Stuck in Time

The idea for this came from Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman and it's pretty depressing. I own neither Einstein's Dreams nor Harry Potter.

"It is late afternoon, and, for a brief moment. The sun nestles in a snowy hollow of the Alps, fire touching ice. The long slants of light sweep from the mountains, cross a restful lake, cast shadows in a town below.

"In many ways, it is a town of one piece and a whole. Spruce and larch and arolla pine form a gentle border north and west, while higher up are fire lilies, purple gentians, alpine columbines. In pastures near the town graze cattle for making butter, cheese and chocolate. A little textile mill produces silks, ribbons, cotton clothes. A church bell rings. The smell of smoked beef fills the streets and alleyways.

"On this late afternoon, in these few moments while the sun is nestled in a snowy hollow of the Alps, a person could sit beside the lake and contemplate the texture of time. Hypothetically, time might be smooth or rough, prickly or silky, hard or soft. But in this world, the texture of time happens to be sticky. Portions of towns become stuck in some moment in history and do not get out. So, too, individual people become stuck in some point of their lives and do not get free."

Just as now, one Ginny Weasley sits alone in a small, comfortably isolated home that Harry had bought for them to share a short while after their engagement. It was during the happiest few months of their lives that they shared the home, laughing while preparing breakfast together, playing silly games and just enjoying each other's company.

Those few months, to you and I, were years ago, but to Ginny Weasley (soon to be Ginny Potter) they were but a few short weeks ago and here life remains full of hope. She sits, looking lovingly at pictures of Harry, waiting calmly for his return from the war.

She can vaguely remember visits from her brothers, trying to convince her to move on from something, to meet some new people. Her parents used to visit her a lot, trying to tell her something serious, but she never understood and now, can't remember they're words. They've stopped visiting but it doesn't really matter to Ginny, her life is frozen, stopped in place, waiting happily for Harry's heroic return after vanquishing the Dark Lord so they can live in peace.

Eventually her brother realized that it is only the return of Harry, who died at the hands of the few surviving death eaters on his way back to Ginny shortly after defeating the dark lord, which would allow Ginny's life to progress. That didn't stop them from visiting her, just kept them from confusing her.

Instead they would just indulge her. Help her plan her wedding. Ask her about the children they knew she would never have. They thought that maybe it was better this way. If Ginny was able to realize that Harry was gone forever, and had been gone now for over forty years, she would be broken. They all had families of their own, whom she had met many years ago but could not remember.

"The tragedy of this world is that no one is happy, whether stuck in a time of pain or of joy. The tragedy of this world is that everyone is alone. For a life in the past cannot be shared with the present. Each person who gets stuck in time gets stuck alone."


a/n: This is my first fan fiction, let me know how you like it, I thought I would start off short. Everything in quotes is taken from Einstein's Dreams.