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Light From An Open Window | ||||||
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Category: Post-OotP, Buried Gems Characters:Harry/Ginny Genres: Angst, Fluff Warnings: None Story is Complete Rating: PG Reviews: 41 Summary: A warm summer night, some pensive thinking, a broomstick ride-the beginning of a new friendship and perhaps something more. Harry sees Ginny in a new light, and Ginny falls in love all over again. A night of dark memories, light-hearted conversation, deep understanding, and the glimpse of light peering from a newly opened window. In five parts. Written from the alternating perspectives of Harry and Ginny. Hitcount: Story Total: 20622; Chapter Total: 3970 |
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Part 5 Harry leapt up. His broomstick was back in his hand before he even realised that he’d reached for it. “What are you doing, Harry?” Ginny asked, somewhat bemusedly. “I’m going for a fly. I need to clear my head. Want to come?” “I don’t know…will we be going really, really fast?” she asked, a frown on her face. Harry paused a moment. “Well…” “Are you going to attempt one of those deadly plummets, pulling up inches before death, or almost certain paralysation?” “Umm…”. He had been thinking of something like that. It was his favourite type of flying — it certainly got the heart racing and cleared your mind of anything unrelated to flying. But now that Ginny had mentioned it, maybe it wasn’t such a good idea with two people on a broom… Ginny grinned at him. “Cos a near-death experience is just what I could use after all this heart-wrenching darkness we’ve been carrying on with tonight. Merlin! I think they might have to lock the two of us up one day, don’t you think?” Harry smiled. This was why he found it hard not to like Ginny. She made light of everything, and at the same time, she understood the seriousness. But Ginny didn’t let it drag her down. Hopefully, she would teach him her secret. But in the meantime… “Well don’t just sit there then! C’mon!” Harry mounted the Firebolt, and Ginny sat on it behind him. “Hold tight,” was all he had time to tell her, before he kicked off and flew like a rocket into the sky. Ginny made no sound, but he felt her arms tighten around his waist. When he had reached a height of at least three times that of the trees below, he hovered a moment. “Are you ready?” “Let’s go!” Harry pointed the tip of the broom in a sharp nosedive, and the two of them plummeted to the ground. The air whistled through their ears and Harry’s eyes were streaming with the powerful speed of the Firebolt. With barely a second to spare, Harry remembered to pull out of the dive. He had to pull hard, to make up for the extra weight. Their toes skimmed the grass, and Ginny relaxed her hold. “You know, Harry. I understand everything now. Even down to why you love to fly so much. It’s — it’s like being weightless, isn’t it? Like having some sort of release. Up there, you’re not attached to the world, or to anything, except the air, your broom and yourself.” Ginny sighed. “It’s pure freedom.” Harry twirled a tendril of red hair that had crept onto his shoulder around his finger. “Sometimes I wish I could stay up there,” he confessed. He glided the broom two feet gently above the ground. “Was this what you were doing before…before you came to my window?” she asked. Harry nodded. “Do you do it often?” “Mainly it’s just when I really can’t take things anymore.” “Like tonight.” “Like tonight,” Harry confirmed. “I wonder…” Ginny mused. Harry was curious. “Wonder what…?” he asked. “Nothing, really. I was just thinking.” Harry snorted as a stray thought crossed his mind. “Do you think Ron and Hermione are going to be open about each other, or will they hide it a bit longer?” “Probably hide it…oh no!” Ginny cried. “What? What is it?” Harry the broom to a quick halt, and swivelled around to look at Ginny. “We’ve got to get back! Hermione’s probably already returned and will be wondering where I’ve got to. Hopefully she doesn’t call out the search party.” “Are you really sure that she’ll be back by now?” Harry asked, a smirk on his face. Ginny hit him on the shoulder. “Prat. Where has this Harry Potter come from all of a sudden? What happened to the mournful, moody one I was just with?” Harry shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know,” he answered truthfully. “I don’t feel much better. I guess he comes and goes. I’m still not happy about you and the others wanting to involve yourselves all the time. But… it’s…I don’t know.” He went quiet a moment. “I think it’s you Ginny.” Ginny was surprised and a little perplexed. “Me? What do you mean?” You’re the one who makes me feel a little lighter he wanted to say. Something had flared in him after talking with Ginny. He had just recognised what it was. Hope. The kind of hope that brings strength, and the ability to endure. The kind that can only be given, not found. Ginny had given it to him. Had nearly whacked him around the head with it to be honest. And that was when Harry decided he wanted Ginny to stay as his friend. He needed her, in a way he’d never thought he’d ever need the youngest Weasley. But he couldn’t find the words to shape his answer, and right now he wasn’t too sure that he’d be able to say it properly anyway, without getting either of them embarrassed or confused. “I’ll take you back to your window, now then,” he said quietly. Ginny held on as Harry swept the broom back into the air, and headed to the Burrow. Her mind was all in a whirl. It hadn’t exactly been the night of her dreams. Harry wasn’t falling all over her in a rush to confess his undying love. There was no shining silver armour, no evil monster slain, no tall tower reflected in the sunset. But he had said that he needed her. Not in so many words — but it was there. She was nearly overwhelmed with all the emotions racing through her and conflicting with each other. Distress over the contents of the prophecy; resolution that Harry would succeed; shared grief and sympathy for him; a rekindling of the love that had been put aside for so long. Her heart warred with her mind over what feeling should take precedence, and it was a furious battle. Love that had once seemed so flimsy had grown into a firm and solid entity. She could not push it aside again. Instead, with the determined effort of one who is used to doing such things, she found a quiet corner of her mind in which to base her thoughts, while the rest battled on. Still, Ginny felt as though her heart would burst. She had been through so much. So had he. And now finally, they would help each other. Her soul twisted as she thought of the prophecy. He will do it, she thought firmly. I know he will do it. All he has to do is believe it too. And I will help him. Harry shivered, and instinctively Ginny wrapped her arms tighter, as though to keep him warm. “What is it, Harry?” At first she thought he wasn’t going to answer. Then he slowed the broom. They were perhaps a few short paces from the Burrow, but worry about being seen was the last thing in Ginny’s mind. There was simply too much else going through it. “I…I’m scared, Ginny. What if I can’t do it?” Oh Harry. Ginny wished she could show him just how much she believed in him — she wanted to pass that belief on to him in a bundle, so that he would never have to feel the fear and pain anymore. But she could only try to express what she knew. “You will Harry.” “But how can you just say that?” “Because I know you can do it.” “How do you know?” “Because I believe in you. If not you, then who else? You saved me, didn’t you…” “Yes, but…” “But nothing. It’s okay to be scared, Harry. I think that’s what makes us human. But you will do it, and you will survive. And what’s more, you won’t be alone — ever. Ron and Hermione will stand by you always, and I’ll be there too.” “But Ginny…” “Don’t ‘but Ginny’ me, Harry James Potter. Accept the fact that we are your friends and we love you.” “You do?” he asked quietly. Her breath caught in her throat. “I do,” she whispered back. Harry glided the broom back to Ginny’s open window. A glance inside told him that the room was still vacant. Gently he helped Ginny off the broom and onto the window sill. She tripped as she got down from the window, but his hand was there to steady her. Grasping it, she clambered down, and turned to face him with a flushed look on her face. “Thankyou Harry,” she said. “I should be thanking you.” She smiled. “You already have. But I never got to thank you. For taking me for a fly, for never teasing me, for being my friend, for saving me in the Chamber…” He looked away. “You don’t need to…” “Stop interrupting me! Now, where was I? Oh yes, thankyou — for saving me, and for then trusting me.” She leant out the window, and caught hold of his hand. Pulling him closer, Harry was breathless when she lightly kissed his cheek. Wide-eyed he could only stare at her. She stared back for a moment, and then she laughed. “Oh, your face, Harry!” she chuckled. “What was that for?” How could she just say that, then do that, then …then laugh? On top of everything else, Harry was thoroughly confused. “I told you. For everything. For saving my life, for being my friend. To remember that I am your friend, and that you will get through this. With all of us behind you. And…to remind you that I’ll always be here when you need me.” “What, here in the window waiting for me to fly past again?” he joked, trying to lighten what he feared could become another heavy moment. She smiled. “Maybe. But don’t let me catch you spying on me again Harry Potter!” “But look what comes of it. You learn so much from eavesdropping.” “Do you?” she murmured absently. Do you? he wondered. He thought of how calm Ginny made him feel. How she argued with him, and comforted him. How she made him laugh, and tried to force his stubborn self to his senses. How she was incredibly stubborn too. He thought about hearing her confession to the stars, and then he thought of the small certainty which was slowly growing inside himself. He tucked a stray lock of red hair behind her ear. “You do.” Ginny could’ve started dancing on the spot. He likes me! He likes me! He really does! she cried. Then her annoying habit of contradicting herself piped up again. He’s never said that you know. You’re just friends. Pshaw. Friends was a start. A year ago she would’ve given anything for Harry to have even noticed her, let alone declare them friends. All right, so the night hadn’t been perfect, but at least one thing was going right for her. She had kissed Harry Potter. And he hadn’t run away. Instead he was watching her with a funny light in his eyes. Ginny sighed. His very, very green eyes. “Ginny,” Harry started hesitantly. “What about Dean?” “Dean?” Ginny was confused for a moment. Then she remembered, and she laughed. Merlin, all she wanted to do was keep laughing. At anything and everything. “Oh, right. Did you really believe that? I just told Ron I was interested in Dean because he’s always poking his nose into my supposed love-life. Him and my five other extremely pesky brothers.” “So…so you don’t — I mean, you’re not going out with him?” Why was he asking her that? Her heart did a funny sort of flip. “No. Never. He’s not really my type. I think he likes Anna Pritchett anyway.” “Oh,” was Harry’s only reply. Ginny was curious. Just what was that supposed to mean? Damn Harry and his questions! She had helped him through hell tonight, and now he was going to leave her wondering again! Don’t be so selfish, her inner voice reprimanded. Besides, you said you wanted to be able to help him, and you have. Admit it, you liked that more than any mushy stuff with little meaning attached to it. Liked was perhaps not quite the right word for it, Ginny reflected, but the essence of that statement was true. Voices echoed up from below, and Harry dived into the shadows against the house. Ginny ducked down, hopeful that no one had seen. “C’mon, Ron. We’ve got to get back. Do you realise how long we’ve been out here?” “Oh, Hermione, stop worrying.” “No — what if Ginny has been wondering where I’ve been all this time?” “I’m sure she’s probably asleep.” Ginny snorted. Carefully, she peeped out the window. Ron and Hermione had disappeared inside. Any moment now, and they’d both be upstairs. “It’s okay, Harry — they’re gone. Harry?” There was no answer. She leaned out the window and saw that he had flown away and was nowhere to be seen. Ginny sighed, and reached for the curtains. “Goodnight Harry,” she whispered to the night, and then drew the curtains shut. Harry soared skyward. He closed his eyes and let the wind rush through his hair. He opened them again when he had gone high enough, and stared into the twinkling abyss of the night sky. He was no longer drowning in the darkness of the night, but bathing in the twinkling of starfire that was lighting up the heavens. Like a tender caress, the breeze felt as though the love of his parents and Sirius was wrapping him in a blanket of protection. With sudden intuition, Harry knew that although they were not able to be there for him in person, he would never be without their support. He was always watched, and he felt all the more at peace because of it. Ginny had done this. She had not destroyed ever inch of the darkness that had earlier threatened to overwhelm him. He doubted that anything could get rid of that completely. But she had somehow managed to instil in his mind a sense of hope. No, not in his mind. In his soul. Harry sighed as he reflected that maybe happiness was achievable, even in the midst of such complete turmoil. He would try to remember that Ron and Hermione didn’t need him to look after them all the time. He knew that he needed their friendship, more than anything else, and that it wasn’t worth trying to push them away. Doing so would only hurt them all far more, than allowing them the right to choose to remain by his side. And it was their right. He could see that now. He could never ask for better friends. They might not really be able to understand what he was going through, but at least they made an effort to try. They were loyal, and brave, and as close to him as family. And Ginny? Harry smiled as he thought of her cajoling, teasing, yelling at and sympathising with him, all in the space of one night. He was shocked to admit to himself that he was sorry to have never really noticed the person that was Ginny Weasley before. Her offering of pure friendship and understanding was something his soul had been craving without him realising. Ginny had dared to go where few were willing — she had trespassed on the inner sanctum of Harry’s pain, and managed to emerged almost completely unscathed, dragging Harry with her. He hoped she would always be there to do it, just as she had promised. Although he was unsure about admitting it, Harry found he wanted to make sure that she came to know just how much he valued everything she had done, and was doing for him. And just how do you plan on showing her that, Potter he asked himself. Her self-confession had suggested that she couldn’t help but be there for him — that she still held some kind of stronger feelings for him. His cheeks burned in response. Could it be at all possible…? He shook his head smiling. I don’t know… His fingers brushed across his cheek, where Ginny had left her ‘thankyou’. He had found a small piece of freedom tonight, and he knew that that was what he would fight for. This was what the prophecy will deliver. It wasn’t the normal humdrum life Harry has been dreaming of; no — this was so much more. Harry flew high and felt the release of something that had been pent up inside him. The light from the newly opened window in his soul was shining brightly. A/N Thankyou to everyone who has reviewed! To those who haven’t, please do — I love to hear what people think. I’m very proud of my first little foray into the world of fanfic! Thankyou so very much! This was just my little vision of the starting point something between Ginny and Harry. As much as they got through in one night, I didn’t think Harry would be quite ready for romance, even though Ginny yearns for it (poor dear). Possibly, with time… Sequel is up - Light Reflected. Please Read and Review!! |
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