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Where are they now? Ginny & Harry

Summary:

This is my own imagining of what happened with Ginny and Harry after the war. It is told mostly from Ginny's point of view. Harry has more story coming later.

Notes:

This was really hard for me to write because I love Ginny as a character (especially in the books). If you’ve read the rest of my series then you know I’ve made reference to Harry and Ginny not being together. She may seem a little OOC, but I’ve tried to make her motivations be true to her character. (Her anger is coming from a real place, not just to make her an unlikable person.) There is no Ginny-bashing, so don't worry about that. Just keep in mind that this is clearly not epilogue compliant so obviously things will be different. This is one of my biggest steps away from canon.

I mean no disrespect to JK Rowling and I promise to treat her characters kindly (they belong to her, after all).

Chapter 1: Anger

Chapter Text

Ginny doesn’t believe in fairy tales. It all started with that stupid diary, and now she can hardly remember her life before Voldemort ruined everything. Her family and friends have been manipulated, tortured, abused, and killed by his (or his supporters’) hands. Fred’s death is the final straw. Harry may have killed Voldemort, but Ginny wants to see everyone who ever followed him pay for what they’ve done. Arthur tries to keep her away from the Ministry, but Ginny shows up to each Death Eater’s trial. She gets a sick sort of satisfaction in watching them be sent to Azkaban one after the other. Maybe if she had been more observant around the Burrow she wouldn’t have been blind-sighted by Harry’s appearance at the trails of Draco and Narcissa Malfoy, but she wasn’t and so she is.

As soon as the Wizengamot gives their sentencing, the room is in an uproar and Harry is able to slip out the back door unseen. Ginny follow him, jogging to catch up. She grabs is arm and pulls him into an unoccupied office. “Just what do you think you’re doing, speaking for them? You know better than most what they’re capable of! Malfoy is the reason Bill is disfigured. His father is the reason I almost died in the Chamber of Secrets. His aunt is responsible for torturing Neville’s parents and Hermione. And his mother thinks she can claim innocence because she never got the Dark Mark. Seriously, Harry, what is wrong with you??”

The silence in the room is as deafening as Ginny’s yelling had been just moments before. Harry collects his thoughts carefully before responding. “Gin, I owe them both my life. And as for the points you made? Malfoy may have fixed the Vanishing Cabinet but he didn’t attack Bill; Greyback did. And he only fixed the cabinet because Voldemort was going to kill him and his parents if he didn’t. I wouldn’t be standing here today if it weren’t for Mrs. Malfoy lying in the Forbidden Forest. I spoke for them today because it was the right thing to do. As for the others, your mum already killed Bellatrix so I figure that one has worked itself out and Mr. Malfoy can rot in a cell for all I care.”

“Malfoy and his mother aren’t innocent!! House arrest?? Harry, that’s practically a vacation! I don’t care about technicalities; Malfoy let Greyback into the castle so Malfoy let Bill get attacked. Mrs. Malfoy may have lied but you said it was only to save her son. If you can’t see how awful they are then I don’t want to speak to you anymore.”

Harry sighs, “Gin-” but she’s already gone.

Ginny stops going to the trials, but she hears her brothers talking about Lucius Malfoy. She was glad to hear he was sentenced to a lifetime in Azkaban, only to weasel his way out of it by being the two-faced rat she knows he is. 10 years. Her brother and countless others are dead, and all he gets 10 bloody years. Ginny locks herself in her room.

Ron and Hermione have been going to Hogwarts a few days a week to help rebuild. Hermione asks Ginny to come with them, but Ginny refuses because that would mean having to talk to Harry. She still can’t believe he would use his good name to help out the Malfoys. She politely sits and listens to Ginny rant, but when she is done Hermione decides to share her own opinion. “Ginny, this is Harry we’re talking about. You know that he and Malfoy have never gotten along. He wouldn’t stick his neck out for him if it weren’t truly important.”

“I was a child, Hermione. I was 11 years old and his father put a horocrux in my belongings. He tried to have me killed so that the Chamber of Secrets would be reopened for Voldemort.”

“That wasn’t Malfoy. That was his father, and Harry hates Lucius.”

“It doesn’t matter, does it? One Malfoy is the same as all the others!”

“Do you really believe that? That’s no better than their mentality before and during the war. And if you want to go by that logic then Malfoy was just a kid, too. He was listening to his parents same as you listen to yours. He was only doing what he was told. And at least if you defy your parents, you don’t have a madman threatening to kill you. I can’t stand him but I understand his motivations.”

Ginny crosses her arms over her chest and pouts. “That doesn’t make it okay.”

Hermione moves her arm around Ginny’s shoulders. “I know. But war is never okay. And the fact of the matter remains: Malfoy and his mother never had it in them to kill anyone. They’re not like Lucius. By the time their house arrest is over, they will have no money and no contacts. The prestige that the Malfoy name once held is long gone. Trust me; this will ruin them more than any prison sentence.”

For weeks, Ginny had held onto so much anger but now she feels it slipping away. Hermione is right and she’s only making the same points that Harry has been. She’s crying now and she’s starting to feel a bit silly. “I know I have to apologize to Harry, but I don’t think I can just yet. I’m still mad at him for not saying anything to me. I can’t say my reaction would have been any different but maybe I could have come to these conclusions sooner.” She is silent for a few moments and then says, so quietly that Hermione can barely hear her, “I miss Fred.” A new wave of tears pour out as she sobs openly now.

Hermione hugs her sister tightly, brushing her lips to the top of her hair. “I will never know what it is like to lose a brother, but I loved Fred just like I love you. There’s so many times I wait for him to come around the corner behind George, or when I wait for him to finish George’s sentences. It just isn’t right without him.”

Ginny nods along to Hermione’s words, glad to have someone voice the way she’s been feeling inside. Hermione continues, “Just don’t wait too long to talk to Harry. He loves you. He’d die for you, and actually has done that, I suppose. But he’s easily broken. He’s lost so many people over the years it just doesn’t seem fair.” Hermione waits a moment and then releases a slow sigh. “I guess what I’m saying is…if you’re going to break up with him, make it fast. If you’re going to apologize and pick things up where you left off before Bill’s wedding, make it fast. Harry doesn’t deserve to be strung along. Gosh, I sound like some cheesy film: ‘You hurt him, I hurt you!’”

Both girls laugh, relieving a bit of the tension. “I know,” Ginny replies. “He deserves better.” Ginny may not believe in fairy tales, but she believes in fighting for what she wants.