So I know this ficlet kinda sucks, but I needed to get it out.

Disclaimer: Not mine.

The fire in the Gryffindor Common Room was starting to die down. It was late on a Friday night, and the only ones left out of bed were Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron and Ginny Weasley. It had been a long week: exams were coming up and the professors were piling on the work load, handing out essays and practical assignments whenever they could. Despite the fact they were all exhausted, the rare time alone in the Common Room was enough to keep them up.

Ron sat on one of the comfortable red armchairs next to the fire, rubbing his eyes and yawning. "Can you believe the stuff Snape is giving us? Two essays and three potions to brew, all in the past week! The greasy git is bloody insane." He shook his head slowly.

"I guess it is a bit much…" voiced Hermione, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of Ron.

"You guess?" gaped Ron. "You guess? Hermione, that's added to all the work he knows our other professors are giving us!"

Harry, who was sitting on the sofa with Ginny, said, "I agree with Ron, Hermione. Even you have to admit it's a bit, you know, completely immoral."

Hermione cracked a smile. "Maybe."

Ginny smiled a bit with her friends. However, she couldn't fully enjoy the peace of the moment. She and Harry had been together for a while now, and Ginny had begun to notice something a bit off with him in the past couple weeks. They could always tell when one or the other was hiding something. This was no different. Normally he had so many bizarre topics to talk about during meals, but now he hardly had anything to say to her. He had also stopped being as affectionate… Ginny may have been a strong young woman, but deep down she loved ever bit of attention he gave her. Since they had a special kind of relationship, Ginny generally felt very secure. They had established at the beginning that they no longer wanted to be with anyone else and were waiting for the right person. There was no reason to wait precious time these days with petty relationships. And this felt right. But even with this security, there was always a very faint shadow of panic when something was off. Even with their security, she was always scared he would leave her, even when he had promised on multiple occasions not to. She decided to talk to him about it as soon as they were alone.

Ron yawned again. "I think I'm going to head off to bed. I want to be awake for Hogsmeade tomorrow."

"I'm going to turn in too," Hermione said, standing up and brushing herself off. "I want to get in a quick trip to the library before we go in the morning." She looked in Harry and Ginny's direction. "You two should get to bed soon as well. We don't want you falling asleep on us." She smiled at them as Ron made gagging noises, thinking about what his best friend and sister would be doing before heading to their respective dormitories.

Harry gave a small, slightly nervous laugh, but only Ginny noticed. As the two said goodnight and started climbing the stairs to their rooms, Ginny scooted closer to lean on Harry. They sat in silence for a few minutes, Harry staring into the ever fading fire, Ginny staring up into his emerald green eyes. After a few minutes she grew restless. Abruptly sitting up and startling Harry, her voice broke the silence. "Harry, is something wrong? Are you…" She searched for the right word. "…bored of me or something?"

Harry looked at her with wide eyes, then looked down into the dwindling fire again. "I wouldn't say bored of you. But… I think something is wrong." Ginny blinked.

"Well?" She asked. "What is it?"

"Something's wrong Gin," Harry started. "With us. And I'm not sure why."

Panic found its way into Ginny. She was scared to ask, but she had to.

"Harry? Do – Do you still love me?"

The black-haired boy glanced over to his fiery counterpart. "I…" He faltered.

"Do you?"

"I don't know. I think so, but… I don't know."

Ginny felt the tears well up. For all the small bouts of fear she had always known, she never thought that it would actually come to this. Her voice merely a whisper, she asked, "What do you want to do?"

Harry turned to her fully this time. Whispering back, he answered, "I don't think we can do this anymore."

She heard the sadness in his voice, but at this point she didn't care. Dropping her strong persona, she let out a sob and launched herself at him, grabbing two fistfuls of his robes and shaking him desperately. "How could you do this to me! To us?" Hot tears rolled down her freckled cheeks one by one. "I thought we were in love! I thought nothing could come between us, not even Voldemort could!" Harry quickly cat a silencing charm on the room, then wrapped his arms around Ginny. He rocked her back and forth as she held on to him. "You promised me…" She moaned. Then gathering her strength, she burst out, "You promised me you'd NEVER LEAVE ME!"

Ginny continued sobbing hysterically, pounding weakly on his chest with her fists. After finally collapsing against him, Harry squeezed her and whispered in her ear, "I'm sorry Gin, I'm so, so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you." He let her cry until she had no more tears left to shed. By that time, the fire in the Common Room was reduced to glowing embers.

Sniffing, Ginny pulled away slightly and looked at Harry. In a shaky voice, she asked, "Is that it then?"

Harry nodded briefly. "I think so." He took Ginny's face in his hands. "But I want you to know that my love for you was real. I don't know what happened, but I can't change it."

Thinking for a moment, Ginny nodded slowly. "I guess I understand. I just… I never thought this would happen."

"I never thought it would either." He lowered his hands.

They sat in silence for while more. Ginny had had boyfriends before, but never once had a separation hurt this badly. She had never truly loved any of them. But Harry was different. And there she was now, broken hearted with the man she had been imagining the rest of her life with.

Pained, but not willing to lose Harry in any other way, she said, "We can still be best friends, right?"

Harry looked at her and gave a tiny grin. "Of course. I wouldn't have it any other way."

And Ginny grinned back. She knew their relationship wouldn't be quite the same, and she would have to get used to not stealing kisses behind Ron and Hermione's back. Live without the sweet nothings Harry would whisper to make her feel better. Make do with the lack of constant security. But she had to deal with it. She didn't want everyone to have to worry about her, especially in these times. Even if it tore her apart inside.

"I – I'm feeling a bit tired. I think I'm going to head off." Harry squeezed Ginny in a hug, then got up from the sofa. "I know you're strong, Gin. Will you be okay?"

Ginny nodded and smiled up at him. "I think so. I'm going to stay up a bit longer though."

"Okay. Goodnight, Ginny." Harry turned around and followed the path Ron had taken earlier that night. Ginny watched him climb out of sight, and whispered, "Goodnight, Harry."

Making sure he had left, Ginny spread herself over the sofa. She couldn't believe all that had just happened. In the attempt to organize her thoughts, a flood of memories washed over her, and she couldn't help herself. Her brown eyes filled with tears again and she silently wept. Of course she was happy that she and Harry could still be close. But there was the plain and simple fact that she was still in love with him, and she couldn't do anything about it.

Ginny fell asleep there on the sofa, and the embers died out completely.

Please don't flame me, I hate the idea of Harry and Ginny apart as much as the next person XP