Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to JKR!

Chapter 1

Hermione grinned, and Harry hoped his own smile seemed genuine enough. His lips felt painfully stretched, and his eyes burned from the glittering engagement ring dangling ever-so-casually on Hermione's finger.

"Ron proposed just this morning," Hermione squealed.

Harry nodded, then wildly grasped for words to fill the silence: "Amazing! Fantastic! Fabulou-"

"How are you and Ginny doing?" Hermione interrupted.

Harry's throat constricted, and for a moment he found it impossible to breathe. Hermione winked expectantly.

"Amazing!" Harry finally croaked. "Fantastic! Fabulou-"

But Hermione had already dissolved into the crowd, and he caught snatches of her joyously welcoming George Weasley to the engagement party.

Harry closed his eyes. Everyone around him seemed impossibly happy, as though the past few years had conveniently fallen out of their memories. George's sudden roar of laughter stung Harry's ears. How could George laugh and move on, while Fred remained dead?

"Thought I might find you here."

Harry opened his eyes.

"They're going to marry," Ginny continued, walking closer to the edge of the garden. Her voice was flat.

Harry tried making eye-contact, but his gaze slid towards the muddy ground. "Yup. Marriage. It's for some people."

Another bout of laughter rang across the sky: Ron and Hermione had plunged into a drunken waltz. Harry shivered, feeling like an intruder in the festivities.

Ginny grabbed his forearm. "Tell me. What's going on?" she said.

He swallowed, and looked past Ginny. "I thought that after Voldemort died, I'd forget about the past," he said. "But I can't. Every night, I have nightmares about the people who died protecting me."

"Including your parents?" Ginny asked. Harry never talked about them, but he'd screamed their names in his sleep last night.

"Yes," Harry whispered.

"It's been difficult. I know." Ginny said. She wished she could magic away his worries, or at least share the burden, but Harry rarely let down his guard.

"It's gotten worse." Harry swallowed and stared directly into Ginny's eyes for the first time that evening. When he spoke again, his voice was hollow: "Ginny, I thought I could change for you. But I can't. You deserve someone you can marry and ride into the sunset with. I'm still haunted by the past."

Ginny recoiled. "What? Are you breaking up with me?"

The rose bushes rustled behind them. Ron and Hermione had convened for a no-holds-barred make-out session.

"It's for the best," Harry said quietly. "You know that too."

"I do?" Ginny's lips pursed as she tried to swallow the fireball that was building up inside her. Harry kept trying to protect her, as though she were a rag doll in a burning building.

Tears slid down Harry's chin. "Ginny, I love you," he said. He stroked her shoulder, and for a moment Ginny believed that everything would go back to normal, but a second later he disapparated.

A little white ferret crept out of the shadows and scurried away. It wasn't the first time this unregistered animagus had eavesdropped on Harry.

Xx

Thanks for reading! I would appreciate any reviews/constructive criticism!

DeepFriedSunshine