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Ginny Weasley has always thought of herself as observant; incredibly so really. So when she moves in with Harry Potter ,she notices something odd; several odd things in fact. Harry is always up far before her making breakfast, which was sweet for the first few months, but she always took note that he only made just enough to feed her. When he got the position in the Auror academy, Ginny planned a surprise party to celebrate. She couldn’t miss the unadulterated fear that flashed through Harry's eyes as the party screamed “SURPRISE!”
Harry, always the gentlemen, greeted all of his mates before disappearing from the main floor as fast as his entrance. 6 months later, Ginny stared out of the upper floor window and watched Harry weed the garden in the blistering heat for hours with an incredibly single-minded focus. When he came inside and Ginny insisted on putting burn salve on his back, he seemed surprised at the blisters like he hadn't realized they were there in the first place. Every so often, Ginny would come home from Quidditch practice to find Harry deep cleaning Grimmauld the muggle way. She at first thought he enjoyed it, but quickly realized that he felt like he had to do it for her. It was all of these reactions, and oddities that made Ginervs come to one conclusion; The Dursley’s. Harry never spoke of them, never spoke of his life before Hogwarts, but Ginny had realized she convinced herself that Harry’s behavior was leftover from the war. All of their families had been affected. She had lost Fred and very nearly the rest of her family, but Harry had never so much as batted an test from his eye in the months following Voldemort's defeat. He had walked to his death in that battle without a doubt in his mind.
Ginny cursed every adult in Harry’s life that twisted his Gryffindor bravery to protect themselves.Not for the first time since the truth of Dumbledore's scheming came to light, Ginny cursed the doddering old fool for making Harry believe his only worth was in what he could do for others.
One night Harry came home late and went to clean as usual, but a loud BANG! Startled Ginny out of her musings. She leapt out of bed and ran towards the noise. The broom cupboard under the stairs was closed, from its previously open position and Ginny cursed. She had been meaning to fix that door so it would stop locking itself closed. She went to turn around and made a note to fix it tomorrow but a light creak from the cupboard stopped her in her tracks. She chuckled softly when she realized Harry had probably gotten himself stuck. She pulled open the door expecting to find a sheepishly embarrassed young man but found Harry curled up in the corner blankly staring at the wall.
“Harry? Is everything alright?” When she realized he wasn’t going to answer she sat beside him and pulled him into a hug.
The minute Ginny wrapped her arms around Harry he broke down completely, Great heaving sobs wracked his, in Ginny's opinion, far too small a frame. Ginny sat through his breakdown and waited for him to speak. A few minutes later after his hiccoughs had slowly stuttered to a stop he went to speak
“Did you know my Hogwarts letter was addressed to the Cupboard Under the Stairs?”
Harry went on and hesitantly told Ginny about the years before he knew magic existed well into the wee hours of the night. Ginny realized that Harry's habits were born of believing that he had to serve the people he cared for in order for them to truly love him. It definitely wouldn’t be the last time Ginny Weasley cursed those despicable human beings for not knowing how amazing her Harry was.
After that night Ginny helps Harry come to terms that people could in fact love him for himself and not what he could do for them. This was the start of when the boy-who-just-wouldn’t-die truly became the boy who LIVED.
And if life became increasingly harder for the Dursley’s, who would tell anyone about their near magical misfortune? Ginerve Weasley would make sure that it wasn’t Harry.
