I don't own Harry Potter, and I don't own Les Miserables. :-D
I looked down at the note in my hand. "Hermione" it read, in Harry's handwriting that never seemed to get better over the years. The desolate streets and broken signs and windows in Diagon Alley were a sign of the war. A small battle between Death Eaters and older Hogwarts students had taken place only days earlier.
I took off the cap that was holding the long hair off my neck. I looked like a boy with it on, and now that Harry had seen me, my disguise was pointless.
*************************
"Hey little boy, what's this I see?" I heard his voice behind me. I spun around wildly, and the hat fell off.
"God, Ginny, the things you do!" Harry sighed looking at my long red hair.
"I know this is no place for me, still I would rather be with you!" I said quickly.
"Get out before the trouble starts," Harry stepped close, and touched my hair. "Get out, 'Gin, you might get hit."
I couldn't stop myself from smiling. "I've got you worried now. That shows you like me quite a lot!"
Harry smiled back, and I felt my heart swell.
"There is a way that you can help," he explained. "You are the answer to a prayer! Please take this letter to Hermione, and pray to God that she's still there!"
*************************
'And now I'm all alone again, nowhere to turn, no one to go to. Without a home, without a friend, without a face to say hello to. But now the night is near. now I can make believe he's here.'
My mind raced, taking in the wet darkness of the rainy night and forming it to a shape I could see.
'Sometimes I walk alone at night when everybody else is sleeping. I think of him and then I'm happy with the company I'm keeping. The city goes to bed and I can live inside my head.'
I could see him, as if he was really there. Harry's green eyes glinted in the moonlight. He was motioning to me to come near him, but the closer I got, the further away he became.
'On my own, pretending he's beside me. All alone, I walk to him till morning. Without him, I feel his arms around me. And when I lose my way I close my eyes and he has found me.'
Sure enough, when I opened my eyes, he was closer. He was close enough to reach out and touch my hair. He got older, and so did I, but the love in his eyes did not diminish. He still would reach out to me.'
'In the rain the pavement shines like silver. All the lights are misty in the river. In the darkness, the trees are full of starlight; and all I see is him and me forever and forever.'
He began to fade, until at last he disappeared.
'. I know it's only in my mind. that I'm talking to myself and not to him. And although I know that he is blind. still I say; there's a way for us. I love him, but when the night is over he is gone, the river's just a river. Without him, the world around me changes. The trees are bare and everywhere the streets are full of strangers
'I love him, but every day I'm learning. All my life I've only been pretending.'
I closed my eyes, realizing I meant nothing to him.
'Without me. his world will go on turning. His world that full of happiness that I have never known! I love him! But. but only on my own.'
I found Hermione's house, and knocked, placing the cap back on my head. Her father answered the door.
"Give me that letter here, my boy," he said.
"Harry said give it to Hermione."
He gave me his word she would get it in the morning.
"Go, careful now," he said. "Stay out of sight. There's danger in the world tonight."
Even the muggles knew what an awful war it was. I heard Hermione's father open the letter and read it out loud to himself. Harry did love her, and professed it in the letter. I couldn't bear it any more, and ran from the house into the diminishing darkness.
It was difficult to breathe, walking through Diagon Alley in the drizzling rain. It hurt so much, but I needed to get back to him. Every time I inhaled, a piercing pain shot through my body.
"There's a boy!" someone cried as I turned the corner.
"Good God!" Harry exclaimed as I limped closer. "What are you doing? Gin, have you no fear?" He was speaking very quickly. "Have you seen my beloved? Why have you come back here?"
I was almost within arm's reach of him. "Took the letter," I gasped, "like you said. I met her father at the door. He said he would give it." I felt my steps falter, and my vision grow hazy, and I fell into him. He caught me awkwardly.
"Don't think I can stand any more."
"Ginny, what's wrong? I feel. there's something wet upon your hair." He looked at his hands. My red hair was drenched with blood.
"Ginny! You're hurt, you need some help! Oh God, it's everywhere!"
He knelt down to the ground, so I could lie in his arms. It didn't hurt so much to breathe anymore. He tried to cover me with his cloak, to keep the rain away.
"Don't you fret," I assured him, pushing the cloak away. "I don't feel any pain. A little fall of rain can hardly hurt me now. You're here, that's all I need to know. And you will keep me safe. You will keep me close. And rain will make the flowers grow."
"But you will live, Ginny - dear God above," he said, grasping my hands, "if I could close your wounds with words of love."
"Just hold me now, and let it be. Shelter me, comfort me."
"You would live a hundred years if I could show you how. I won't desert you now."
It's what I had wanted to hear my whole life. It didn't matter that I could feel my own life slipping away. He loved me.
I tried to smile. "The rain can't hurt me now." His hand, covered with blood, wiped away one of my tears as it mixed with the rain on my cheek.
"This rain," I gasped, "will wash away what's past. You will keep me safe. You will keep me close." My eyes shut, and I felt his warmth. "I'll sleep in your embrace at last. The rain that brings you here is heaven-blessed! The skies begin to clear and I'm at rest a breath away from where you are. I've come home from so far."
"Shh, dear Ginny," he tried to keep me from speaking.
"I don't feel any pain. A little fall of rain could hardly hurt me now."
"I'm here," Harry said, stroking my cheek.
"That's all I need to know."
"I will say with you till you are sleeping."
"And rain," I choked.
"And rain," he repeated.
"Will make the flowers." I couldn't finish. Words were beyond me.
"Grow." Harry said. It was the happiest, and last moment of my entire life. I was dying, but it didn't matter, because he finally loved me.
I looked down at the note in my hand. "Hermione" it read, in Harry's handwriting that never seemed to get better over the years. The desolate streets and broken signs and windows in Diagon Alley were a sign of the war. A small battle between Death Eaters and older Hogwarts students had taken place only days earlier.
I took off the cap that was holding the long hair off my neck. I looked like a boy with it on, and now that Harry had seen me, my disguise was pointless.
*************************
"Hey little boy, what's this I see?" I heard his voice behind me. I spun around wildly, and the hat fell off.
"God, Ginny, the things you do!" Harry sighed looking at my long red hair.
"I know this is no place for me, still I would rather be with you!" I said quickly.
"Get out before the trouble starts," Harry stepped close, and touched my hair. "Get out, 'Gin, you might get hit."
I couldn't stop myself from smiling. "I've got you worried now. That shows you like me quite a lot!"
Harry smiled back, and I felt my heart swell.
"There is a way that you can help," he explained. "You are the answer to a prayer! Please take this letter to Hermione, and pray to God that she's still there!"
*************************
'And now I'm all alone again, nowhere to turn, no one to go to. Without a home, without a friend, without a face to say hello to. But now the night is near. now I can make believe he's here.'
My mind raced, taking in the wet darkness of the rainy night and forming it to a shape I could see.
'Sometimes I walk alone at night when everybody else is sleeping. I think of him and then I'm happy with the company I'm keeping. The city goes to bed and I can live inside my head.'
I could see him, as if he was really there. Harry's green eyes glinted in the moonlight. He was motioning to me to come near him, but the closer I got, the further away he became.
'On my own, pretending he's beside me. All alone, I walk to him till morning. Without him, I feel his arms around me. And when I lose my way I close my eyes and he has found me.'
Sure enough, when I opened my eyes, he was closer. He was close enough to reach out and touch my hair. He got older, and so did I, but the love in his eyes did not diminish. He still would reach out to me.'
'In the rain the pavement shines like silver. All the lights are misty in the river. In the darkness, the trees are full of starlight; and all I see is him and me forever and forever.'
He began to fade, until at last he disappeared.
'. I know it's only in my mind. that I'm talking to myself and not to him. And although I know that he is blind. still I say; there's a way for us. I love him, but when the night is over he is gone, the river's just a river. Without him, the world around me changes. The trees are bare and everywhere the streets are full of strangers
'I love him, but every day I'm learning. All my life I've only been pretending.'
I closed my eyes, realizing I meant nothing to him.
'Without me. his world will go on turning. His world that full of happiness that I have never known! I love him! But. but only on my own.'
I found Hermione's house, and knocked, placing the cap back on my head. Her father answered the door.
"Give me that letter here, my boy," he said.
"Harry said give it to Hermione."
He gave me his word she would get it in the morning.
"Go, careful now," he said. "Stay out of sight. There's danger in the world tonight."
Even the muggles knew what an awful war it was. I heard Hermione's father open the letter and read it out loud to himself. Harry did love her, and professed it in the letter. I couldn't bear it any more, and ran from the house into the diminishing darkness.
It was difficult to breathe, walking through Diagon Alley in the drizzling rain. It hurt so much, but I needed to get back to him. Every time I inhaled, a piercing pain shot through my body.
"There's a boy!" someone cried as I turned the corner.
"Good God!" Harry exclaimed as I limped closer. "What are you doing? Gin, have you no fear?" He was speaking very quickly. "Have you seen my beloved? Why have you come back here?"
I was almost within arm's reach of him. "Took the letter," I gasped, "like you said. I met her father at the door. He said he would give it." I felt my steps falter, and my vision grow hazy, and I fell into him. He caught me awkwardly.
"Don't think I can stand any more."
"Ginny, what's wrong? I feel. there's something wet upon your hair." He looked at his hands. My red hair was drenched with blood.
"Ginny! You're hurt, you need some help! Oh God, it's everywhere!"
He knelt down to the ground, so I could lie in his arms. It didn't hurt so much to breathe anymore. He tried to cover me with his cloak, to keep the rain away.
"Don't you fret," I assured him, pushing the cloak away. "I don't feel any pain. A little fall of rain can hardly hurt me now. You're here, that's all I need to know. And you will keep me safe. You will keep me close. And rain will make the flowers grow."
"But you will live, Ginny - dear God above," he said, grasping my hands, "if I could close your wounds with words of love."
"Just hold me now, and let it be. Shelter me, comfort me."
"You would live a hundred years if I could show you how. I won't desert you now."
It's what I had wanted to hear my whole life. It didn't matter that I could feel my own life slipping away. He loved me.
I tried to smile. "The rain can't hurt me now." His hand, covered with blood, wiped away one of my tears as it mixed with the rain on my cheek.
"This rain," I gasped, "will wash away what's past. You will keep me safe. You will keep me close." My eyes shut, and I felt his warmth. "I'll sleep in your embrace at last. The rain that brings you here is heaven-blessed! The skies begin to clear and I'm at rest a breath away from where you are. I've come home from so far."
"Shh, dear Ginny," he tried to keep me from speaking.
"I don't feel any pain. A little fall of rain could hardly hurt me now."
"I'm here," Harry said, stroking my cheek.
"That's all I need to know."
"I will say with you till you are sleeping."
"And rain," I choked.
"And rain," he repeated.
"Will make the flowers." I couldn't finish. Words were beyond me.
"Grow." Harry said. It was the happiest, and last moment of my entire life. I was dying, but it didn't matter, because he finally loved me.