A/N: I had a bomb of a fic before this, I won't remind anyone of it, but
I'm seriously hoping this goes over better. Angst really isn't my thing, so
if you're looking for some seriously moody work, this might not be the best
place to start. Also, I'm looking for a possible beta reader. I've never
used one before, but everyone raves about them. If you're interested, email
me at or just review (.
Another Note: I go by book descriptions, not movie. I don't even acknowledge any movie information in my stories.
Pairings: Primarily H/G, but will have bits of R/Hr. These are my primary pairings because they just feel right to me. Don't like it? Sorry.
Disclaimer: I think it's pretty clear that I am not J.K. Rowling, hence I don't own anything in this story. It's all a part of her wonderful work.
Ginny glanced at her shoelaces. She had been aboard the Hogwarts Express for what seemed like an eternity and was starting to feel the familiar pins and needles in her leg. The roast beef sandwich her mother had packed her was long gone and her stomach was rumbling. Fumbling in the pockets of her jeans, she pulled up nothing but bits of lint and a hairpin. Although the feeling of empty pockets when searching for sickles wasn't unfamiliar, it certainly hadn't become any more pleasant. She was tempted to go find Ron and as him if he had any money, but she simply lacked the motivation. The prospect of chocolate frogs wasn't the most desirable idea anyway, and she hated to waste money. Being a Weasley meant learning to be frugal.
Taking out a pocket mirror, she inspected her face. She looked a bit pale, but nothing spectacularly out of the ordinary. She saw a loose curl and reached for the hairpin. She tucked a piece of red-gold hair behind her ear and her reflection nodded in satisfaction. Her hair had gotten much curlier in recent years, and while it wasn't easy to manage, it suited her. She was not ashamed of her freckles anymore, especially since she had seen Mairéad Donahue on the cover of Witch Weekly. Mairéad was the lead singer of a popular band, Fiery Dawn, and she was beautiful even with her freckles.
Her eyelids grew heavier as she stared at the raindrops hitting the window without any sort of pattern, causing a spiderweb of droplets. The tracks began to him a sort of lullaby and she rested her head against the wall and let herself slide into relaxation. She was beginning to doze off when she was startled by something that strongly resembled a dull roar. Jarring her eyes open, she saw that Seamus, her compartment mate, was snoring and swatting his arms around every which way. Giving him a light tap with her foot, he curled back up into a ball and stopped the snoring almost immediately.
Ginny and Seamus had been "dating" (she was hesitant to use the term, since all they really did was snog) since the middle of July, when they had run into each other at a Weird Sister's concert in London. He was rather good looking, even if he was less than an intellectual challenge. Ginny wasn't a stranger to male attention, nor was she particularly shy these days (she did have seven brothers), so it seemed natural to give it a go. He was no soul mate, that was for sure, but he was quite good at snogging and he treated Ginny very well. Money didn't seem to be much of an obstacle for the Finnigans and he had even bought her a lovely charm bracelet for their one month anniversary. For every day they were together, it added a tiny heart onto the oval silver charm. All the activity with the Order that she was unable to participate in had left her feeling exasperated and even the tiniest bit abandoned. A boyfriend seemed to come at just the right time. The fact that he was staying with a cousin in London, as opposed to with his family in Ireland, brightened her summer holiday and took her mind off the war at hand. His parents had started to support Dumbledore after the Prophet printed the widespread news of Voldemort's return. There didn't seem to be anything in the way of having a healthy, happy relationship.
At this particular moment, however, she felt very stifled. She was sitting in a stuffy compartment away from her brother and her friends in favor of her drowsy boyfriend and his best friend Dean, who had disappeared somewhere earlier. Tapping her fingernails against the window and thinking of her boredom, she hardly noticed the door to her compartment slide open.
"Ginny?" a rather deep voice inquired. She whipped around to face the speaker, the slightest hint of pink creeping up into her cheeks.
Harry Potter stood in the doorway, looking just as good (and just as untouchable) as he had all summer at Grimmauld Place.
"Oh, Harry. It's you," she said. It didn't come out quite as smoothly as she had hoped, but it was nowhere near the anxious stammer she had embarrassed herself with four years ago.
"I just came to tell you to get your robes on, but I see you've already changed," he said as he began to slide the compartment door shut.
"No, don't go. I know you want to get back to Ron and Hermione, but I don't have anyone to talk to and I'm absolutely dying in here. Would you mind staying for just a minute longer?" She was surprised at the confidence in her voice.
"Sure," he said, "Why not? I except Ron might want some alone time with 'Mione anyway, seeing as how he has finally told her that he fancies her." Harry wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
They went on to chat about all different things, specifically how Ginny wanted to try out for Angelina's chaser spot now that she had graduated. She confessed that she thought Harry would make a fabulous captain and steer the team to victory, even through Ron's abysmal job as keeper. They talked about the Order, carefully avoiding the topic of Sirius altogether. Ginny had become a skilled conversationalist and made sure to steer the conversation away from the topic of his godfather's death. She doubted he really wanted to open up to her of all people, specifically in a train compartment on the way to Hogwarts with her boyfriend, one of the people who had doubted Harry initially.
She thought back to her memory of him at age 13. He was very cute then, but nothing on what he was now. His face had become more angular, and he was slightly more muscular. Once a scrawny boy, always somewhat of a scrawny boy, she thought, but she couldn't imagine him any other way.
It was the first time in her recollection that she had really talked to Harry, not just added something in a conversation he'd been having with Ron or Hermione. There was no tension over their heads, no expectations to be met. Just friendliness. It felt nice to be friendly.
"So how are things with Seamus?" Harry asked, nodding over to a sleeping Finnigan.
Ginny hesitated, "Things are... good. As good as I expected them to be, anyway." She didn't want Harry to know that she had become tired of the relationship. Although the reason wasn't quite clear, she wanted him to think she was perfectly happy.
"As good as you expected?" he inquired, gently prodding for a little more information. Ginny was secretly a bit flattered that he was so interested in her relationship.
'Well, he wasn't the person I had been hoping to be with, but he's turned out to be..." her voice drifted off in spite of herself. Harry had his gaze fixed on her, waiting for her to complete the thought. Neither of them spoke for a moment.
"Who were you waiting for, Ginny?" he asked in a voice so low, it was almost a whisper. The moment was an eggshell, delicate and breakable. Even a loud noise might cause it to shatter into a million pieces, scattered all about.
For a second (which seemed like an eternity) they just looked at one another, their faces slowly gliding nearer, until she could almost count his eyelashes. His hand was moving towards hers, wanting to hold it and be closer to her. She fixed her knees to face his and in the process felt the warmth of his body. Their fingertips grazed, causing her to shiver slightly. She couldn't take it anymore. Her body wanted to press against his, her mouth to explore him, show him all the things she'd learned...
As if calculation the worst possibly moment, Seamus sat upright and said, "Harry, is that you? Good to see you again."
Harry dropped his hands to his side and whipped around to face forward. He looked like a kid who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He looked down towards the floor, saying silent prayers that Seamus didn't pick up on anything. He knew quite well the circumstances he was in and the trouble that would instantly follow if he didn't behave himself.
Ginny's face drained and twisted into a look of sheer horror. She was sure they had been about to kiss, something she had been waiting for since she was a little girl, and her stupid boyfriend had managed to ruin it all. She could barely hide the lines of contempt slowly appearing in her expression.
"Harry was just keeping me company while you slept," she said, jerking her knees towards the window. She didn't feel like explaining anything. She didn't feel she had to. So what if she had almost snogged the boy of her dreams in front of her sleeping boyfriend? The thoughts felt foreign in her brain, as if she knew it were wrong to think them right away, but simply didn't care. She would have kissed Harry right now, right in front of Seamus, if he wasn't having a staring contest with floor.
Harry wasn't stupid. He knew he had felt something wrong towards his roommate's girlfriend and his best friend's sister. Happiness wasn't the word he was looking for to describe the course of action that might have taken place had Seamus not stirred at the exact moment he did.
Seamus rattled on about how this quidditch team was or how great this wizarding magazine was, all without realizing that neither Harry nor Ginny were paying even the slightest bit of attention to him mindless babble. Clearly, he had opened his eyes a second after he had risen, giving them both time to jam their fingers in the pockets and resume the 'at ease' position. The bracelet on her wrist seemed to feel very tight and uncomfortable.
"I've got to head back to my compartment and get my, er, hat," mumbled Harry as soon as he could manage a word in edgewise. Seamus didn't seem bothered by his presence, but Ginny was still shifting uncomfortably. He waved goodbye to Seamus and mouthed something to Ginny, something she couldn't make out clearly. For once in her life, she was glad to see him go.
Another Note: I go by book descriptions, not movie. I don't even acknowledge any movie information in my stories.
Pairings: Primarily H/G, but will have bits of R/Hr. These are my primary pairings because they just feel right to me. Don't like it? Sorry.
Disclaimer: I think it's pretty clear that I am not J.K. Rowling, hence I don't own anything in this story. It's all a part of her wonderful work.
Ginny glanced at her shoelaces. She had been aboard the Hogwarts Express for what seemed like an eternity and was starting to feel the familiar pins and needles in her leg. The roast beef sandwich her mother had packed her was long gone and her stomach was rumbling. Fumbling in the pockets of her jeans, she pulled up nothing but bits of lint and a hairpin. Although the feeling of empty pockets when searching for sickles wasn't unfamiliar, it certainly hadn't become any more pleasant. She was tempted to go find Ron and as him if he had any money, but she simply lacked the motivation. The prospect of chocolate frogs wasn't the most desirable idea anyway, and she hated to waste money. Being a Weasley meant learning to be frugal.
Taking out a pocket mirror, she inspected her face. She looked a bit pale, but nothing spectacularly out of the ordinary. She saw a loose curl and reached for the hairpin. She tucked a piece of red-gold hair behind her ear and her reflection nodded in satisfaction. Her hair had gotten much curlier in recent years, and while it wasn't easy to manage, it suited her. She was not ashamed of her freckles anymore, especially since she had seen Mairéad Donahue on the cover of Witch Weekly. Mairéad was the lead singer of a popular band, Fiery Dawn, and she was beautiful even with her freckles.
Her eyelids grew heavier as she stared at the raindrops hitting the window without any sort of pattern, causing a spiderweb of droplets. The tracks began to him a sort of lullaby and she rested her head against the wall and let herself slide into relaxation. She was beginning to doze off when she was startled by something that strongly resembled a dull roar. Jarring her eyes open, she saw that Seamus, her compartment mate, was snoring and swatting his arms around every which way. Giving him a light tap with her foot, he curled back up into a ball and stopped the snoring almost immediately.
Ginny and Seamus had been "dating" (she was hesitant to use the term, since all they really did was snog) since the middle of July, when they had run into each other at a Weird Sister's concert in London. He was rather good looking, even if he was less than an intellectual challenge. Ginny wasn't a stranger to male attention, nor was she particularly shy these days (she did have seven brothers), so it seemed natural to give it a go. He was no soul mate, that was for sure, but he was quite good at snogging and he treated Ginny very well. Money didn't seem to be much of an obstacle for the Finnigans and he had even bought her a lovely charm bracelet for their one month anniversary. For every day they were together, it added a tiny heart onto the oval silver charm. All the activity with the Order that she was unable to participate in had left her feeling exasperated and even the tiniest bit abandoned. A boyfriend seemed to come at just the right time. The fact that he was staying with a cousin in London, as opposed to with his family in Ireland, brightened her summer holiday and took her mind off the war at hand. His parents had started to support Dumbledore after the Prophet printed the widespread news of Voldemort's return. There didn't seem to be anything in the way of having a healthy, happy relationship.
At this particular moment, however, she felt very stifled. She was sitting in a stuffy compartment away from her brother and her friends in favor of her drowsy boyfriend and his best friend Dean, who had disappeared somewhere earlier. Tapping her fingernails against the window and thinking of her boredom, she hardly noticed the door to her compartment slide open.
"Ginny?" a rather deep voice inquired. She whipped around to face the speaker, the slightest hint of pink creeping up into her cheeks.
Harry Potter stood in the doorway, looking just as good (and just as untouchable) as he had all summer at Grimmauld Place.
"Oh, Harry. It's you," she said. It didn't come out quite as smoothly as she had hoped, but it was nowhere near the anxious stammer she had embarrassed herself with four years ago.
"I just came to tell you to get your robes on, but I see you've already changed," he said as he began to slide the compartment door shut.
"No, don't go. I know you want to get back to Ron and Hermione, but I don't have anyone to talk to and I'm absolutely dying in here. Would you mind staying for just a minute longer?" She was surprised at the confidence in her voice.
"Sure," he said, "Why not? I except Ron might want some alone time with 'Mione anyway, seeing as how he has finally told her that he fancies her." Harry wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
They went on to chat about all different things, specifically how Ginny wanted to try out for Angelina's chaser spot now that she had graduated. She confessed that she thought Harry would make a fabulous captain and steer the team to victory, even through Ron's abysmal job as keeper. They talked about the Order, carefully avoiding the topic of Sirius altogether. Ginny had become a skilled conversationalist and made sure to steer the conversation away from the topic of his godfather's death. She doubted he really wanted to open up to her of all people, specifically in a train compartment on the way to Hogwarts with her boyfriend, one of the people who had doubted Harry initially.
She thought back to her memory of him at age 13. He was very cute then, but nothing on what he was now. His face had become more angular, and he was slightly more muscular. Once a scrawny boy, always somewhat of a scrawny boy, she thought, but she couldn't imagine him any other way.
It was the first time in her recollection that she had really talked to Harry, not just added something in a conversation he'd been having with Ron or Hermione. There was no tension over their heads, no expectations to be met. Just friendliness. It felt nice to be friendly.
"So how are things with Seamus?" Harry asked, nodding over to a sleeping Finnigan.
Ginny hesitated, "Things are... good. As good as I expected them to be, anyway." She didn't want Harry to know that she had become tired of the relationship. Although the reason wasn't quite clear, she wanted him to think she was perfectly happy.
"As good as you expected?" he inquired, gently prodding for a little more information. Ginny was secretly a bit flattered that he was so interested in her relationship.
'Well, he wasn't the person I had been hoping to be with, but he's turned out to be..." her voice drifted off in spite of herself. Harry had his gaze fixed on her, waiting for her to complete the thought. Neither of them spoke for a moment.
"Who were you waiting for, Ginny?" he asked in a voice so low, it was almost a whisper. The moment was an eggshell, delicate and breakable. Even a loud noise might cause it to shatter into a million pieces, scattered all about.
For a second (which seemed like an eternity) they just looked at one another, their faces slowly gliding nearer, until she could almost count his eyelashes. His hand was moving towards hers, wanting to hold it and be closer to her. She fixed her knees to face his and in the process felt the warmth of his body. Their fingertips grazed, causing her to shiver slightly. She couldn't take it anymore. Her body wanted to press against his, her mouth to explore him, show him all the things she'd learned...
As if calculation the worst possibly moment, Seamus sat upright and said, "Harry, is that you? Good to see you again."
Harry dropped his hands to his side and whipped around to face forward. He looked like a kid who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He looked down towards the floor, saying silent prayers that Seamus didn't pick up on anything. He knew quite well the circumstances he was in and the trouble that would instantly follow if he didn't behave himself.
Ginny's face drained and twisted into a look of sheer horror. She was sure they had been about to kiss, something she had been waiting for since she was a little girl, and her stupid boyfriend had managed to ruin it all. She could barely hide the lines of contempt slowly appearing in her expression.
"Harry was just keeping me company while you slept," she said, jerking her knees towards the window. She didn't feel like explaining anything. She didn't feel she had to. So what if she had almost snogged the boy of her dreams in front of her sleeping boyfriend? The thoughts felt foreign in her brain, as if she knew it were wrong to think them right away, but simply didn't care. She would have kissed Harry right now, right in front of Seamus, if he wasn't having a staring contest with floor.
Harry wasn't stupid. He knew he had felt something wrong towards his roommate's girlfriend and his best friend's sister. Happiness wasn't the word he was looking for to describe the course of action that might have taken place had Seamus not stirred at the exact moment he did.
Seamus rattled on about how this quidditch team was or how great this wizarding magazine was, all without realizing that neither Harry nor Ginny were paying even the slightest bit of attention to him mindless babble. Clearly, he had opened his eyes a second after he had risen, giving them both time to jam their fingers in the pockets and resume the 'at ease' position. The bracelet on her wrist seemed to feel very tight and uncomfortable.
"I've got to head back to my compartment and get my, er, hat," mumbled Harry as soon as he could manage a word in edgewise. Seamus didn't seem bothered by his presence, but Ginny was still shifting uncomfortably. He waved goodbye to Seamus and mouthed something to Ginny, something she couldn't make out clearly. For once in her life, she was glad to see him go.
