At The Beginning
(AN: This was partly inspired by the song, but also partly by Save The Best For Last at Sugarquill, so check it out! And it's set in the summer after Harry's seventh year at Hogwarts)
Starting out on a journey
Never dreaming what we’d have to go
through
Now here we are, and I’m suddenly
standing
Ginny clung tightly to Harry, her face pressed against his chest, leaving tear spots on his cloak. He pulled away slightly, and lifted her chin, so he could look into her eyes.
“I’m sorry, Gin. But I have to go, you know that.”
Ginny replied shakily, her voice full of emotion, “I know. Just promise me you’ll come back. Promise me you won’t sacrifice yourself.”
Harry looked away, and took in the nearly empty Platform 9 ¾.
“This is where I first saw you, you know,” he said to Ginny, trying to keep the fear and heartache from his voice. “I remember being so jealous of your family, the love you shared. I never imagined that I could possibly be a part of it.”
Ginny bit her bottom lip, and a single tear rolled down her cheek.
I was going to find you
Unexpected, what you did to my heart
When I lost hope, you were there to
remind me
This is the start
She remembered quite well the first time she saw Harry. It hadn’t been that day at the train station, but years before…
Little seven year old
Ginny Weasley was wandering around Gambol and Japes, waiting for her Mum to be
finished across the way, in Flourish and Blotts. Ginny turned the corner of a
shelf, only to bump into a bent over old woman, with scraggly grey hair.
“I’m
sorry,” she said bashfully.
The
old woman chuckled, and replied, “Its quite alright, my dear. As a matter of
fact, when you bumped me, I got a flash of a vision, which I haven’t had for
years, so thank you!”
Ginny,
of course, was curious, and asked timidly, “What did you see?”
The
woman responded, “Well, I saw a young woman with red hair just like yours. She
was hold – wait, why don’t I show you?”
She
grasped Ginny’s head with her gnarly old hands, and closed her eyes.
All at once, a rush of visions came at Ginny. She
saw the red haired girl, and knew instinctively that it was herself in the
future. Older Ginny was holding hands with a dark haired young man, who had
round glasses, and a very distinctive scar on his forehead. He looked at Older
Ginny with such an intensity of feeling that Young Ginny felt it, and fell in
love with him, then and there.
The old woman drew her
hands away, and Ginny gasped.
“That was Harry
Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived!” she exclaimed.
The woman nodded, and
replied wisely, “Our futures can come to pass as they are predicted if we
handle the present correctly.”
Life is a road and I
want to keep going
Love is a river I
want to keep flowing
Life is a road, now
and forever
Wonderful journey
I’ll be there when
the world stops turning
I’ll be there when
the storm is through
In the end I want to
be standing
At the beginning
with you
Harry
pulled Ginny closer. She came up only to just below his shoulders, and his arms
wrapped fully around her. He recalled the first time he saw her, which was not
at the station as he had said…
Harry was eight years
old, and bored stiff. The Dursleys were on their annual, week-long holiday to
the beach, so of course Harry was left with Mrs Figg. It was a hot summer day,
and the house smelled terribly of cat, so young Harry escaped to play in the
front garden.
“Harry,” Mrs Figg
had warned, “don’t wander off, and don’t talk to strangers.”
As if he would have
wandered off. There was nowhere for an eight year old to wander to, and no
neighbourhood children to play with.
Harry sat in the
grass, play-acting with toy soldiers, when he became aware of an old woman in a
strange purple cloak.
“Mrs Figg said I’m
not to talk to strangers,” he said to the woman, but just the idea of how
horrified Uncle Vernon would have been had he seen the woman inspired Harry to
talk on. “You’re wearing funny clothes.”
The woman replied, an
amused smile appearing, “Yes, dear. I suppose those Muggles who raised you
taught you that charming candor.”
This confused Harry,
so he grabbed his soldiers, and began another mock-war.
The woman crouched
next to him, and said, “You may not know who you are now, but there is a young
lady who will truly love the person you will become.”
Harry looked up at
her, and replied defiantly, “I know who I am! I’m Harry Potter!”
The old woman smiled,
and said, “That’s right. But always remember that your heart will be stolen
by a fiery tigress with a heart of gold.”
Harry’s nose
wrinkled. “That’s mushy stuff, yuck.” He looked up from his soldiers, but
the old woman was gone.
We were strangers on
a crazy adventure
Never dreaming how
our dreams could come true
Now here we stand,
unafraid of the future
At the beginning
with you
Ginny
stood on her tiptoes, and whispered into Harry’s ear, “I love you. I always
have.”
Harry
pulled away to look in Ginny’s eyes again. His emerald eyes were full of such
emotion that Ginny fancied that she could see all the way to the depths of his
soul. The pain and longing that she saw were unimaginable, but his love outshone
them both. She felt her heart stop beating, and they were the only two people on
earth.
To
outside observers, the air around the couple began to glow. A breeze blew up,
and both Harry and Ginny’s hair was tossed by the wind. The atmosphere could
have been cut with a knife, and people felt uncomfortable watching such a
private interaction.
Harry
took Ginny’s hands in his own, and said quietly, “I always intended this to
be later, but…” He dropped to one knee, and pulled a velvet box out of an
inside pocket on his robe. “If I come back…” he began.
Ginny
dropped to her knees, and held tightly to Harry’s hands. “When. When you get
back. Don’t you dare resign yourself to death, Harry Potter. I expect you back
here when the war is over.” Ginny said this so seriously, and so heartfelt,
that Harry couldn’t help but smile.
“Alright,
when I get back, Miss Regina Weasley, will you be my wife?”
Ginny
threw her arms around his neck, and the kneeling pair embraced for the first
time as a betrothed couple, as Ginny said, “Yes. I would love to be Mrs Harry
Potter.”
Harry
fumbled to open the box, and pulled out a diamond and emerald ring, placing it
on Ginny’s slender finger.
Until
then, Harry and Ginny had been oblivious to the applause from the small crowd,
but they stood up, both beaming.
Despite
the dire circumstances, Harry had a proud, excited grin on his face, and Ginny
was looking as if she couldn’t believe what was happening.
Life is a road and I
want to keep going
Love is a river I
want to keep flowing
Life is a road, now
and forever
Wonderful journey
I’ll be there when
the world stops turning
I’ll be there when
the storm is through
In the end I want to
be standing
At the beginning
with you
Ginny
and Harry, arm in arm, walked over to the group of beaming Weasleys. Ginny
hugged her mum tightly, tears shining in Molly’s eyes, and Harry shook
Arthur’s hand. The Weasley sons all crowded around Harry, shaking his hand and
hugging him. Ron, after congratulating Harry, and welcoming him into the family,
grabbed Ginny and hugged her tightly.
“Congratulations,
Gin,” he said hoarsely.
Hermione
was standing next to Ron, and was smiling happily for her friend.
Harry,
after hugging all the Weasley men, was left standing in front of Molly Weasley,
his future mother-in-law.
She
smiled warmly at him, and said, “Welcome to the family, Harry. We would have
had you even if you weren’t marrying Ginny though.”
Harry
hugged her, and replied, “Thank you for everything, Mrs Weasley.”
She
pulled away, and said, “Go to your fiancée, Harry Potter.”
Harry
turned around to see Ginny smiling at him, more beautiful than anything he had
ever seen. She seemed to simply glow with radiance, and he couldn’t help going
to her, and taking her in his arms.
Knew there was
somebody somewhere
Like me alone in the
dark
Now I know my dreams
will live on
I’ve been waiting
so long
Nothing’s going to
tear us apart
Ginny’s
face was upturned to Harry’s, and their eyes were locked. The expression of
such passionate love evident on Ginny’s face was so powerful that Harry
brought his hand up and caressed her face, sure that no words could express what
he felt. He leant down and placed his forehead on hers, staring deep into
Ginny’s eyes.
Ginny
felt the extent of Harry’s love in his gaze, and she was transported back to
that day at Diagon Alley when she was seven, the day she first fell in love with
Harry. He had the same expression now as he had then.
She
couldn’t hold it in any longer. Ginny tilted her head up slightly, and brought
her lips to Harry’s. Neither closed their eyes, but instead shared a moment of
perfect happiness. Harry’s lips caressed Ginny’s, and she felt so perfectly
at ease that her eyes closed, and she brought her arms around Harry’s neck.
His hands found their way to her waist, and he pulled her closer. To anyone
watching, the kiss wasn’t just a kiss, but an awesome expression of such a
pure and passionate love that they were almost blown away.
Ginny
kissed Harry tenderly, almost shyly, as her fingers played with wisps of hair at
the nape of his neck, but he could feel her whole heart in it, just as she could
feel his love.
Life is a road and I
want to keep going
Love is a river I
want to keep flowing
Life is a road now
and forever
Wonderful journey
I’ll be there when
the world stops turning
I’ll be there when
the storm is through
In the end I want to
be standing
At the beginning
with you
Ginny
remembered the first day Harry had been at The Burrow, the year she started
Hogwarts. She had seen him, realised she was in her nightdress, squealed, and
run back out again. That was the year he had saved her life, and formed a
never-ending bond between them. And there had also been that awful valentine
that she would never forgive the twins for sending.
The
next year, Ginny remembered fondly, and slightly embarrassed, she had sent him
the singing card. Ginny had snuck around for days looking for Dobby, so he could
sing into the card. That, she had been sure, would cheer Harry up. And how could
she forget, on the school train, her embarrassing blunder. She sat on Harry, and
at the time, it had been so humiliating and dramatic.
“Oh,
to be twelve again,” Gin thought to herself.
~*~
Harry
thought back to his second year at Hogwarts, to the horrifying ordeal in the
Chamber of Secrets. The fear and terror in his heart had never been more so
since he saw Ginny’s seemingly lifeless form lying on the floor. He hugged her
tighter at that memory.
Harry
also remembered vividly his fourth year. He had been crushing on Cho, so it
didn’t register how disappointed he had been when Ginny hadn’t been able to
go to the Yule Ball with him. In retrospect though, he had been disappointed,
but too concerned with Ron and Hermione fighting to notice.
At
this, Harry glanced over to see his two best friends squabbling lovingly, and
smiled. He hugged Ginny tighter, knowing he’d have to leave soon.
Life is a road and I
want to keep going
Love is a river
I want to keep going
on
Starting out on a
journey
The
train whistle blew, signalling that it was preparing to depart. Ginny looked at
Harry, daring to hope that he’d stay back. However, when she saw the pain in
his eyes, she knew the truth. He had to go, to do what he could to defeat
Voldemort.
Without
a word, Harry kissed Ginny tenderly to the side of her mouth, and picked up his
bag. Frantic, Ginny pulled him back, and said, “Promise me!”
Harry
looked into her eyes, full of emotion, and said softly, “I promise.”
She
kissed him once more on the cheek, and watched him board the train.
Harry
took a window seat, and looked only at Ginny as the train departed. He was taken
back to his first year, as he watched her run after the train to the end of the
platform, tears streaming down her face.
Harry
touched his fingers to his lips and blew a small kiss, whispering, “I
promise.”
Life is a road and I
want to keep going
Love is a river I
want to keep flowing
In the end I want to
be standing
At the beginning
with you