Ghosts Of The Past
Stewart Ackerley X Ginny Weasley
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
A/N: For The Pairing One Hour Challenge. Had to write 1000 words in 1 hour.
Stewart Ackerley had always been a shy and introverted boy. He was good at most of his subjects and kept himself to himself.
But that all changed when the war happened. He was suddenly thrust into a world where people kept dying around him, where life was lost in the blink of an eye.
He started out as the nervous Ravenclaw, terrified to talk to anyone else. He had no friends, and that's how he liked it.
He had grown up a lot since then.
And he saw others grow up, too fast for people their age.
One such person was Ginny Weasley. She had always seemed like such a brave happy girl from afar, but with the war came grief and sadness. She was always so silent after. She barely spoke to a soul. Anyone could see that the death of her older brother, and the death of many of her friends, had affected her badly.
Her once-boyfriend Harry Potter was no longer a comfort to her anymore, and as she drew herself away into her shell, he began to pull away too. He knew a lost cause when he saw one, and before long, they were broken up and Ginny was alone.
Stewart had always know that she felt like so little, being the only girl of her siblings, but with the loss of Fred, she became so much less. She was hollow, that much Stewart could see. He knew it from the emptiness behind her eyes. She wasn't the only who had such sad, grey eyes. He had met so many students with the same look. So many people had lost loved ones, and in that sense, Stewart was one of the lucky ones. All he had was a broken arm, but that wouldn't leave a lasting scar.
Ginny, though, she needed someone. And Stewart knew he was whole enough to be that person. So he gathered together his courage and approached her one rainy day. She was like him in his early days, quiet and always lonely. But there was such a difference in their eyes. Where he had wanted to be alone, and enjoyed it, she pushed others away for what she deemed to be their own safety.
He had no idea what made him think he had any right to be the one to save her. But he was whole, and she was broken, and he had to try his best.
He found her in the Astronomy Tower, by the vast, open window. Her eyes seemed dead, but they gazed brightly out towards something unseeable on the castle grounds. Stewart had no idea what she was seeing, and worried that perhaps there was some sort of madness within her. He grew more anxious when he saw that she had a weird, ghosting smile on her pale face.
Stewart wasn't sure if he should approach her, but he had resolved to help her, and help her he would. He breathed deeply, and strode to where she sat. He placed his books down on the floor by her feet and kneeled next to her, and gazed out of the window with her. He waited until she noticed him, and watched warily as she turned her head blankly toward him. Her eyes were empty, as normal, and he knew she needed to be saved, and quickly. He put a comforting hand on her shoulder and said nothing, but looked intently into her eyes.
She tilted her head to the side, before gesturing outside.
"I see them all the time, y'know."
Stewart wasn't sure what she meant, but responded. "What do you see?"
"Ghosts, I suppose. Not true ghosts, but something of the sort. I guess... Yes, I guess I would call them shadows. Shadows of life, of death… I don't know."
The way she was talking was eerie, and reminded him somewhat of a girl two years above him, named Luna. She always came out with odd lines like that.
"I don't understand," Stewart said.
Ginny looked away. "I didn't expect you to."
"I want to though."
She looked back sharply, surprised by what he said. "What do you mean?"
"I want to understand, Ginny. I want to help you."
Ginny just stared at him blankly, not saying a word.
"Please, Ginny. I know we barely know each other, but I think I can help you."
"What makes you think that?", said Ginny, after a long pause.
"Because though I have not lost anyone myself, I know what it's like to be alone, to need company."
Ginny shook her head. "You don't understand. I don't want company... Not from the living, at any rate."
"You want your brother... you want Fred back?"
"Amongst others. He's not the only one... I want Tonks, and Lupin, and Sirius, and Dumbledore... and so many more. I would even like to be able to talk to that Colin Creevey again. He was annoying, yes, but he was a good kid." She paused. "You know, the last thing I ever said to him was to ask him to go away and leave me alone, because he wanted to take some group picture of the DA –you know, that group Harry set up in defiance to Umbridge?-" She sighed. "... It seems stupid now that I refused him. I wish I hadn't. "
"I understand. You would have had a more recent photo of Fred?"
Ginny glanced up. "Yes. But more importantly, it would have showed us all when we were at our strongest. When we weren't afraid. When we were all together, and all whole."
She let her eyes drift back to the window, to stare at the grounds again.
"They're all down there, you know. Fred, and Colin, and everyone else. They're dead, they know it. I can see the anguish in their expressions. But they're trapped. In my mind, most likely."
She smiled again, weakly. "I have imprisoned them with my grief. How cruel..."
"Ginny, you are not cruel. You are just someone who misses her lost brother, and her friends. But you're right. You have trapped them for too long. You need to let them go. You are not doing their memories any justice by keeping them here, as shadows. Don't remember them like that. Remember them as they were in life. Remember Fred's jokes, Colin's photos, Lupin's great ability to teach... Dwell on that. Celebrate what they had, and what you gained by knowing them, and not what you've lost. If you do that, then eventually the shadows will fade and you'll be left with bright memories of happiness and times before a war."
Ginny closed her eyes, and Stewart couldn't help but notice the tears that spilled from her eyes. "No-one's spoken to me like that in a long time. I've had everyone cooing over me, making sure I'm okay. But you… You seem different."
Stewart watched her, in silence, and waited for her to continue.
"You are a strange boy, Stewart Ackerley."
"How so?" He asked, curiously.
"There are not many boys in the world that would care for the feelings of a lost cause girl."
"You are not a lost cause."
Ginny smiled. "Thank you for saying that, but I'm afraid you're wrong. I'm as lost as the shadows that wander my mind."
"Then I will help you find your way. I will help eradicate those ghosts of the past. I will help you find your way, Ginny Weasley."