Disclaimer: Not mine… borrowed 'em a bit, that's all. This is a one-shot. This means no more chapters, and I am not continuing, so please don't ask for more. Thank you! Enjoy!

Looking Above

It was a fine Saturday morning. Golden rays of light slanted through the trees and the castle turrets coming down to rest in brilliant stripes of color on the sweeping lawns of the Hogwarts grounds. Ginny Weasley, having woken up early and sneaked down to the kitchens, was strolling down towards the lake, clad in her pajamas, sneakers, a blanket around her shoulders, with a mug of steaming cocoa clutched in her hands. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a teetering mass that was threatening to fall down any minute; she supposed the quill she had stuck in it wasn't strong enough to hold it up.

Ginny paused for a moment and breathed deeply, inhaling the rich scent of chocolate, after which she continued her trek down the hill. She loved these early mornings, the cool air and bright light that promised a few hours of peace and no worries. She left the stress in the back of her mind, until everyone else woke up and it was time to return to the real world. Ginny picked her way down through the lawn, being careful not to slip and spill her precious drink before reaching her destination.

Suddenly, a glint caught her eye to her left; turning slightly and squinting, she made out the form of boy sprawled against the nearby tree, violently ripping up grass. She recognized the boy now; she saw the rumpled hair and the bright green flash of his eyes, a flash that wasn't as bright as it used to be. Sighing a little, she changed her course, and padded towards him. He was now busily putting the ripped up grass into little piles all around him. She stopped next to him, unsure of what to say now that she was here.

"Hi, Harry," she said quietly. The mug of chocolate was slowly cooling in her hands, but she wasn't going to drink it right now. "Do you mind if I sit down?" Harry shrugged without looking up at her, and commenced mutilating the grass again. Ginny sank down awkwardly next to him, still cradling her drink carefully. A few moments of silence passed with nothing but the rip, rip of grass, and the sound of him patting it into piles. Finally, Ginny couldn't bear it anymore.

"Beautiful morning, Harry, isn't it?" she said, wanting to blow up at him, but kept her voice in its cheerful tone, and put a small smile on her face. He didn't say anything, but he stopped tearing up the grass and rested his hands at his sides. Ginny took a sip of her chocolate, willing for it to give her something to say that he would listen to. Gazing at the lake, whose surface was nearly glass-like, except for the occasional ripple, she went through a store of things she could say. Not one of them seemed adequate for the occasion, whatever the occasion was. She took another swallow, and then another, waiting for… anything to happen. Suddenly, the cup was snatched right out of her hands.

"Harry!" she cried indignantly, as the boy proceeded to down the entire contents, and then flung the mug to the ground. Panting slightly, he glared at the sunrise and, to her amazement, finally spoke. Too shocked to do anything, instead of beating the bloody stuffing out of him, Ginny listened.

"Have you ever noticed," Harry ground out in a harsh voice the girl had never heard before coming from him, "that if you look at the light at just the right angle, you're blinded to everything around you?" Ginny tilted her head and nodded, wondering what that had to do with anything. She didn't even have to open her lips to ask.

"That's how it is with me," Harry answered her unspoken question. "Only it's dark — horrible thick darkness, everywhere I look." He gripped her arm, squeezing it hard, so hard, it almost hurt her, but Ginny held her tongue. Whatever he was trying to get out, it needed to be said, and she wasn't going to interrupt him. "Do you have any idea of what that's like?"

Ginny nearly snorted, who did he think he was? She remembered that darkness pressing in on her in every direction, only she thought her case might have been a little worse, Harry knew why he was unhappy, she hadn't known at all. She had spent her entire first year of school, miserable and not knowing why. There was only this awful ache in the back of her heart, always there and never leaving. She had seen darkness all around her, felt it, but had no idea why or how to fix it. Ginny shuddered and somehow without knowing it, she started to yank up the grass next to her leg. Suddenly it felt like she wanted to cry, and to her horror, saw that her vision was becoming blurred. She hurriedly brushed across her eyes with the back of her other hand.

"Hey," Harry said, and laid his hand over hers, stopping the activity that he had been doing only moments before. She tensed a little at the tingling sensation that was caused from his hand covering hers, but looked up into his worried face. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up — I know it must have been awful for you, and I'm a prat for reminding you about it." She shook her head and smiled slowly, turning her head to gaze at the big fluffy mounds of white clouds that were rolling by oblivious to everything but the wind.

"No — no, it's all right," she said, searching for the right words. "I should have known how you felt, instead of wanting to bash your head in for being such a moody git all the time." Ginny saw a small grin turn the corners of his mouth up. She glanced down to see that his hand hadn't moved from hers, and the old blush spread across her cheeks again. She quickly stood up. "But it was a little unnecessary to be so, well—alone. Have you ever noticed that as soon as move a little, you can see above the light, and it doesn't blind you anymore?" Ginny was sure she was just chattering now, and willed herself to just shut up.

"Hey, Ginny?" Harry asked, brushing the shredded grass off his pant legs. "Thanks." Ginny let out her breath and smiled, holding out her hand to him. He took it and she pulled him to his feet, trying to ignore the little flutter in her stomach that had taken to coming back every time she was near him, even though she thought she had quenched those feelings a long time ago.

"Oh," she said lightly, tossing her free hand in the air. "It was nothing, but I will ask you to come with me and replenish my hot chocolate that you so kindly disposed of for me." Harry grinned and they set off towards the castle, trading barbs and insults, and laughing loudly when Harry tracked mud all over the steps determined to infuriate Filch, since the old caretaker had cornered him the day before for dropping dungbombs, a deed that Harry had been entirely guilty of, yelling at him and spraying him with spit. Harry dragged her up and down the steps scattering mud from their shoes, and enlisted her to go gather some leaves, after which the two teenagers cheerfully tromped the leaves into the mud. This was the happiest that Ginny had seen Harry for a long time despite the unusual circumstances, and she was determined to keep him that way.

It was only later that Ginny realized that he hadn't let go of her hand once during that whole morning together.

A/N- This little drabble came to me yesterday morning while I mowed my lawn. It was like 7:30, so the light was coming down and it blinded me. So I came up with this. Lately, I've been taking any ordinary situation, like peeling avocado, and trying to come up with something I could write. It worked this time. Besides, I was jealous of all of those cute little drabbles and I wanted one of my own! [smiles] So, please tell me what you thought; whether good or bad, I'd love to know! Please review!