Harry Potter and No Trace Of You

Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

Ginny came back a half hour later, sitting by his bed. "Sorry," she mumbles. "I just had to..."

He nodded. "It's fine."

"How are you?" she asked, clearly not wanting to talk about what happened earlier.

He'd spent the last half hour trying to catalog what he was feeling. Frustrated. Afraid. Trying hard not to give into this spiral of hopelessness building in his chest, because he kind of wanted to run around and scream this isn't bloody fair. Waiting for a potion was one thing, sitting around and just hoping his brain fixed itself on its own was agonizing.

"My head feels better," he settled for saying.

"Good," she said.

They sat in silence.

They kept him another day, finally discharging him late in the afternoon. By this point he was more than ready to leave, the two of them having a quick bite with Ron and Hermione at their flat.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Hermione said.

Harry smiled at her, squeezing her hand.

They didn't talk about what they were going to do now that an antidote was no longer an option, Ron very carefully keeping them all entertained despite Ginny refusing to be dragged into their usual sibling hijinks.

She was quiet that evening when they finally got home.

"I'm really tired," she said. "Do you mind if I just..." She gestured back towards her room.

"No, not at all." He knew she'd had even less sleep than he had the last two days.

She gave him a strained smile. "Goodnight."

"Night."

Harry found he couldn't sleep. Instead he wandered the flat. Part of him kept hoping that he would find an object or see something that would trigger a memory. That it might all just rush back in at any moment.

It didn't.

With a sigh, he poked around in search of more notebooks. There was a small closet at the end of the hall he'd never looked in.

As he passed in front of Ginny's door, he felt his ears buzz, just the gentlest sensation, but enough for him to realize she'd cast a muffling charm. Why would she do that?

He considered that there were probably a million reasons for her to cast that charm. A lot that had absolutely nothing to do with him. It didn't stop him from pushing open the door, peering inside.

It wasn't a bedroom like he always assumed. It was a study of sorts, with a desk and a sparring dummy and some other sports equipment. There was a sofa under the window that was transfigured to be slightly wider than normal.

He was horrified to realize she'd been sleeping on a sofa this whole time no matter the modifications, but that concern was pushed to the side by the sight that waited for him. Ginny sat in the middle of the sofa, her legs drawn up into her chest, face lowered to her knees. Her shoulders were shaking with deep, wrenching sobs as she wept into her hands.

She looked desolate and heartbroken and completely alone. He didn't consider that she clearly wanted to be alone, just stepped towards her. "Ginny."

Her head lifted with a jerk. "Oh, Christ," she said, looking up at him in horror. "Did I fuck up the charm?"

He shook his head. "No. I could tell there was a charm, and I just...I guess I needed to know..."

"Of course you did," she said, voice wry as if she would never expect any less of him.