FIC--It Was Hers All Along
Title: It Was Hers All Along
Pairing: Harry and Ginny
Rating: PG13
Words: 1509
Summary: He was an ass. But then he had to go and be utterly…Harry.
Betas: lunalovepotter and rdprice29
Author Note: This was written for The Fortune Cookie Challenge at hpgw_otp. My prompt was "Your heart is a place to draw true happiness" and gave me a TON of problems. I almost gave up on my entry. My muse came back in the nick of time.
It Was Hers All Along
Ginny sat on the swing with her toe making lines in the dirt. For the first time in months, she was alone. Her parents were visiting Andromeda; Bill and Fleur were back at Shell Cottage; Charlie was back at work, as were Percy and George. Ron was in Australia with Hermione. It was odd being alone after so long and it was almost as if she didn't know how to do that anymore.
Last year at Hogwarts, she was never alone. She was in classes, in the Great Hall, in detention, or with her friends. When she didn't return after Easter holidays, the only time she was left alone was in the loo, and that was for only three minutes tops; her mother began knocking anxiously if she thought that Ginny'd been taking too long in there. It was beyond annoying. Once the funerals were all finished, the omnipresence of her brothers became overwhelming once again. She felt claustrophobic being around her family.
But today's state of being alone wasn't quite what she had wanted it to be. Her birthday was on Monday and Harry hadn't shown up. It hurt badly, but she would never admit that to anyone. She sniffed as she remembered that he'd missed her sixteenth birthday as well. There was no smile from him across the table nor was there a passionate kiss like the one she'd given him on his seventeenth.
A fortnight ago, when it was his birthday, the whole damned country celebrated. He was cheered everywhere he went and he hated it. So he left. He "took a break," as he explained it. A break from life, from people who wanted a piece of Harry Potter and from the people who cared about him the most. Of course, he didn't use those exact words to explain it to Ginny and her family; he'd politely told them that he needed some space to figure out what he was going to do with himself. Ginny thought different. He was just being an ass.
Of course, his being an ass wasn't anything new. The way he acted around her was asinine. He acted like he did right before her first year at Hogwarts: polite, helpful, and above all, merely tolerating her presence. That's what hurt the most. She felt like he'd forgotten their time together at Hogwarts: those brief, blissful weeks before all hell had broken loose. He appeared to have forgotten that she was his friend, too, and that she understood him far better than Ron and Hermione could, in some respects. Had he forgotten the heated looks they’d exchanged as they planned things in the Room of Requirement? It looked that way. He'd left the part of his heart that was once hers somewhere else and it didn't appear to be coming back any time soon, if at all.
She shook her head as she tried to tell herself that she was being childish. No childhood romance lasted. Very few people, a miniscule number she was sure, loved only one person their entire life and stayed with them. So why did she have to be in that group of people? What had started out as hero-worship developed into a crush and then into friendship, followed by a strong sense of easiness between the two that she'd never experienced with anyone else either before or since. When she and Harry did finally get together, it was as if time stood still and all was right with the world. She knew, from that very first kiss in the common room, that she loved Harry Potter. Well and truly loved him.
And Harry? What did he feel? She could only guess.
He was always so closed off from everyone emotionally. She knew the reasons behind that, and she hated his relatives for doing that to him. There were days where she would entertain herself, making voodoo dolls of them and trying to inflict torture upon them, hoping that they would receive just a token amount of the pain that he was sure to have suffered. She hated very few people in this world, but she hated them.
Luna once told her that your heart is a place to draw true happiness. Ginny had scoffed when she heard that and did so again as she remembered what her friend had said. If that were true, then Harry would be here and they would work things out, even if only to salvage a shred of the friendship they once had. That would be enough for her. It would have to be. She could learn to live without loving Harry Potter, but it wouldn't be easy.
She stopped swinging and looked at the ground underneath her bare toes. Her eyes rolled as she saw that she'd unconsciously written his initials in the dirt.
"Get over it, Ginevra," she mumbled to herself, erasing the letters with a swift swipe of her feet. "He doesn't care."
"He does."
Her head shot up at the familiar sound of his voice and a million emotions ran through her. There was no way she could be expected to have a conversation with him when she was torn between screaming at him, snogging him, hexing him, hitting him hard enough to knock him out or ignoring him. So she just sat there, staring at him with her mouth open.
"Your feet are dirty."
She nodded as she turned her attention to her feet. Now, at least, she had something to look at besides him. He was right; her feet were filthy.
"Everyone else is gone, huh?"
She nodded again, making a 'G' in the dirt with her big toe. Her polish was chipped.
"You wanna talk?"
She shrugged her shoulders as she made a 'M' next to the 'G.'
"I didn't really go very far. I did a lot of thinking."
Again, she nodded and made the 'W' to complete her monogram.
"I went to Godric's Hollow and fixed up the house. The one…well, you know. It's actually a pretty decent little house. Three bedrooms, a cozy little kitchen, and a front room with a big fireplace."
Ginny nodded again, running out of letters to write in the dirt.
"I think I might want to live there."
She was sure there was a smile on his face; he always sounded different when he smiled, but she refused to look up, fearing that if she did, she'd lose the fragile control of her emotions.
"It's…it's in Scotland, Ginny. About an hour’s broom flight from Hogwarts."
A lump began to form in her throat and she had trouble swallowing it down.
"I'm not going back. But Hermione is. You probably knew that already."
Her head nodded but her brain was still cherishing the words he'd said earlier.
"I…I heard you were named Quidditch captain. You'll be bloody brilliant."
There was the sound of his smile again. She had to look up this time; she couldn't help it. When she did, his smile was the crooked one he always used that was reserved for Quidditch, mischief and…for her.
"Thanks," She almost didn't recognize the sound of her own voice. "I have big shoes to fill. The last captain we had was fantastic."
He blushed. "He had a good team. Top-notch Chaser who sometimes played Seeker. I think she won the cup for us once."
"Twice. And he wasn't even there to see either one."
"He was an ass," Was that the sound of an apology?
"My thoughts exactly."
"If I remember right, he…he, well, he kissed her."
"Yeah. Incredibly well, even though she was only the second girl he ever kissed."
"She should have been the first one he kissed," Her heart rate sped up. "Uh, Ginny?"
Looking up, she pursed her lips between her teeth and furrowed her brows.
"I got you something. You know, for your birthday," Harry reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a little white cardboard box. "It's a little corny and a bit silly, but…Here." He held out his hand and she took it from him. Their fingers touched for an instant and a jolt of something shot through her skin. Can people have flesh memories?
Quietly, she lifted the little cover off the box and there, nestled inside the cotton batting, was a little gold heart on a chain. It was the kind of thing she got when she was thirteen, but she didn't care. A nervous giggle escaped her lips.
"It's stupid, I know, but…but look at it, okay? Lift it up."
She did what he asked of her and looked closely at the little gold heart. Etched on the heart were three letters. The same three letters she'd unconsciously written in the dirt earlier-'HJP.' Her hands starting shaking and she looked at him for an explanation.
"It's my heart, Ginny. It's yours. Always has been and always will be."
Ginny smiled and felt his hands on her cheeks. What was she thinking before? He hadn't left his heart somewhere else. It was hers all along.
Pairing: Harry and Ginny
Rating: PG13
Words: 1509
Summary: He was an ass. But then he had to go and be utterly…Harry.
Betas: lunalovepotter and rdprice29
Author Note: This was written for The Fortune Cookie Challenge at hpgw_otp. My prompt was "Your heart is a place to draw true happiness" and gave me a TON of problems. I almost gave up on my entry. My muse came back in the nick of time.
It Was Hers All Along
Ginny sat on the swing with her toe making lines in the dirt. For the first time in months, she was alone. Her parents were visiting Andromeda; Bill and Fleur were back at Shell Cottage; Charlie was back at work, as were Percy and George. Ron was in Australia with Hermione. It was odd being alone after so long and it was almost as if she didn't know how to do that anymore.
Last year at Hogwarts, she was never alone. She was in classes, in the Great Hall, in detention, or with her friends. When she didn't return after Easter holidays, the only time she was left alone was in the loo, and that was for only three minutes tops; her mother began knocking anxiously if she thought that Ginny'd been taking too long in there. It was beyond annoying. Once the funerals were all finished, the omnipresence of her brothers became overwhelming once again. She felt claustrophobic being around her family.
But today's state of being alone wasn't quite what she had wanted it to be. Her birthday was on Monday and Harry hadn't shown up. It hurt badly, but she would never admit that to anyone. She sniffed as she remembered that he'd missed her sixteenth birthday as well. There was no smile from him across the table nor was there a passionate kiss like the one she'd given him on his seventeenth.
A fortnight ago, when it was his birthday, the whole damned country celebrated. He was cheered everywhere he went and he hated it. So he left. He "took a break," as he explained it. A break from life, from people who wanted a piece of Harry Potter and from the people who cared about him the most. Of course, he didn't use those exact words to explain it to Ginny and her family; he'd politely told them that he needed some space to figure out what he was going to do with himself. Ginny thought different. He was just being an ass.
Of course, his being an ass wasn't anything new. The way he acted around her was asinine. He acted like he did right before her first year at Hogwarts: polite, helpful, and above all, merely tolerating her presence. That's what hurt the most. She felt like he'd forgotten their time together at Hogwarts: those brief, blissful weeks before all hell had broken loose. He appeared to have forgotten that she was his friend, too, and that she understood him far better than Ron and Hermione could, in some respects. Had he forgotten the heated looks they’d exchanged as they planned things in the Room of Requirement? It looked that way. He'd left the part of his heart that was once hers somewhere else and it didn't appear to be coming back any time soon, if at all.
She shook her head as she tried to tell herself that she was being childish. No childhood romance lasted. Very few people, a miniscule number she was sure, loved only one person their entire life and stayed with them. So why did she have to be in that group of people? What had started out as hero-worship developed into a crush and then into friendship, followed by a strong sense of easiness between the two that she'd never experienced with anyone else either before or since. When she and Harry did finally get together, it was as if time stood still and all was right with the world. She knew, from that very first kiss in the common room, that she loved Harry Potter. Well and truly loved him.
And Harry? What did he feel? She could only guess.
He was always so closed off from everyone emotionally. She knew the reasons behind that, and she hated his relatives for doing that to him. There were days where she would entertain herself, making voodoo dolls of them and trying to inflict torture upon them, hoping that they would receive just a token amount of the pain that he was sure to have suffered. She hated very few people in this world, but she hated them.
Luna once told her that your heart is a place to draw true happiness. Ginny had scoffed when she heard that and did so again as she remembered what her friend had said. If that were true, then Harry would be here and they would work things out, even if only to salvage a shred of the friendship they once had. That would be enough for her. It would have to be. She could learn to live without loving Harry Potter, but it wouldn't be easy.
She stopped swinging and looked at the ground underneath her bare toes. Her eyes rolled as she saw that she'd unconsciously written his initials in the dirt.
"Get over it, Ginevra," she mumbled to herself, erasing the letters with a swift swipe of her feet. "He doesn't care."
"He does."
Her head shot up at the familiar sound of his voice and a million emotions ran through her. There was no way she could be expected to have a conversation with him when she was torn between screaming at him, snogging him, hexing him, hitting him hard enough to knock him out or ignoring him. So she just sat there, staring at him with her mouth open.
"Your feet are dirty."
She nodded as she turned her attention to her feet. Now, at least, she had something to look at besides him. He was right; her feet were filthy.
"Everyone else is gone, huh?"
She nodded again, making a 'G' in the dirt with her big toe. Her polish was chipped.
"You wanna talk?"
She shrugged her shoulders as she made a 'M' next to the 'G.'
"I didn't really go very far. I did a lot of thinking."
Again, she nodded and made the 'W' to complete her monogram.
"I went to Godric's Hollow and fixed up the house. The one…well, you know. It's actually a pretty decent little house. Three bedrooms, a cozy little kitchen, and a front room with a big fireplace."
Ginny nodded again, running out of letters to write in the dirt.
"I think I might want to live there."
She was sure there was a smile on his face; he always sounded different when he smiled, but she refused to look up, fearing that if she did, she'd lose the fragile control of her emotions.
"It's…it's in Scotland, Ginny. About an hour’s broom flight from Hogwarts."
A lump began to form in her throat and she had trouble swallowing it down.
"I'm not going back. But Hermione is. You probably knew that already."
Her head nodded but her brain was still cherishing the words he'd said earlier.
"I…I heard you were named Quidditch captain. You'll be bloody brilliant."
There was the sound of his smile again. She had to look up this time; she couldn't help it. When she did, his smile was the crooked one he always used that was reserved for Quidditch, mischief and…for her.
"Thanks," She almost didn't recognize the sound of her own voice. "I have big shoes to fill. The last captain we had was fantastic."
He blushed. "He had a good team. Top-notch Chaser who sometimes played Seeker. I think she won the cup for us once."
"Twice. And he wasn't even there to see either one."
"He was an ass," Was that the sound of an apology?
"My thoughts exactly."
"If I remember right, he…he, well, he kissed her."
"Yeah. Incredibly well, even though she was only the second girl he ever kissed."
"She should have been the first one he kissed," Her heart rate sped up. "Uh, Ginny?"
Looking up, she pursed her lips between her teeth and furrowed her brows.
"I got you something. You know, for your birthday," Harry reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a little white cardboard box. "It's a little corny and a bit silly, but…Here." He held out his hand and she took it from him. Their fingers touched for an instant and a jolt of something shot through her skin. Can people have flesh memories?
Quietly, she lifted the little cover off the box and there, nestled inside the cotton batting, was a little gold heart on a chain. It was the kind of thing she got when she was thirteen, but she didn't care. A nervous giggle escaped her lips.
"It's stupid, I know, but…but look at it, okay? Lift it up."
She did what he asked of her and looked closely at the little gold heart. Etched on the heart were three letters. The same three letters she'd unconsciously written in the dirt earlier-'HJP.' Her hands starting shaking and she looked at him for an explanation.
"It's my heart, Ginny. It's yours. Always has been and always will be."
Ginny smiled and felt his hands on her cheeks. What was she thinking before? He hadn't left his heart somewhere else. It was hers all along.