taking control

Chapter 3: Welcome to the Wizarding World

Chapter 3: Welcome to the Wizarding World

"We need to talk."

Harry looked up at Ginny and, seeing the serious expression on her face, conjured a bookmark and closed the text he had been reading, giving Ginny his full attention. He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees and asked, "What is it?"

"I didn't want to bring this up right away as it was clear that you had things weighing on your mind yesterday." There was no doubt as to the things she was speaking of. He had given her a full account of the battle at the Patils, after all, and she had witnessed firsthand how difficult it was for him to talk about the Exploding Curse on the stairs. Intellectually, he knew that it was foolish to feel guilt or remorse without even knowing for certain that he had ended any lives that day, but the very real possibility had shaken him. That and the fact that he knew he would be forced to kill again before the war was over.

He felt torn. He was sickened at even the thought of killing anyone, yet he was well aware of exactly what the Death Eaters did to their victims. Anyone willing to do such unspeakable acts to someone, let alone innocent children, needed to be stopped by any means necessary. He was unwilling to kill Death Eaters on sight, but he knew that he needed to do whatever it took to stop them. If he was unable to take them alive, their lives were worth less to him than his own, his friends', and those of their future victims.

He noticed Ginny looking at him expectantly and nodded for her to continue. "I need you to understand that I am very upset that you refused my help and went into that situation alone. You nearly got yourself killed while I was left here with nothing to do but twiddle my thumbs."

Her voice was tight and measured with a dangerous undercurrent to her tone, but he was unwilling to capitulate on this point. "When your brothers asked me to train them, I made it clear that I would not let them fight with me until I deemed them ready, and the same applies to you. You're not ready yet."

"I can whip both Fred and George's arses without a wand," she countered heatedly.

"So could most Death Eaters," Harry commented, careful to keep his voice even. "With a wand, of course. There's a reason I won't be taking them out with me any time soon."

"Well just what is it going to take before you deem me ready?" she demanded hotly, stepping forward and towering over him on the sofa.

"An attitude adjustment, for starters," Harry replied, standing up right in her face. Her mouth opened, but Harry hastily inserted, "I need to know you will follow my lead and take orders without hesitation."

"You bloody hypocrite!" she spat. "So it's okay for the Great Harry Potter to do as he damn well pleases, but the rest of us, we couldn't possibly survive without his leadership."

Harry bit back his initial retort, not wanting to turn this into a screaming match. "That's not what I meant, and you know it." He turned away from her and walked several steps before turning back. She continued staring at him, breathing heavily through her nose. "I don't want to argue with you, Ginny, but you're right that this is something we need to discuss and figure out. I just don't want to do it shouting at each other."

He watched her carefully as she digested his words, and he could slowly see her body start to relax and her breathing level out. "Okay," she said. "No shouting then."

He frowned but walked back towards Ginny and took her hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze before pulling her down onto the sofa. They sat in silence for a moment before Harry began, "I know how hard it is for you to just watch as the war is being fought by others around you, people you care for, while you're left behind. That's a large part of the reason I started training myself last summer, after all. But I did all of that myself. You have to understand; I brought you into this, Ginny. I've trained you. I brought you here, and when you do go into battle, it will be me that put you there. If something were to happen to you, it would kill me."