Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 103: Thank You
"Harry?... Is it really you? I mean, the…" Ginny hesitated.
"Yes, I believe I'm back to my senses. You can stop punching and kicking me now," Harry responded.
"But it worked!" She moved her fists around. "My attacks brought you back."
"No… your words brought me back. There was really no need to beat up my consciousness so much, to be honest." Harry held his cheek.
"Ah… sorry." Ginny looked down.
"Don't be." Harry got closer to her. "You saved me. You came for me when I was at my lowest point. You saw the worst in me and still continued…" He glanced into the distance. Countless moving images were still playing his many deaths.
"Of course I did!" Ginny exclaimed. "I… ehm…"
Harry lifted her chin and looked into her eyes. "I love you too, by the way." He placed a gentle kiss on her lips.
"Harry…" she said softly.
"For now, we need to get you out of here. We can continue our conversation in the real world." Harry said.
"But what about you? About the Obscurus? It's still destroying your me—"
"I know. Don't worry about that thing. I can deal with it now. You showed me something important," Harry said.
"I did?" Ginny didn't sound too sure.
"Yes." Harry glanced at the images in the distance. "What V did back then allowed me to continue by dulling the pain. He acted as my anchor and carried some of my burden, so I could ignore all of that bad stuff, pretend none of it existed, and keep going. That was only a temporary solution. In the end, what I needed to do was face and accept all of that as part of myself, and grow because of it. I'm finally ready to do that."
"That's great. But… don't you need me here? I could help," Ginny said.
"You have already helped me, Ginny. You gave me a reason to fight. The rest… I have to do it myself." He grabbed her hand. "You have already spent too much time inside my mind. Let's go."
Before Ginny could open her mouth to speak, she felt Harry's hand pulling away from her. Her vision went completely blank for an instant, and then everything became bright.
She opened her eyes and gasped. Her body jerked awake, losing its balance.
"Ginny!" Charlie, who had been sitting at her side, rushed to grab her before she could hit the ground.
"Merlin! She is awake." Fred dropped the cup of tea on a nearby table and went to her side. "Ginny, are you okay?"
"I… awake?" Ginny looked around in confusion. She needed a moment to regain her bearings and remember where she was.
She didn't know how long she had been inside Harry's mind, but to her, it felt like weeks, maybe even several months. It was impossible to tell for sure.
But she did immediately recognize her two brothers, looking down at her with concern in their eyes.
"Charlie… Fred… hey." She spoke with difficulty. Her mouth felt so dry.
"Bring the girl some water. Hurry up, boy."
Ginny heard the voice of Lady Rose but couldn't see her.
Fred quickly returned with a glass of water in his hands. "Here, drink."
"Drink slowly, Gin," said Charlie. "You have not moved from that chair for over forty hours."
"Forty hours?!" she said, feeling a bit better after a few sips. Ginny then turned her head to Harry. He was still sleeping. "Harry…" He promised her that he was fine now, but he hasn't woken up yet.
"What happened in there? Did you find his… what was the word?" Fred asked.
"Consciousness," Charlie responded.
Ginny took another sip of water and regained some strength. "I did. I talked to him. But…"
"Let's see then." Lady Rose approached the couch and examined Harry, placing her hand on his forehead as the others watched with attention.
After a very tense couple of minutes, Lady Rose lifted her hand, and for a moment, she appeared to be smiling. "It looks like he is doing much better."
"What about the Obscurus?" asked Charlie. "Is it still in there? Is he in danger?"
"About that…" Lady Rose started.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Inside Harry's mind, right after sending Ginny's consciousness away.
Harry walked through the black void that represents the most inner part of his psyche, where all his worst traumas have been stuck for millennia, eating away at his sanity bit by bit.
He felt much more relaxed now. And even when reliving some of his worst moments, he no longer felt the same despair as he used to.
"You shall no longer be my burden," Harry said, touching some of the images with his fingers. "You will instead become my strength."
The images turned into sparks of light that moved inside him.
Harry went to the next. "You will shape me." He grabbed another set of images. He embraced all of that pain and loneliness.
And moved to the next. "You will make me complete." One by one, he absorbed all the traumatic memories. He recalled them all one by one and accepted them.
When he was done, the void was empty once more, and Harry's green eyes moved up.
In the blink of an eye, he had left the inner depths of his psyche and was now inside his Mind Library, where he had stored his vast recollection of memories.
"Cursed creature...you have wreaked havoc for long enough," he said to the parasite invading his mind.
The dark creature responded by multiplying faster. A defensive move triggered by Harry's increasing resistance.
Harry noted that the lowest level of the library had remained untouched so far. His most important memories were safe.
The black goo near the entrance had been stopped by something.
Something that was no longer there, having been exhausted by the task.
But Harry knew what it was. He recognized it. A nostalgic smile appeared on his face. "Thank you for everything, V. I will take it from here."