Author's Note: Spoiling warnings for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Special Note: This is a short piece on Harry's thoughts about Ginny. There is also a companion piece that I've written about Ginny's thoughts on Harry, entitled Mists and Tears. They are both, however, independent pieces and both need not be read in order to understand the other. Mists and Tears and Falling Rain simply happen at the same time.
Falling Rain
The rain slide down the window and made slight patter noises on the roof as it fell. Harry Potter sat with his head leaned up against the trim, staring out into the bleak weather. The sky was clouded and gray, it reflected his mood.
He had returned to the Dursley's only two days ago. He had decided to return to the Dursley's for a few days before setting out on his mission to Godric's Hollow. Pitter, patter, pitter, patter; it was all he had heard since he had returned to the Dursley's.
His mind drifted to Ginny, his recently ex-girlfriend. His heart thumped as he thought of her. He missed her more than he could have possibly imagined. He was angry at himself that it had taken him this long to realize he was attracted to her. They could have had the last few years together, but instead he had dismissed the way he had felt.
Now, matters were worse. He knew how he felt and she knew it too, and now they couldn't be together. For her safety. He was happy that she had understood his reasons. Voldemort had used her once before and that was one she had simply been the sister of his best friend. If Voldemort knew how he felt about Ginny now, he would use it to his advantage. Ginny liked him for his determination. He liked her for hers.
Harry swallowed thickly as he remembered her. Her long red hair, the way she would lay across his lap as he would stroke her hair, the way she kissed him; it was all haunting him. Voldemort would no longer invade his mind, since he now knew it was a two-way deal, so he felt free to think about her all he liked.
That didn't make it hurt any less.
Years he had wasted. All that time they could have shared was gone. He watched some kids run through the rain and up the stairs into the house that was across the street. His thoughts had been filled with nothing but Ginny since he had arrived back at the Dursley's.
Better get them out now, Harry thought bitterly, he had hard days ahead of him. He got up and flung himself across his bed. He dug underneath his bed and yanked out a photograph. He gave it a weak smile. It had been taken not long after he and Ginny had started dating. He watched as himself, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny smiled back at him. All looking happy.
It was no indication of all the danger that was out there. It was all out there, waiting for them, every moment of their lives. Harry could only hope that he would be able to live long enough to kill Voldemort and to hold Ginny in his arms one more time.
THE END