Friday dinner at the Burrow was different from usual.
It was the first time Ginny had brought her boyfriend home, Lucas.
Everyone was a little on edge, constantly glancing between Ginny and Harry.
Ron in particular looked deeply conflicted.
Harry strongly suspected Ron was trying to work out whether to side with Harry or Ginny if things came to blows.
Molly was caught off guard by Lucas’s sudden appearance, but welcomed Lucas warmly all the same.
“Even so, Mum loves you more,” Ron murmured in Harry’s ear.
“She used to hope you’d become her son-in-law, but even after you and Ginny split up, you’re still Mum’s son.”
Ron gave a little pout.
“And just you watch — you matter more to Mum than I do. She likes you better than me.”
“Little Ronnie, you’re 24 years old and you’re still sour about this?” Harry shook his head and let out a quiet laugh.
Harry had lost count of how many times he’d said he had truly, completely moved on.
It seemed no one believed him, no one except Ginny herself.
They had broken up a year ago, a week after his birthday.
Ginny had been the one to bring it up.
Harry was grateful to her for that.
She had made a real effort to see him through his birthday first, and hadn’t chosen to end things in the days before, or on the day itself.
He felt the reason the relationship had failed was his fault.
Perhaps from the very beginning, what existed between them had been wrong.
It had never been equal.
Ginny had admired him and liked him since childhood, and in her second year he had saved her life by a twist of fate, even though the reason she’d been targeted by Voldemort was simply that he was her brother’s best friend.
He had always thought of her as a little sister.
Then sixth year came, and he vaguely caught a trace of floral scent rising from a cauldron of Amortentia.
At the time, he hadn’t known whose scent it was.
His world had been very dark in sixth year.
And Ginny, Ginny was a sharp-edged girl, a little sharp-tongued, fiercely competitive, brilliant at Quidditch.
She kept appearing at his side.
He found himself drawn in without quite realizing it.
It was a bit like… someone on the verge of drowning, finally catching a breath of fresh air.
His shabbiness had already been showing by then, hadn’t it?
His feelings for her were far weaker than hers were for him, and what occupied his every thought was defeating Voldemort, not Ginny.
And yet he had still kissed her.
Harry had no wish to condemn who he had been back then.
He had truly needed her presence at the time.
He also wanted to belong more deeply to the Weasley family.
Because… he was afraid.
The war made him afraid, but the Weasley family had always been the thing that settled his heart.
They had broken up at Dumbledore’s funeral, then got back together after the Battle.
Harry made a complete mess of his life after that.
He threw himself desperately into catching dark wizards, dealing with Death Eater remnants, and on top of that had to go around giving speeches, all in the name of inspiring people.
Work, battle, work, battle.
His life was full and chaotic.
He had no mental space left to think about his personal life.
And the little breathing room he did have, he mostly gave to Teddy.
Ginny had been understanding.
From Hogwarts, Ginny wrote him a letter every week, and never asked him to write back.
He, despicably, had replied to only a handful.
Waiting is a painful, grinding thing.
Whenever Harry thought back on it, the guilt was always there.
Ginny needed company.
He had no time to give it.
After graduating, Ginny joined the Holyhead Harpies and became a professional Quidditch player.
Training and matches filled Ginny’s life too, and they drifted further and further apart.
Even so, it was mostly Ginny who made the time to come find him.
There were even occasions when he had no choice but to leave Ginny waiting in his office while he went out after dark wizards.
So on that day, when Ginny told him calmly and with absolute finality, “I’ve had enough”, what Harry felt was not helplessness.
It was the sense that something long overdue had finally arrived.
He had always thought that, in truth, he should have been the one to bring it up much earlier.
But he had kept wanting Ginny near him, so he had kept putting it off.
Or perhaps the one who had truly been holding on all along was Ginny, and if he had been the one to end it, that would have been even more unfair.
“Am I in your future? When do you plan to stop living like this, running yourself into the ground? When will there be a night we spend together where I don’t wake up to find you in the grip of a nightmare?”
Three questions.
He couldn’t answer a single one.
He couldn’t even guarantee whether he had a future at all, let alone make any promises to Ginny.
He liked Ginny, but that feeling was too thin, too frail.
Too thin to weigh against the pressure and expectations the wizarding world placed on him.
Too frail to pull him free of all those dark places he kept sinking into.
So Ginny slapped him, then turned and walked away without hesitation.
Harry watched the retreating figure and seemed to see Ginny again as she had been at Hogwarts, that spirited Gryffindor Chaser, red hair flying.
The dessert at dinner was dirt pudding.
Before long, he heard footsteps, and caught that familiar floral scent.
“Lucas is a good person,” Harry said, spearing a small piece of pudding with his fork.
“You two suit each other. You’ll be happy together.”
Lucas had been warm and funny at dinner.
But more than that, Harry could see that Lucas genuinely liked Ginny, their legs had been pressed close together the whole time.
“Mum likes Lucas too. Ron’s a little hostile, but Lucas will win Ron over.” Ginny gave a quiet laugh.
“Because Lucas is basically a large golden retriever.”
“I’m truly happy for you.” Harry turned to look at Ginny, meeting those eyes, voice steady.
“I was terrible. You deserve someone good, like Lucas.”
“A terrible person wouldn’t say they were terrible, Harry.” Ginny was quiet for a moment, then was the first to turn away.
“Honestly, I’d have preferred you to seem a little jealous — it would have given me a satisfying sense of revenge.”
“Really?” Harry raised an eyebrow.
“Your boyfriend was already quite hostile toward me at dinner.”
“Lucas will get over it — once it’s clear there’s truly nothing left between us.” Ginny curved one corner of her mouth.
“I’m sorry.” Harry prodded the pudding apart bit by bit with his fork.
“For everything.”
“Even after we broke up, you still thought of me as a little sister, didn’t you?” Ginny seemed to have let something go entirely, turning away with an easy composure.
“Yeah.” Harry looked at Ginny, not sure why she’d say something like that.
“Then when I get married, you’ll have to prepare a very, very, very expensive gift.” Ginny tilted her head.
“Of course.” Harry smiled and nodded.
When the two of them returned to the Burrow, Lucas immediately looked over at them.
Once Ginny’s look landed, the wariness in Lucas’s expression relaxed.
By the end of the evening, Lucas even asked Harry for an autograph.
“I will,” Harry said with a friendly smile, “but only if you give me one too.”
As the night grew late and Teddy had curled up against Harry and was dozing off, Harry’s phone rang, loud and jarring.
Everyone startled.
Dominique, who had already fallen asleep, burst into tears.
Harry quickly pulled out his phone and saw Michael’s name on the screen.
“Boss! Boss! Thank Merlin you brought your phone!” Michael’s voice came through in a rush.
“There are stray Dementors in the old arch district under the Shoreditch Goods Railway, Muggles have already been attacked! Requesting backup!”
Harry immediately handed Teddy to Andromeda and made for the door.
Hermione and Ron were already on their feet.
“We’re coming with you.”
➤ Next: Panic Attack