Disclaimer: Ginny and Harry don't belong to me.
A/N: WARNING! Character death in this chapter. Maybe some angst, too. If you're afraid of those, don't read!
Chapter 5: Ginny and Harry
Harry staggered on his feet, and felt the wand drop from his fingers. He didn't know what he had done, he didn't know how he had done it. All he knew was that it was over now. Finally.
Everything was quiet. Boundless silence engulfed him as he let his eyes wander over the slopes surrounding him, looking for his first and worst concern. When he noticed her he ran quickly there, paying no attention to the fact that his feet would much more have wanted him to collapse.
"Ginny! Dear Merlin, Ginny!" he despaired, kneeling on the ground next to her.
"Harry," she muttered back, so quietly that he wouldn't have heard it even in this silence had he not been bowing so low over her.
"Oh Ginny! It's all over! I'll take care of you. Just stay here on the ground, don't try to open your eyes," he quickly commanded in whisper, stroking her muddy hair and bloody cheeks.
Ginny opened her eyes.
"You look awful," she commented on Harry with a painful smile.
"I'm far better off than you. Don't strain yourself," he said as he felt a faint sting when a salty tear crossed its path with a bleeding wound on his cheekbone.
"Harry, I…"
"Ginny, don't talk! We'll be alright, I know we'll be alright in the end," Harry stopped her quickly, his one hand still buried in her hair, the other fervently searching his pockets. He knew he had put it there, it had to be there, he couldn't have lost it! Could he?
"Your chin is glowing blue," Ginny said in a severe voice, as if it was common for humans to make the mistake to start glowing in strange colours sometimes. "Or, actually, it's more like navy…" Ginny sighed, her eyes slowly dropping closed.
But Harry couldn't find what he was looking for. He felt Ginny's fragile body shake in slight tremors, and quickened his search. In last despair his wandering fingers found a wand; not his own, but he couldn't have cared less. He took his other hand out of Ginny's hair and grabbed a twig from the ground beside her. A moment later he was holding a glistening golden ring with a watery white diamond in the middle.
"Ginny, will you marry me?" he whispered, taking gently hold of her shoulder.
She didn't open her eyes, just sighed heavily.
"Ginny, look at me!" he pleaded, shaking her tenderly. "Will you marry me?"
Ginny sighed again, and then opened her eyes with what seemed to be extreme difficulty.
"No, Harry," she whispered almost inaudibly. "I would, but I won't."
"Please Ginny! Marry me!" Harry said.
"No," was the hushed answer.
"Ginny! Tell me you love me and you want too marry me!" He was close to despair now.
"Yes, Harry, I'd love to marry you," Ginny said, a barely noticeable smile caressing her lips for a moment.
Harry quickly grabbed her hand and slipped the ring onto her finger. The hand was heavy and numb.
"Bring it closer to me," Ginny whispered, and Harry stole a quick kiss on the hand before holding it up in front of Ginny's eyes.
"What do you think?" he asked silently, bowing over to kiss her cheek.
"It's magic," she whispered and smiled again before another tremor ran through her body.
When Harry straightened up again and looked into her eyes they were glazed over already. Harry let go of her hand and saw it drop to the ground beside her as if in slow motion. Fighting against his protesting limbs, protesting emotions, and protesting will, he heaved himself up and staggered back to where he had fought. Once there, he dropped to the ground, not concerned about the mud and sharp pebbles. He crawled around there until he found it.
About a week later he was standing next to her, holding her lifeless hand again. There were hordes of people around them, but no one saw them, water barring their view. But Harry's eyes were dry; had been since the sting of the teardrop out on the field. He silently kissed her lips, removing the ring from her finger.
As soon as contact between the dead woman and the ring ceased, it turned back into a twig. Harry didn't even flinch. He gently placed the small branch into the coffin next to Ginny, and then slipped the real ring onto her finger slowly. He tenderly ran his fingers through the hair, now clean and spread around the prone body of the woman.
A/N: If you don't review, I might kill the next characters, too, even before they get to the proposing... But if you do review, then you can look forward to the next chater - Merope and Tom!