Ginny Weasley and the House of Broken Men

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Two days later Molly decided that Ginny was more than well enough to take care of herself and Sirius so she drilled Ginny one last time on all the appropriate spells needed to care for an unconscious man before apparating back to the Burrow. She had other children and grandchildren who needed her attention as well, and it seemed to Molly that what Ginny needed more than anything was some time to herself to realize that the war was indeed over and life would go on.
Ginny checked on Sirius one last time before changing into a swimming suit and strolling down to her little stretch of beach. Ginny had acquired her cottage in the midst of a war and so had had precious little time to enjoy the benefits of a seaside house; even between attacks and being attacked, it had not been safe for her to leave the haven of her home by herself. Her parents had been against her living alone from the start, especially in the middle of Wizard War II, but Ginny had insisted that as much as she loved the Burrow and Hogwarts, she needed a place just for herself. So, she had set out to find a flat or something in a less-than-crazy part of London. As expected, no such place was to be found and it was purely by stroke of luck that Ginny stumbled across the tiny seaside cottage while on a scouting mission three years ago. There was supposed to have been a contingent of Death Eaters working out of the area and while Ginny found traces of the camp they were keeping in the nearby woods, it was obvious that no one had been there for a long time. Disappointed, Ginny just kept walking until she emerged from the woods behind the cottage. Soft brown stone and pale blue shutters rose up from what once had been an immaculately kept garden but now was wildly overgrown and twice as beautiful. Only meters from the sea and seemingly abandoned, Ginny knew then and there that she had to have it—no matter the condition it was in. Arthur helped Ginny to acquire the cottage quietly and she moved in that same week, tending to all necessary repairs herself. The result was a tiny but tidy, comfortable, and warm home of which Ginny was immensely proud.
Ginny gripped her wand tightly, saying to herself that even if any of the remaining Death Eaters were foolish enough to come after her here, now, after their Dark Lord had been destroyed, she could handle it. She had survived the war and wasn’t going to be taken down just because she’d let her guard down enough to go for a swim on her own beach in front of her own house. Ginny strode determinedly down her front lawn and onto the beach. She’d only just waded in to her knees when she heard her name being called from the house.
“Oh bloody hell, just when I was doing so well,” she sighed.
“Ginny? That you?” Harry came striding down the lawn, a grin on his face.
“Don’t be thick, Harry, how many other redheaded women did you expect to find down here?”
Harry strode right out into the water and gave her an enormous hug, “Glad to see you up and about. Your mum tell you I visited while you were out?”
“She mentioned it, but I don’t think you came to see me. I think you came to check on Sirius,” Ginny laughed, knowing Harry was equally concerned about both of them.
“Yeah, right,” Harry said, “Amazing, isn’t it? Voldemort finally gone, the Death Eaters really done, Sirius back, it’s like Christmas!”
“If it’s Christmas then you’re certainly Santa Claus!”
“Right,” Harry said, looking far less amused, “so how’s he doing?”
“He’s getting better, slowly, he still hasn’t woken up. I just checked on him but we can go up if you’d like.”
“Yeah, I’d like to,” Harry said, following Ginny out of the water and up to the house, noticing again the tiny scars which marred the skin on her legs and back; the scars which refused to be healed. Harry clenched his jaw in silent rage.
Ginny looked back over her shoulder and saw Harry’s face. She closed her eyes for a long moment and then reached back and put her hand on his shoulder, “It’s okay, Harry,” she said very softly.
“No, it’s not.”
Harry spent a long time with Sirius that afternoon, talking to his sleeping form as Ginny managed a few things around the house. When Harry finally made his way down to Ginny’s tiny kitchen, she had tea and biscuits warm and ready.
“Nothing if not your mother’s daughter, right Gin?”
Ginny pretended to ignore the comment. She poured herself a cup of strong tea and sat back to look at him, “So how’s he look to you?”
“Better, certainly, a lot better than when he landed at my feet after the veil broke. Definitely more active than when I visited a couple days ago…still, no way of telling when he’ll come out of it, eh?”
“No, no way of knowing,” Ginny replied honestly.
After a long pause Harry looked away and said, barely more than whispering, “How’d we come to be like this, Gin?”
“War, Harry,”
They fell into a long, thoughtful silence then, each sipping tea and considering their situation. After Dumbledore’s death Harry had left Ginny for a long time. Returning to Godric’s Hollow inspired a sort of frenzy in Harry and after that it took the better part of a year to recover and destroy the locket. When Harry finally returned, one horcrux down, his hysteria smoldered down to become a fierce, calculating determination to see the end of Voldemort. While Harry had been gone, the rest of the wizard world had descended into all out war and Ginny was no stranger to the harsh realities of combat. Reason prevailed and Harry finally conceded, allowing Ginny to fight alongside him. Proximity led their relationship to blossom again and they sought refuge from the storm in each other for a while. As the war raged on, however, they changed and their love changed; was tarnished by the shadows of death and destruction which surrounded them. Eventually the couple was forced to admit that their relationship was no longer what either of them wanted it to be, and that staying together would only perpetuate the lie. Both had been prepared to feel a horrible loss after they ended their relationship, but were surprised to find that a comfortable friendship had replaced the passion they once shared. Their experiences and mutual understanding were not borne of pleasant circumstances, but their war-forged camaraderie allowed each to maintain a special part of the other’s heart.
“I’m leaving for a bit, Gin,” Harry announced soberly.
Ginny looked at home for a long moment, “I thought you might.”
“Now that it’s all…over, I need to be on my own for a while. I’m going to get out of England, see some of the world and shake the feeling of the war. I’m tired of being ‘Harry Potter: Chosen One’ and I’m tired of looking over my shoulder and I’m sick of the expectations. I’m not the person to rebuild our world so I’m going to get out of the way for those who can. I’ve had enough of everyone looking to me all the time so I’m just going to leave quietly. I hate leaving Sirius like this but I can’t just sit around and wait for him to open his eyes. We’ve all got lives to start over so…”
“Harry, it’s alright, I understand. You need to figure out what you want your place to be now. Half of your life has been a battle and now it’s over, it’s natural to feel the way you do. I wish you the best of luck, but you’d better understand that I will find you and I will hex if I don’t think you’re owling often enough,” Ginny said with a sad sort of smile, “What do Hermione and Ron think?”
“Ron was surprised at first but he seems to get it. Hermione just sort of nodded and then said some things I didn’t really understand. I think it all came down to she loves me and wishes me well. She really seems to want to put this all behind her as quickly as she can.”
“Oh Hermione!” Ginny laughed softly.
Harry and Ginny spent the next few hours speaking of pleasant things; their Hogwarts days and summers at the Burrow, and the promise young Deacon Weasley showed with a training broom. They watched the sun set over the sea and then Harry left, hugging her tenderly and making her promise to owl if she needed anything at all. Ginny stood, wiggling her toes in the sand as she watched the dark waves crashing gently on each other. With a sigh she wrapped her arms around herself and returned to her cottage to see to Sirius before she tried to get some sleep.

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A.N: Please forgive errors in tenses, repetition, spelling, etc. No one loves me enough to BETA for me right now. Any volunteers?