Winter
Ginny shoved her numb fingers deep into her coat pockets as she turned to face her husband. It was cold today, maybe a little above freezing. For Ginny, there was nothing more depressing than the weeks around Christmas. All black snow and short days and air that clawed your insides. It was like being forced into a dingy snow globe. They were swirling around and knocking into one another and withering and dying.
She'd asked Harry if they could all vacation in Australia this year instead of spending the holidays in England. She had cousins there she hadn't seen since she was in school, and she'd been meaning to get together with them for years. It would be a great experience for everyone. Lily had never even been to a beach since they lived so far inland. England wasn't a great place to go swimming anyways. It would be good to soak up a little sun. Maybe the boys could even learn how to surf. They would like that. The kids hadn't ever been out of their own country really, just a short trip to Scotland when they were little, and she very much doubted any of them remembered it. Besides, that was only Scotland. This was Australia, beautiful and massive and utterly foreign. It would be something they would never forget.
Ginny waited to ask Harry about the trip until September after she'd researched the best places to stay and the cheapest floo network. She had everything written out, where they would spend each day and all the exciting things they would do—hiking part of the Overland Track near the Cradle Mountains and seeing the Kelpies in St. Claire Lake. She even planned to attend an Aboriginal festival to learn about their earth magic since she knew it was something Harry was interested in. They had massive celebrations, especially near the winter solstice, and many people from the community were involved. Their music was beautiful as well, enchanting and brimming with magical tones. It was vastly different from anything produced in England. Everything in Australia was different. She tried to tell Harry this. She tried to explain why it would be so wonderful and why they could splurge a little for the trip. They could start saving now and cut back on Christmas presents. The vacation would be enough of a present for everyone. Ginny asked him on a Tuesday before he headed off for work. She showed him all her papers and talked until her mouth was dry. He listened quietly and waited for her to finish. Then he paused and said no. He sighed. Maybe when Lily's older, he said. We don't have enough money now. The kids would miss the snow. Ginny smiled and told him he was right. Of course it was bad timing. What was I thinking. Silly me. She ran upstairs to cry in her bedroom, door locked. Ginny didn't bring it up again. Neither of them told the children.
Harry was sitting on the porch in a light sweater nursing a cigarette between his teeth. Ginny had forbidden smoking in the house after James was born. If he wanted to kill himself, he could do it in the cold. His eyes flicked up to her as she approached him, but his expression didn't change.
"Aren't you freezing?" she asked, shifting like she thought she should touch him. She didn't.
He nodded slowly and turned his head away from her to look down the street at nothing. He tapped the ashes off the end of his cancer stick and placed it back between his lips, not really inhaling, just allowing it to curl around his insides and fill him up with nicotine and white fumes.
Ginny spoke again. "I could get you a jacket. You shouldn't be sitting out here, Har. You'll catch something." She worried about him. His head was still turned. Look at me, she thought. Look at me. Lookatme. LOOK AT ME!
He forced all the smoke out of his nostrils in one big plume of air. Ginny could smell it from where she was standing. It was stale and musty. It burned her eyes. "Go inside, Ginny." The cigarette was getting too small to hold. She knew he'd just light another. And when that one was gone, he'd pull out a third.
Ginny walked inside the house and shut the door firmly. She peeked out the window at the snow that had started to fall and then quickly locked the windows. She didn't want the cold to get in.
A/N: Sorry that was a bit depressing. I like it though. It's my first one-shot. :) Leave a review please, and enjoy your Christmas, everyone!