Hey Everybody! I'm posting Chapter 3. I must admit that, for everybody who has said this is their favorite story or added me to favorite author/story, I'm rather disappointed with the lack of reviews. If I don't get many more, I may consider stopping this story. So please, please review! It only takes a few seconds! I'll review yours if you review mine! Thanks!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the Superman. Harry Potter is J.K. Rowling's and Superman is Taylor Swift's.
After the War: My Version of Those 19 Years
Chapter 3: My Superman
"Oh. This. Um." I mumbled, trying to conceal the heated blush that was making its way up my cheeks. I'd forgotten about this completely. I'd written it one day when I'd been missing Harry a bit more than usual. I'd poured out my heart and soul, and then shoved it away. But here it was. I reread it to give myself some time.
"Ginny?" Hermione's voice breaks through my slow, meticulous reading of the song. "You're going to have to tell me anyway. If you don't want to...could you play it for me?" I look up at her and see she's holding a guitar. Oh, no. No, no, no, no. I wrote that song for two people, and she wasn't one of them. I decide it's better to tell her.
"It's for Harry," I say brusquely. When she begs me for more info, I relent. "I was really missing him one day, and, well...this is the result." I look down as I finish, feeling somewhat awkward.
"Please play it for me," she begs, holding out the guitar again. One look at her and I know it's useless to argue. Besides, now that she knows, I sort of want to see if she likes it. So I pick up the guitar and strum a few chords before starting to sing. Since it's just Hermione and I, I sing loudly and with lots of emotion.
"Tall, dark, and Superman, he
Puts papers in his briefcase and drives away.
To save the world, or go to work
It's the same thing to me.
He's got his mother's eyes, his father's ambition.
I wonder if he knows how much that I miss him? I'll hang on every word you say.
And you'll smile and say, "How are you?" and I'll say, "Just fine."
I always forget to tell you I love you
I'll love you
Forever
I watch Superman fly away
You've got a busy day today.
Go save the world;
I'll be around.
And I watch Superman fly away
Come back, I'll be with you someday.
I'll be right here, on the ground.
When you come back down.
Tall, dark, and beautiful, he's
Complicated, he's irrational, but I hope
Someday he'll take me away
And save the day, yeah
Somethin' in his bright green eyes has me sayin'
"He's not all bad like his reputation," and I can't hear one
Single word they say.
And you'll leave, got places to be and I'll be OK.
I always forget to tell you I love you;
I loved you from the very first day
I watched Superman fly away
You've got a busy day today.
Go save the world; I'll be around.
And I watched Superman fly away.
Come back, I'll be with you someday.
I'll be right here, on the ground.
When you come back down.
And I watch you fly around the world
And I hope you don't save some other girl-
Don't forget, don't forget
About me, yeah.
I'm faraway, but I'll never let you go
I'm lovestruck, and looking out the window-
Don't forget, don't forget
Where I'll be!
Right here wishin' the flowers were from you.
Wishin' the card was from you.
Wishin' the call was from you.
Cause I loved you from the very first day
I watched Superman fly away
You've got a busy day today.
Go save the world; I'll be around
Forever and ever yeah.
I watched Superman fly away.
I swear, I'll be with you someday.
I'll be right here, on the ground
When you come back down.
When you come back down." I finish my song, then quickly lay the guitar down, not looking at Hermione. She hasn't said or done anything since I started this song. She must really hate it. I feel tears burn my eyes. Why did I share it with her? I was so stupid! I move forward as if to leave, but then she speaks.
"Wait, Ginny. Don't go yet," she pleads, and, little though I want to, I listen. She says no more, though, and finally I can take it no longer.
"Well? What did you think of it?" I demand rather harshly.
"In all honestly, Ginny, it was the most beautiful song I've ever heard," she states quite clearly. I'm stunned. She liked it?
A silence falls between us until she speaks again. "Come on, let's get the rest of this cleaned up," she says, and I turn.
"Hermione..." my voice trails off as I try to find the words. "Do you really like it that much?" I finally ask. She nods mutely. A huge smile spreads across my face and I laugh, delighted. Something about my foolish display of emotion makes her laugh, too, and then when we've finished our extensive laughing fit, we sit and talk. Talk about the war and my song and what they've been doing and how life has been here. We cry a fair few times, too. I'm completely open with her. She is open with me, too, but not as much, since she "wants to leave the details to Harry." Meh.
We talk for so long, it's only when my stomach starts to rumble that I realize how much time has passed. I leap to my feet. "Hermione, we've got to clean this up! Do you realize it's midday already?" She shrieks, and within a matter of minutes, involving me being hit in the head with a rather heavy book and the shattering of glass when I moved my wand too soon, the room is back in order and we're on our way back to the Great Hall in hopes of lunch.
But at the foot of the stairs, house-elves are handing out plates of sandwiches that refill and goblets of pumpkin juice that do the same. We find a secluded spot in the corner of the hall and begin to eat. It's only a few moments later that Ron and Harry join us.
"Hey," Harry says, giving me a smile that takes my breath away.
"Hi," I reply, smiling back, then glancing away shyly.
"How's the cleaning been?" Ron asks nonchalantly, but I freeze and look at Hermione. She's looking at me, her eyebrows raised. If it had been anyone else, they wouldn't have understood, but I know what Hermione meant. Do you want to tell him? I think you should. He'd love it. I shake my head, sending her a pleading look: Not yet, OK? I'll-I'll-sing it to him tonight, how about that? She nodded, satisfied, then replied,
"Not bad. Gryffindor tower took us forever, though. You?" Harry shrugged, mouth full of sandwich.
"Well, we got most of it done, but no one wants to go near that tapestry of the naked ladies, as we're all guys, so it's still ruined and we've finally cast a Silencing Charm on it because we got sick of them screaming obscenities at us," Ron reeled off. Hermione and I sat there, stunned, then, as though we'd planned it, burst out laughing. The heads of everyone in the entrance hall swivel towards us and then away, but neither Hermione nor I care. We only stop laughing when a red-haired figure approaches us.
"What is so funny over here, may I ask? I'm in good need of a laugh right now, you know," the figure states. I sit up quickly and so does Hermione, because it's George. And not just George. Standing next to him is none other than Angelina Johnson. They've both got sandwiches in their hands, and, surprisingly, are smiling.
"Ron was just amusing us with telling how amusing it was, cleaning up the fourth floor," Harry explains, as Hermione, Ron, and I are temporarily dumbstruck. George laughs, then turns to Ron.
"Naked ladies tapestry?" Ron nods. Angelina shakes her head at him, but George rolls with laughter, too, then he and Angelina sit down next to us, and the rest of lunch is spent in laughter.
When Hermione and I head up to Ravenclaw tower afterwards, we are in much better spirits than we were this morning.
"Good to see George smiling again. You and Harry were asleep, but you didn't see George's breakdown-it was awful." Hermione shudders at a memory and I wince.
"What happened?" I ask.
"He cried and stormed and raged. He was a mess, we all thought he was going insane. Everyone tried to calm him down, but it was useless. You see, Angelina had left, gone to Hogsmeade. Her mother and brothers had come to fight in the battle and she wanted to see if they were alright. As soon as she left, George stopped eating and basically shut down after his little, erm, fit. So we called Angelina in a panic, and she came back and since then they've never been apart. She's really helping him through this." I was amazed. George, crying? George, angry? I hadn't realized how much Fred's death affected him. I mean, we were all sad, and I still felt like there was this big, black cloud hanging over me most of the time, with the names Fred, Lupin, Tonks, and Colin in it, but George-George was never like that! But Fred was his twin, and they'd done so much together...I suppose it would be worse for him.
"Wow," I say softly, but we've reached Ravenclaw tower by then, and we have no more time for talking, we just set to work. An hour later it's done, and we're going to the Hufflepuff dorms. They're nearly perfect, only slight scorch marks here and there. We don't bother with the Slytherins, as theirs are sure to be perfect. No Death Eater would have harmed the place they once stayed. So instead, we make our way back down to the entrance hall, where a number of families were gathered, again being served by the house-elves. I find my family-not too difficult, as they're all redheads-and Hermione and I sit down.
"Hello, ladies!" Mom greets us, and Hermione and I mumble greetings, both of us exhausted from the day's work. I don't really say much during dinner, just listen, intensely aware of Harry sitting next to me. Occasionally, I glance over at him, and 9 times out of 10, he's looking back at me with his emerald eyes, eyes I can't help but love. Dinner seems to stretch on for an eternity, but finally I feel as though I've sat for long enough, and I pull the 'I'm tired' excuse and scoot off upstairs. Harry whispers, "9" in my ear before I leave, though, and I'm extremely disappointed to see that it is only 7:30. I know then that I'm going to go insane waiting for this. So I go upstairs and practice the guitar chords for 'Superman' until I can't play anymore, then I fall into bed for an hour before I meet Harry. Heavens knows I need the sleep.