Beyond Fear

After Harry settled Luna in bed and she fell asleep again, he decided to go fetch his things from the Burrow. He intended to return before she woke up, to prepare dinner, but he knew he would have to talk to Ginny. He would try to be as quick as possible with the conversation, but something told him it wouldn’t be an easy one.

Harry wasn’t wrong. When he walked through the door of the Burrow, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Molly were in the kitchen having tea.

Great, now the fight will have an audience. That was the first thing he thought.

“Hello, Harry, sit down. I’ll get you a cup of tea.” Molly was already moving around the kitchen without waiting for his reply.

“Hi, Harry, how’s Luna?” Hermione asked as he sat down.

“She’s better. I left her sleeping when I came here.” He accepted the cup of tea, taking a sip before explaining why he was there.

“That’s good. She’ll need a lot of rest now,” Molly said.

“Yes, she needs complete rest for a month before her next appointment to check on the placenta.”

He paused and looked at Ginny, who had been silent the entire time. “Can we talk in the living room for a moment?”

She raised an eyebrow but got up without saying anything. Harry already felt the argument brewing. He was so tired of it, but guilt always made him accept these disputes.

Ginny leaned against the fireplace and said nothing. Harry stood a few steps away, trying to find the right words. He wasn’t sorry for leaving her to help Luna, but he knew it had hurt her.

“I wanted to say I’m sorry for how things turned out after the ball.”

Ginny tensed even more.

“This is your attempt at an apology?”

Her voice was full of sarcasm. Harry hated it. When could they have a mature conversation without accusations and sarcasm?

“No, Ginny. Luna is pregnant and could have lost the babies. I’m sorry for how it happened, but I’m not apologizing for going to help her.” He kept his voice low, trying not to get annoyed by the disdain on her face.

“What do you mean by babies?” She looked incredulous now.

“Didn’t anyone tell you she’s pregnant with twins?” He was confused that no one had told her.

Silence fell as Ginny stood there, red-faced, looking like a fish gasping for air. “You’ve got to be joking!”

Harry just looked at her. He desperately wanted to understand her, to be patient.

When she saw he remained serious, she began to laugh hysterically.

“This is absolutely hilarious. You couldn’t just be a bloody savior, you had to knock her up, and to top it off, it’s twins!” she screamed.

“Ginevra, what kind of language is that?” Molly shouted, entering the room with Ron and Hermione in tow, but Ginny didn’t care. She was focused on Harry.

“Ginny.” He spoke through gritted teeth, doing everything not to explode. “I don’t like your tone. Please, let’s have a mature conversation.”

That seemed to inflame her further. “A mature conversation? You left me alone, didn’t speak to me for two days, and now you come here to tell me you’re having two kids, as if just one wasn’t bad enough.”

Harry felt something inside him break. He had endured so much in the last few days, but Ginny had crossed a line.

“Enough! You will not talk about my children like that.” Harry responded with a simmering rage, but his voice was cold and low. If she didn’t want to talk, he wouldn’t waste another second on this fight.

“You’re completely blinded by her, Harry!” she accused.

“Blinded?! Blinded, Ginny? I’m their father! No matter what happens between us, I have a responsibility to Luna and those babies. Do you really think I’m going to turn my back on them because it bothers you?!”

“You don’t see that she’s manipulating you? Since when is Luna so fragile? She knows exactly what she’s doing, Harry. And you’re falling for it like an idiot, leaving your whole life behind!”

Harry took a step forward, his voice rising to a tone he rarely used.

“Manipulating?! Luna almost lost the twins! She’s hurt, scared, and all she did was ask for help! If you think I’ll choose you or anyone else over my children and their mother, then you don’t know me, Ginny!”

Ginny stood gaping, but anger still burned in her eyes.

Harry began to leave the room to head upstairs. To him, the conversation was over.

“Where do you think you’re going?” she shouted.

“I’m going to get my things.” He knew this would worsen the argument, but he couldn’t leave Luna alone anymore. He had to leave. “I came to talk to you, but it’s impossible. Luna needs complete rest and will need help. I’m moving into her house to take care of her until she recovers.”

“Moving into her house? You can’t be serious, Harry. I AM your girlfriend.”

“This isn’t about you, Ginny! It’s about doing the right thing. Luna needs help. I’ll be there for her because that’s what a father and a friend do. If you can’t understand that, maybe we should go our separate ways.”

“I waited for you for a year, and now you’re throwing me away for Loony Lovegood? And for kids you’re not even sure are yours.” The hatred in her voice was pure venom, and Harry had never heard her speak like that. He was genuinely shocked.

Harry looked at her as if he didn’t know her. In a second, he was in front of her, his wand pointed at her face. The three onlookers rushed to intervene before the situation got worse, but Harry didn’t notice. He also didn’t feel an ounce of empathy for Ginny’s shocked, hurt face.

“You will NEVER speak about my children or Luna like that again! I don’t care that you’re a Weasley or my girlfriend—I will curse you until you can’t use that serpent tongue anymore!” Harry was now seething with rage, and his threat shocked everyone, including Ginny. The shock was immense because they realized he wasn’t joking.

He took a step back. “Now I’ll get my things.” He glanced at Molly’s stunned face. “I’m sorry, Molly. I didn’t want you to hear that.”

He left the room and went upstairs. Ten minutes later, he was Apparating into Luna’s living room without saying goodbye to anyone. Harry exhaled a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding and noticed he was trembling with anger. Ginny’s reaction had been worse than he imagined. Thinking about his own reaction made him shudder as he realized he had truly meant what he said. His fierce defense of his family—yes, Luna and the babies were his family—was so quick and firm that he only understood the weight of his words after they were spoken.

Harry climbed the stairs in silence, left his things in his room, and peeked into Luna's room. She was still asleep, so he decided to make dinner as a way to calm himself.

He kept thinking about Ginny, about her angry face, and tried to imagine how he would feel if the situation were reversed. Of course, he would never have said something so cruel, but he understood her anger. He didn’t know what their relationship would look like now or how he would react when he saw her again. Ever since they had gotten back together, it felt like they argued more than they actually enjoyed being together, and it was wearing him down. She had been so mean and cruel, it left him feeling like he didn’t really know her. He had never imagined she could say something like that. She had insinuated that the children weren’t his. Just remembering it made his anger flare up again.

The month they spent together at Hogwarts had been like a dream, but now it all felt more like a nightmare. He felt guilty about it; he had ruined things and was now trying to hold onto something that seemed doomed to fail. That thought depressed him. He had spent so much time longing for Ginny, and now that he had her, it felt like they were just strangers. The arguments never ended, and the lack of emotional connection was glaring. Had he been so blinded by the idea of belonging to someone that he hadn’t seen at Hogwarts how this relationship might not work?

And what did he want now? Harry didn’t know, and that was disturbing.

His tortured thoughts were interrupted by Luna’s soft voice.

“Harry, are you there?”

He dropped the vegetables he had been chopping and hurried upstairs. He stopped at the doorway to her room.

“Hi... I’m here. Do you need something?” he asked with a gentle smile.

“Not really, I just wanted to know if you were around.” She looked a little embarrassed.

“Ah... I’m making us dinner. I thought of a vegetable stir-fry.”

“That sounds great!” She glanced around the room and then back at him. “I don’t know what to do now.” She looked a bit lost.

“You could stay on the sofa in the living room while I cook. I could bring you a book or something like that,” Harry suggested, not having many ideas himself.

“That sounds nice!” She smiled but then seemed to notice something about him. “Is everything alright, Harry?”

He didn’t know how she did it—read him like an open book. “Yes, everything’s fine,” he lied.

She kept looking at him for a moment. “I’ll always be here if you want to talk,” she said with a gentle smile.

Harry wanted to talk to her, to unload all the confusion and guilt he was feeling, but he didn’t want to burden her. It would be too cruel to tell her what Ginny had said about her.

“Thank you, Luna.”

Sensing that he wouldn’t talk, she made a move to get out of bed, but Harry was immediately at her side, holding her in his arms.

“Harry! Going down is easier than coming up. I could have done it myself,” she grumbled, and Harry smiled, surprised to hear Luna grumble.

“No, you’re going in my arms. Faster and safer.” They were already descending the stairs. Harry set her down on the sofa and helped her arrange pillows behind her back. “What do you want to read?”

“Could you hand me that book on the coffee table, please?” Luna seemed embarrassed to need so much help; she had always been so independent. Harry pretended not to notice and handed her the book she had asked for. Then he returned to the kitchen and decided to talk to her from there since it was close enough.

“Why are you reading our first-year spellbook?” he asked as he resumed chopping the vegetables and lit the stove to heat the pan.

“I’m not going back to Hogwarts, so I thought I could homeschool myself and then go to the Ministry to take the exams.”

Harry was impressed by her decision. He hadn’t known that was possible.

“I didn’t know you could do that! So how do you plan to go about it?” He was genuinely curious.

“Well, I’ll make a study schedule and follow it myself. I have the books and can buy new ones if needed,” she said practically, like a true Ravenclaw.

“And when the babies are born?” he asked curiously while tossing the vegetables into the pan and adding the broth.

“I thought of making a schedule that would leave me free for the first two months. Anyway, I’ll just be reviewing since I’ve already studied everything except the end of sixth year and seventh year.”

Harry stirred the stew, closed the lid to let it cook, and then returned to the living room, sitting in the armchair across from the sofa.

“Do you think... do you think I could do that too?” he asked uncertainly, his thoughts racing with the possibility. He wasn’t sure about going back to Hogwarts and, honestly, was leaning toward not going. Now that Luna needed care, he wouldn’t leave her.

“Why do you ask?” Her eyes pierced his, as if already knowing the answer.

“I’m not going back to Hogwarts.” He felt an immense sense of relief as he finally said it out loud.

“Harry... if you’re thinking of doing this because of me, please reconsider.” Her voice was soft, but there was a hint of sadness. This new Luna always seemed to have a sadness lingering behind her eyes. Harry hated it.

“No, Luna, it’s not because of you. Hogwarts has too many memories I can’t deal with right now. I’d already decided, I just hadn’t had the courage to say it out loud.” They locked eyes, and she seemed to search his for the truth. He let her see in his eyes that he wasn’t lying. After what felt like hours, she simply nodded.

“I think you can do it, Harry. We could study together.” She smiled, and Harry returned the smile.

“Then it’s decided—we’ll study together.” It was the best decision. Maybe Harry could ask Hermione for help with the schedule.