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 84: First Official Date
Ginny saw Harry extending his hand. "There is no need for portals. I know a great place to go nearby." She pointed towards the grassy fields. "We can just walk there."
Harry glanced in the direction she pointed, but couldn't see anything of interest.
"Trust me." She grabbed his hand. "Here, you carry this." Ginny handed him the basket and walked away.
Harry looked down at the basket in his hands. It felt very heavy.
"She already has you wrapped around her finger, huh?" V chuckled.
"Be quiet…" Harry said before going after her.
They walked comfortably in silence for a while, leaving behind the boundaries of the Weasley property and cutting across a field dotted with wildflowers. The only sounds came from the tall grass as it moved with the wind and the rhythmic thump of the basket hitting the side of his thigh. It was almost soothing when compared to what he had gone through since he left the frozen world.
He watched her as the rays of sunlight caught on the coppery strands of her hair, making them look like wisps of fire.
While in the middle of this trance, Ginny suddenly stopped and pointed at a large boulder resting beneath the shade of a large tree.
"This is my favorite place in the fields. I used to come here a lot when playing with Luna."
"It is a nice place," Harry finally said, catching up to her so they were side by side.
"Told you to trust me." Ginny's tone was smug, but her smile was warm. She grabbed the basket from his hand and brought it next to the boulder, then pulled a blanket from inside and carefully set it up on top.
Ginny sat down, stretching her arms and legs, and tapped on a spot next to her. "Come here. We can have our lunch now."
"Merlin, what did you pack in here?" he asked, watching her pull half a dozen dishes from within the basket and arrange them before them.
"Mom helped me prepare a few things. She can get a bit carried away when it comes to food…" Ginny said, kneeling and beginning to unpack with a flourish. Out came crusty rolls, a round of cheese, a dish of cold chicken, a bowl of potato salad, two bottles of Butterbeer, and, as he'd guessed, a sizeable treacle tart.
"Okay, I will admit that Mom made most of it…" she said, a faint blush on her cheeks. "But I baked the tart! Well… I supervised the stirring."
Harry sat down across from her, the simple feast between them feeling more impressive than any grand banquet. "It looks perfect." He took off his hat and rested it to one side of the blanket before picking up something to eat.
Ginny was watching him with intensity, a question brewing in her mind.
Harry noticed this. "Something wrong?" He wondered if he had already done something strange. He couldn't ask V right now, and he had told the hat to be quiet during their date.
"I don't usually see you without the hat on your head. I had almost forgotten what your hair looked like."
"Oh, yes. V has been with me for a long time, so I barely even notice its weight on my head. I can take the hat off if I want to, but he has to remain close by." Harry's eyes rested on the hat for a few seconds.
"I know you two are close, but… why do you say that he has to remain close by?" Ginny asked.
Harry flinched, realizing that he had said too much. He had never told Ginny about that part of himself. That ugly part…
"Just tell her," V spoke, ignoring Harry's request. "The girl deserves to know the truth."
Harry sighed. This was not a conversation he wanted to have on his first date. "I don't even know where to start…"
Feeling his anxiety, Ginny reached over and touched his hand. "Whatever it is, I will listen to what you have to say, Harry. Take your time."
"Want some help with that? I am much better at explaining things than him," V suggested.
"Okay… there is one thing that I didn't tell you about my experience inside the frozen world." Harry reached over and grabbed the hat before placing it on his head again. "I never told you what being locked inside that place did to my mind… to my sanity, and to my magic."
For the next thirty minutes, V and Harry took turns trying to elucidate to Ginny the real mental condition of Harry and the necessity for V to remain close to him at all times.
He also told her about the few incidents that occurred when these conditions were not met, and his mind went berserk.
"An Obscurial?" Ginny froze after hearing that word being mentioned.
"It's a dark force developed by wizards and witches who had suffered severe abuse or were forced to repress their magic. In Harry's instance, it was triggered by an extreme feeling of alienation," V explained. "My role is to keep his mind stable and to prevent this dark force from taking hold of him."
"I know what they are. My dad once told me about Obscurials, and one case he saw himself… it was awful." Her eyes met Harry's, but there was no fear in them, just compassion and sympathy. "I'm sorry you had to go through something like that."
V stopped his explanation right there, even though there was one more important thing. Something that made Harry's case much more severe than any other common Obscurial.
Harry had access to one peculiar ability that even he was not completely conscious of, one that would make his condition as an Obscurial something that could reach the level of a world disaster… if that dark force were to grasp control of Harry's magic.
A.N: - Remember to comment, vote, and/or leave a review if you have the time. Those things help me a lot and I would really appreciate it.
You can Support me on P@treon if you like and get 20 advanced chapters. You can also find characters images to view for free in Collections/Time Images
-patreon.com/Kriogenix
For donations and commissions, go to ko-fi.com/kriogenix