Harry Potter was humming. He didn’t usually hum; in fact, he didn’t usually make any kind of singing noise at all, but today was special. It was the two year anniversary of the day he had finally beaten the Dark Wizard, Voldemort. For seventeen years of his life, Voldemort had stolen every thing he loved. He had murdered his parents and tormented his school life, each event worse than the one before. Harry had almost given up. He hadn’t been able to see any way out until Ginny came into his life, and he had almost given her up as well! Only a few short months after Dumbledore’s death, Harry had been injured. He had been cornered by Death Eaters and tortured by Voldemort until Ginny had found him. Her despair at the sight of Harry’s pain had been enough to triple her magical ability and send shockwaves of magical power through the air. Voldemort had fled before he could finish the kill. Ever since that day, Harry had hardly let Ginny out of his sight. He knew then that he needed her, and that she would be the key to winning the final battle.
On that night, he had left the battle with Ginny, leaving his friends to cope with the Death Eaters, and hunted Voldemort to the Graveyard outside of the Riddle House. This had been the last place he had seen his parents, and the place where Cedric Diggory had been murdered, right in front of his eyes. Harry hated himself for allowing Cedric to die. He couldn’t let it happen to anyone else. For a long time, he talked. He followed the instructions that Dumbledore’s portrait had given him and talked Voldemort into an argument, belittling him until he attempted to strike. Only Harry knew that The Dark Lord wouldn’t go for him first. He had sent the killing curse towards the silent girl, watching scared from the statue of the angel which marked the point of Tom Riddle’s family grave. Harry had jumped in front of the curse, and the love that he used to sacrifice himself for Ginny had sent the curse back at Voldemort, leaving him paralysed and weak on the floor. Harry, supported by Ginny, used all of his strength to stay on his feet, walking over to where the dark wizard lay. He had listed the names of those Voldemort had taken from him, before casting the Avada Kedavra curse and falling to the floor, the remains of Voldemort lifeless beside his own unresponsive body.
Harry had been sent into a deep coma, but Ginny never left his side. She stayed with him, day and night, waiting for him to wake. When the day came and he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Ginny’s face, smiling back at him.
He smiled as he remembered her face, so happy and glad to see him awake. Suddenly, he realised he was still standing in his room, staring at a moving photograph of himself and his friends, happy and smiling after the war. Quickly, he grabbed a handful of Floo Powder and set off to Diagon Alley, searching for the last item he needed to make this evening perfect.
Harry was now a tall, muscled 19 year old who had jet black hair and dazzling green eyes. He didn’t have a single spot on his head and he was incredibly good looking. It wasn’t long before he was attracting attention from the other shoppers in the small alley, making him glad when he finally reached his destination.
On the far side of Diagon Alley, close to Gringotts Wizarding Bank, a small antique jewellery shop opened every day, from 9 until 12. Harry had only 50 minutes to find his gift and leave before the shop closed. He searched the entire shop, trying to find a ring that Ginny would like. It had to be old; he knew that, it needed a story to go with it. Ginny wasn’t the kind of girl to be taken in by a flashy diamond on a gold band. With only ten minutes left, he finally went and asked the wizard behind the counter if he had anything that would suit the young witch. With a twinkle in his eye, the old wizard asked Harry to look in the cabinet at the very back of the shop. There, he found a ring with the most unusual stone he had ever seen. It was purple and red with little blue and green spots, as if the stone couldn’t decide which colour would suit it best so it had thrown in all of them. It was perfect, and Harry bought it without a second thought.
Ginny was waiting for Harry to Apparate, sitting at her windowsill in The Burrow and looking out across their garden. She had come to like this spot over the past year, she came to sit there whenever she needed to think, or wanted time to take in what had happened. During the Final Battle, Arthur Weasley had gone missing. It had been two years since anyone had seen him and now one of the captured death eaters had admitted to his murder. Ginny couldn’t stand the thought of never seeing her father again; she refused to believe that he was gone, and would go and sit at her window whenever anyone spoke about him.
When Harry appeared at the end of the path, she sighed and stood up, walking to the mirror to make sure no tears showed on her face before turning to run down the stairs and greet him.
He caught her in his arms as she jumped towards him, spinning her round in a circle before planting a kiss on her forehead.
“How are you today?” he asked, looking concerned, “Have you been crying?”
Ginny loved how he could always tell.
“Dad,” she said simply, and brought him inside.
On the Kitchen table, she had set up a candlelit dinner with all of Harry’s favourite foods.
“Sit down,” she said going over to the cupboard and taking out two bottles of Butterbeer. “Ron’s taken Mum and Hermione to a restaurant to discuss Juliet’s christening.”
“She’s getting christened already? Wow, it feels like yesterday that Hermione told me she was pregnant. I could hardly believe it, having been in a coma for three months.” He laughed quietly at the memory of his reaction. He had been so shocked that he hadn’t been able to speak for ten minutes. Hermione and Ginny had gotten worried that he was having some sort of side effect from the coma and had summoned the mediwizards before Harry had let out a yell and jumped up to hug his friends.
“I know, she’s so big now as well. I guess you’ll see her later. It’s such a shame you can’t be around more.” Ginny gave him a small look, a hint. She hated the fact that Harry had to train for so long each day.
“I’m sorry, Ginny. You know why I have to be away. I can't let her... I can't let her death mean nothing. She wanted me to achieve my dream of becoming an Auror! She even stood up to Umbridge for me! I can't let that go to waste.” He looked down at his meal and fought the rising lump in his throat.
“I know, Harry, and I’m sorry too. I just wish that they would give you time off a little more often. You did beat the most powerful dark wizard of the last century after all.” She attempted a smile to lighten the mood and was greeted by his smile in return.
“Ginny, I have something for you,” he said, and pulled a small black box from his coat pocket. Ginny gasped and stared into his eyes, shocked. He opened the box and opened her hand. “Marry me?”
“Harry… I…” She didn’t know what to say. “Harry, I’m sorry. I can’t.” She stood up and fled to her room, leaving Harry alone with the ring.
Harry Potter and the Tigers Eye by Roxy Black
Chapter Notes: I would like to thank my wonderful friends Karin and Amanda for reading through this chapter and giving me their amazing advice! Also, as you all know, I am not JK Rowling - much to my great dismay. I can't take the credit for most of the characters or really any recognisable features at all. What a shame. Enjoy!