Evermore

Chapter One: The One Who Had It All

Harry remained sitting in the living room after Rufus Scrimgeour had left him, Ron, and Hermione with the former possessions of Albus Dumbledore, to be left to them in the wake of his death, which had occurred just weeks previously. The bitterness in Harry's throat as he thought of what had happened on the final day of June had never faded completely, especially that Severus Snape was the murderer in question. The very fact that Draco Malfoy, his sworn enemy since he'd arrived at Hogwarts in September of 1991, was lowering his wand just moments before the execution, and that Snape, his potions professor, who had seemed to loath his very existence almost as long as he'd known Malfoy, had swept in and done the deed himself, just made Harry's skin crawl.

Harry had nodded absentmindedly when Ron and Hermione slipped outside to help the rest of Ron's family in setting up the beautiful country grounds of the Burrow for Bill and Fleur's wedding, to take place the following day. Bill, who was Ron's eldest brother, was always cool to Harry, and he had met him in his fourth year during the time he had been a Triwizard champion, yet another time when he had escaped Lord Voldemort. Harry felt his skin crawl a second time at the notion that the school that he had once called home was now fully under the Dark Lord's control, given that Snape—the usurper, the murderer, the fiend—was now headmaster. The fact that he now held the position over so many young witches and wizards, which he had literally killed for, made Harry's blood boil.

"Harry."

The voice of Ginny Weasley would have normally calmed him down, but ever since the two had broken up after Dumbledore's funeral, just after Snape had killed him, he never felt the same towards the only sister of his best friend. He turned to face her then, her beautiful red hair framing that blazing look on her face that she always seemed to have around him, was lost on him as he got slowly to his feet.

"What is it, Gin?" he asked, pushing his glasses all the way up his nose; they tended to fall downwards whenever he was deep in thought. "Something wrong? Does your mum need me to do something in preparation for tomorrow?"

Ginny shook her head as she worried her bottom lip; her blue eyes shone as she hesitated ever so slightly. She had been a lot more careful, or so he'd heard from Ron, in the weeks since Dumbledore's death, and not nearly so impulsive. It seemed that Ginny, like many other members of the Wizarding World, wasn't going to be so tempestuous anymore, now that life had a way of fading out, for the most powerful sorcerer in the world had been enveloped in that green light on the Astronomy Tower, and if he could be killed, who was next?

"No, Mum doesn't need you for anything. Or Dad," she put in quickly, knowing that Harry was likely to ask about Arthur Weasley. "I was wondering if I might borrow you for a moment, please, Harry?"

Harry shrugged, nodding his head and watching her walk away from him for a moment before he forced his feet to move along after her. He assumed that she needed his help with something for the wedding, or that she was merely fetching him on someone else's behalf. Either way, whatever it was, he hoped, would be a good distraction from the weight of the Quidditch snitch in his pocket, or the unwavering doom that had settled over him for the past several weeks that he would be forgoing his final year at Hogwarts in pursuit of the Horcrux hunt that Dumbledore had been preparing him for.

"Just in here," Ginny said, her voice quiet as they came to a small door, which she opened almost effortlessly, and led him inside. She didn't flinch as the door shut automatically behind Harry, and as she turned to face him, all hesitation seemed to disappear from her face. "I know that it's your birthday today, Harry," she said, her voice quiet. "Mum gave you that watch, Ron gave you the book, Fred and George gave you a bunch of their products, and Hermione..."

"If this is leading up to you telling me you forgot to get me something, Gin, or that you've got something for me, really, it doesn't matter," Harry said quickly, a light chuckle escaping his lips at the notion of another gift for him. "Really. I likely won't be able to take much with me after Ron and Hermione and I get out of here."