In The Fight To Survive (Golden Trio Era) {4}

The Horcruxes To Hunt

Mikayla sealed her eyes shut, focusing on finding the low hum of the magical wards her friends had put in place, fearing she had somehow disabled them and sent out their location. "What are you doing?" Harry whispered, not wanting to spook the blonde, "listening to the magic, I need to make sure we're still protected." Mikayla told him once she heard a low hum, "who casted these protective enchantments?" Mikayla felt a familiarity to the magic, but couldn't quite put her finger on why it drew her in. "I did, why? Is there something wrong with them?" Mikayla shook her head, she could hear the fear and panic laced in her friend's voice.

"No, they're really strong and very much still intact, it's just that your magic sounds different now." Mikayla explained, "well maybe it's because I have a different wand." Harry suggests making Mikayla realise why it felt so familiar but she couldn't place it, it sounded like a combination of Harry and her Dad's magical symphonies. "Yeah, that must be it." Mikayla cleared her throat, blinking away the dots that filled her vision from squeezing her eyes too hard closed, "what did you need to talk to me about?" She asks not wanting to waste anymore time because she's starting to get very hungry.

"Nothing serious, and it may seem silly why this is even important to me, but I need to know. Did Ginny really write that song for me?" Mikayla's face adopted a soft smile, "oh Harry," Mikayla took a hold of his hands in hers, "it's not silly to wonder how she's doing without you there. Ginny is the strongest, most stubborn person I know, and she waited for years for you to finally look in her direction. She's capable of waiting a little more to be with you again, and her song was a way to let you know that she still loves you."

Harry looked down at the ground conflicted, he was both ecstatic and sad that Ginny still wanted to be with him, because he felt guilty for her not being able to move on and find love while he was gone from her life. "Why don't you write her a letter? You can take the whole month to write it, and tell her everything, because if you truly want to spend your life with her, that is the bare minimum she deserves. I can charm it so no one else can read it, and block her from sharing the details with anyone else. I'll deliver the letter myself, but I reckon it'll be good for both of you that you communicate your true feelings."

Harry took a moment to bounce Mikayla's suggestion around in his head, weighing out both the pros and the cons of it. "I just want Ginny to be happy, but if she was laying her heart out bare in her song, I'd be an idiot not to try and tell her that I feel exactly the same way. I check the Map everyday, multiple times even, just seeing her name helps me push on even when I want nothing more than to just show up at Hogwarts and kiss her, damn the war." Mikayla let go of Harry's hand, preparing herself to be more vulnerable with him to show that wanting that wasn't a sign of weakness but of strength.

"I considered it not that long ago, abandoning the fight, letting the war rage on without me." Mikayla admitted as she and Harry moved to sit down on the trunk of a fallen tree. "You're not saying that so I feel less guilty, are you?" Mikayla shook her head no, confirming her words as the truth, and decided to give Harry a little more context. "It was the night Fred got hurt, once all the adrenaline fizzled away and everyone else had left for the night, I started frantically packing up our belongings. I could barely see because I was in the middle of a full blown panic attack, and I don't remember much of it. Fred woke up sometime during my panic attack, he said I just kept repeating three phrases; 'we're done', 'need to go' and 'no more fighting'."

Mikayla took a second to recollect herself because she did not want to cry again thinking of herself in such a vulnerable state. Harry carefully wrapped his arm around her shoulders, offering her comfort and silently urging her to tell him more. "Once he realised what I was talking about, Fred pulled me on top of him as he was still laying on the couch from his injuries. I fought his hold on me, terrified that I was going to hurt him, but he held me tight against his chest and just kept telling me that he was okay, that he was there, and that everything was going to be alright. It took a while before I calmed even the slightest bit, struggling to catch my breath or slow down my pounding heart."