasley, Ginny's brother and I'm here to see Harry."

Kreacher nodded. "Master keeps to his room. It's at the top of the third flight of stairs," and Kreacher showed Charlie to the staircase.

"Thank you," Charlie said as he took the stairs two at a time. He couldn't wait to tell Harry the news.

He reached the third landing and knocked on the huge door of the master bedroom. "Harry?" he said loudly and knocked again. "Harry, open up."

Inside, Harry heard the knock but couldn't quite place the voice. He got up from bed and opened the door, surprised to find Charlie there grinning at him. Harry grimaced at the smile that seemed out of place and returned to his bed, allowing Charlie entry.

"Harry, how are you?"

Harry glared at Charlie. "What are you talking about, Charlie? How the hell do you think I am?"

Charlie sighed. "I need you to come someplace with me, Harry."

Harry sighed and closed his eyes again. "Not now, Charlie. I'm not going anywhere." Harry turned onto his side.

"Alright, then you give me no choice, but I thought you'd like to freshen up a bit. I can see that isn't going to happen, so here goes…"

Charlie grasped Harry's hand and twisted, apparating them both to Ginny's room, Harry landing with a loud thump on the floor.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you, Charlie? Can't you see that I'm…" Harry stopped yelling, dumbfounded. He was staring at a ghost with beautiful, long red hair.

"No…" he cried and put his head down. "Why are you being so cruel, Charlie? Why are you doing this to me?" Harry's shoulders slumped and he curled onto the floor, closing his eyes.

"Harry?" the ethereal voice said. Harry would recognize it anywhere. "It's okay, Harry. I'm alive, I'm here."

Harry shook his head. He didn't understand anything anymore.

Ginny climbed from her bed carefully with Charlie's help, was able to sit on the floor next to Harry. She stroked his hair and let him come to terms with the truth at his own pace. She frowned at the beard on his face, thinking that it had been many days since he had even thought about shaving. His eyes were bloodshot, he had dark circles under his eyes and he had lost weight. He had suffered, too.

Ginny wished she could take it all back for him.

Charlie quietly left the room and went to find a hotel close by.

Ginny sat there on the floor holding Harry and comforting him, smoothing his hair and touching his face. He never looked more handsome to her and she smiled, loving having him here with his head in her lap. She never thought she'd have this again.

"It's okay, Harry," she repeated. "Look at me."

Harry finally rolled over and sat up. He couldn't believe…couldn't trust what he was seeing. How could this be happening? Kingsley said…

"Ginny?" he finally managed to squeak out and she nodded. "How? I don't understand…"

She took his hand in hers and explained everything that had happened. She didn't mind talking about it with didn't know herself why her spell had worked, protecting her from Dean and the fall, but it had somehow. She and Hermione had been playing around with non-verbal spells, but she had never been able to cast a spell non-verbally and without a wand.

"You're alright?" he asked.

She nodded. "A few broken bones and cuts, but…yeah, as fine as I can be."

Harry helped her to her feet. "Ginny…" he said in a whisper. "Please tell me that I'm not dreaming. I can't live through losing you again."

"You're not dreaming, Harry. I'm here and I love you so much." Ginny leaned closer to Harry and pressed her lips to his.

He held her gently. They stood there a long time holding and touching and kissing.

"I missed you," he said.

Ginny smiled. "Me, too."

He helped her back into bed and sat close, holding her hand tightly.

"You're never leaving my side again, you know that?" Harry asked her.

Ginny smiled. "Yeah, I was kind of counting on you saying that. I never want to be anywhere else, Harry."

They finally felt at peace – they had each other. And they counted their blessings as they watched the sun come up over the mountains. It was a whole new day.

The End

A/N: Okay, do you all finally forgive me? I had to make it a little exciting at the end. It was so fluffy most of the way through, I wanted to throw you a curveball. Man, was I wrong! I never had so many readers so mad at me before. You all know that I love Harry and Ginny – I would never make them unhappy in the long run. I love happy endings too much.

I hope you enjoyed the story – and I really appreciate your feedback – the good, the bad and the ugly! Thanks so taking the time to read and to write comments. I read and loved them all.