Afraid [ The Neighbourhood ]
You're on the toilet seat, knees to your chest in the steam of the bathroom watching Ginny. She's in the old, scuffed bathtub, claw-footed and heavy, picking petals off daisies that she's conjuring as quickly as she's massacring them. Her toes peep out of the scented water as she stretches against the ends of the tub. She smiles languidly at the ceiling.
'' Do you, uh ...'' Your voice is raspy and you start rocking back and forth on your throne. ''Gin.'' You say it so softly that she doesn't even hear.
''Gin, why are you here?'' You bring your thumb nail to your mouth, the edge bleeding and raw, you think better of it and lave the abused flesh instead of biting at it.
Her eyes clear as she turns to you. Her drunkenness seems to be condensing with the water that's turning your hair frizzy. She's frazzled you, pushed you towards something like panic. Your mind is whirring and your feet are cold once more. You can map out all the things wrong with this situation in your head. You're still rocking yourself when she answers.
''Harry's, uh, he's…'' Ginny's hands flap in the water, petals drowning in the maelstrom. You startle into action, almost sliding on the smooth, damp tile. You're at the side of the tub in moments, in a small puddle watching Ginny ugly-cry into the water.
Ginny swallows and swallows, her neck straining with the effort of it all. The vein in her forehead throbs and she turns this terrible, blotchy pink. Startling on her freckled face.
Can no one….Oh, my God. What is loyalty even? Do men just…
''Harry's more in love with my mother than he is with me.''
That knocks the wind out of your sails. Totally. The girl in the tub starts giggling through her sobs. Her breaths are coming fast, her hands still whirling at the water in front of her.
Your first instinct is to placate, say that's not true. That's deranged. He would never sacrifice Ginny's happiness just to fit the mould of some white-picket fenced suburbian house where dreams go to die just so he gets to have the security of… Okay. Okay. You breathe through your nose.
'' Why are you here?'' Your voice is soft. Hard.
'' I'm here for a little bit of validation.'' Bold as brass, Ginny Weasley. Weasley. Weasley. Was there an emotional range that the Weasley's bottomed out at? Is this a family thing? She smiles and splashes some of the lavender water at you. Your forehead creases. She guffaws, her face and eyes still red and pained.
'' Well, I just got dumped by Ronald Weasley of all people. Asking for validation from me is honestly pathetic.''
'' Let's be slobs, not cook for days at a time, I dunno….Let's have a fight that I know you'll get over because I'm allowed to be pissed off with you without my mother running damage-control.''
'' Gin, you can't just cheat on your boyfriend everytime he…'' The words get stuck in your throat and you swallow over a hard lump before you're able to start again. '' You can't just cheat on him when he makes you angry.''
'' Yup , just like that Granger .''
And yet, her eyes are pleading. Don't kick me out. Listen. Just listen. I'm 18 and really fucking stupid. And the boy I love is even stupider. All the boys we love are stupider.
'' You're a headcase,'' you snap and the earnest expression on your face just makes her laugh- cry even harder.
Electric Glow [ Tritonal ]
It's Wednesday evening and you cannot believe you thought this was a good idea. After you, Harry and Ron were on the run all those months you never wanted to look at another mushroom again. Never fetch water from a river, never sit outside in the cold. You did not even want to hear the sound the zipper on a tent makes.
Luna is absently stirring the iron pot over the fire with her wand while watching the stars above your head. Murmuring to herself, cheeks red in the cold, her handsome furry Russian hat slightly too big, falling into her eyes on occasion.
Ginny is puttering around the campsite, feeding the fire clumsily with her thick leather gloves as soon as it burns too low under Luna's breezy attentions, rolling her eyes fondly when she catches your eye.
Ron would've loved it here. He liked camping, he loved being around people, especially girls that weren't you, evidently. You snort softly.
'' There's 7.5 billion people on Earth. And even more stars, '' she says breathy-voiced, eyes focused above your head still.
Your arms drop to your sides and Luna's soft voice regales you with the stories of the constellations. You knew them all, ofcourse. But it was nice. Hearing a voice that wasn't your own.
A/N : I'm here for a little bit of validation.