the pull of the sea [LINNY]

Full Moon

The next day Ginny wakes up at noon on the floor next to her bed. It's a bit disorienting.

At 1:00 she feels hungry enough to eat a horse, but she doesn't. She doesn't eat anything, in fact and she's not quite sure why. She does have a glass of water though, to ease her hangover.

She walks around in the park next to her house, it's cold and empty. She visits her parents graves and sits beside them for a few hours, talking. She visits the twins' joke shop, it's closed.

She visits Harry, Ron and Hermione after sitting home alone for a few hours. They had bought a house together after school and it's frequently used as a meeting point by their friends, who jokingly called it 'The Base'. There is always someone in the house, Ginny can count on that. Hopefully it's Lavender, she thinks as she pulls on a loose maroon jumper ( the dress she was wearing before had been too cold). Lav knows everyone and she will be able to tell Ginny who the moon girl is. Harry might pop up with a bit of useful advice. Dean would tell her to sort out her feelings about it before doing anything rash.

She pushed the thought out of her head. What feelings? She was overthinking things. It was just a pretty girl. And Ginny is straight. As a ruler.

When she gets to The Base, it's not Harry or Dean or Lavender that come rushing to the door. It's not even Hermione or Neville or anyone she was expecting.

It's no one.

The house is empty.

Ginny grabs the spare key from under the mat and pushes it into the keyhole, feeling a little bit ill. Perhaps it's because she's never had to use it before, perhaps it's something else.

She walks into the house. She checks all the rooms, to make sure nobody's home. Ginny goes down into the kitchen. Taking a seat at the table, she tilts her head to look out the window. Harry's planted some petunias in the garden, she observes. He'd always had a knack for gardening. He'd always had a knack for anything to do with household chores actually.

Her stomach rumbles and Ginny stares at the clock on the wall. It's broken, useless. They should replace it. Ginny stands and the chair legs screech against the tiled floor. She goes to the a drawer and opens it, searching for batteries for the clock when she catches a glimpse of the moon out the window. It's late, the trio should be back from wherever they are by now.

The moon is waning, and she wonders if moon girl is out there somewhere, under the moon.

The base is quite close to the beach. She can hear the water from here, quite loudly. She steps away from the drawer, her task forgotten.

She trudges back down the hallway, feeling heavy, and she remembers she hasn't eaten all day. She puts the key back under the mat when she leaves, headed towards the sea.

The water has a certain pull, she thinks. It's violent, but it's tranquil. She used to hate it here, but she can't remember why. Now, she feels anything is possible when she's standing under the not-quite-full moon and the inky black sky, listening to the sea singing it's mournful song and tasting the salt in the cold air. This is why she isn't surprised when she hears the voice of moon girl, standing a few feet away from her.

"Can you feel it?"

She doesn't need to ask what. She can feel it. The feeling of freedom. The pull of the sea.