"Ginny, listen…" he said to me. "I can't be involved with you anymore. We've got to stop seeing each other. We can't be together."
His words pierced me like a dagger to the heart. I knew that they would be coming any day now, but as I sat holding his hand firm in my own while we watched as Dumbledore was finally being put to rest, I had not expected them. I couldn't help but notice how handsome he had looked in his emerald green dress robes, and I smiled a helpless, sad smile because I knew that he had once been mine. "It's for some stupid, noble reason, isn't it?" I said to him. My tone had not meant to be, but it came out as bitter.
He was vacantly watching ashundredsofwitches and wizards stood up from their seats to leave the funeral, until we were the only ones in a sea of white, collapsible chairs. "It's been like…like something out of someone else's life, these last few weeks with you," said Harry. "But I can't…we can't…I've got to do things alone now," he finished. I knew that this was hard for him, I knew because of the way he was absently twitching his thumbs. He always did that when he was nervous.I didn't say anything to him. I was paralyzed of my words; I was too upset to speak.
"Voldemort uses people his enemies are close to," he explained. "He's already used you as bait once, and that was just because you're my best friend's sister. Think how much danger you'll be in if we keep this up. He'll know, he'll find out. He'll try and get to me through you."
"What if I don't care?" Anger and frustration was boiling up inside me. I didn't care. He needed to know that I didn't care. I didn't care if Voldemort took me and tortured me in every way possible, as long as I was able to have more time with Harry.
"I care," he said heavily. "How do you think I'd feel if this was your funeral… and it was my fault…"
I bit my lip and looked away from him. I faced towards the lake, the same lake that had been the home of many warm, happy memories of carefree afternoons spent with him these past few weeks. "I never really gave up on you," I told him, "Not really. I always hoped…Hermione told me to get on with life, maybe go out with some other people, relax a bit around you, because I never used to be able to talk if you were in the room, remember?" I tried to smile a bit to lessen the discomfort between us. "And she thought you might take a bit more notice of me if I was a bit more- myself."
"Smart girl that Hermione," he said to me, making a sad attempt to smile also. "I just wish I'd asked you sooner. We could've had ages…months…years maybe…"
I wish that too, I thought to myself. Instead I said, "But you've been to busy saving the Wizarding world. Well I can't say I'm surprised. I knew this would happen in the end. I knew you wouldn't be happy unless you were hunting Voldemort. Maybe that's why I like you so much."
We sat there in a sad silence for a few moments, until he stood up and began to walk away. "Harry," I whispered softly at his back, but he didn't turn around, "I love you." I touched the side of my face as a hot tear began to stream down. I couldn't stop it.
I sat alone and cold on a warm June day. The hot sun was beating down the side of my face, probably burning my fair skin, but none of that mattered. Nothing mattered anymore.