The Titans of Secrets

─Chapter Thirty

Story: The Titans of Secrets
Chapter Thirty: Euphoria and Confidence From Hence

Ginny jumped to her feet in a second and bolted out of her dormitory. Before she could get down to the common room, she bumped hard into someone and fell down on her back.

"Ouch! I'm sorry!" she apologized, rubbing her head.

"I'm the one who should be sorry. I just ran – Ginny?"

She looked up at the voice and saw Harry on the floor in front of her, flushed and grinning. "Harry!"

"I was on my way to meet you!" they said in unison before laughing at the coincidence.

"Then let me lead you," Harry said, standing up and offering his hand. She took it with a smile and under the invisibility cloak, they ran out to the courtyard. It was a beautiful place; Ginny loved to spend her time in the courtyard. The fountain's water glistened in the rays of the setting sun and the birds were returning to their nests. Harry led her to one of the secluded corners and they continued holding hands as they sat down on the warm stone.

"Umm. . . Harry. . ?" she started slowly after a few minutes of silence.

"Right. It's just that I'm totally socially anxious," he joked. Ginny chuckled politely.

"Never had I imagined Shade to be socially anxious!" she retorted back.

"Shade was never the Harry Potter anyone would have seen. Right?" Ginny nodded slowly, unsure about how to answer that. "I understand. Only my Puddlemere mates have ever seen that side of me. They were and still are the closest people to my heart, excluding you and the others of course."

"That's great to hear. Do they keep in touch?" she asked. Harry smiled sadly.

"Unfortunately, only one does. Everyone were heartbroken when I told them I was retiring so they cut it all. They called me a traitor because I had promised to stay with them until I was at the very least, fourty. You know, till the very last. But then. . . mum fell ill one Yule and dad was depressed because of me, Gil was furious at me. I could not bear the disappointment which I cause my family to bear. As much as I made them proud, I also let them down.

I had to choose between friendship and family. It was very hard considering how much I adored my friends and valued my family. On top of that, there was the passion of playing Quidditch too. But I suppressed it for the sake of my family.

"Fans started treating me with disgust when I retired. Dunno why but I guess it's understandable. Puddlemere was only starting to win. Their behaviors, withdrawing of my friends and the disappointment of my family. . . all of them mounted to some mental weakness and that's what I have become now – vulnerable and the weakest Potter," he finished sadly. His eyes was covered by his black bangs but Ginny could just feel his melancholy.

"I was really insecure too. . . I never saw myself fit to be Dragonfly from the day the newspaper talking about the sighting of us came out. I think you know it already. I was so lost in my insecurities that I finally blurted all of my secrets to Hermione. She helped me, to an extent but at the end of the day, it was my heart. Duties, responsibilities, studies, secrets, crushes – they made my life harder.

"I guess you can call me a mentally weak person but no one can even think of opening their mouths to call you that, Harry. Because you are one of the strongest persons I have ever seen. The way you handled yourself after I left during the attack on Hogwarts, I was totally impressed. Maybe that's when I fell for Shade rather than the handsome looking, cool and funny Harry Potter," she finished with a joke. He squeezed her hand.