So, here it is. I don't normally write Harry/Ginny, but I entered a HPFC challenge by RainThestral93 called the 'Taylor Swift insp. Challenge' and the song I was appointed fitted them perfectly.
Song: Stay Beautiful by Taylor Swift
Prompt: A locket.
If it's a bit rough, I apologise, but I wrote this in the space of an hour, I just couldn't stop, knowing that if I did, I'd lose the plot and end up coming back with no ideas. I'd really love to hear your views on this, I personally think it's one of my best pieces to date. Hope you enjoy it!
~ Song belongs to Taylor Swift ~
'If you and I are a story that never gets told
If what you are is a daydream I'll never get to hold,
at least you'll know. You're beautiful. every little piece, love,
Don't you know, you're really gonna be someone; ask anyone.
And when you find everything you looked for,
I hope your life leads you back to my front door.
Oh, but if it don't; will you stay beautiful?'
The sky resembled a dying fire, a swirling mass of orange, red and yellow. The air was thick, constricting, making the Burrow-dwellers clammy with the evening heat. It was hard to escape these days. With the war waging between good and evil, the slightest move you make could result in your life being in jeopardy. Everyone had been anticipating it for years - the war. Ever since the first one had ended. They knew Voldemort would rise again, and sure enough that had happened three years previously. What people didn't know for sure were the sacrifices they would have to make for the greater good. Some anticipated injury, loss, even death, while others looked at the glass half full, their mind set on the fact that they'd take whatever sacrifice they had to with a grain of salt. The conflict set a dark cloud over the wizarding world - and even partly over the Muggle world, too. There were two options: embrace the storm or surrender at its feet. Ginny Weasley chose the former.
At the end of a winding path leading from the Burrow sat an old cherry blossom tree, its branches contorted and twisted into intricate shapes. The tree used to be beautiful. The blossom used to be full and vibrant, its beauty could be admired even in the distant field. Now it sat there, ugly and withered with age. Cracks in the bark resembled the cracks in society. They resembled the cracks within the roots of all everyone knew. They resembled the cracks in the depths of Ginny's heart. So there she sat, on a low bough in the tree, her feet dangling either side of the branch as she tilted her head back, her eyes closed, letting herself drift away, even for a few moments. Her fiery locks cascaded down her back, settling on the branch. However much she tried, she only had one thing on her mind. Despite the war, despite the fear, she could only think about the one thing she couldn't bear to lose. And that was the thing she treasured the most in her life. All her bedtime stories were about him when she was a little girl. She was fascinated by the Boy Who Lived. The boy who, as just a baby, had ultimately defeated Voldemort. She'd pestered her brothers to tell tales of him for her bedtime story. She often imagined him as a knight, a brave solider rushing into a castle on his steed, prepared to rescue a beautiful red-haired princess at the topmost tower.
Now, here she was, a little more than ten years later. She'd got her knight, but after no time at all she had to let him go. She had to let him be the knight she knew he was. He was to battle for his life, for everyone's lives. He would ultimately seal the fate for everyone and everything she held dear.
Ginny let her mind go blank - let herself go numb. If she did this, she decided, she'd feel no pain. When he left, she'd be fine. She'd carry on with her life as normal. If only she could stop her feelings for him, the feelings she harboured for the bespectacled boy every since she'd first met him almost six years ago at King's Cross station. But she couldn't. However hard she tried, she couldn't. She felt as if, if she got rid of him, she would, ultimately, be giving up a piece of who she was. And she couldn't do that. If she did, her life would be filled with a void she'd never be able to fill.
"You know, you're going to fall off if you're not careful."
Ginny's eyes sprung open, her heart hammering as she looked down to see Harry stood a few metres away. His hair was irritatingly messy, as per usual, and his glasses a little crooked. She wondered how long he'd been there. Was it before the tears began to form in her eyes or after? She looked to her knees and inhaled deeply, wiping away all traces of tears with the back of her hand.
She sniffed. "It's dusty out here."
Harry's mouth turned up in one corner as he made way towards the tree, swinging himself up on the same low branch at her. He just nodded understandingly, knowing that if he brought up the subject of her emotions, she'd only get defensive and agitated.
"Just thought I'd come find you. Your mum said you'd been gone a while and, well.. I was worried." He didn't find the need to withhold his feelings, he couldn't really be anything but honest with her.
She let out a shaky sigh and swallowed. "I'm fine. It's just nice to get out for a while, you know? It gets too much in there. Everyone knows it's coming," she muttered, tears stinging the backs of her eyes.
"Everyone needs space, I know. And I know it's hard to find it with everything that's going on. But, Gin, don't close yourself off from everyone else," he said, a soothing undertone to his voice, "It'll only make you feel more vulnerable."
Ginny pushed her tongue into her cheek, her nose wrinkling a little as she frowned. "But I can't do it anymore. I can't put up with the fact that I know what's coming. More than anything, I can't stand the fact that everyone's walking on eggshells around me."
"I know you're worried about the war, but-"
"It's not just the war," she interjected, her tone slightly desperate. "It's not the fact that You-Know-Who's getting stronger and it's certainly not the fact that I know I'm going to have to fight - I'm quite content with that fact. It's just.." She exhaled frustratedly and clenched her knuckles.
"It's just what, Gin?" Harry reached over and took her small hand in his own, closing his fingers around hers. The gesture began to test the lengths she could go to to hide her emotions. Her throat tightened, her eyes stung and her mouth became dry.
"I can't lose you - not now." A lone tear escaped and began to trail its way down her cheek. She chastised herself for being so weak and brushed it away almost immediately.
"You're not going to lose me. I'll be back for you, I promise."
"But what if you don't come back? What if something happens and there's no way back? What if, somewhere in the battle, you change your mind and realise I'm nothing special. I don't think I could deal with it, Harry."
By now, even Harry's emerald orbs were moist with thick tears. His free hand rested on her cheek, the pad of his thumb smoothing the skin beneath. "Ginevra Weasley, don't you ever say anything like that again." His gaze locked on hers. "If I get out of this alive, I'll be back for you. Nothing will ever change what I feel for you."
"Don't say that."
"Say what?"
"'If I get out of this alive'." She knew this was one of the scenarios that was a possibility at some point or other. Though the thought sickened her and made her skin crawl, she knew that either of them might not make it out alive. And if they didn't, one would have to live without the other.
"Ginny, we both know the risks this war entails. I can't promise you that I'll be back." His words came out in a ragged whisper.
Yet another tear escaped and lingered in her eyelashes.
"But you'll try?"
He smiled a little, almost emitting a small sliver of woeful laughter. "I'll fight harder than I've ever fought before, that's a promise I'm willing to keep."
She shot him a sad smile, her bottom lip quivering. "I want to kiss you, but I can't."
Harry looked at her quizzically. "Why?"
"Because I'll never want to let you go."
Her words struck a nerve inside of him. His gut clenched uncomfortably and a tiny rail of tears fells against his cheeks. He leant in, as if to kiss her, but veered upwards instead. He pressed his lips against her forehead, planting a tender kiss, lingering for a few precious moments before pulling away.
"I have something for you," he mumbled, extracting a small leather pouch from his jeans pocket. He extricated his hand from hers and began to fumble with the knot tying the two pieces of string together. Harry's hand were shaking with every breath he took, mainly for the lengths he was going to to put up a wall and barricade the tears into their prison behind his eyelids.
As he tipped the contents out onto his hand, Ginny's eyes caught a glimmer of green beneath the silver chain. She shot him a questioning glance as he spread out the silver chain in his hand, revealing the main attribute of the piece - a seemingly ordinary silver locket with an emerald set right in the centre.
Her breath hitched in her throat at the sight of it. "Harry, it's beautiful."
His smile grew a little wider. "Open it."
Her mouth twitched at the corners as she reached out and brushed her fingers over the item of jewelry. She picked up the locket itself and studied it intently. The first thing she noticed was the fact that the emerald was the exact colour of Harry's eyes. After a few seconds of fiddling with the clasp, she pushed one half of the locket on its hinges and opened it fully. For a few seconds she looked at it expectantly. The locket was empty on the inside, just plain. She furrowed her brow. "What's it supposed to do?"
"Just wait a moment, you'll see." Sure enough, a neat scrawl began to appear in the centre. The words glowed a brilliant gold -the unmistakeable phrase 'Stay beautiful'.
Ginny sat in awe of the beautiful locket, and kept re-reading the phrase over and over in her head until its meaning became foreign to her.
"I thought you'd like it," he said, chuckling at little at her amazed expression.
"Like it? Oh, Harry, I love it."
"Good, I'm glad. I just thought you might want something to remind yourself of me while I'm away."
As soon as the words escaped his lips, a dark cloud slithered back into her mind. She suddenly felt a little forlorn and a little scared. It amazed her how one second she couldn't have a care in the world, and thoughts could only be focused on how much she loved the boy sitting in front of her. Then the next, she couldn't help but think of all the terrible possibilties of the future.
Noticing her worried expression, he reached in and took the locket from her hands. He opened the clasp of the silver chain and positioned his arms around her neck, guiding the chain into place. Harry leant in so their heads were touching at one side as he fastened the clasp at the back of her neck.
The sky was now a stormy grey, a sign that darkness was approaching. They should have been indoors a while ago, but they couldn't bring themselves to leave. It suddenly hit Ginny how this may well be the last time they could spend alone together - may that's why he was giving her the locket. Maybe this was his way of saying goodbye - properly - and letting her go before he embarked on his journey. Another tear hit the ground below before she even knew she was crying.
"Ginny," he whispered, preparing himself to say that words that would all but kill him inside. But before he could say it, he was cut off by her words.
"Don't," she whispered back, choking back heart-wrenching sobs. "Don't say goodbye."
So he didn't.
Harry pulled back, and took her face in his hands. Both of their cheeks were moist with tears.
"Close your eyes."
She eyed him desperately, almost questioning his plea.
"Trust me. Just close your eyes." He caressed her cheek with one of his hands.
She exhaled and complied with his request, letting her eyelashes meet. Fresh tears were still escaping the small space that was left, she couldn't stem the steady flow one bit.
He leant in and placed a kiss on her lips. He didn't want to reassure her everything would be okay, because he knew it wouldn't and no amount of empty words would console her. Instead, he simply channelled every bit of emotion in that one kiss. He could taste a faint hint of salt from both their tears, but this only made him want to linger for even longer. But he couldn't.
Ginny responded with everything she had and held his face in her hands before hesitantly pulling away, her eyes still closed. She didn't dare to open them.
"Count to fifty," he ordered her, blinking back tears.
Ginny nodded, and pressed her lips together as they quivered mercilessly. It was the longest fifty seconds of her life, but she could hardly bear to open them as she predicted the sight she would meet when she did. Sure enough, a few seconds later, her eyes flickered open, raw from crying. It was as she had anticipated.
He was gone.