Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter and was smart enough to write it… why would I be writing this? Anyways - Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. Enjoy!
Harry groggily rubbed sleep from his eyes and opened them to the shrill whistle. Ginny lay asleep on the arm chair across from him. He softened and grabbed a blanket before draping it over her. The medical alcohol had had an effect on him and he was dizzy and confused about the previous night, only recalling a lot of bangs and… Harry stopped thinking and moved to the kitchen. He finished making the tea and touched his head sorely, but did not try to think about it too much. Carrying the hot tea carefully, he approached the bedroom. James lay splayed out on the bed. Harry yawned.
Harry grasped James' hand confidently and approached the flat. James was chatting happily about something or another as he held a little bag that read "Thank you!" The two had stopped at a local smoothie shop for bagels and smoothies for breakfast - Harry was by no means a cook. As Harry unlocked the door, precariously balancing their breakfast, James ran inside. He jumped on the still-sleeping witch, earning a grunt from her.
"James!" Harry threw their breakfast on the table and grabbed him off. "Sorry Gin." Ginny wearily opened her eyes and welcomed James back into her arms.
"It's fine." Ginny tucked her hair behind her ear, revealing a glittering diamond earring, passed down the Weasley generations. Harry stopped.
"Ginny?" Harry asked slowly. "Er… where were we going to go last night?"
"Oh, homemade dinner… Wait! Damnit. Harry - it's not your fault." Ginny stopped herself. Harry groaned in obvious distress.
"No! I'm so sorry." He gathered her hands in his and pressed them to his forehead. "Tonight?"
"HARRY POTTER!" Ginny screamed as a spatula flew past her and lodged itself in the cabinet. The ginger witch swatted him playfully as Harry grinned sheepishly. The two were trying to make dinner. And the way things were going suggested take-out. As Harry fixed the cabinet, Ginny added a dash of spices to the boiling pot. The steam prevented the viewer from seeings its contents. Harry popped a strawberry into his mouth. Ginny was making strawberry cake and vegetable minestrone soup while Harry was supposed to only toast some bread. Clearly, he could not even do that. Ginny sighed.
"Harry!" Ginny insisted. Harry grinned. Ginny returned to her bubbling stew and reached the ladle into the soup before dipping it to her lips. Hmmm… some salt would do the trick, she thought. "Harry! Grab me soon salt!" Harry nodded quickly and dove his head in the cabinet. He sprinkled some on the stew which turned a bright purple for a split second - which both of them missed, and then back again.
Ginny grabbed some dishes, declaring it ready. The couple sat down and dug in. The reaction was instantaneous. Harry's face turned bright red and Ginny's lips puckered in surprise. They both shoved each other aside and scooped refreshing water into their mouths in the kitchen sink. Red-faced and with purple lips, they turned to each other. Simultaneously, they ran to the kitchen and searched for the spice until they found it.
"Syreni Salis. What the hell is sy-ree-ni or s-ah-lis?!" Ginny grimaced at Harry. He grabbed the small bottle.
"Syreni Salis, also known as mermaid's salt, is an ingredient found in the deepest sea labyrinths. The salt is dug out of a violet-haired or hyacinthinus mermaid hair. This salt can be used **very lightly** (scratched out on the bottle) on fish, meats, or in some breads. Caution: do not use on soups or other liquid food beverages. Will increase intensity of salt flavor based on how wet it is." Harry paused there and looked up. Ginny stone-faced returned to her soup and stared into it. It was bright purple and churning softly. Slowly, she turned to Harry and broke out into fits of hysterical laughter. It proved to be contagious and Harry soon broke out laughing.
"This sure beats mermaid soup." Harry chuckled as he stared at the pasta they were sharing.
"Hey! You didn't like it?" Ginny twirled some spaghetti on a spoon and spun it towards his mouth like an airplane before turning it around and shoving it in her mouth. She giggled softly at Harry's petrified expression. He grinned but saddened almost immediately. How had I missed so much of… this?
The sun shone brightly and not a cloud was in the sky. Ginny grinned and swung higher. Harry had managed to convince Ginny that it was safe to allow James on Harry's lap as he swung. Now the two were swinging in sync.
"You know… when I was little, swinging together meant that you were "married"," Harry paused, flushing only slightly. Ginny looked down to hide a blush. Her long, silky hair covered her face.
"Sure," Ginny mused. What would life be like forever with Harry? Yet there was that urge to just, go. Runaway. Leave everything and desert to the corners of her mind. It was cold. Scary. Foreign yet so familiar.
She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she missed Harry slowing down.
Anyone who had known Harry Potter knew he was a good guy. Nice, a bit shy sometimes. A good guy.
But those who really knew Harry Potter, really knew him, knew he was not only determined but had a temper. They knew he could be as sweet and innocent as a lamb or… or… as murderous (in a not literal sense) and furious as a fire.
Harry slowed down completely and Ginny looked up. James sat swinging absent-mindedly on the swing alone. Harry stared darkly, frighteningly… in the distance.
That was the very beginning. When Ginny began to start to get scared.
"Harry?" Ginny asked softly, slowing down. He turned. And locked eyes with her. And those eyes said everything.
They said I love you. They said I have to go. They said Bye. But they also said I am not losing you both again.
And… Harry ran. Ginny screamed and sprinted after him, but found her legs stopped her after a hundred feet. James. Ginny ran back and grabbed James frantically, but Harry was near gone by then.
Ginny didn't train for Quidditch for nothing though and soon she was sprinting across an empty field with James on her back.
The park was laid out in a way that made it so the park bordered an empty corn field and then, a forest. The oaks were tall and shady and gave the forest an ominous look.
So Ginny ran and ran across the field. But finally she caught sight of what Harry had seen on the swings, when they were still happy. And it caused her to put a shield charm on James and run. Run.
The man. The man. Man.
She ran. Her hair flew back behind her, rippling. She was a blur. And if she hadn't ran back for James and delayed herself, she might have been caught in it. There was an explosion of fire, only one hundred feet away.
"HARRY!" Ginny screamed, her voice hoarse. Tears fell quickly on her face. "HARRY!" When there was no answer, Ginny sprinted into the flames.
Fire ate at her ginger hair and leapt at her ankles, an ever-hungry demon. But she caught sight of something on the ground. Praying that it wasn't Harry, Ginny nearly ran past.
Jet-black hair. Ginny stopped abruptly. And stopped. There. There was a break of the flames and a bit of blue sky showed.
"Harry. Harry," Ginny gripped his hair in her hands shakily. Her nails raked his scalp softly. "Don't go. Don't leave." He cracked an eye open. A blow to the head had knocked him out. It was bad bad. And she wasn't an Auror. She cradled his head in her lap.
"Won't," Harry croaked. Ginny was so relieved to hear his voice that she laughed. But it was quick. The flames had advanced and the heat was oppressive. Neither had brought their wands - even though Harry was an Auror.
The moment went by so quickly, Ginny wasn't sure. But she knew she could not survive without him. She shook and pressed her lips to his for possibly the last time.
Almost as if she was expecting it, arms grabbed her waist and pulled her away. Ginny flailed and screamed, but it was useless. They had already disapparated.
Somewhere deep in her brain, she knew that the man had already disapparated by the time she got there. She knew that an Auror had taken her. But before she left, stamped into the mud was a boot print with a Galleon print. Deja vu.
Ginny also knew that… that… Harry wasn't coming home this time.
"Dead." They would whisper later, the word slipping from lip to lip to ear to ear to… to an endless cycle.
A burning candle stood high. It's golden wax dripped down its side. Sometimes it bent low or climbed high. Bright oranges and yellows or neon reds clashed with a rival blue. It flickered once before darkness consumed the candle, suffocating it. The light flickered once more and went out.
Darkness.
Hi! Sorry, this is so short. Wow this is short. Oops. Sorry. It was a good stopping point. I wanted to publish one more after this before Christmas.
Also, I am sorry this is so sad. Please look out for my next chapter.
I have a lot of homework, so I'm not updating consistently.
Hanukkah Countdown: 3 days
Christmas Countdown: 15 days
Kwanzaa Countdown: 16 days
(Sorry if I did not mention of your holidays: those are the most common). Please review as an early present! Thank you...