Chapter 16 Walking On Broken Glass
Harry was awakened by the sunlight that was shining on his face. He felt a splitting headache, and was extremely dizzy, undoubtedly from a hangover. Lying on the sofa underneath a warm blanket, his body and neck were sore and his vision was blurry. After spotting the butterflies all over the ceiling, it suddenly dawned on him that he was in Aria’s house the entire night. He panicked and bolted up so violently that the blanket unraveled off him and tumbled to the floor, as details of what happened last night quickly flooded his mind. Thankfully, he realized he was fully dressed because he had a nasty feeling in his head that he wasn’t. Peering nervously across the living room, the house was eerily silent. He noticed the fireplace that was burning so fiercely last night had gone out. The incense was no longer burning but the suffocating aroma still lingered in his mind. The beer pitcher was still on the table. His jacket was folded neatly on the coffee table in front of him. On top of his jacket were his glasses, and they had been repaired. Aria was nowhere to be seen. He hastily put on his glasses, grabbed his jacket, and started to walk towards the door.
“Harry, you’re awake!”Aria suddenly jumped downstairs happily and hurried towards him with her arms outstretched.
Clearly startled by her abrupt appearance in the room, he gasped and his jacket fell out of his grip. Dying from embarrassment and his cheeks in flames, he immediately reached for it. But for some reason, all the butterflies decided to swarm on it as well. Aria noticed him too preoccupied brushing the butterflies off, so she grabbed the edge on the opposite side, trying playfully to yank it away from him.
“STOP IT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING??” he complained angrily, immediately bolting up.
“Relax, Harry! I was just helping you pick it up! That’s all!” she snickered wildly.
Pretending that he didn’t hear her immature taunts, he finally overpowered her and pulled it away from her. His cheeks were redder than ever from embarrassment and also rage; he was mad at her and mad at himself.
“All right, all right,” she sighed and shrugged her shoulders innocently. He regained his footing and immediately looked away.
Trying to suppress her giggles, she continued to tease him, “What do you think? Does this pin look good on me?”
She spun around and collapsed into him deliberately. As they collided, his vision suddenly became hazy and Aria’s face became Ginny’s face. He had remembered seeing Ginny spinning happily just like that and then crashing into him when he gave her a butterfly hairpin as a present not too long ago. He shook his head and as he slowly regained his vision, he could see Aria wearing the same pin.
“I was just about to make you some breakfast. What would you like to eat?” she asked enthusiastically, rubbing heavily against him.
“ARIA, PLEASE!” he bellowed and pulled away once again.
He could not take this anymore. The guilt, the consequences, and the idea of hurting and losing Ginny as a result of his reckless behavior were too much to bear. Spending the entire night here and letting her invade him telepathically was the biggest mistake of his life. He had wanted to cover his ears but he realized his hands were too busy clutching the jacket. Aria stood there smiling and gazing at him, following his footsteps, as he quickly gathered up his shoes that were spread across the floor.
“I better go,” he muttered as he got up and walked towards the door.
Her smile suddenly disappeared. Blinking very quickly, she whimpered, “What?”
“I am sorry. Last night was a mistake. I made a huge mistake. I betrayed Ginny. It shouldn’t have happened. I shouldn’t have followed you here. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have gotten drunk and lost my senses. It was a mistake. It will never happen again. I am truly very sorry,” he blurted out as he paused at the doorway, his back towards her.
“It shouldn’t have happened. I said we were just friends. And you’re my professor. What have I done??” he was struggling for words.
“I have to go. Goodbye Aria. I am truly sorry,” he finally inserted and walked out, his stomach churning in pain.
Heartbroken, Aria was once again gazing at his fading footsteps, hopelessly longing for him to turn back and give her one last look. But it was not to be. He had disappeared. She stared at the doorway with her tear-filled eyes, too numb to move.
Suddenly, she saw a shadow of a person appearing from the doorway. It was Harry. He had come back. A bright smile appeared on her face at the sight of him coming back into the house, as if her wish had finally come true. She gazed intensely and enthusiastically into his green eyes, with a look of eager anticipation on her face, believing he had finally turned back for her and be with her.
“Hmm… I forgot that I am in your world right now. You never told me how to leave here,” he said sheepishly.
Her smile quickly vanished from complete disillusionment by what he just said as her hopes went up in smoke.
“You don’t even want to stay for breakfast?” she gave it one last try.
“No, I’m not hungry. I just want to go,” he replied, averting her eyes.
There was a long pause and the room fell silent. Aria slowly turned away, trying to hide her crushed contorted face.
“Just go back to the mirror and walk through it,” she uttered chokingly, biting her lip and trying to sound strong.
“Aria, I’m sorry,” he muttered and sped away, as if staying for even one second longer with her would be too disgusting for him.
“HARRY!” she roared as she turned to the doorway with her arm desperately outstretched. But he was already gone.
The house that was just filled with energy moments ago was now overflowing with loneliness and silence. The music that was playing endlessly last night when they made love had stopped; the sofa was conspicuously empty and the dinner table had no one sitting on them. It was so lifeless the butterflies had also left the house. Sighing deeply from heartbreak, Aria walked tiredly to the table. She grabbed the pitcher and devoured all the leftover beer from last night in one gulp. With beer spilling all over her face, she despairingly tossed the pitcher onto the floor, shattering it. Broken glass was all over the floor. Barefoot because she wanted to make Harry more comfortable by appearing shorter than him, she wearily trudged to the coffee table, inadvertently walking over the broken glass. She believed she had done everything to please him, but it was all a wasted effort. Too numb to sense any pain from her bloodied feet, she picked up the blanket from the sofa and hugged it tenderly. She felt his aroma and warmth from his residual body heat. Tears instinctively spilled out of her eyes but she wasn’t crying; her face was as stoic and pale as ever. She violently yanked the butterfly pin out of her hair. The pin was the same one she gave to Harry as a present to Ginny. As she stared at it with her ghostly eyes, the enchanted pin was fluttering its wings anxiously. Glaring into the open space, she clutched it tightly against her chest and collapsed onto the glass-filled floor.
When I See Only You by gossipweaver
Chapter Notes: Harry+Ginny+Aria? Aria knows someone has to be the casualty and she is determined that it is not going to be her.