"Happy Tears"
by BluJae
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters and situations belong to JK Rowling, Warner Bros., Scholastics, and Bloomsbury. No profit is being made.
Summary: Being the only girl, Ginny shares a special bond with her dad. But as she grows older, their relationship is tested and tears are shed as a dad learns to let go of his baby girl. Just a slight H/G moment. Please review. But NO FLAMES, please.
A/n: Thanks to my best friend for beta-reading this fic. Love ya, girl!
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The first time I made my daddy cry, he told me, was when I was born. They were happy tears, he said. He couldn't believe that he had another baby. His first and only baby girl.
However, I couldn't stay a baby forever. As the years went by, I inevitably grew older. But I have never seen or heard my daddy cry. He said there were many times during my young life when he wanted to out of pure happiness but held it in or looked away not wanting me to see him cry.
So I never saw his eyes fill with tears. That is, until I was almost eleven. The time finally came when I was to attend Hogwarts. Mum, Dad, Fred, George, Percy, and I were at Platform 9 and ¾ saying our goodbyes. I hugged Mum first, and then proceeded to hugging Dad.
When we pulled apart, that's when I saw it. His eyes were glassy with unshed tears, and he wouldn't look at me. I continued to stared at him for a long moment completely unnerved that my father, who never once showed (what I knew he considered) "weakness" in front of me, was about to cry.
Somehow, I managed to get into the Hogwarts Express still in a slight shock. I had made my Daddy cry.
Later, after I had asked him about it, he said not to worry. They were just happy tears, he said. That he was so proud of me. But somehow, I knew it was more than that. I knew that I hurt him in some way. My growing up made him sad, and that's what made him cry.
That year went by quickly, mostly due to the fact that I was being possessed about half the time. And then I got taken.
Daddy said he cried when he heard. Cried harder than Mum even. So once again, I caused my daddy to cry. Oh, how mad I was of myself! How stupid I was to trust Tom and scare my daddy!
More time passed and I found myself in third year. When summer came, Daddy intercepted an owl that was delivering a letter to me. A letter from Michael Corner. That day, I wish he had cried instead of looking at me the way he did.
I was sitting on my bed reading my transfiguration book while listening to the Weird Sisters on my (magical) radio. I heard a soft knock and answered in an equally soft "come in." The door opened, and in came Daddy with a look on his face as if someone had died.
"Daddy, you ok?" I asked thinking something has happened to Bill or Charlie.
"F-fine," he struggled to say. Then, after he composed himself, he went on. "You have a letter. From a Michael Corner."
The world stopped at his words. Why? I didn't really know. All I knew was that my daddy was at my doorway, holding a parchment that looked like it had been opened, looking at me like…I'm not really sure what. But I could definitely see the sadness in his eyes.
After a few seconds of us just staring at one another, he moves toward me, holding out the parchment. "Sorry about opening it. I didn't know you were expecting mail, so I assumed it was for me." Then he rushed out.
Later that same day, after unsuccessfully trying to forget what had happened, I went to look for him to ask what that scene was all about. But Mum said he left for work. Work? I thought It's Sunday. Dad doesn't work on Sundays. But that day he did.
So I asked Mum about it. She said that he was just shocked that his baby girl was growing up so fast. She said for me not to worry about it. That it's just hard for him to let go. Then she sat me on one of the chairs and had "the talk" with me once again. But I didn't hear a word she said because I was too busy picturing Daddy, in his office, crying.
Not even a year later, I had Daddy in tears again. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna, and I had just narrowly escaped being killed by a bunch of Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries.
The day after, while Ron and Hermione were still unconscious, Dad, Mum, and I were surrounding their beds in the hospital wing. Out of nowhere, Dad slowly took me in his arms and cried. He nearly lost two of his babies, he said. He was just so relieved we were all all right.
But I knew better. He had cried because of me—because I was there with them. I remembered overhearing what he said to Ron that summer. Being Harry's best friend, he said that he accepted, though reluctantly, the dangers that Ron would willingly face. So I knew the real reason he cried: Never had it occurred to him that I was going to be in that much danger as well.
In the next few years after that incident, I never saw Daddy cry. With the war in full swing, I guess there was no time to cry. There were too many important things to do, and he was too busy to do such a (what he would have called) "trivial" thing. Or maybe, he felt that he shouldn't cry. Not in front of us, anyway. Not when there was terror everywhere and he wanted his children to stay strong.
During that time, it was I who cried for Daddy.
It would be four years until I saw Daddy cry again. I'm glad to say that they were happy tears.
We were at the Burrow celebrating my graduation from Hogwarts and the first year anniversary of the defeat of Voldemort. The family and close friends were all there. Then, after the main courses were served, Harry and I stood up for our announcement.
We told them all that we decided to get married. Following this announcement were applauses, cat calls, squeals from the ladies, and what not. But I didn't pay attention to any of them. My eyes were on Daddy the whole time since Harry told them our plan.
Daddy didn't move. He didn't clap. He didn't smile. He didn't do anything. The rest of them must have noticed us because the noise slowly stopped and I could feel all eyes going from Daddy to me.
Suddenly, he stood, his head bowed down at first. Then his hand griped his champagne glass slightly, and he raised his head the same time he lifted the glass. And in his eyes were unshed tears.
"To Ginny, my baby girl. The strength of the family and one of the many happiness of my life. And to Harry, my surrogate son. The luckiest man in the world to be given such a treasure."
"Here here," I hear everyone around us say. But I just kept looking at my daddy as tears of happiness stained his face, and I had to blink every so often as my tears clouded my vision.
Today, my wedding day, Daddy cried again. In fact, he cried the whole walk down the aisle. When we got to Harry, his grip on my hand didn't loosen. I stared at him, and in his eyes, I could see his struggle to let go.
So I leaned towards him and said, "You'll never lose me, Daddy. I'll always be your little girl." With that, he released his hold on me and made his way to his seat beside Mum to watch the rest of the ceremony.
I know that today won't be the last that I'd see his tears. But I silently promised him and myself that when I do see his tears fall again, they would always be happy tears.
End