Title: Dear Harry
Summary: 'I miss you, did you know that? It's been over a month...I'm still not used to it.' A letter from Ginny to Harry.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea.
Author's Notes: Pink roses mean 'unrequited' or
'secret love' and white roses mean 'innocence', purity', perfection',
and sometimes 'I hope I am worthy of you'. The fact that they're
half-open means the love is timid.
Heh...there's an alternate
ending to this, but I'm not sure anyone wants to read it. Do
you?
Dear Harry,
I miss you, did you know that? It's been over a month...I'm still not used to it.
I'll always remember the day you first asked me if I wanted to go to lunch. The War had been over for six months, and I was finally settling in as my father's assistant
"Stupid spell." Ginny muttered, sifting through the piles of parchment on her desk. "Stupid filing system. Stupid inbox overflowing at the worst possible stupid time. Ah hah!" She emerged, triumphant, from the mountain of paperwork, holding aloft her prize; The New Bill for the Rights of Werewolves to Work Without A Permit. Quickly, she stamped it and tapped it with her wand. Immediately it was on its way to the Minister of Law Enforcement, Nymphadora Lupin. "Now where did I put that lunch menu..."
It was only her second day as Assistant to the Minister of Magic, and already Ginny Weasley hated it. Her father wasn't the most organised of people, and, subsequently, tended to let paperwork pile up until it was in danger of burying everyone in a massive amount of parchment. Unfortunately, he also hadn't decided on a filing system he liked, and each and every piece of paperwork on Ginny's desk had been sorted in the hundreds of different ways the old Ministers' Assistants liked it to be done, meaning she had to cross-reference everything about a million times. She'd found it a lot easier to just 'jump right in' and see what she found.
"Great, I'm starving, and how am I supposed to order without the damned menu?" The redhead cried in frustration.
"well, you could do me the honour of accompanying me to lunch, and I could choose for you." An amused voice said.
Letting out a very un-Assistant like 'eep' of surprise, Ginny whirled around, her long copper braid whacking her in the face. "Harry!" She exclaimed, one hand on her chest, the other rubbing her abused cheek, "you startled me!"
"Sorry." The Auror leant against the doorframe, tousled hair falling into his eyes, a trace of a smirk on his lips.
Mmmm...his lips... Snap out of it, Ginny Weasley!
Blushing, Ginny looked at her feet.
"So, how about it?" Harry prompted.
"Huh?"
"Lunch? Want to go with me?"
"Oh!" Face going a darker red, Ginny nodded slightly. "Sure, I don't have anything better to do."
"Gee, thanks."
"Don't be stupid, Harry, you know I didn't mean it like that." Rolling her eyes, Ginny smacked Harry on the arm and followed him to the Ministry Dining Hall.
You always made a point of inviting me after that, didn't you. I wonder why I never realised...Merlin, Harry, I was so stupid.
"Stupid filing system, stupid urgent notice, stupid paper cut." Ginny mumbled around her injured finger.
"Hey."
"Oh, hi, Harry." Ginny smiled brightly, all thoughts of her work forgotten at the sight of the sexy Auror. "Lunch already? Where does the time go?"
"Obviously not your desk. It'd get lost." Harry chuckled, surveying the mess on his friend's desk. Paper was piled everywhere, quills were stuck between piles, and the paperweight of The Burrow he bought her for her seventeenth birthday teetered precariously on the top of a particularly tall stack.
"Shut up." Whapping him on the chest, Ginny led the brunette to lunch.
You always managed to make me laugh, remember? I was never short of gossip, sitting next to you every day.
"No way, you're not serious!"
"Yes, I am." Green eyes twinkling, Harry stole half of Ginny's tuna sandwich. "Neville and Luna actually swum with them."
"With Kappas! Why!" In retaliation, Ginny took one of her companion's hot chips.
"Apparently, that was part of Luna's dream honeymoon." Harry shrugged. "Don't ask me why."
"And of course, Neville agreed. He is so henpecked."
"He just loves her. It's very sweet."
"Awww...so mushy. Are you sure you're not gay?" The redhead regarded Harry with suspicion, popping another chip into her mouth.
Using his napkin, Harry wiped some catsup from the corner of her mouth. "Positive."
By the end of the first month we were having dinner together every second night. I have no idea why we didn't run out of things to talk about.
"So really, what is your dream job?" Ginny asked over coffee. They'd spent the entire dinner talking about Quidditch, Hermione and Ron, Hermione's bump, Luna and Neville's twin daughters, and the suspicious amount of chocolate Dora Lupin was eating. Now they were on to jobs.
"Well...you have to promise you won't laugh." Emerald eyes shy, Harry peered at her from below his lashes.
"Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye." Ginny said solemnly.
Snickering, Harry leaned close. "I'd really like to teach at Hogwarts." He said quietly. "Transfiguration."
"Oh, Harry, I wouldn't laugh about something so important. You'd be good at teaching. You did a great job teaching us defence in your fifth year. But...why Transfiguration?" She frowned. "Why not Defence Against the Dark Arts."
The dark-haired wizard shrugged. "I've had my fair share of it, y'know? I wouldn't want to teach it, really."
Ginny nodded. "Makes sense, I guess. Too bad McGonagall's doing such a great job."
"Well, I don't expect it to come true. It's just a dream." Awkwardly, Harry moved the limelight off of him. "What about you? Surely being Assistant to the Minister of Magic isn't your dream career?"
"Well it certainly isn't very glamorous." The redhead laughed. "I...I don't know what my dream job is. I'm just happy to be busy. One day, though...one day, I'd like to be a mum."
"You'd make a good mother, I think. You're so patient with your nieces and nephews."
"Hmmm..." Ginny said non-committally.
Valentine's Day, gosh, Harry, how could I not have realised? You gave me every possible sign.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Ginny."
Ginny looked up from her work absently. "Oh, hey, Luna, you too." She replied, ticking a box and signing the bottom. "What're you up to today?"
The blonde Magical Marine Zoologist smiled dreamily. "Neville and I are going to take Angel and Starr to a muggle circus. I'm sure they'll enjoy it."
"Good, that'll be fun for them. They're almost as obsessed with muggles as Dad. We should really catch up sometime?"
"Maybe you and Harry can come over for dinner next week." All of a sudden Luna's silver eyes were sharp and calculating. "I'll send him an owl and make arrangements." She floated out.
"Mmph." Ginny replied, already absorbed in the grievance she was reading. Two stupid witches were fighting over a Sleepy Spindle again. Shaking her head, she put it firmly in the DELAY pile.
"Hey, Gin."
This time Ginny paid attention. She smiled happily. "Hey there, Harry. How're you?"
"Not bad ...Happy Valentine's Day." Harry walked into the office. He placed a box of chocolates and a vase of pink and white roses on her desk.
"Oh, Harry, you shouldn't have." Ginny sniffed the half-blown roses in appreciation. "They're lovely. But...I didn't get you anything."
"If you went with me to dinner tonight, that would be the perfect gift." Surprisingly, Harry blushed.
Could it be...no, not possible. Ginny nodded. "Ok. Lunch as well?"
"No. I have some things to do."
Feeling strangely disappointed, the witch shrugged her compliance. "Tonight, then. What time?"
"I'll meet you here at seven."
"See you then."
Oh, Harry, that night was magical. I just wish I'd known. Maybe I wouldn't have reacted the way I did.
"Harry, where are we going?" Ginny laughed as Harry led her along a path. She couldn't see anything, the minute he'd picker her up he slipped a blindfold over her face. It smelt nice, like lemon and tea and pine...very Harry...stop it!
"It's a surprise. Kind of detrimental for me to tell you." She could hear the grin in his voice.
"Hmph." She pouted.
"Ok, we're here."
The blindfold was whipped off and Ginny had to blink at the sudden flood of light.
When she was used to it, she gasped. "Oh, it's beautiful..."
They were in the middle of a wood, surrounded on all sides by trees. A stream passed through the clearing at one end, a tiny stone bridge curving across it. Wild roses, snowdrops and heather flowered everywhere. Fairy lights twinkled in the boughs of weeping willows and birch, and somewhere a nightingale sang. In the middle of the clearing sat a picnic table covered in lichen and set for two people.
"It took me a while to set up, so it better be." Harry said mildly, leading her to the table and sitting her down. "What would you like to eat? We have a choice of lobster and green salad, bacon cabonara with fettuccine, or roast turkey and roast vegetables."
"Hmmm..." While she tried to decide, Ginny laid her napkin across her lap. "I think the fettuccine. I love pasta."
"Me too." Harry tapped the dishes with his wand, and the savoury smell of bacon filled the air. A bottle of champagne levitated between them, filling both glasses with the bubbling pink liquid. Then, with a soft 'pop', a strawberry appeared in each glass.
Giggling, Ginny took a sip from her glass. "Why the strawberry?"
"Because they taste delicious in champagne."
"Delicious anyway." Ginny said softly, smirking.
The green-eyed wizard swallowed and took a bite of his food. "So...how's work?"
"Not bad." Ginny swirled her fork, scooping up a big bite of pasta. "I'm finally making some headway through that mess."
"Well, three months, you'd hope so." Harry laughed.
"Indeed. What about you?"
"Being an Auror...well, it's busy right now. Lots of mopping up to do."
"I can imagine." Ginny sympathised. "I've had to do quite a bit of that myself. We're ignoring all the smaller issues until the bigger ones are solved."
"Smaller issues?" Harry asked.
"Things like who owns the Singing Strausberry Bush, and who has to rebuild the Muggle Deterrent Wards."
"Yeah, that makes sense."
It's weird, isn't it, Harry, that even after three months we didn't know everything there was to know about one another.
We talked about so much that night, Quidditch, our friends, the meaning of life, our favourite movies...dessert was when things took a more serious turn.
"Ginny," Harry said suddenly in the middle of their chocolate mousse, "have you ever been in love?"
"That's an odd question." Ginny replied, toying with her own dessert, avoiding his eyes. "Why do you want to know?"
"Why are you avoiding the question?" He shot back, smirking.
Sighing, he was impossible in this mood, just like the twins, she nodded. "I have."
He was all business now. "Who?"
"Not going to tell you." Because it's too embarrassing. "What about you? Have you ever been in love?"
"I can't answer that."
"I answered, you can. No double standards, please, Harry. Not from you." Ginny pleaded softly. She'd had enough double standards to last her a life time.
"What do you mean, not from me? Who has double standards? And I'm not trying to distract you." He said hurriedly, at her expression. "I'll get back to the in love thing in a moment."
Sighing, Ginny capitulated. He'd never let her alone until she told him, anyway. "Well, I'm the youngest, and the only girl in my family, right? So because of that, Mum's always had a different set of rules for me, usually that worked to my advantage," a wry smile, "so long as I wasn't so stupid as to actually believe I could do anything physical. It meant I had to take lots of cooking classes, though."
She screwed up her nose. "I don't mind cooking, but being taught was horrible. Plus, my brothers had this whole set of standards for me. I was allowed to grow up, since it couldn't be helped, but I had to deal with them acting like I was a child, y'know? And even you did it at one point, wanting to be my friend, and wanting to trust me and teach me how to defend myself, but not wanting me to fight in the Last Battle." She giggled then.
"If you remember, I had to sneak away from Hogwarts, and remove the various hexes you and my brothers placed on me, to even get a foot out of Scotland." She shook her head, forestalling his interruption. "No, I understand why you did it. But...I'm tired." She paused, taking a sip of her fifth glass of champagne. "Very, very tired."
"Well, I suppose that's a sufficient, if rather disturbing, explanation." Harry replied. "No one likes to be reminded that they were stupid. Still, I did ask."
"Yes, you did. Now, back to my earlier question. Have you ever been in love?"
Harry closed his eyes, a pained expression crossing his face. For a moment, Ginny regretted the question, and wished to take it back, the answer would undoubtedly hurt worse than any of the tortures she'd suffered over the last seventeen years, but it was too late. Harry began to speak.
"Yes, I have been in love. I still am."
Yup, there was the heartbreak.
She stood up abruptly, throwing her napkin on the table and sloshing champagne over everything. "I have to go." She said. "See you later."
"Wait!" Harry grabbed her arm. "Don't."
"I really have to go, Harry." She avoided his gaze, trying to hold back tears, though she couldn't fathom why she might be crying. "I've got stuff to do that I only just remembered about."
"Gin, you didn't let me finish. It's you. I'm in love with you."
Wildly, Ginny wrenched her arm out of his grip. "I have to go, I told you." She disapparated.
Hermione told me I should write this letter to let you go. To finally be free of your memory, and my own regrets. But first, I have to tell you something. I love you too, Harry. With all my heart.
Love, Ginny.
Ginny folded the letter and placed it in an envelope, kissing the seal. Then she gave it to Hermione, who had been hovering over her for the past three hours.
"There," she said, "it's done. Do with it what you will."
"Do you feel better?" The bushy-haired witch asked, concerned.
Ginny shook her head, tears spilling down her cheeks. "No."
Sighing, Hermione pressed a kiss to her sister-in-law's hair. "It'll take time, Gin, but this was the right thing to do. You have to let go."
"I know. But I can't. I should have told him, Herm. I should have." Ginny threw herself on her bed, hugging a pillow to her chest.
"You didn't know, hon."
"Please, just leave me alone. I need to be alone."
"Ok. Call me if you need me." With a CRACK! Hermione was gone.
End
