Chapter Ten: Ginny's Birthday, Part II

As Ginny flew through the air on the morning of her birthday, she couldn't believe that she was now the owner of such a marvelous broom. The Hummingbird fit her perfectly and moved where she wanted to move, even before the thought was fully formed in her mind. Not even Harry could anticipate where she would dart next.

Aunt Martha, shaded by her black parasol, sat in the garden and watched them, the smile never leaving her face. At her feet the unicorn head gleamed in the sunlight. The Jarvey was overcome with curiosity at this new guest in his garden. He slunk past the cabbages and stared with his beady eyes at the plastic beast, heedless of Harry and Ginny's whoops and calls overhead.

For the rest of the morning, Harry and Ginny flew while Aunt Martha dozed intermittently in her chair. It was only when Lotty summoned them in for lunch that their feet touched the ground. Ginny insisted on bringing the unicorn to the table.

"Ginny, it's going to sneeze pesticide all over our meal," Harry protested.

"No, it won't," Ginny said, stroking its stiff mane. "It's only allergic to the lotion inside of it, aren't you?"

The unicorn rolled its eyes in pleasure and then sneezed all over Ginny's sandwich. Without blinking an eye, Ginny took out her wand and murmured, "Scourgify." The unicorn's eyes were watering.

"Is it allergic to everything?" Harry asked in exasperation.

"He's a sensitive sort," Ginny crooned as she patted its head.

"Glad I didn't get you anything cute," he muttered.

Ginny giggled.

Aunt Martha was watching this little by-play with a smile. "I think you'd best relieve that poor head of its contents before this entire house smells like rue."

"Good idea," Harry said, glaring at the snuffling head.

"I suggest you pour it out in the pasture on the way to the river. There is a patch of magical cow parsley there and I've been meaning to kill it."

"Why do you want to kill it?" Ginny asked. The only parsley she knew about was what Mum decorated the plates with when she was trying to be posh.

"It makes the cows all funny - like cat nip will do to cats. There's a folk tale that if goblins - or is it trolls? Anyway if something eats it, they will turn into a cow for a few hours." Aunt Martha paused and then snorted. "I've never believed that one."

"What are some other folk tales?" asked Harry.

Aunt Martha spent the rest of the meal regaling them with stories of cow tipping, snipe hunts and other outlandish tales meant to confuse the gullible. "I'll never forget how the children of the estate teased the London children when they first arrived. Those poor city folks were wearing garlic for weeks trying to keep the vampires of the forest away." Aunt Martha shook her head. "Of course everyone knows that the only vampires are in Transylvania."

She smiled at Harry. "You ask Biggs about it sometime. He was the worst prankster. Go ahead - ask him about the Warwickshire Vampire Bats. He had poor Harriet - you remember, the one who works in my solicitor's office - in tears. Had to clean the stables without magic once he was found out."

Harry laughed, his eyes sparkling, at hearing Aunt Martha's stories. Ginny wished he could have lived with Aunt Martha as an orphan instead of going to live with those Muggles. What a different life he would have had, she thought, sighing without thinking.

"Oh my dear, I've gone on long enough," Aunt Martha said apologetically. "I'm sure there are other things you would rather be doing on your birthday than listening to my remembrances."

"No! That's not it - I was just thinking about something," Ginny said.

"Well, I am going to celebrate part of your birthday by lying down," Aunt Martha said. "I find this hot weather does not agree with me."

Ginny exchanged a worried glance with Harry.

"It's part of being over a hundred, my dear," she hastened to reassure them. "I will be as fresh as a daisy for your little party."

The anxiety clock chimed once. "How will we ever stay awake for the meteor showers tonight?"

"Oh yes, I've been meaning to tell you about them," Aunt Martha said enthusiastically. "That clock is always so helpful. Have either of you seen the Perseid meteor showers?"

"No," Ginny answered. "Mum would never let me stay up that late - or er - get up that early. Last year we were in London and couldn't have seen them clearly."

"And the year before that, it was the World Cup," Harry added. "I haven't seen them, either."

"You must go tonight then. If you go to bed early you can set your alarms for two or three in the morning."

Ginny thought a pre-dawn rendezvous alone with Harry was a smashing idea, but if Aunt Martha joined them, it didn't sound like so much fun. "Are you going to come along?"

"I?" Aunt Martha chortled. "No, I've seen the showers before. Jaunts after midnight are for the young." She slowly stood up, her hands gripping the back of the chair for extra balance. "I suggest you go to the stone circle for the best views."

Harry picked up the unicorn head. "That sounds like a great idea."

"The perfect ending for my birthday," Ginny agreed.

They took brooms to the cow pasture. Harry wanted to throw the head like a Quaffle, but Ginny wouldn't hear of it.

"What if one of us dropped it?" she asked indignantly.

"Oh, yeah - a toxic waste spill. Best not risk it," Harry said.

"I can't believe you don't like the gift you gave me!"

"Ron picked it out," Harry said petulantly.

Ginny moved closer to Harry's broom. "You're really upset about this!"

Harry glanced at her briefly and then looked down. "We're at the pasture." He dove toward the stone wall.

Ginny followed and dismounted into the knee-high grass and weeds of the cow pasture. The sun was hot on her back and she had to squint against the glare. The air was thick with the pungent, oniony odor of vegetation.

"This is it," Harry said, pointing to a tall plant with round, spidery sprays of green-white flowers. "I'll pour the stuff on it."

"Harry, I'm not handing over this unicorn until you tell me what's bothering you. You've been making snide remarks about this gift all morning."

Harry gave the unicorn head a black look and then studied the ground. He started to flatten the grass with his feet, carefully putting his weight on each section, so that the plants wouldn't spring back up. He had trampled a small circle by the time he spoke. "Okay, I am upset and you're going to be angry with me after I tell you this because I know what you're going to say -"

Ginny sucked in her breath angrily.

"You're going to say," he continued, ignoring her agitation. "That I'm only thinking of my own feelings and not yours and that it is your birthday and I should get over myself."

"Why am I even here if you can have such a lovely conversation in your mind?" she asked sarcastically. "I wish you wouldn't put words in my mouth before I have a chance to know what's going on."

Harry walked the perimeter of the mashed grass, making his circle a bit bigger. "Sorry." He glanced at her and then looked down again.

"Harry!" Her temper was not improved by his silence or the airless heat of this low-lying field.

"I just - " He sighed. "I just wanted to get you something really wonderful for your birthday - something you always wanted - like a broom or - " He stomped on an errant piece of grass. "But I didn't have enough money - and your aunt was really keen on buying you a broom. I helped her pick it out."

"You did?" Ginny wasn't surprised.

"Yeah - she was so happy going through all the catalogues. She told me that she never had the chance to buy anyone a broom before. So I couldn't spoil her fun." He looked up. "And I can't be angry with Ron because I really thought he was the best choice to shop for you. He knows you so well and - " He stopped, a puzzled frown on his face. "I always like the stuff he gives to me."

"Oh, Ron can buy for the blokes - it's when it comes to girls that he has trouble," Ginny said, smiling in remembrance of the back scratcher he had picked out for Mum last Christmas.

"Oh," Harry said in a flat voice. He turned and looked moodily at the forest, which looked cool and blue in the distance.

Ginny could feel her t-shirt sticking to her back and the glare of the bright sunshine was giving her a headache. "Harry, I love my present - this is one of the best birthdays I've ever had - not because of the gifts but because of the company I'm keeping. Can't you believe that?"

He turned and gave her a twisted smile. "You haven't told me to get over myself yet."

Ginny laughed. "Get over yourself."

"That's the cure-all I've been looking for."

"Let's see if this unicorn head potion is going to cure or kill before I fall over from this heat," Ginny said. Then she addressed the unicorn head. "Open up, we're going to pour you out."

The head blanched.

"It won't hurt, I promise," she crooned.

When she straightened, she just caught Harry rolling his eyes, but she didn't say anything to keep the peace. He took the head and poured the foul-smelling stuff all over the tall weeds. Instantly the green plants turned black and then crumbled. The ground was smoking by the time he had finished.

"Reckon we don't have to worry about goblins turning into cows anytime soon," Ginny said. "Although why anyone or anything would want to be a cow is beyond me.

"Uh - oh - mad cow at twelve o'clock," Harry warned. "Get on your broom." He tucked the empty head under his arm and jumped on his broom. Ginny ran to hers and just missed being trampled by the same red cow that had been plaguing her for days. They rose into the air and left the sound of angry mooing behind them.

"Reckon we cut off its supply of cow nip," Harry called over his shoulder.

Ginny laughed. Harry seemed in a much better mood now that they had had a little bit of excitement, even if it was out-flying a charging cow. She felt better with a cooling breeze in her hair, but she wanted to find some shade.

"Let's go to the river!" she called.

They touched down by the river pool. Harry clambered off his broom and peered at her. "You look like you're getting sunburned. Did you do the Umbra Charm?"

She had forgotten all about it in her excitement over the broom.

"No," she said defiantly.

"You know I could scold you for that, and then I could subject you to the same sunburn torture," he said with a gleam in his eye.

"I didn't torture you! Honestly, I've never seen anyone so sensitive to smells." The unicorn sneezed behind her. She laughed. "Well, except for my unicorn. I'll just do the charm now," she said, taking out her wand.

"In the Muggle world, they have sunscreen," Harry said thoughtfully. "It's a cream you put on before you go out into the sun - not after."

"You mean - every time - you have to rub that on?"

He nodded and grinned. "If I had some, I'd demonstrate on you."

Ginny's mind wandered to the prospect of Muggle sunscreen and Harry touching her like he had yesterday. No wonder he called it torture. She cleared her throat. "Like Dad always says, 'Ingenious- how those Muggles get along without magic.'"

"I never considered sunscreen particularly ingenious, but I've developed a new appreciation for it," Harry agreed. The unicorn sneezed again, drawing his attention. "I reckon we'll have to rinse that stuff out or you'll never get any peace."

"Let's not rinse it out in the river, though," Ginny cautioned. "I wouldn't want to poison my pool."

Harry looked startled. "This is your pool? Where you swim?"

She nodded.

"Yes, let's get out of here."

"I know," Ginny said, not really paying attention to what he was saying. "The well. We could use the unicorn horn - it takes out poisons, remember?"

Harry frowned at her. "A unicorn is going to drink from a unicorn horn?"

"Right!" she was smiling, now that this problem was solved.

"Think you can find it again?"

Ginny had never looked for water when she wasn't touching the ground. She wasn't sure if she could do it or not. "I'll use my wand, that seems to give me more power." She shrugged. "Let me give it a go."

She mounted her broom and skimmed the trees in the direction they had walked earlier. With her wand flat in her hand she waited to see if it would move. It did. It took her less than five minutes to find the well, which was still above ground.

Feeling supremely proud of herself, she flew back to the pool. Harry had taken off his shoes, and rolled up the cuffs of his jeans, to put his feet in the water.

"The water is deep here, isn't it?" he remarked as she touched down.

"It is - it's a much better place to swim than the river by the Burrow."

"Is that where you learned to swim?" he asked as she sat next to him.

"I don't remember learning," Ginny replied, taking off her trainers. "Someone probably threw me in."

Harry snorted. "I'm sure you jumped in yourself since you didn't want to miss the fun."

"Probably." The water felt good on her feet. "Where did you swim with the Muggles?"

"I didn't," he said flatly. "I never really learned to swim."

"So how did you do the second task during the tournament?" Ginny was astonished at this bit of news.

"Gillyweed - Dobby stole it from Snape for me."

"Oh, I had forgotten about the gillyweed," Ginny said, nonplussed. "Did you turn into a fish?"

Harry laughed. "I don't know. I didn't look in a mirror. I know I had gills though. Why do you ask?"

"I was just thinking of that cow parsley and if you ate it, if you would turn into a cow."

"Or just moo for a while," he said, shaking his head.

They idly splashed their feet in the water. "We should go swimming sometime," Ginny said as the thought popped into her mind. "I could teach you." Then so he didn't think she was looking down on him for not knowing how to swim, she added, "You know, like you helped me out with the Patronus."

"I think I should have one of your brothers teach me how to swim."

"Why? You don't think I could do it?" she asked indignantly.

"No, you're too much of a distraction."

"Oh." She blushed at the way he was smiling at her. Now that she thought about it, they probably wouldn't get a lot of swimming done. "You know, I never thanked you for my present," she said, trailing a finger down his arm.

Immediately she could see that this was the wrong thing to say, since he stiffened and set his jaw.

"Please don't thank me for that gift," he said bitterly. "I just want to forget it."

"Well, I don't!" She almost pushed him into the water but stopped only because she knew she would have to fish him out again. "I like it - and you're being impossible!"

He looked at the still surface of the pool, which reflected the leafy branches overhead. "Sorry." He was quiet for a moment and then he turned to her. "I don't mean to be impossible," he said. Ginny was startled to see the sadness in his eyes. "I just wanted the first thing I gave you to be something really wonderful - and it's not and I can't make it better -"

But Ginny interrupted him. "Harry, this isn't the first thing you given me."

He went very still. "It's not?"

"No," she said matter-of-factly. "The first thing you ever gave to me was a cauldron full of Lockhart books."

He stared at her. "I did, didn't I?" he said, aghast. "This just fits, doesn't it?" he groaned. "That thing even looks like Lockhart."

Ginny looked at the blue eyes, yellow mane and wide grin, and giggled. "With its head empty the resemblance is uncanny."

"Don't you dare call it Gilderoy," he said putting his arms around her.

"How about Roy?"

He sighed. "Roy the unicorn and a set of Lockhart books. I have four months until Christmas - I'll try to make gift number three better."

"That's the spirit," Ginny said, putting her arms around his neck. She knew it wasn't the time to bring it up, but Harry had forgotten that he had already given her a third thing - her life, when he had rescued her in the chamber.

Ginny's birthday dinner was everything a birthday dinner should be. Lotty had laid the table with the thinnest china and the heaviest sterling the Hathaways owned. Harry did an admirable job of carving the bird and Lotty outdid herself on the cake. It was a multi-layered chocolate torte with white icing and "Happy Birthday, Ginny" spelled out on top.

Ginny blew out all of her candles and proceeded to pick up the knife to cut the first slice, when one of the candles flared into life again. Obviously, Fred and George had sent one of their dancing candles.

"Excellent," Harry said, laughing. "I'll have a chance to see the ending this time!"

"Don't bet on it," Ginny said. "They wouldn't send a risqué candle to me - female or male. I reckon it's the dancing bear since they still think I'm ten years old."

But Ginny was wrong. Out of the flame grew a green stem, topped by a pink bud, which gradually bloomed into a rose.

"Oh, lovely," Aunt Martha said in delight. "My, those brothers of yours are talented. And the perfect tribute to a young lady."

Ginny felt sentimental tears pricking at her eyelids. Everything would be perfect if her brothers were all here. Well, maybe not perfect - it would be chaotic and loud - just like all parties were at the Burrow. "It's really nice," she said huskily, and then she cleared her throat. "I'll write and thank them tomorrow." Then she gasped and clapped her hand to her mouth. "Aunt Martha! I never thanked you for my broom."

"It's quite all right, my dear," Aunt Martha assured her. "I could tell you liked it. And watching you fly was all the thanks I needed."

"Still," Ginny said, standing up and going over to her aunt's chair. "I want you to know I love it and I'll always think of you when I fly." She bent down, kissed her aunt on the cheek, and then hugged her.

Aunt Martha was stiff at first, as if not used to being embraced, but then she relaxed and hugged her back. "You're welcome," Aunt Martha whispered in her ear. "Use it with joy."

Two thoughts crossed Ginny's mind as she drifted off to the sleep that night. The first one was the nagging worry that Harry still didn't feel good about his gift to her. Why was he being so unreasonable? she wondered impatiently. Like he had said, he was thinking more of himself than he was thinking of her.

Ginny turned onto her side, tucking her hands under her cheek. But it was more than that, she thought, it was the sadness that worried her. She hated to see that look in his eyes. Then she gasped as it came to her mind - an incident from her life that mirrored this one.

She wriggled under the covers. It wouldn't be easy, but now she knew just what to say to him.

With that settled in her mind, she could finally immerse herself in the remembered pleasure of her broom and how happy Aunt Martha had been when she had given it to Ginny. She was glad that she had kissed Aunt Martha , since she now realized that there was no one to show the old lady any affection. This made Ginny so sad, she had to stop thinking about it, although she did vow, before she fell asleep, that she would hug Aunt Martha every day as long as she stayed on the estate.

Ginny wondered if the meteor showers were going to be worth it when the alarm woke her out of a sound sleep at three in the morning. She hastily pulled on jeans and a blouse and went to clean her teeth. "Now what?" the sunflower asked irritably.

"Perseid meteor shower," Ginny mumbled.

"The sun is a star, why can't you just enjoy that?" it said before folding the petal back into place.

Why indeed? Ginny thought. But by the time she had crept down the stairs and was waiting outside for Harry, she had changed her mind. It was a warm, quiet night. The sky was as black as a cauldron, making the perfect backdrop for the thousands of stars high overhead. A meteor streaked above the forest. It happened so quickly that Ginny thought she might have imagined it, but then, a moment later, another one shot across the horizon.

"Starting without me?" Harry's voice was behind her. They had decided only one broom was necessary for the quick jaunt to the stone circle.

"Yes, I couldn't ignore them." She climbed on the broom in front of him. "You brought blankets?"

"To sit on - I don't fancy standing until sunrise - which is when Biggs is going to check on us, just so you know."

"Aunt Martha arranged that?"

"I certainly didn't." His arms were around her waist and his chin was on her shoulder. Even at the higher altitude with the breeze in her face, Ginny wasn't cold.

The ride ended all too quickly, since she had just discovered that if you shifted ever so slightly, it was possible to kiss the person riding behind you on a broom.

The stone circle was more awe-inspiring at night than during the day.

"It's like you can see the earth curve from here," Harry said, marveling.

It was true. They could see such a distance that where the night sky was folded around the land like a warm velvet garment, it looked curved.

They spread the blanket in front of the center stone, where Harry immediately settled on top of it.

Ginny walked the perimeter of the circle, listening to the soothing sound of the stones and giving herself vertigo by only allowing the sky in her field of vision. It was the oddest sensation to be surrounded by stars. Every minute or so, a new light would fall.

"Harry," she called, "what are those Muggles called who go out into space?"

"Astronauts," he replied. He was lying on the blanket, both hands under his head, looking at the sky.

"They must feel like this when they are in outer space. Are you getting dizzy? I am."

"Better stop before you fall off of the hill," he said lazily. "Or better yet, come over here and fall on me."

Ginny giggled and joined him on the blanket, lying next to him, and pillowing her head on his shoulder.

"You're not watching the meteors," he said.

"I can see them reflected in your glasses." She took them off. "That's better - now I can see you."

"We're supposed to be watching the meteors," he said, turning on his side and cradling her in his arms.

"The meteors will never know," she murmured, rubbing her cheek against his chest. The button on his shirt was bothering her, so she undid it. His skin felt better against her cheek than the fabric of his shirt.

"Harry," she said, nuzzling against him. "You know how upset you were today about my gift?"

He started to pull away, but she wouldn't let him. "I realize now how you felt," she said, holding fast to him.

He turned on to his back, pulling Ginny along on top of him.

Ginny continued, peering into his face. "Do you remember that lamp in the sitting room by Mum's chair? The one with all the stained glass?"

"Yes?"

She could see him frowning at what seemed to be a random topic. "When I was nine or ten - I'm not sure which year - I decided to make Mum a card for her birthday. I taught myself a charm to make the card sing 'Happy Birthday.'"

"I've heard this charm," he said, suddenly smiling in recognition. He was playing with her hair, relaxed now and ready to hear her story.

"I gave you a get-well card," she reminded him. "Anyway, I worked very hard on it and I couldn't wait to give it to her. Finally, my gift would be the special one - because I had used magic to make it - and no one else had ever given her a singing card."

She sighed for her ten-year-old self. "The big day arrived and I gave her the card. She loved it and said how I was growing up to make her such a wonderful card with magic. I was so happy - finally I had outdone my brothers." She paused and absently traced his nose with her finger. He nipped at it, which made her giggle.

"Then Bill's gift came. The first treasure you ever find for Gringotts, you're allowed to keep one item besides the finder's fee - sort of like a bonus." She idly traced his collarbone with her finger. "It's traditional to give it to a girlfriend - but Bill didn't have a girlfriend then so he sent it to Mum. His gift was that lamp - which was useful - which was beautiful and valuable - which overshadowed my little card. I was crushed." Harry stroked her back and made sympathetic noises.

"Don't you see?" Ginny looked into his face. "I wanted to be special - I didn't want to share the limelight with anybody. And it wasn't because I didn't want Mum to have presents from a lot of people. I just wanted her to love mine the most, and therefore she would love me the most." It felt funny to admit such a childish, selfish thing to Harry. Her logical self knew that it was wrong - but she could recall those feelings as clearly as the day they happened.

"Ginny, I -"

"Harry - I'm glad you felt like that about me today - even though you were impossible." She ran her hand down the open v of his shirt, discovering an interesting ruff of sparse hair on his smooth chest.

He didn't say anything for a while; he just continued playing with her hair. "You realize, don't you," he finally said. "That you've just compared me to a jealous ten-year-old and that you're glad about it."

"Maybe that didn't come out right."

"No, I understand," Harry said, concentrating on lightly pushing the hair back from her forehead. "Remember the first time we came to the stone circle? You said that someday I would care about someone as deeply as I did about Sirius - and somehow - I believed you. I guess I must have been starting to realize it then."

"Realize what?" she asked, not quite believing that Harry would speak so openly.

"That you were the one I was going to care about."

"Oh," was all she could think to say. It seemed so right to hear him say that - here in dark under the canopy of stars, with her hand over his heart. "That's the way I feel about you."

"I know."

"If you say in that smug voice, 'it's because I'm a Weasley,' I will not be responsible for my actions."

He laughed. "I know because of the way you talk to me . . . argue with me . . . " His smile was tender. ". . . kiss me. You don't do things by halves."

She laughed too. "You're on to me," she said before lowering her mouth to his. He was holding her tightly, returning her kisses as if to show her that he didn't do things by halves either. She liked it when she rolled on to her back and he followed, covering her face and neck with kisses.

"Harry," she said, vaguely noticing that the sky was full of movement now. The meteors really were showering. "You know that unicorn isn't the second thing you given me - it's the third."

He frowned. "What do you mean? I know I've never given you anything else."

Ginny knew he was going to hate it, but she said it anyway, since they had never discussed it, and it was time. "My life - you gave me my life."

He let out a long sigh and then rolled on to his back. Ginny wondered if he could see the streaks of light without his glasses. "Don't ever thank me for that - okay? It was purely selfish - I realize now."

"What do you mean?" Of all the things she expected him to say, this wasn't it.

"I mean, I remember thinking it was the worst day of my life." He gave a short laugh. "Not your life or Ron's or your parents - mine. And I couldn't bear to do nothing. How's that for a selfish twelve-year-old?"

"I'm glad you told me," she said softly, "because you never said a word after that."

"I'm sorry."

"No - I understand now." And she did - that same nameless impulse that drove her to talk back to Lucius Malfoy, had somehow seized him too.

"Can I thank you for my birthday gift now?"

"Yes," he said with a laugh, moving over her. "I've put up enough of a fuss."

She smiled back. "Thank you from the bottom of my selfish ten-year-old heart. Whenever I look at it, I'll know that you are just for me."

"Just for you, I promise," he whispered. She could feel his lips moving at the corner of her mouth, he was so close. The anticipation of his kiss was almost unbearable as he slowly traced his mouth over her cheeks and across her eyes. When he nuzzled her neck, she could see the sky again and the raining light. It was almost too much - what he was making her feel - the sound of the stones - the moving tapestry of the night sky.

But then, she liked too much, Ginny thought as their mouths finally met, capturing their passion and fanning it to new heights - as long as they were together.

The sunrise was spectacular. From their make-shift bed in the center of the circle, they watched the soft bands of light on the horizon go from pale green to rosy lavender to a startling red only to be washed into the white light that promised another hot summer's day.

"A weather brewer," Biggs said when he flew by to check on them, following Aunt Martha's orders. "You know what they say about red sky in the morning."

Ginny vaguely knew that it had to do with fishing or sailors. But Harry seemed unconcerned. "It won't stop us from loading the boats will it?"

"Nah - " Biggs said, taking off his cap and scratching his wizened bald head, "It'll hold off until evening I reckon." He raised his eyes at Harry. "You'd best sleep this morning - we never finish loading the last-minute stuff until mid-night before London market day."

"Right," Harry said. Biggs touched his cap to both of them and flew off.

Ginny helped Harry fold the blankets and then mounted the broom in front of him. She felt a vague disquiet - perhaps because of the approaching weather, or maybe because she knew Harry was going to be busy all day and she wouldn't see him.

He put his arms around her and kissed her shoulder.

"I'll miss you today," she said.

He didn't say anything, but he hugged her tightly, telling her that he would miss her too.