Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter universe, nor the song lyrics. They belong to J.K. Rowling and Coldplay respectively.
Chapter Four: Unexpected
A warning sign
You came back to haunt me and I realized
That you were an island and I passed you by
You were an island to discover
Nearly two weeks had passed since the Grand Opening of The Drizzling Draft. Things were going better than Harry could have hoped for; business was grand. The only thing Harry felt missing was in the void in his heart.
Despite these dreams, Harry found it inside of him to work with a wide smile on his face. He chatted warmly with the customers and joked around during cleanup with Damian and Amelia.
One average day, Harry was talking kindly with one of his few regulars, Mr. Zorpe. He didn't notice the entrance of a young woman.
She looked cautiously around the pub, as though in search of something. She looked from the quaint tables to the lavatories before finally settling her gaze on the bar.
Having spotted the reason for her presence at the pub, she slowly made her way up to the bar.
"Harry," whispered the young woman on bated breath.
Harry turned at the sound of his name. When he saw the familiar redhead, who had been constantly haunting his dreams, standing before him he blinked in disbelief. "Ginny?"
She smiled slightly. "It's lovely to see you again."
"Likewise," he nervously replied.
"I have one question, a rather small one really, for you."
"Er, alright, what is it?"
"If you've been here, in Diagon Alley, for however long," her mood changed, "then why, why in the bloody hell didn't you tell anyone?"
"Now, that's not fair. I told people."
"Name one."
"Louis."
"Who on earth is Louis?"
"The bloke that lives in the flat next to mine."
"I didn't mean someone from this new place your living. I meant us, your friends."
"But Louis is my friend."
"Really? I don't recall a Louis from Hogwarts."
"Louis is much older than us. He's thirty."
"Still! Why didn't you apparate by Mum and Dad's? Mum's been a fright the past year, fretting over you. I thought you'd run off, like Hermione," she paused momentarily, "with Hermione."
An understanding dawned to Harry. "You thought I ran off with Hermione?"
"I thought that since Ron died, you two turned to each other for comfort, and er, things happened." Ginny looked down.
"Hermione's like a sister to me."
"Oh." She paused, "You didn't answer my question. Why didn't you tell us if you could tell this Louis chap? Why didn't you apparate by Mum and Dad's?"
Harry gulped, "Because I knew if you all knew I was here, you would come looking for me."
"And the problem in that would be?" trailed off Ginny.
"I didn't want to have to," Harry looked down, tears welling up slowly in his eyes, "to face up to it. Ginny, I couldn't do it."
"Face up to what exactly? Ron's death? Harry, nobody—"
"Don't even say it, Gin. I don't care how much you or Fred or anyone insists upon it. His death was my fault."
"Harry, stop being so bloody noble. You can't help that the curse hit Ron."
"That curse was meant for me," he growled. Ginny sighed and closed her eyes. "If he hadn't come with me—I insisted that Hermione and he shouldn't, but they wouldn't listen—than he would be here."
Ginny tearfully insisted, "You don't know that."
A moment of silence passed as the pair avoided each other's eyes. Finally, Ginny looked up into Harry's eyes, "I can understand why you didn't contact Mum and Dad. But what about me?" her voice softened, "why didn't you send me an owl?"
Harry looked down again, eyes closed, "I-I couldn't. Facing up to you would've been even harder than your parents."
"How?"
"Being with the one you love when you're the reason for her brother's death isn't exactly an easy thing."
"I don't care about easy. How do you think I felt after that battle? My brother dead and the man I love who happened to survive doesn't bother to contact me? He simply disappears from the Wizarding World?"
"Er…."
"You promised me, Harry, you promised."
"Sometimes an occasion arises that gives one a good cause to break his promise."
"Well, an occasion such as it was should have been more of a reason to keep such a promise." Ginny paused. "Life is short. It's precious. We should love all we can."
She looked fiercely into Harry's eyes. Unblinkingly, Harry whispered, "Maybe you're right."
"Maybe?"
"Ok, you are right."
"Does this mean…" she trailed off.
He ventured cautiously, "Will you accompany me to dinner tomorrow evening?"
"I'd love to."
"Brilliant. Pick you up at 7:00?"
"It's a date," she turned to leave.
"Hang on a moment," Harry ran after her, "where do you live?"
Ginny laughed and gave him her address. She left Harry in better spirits than he'd been in for ages.
That night when Harry went to bed, he did indeed dream of her again. But this night, the dreams weren't haunting.