I

I've been off in the Fred/Angelina circuit for a while, so I thought I'd return to my roots. Ginny/Harry, not too angsty for once. This was written in a friend's basement at 4AM. Oh, and I don't own HP, R&R.

I. Changeling

She was a constant contradiction. During the day, she was bold, the blaze in her eyes matching the fiery hue of her hair. Darkened by the shadow of her brothers, each step was filled with purpose, each word was meant to prove that she was as good as the rest of them – better than the rest of them. But at night, she changed. Her bravado crumbled as her body relaxed, her breathing quieted and slowed. Her red hair was muted by the dark, and the fire burning in her eyes dwindled down to embers when they closed, and she was calm. For a few hours each night she was happy to simply exist beside him, free from purpose and self-doubt. For a brief period, she was herself.

Morning light transformed her each morning – she became unapologetic and stubborn. She made no excuses, and, even when she knew she was wrong, she would never admit it. They would argue in the daylight, but as soon as night came and the shadows became insignificant, the fight would end. Her anger was so succinctly predictable that he almost wanted to laugh as she struggled to piece together an incoherent apology, her eyes averted as the words fought their way past her reluctant lips, her weight shifting from one foot to the other. He was always struck by the ridiculousness of her hesitation, but instead of feeling amused, he feels relief for the argument to be over. He would simply smile reassuringly at her, wrapping his arms around her when she curled up beside him in the armchair, her fingertips clinging loosely to his faded shirt.

Her strangeness should have been disconcerting, but instead she had become his constant. Even with her irregularity, she had become familiar to him, integral and essential. She was all that mattered, unpredictable or not. Because despite the odds against it, she was his, and that mattered more than anything.