A Simple Flower
Harry spent the rest of the day avoiding people, his head never stopping with cursing and worry. Why had he been so stupid? Instead of running from the people who cared, couldn’t he just have confided in them that he was feeling overwhelmed? Nevertheless, he hadn’t yet worked out what he was going to do to apologise to Ginny, so he never went down to dinner, complaining of a headache.
At five to eight, he reluctantly dawdled down to the Great Hall, hoping that maybe he would get a chance to speak with Ginny on her own. He had to explain why he hadn’t told her about the marks across his chest, and he wanted to do it properly.
When he walked through the great oak doors, he was heartened to find that, not only were a lot of people already congregated there, but that he could see a few Slytherins in the crowd. Heads turned as he entered, and nervousness kicked in.
“Hello,” he said shakily to the mass of faces. “Er, are you all here for the meeting?”
“Of course we’re here for the meeting,” called Zacharias Smith, who was near the front of the congregation. “Why else would we be here?”
“I think what Harry meant to say,” said Hermione, appearing from the edge of crowd and going to stand beside Harry. “Is ‘thank you all for coming’.”
“Great,” said Zacharias, “now, can we get on with it?”
“Look, why are you here if you can’t be bothered to listen?” Ginny had stepped forward and was staring him in the face. Harry winced at her unwavering loyalty. “Do you want to learn?” Zacharias nodded sheepishly. “Then shut your face and let the people with some sense do the talking.” She stepped back and looked at Hermione as though nothing had happened.
“Er… thanks Ginny,” said Hermione. “We really do want to get on, so if your just going to be like him “ “ she shot a glare at Zacharias “ “ then I suggest you leave now.”
“Or face her,” added Ron, gesturing to Ginny.
Nobody moved.
“Right then,” said Harry, now that his friends had got order. “Let’s move these tables.
Once they had cleared a space in the middle of the Hall they divided into two groups: one for previous members of the DA, the other for new members. There were at least thirty new faces in the second group, which gave Harry a small confidence boost.
“Can you teach us how to conjure a Patronus?” asked a tiny, awestruck first year, his wide eyes gaping at Harry’s forehead.
“Er, I’ll try,” answered Harry, doubting that this happy little chap could ever imagine just what it was like to face a Dementor.
The boy’s eyes widened further, if that was possible, and he started to whisper frantically to his friend.
“Okay, well you all know why you’re here,” Harry told everyone. “There will be meetings throughout the summer as well as during school time, for anyone who’s interested. Dumbledore has given us the job of being the Order’s youth movement, for all those who are still at school but want to be part of the adults’ work, so we really are important this time.”
An excited murmur rippled through the crowd.
“But we want to have fun as well,” added Ron.
“Yeah,” agreed Harry. “So I guess new members can start with some simple disarmament, just to get you going, and old members can decide what they want to try. We’ll have a vote.”
Now he’d got into it, the meeting wasn’t seeming so bad, but then he glanced at Ginny, and she averted her eyes. A guilty pang twinged in Harry’s gut, and his stomach clenched uncomfortably. I’ll deal with it later, he thought, and tried to concentrate on the meeting.
After half an hour of new members shouting “Expelliarmus!” and old members shrinking each other’s feet so that they fell over, an overwhelming sense of fatigue crept up on Harry, and he found that he had to sit down.
“Are you all right?” asked Hermione, taking a break to come and join him.
“Tired,” grunted Harry.
“You look it,” said Hermione anxiously. “We’ll finish up here if you want to go to bed.”
“Yeah, thanks,” mumbled Harry gratefully, and he dragged himself out of the Hall.
Just as he put his foot on the first step, however, he heard a small voice behind him, and his heart jumped.
“Harry,” said Ginny, and he turned to see her standing in the high doorway to the Great Hall, “where are you going?”
“Bed,” he muttered. “See you in the morning,” and he started to climb the marble staircase once more.
“Why are you being like this?” her voice echoed around his head.
“Why are you being like this when I just told you I’ll see you in the morning?” Harry yelled, turning on her.
Her eyes widened and she stared at him in shock. Harry shuddered at his own behaviour and her expression. Complete confusion racked her features, and they both stood, glued to the spot.
“What am I doing?” thought Harry. “She’s trying to help me.”
“You’re damn right I’m trying to help you,” said Ginny fiercely. “What the hell’s your problem?”
“Sorry, I “ I don’t know what came over me…”
She looked at him, her gaze boring into his.
“You’ve flipped,” she muttered, and she turned and strode back into the Great Hall.
As Harry lay in bed that night, he felt the darkness closing in on him. He began to shiver, then his back stiffened painfully, and, like lightning, unbearable pain spasmed across his chest, causing him to cry out and writhe and twist in his bed. The world went black around him, and he could hear a faint scuttling sound as the pain subsided to a dull ache. His usually plush bed had become as hard as a rock, and he could feel movement around his hands and feet, which were suddenly freezing cold.
“Get out the way!” said a familiar voice from far away. “Get out the way!”
Harry opened his eyes, and was relieved to find that he was back in his bed. Ron was looking over him, and Seamus, Dean and Neville were dithering a metre or so away, all looking undecided as to what they should do.
“What happened?” asked Ron, bending in as if he didn’t want the others to hear. “Was it “ Voldemort?”
Harry shook his head, then pushed Ron out of the way just in time to vomit promptly over the side of his mattress. The other boys winced, but Ron said: “Let’s go downstairs.”
Harry nodded again, afraid that, if he opened his mouth, his insides would take the chance to escape. Ron helped his out of bed, and they slowly made their way down the stairs, out of the way of prying eyes.
“What happened?” repeated Ron, once they were sitting in the Common Room.
“Not sure,” mumbled Harry, taking the risk of talking now that he felt a little calmer. “It was a kind of… flashback.”
Ron gulped and sat back in his armchair. Harry, however, had decided what he needed to do.
“Er, Ron?” he asked. Ron looked up. “I’ve got to go and find Ginny. Will you go and get my Cloak for me?”
“Ginny?” replied Ron, looking confused. “Won’t she be in bed?”
“No, she’s not,” said Harry, not knowing how he knew. “Will you get it for me? And the map?”
“Sure,” said Ron slowly.
A few minutes later, Harry had thrown on the Cloak, and was creeping through the gloomy castle. He reached the doors in the Entrance Hall and snuck through them, slinking off into the night. As he walked, he conjured a single red rose from thin air, and, slightly impressed with himself, kept walking until he got to the silver birch under which he had lain earlier that day. As he approached, he heard the sound of gentle weeping coming from under the branches, and he started to feel apprehensive.
“Ginny?” he whispered. The crying stopped abruptly. “I “ I’ve come to apologise.”
“You took your time,” replied Ginny’s voice from behind the leaves. Her voice did not sound muffled as any other person’s would have done if they had been crying.
“Yeah, well, I was thinking,” said Harry, staying where he was.
Silence.
“So was I,” said Ginny.
Harry bent down and pushed aside the canopy of leaves. Ginny was sitting there, looking towards the lake. He sat down in front of her and reached up to turn her head towards him. She still looked down, not meeting his eyes.
“Gin, please,” he whispered. Then, when she didn’t look up, he held the red rose towards her. “This is for you.” She didn’t move. “To show you how much I love you.”
“A simple flower?” asked Ginny, still gazing down at the grass beneath them. “You think that will make up for how you’ve treated me?”
“That wasn’t me,” said Harry defiantly. “I haven’t been myself, and I only realised today that I should’ve just talked to you in the first place, rather than trying to deal with it alone. Please, Ginny. I need to talk to you. I need to talk to you rather than shut you out like I have been doing.”
She still did not look at him.
“And what about me, Harry?” she breathed. “What about when I need you, and you’re just trying to figure out what you want?
Harry’s stomach clenched; he could be so stupid sometimes.
“I know I should have been here for you, these past few days, but I wasn’t. I was all wrapped up in my own worries and didn’t think that other people “ you “ were going through the same thing. But, if anything, it’s definitely made me realise… unity is what will win this war, and if I am… well… the ‘Chosen One’ then… I am going to unite this side. No matter what it takes. I just hope that… that you will help me.”
He waited for her to reply with baited breath. But, to his surprise, she just laughed.
“Very commendable, Potter,” she said. The use of his surname relaxed Harry a little “ she only ever called him by it when they were joking around. Ginny looked up, finally, and Harry noticed through the darkness that her eyes were darker than they ever were. “I can’t believe I fell for you. I mean, really, of all the boys in the world, I had to go and fall in love with the one destined to destroy Voldemort.”
“Or be destroyed…” muttered Harry, more to himself than to her.
“Oh God, Harry,” said Ginny, “don’t give me that. Maybe it’s stupid, and maybe we’re all fools for believing in you, but I know that you can do this; I just wish that you knew it, too.”
Her words sank through him, and he found that his breathing was deep and calm. He held out the perfect rose once more and traced it along her cheek, under her chin and down her neck. He felt her skin tingle beneath it, and she made as if to reach out to him, but held back.
“If you want to know how devoted I am to you,” whispered Harry, “kiss me.”
“What?” asked Ginny.
“You can tell everything from a kiss,” continued Harry.
“But “ I’ve kissed you before, Harry,” said Ginny amusedly.
“Let me remind you,” said Harry, and he leant forward.
After what felt like a lifetime, their lips touched.
It felt like their first ever kiss. Hot blood pumped through Harry’s veins, and he felt, for the first time in weeks, that he was really alive, really living and really loving. He decided, in that moment, that this was not a time for depression, grief and misery, but that he had the motivation and the power to change the world. This was no game any longer, this was the destruction of suffering which had haunted the world for too long now.
And he alone could end it.
Coming up in this story...
A spell flashed past them as they leapt down the last few stairs, narrowly missing Harry’s cheek and almost hitting Ron in the back. Harry could hear hurried footsteps not far behind them, and, as they ran through the empty doorway and into the yard, he saw two robed figures appear at the bottom of the stairs. Clutching Ginny’s hand and shooting random spells over his shoulder, he came up with a spontaneous plan, and seized Hermione’s hand as well, checking that the other was holding Ron's. He suddenly knew that he could do what he wanted to do, and gripped on to the two girls’ hands as tightly as he could. It was a horrible sensation, but he could soon no longer hear the footsteps behind him...
A/N: Man I'm good to you guys - two chapters in like 3 days and a taster for what's to come! Please do review - if you think it's good, what is it about it that you like? And if you think it's crap, let me know why, and I can use your advice. Thanks xxx