avada | ginny weasley

chapter four

" when you're too in love to let it go
but if you never try you'll never know "

Ginny woke up on the morning of Harry's seventeenth birthday feeling surprisingly calm. After a quick glance around the room, she found that Hermione was already gone from her bed, not to Ginny's surprise. It was already reaching a late point in the morning; Hermione had most likely been awake for hours. But Ginny had been unable to fall asleep the night before, so she was glad to have the extra hours of sleep. Even though her sleep had been interrupted by the repeated nightmare.

The feeling of death remained with Ginny as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. It took the movement of standing up for the memory of the dream to finally leave her.

She slowly began to get dressed, taking her time combing through her hair and brushing her teeth. The gift she planned on giving Harry wasn't one that could be wrapped. Even from her room, Ginny could hear the clatter and bustle from the kitchen. She blushed as she heard Harry's voice respond to something Ron had said.

She glanced at her reflection in the mirror, more to ascertain that she was awake more than anything. Ginny saw a confident girl with blazing brown eyes staring back at her, and she grinned at her own reflection.

Then, Ginny heard multiple footsteps pad up the stairs. She gingerly set the comb back onto bedside table.

"I'll pack these for you," Hermione's muffled voice said cheerfully on the other side of the door.

Ginny walked to the door, her hand wrapping around the doorknob as Hermione said something about Ron's underpants.

Then, with a deep breath that one would associate occurring before taking a large leap, Ginny opened the door. She was greeted by Ron stammering while Hermione grinned at him.

But Harry. He was looking at her. The morning light fell on him just so to make his eyes look as if they were glowing.

"Harry, will you come in here for a moment?" Ginny asked casually, surprised to hear how calm her voice was.

Ron gave her a startled look, but Hermione pulled him away before he had a chance to say anything. Harry paid his friends no attention as he followed Ginny into her room.

Ginny's stomach was slightly twisted, but she found herself otherwise confident as Harry looked around her room. She looked into his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Happy seventeenth," she said with a small smile.

"Yeah. . .thanks," Harry responded anti-climatically. His eyes darted around the room, and Ginny was reminded that this was his first time inside her room.

Ginny continued to look into his emerald eyes. She wanted to stare into them for days just to see how lost she could become.

"Nice view," Harry said weakly while pointing towards the window.

Ginny ignored him. "I couldn't think what to get you."

"You didn't have to get me anything," Harry hastily insisted.

"I didn't know what would be useful," she continued, ignoring him once more. "Nothing too big because you wouldn't be able to take it with you."

Ginny took a step closer to him, closing the distance that stubbornly laid between them. Now, no sign of nerves jittered in her stomach. She felt as clear-headed as she was when she flew during a Quidditch match.

"So then I thought, I'd like you to have something to remember me by, you know, if you meet some veela when you're off doing whatever you're doing," Ginny continued.

"I think dating opportunities are going to be pretty thin on the ground, to be honest," Harry responded with a slight blush.

"There's the silver lining I've been looking for," she whispered.

Then, Ginny closed all the distance between them and they were kissing. But it was different than before. At Hogwarts, their kisses had been almost carefree. But now, with so much in the line, with both of their futures so foggy and uncertain, they were kissing a passion that had been previously unknown.

Harry seemed to be the only real thing. For years, he had been this untouchable figure, a legend brought to life that Ginny had been fearful of speaking to. But now, he was the only person in the universe, and he was kissing her. Harry ran a hand through her hair and Ginny melted as his other hand pressed against her lower back.

Then, everything shattered.

The door opened suddenly with a loud bang, revealing a scarlet Ron and a breathless Hermione.

"Oh," said Ron, not even bothering to hide the anger. "Sorry."

"Ron!" Hermione hissed, her eyes darting between Ron and a recently separated Ginny and Harry.

Ginny's heart fell flat in her chest. Somehow, she had gone through the happiest she had been in months to the worst.

"Well, happy birthday anyway, Harry," she said, her voice strained.

Harry looked at Ginny almost desperately, as if he was searching for the right words. But there were no words to be said; there was nothing left to say. Not when their futures did not involve them being together.

"I'll see you later," Harry managed to say before following Hermione and Ron out of Ginny's room.

Ginny shut the door after them. After she was certain that the three had walked down the stairs, she allowed herself to slide to the floor. A bleak emptiness spread through her chest as a tear escaped from her eye.

The Wizarding World was in chaos. Voldemort was close to coming to power. Harry was going to be leaving to kill Voldemort any day. And Ginny would play no part in the defeat of the most evil Dark Lord of all time.

Ginny wiped at her eyes, annoyed at herself for crying. Annoyed that in an instant, she had let herself go back to the scared little girl she was in her First Year. And, more than anything, annoyed at Ron for messing up everything. Not for the first time, either.

"Stupid," she muttered under her breath. She was being stupid. It wasn't Ron's fault that he was an annoyingly overprotective excuse for an older brother. Actually, it was his fault, but he didn't always mean to come across as a tactless imbecile while doing so.

Ginny stood up and grabbed her wand from her nightstand. And, without looking back, she stalked out of her room.