Disclaimer: They are wonderful characters, but not mine...

AN: Okay, it's been a while since my last fanfic but that's okay I guess. I wrote this out of boredom and nothing else and I'm nor sure if it makes any sense at all but hell ... enjoy anyway!

Summary: ... He prayed that she would just understand it, that she wouldn't ask any questions.... HG

Darkness and Fire

Harry didn't look at her as she sat down on the couch next to him. She brought her legs up and rested her head on her knees, staring at the fire just as he did.

"What happened to you?"

A memory flashed through his mind, a similar scene, the same ... nearly the same person. He chuckled lightly, but the noise wasn't a sign of happiness. When had it been? How many years had passed since then? Five? More than five?

He closed his eyes briefly, picturing the common room and the armchairs in front of the bright fire. He was sure that it had been late, so the room must have been quite empty. He couldn't remember if anyone else had been there, but he knew that it hadn't been important to him then. So why should it be important to him now?

She had entered through the portrait hole, coming back from one of her trips to the kitchen. Spotting him sitting there stopped her from going straight up to her dorm. Instead of heading to bed she slowly approached him and sat down in the armchair next to him. He remembered seeing her sneaking glances at him while she pretended to stare into the fire. The light was dancing over her wavy red hair and illuminated her pale face, making it glow.

"What happened to you?" It was just a soft whisper. She said it more like a statement than a question. Finally she turned and looked at him, facing him with a blank expression. Her brown eyes were deep and he wondered for a moment if he should just try to drown in them. But then he blinked, her image flickering for a moment.

"Ginny, I'm lost."

He prayed that she would just understand it, that she wouldn't ask any questions. Harry didn't want to talk about it. And to his surprise she just accepted it. Her face stayed relaxed and there was neither a sign of surprise nor of doubt in her eyes. She didn't even nod her head, in fact she acted as if he hadn't said anything at all. He had felt understood. By saying nothing she had amazed him to no end.

After a while she fell asleep, her head resting at the back of the armchair. Harry's eyes followed the hair cascading down her back and rested for a moment on her hands that were half hidden under her huge sweatshirt that once had belonged to Bill. He had wanted to touch them to see if they were cold, as well as her bare feet. Also the thought of gathering a blanket for her crossed his mind but he didn't move because it would have meant to let go of the sight in front of him. After a long time of just sitting there he turned his head away.

"Thank you!" The words escaped his lips before he could think about them.

"Do you remember the night you fell asleep in the common room?" He still didn't look at her. Ginny turned around and fixed him with her eyes, waiting for him to explain his question.

He sighed and finally met her gaze, his green eyes brighter than usual. Seeing her nod slightly he continued, ruffling his hair while speaking. "Do you, by any chance, remember if we were together at that time?"

She studied his face while thinking. That night must have been at the end of her 6th year at Hogwarts, she was quite sure about it. Ron, Hermione and Harry had been talking about graduation and NEWTs all the time and she had started with her bad 'midnight snack habit'.

Ginny shook her head. "We had already broken up at that time."

Silence filled the room as they dwelled on their own thoughts, thinking about stuff that happened a long time ago. It was Ginny who broke the silence.

"Of course we weren't together then. We had all our good times when we weren't together...." Harry turned his face towards the fire once again, trying to block out her sarcastic laugh. He knew that there was a painful truth behind her statement.

"I guess you are right." His voice was hoarse and he didn't trust it to say anything else, so he just closed his mouth again. Ginny sighed. "We weren't too good as an item, were we?"

She glanced at him, not really knowing what kind of reaction she had to expect. Harry was silent for a long time. He really seemed to think about it. She had almost forgotten the question when he finally answered.

"No, we weren't." Feeling his breath tickling her neck she turned around and was met by his intense stare. A jolt went down her spine and she shivered before she tenderly brought her lips to meet his, wondering what the hell she was doing.

END

So, are you just lost or do you have an opinion about it? Would be wonderful to hear it ...

~darkness~