Family

Chapter Sixteen
Alive

The white swirling steam from three teacups floated to the ceiling of the Headmaster's office. Dumbledore quietly stirred his tea, his gaze fixed at the ceiling, as though thinking deeply. He seemed to be only vaguely aware of someone whispering spells in front of him.

When a click was heard in the room, followed by the haunting strings of a violin, Dumbledore returned his gaze to the two people in front of him and smiled.

"That's an interesting contraption," Sirius remarked, picking up the wireless. "You say you made it?"

"No," Harry said, mildly surprised, as he put his wand back in his pocket. He had been fixing the wireless he had given Ginny for her birthday. "It's a Muggle wireless, Sirius. I just adjusted it a bit so it can work with magic."

"That's brilliant," Sirius said, beaming at Harry. He was turning the wireless over in his palms again and again, scrutinizing every inch of it.

"Not as brilliant as the Marauder's Map," Harry told him. "It's really simple. It's not like inventing a new spell—no, only Hermione can do that in my year. It's like putting an already known spell into an object."

Dumbledore set his cup down and nodded at Harry. "It is almost like how it was with your parents' wedding rings, isn't it?"

Harry looked up at the Headmaster, startled. "Well—no, not really—they had to invent a spell for energy transfer, right?"

"Yes, and the rings had to work with emotions, too," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling as he gazed at Harry. "That's very complex magic. It was very brilliant of your parents, I must say."

"I knew those two could do it," Sirius said, placing the wireless back on the table. His eyes were on something far-off, as though reminiscing. "It seems they managed to put certain memories in the rings, too."

Dumbledore nodded once more. "The rings seem to have the properties of a Pensieve," he told Harry.

Sirius grinned at Harry. "How awesome is that, having an all-around wedding ring?"

Harry smiled back, just a little. He looked at his hands, at his father's wedding ring. His parents' wedding rings were indeed exceptional. They unclasped themselves when he and Ginny had held them together. They had showed him glimpses of his family as how it used to be. And they had helped Ginny fight the counter-curse. She was well again.

All of those...for him.

Harry found that he had been absently twisting the wedding band around his finger. He traced the grooves of the stag with his thumb. Then, he slipped off the wedding ring from his finger. He was finally able to do so when he had awakened in the hospital wing, a week and a half after falling into a coma, for there was no further need of the energy transfer.

His eyes fell on the engraved lettering inside the band.

I love you.

"We want you to have the family you used to have in us, Harry," his mother had said.

Just then, someone knocked on the door. "Come in, please," Dumbledore said.

The door opened. Harry was almost glad to see who was on the other side: Snape. He looked stunned upon seeing Harry—then, as though everything was as it had always been, the Potions master scowled at Harry and then fixed Sirius in a murderous gaze, which Sirius returned.

Dumbledore, however, acknowledged Snape with a smile and a meaningful look. "I think you should hurry off now, Harry," he said. He turned off the wireless and handed it to Harry. "There are a few matters that need to be discussed."

"Right," Sirius said, breaking his eye contact with Snape. "You still have your O.W.L.s to worry about."

Harry groaned, loud enough to be heard by Snape. With a smile at Dumbledore and a wink at Sirius, Harry slipped out of the office quietly.

It was a warm June afternoon, and if the O.W.L.s weren't so close it would have been a good idea to hang out by the lake and do nothing. Harry looked for Ron and Hermione—he and Ron had promised Hermione they would study together. They had been doing so since Harry had returned to Gryffindor Tower.

Harry smiled to himself, thinking about how hysterical his two best friends were when they found him awake in the hospital wing. Hermione had rushed to embrace him, weeping onto his shoulder; Ron was unable to speak for minutes and was just staring at Harry, and it was only until Ginny shook him vigorously and threatened to slap him that he finally grinned at Harry.

It had been a surprise, Harry reflected, when he sensed somebody beside him just as he was trying to break free of unconsciousness there in the hospital wing. He had smelled something familiar—flowers, he had thought—then he had felt something soothingly cool on his hand. When his hand involuntarily twitched, he felt something stir beside his head on the pillow. Then he heard someone whisper, "Harry?" and right before he opened his eyes, he already knew who it was he was going to see.

As though thinking about Ginny made him conjure her up somehow, Harry presently saw a flash of red. Ginny was walking quickly in the direction of Gryffindor Tower. Her head was bent down over a book.

Smiling, Harry reached for the wireless in his pocket and quietly fell in place beside Ginny. "Happy birthday," he muttered, thrusting the wireless in front of her.

Ginny jumped up and for a moment stared wildly at him. Then, recovering, she sighed and regarded him with a wry smile. Her eyes fell on the wireless. "Oh, you fixed it!" she gushed.

"Take care of it now, all right?" Harry said, grinning.

Ginny gave him an embarrassed sort of smile as she closed her book and put the wireless carefully into her robe pocket.

Harry took a deep breath. "Hey, uh," he started to say awkwardly, "d'you want to go out for a walk?"

"I thought you were supposed to be studying for your O.W.L.s. Ron was looking all over for you—said Hermione was starting to get mad."

"They can spare me ten minutes." Harry peered into her face. "Or can't you?"

Ginny rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "Harry..."

Harry grinned once more. "Well?"

Ginny laughed. "If you fail in Divination, it's not my fault—okay?"

The two of them headed out of the castle. The sky outside was a beautiful clear blue, and the breeze was just right. It reminded Harry of one sunrise in his secret place, where the sun peeked out behind green mountains, illuminating the valley below. The day radiated of hope, of a new life.

There was a relaxed silence between him and Ginny as they reached the lake and began strolling around it. Ginny's hair was a bit ruffled, glinting golden-red under the sunlight, and her cheeks were tinged with pink. She had fully recovered from the curse, Harry was glad to see—her appearance showed it all.

It was a surreal thought—but really comforting—to know that the girl right beside him, the one for whom he felt that strange, powerful feeling that people called love for the first time in his entire life, was eventually going to be...his.

Out of nowhere, he asked Ginny, "Do you believe in destiny?"

Ginny looked up at him in surprise. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Harry wasn't so sure why he asked, either. "I dunno...that some things are, er, meant to be?"

A slow smile spread across Ginny's face, as though she couldn't believe Harry was asking such a question. "Well, yes," she began thoughtfully. "But then again, anything can happen...so many things can change. I think it's safe to say that things will happen, but somehow, we're still in control. It's not right to trust only in destiny." She looked up at the sky, then back at Harry doubtfully. "I didn't make any sense, did I?"

Harry grinned at her. "I think I can sort of see what you mean."

Ginny giggled. Then she stopped, and Harry saw that she had looked down on her hands, on the emerald ring on her finger. There was a small, pensive smile playing on her lips. Silence had fallen over them again.

Harry's eyes fell on the tranquil lake, blue and scintillating under the sun. A few ripples were forming as the breeze blew. It was a soothing sight, as though it would forever be like that—placid, immovable. But Harry knew that the wind could pick up speed, and the waters would be violent, and it would be a while before the lake calmed down again.

Things could happen. Things would happen. But, in a way, he was not too worried. His parents didn't only leave him with protection, after all. They didn't leave him with destiny all mapped out in front of him, either. They had given him guidance. They were still giving him guidance.

It's not right to trust only in destiny.

We want you to have the family you used to have in us, Harry.

Harry looked up at the sky and said a silent thank-you. Because, for the very first time in his life, Harry felt that his parents were really, truly alive.

The End

Jenna's Notes:

At the time of its conception, Family was a seven-chapter fic about a topic (which I'm not going to tell, because it's something really silly). But then, inspiration struck, and Family turned out to be a totally different journey towards both the past and the future, where Harry learns love and acceptance.

I'm afraid I won't be able to write a sequel to this, but if you will, I have a few other fics in tow that I hope you'll also enjoy. Meanwhile, I just want to tell you, my reviewers, how thankful I am for inspiring me to go on with this fic and to make it better with every chapter. Further thanks to Lisa (Night Zephyr) and Amy for the beta, to which I am extremely grateful. :-)