Disclaimer: A thousand apologies for my continued procrastination! Only the plot is mine. The lyrics are from Keane's song Leaving So Soon?

Breaking Point

Chapter 8

Leaving So Soon?

You must think I'm a fool

So prosaic and awkward and all

Do you think you've got me down?

Do you think I've never been out of this town?

Harry paced around his room for about the tenth time that morning, the ancient floorboards creaking nosily beneath his heavy footsteps. His room, not normally tidy was even more disheveled than usual. All of his possessions were strewn haphazardly across the floor.

He had promised. Promised. Harry thrust his fist angrily at the wall and took a sharp breath as his knuckles began to throb painfully, only adding to his already agonized mood. He had promised not to love again. It only brought about death and destruction, and he wasn't about to do that to her.

These past few weeks he had been racing along a steep cliff, feeling the exhilaration of adrenalin pump through his body. And that night, he had taken that final leap, hurling himself across the vast abyss, only to find himself sprawled on the hard ground below, which seconds ago had looked so soft from above. Love was only a mirage. And like a man stranded in the desert, he had fallen for an illusion and found himself thirsting for what wasn't real.

Do I seem too eager to please to you now?

You don't know me at all

I can't turn it on, turn it off like you now

I'm not like you now

Ginny had been like a drug to him. A drug he was trying his hardest to abstain from. The longer he kept himself from it, the more lethal the consequences of his desire became. But in the end, he had deprived himself of it for to long. And that one night, his infatuation became too great and he had made the most detrimental mistake. He had gone against what he had taught himself to believe was right. He was a marked man and would always be so. He had seen too much. And no one could love a marked man. Harry laughed bitterly at the thought. He no longer believed in true love.

Little did Harry realize, his own determination, could also be his destruction. In denying himself of his greatest strength, he was condemning himself to a destitute life. It was against his very nature to admit defeat to the equally strong-minded redhead possessing his every thought. And so, it was with this burden that he did what appeared to be most logical; he eluded his greatest strength.

However, it was no more than a false sense of security. A temporary curtain he had hung around himself, which could be pulled back in an instant, revealing the old scars. Pulled back by the scarlet haired woman currently blocking the entrance to his flat.

Ginny stood before him, framed in the doorway and glowing faintly in the late afternoon sunshine. Her body, though slight in size, seemed to emit some spark of defiance and an air of authority. She knew why she was here this time, and she wasn't going to slip up again.

Harry stared fixedly at her, the shock fading away, to be replaced with a guarded expression. He would not allow himself to make the same mistake twice.

Now you're here

I bet you're wishing you could disappear

I'm trying to be kind

I get the feeling you're just killing time

Ginny opened her mouth as if ready to let forth a torrent of speech, but instead, took a deep breath to steady herself. Harry leaned back against the doorframe and inclined his head towards her for a second as if to indicate for her to continue. He braced himself for the words he knew would shortly ensue.

Ginny raised her head to look him squarely in the face. "Why haven't you been around since that night?" she questioned in a voice that commanded an answer, though silence was the only response. "Why haven't you spoken to me? You've been purposely evading me this whole time!" she accused. Then finally in a strangled sort of voice, "Didn't that mean anything to you?"

Harry, who had been avoiding her unforgiving gaze throughout her accusations, looked back at her, as if sizing her up for an answer. Finally he said shortly, "No." The word seemed to echo in the air. The single syllable rang in Ginny's head insistently. But her face didn't even falter for a second, never betraying the real emotions raging inside her. She remained stony faced as she turned her back and left.

You're leaving so soon

Never had a chance to bloom

But you were so quick

To change your tune

Don't look back

If I'm a weight around your neck

Because if you don't need me

Then I don't need you