"Well, you're expecting me to be Prince bloody Charming. I can't help you there, Ginny. I'm me, nothing more, nothing less. Don't assume anything more."
I remember the first time I saw him. He stared as much as I did. Even then, we knew.
"It's not my fault you're so stubborn! You refuse to do anything unless it's exactly what you want to do, when you want to do it."
He was a hero, the boy who lived. To me, he didn't look much like a hero, though. Scruffy hair, beautiful, green eyes. He looked lost.
"Oh, cut it out! We both are busy at working at the moment. You're not the only one. You're always complaining."
I knew his background, everyone did. My brother got to know it a bit more, got to know him a bit more on the train to Hogwarts in their first year.
"Why not? Why can't I talk to Ron about it? You forget, he's my best friend too!"
For a year, I was absolutely alone. My brothers at Hogwarts, my parents busy. For a year I would not see him, which made me even lonelier.
"A break? A break from us? Fine, I'll go. Let me out."
Maybe it was the loneliness that led me to put all my train of thought into that little book, that little trap, that little killer.
"You're really testing the limits at the moment. You know that, Ginny."
Luckily, he knew just how to save a life. Save my life, from Voldemort, from the clutches of death. He always was brave, my little Gryffindor.
"It's never too late to quit your job as Captain, Ginny. There's always spaces at the Ministry going."
That experience has never left me. I had to revisit all that grief when the Dementors came aboard the train to Hogwarts. As always, he was there for me.
"Well, why don't we go the distance? I think we're ready for children."
I was there, at that bedside in the hospital wing, with that stupid card praying for his recovery. I was there for him, too.
"What? Reality check, Ginny. I want you and I want you to be the mother of our children. It's because I want children, not because other people want children."
Then the Yule Ball. He was just beyond my reach. He invited another girl, his eyes were all over another girl yet.
"Fearful? Are you delusional? I've never wanted anything more in my entire life, maybe apart from you."
I looked classy that night. No longer his best friend's little sister.
"Ginny, your voice box broken or something? You haven't said anything in a few minutes."
I changed even more. I became more confident over the summer. As long as I had a boyfriend, I wasn't nervous around Harry. I guess that was the problem, though.
"I'm … lost for words. I don't know what to say."
I wanted him as a boyfriend, not any of the others. Each time I looked at them, kissed them, was with them, I felt like I was being unfaithful.
"Glad? I'm on top of the world. Oh, Merlin's beard, Ginny! This is the best news I have ever heard, and I mean that with all my heart!"
Fourth year is when I shined. I named DA, my defence spells were perfect. I'm still not sure if he realises I was shining for him that year.
"Of course, of course. It's just…. I'm just…. This is amazing!"
I crossed a fine line that year. I was no longer a child. I battled, and had survived, not entirely unscarred. I had watched someone die. I could've died.
"Your mum? Of course! I'm telling everyone. I want to tell the whole world. Shout it from the rooftops."
It was dysfunctional, it would never work. He was my brother's best mate. He was all I had ever loved. He was Harry. Brave, unreachable Harry.
"Yeah, I'm not thinking properly. I'm too excited!"
In one moment, nothing else mattered. Only he did. The fresh taste of his lips pressed softly against mine. Only him.
"Okay, I won't call anyone until it's light. Even Ron and Hermione."
I was in love.
"For you, anything, my darling, my love, my only."
I still am. I have shared rainbows with him.
"You know what, Ginny? You are better than I ever could have dreamt of."
I share a home with him.
"I love you,"
I'm going to kiss him.
"And in health,"
