Wow, another update. I'm on a roll.
Not a fun episode tonight, I'm afraid. I hope you like it anyway.
Shoutouts: xxxBekaForEvaxxx, glowyrm, Delia-of-the-Oysters, You Know Who, lillyflower08. Thanks guys, you rock! I'm glad you all enjoyed the chapter. As for the nasty mental image regarding Ron and his plumbing problem... I apologise :)
13. Memories
Thursday
Ginny wakes with a start. She takes a few seconds to orient herself; the room seems too light for the hour.
She realises the door is open, and a light from the kitchen is casting odd shadows on the walls. She pulls on a dressing gown and pads out to the kitchen table in her bed socks, where Harry is sitting and staring at the dark wood grain.
"Harry?"
He doesn't look up. Ginny continues into the kitchen and sets some milk on the stove.
"Here," she says a few minutes later. "Have some hot chocolate."
Harry looks as though he's only just noticed her.
"Harry…" Ginny has seen this look before. "Are you still having nightmares?"
"Dammit, Ginny," Harry bursts out. "I don't think I can handle this anymore. I thought I was over this!"
She sits down and cradles his head to her chest, stroking his hair with gentle fingers. "What happened this time?" she asks softly.
"The usual," he grimaces. "The final battle. Watching people die. Walking to the Forest. Except, I can never get there. I just keep walking through the trees, knowing that I'm too late, that I can't even help anyone." His voice cracks.
They sit there for a long time, Ginny caressing his face as her tears caress his hair. The ghosts of the memories and the faces of the dead, the suffocating futility, remain behind his eyes, the same way they have haunted his thoughts and his dreams for four long years.
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