Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Above the Wreckage ❯ Tested and True ( Chapter 5 )

Okay, I hope you people were happy with that last chapter. I had to keep re-reading Fred's death scene to make sure I wasn't overstepping anything that JKR had established in the book.

 

So as I was sitting there wiping my tears off the keyboard and looking truly pathetic, I decided the time was ripe for more fluff.

 

So here you go. Fluff plus angst equals flangst and a very happy authoress.

 

Enjoy! (I sure will.)

 

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Tested and True

 

Harry was fairly certain that this was not the time or place.

 

He was pacing the room restlessly, completely unable to settle. Every once in awhile, he would run his hand through his (still unruly) hair, trying to quiet the adrenaline that still ran through his veins.

 

On the other side of the wall, the festivities were still going on; Harry could hear the laughter, the toasts, the raucous singing that had broken out, led by Hagrid and a group of Gryffindors. He couldn't decide if the sounds should comfort him, irritate him, or make him want to join.

 

He settled on the second one.

 

“Oh, for heaven's sake,” Ginny finally exploded. “Will you sit down?”

 

Harry gave her a sheepish smile. “Right. Sorry.” He sat. He didn't feel that Ginny's temper should be tested at this crucial juncture.

 

As he sat, Ginny stood up and took to retracing his path over the chamber's floor. “So what happens now?” she finally asked.

 

“…What do you mean?”

 

“Well, there's nothing keeping us apart now, is there?”

 

Harry sighed heavily. “No, there's not.” He was silent for a moment, before looking up to meet Ginny's eyes. “But there's nothing keeping us together, either.”

 

Ginny sighed heavily, and dropped into a chair on the other side of the room; she obviously did not want to be touched right now. There was a very long, very uncomfortable silence, during which Harry fidgeted with his glasses and Ginny studied him with an intent, unwavering gaze.

 

“You're an idiot.”

 

Harry blinked and looked up. “Gee, thanks.”

 

“I mean it. You are a complete and total moron, a disgrace to your fellow man, an insult to my undeniably superior intelligence.”

 

Harry grinned. “I know.”

 

Ginny smiled, and nodded. “Good. As long as you know.”

 

The next silence was shorter, a bit more comfortable, and allowed Harry to place his glasses back on his nose instead of repeatedly breaking them and repairing them with his wand.

 

“I don't know if I can ever forgive you, you know.”

 

Harry sighed heavily. “I know.”

 

“I want to.”

 

He looked up at her again. “I know that, too.”

 

“So maybe I can.”

 

Harry smiled slightly. “I hope so.”

 

Another long silence.

 

“So…where does that leave us?” he asked hesitantly.

 

Ginny shrugged, and replied quietly, “Depends.”

 

“On what?”

 

“Hypotheticals.” She paused as she studied him, knowing that when she gave him the look she was giving him now, he didn't dare lie to her. “If the same thing were to happen again—if we haven't really won, for some Godforsaken reason, or if his followers come after you for revenge—will you leave me behind again, or will you trust me to be able to handle myself and watch your back, like you should have done in the first place?”

 

Harry considered this carefully, then sat back in his chair and said truthfully, “That is what I should have done in the first place. I know it, and you know I know it. You're just rubbing it in now.”

 

Ginny nodded. “Yes.”

 

“You're impossible.”

 

Another nod, this time accompanied by the faint shadow of a smile. “Yes.”

 

Then they both burst into laughter, and Harry's arms were suddenly filled with a grinning, giggling Ginny.