And What If She Screamed?
Ginny Weasley
By ThatRomantic

She had to put on a brave face for him. That’s what you do for the ones you love, you don’t let go but you don’t show your distress. You tell them that everything is going to be fine without them. You don’t show that every breath you take once you’ve said those words makes your lungs ache and your heart shatter. So that’s what she did. She was strong so he couldn’t see the ultimate torment ripping through her very soul.

It was inevitable. Dumbledore’s death had sealed the fate of Harry James Potter but it didn’t mean she had to agree. She agreed to his face of course; told him she understood and that she had seen it coming. She had seen it coming but she had hoped it wasn’t true. That he wouldn’t leave on some ‘save-the-world’ adventure. She hated that about him, and loved it at the same time; the predictability of him trying to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. That this war was only his to bear. That no one else could possibly understand or know what it feels like, that they couldn’t take the pressure. It hurt her to see him take that burden upon himself. So she told him the speech she’d rehearsed since she was in third year.

She had always felt a little stupid and vain to believe they would get together eventually. They had. For seven glorious months they had been one, like she had always wanted. They had been ‘Harry and Ginny,’ ‘boyfriend and girlfriend,’ ‘going out’; but she also knew that eventually, when he got his thick head into gear, she’d have to say the things she did because she knew him. She knew he’d go off with Ron and Hermione on some big adventure to save the world like they always did, and that it’d be ‘too dangerous’ for her. Bollocks to that. But she let him think that for his own peace of mind.

That was why, after the funeral, the first thing she did was go to her room at the Burrow. She ran there as fast as she could, holding back her tears as best she could. Despite this, a few small tears leaked from her eyes.

She had to get away from all of them. She hated having brothers; they were so overprotective and didn’t understand. She loved them but with a combination of six brothers and a coddling mother, she felt smothered. There wasn’t a moment’s peace in the house and sometimes all she needed was time to herself. That was why nabbed Fred’s wand to make the walls soundproof. She cast a silencing charm, locked the door and barricaded the entrance. Once she had finished the task at hand she slid down the door and sat on the floor. She curled herself up, tucking her feet under her, and did something she hadn’t done before.

She cried over a boy. The thing was, she wasn’t just sad, she was angry with him too. His hero complex, that had seemed so endearing to her before, frustrated her then. He always had to run in head first without thinking. Questions ran through her head at a rapid pace as the tears streamed freely down her cheeks. Why was he so incompetent sometimes? His irrational protection of her was so angering. That’s what her brothers did and she really didn’t want another person to do the same. Why didn’t he let her in? What had she done to deserve this total disrespect? Could he not see that she was just as capable as the other two, maybe even more so in Ron’s case? She had been in the DA with him and learnt just as much as they had. She had gone to the Department of Mysteries with them and risked her life just as they had. Why only them? She understood that they were his best friends but she was his girlfriend. She had loved him for longer than she could remember and now he expected her to sit around and wait for him to get home. Was he going to come back? Was he going to die? She didn’t want to think about that. She didn’t know what she would do without him. Does he know how much she fucking loves him? The thought of him not knowing before he left and how broken she’d be if he did scared her more than anything. Why does he have to leave?

Why does he have to leave? This was the question that echoed in her skull, creating a headache. The question that made her cry bloody murder. The question that caused her heart to retch and her lungs to empty of air. The most unanswered question of them all that made her face distort, her throat run dry and the love she had for him pull at her insides. There was no answer to that pinnacle question. The question that she had no doubt in her mind he could not answer himself. The one that made her curl up into a ball to hold herself together and made her scream one phrase until her throat was sore. The one phrase that would solve all her problems, all their problems and that she cried herself to sleep to saying, that night and every night for the next nine months.

“DON’T LEAVE!�

And What If They Kissed?
Neville and Luna
By ThatRomantic

They were sitting in the library, hidden at the back. Since the beginning of term Neville, Ginny, and Luna had all been trying to do the things that the ‘Golden Trio’ would do if they were still in Hogwarts. People were more scared now than ever before, and they needed someone, somewhere, to turn to when things went wrong. That was where they came in. Neville couldn’t help but feel proud of himself for helping the cause. Anything to help.

He looked over to the two girls who were working just as hard as he to ensure that they were prepared for anything. McGonagall had given them permission for the Restricted Section of the library. It had taken weeks to convince her, but once she saw just how dedicated they were to the cause she had granted them unlimited access.

Ginny was concentrating with a harsh look of determination on her face. Neville understood that she wanted this war to be over quickly. She loved Harry, and knew that the only way for them to be together was for the defeat of Voldemort to happen. She was the driving force behind the whole operation, and was the one who reminded them all that it was for a good cause.

She had changed, he noticed, grown up a little. She hadn’t given in to the male attention she still attracted the way she had before. Neville knew that she was holding on for Harry’s return, but he couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. She’d waited six years to be with him, and then he had gone off chasing the darkest wizard in history. That wasn’t the worst part for Neville though. The worst part would be if Harry had to die. It was an option that he’d thought about time and time again. Even, Neville had thought, if it was that he died for us to win, he would still be dead. Ginny would be heartbroken. That would break his heart too, to watch her suffer. They had become closer friends during their rebellion, and he loved her as a sister now.

Luna was the brains behind it all. He’d always liked Luna, probably because she was slightly misunderstood – like him – but he didn’t like to overanalyse things too much. She always seemed so serene to him with her long flowing blonde hair and big dreamy blue eyes. The quirky charms that hung around her neck and the odd mismatched earrings added to her beauty for him, because she was. Beautiful. He just didn’t know how to let her know that without her looking knowledgably through her sapphire eyes as if to say, ‘I know that’s what you think.’ She was eerily clever in the way that Hermione wasn’t. Hermione was book-smart, but Luna was more than just that. Sure she knew all the answers, but she was wise too. She read the books on the dark arts in a way that only she could, with the far-away look in her eyes, and occasionally turn the page. Like she wasn’t actually reading, but more absorbing the text in front of her.

Neville had never really understood what their relationship was. Whether it was just friends or a little bit more, but he didn’t really know how to find out for sure; all he knew was that when the chance presented itself for him to find out, he’d take it.

Neville was snapped out of his thoughts when a frustrated noise came from the direction of what seemed to be a very irate red head. She didn’t say anything, just slammed the book she was reading shut and stomped out of the library. Neville knew that she had come to the point where studying the spells seemed futile. He felt that too, sometimes. Sometimes he thought to himself that it was pointless, because nothing would cure his parents of their insanity, but then the Carrows would say something about ‘Mudbloods,’ or he’d see Snape torturing a first year, and he’d be reminded that what they were doing was going to help.

“Just us two, then,� he said to Luna. She looked up at him, her bright eyes sparkling beautifully in the candlelight. She smiled her distant smile and nodded before looking back at her book. They continued in silence for a while, only the sound of fragile pages being turned between them, until Neville came across something that he couldn’t understand. He walked around to ask Luna what it meant and then it happened, faster than lightning. He tripped on a chair leg and somehow his lips landed on hers. Before he knew it, he was kissing her properly, because this was his chance. His chance to finally find out if they were destined to be something more. Ten seconds later he pulled away. He had got his answer.

He knew that was not how it was supposed to feel. He’d never had a sister, but if he had, that was what it would feel like to kiss her. He coughed and proceeded to ask her the question, and the event was never spoken of again.