Ginny's Ghost
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- Chapter Four - Bittersweet
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"Alaraby?"
Ginny stepped into the Astronomy tower hesitantly, closing the door behind her. The ghost was not in sight.
"Hullo? Alaraby, are you here?" She crossed the floor slowly, passing between desks to the balcony. She pushed back the doors, and saw him outside, on the far end of the balcony.
Ginny gnawed her lip, hesitating, before she went outside, trying not to feel as if she were invading his privacy.
She approached him slowly.
He floated slightly above the stone terrace with his back to her, his hands clasped behind him as he watched the lake and the river running into it, far below.
Ginny felt a chill run through her as she saw the blazing colors of the setting sun in the sky beyond right through him.
"Hullo, Ginny."
The quiet words sent an odd tingle up her spine.
"Hi. I'm not bothering you, am I? Because I could leave - "
The ghost turned and smiled at her, shaking his head. The flashing silver of his pale eyes made her breath catch painfully.
"No, don't leave. I wasn't doing anything but remembering things that there isn't any point in remembering."
Feeling flustered, Ginny smiled tightly, and crossed the long wide balcony to stand at the waist high stone railing.
The scene below was breathtaking. The land below was so far away that it seemed surreal. The landscape was pure white, and the lake and river were frozen into sparkling bits of crystal.
Slightly dizzy from the sight, Ginny grasped the railing to steady herself.
"Hey, be careful - this wall is old, and crumbling a bit in places," Alaraby said gently, very close to her ear.
She jumped away from the railing and settled herself on a snowy stone bench, taking a deep breath of the frigid winter air.
"You all right? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
"I'm all right. I guess I just never really realized how high up this tower was." Ginny looked around, shivering slightly, and swallowed. "It's really beautiful out here."
Alaraby drifted in front of her, and she looked up at him with a smile. His silvery blond hair seemed to move in the cold wind.
"You should see it in the summer. The river is sparkling up at you from below, and the lake is so clear, you can see the giant squid moving about in it. And everything is green."
"You'll have to show me one day," Ginny said, rubbing her hands to keep them warm.
"Right, before you leave.it is your last term here, isn't it?" He stuck his hands in his pockets.
"Yes. I hate that I'm leaving, though. For everything that has happened here, I still think of it as being home. I don't want to go. I wish I never had to leave." Ginny laughed and stood up as the cold air finally proved too much for her. "Silly of me, isn't it?" She looked up him as the night began to fall all around them.
"No, not really - I felt the same way. Guess I'm proof that one should be careful what they wish for."
Ginny rubbed her arms and abruptly walked away towards the doors. "I've got to get back inside, I'm freezing."
He followed her back in, and watched as she closed the balcony doors.
"So what are you going to do once you leave?"
"Well, I'm going to go to the Wizarding University and get a degree so I can hopefully come back here to teach," she said laughingly.
Alaraby grinned. "What did you want to teach?"
"Anything except Arithmancy - I'm awful at that. Even Hermione told me it was hopeless, and that's saying something. Hermione could teach a cat to do handstands."
He laughed, and the sound seemed rather rusty, as if he hadn't done it in a long , long time.
"You're magnificent, Ginny Weasley," Alaraby told her, his eyes sparkling. "You're like that first ray of sunlight through the clouds after an autumn thunderstorm."
She blushed wildly at the compliment, and shook her head. "I'm not, really."
"You are. When I'm talking with you.you make me forget what I am. You make me wish things were different."
Ginny had to look away from his suddenly intense gaze, the warm, sincere huskiness of his tone making her skin prickle. Well, it was obvious why Alaraby Malfoy had had so many girlfriends, she thought wryly.
"I'm sorry - I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," the ghost murmured awkwardly, withdrawing slightly.
She could almost see his form fade before her eyes, and she took a hasty step forward. "Alaraby, wait - don't go."
He stopped, and hovered reluctantly.
"I - I like you, too." Ginny bit her lip, giving him an embarrassed grin.
Looking surprised at her confession, he blinked, and then a corner of his lips turned up faintly.
"I'm glad, Ginny - but I do have to go. I have to...rest."
She obviously failed to hide the look of disappointment on her face, because he moved forward, until he was so close she could have touched him with very little effort.
He seemed more substantial up close, less ethereal; it was very tempting to her suddenly to try and touch him, and she had to concentrate on keeping her hands at her sides.
"Maybe - maybe we should agree on a time to meet again,' she heard him say in a soft, hesitant voice.
"Tomorrow, possibly? After classes?" Ginny dropped her eyes from his, feeling foolish for sounding so hopeful.
"Well, you know where I'll be," Alaraby murmured, dry humor lacing his words.
"Right." She felt his presence move away, almost as if he were a completely tangible being, but couldn't bring herself to watch him fade away to wherever he went.
"Don't take this the wrong way, Ginny," she heard him say quietly, in such a serious manner that she did look up, "but I almost wish you hadn't come looking for me."
"Why?"
He was barely discernable in the shadows, now, but she was still able to make out the bittersweet smile on his sharply handsome face.
"If you hadn't found me, I wouldn't be thinking about trying to be something I'm not - and I wouldn't be thinking about trying to have something that was never meant to be mine."
Ginny stood in the darkening tower room for long minutes after he was gone, feeling stunned - she knew something incredible had just happened, but she was unable to figure out what, exactly.
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TBC
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