Sweet Misery
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, or any of the others. This is a one shot based on the lovely series of books by JK Rowling. I own nothing.
Sweet misery you cause me
That's what you called me
Sweet misery you cause me
I was blind But oh, how you could see
You saw the beauty in everything, everything and me
I would cry And you would smile
You'd stay with me a little while.
-Michelle Branch "Sweet Misery"
It had ended in a flash of light, not quite green and not quite yellow. Just a flash of light, and she knew. The flash of blinding color, accompanied by a short blast of wind, gave the Death Eaters time to Disapparate. She didn't see anyone she knew of, only mindless faces, masked and bloody, covered in the life force of her friends, and family.
She was the first to run across the lawn, her shoes making squelching noises in the bloody grass, not caring about the Death Eater she'd been cursing, only caring for him…
He lay a few hundred feet away, his leg at a strange angle, his hair separated in the middle and hanging down on either side of his face so she could clearly see the swollen, glowing flesh of his scar. It was no longer an angry red, but pink, the edges glowing green.
She fell to her knees beside him, her robes torn and covered in things she dared not think about. "Harry," she murmured. And when he didn't respond, she felt misery rise up in her throat. "Oh please," she hissed, the pain in her lungs too much to bear. " Oh please don't be dead. Don't be dead."
The lime green glow that covered him from head to foot, slowly dissipated, his scar's red coloring fading to a barely there brown. She pulled his head into her lap, stroking worried fingers through his feather soft raven hair. She wept no tears, her heart was too numb, but she felt it kick start with a sickening bump when his eyelashes fluttered.
"Harry?" she said, her voice laced with some weird sort of hope. His eyes opened, gifting her with a rare close up view of his irises, which were an almost catlike lime green. Finally, a relieved sob escaped her parted lips, just as his hand squeezed hers, where it lay useless on his chest, above his beating heart.
The sounds of celebration came toward them than, the broken girl and the hero, their eyes locked. Thousands of feet pounded toward them, thousands of faces noted the body of the Dark Lord laying broken and obviously diseased a few yards away from that of the Boy-Who-Lived-Again. Ron and Hermione, Lupin, the Weasleys, and Hagrid all rushed forth at the head of the mob, Harry's two best friends wrenching him from the girl's arms and into theirs. They shared relieved hugs, kisses, and laughter, and she watched on, her heart growing wings and soaring at the sight of him so happy. It was surely sweet misery.
She raised herself up from the ground, and turned to walk away. It was obvious to the little sister who had been ignored so many times in her life, that she was clearly not needed any more. The golden trio had a bond no one there but Remus had ever experienced, and she knew that above all others.
A small hut came into view long after the excited sounds of cheering became faint. A monstrous boarhound lay on the steps near a bucket of peas, his face on his paws, tongue lolling. His head popped up when her footsteps became undeniable as she stomped toward him through the dirt and muck the rain from the daylight had caused.
"Hello Fang," she whispered as she sank onto the stair beside him, uncaring that his head plopped into her lap and he immediately began to drool on her already soiled robes. She scratched him behind the ears for moment before their eyes met. "How are you boy? Not too scared I hope." The dog's contented panting answered her, and she laughed before ruffling the thick skin of his neck. "Good."
"Ginny?" she glanced up, and mahogany eyes met emerald. The-Boy-Who-Lived -Again stood before her in his wrinkled, blood spattered robes, his tall muscular frame becoming more weary and despondent with each step he took toward her. Her eyes filled with surprise, their chocolate colored depths lightening to honey. Her pale cheeks flushed.
Harry Potter took a seat beside her, stroked Fang's sweaty fur with a bloody hand. She found her skin tingling in response to his nearness, her hip almost burning where it brushed his.
"What are you doing here?" she asked quietly, trying not to betray the worried, heartbroken feelings she'd had when she'd seen his body lying so still in the grass. She concentrated on keeping her voice steady, her eyes glued to Fang's left ear.
"I saw you leaving," he replied, his voice quiet and scratchy, hoarse from yelling curses. "And I followed you." This admittance warmed her heart. Harry Potter hadn't followed her once since the day they'd met; she'd been the one always tailing him like a lovesick puppy. Her eyes snapped up to meet his, and the same shock she always received at this event coursed through her abdomen.
"Oh," was her only response, a pathetic one to be sure.
Harry's hand bent to better scratch the dog's ears. "Why'd you leave?" he asked softly, the deep timber of his mature voice vibrating through her psyche like silk covered thunder.
Her cheeks reddened even more and she cleared her throat twice before she was able to speak. "I wasn't needed there, so I left. You three needed time to yourselves."
She didn't see the almost angry look in Harry's eyes, as her own were still fixed on the matted fur covering Fang's left ear.
"That's not true Ginny," he replied. "Ron was worried about you when he saw you walk away. Hermione too. And Dumbledore's been asking about you." Dumbledore had been one of the wounded in the battle, he'd barely survived a wayward Avada Kedavra, which has just brushed his shoulder and not hit him full force.
"Really." It wasn't a question, but a statement of dead regard. Her voice had been filled with a small glimpse of hope that Harry Potter had come to say he'd worried about her, or something, but it turned out that he was the messenger for her brother and Hermione. As always. Her soft treble turned to a numb hiss.
However, her heart took flight once more when his quiet voice spoke again in the dim blackness of the night. "I was worried too Ginny. You'd been crying. I was wondering what was wrong."
Her eyes left Fang to settle on Harry's hand as he slid his fingers between hers, and gooseflesh appeared on the delicate skin of her arms and neck.
"Thank you for coming for me Ginny." Footsteps interrupted their moment, and she cursed the arrival of her brother and almost sister for the second time that night. She wrenched her fingers from Harry's, a burning sensation churning in her palm, and turned her body completely to Fang, so she could bury her face in his soft fur and try not to sob. She knew that moment had been strictly platonic, and would never be anything more, and it shattered her heart like dropped glass.
Harry watched her shoulders start to shake, but his eyes were forced away when Ron pulled him again into an embrace. "Good going mate," his best friend whispered in his ear before pulling away and letting Hermione kiss his cheek in congratulations. He smiled at them before sitting again, and placing hi hand on the small of Ginny's back. Only then did his friends notice the crying girl. "Ginny," Hermione whispered in concern, "Are you alright?"
Ginny wiped her eyes on her sleeve as she raised her face from Fang's fur. "Yes. I'm fine. Overwhelmed is all," she replied with a barely believable smile. Hermione frowned but made no reply. Ron just ruffled her hair, and Harry stared down at the tingling flesh of his palm.
"Well, now that that's settled." Ron said with an almost joyous air. "Dumbledore needs you Harry, and everyone's celebrating in the Great Hall. The damage wasn't that bad…McGonagall just fixed it…"
With disappointment in his eyes, Harry was led away by his friends, leaving Ginny still on the brick step, still stroking Fang, and still thinking of that hand holding, the crescendo of sweet misery singing like blood in her veins.
Finis.
A/N: Hey folks! Just a random angsty one shot that made no sense and decided to pop into my head at a weird moment. Sorry for the bad ending. I just wanted to show Ginny's sadness in Harry's actions. I always thought she was sad. But yeah. I'll be posting the first chapter of Death of a Butterfly, my first H/G fanfiction that will be long and hopefully completed soon, and please look forward to Across the Stars and Look For Me By Moonlight being updated in a week or two. Thanks for your sweet reviews and support! I apologize once again for the crappyness.