The Golden Snitch

Beginning the rebuild

'Tell me about your relationship with Ginny.'

'But that doesn't have anything to do with the war or Voldemort.'

'We don't need to always talk about the war, Harry. Sometimes it helps to talk about other aspects of your life too.'

'There's not much to say.'

'You mentioned that you got back together with her at the end of the war. How did you feel about being with Ginny?'

'Nothing.'

'You felt nothing? Could you expand on that a bit more, Harry?'

'I suppose it was right at the time. I mean, I must have felt something. It was certainly a bit odd, looking back now. We kissed, you know, in the middle of it all, in the middle of the mess and the chaos, the destruction and death, we just kissed, on the main stairs in Hogwarts. Afterwards, it all felt a bit frivolous ... and out of place. I felt disrespectful to those who were lying dead in the Great Hall. Who was I to be snogging when they were lying dead in there, because of me.' Harry paused, 'I shouldn't have done it.'

'But surely we all deserve a bit of love in lives?'

'Yes, I guess it was what Ginny needed. She'd waited for me, you know. Those nine months, or whatever it was, that I was in hiding, trying to find out information, trying to find the Horcruxes. I guess I felt it was the right thing to do.'

'You felt it was the right thing to do? To be with Ginny?'

Harry shrugged, 'she needed comforting. She was grieving for her brother.'

'And what did you feel, Harry, while you were with her?'

'Numb. Everything felt numb. I was just there. Molly made us come to the Burrow after the war had ended. Hermione and me. They were all grieving for Fred, it was so intimate. I didn't feel like I belonged. But I was expected to be there. I just stayed around. Comforting Ginny when she needed it. Mostly we just held hands, but sometimes we kissed, when she wanted, it was all driven by her rather than me. But I didn't feel anything real, not really, if that makes sense? She was my friend. We weren't lovers, if that's what you mean.'

'I don't mean anything, Harry. I just want to hear what you have to say. Was it you that ended the relationship?'

'No.'

'No?'

'You want me to say more?'

'Is there more to say?'

'Not really. It was the day of the funeral, Fred's funeral. We were sat in the garden afterwards. I remember the sun was shining and I was watching a garden gnome trying to sneak back in to hide in the vegetable patch. She held my hand and apologised. She kept repeating that it wasn't working. She cried, a lot.'

'And you? How did you feel, Harry?'

Harry shrugged again, 'Relieved.'

'Relieved?'

'Yes.'

'And what about now, Harry? What to you feel about the breakup of your relationship with Ginny now?'

'Still relieved. It's too much to deal with. It's better this way anyway. I'm better off on my own.'

'Why are you better off on your own, Harry?'

'Because I end up hurting them all. My friends, my family, they all died because of me: my parents, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Fred, Dobby, Colin, Cedric, Mad-Eye, Dumbledore, Severus, even Hedwig, they all died because of me. I'm racking up quite a list. There's more, you know. I'm better off not being around other people.' Harry's voice faded to a whisper, 'I'm better off on my own.'