Disclaimer: I only own the plot, everything else belongs to JKR. And of course, the song lyrics are from another of my favorite Howie Day songs, Brace Yourself.

Breaking Point

Chapter 5

Brace Yourself

So you think

You can hold the world up by a string

With all that you have

And I would hold every part of you that I could

And I'm on

And I'm on again...

Brace yourself with all that you have

Enough

I'm in love again

Brace yourself now

"It's just… Ginny, what's happened to you? God Ginny, don't you realize what he's done to you?"

In the months that followed her lunch with Hermione, Ginny still couldn't force those words out of her head. They were like a shadow fixed in the back of her mind.

In the past they had rested there silently, but now, as Ginny walked along the riverbed, they were penetrating her every thought. And she didn't have to look far to find the reason why.

Sitting in the shade of a large maple tree, was a young man with messy black hair. He looked remarkably better than he had the last time she had set eyes on him. Harry's face was fuller; no longer so gaunt looking and his hair was not as shaggy as before. He sat up straighter too, as if some imaginary weight had been lifted off his shoulders. However, even from a distance, Ginny could see that his eyes, which usually shone with emotion, were still dull and impassive.

Before she knew what was happening, Ginny felt her feet moving of their own accord; striding across the grassy bank towards the unsuspecting man. She tried hopelessly to rein in her emotions and pull herself together. Her head began to spin and her thoughts chased around each other perpetually. "It's just… Ginny what's happened to you? You're not the Ginny I used to know. If you were, you would go right up to his door and demand that he explain himself!"

Ginny was on the verge of feeling faint, the thoughts were buzzing around her like a swarm of angry bees. "It's over, it's been over, and I no longer care."

Suddenly, Harry looked up at the sound of her feet padding across the dewy grass. Their eyes met and they both found themselves at a loss for words. Ginny immediately regretted her brazen decision to walk over to him. They hadn't formally met for years and then, out of the blue, here she was.

An awkward silence filled the air between them. Ginny was sure she could hear her heart pounding rapidly inside her chest and her breath coming out in short ragged gasps.

It seemed like an eternity before they broke the silence. "I…" started both Harry and Ginny at the same time, their voices breaking as they collapsed into silence once more.

Ginny slumped against the giant tree and slid down to the ground, her back scraping against the bark as she sat down about a foot away from Harry. They both stared determinedly ahead of themselves, ignoring the unease now settled heavily between them. All around, the ground was littered with maple seeds and more would occasionally spin down from the vast canopy of leaves above. Ginny watched as they fell down around her, following their graceful progress as they turned pirouettes in front of her.

So you feel

Anything and everything could be

All that you wanted

Stay with me

I'm in no condition to be alone

And I'm on

And I'm on again

Brace yourself

With all that you have

Enough

I'm in love again

Brace yourself now

It felt as though an invisible wall had sprung up between them since Ginny had sat down. The air around them was thick with tension and she felt as if her muscles were straining in reluctance.

Chancing a glance at Harry, Ginny peered out of the corner of her eye at him. He sat there, arms folded across his chest and head turned resolutely forward, staring off into the distance. His eyes were still vacant and unexpressive.

Ginny's head began to spin once more and Hermione's words came rushing back to her head. They were flooding into every corner of her mind like rapidly rising water, blocking all other noise out. "He treated you like you're not worth an explanation and you haven't done a thing about it!"

Suddenly, afraid her head would burst, she felt her mouth opening, as if she were about to say something. She had to, she had to say something, the pressure was just too much. The walls were closing in around her from all sides, she couldn't breathe.

"Do you ever wish," Ginny burst forth without thinking, "that you could be like one of those maple spinners and just let the wind take you where it wants. Then a huge weight of responsibility would disappear. You no longer have to make your own decisions and worry about how it effects everyone else. You'd be so carefree…"

Ginny immediately regretted her sudden outburst. Harry didn't even glance at her, he just kept staring ahead with an unfaltering gaze. Nevertheless, she could have sworn she'd seen something flicker across his face. Empathy perhaps? But whatever it was vanished as soon as it appeared and left Ginny wondering if she had simply imagined it.

"Forget it," Ginny said, biting her lip, "It's stupid, I don't know why I said that…" She started to turn away, her cheeks heating up when she felt Harry's intense gaze upon her. Looking back around at him, their eyes locked onto each other and she felt her face burn. His gaze was deep, his expression earnest.

"No," said Harry leaning forward, "It isn't."

Ginny felt herself gravitating towards Harry, enraptured by his unwavering stare. He did not pull back. She was so close now, she could pick out every shade of green in his mesmerizing eyes, smell his sweet scent and feel the soft heat coming from him. Harry's eyes no longer held a lackluster tone, but shone brighter than before. It was as though they were being pulled into some sort of enthralling trance. Their lips were only millimeters apart.

Abruptly, Harry pulled back, a stricken look upon his face, causing Ginny to recoil. Ginny's mind, which seconds ago had been blissfully blank, began to fill with her previous thoughts.

"It's fine, things just didn't work out. He did nothing!"

"Exactly. He did nothing. He gave you no explanation whatsoever!"

He did nothing… The words echoed back and forth through her mind. He did nothing, nothing, nothing…

On and on

Sold me to your false alarm.

Maybe I'll hold my breath and you'll be gone

With all that you have

And all that you wanted

And I'm on

And I'm on again

Brace yourself with all that you have

I know I'm in love again

Brace yourself now

A/N: Well there you go, that makes up for my less than satisfactory Chapter Four. Right? I wrote a longer chapter because the last one was so short. Of course, the next one will be fairly short also, but that's necessary. Oh yeah, this is the halfway point in the story. Only five more chapters to go!

Coming Up: Ginny continues to throw herself into her work in order to forget the most pressing matter on her mind. Then again, whenever you overlook something, it usually finds a way of returning when you least expect it…

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