Author's Note: I'm sorry! I know I'm being a bit of an asshole by refusing to commit to a fic, but it seems to be what I do.
She wasn't entirely sure how it had started.
Because she had once hated Draco Malfoy and all that he stood for, his arrogant smirks, his cutting wit, and his beautiful, beautiful face.
And once he was hers, she could hardly breathe for fear that the smallest action would tear him away from her. And oh, she wouldn't be able to bear that.
Now, as she sat underneath a large oak tree staring out at the lake, she wondered briefly how it had ended, too.
He had called things off abruptly nearly a week ago, his eyes still beautiful despite the coldness and cruelty she saw in them, and he hadn't so much as looked at her since. And although she was barely able to function in her state of shock and grief and ultimately, betrayal, she knew that if he came back to her, she would take him back without any question, because she had truly fallen hard for him.
A wave of self-loathing washed over her as she considered the thought, and she wished fleetingly that she had enough pride to move on.
Footfalls behind her caught her attention, and she turned to see Harry standing uncomfortably behind her.
He shifted his weight awkwardly, and she felt a pang of sympathy, because Harry couldn't deal with comforting people. And she understood that, and she patted the ground next to her kindly, and he sat down in relief.
They sat in companionable silence, watching the great squid move restlessly about in the lake.
"Ginny-" Harry started haltingly. "I just wanted to talk."
Ginny winced. The blessed silence had to come to an end.
"Ginny," Harry continued urgently. "Please just talk to me, tell me what's wrong. Me and Ron and Hermione can help."
And Ginny's heart broke for him because he was trying and Harry, who was so unused to physical and even mental affection, was reaching out to her, and she wanted desperately to fall in love with him all over again.
But she couldn't.
She wasn't in love with Harry. She was in love with a blond boy with gray eyes the color of cloudy skies with a dimple in his right cheek when he grinned. She was in love with a boy who secretly loved Muggle music and smelled faintly like lemon and some other spice she couldn't name. She was in love with a boy who loved his mother more than his own life, who had perfect lips for kissing, and could send shivers up her spine just by giving her that look of his. The long-lashed, half-lidded, ridiculously seductive stare that made her fall in love with him in the first place.
And as much as she tried to deny it, she knew that boy didn't love her any more than he loved her brother, or Hermione, or Harry himself.
And because she knew he didn't love her, and because she knew that it was unlikely he ever would, Ginny summoned all of her inherent Gryffindor strength, and decided finally to move on. It was closure, and she was grateful for that, at least.
So Ginny kissed Harry on the cheek and thanked him for being a friend and started slowly back to the castle with the beginnings of hope in her heart.
The afterglow of the setting sun kissed her face, and her shadow reflected tall and strong on the lush grass beneath her, and somewhere deep, deep inside, Ginny knew she would be okay.
Err. Cheesy ending. Sorry? This is really pretty hard to write because I'm a sucker for a happy ending myself, but I like the bittersweet tone of this.
Review, it's motivating and I will love you forever. No, I did not just quote a Jessica Simpson song. Why do you ask?