The Auror's Duty: A Father's Anguish
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Ginny had suggested that they Apparate to Hogsmeade, like she always did, but Harry had protested so much that she had abandonned that idea. He said that they would be monitoring for him, watching if Harry re-emgered from his exile, using magic once again.
"How about the Floo Network? Do you think that would be safe? Or are they watching that too?" Undertones of sarcasm flooded her words, and Harry ignored them.
"Only if it's a secure location," he paused, and looked over at her, as they walked the streets of London. "You said you were an Auror. Don't all Aurors have a secure Floo channel?"
"That's right, we do."
Another pause followed, and Harry felt compelled to continue. "Well, why don't we use yours? It'll be safer than Apparating right into the middle of Hogsmeade."
At this, Ginny smirked out of a half-concealed spite, and some of the pain she had been repressing since her early morning shock shone through, causing her bitter attitude. "Look, Harry, Hogsmeade's not a war zone. Apparating there isn't a death trap. There aren't people lurking around, waiting for us."
"They were there waiting for Alex, weren't they?" Harry's voice was soft, unaccusing, but right all the same. Ginny blushed out of embarrassment and guilt, and she felt badly, a little, for hurting him. She had no idea what it was like to lose a child, to wonder where he was, worrying if he was okay.
However, she had done the same for Harry, when he had gone off to fight, and she had been left behind. Those feelings were still close to the surface, stilll burning and angry at the nameless betrayal she felt towards him now. Trying to shake them away, she walked just a bit faster, as if they would fall behind and leave, like paper in the wind.
"We'll go to my flat, then," said Ginny quietly, recovering from the guilt of the moment past. Beside her, Harry nodded, happy with this plan, and they headed for the nearest underground station, on their way to Ginny's home.
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Ginny took out her hand, and whispered several incantations against the door, deactivating both the Muggle lock and the magical protection around her home. Stepping into her flat, she motioned for Harry to follow, leading him inside.
"I just need to do a few things; no more than five minutes, and we'll leave." Harry nodded his understand, and Ginny disappeared into her bedroom, leaving Harry alone in the living room.
There were photos all over, both magical and Muggle, of people he didn't know, and of course, of those that were once to him like family. His heart panged as he approached one of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, waving as they smiled, the Burrow bright in the sunshine behind them. He'd never expected to confront the past this soon, or ever again, for that matter. All the feelings and emotions and memories came rushing back in a instant, flooding his heart and his mind.
Following the one of Ginny's parents, there was a beautiful snapshot of Bill and Fleur, and a pretty little girl with white hair that he assumed was their daughter. She was six or seven, and, with this realization, it occurred to Harry exactly how long he had been gone.
And the next picture, the next photograph, made his legs shake a little, as he remembered the two people that had been his two best friends, his two greatest allies. Grinning in disbelief, he looked down at the capture in time, the repeating image of Ron and Hermione, both holding the hands of a young boy no older than five, as he swung between his parents, smiling happily. He stared at the photograph for a long time, barely noticing as the door to the bedroom opened, and a refreshed and determined Ginny Weasley emerged.
"I've been gone a long time, haven't I?" whispered Harry, as he finally let go of the photo, placing it back where it belonged on the shelf, amongst the many other happy moments and loved people.
"Yes, you have," she said plainly, moving next to him, and picking up the frame he had placed among the others.
"I remember this day," she said, smiling slightly but strangely, as if she was trying to hold back tears. "It was one of Ron's games, and Hermione, Jack and I had gone to watch him play. We went for a walk in a park before, just enjoying the day." Her eyes glistened, but only for a moment, and the resolute expression returned, as she placed the picture back in its spot.
A silence came between them, and Harry knew that there was something unspoken there, hidden in the undertones around them. "What is it, Gin? What happened?"
She looked at him oddly, as if he'd said something strange, but ignored it and moved on. "Jack died," she stated bluntly, and he recognized that that was part of who she was now. "He was six. He'd always been sick, since he was a baby. It was... difficult." There was so much emotion, so much angst behind her words; it was palapable in the air between them.
Harry couldn't even comprehend losing his son; it was denial that kept him from considering the possibility now. Ron and Hermione had lost their son. Their little boy. There was a tremendous ache in Harry's heart, as if he had known the child for his whole life, and as if the boy had been snatched away from right under his watch. To lose a child... his heart burned with sorrow just thinking of it.
It was Ginny that spoke, that ripped him out of his reverie. "Ron... he's never been the same." There was a sadness in her eyes, and he thought it alien, out of place, and he wanted to fix it. But that was a long decade past, gone in the time before the war. "Harry?" she asked, and the question was sudden.
"Yes?"
"Why did you call me Gin before?"
And for the second time in one day, Harry started, surprised. Had he called her that? And why? The unconscious feeling behind that name, his nickname for her, when they had been together and when they had been in love. He didn't dare dwell on that.
"I... don't know," he murmured honestly, then quickly moved on, avoiding old emotions that were just too heavy in the air between them to be simply pushed away, "Are you ready to leave?"
Ginny knew he wasn't ready, not yet, to confront such things of the past, but she hadn't forgotten it. "Yes, I am."
She lead the way, once again, and as he left, Harry looked back one more time to that smiling image frozen in time, of his two best friends and of the boy he'd never know.
The Auror's Duty by Aelan Greenleaf
Chapter Notes: Harry and Ginny arrive at her flat.
I know this chapter is short, but I am working on making the next ones longer! :)