Harry Potter Shorts

Our Next Adventure

TRIGGER WARNING!!! Cancer, implied death
-

"To the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure." Albus Dumbledore

-

Life had been quiet for Harry since the war. Well, as quiet as a house full of witches and wizards could be. All the kids were out of school now, Lily Luna had packed up and moved out last month. It had been just Harry and Ginny since then. And that's when things went bad, and life was too loud.

Ginny had been having headaches for ages, and passed it off on rushing around after the kids, but now, with all of them gone, they had gotten worse. She was having dizzy spells as well. Falling into doorframes and tripping over furniture. They had gone to a healer but they saw nothing. Now they were on the way to a muggle doctor. It had taken a week to convince her that she should.

-"What would they see that our doctors wouldn't?"-

"Ginny, love?" Harry asked over to the passenger seat.

"What?" Ginny snapped at him. She wasn't angry, he knew, but hearing that tone always made him feel bad.

"I know you don't think anything's wrong, but they've only gotten worse. Last week alone you fell twice. You've got bruises everywhere." he looked over at her as she clasped her hand in hers. "I just want to know you're okay."

"I'm fine, darling. The doctors will tell you the same thing." the last sentence was said with a grin that Harry knew all to well. He was familiar with it from the twins, and the youngest Weasely must have inherited it from living with them.

Harry smiled back at her just as they pulled into the small hospital.

-

"I'm afraid you have stage 4 cancer. There's a small spot of it on you cerebellum that's causing the heada..."

The doctors voice continued, but Ginny had stopped listening. She knew from Harry how cancer affected people. And that the later stages meant almost certain death. She wouldn't live past this year, that she heard, pulling her out of her thoughts and back to the other people in the room.

"There must be something you can do. I know there are new drugs coming out everyday. Treatments too. Can't you do anything?" Ginny could see the panic in Harry's eyes, in the way he wrung his hands, and felt awful for making him this upset.

"I'm sorry. There's really not much to be done at this point-" he turned to look at Ginny before saying the next sentence, "-I'd start saying my goodbyes."

-

Ginny laid in a hospital bed, her family surrounding her. How she wishes they didn't have to see her hooked up on all the tubes and needles. But Harry had insisted she be treated by the best.

"Harry," her voice was quiet. Much to quiet for her liking. Harry looked over to her, a sad smile on his face. "Harry, can we talk for a minute? Without the kids here?" With worried glances, the three walked out. Lily had been crying, she knew, and Albus had Scorpius in the waiting room.

Harry looked at her after following their children out with his eyes. "Everything okay?" he questioned her.

"What did you say Dumbledore said to you when you'd died?"

"I- he- what?"

Ginny looked up. "What did Dumbledore say to you in the train station? When you were deciding if you wanted to come back?" she repeated.

With a puzzled look he replied. "To the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure."

Ginny smiled at her husband. Probably the first real smile in days. "I'm off on my next adventure. And I'll be waiting for you there."