we still have tomorrow (let's forget about the future)
This just kind of wrote itself in my head last night, because yesterday was so beautifully sunny in Melbourne, and I typed it up this morning, which means it's unedited and short and weird and probably doesn't make much sense.
It's just fluff and romance and sun and I don't even know. But Harry/Ginny are adorable to write and I hope I did them okay.
It's one of the last days of term, and Harry wakes with sunshine in his blood.
There's light peeking through the windows, turning the gold on his bed-curtains blindingly shiny. Harry waits for a second before putting on his glasses, letting himself be surrounded by the colour of it.
He puts on his glasses and the world comes into focus, sharpening and defining the shapes around him. The only sounds in the dormitory are the soft sleeping breaths of his classmates. There is lazy haze to the air and the shafts of sunlight are warm and honey-coloured.
There's still a faint morning chill to the air as Harry pulls back his covers and steps into the soft rug, burying his toes in crimson. The window near his bed shows fresh, sharp sun and a perfect spring day.
Two more days, Harry thinks. Two more days is plenty.
Ginny greets him at breakfast, her fiery hair long and warm. Harry runs a hand through it and she smiles at him. She smells like roses and sunshine and springtime, and her brown eyes are soft.
"I can't believe we only have two more days," she says, her voice quiet.
"I know," Harry says. He wishes she wouldn't mention that. Only two more days of peace, and sun and Ginny before he goes back to the darkness of Privet Drive, and the long shadow-filled path ahead of him.
The shadows seem to dance in Ginny's eyes in the quiet moments, and Harry can feel them reflected in his own. He tries to shake off the dark thoughts and bring back the softness to her eyes.
"Two days," he says. "Plenty of time. What do you want to do today?"
Ginny glances upwards, at the brilliant golden light and the bluest of blue skies that the ceiling is adorned with.
"Outside," she says, and Harry smiles. When she smiles back the dimples in her cheeks are more pronounced and the curve of her lip twists upwards and Harry thinks goddamit I'm in love.
They trade kisses under the oak tree, next to the lake, sitting together on the green, green grass and stopping only for quick, hot breaths.
Ginny tastes like strawberries and sugar and sunflowers, and her scent, her very presence, resonates within Harry's skin and bones. He kisses her softly, passionately, and they lie entwined on the grass, Ginny's hair tickling Harry's chin and throat. The dappled light under the oak tree dances across the lush grass, they're resting on.
There are other students outside, lazily strolling in between trees, or sitting around the edge of the calm, still lake, watching the giant squid float lazily across the surface. The faint breeze in waft through the leaves of the oak, ripples the lake water ever so slightly and pull at Ginny's soft hair.
Someone's parchment goes spinning across the grounds and Ginny laughs, a low, sweet sound that chimes in Harry's ears. He laughs too, just for the sake of it, because why not? He's happy and he's warm and Ginny is like flame and flowers in his arms.
Ginny turns to look at him, her brown eyes catching his own, and for a second they are both lost in the little world that is just the two of them. It's a wondrous thing, this love, Harry thinks, that he can get so lost when their world is so small.
"Do you want to do this all day?" Ginny asks. Her tone is light, relaxed, almost sleepy, and there's sunlight falling across her face. Harry can count the soft smattering of freckles across her cheeks.
"Do you have any better ideas?" he asks, glancing up at the brilliant sky and the dancing leaves of the oak.
"Not one," she says, laughter in her voice. "I was just hoping you weren't getting bored."
Harry pulls her towards him and kisses her neck. "Never," he murmurs. "Never, never, never," he whispers the word into her skin and she laughs and squirms and angles her head so he kisses her lips instead. She smells of fresh fruit and grass and all good things and Harry can't get enough.
They go back to the hall for lunch, slowly making their way through the grounds. As they pass the astronomy tower Harry feels his breath catch and his eyes burn. Ginny notices, of course she notices, and she slips a warm hand in his, and leads him gently away. They skirt the tower and it's memories, and instead wander past more students, lazing on the grass at this corner of the lake.
Harry can feel their stares and their questioning glances. They cut him sharply like knives, eager, pressing. Harry thinks sometimes they will slice him to ribbons.
Ginny does not let go of his hands. They walk up the front steps of the castle, and she is warm beside him, comforting, and Harry thinks how can I ever let you go? But he must, he knows that.
They only have two days of floating together, and then Harry will start sinking, and the world will only get darker.
Inside the castle it's dark for a few moments. Harry blinks and his eyes adjust to the dimmer lighting. Ginny tugs him along, her hand still warm in his.
"I'm hungry," she says. "Maybe we could take lunch outside."
Harry nods. "Where're Ron and Hermione?"
The great hall is almost empty. The golden plates are piled with food: sandwiches and meats and vegetables and pumpkin juice, but the students seem to have had the same idea as Ginny and there are only about ten people inside.
Harry looks up towards the high table and the Headmaster's winged armchair, seated resplendent in gold just like it always has been. But now there is no Headmaster to sit there, and share strange words and advice at feasts, and pull crackers at Christmas, and look after everyone when there's a troll in the dungeon or a basilisk on the loose. Now there is just metal and wood and carved wings, which did no good in the end, because Albus Dumbledore did not fly off the Astronomy tower that night, he fell.
Harry tells himself it makes no difference anyway, because Snape had killed him already, hadn't he. Because no one can resist the killing curse without someone to die for them, and Dumbledore had had no sacrifice.
"Are you okay?" Ginny asks, her voice low and worried. Harry sees that there are tears glistening in her eyes as she too stares at the Headmaster's chair. He forgets, sometimes, that Dumbledore touched more than just him in life and in death.
"Are you?" he asks.
Ginny sniffs. "I'm fine," she says. "Really. Let's get some food."
They pile their plates high with bread and dip and cheese, and as they're about to exit the doors, two people come in, laughing together and holding hands.
"Ron," Harry says, to catch their attention. "Hermione."
"Harry!" says Hermione. Her hair is bushier than usual, and her face is flushed from the sun. "Oh, it's good to see you! We were wondering where you were." Her voice is bright and sincere, and Harry remembers in that moment just how much he loves his friends.
Ron nods at Hermione's words. When Harry looks at him he quickly drops Hermione's hand and smiles awkwardly. "Hi mate."
Ginny pokes Harry in the arm. "I'm hungry," she says. "Do you want to meet us outside?" she asks Ron and Hermione. She glances at Harry for a second. "By the lake, maybe? Under the willow trees?"
She doesn't say oak and Harry is grateful, because somehow that feels like their special place, even though legions of students have probably sat under its wide branches and felt the sun dance on their faces. It's their special place in this shining day and that's all that matters.
"Okay," Hermione says. She stares at Harry for a second longer than he expects, and he sends her a quizzical look, but she shakes her head and draws away from them, towards the food. Harry watches as Ron heads after her, and thinks of their hands intertwining again, and finds he doesn't mind the thought.
It's a relief to be outside the castle again. Harry only realises afterwards how stiff he had been, taught and tense and wound like a bowstring. He relaxes as they head back into the bright sunshine, where it seems like the ghosts of the past can't follow them anymore.
Despite her claims of hunger Ginny lets them dawdle, levitating the plates of food by their side and holding hands. When they reach the willow they find a patch of sun between the shadows of the branches and rest the plates of food on the short, cropped grass. The smell of mown lawn is strong in the air and to Harry it smells like sun and like summer and like all the things that are beginning in the world but coming to an end in his mind.
Harry remembers the days before Dumbledore's death, where he was worried about school and about Voldemort but he had someone by his side, someone who should never had been defeated. Harry remembers when he and Ginny found time to be together and traded kisses and sweet words in hurried moments between classes and studying and sleep. He can count the memories on the insides of his eyelids, and plays them over and over in his mind before he goes to sleep.
Ginny seems to understand that Harry is feeling melancholy, because she ignores the food for a second and instead pulls him into her arms and strokes his hair, weaving her fingers through it gently. Harry closes his eyes and lets his last tense muscle loose. There's the red light of the sun behind his eyelids and the smell of Ginny in his nostrils and a semblance of peace in his thoughts.
"It's going to be okay," Ginny says. It's a vague comment, but it has all the meaning in the world, and they both know it. 'It' is a thousand things, a thousand problems, and darkness is in all of them.
Harry turns to face Ginny, sitting up so he can see her freckled skin and brown eyes and the dimples in her cheeks. He wants to kiss her forever, and never let her go.
"Let's eat," he says.
They make sandwiches and takes bites of each other's and Ginny laughs her chime-like laugh. And Harry should be letting go to save both of them pain, but he tells himself it doesn't matter.
Ron and Hermione meet them with smiles and more food and Harry's mood lightens even more. He feels like he's floating, and he wants nothing less than to be brought back to earth.
"It's a beautiful day," Hermione says, stretching out on the grass. She has grass in her hair and her shoes are coloured a dusty brown from dirt but she doesn't seem to care.
Harry is uproariously happy all of a sudden. "It is, isn't it." He runs his fingers through his hair and lays down beside her, staring up at the turquoise sky and watching a pale fluffy cloud drift its way across it.
Out of the corner of his eye he can see Ron and Ginny sharing a plate of potato salad and talking about something in low voices. Ginny catches his eye and smiles, the dimples in her cheeks flashing at him.
And Harry thinks more strongly than ever, goddammit I'm in love.
Ron and Hermione leave after a while, Hermione claiming she needs a book to read, and Ron claiming he needs more food. They walk off holding hands and there's a tingle of something Harry's not sure off in his stomach at the sight, but Ginny lays down beside him and it passes as quickly as it came.
The sun is lower in the sky now and Harry's sleepy and the warmth of Ginny next to him is so comfortable he's starting to drift off.
Ginny yawns next to him and he turns his head to look at her. The rays of light are golden and shining and fuck, she's beautiful. He leans over and buries his face in her hair and she's sweet and sugar and nutmeg and all glorious things and she slips through his hands like smoke.
Ginny rolls toward him and the curve of her neck is outlined by the still-bright sun and Harry wants nothing more than to cover it with kisses.
"Are you sleepy?" Ginny asks, her voice soft.
"Are you?"
"A little," she says, and stretches her arms upwards, yawning. "A lot, actually. Do you know what the time is?"
Harry checks his battered watch. "It's three o'clock," he says, and there's a moment of fleeting sadness, because the day is almost gone (it feels like) and they only have one more (but he tells himself it doesn't matter).
Ginny looks up towards the sky, which is still a bright blue. There's a flock of birds wheeling and diving across it, seemingly for no other purpose than to feel air beneath their wings.
Harry's heart beats a steady rhythm of this is nice, this is good, we still have tomorrow don't we? And he's young and sleepy and in love, so his head agrees.
Harry wakes up with Ginny curled into his side, sleeping peacefully. His arms are wrapped around her and he can't check his watch, but he must have slept for quite a while, because there are brilliant red streaks in the sky now, and gold. Directly above him the sky is still blue, but it's a deeper, darker blue and he can see the moon more clearly now, a shining sliver of silver in the sapphire sky.
Harry yawns but doesn't move, because he doesn't want to wake Ginny. There's a faint chill to the air but for the most part it's still warm, and he's just so comfortable.
Ginny shifts in her sleep and her hot breath is on his neck and it tickles, but in a good, gentle way. Harry presses a gentle kiss to the top of her head and his soul sings with contentment.
Ginny struggles to consciousness slowly, and her eyes flicker open. This is the last time, isn't it?
Harry wraps her closer to him. I want to pretend we could do this forever.
Ginny breathes out and Harry breathes in I love you.
Hope you liked :)
Reviews would be fantastic!