Hey guys!!!!!I know no-one reads this bit, so i'll make it quick, promise. Thanks to all of those fabulous people who reviewed, it really keeps me writing. To all those people who didn't review.......thanks for reading it, but just know that i am shooting you dark looks. Now, on with the story!!!
Chapter 3
Harry soared through the air, unaware of all things around him. He still couldn’t believe he’d broken up with Sara. He’d done it this morning, right before he’d sent off his letter to Ginny.
"What?" Sara said, sounding both disgusted and shocked. "You-you're breaking up with me?"
She stared at him for a moment, then slowly a look of comprehension dawned on her face. "It was that red-headed girl.....Georgie..."
"Ginny," Harry said through clenched teeth.
"You've been cheating on me!" she yelled. "All this time! I was always loyal, after all that I've had to put up with! And now you're going to kick me out, just like that, for some red-headed slut!"
Harry watched her as she paced the room, muttering to herself. He could feel the anger bubbling up inside of him, but he tried to keep his temper under control.
"All that you've had to put up with! Did I ever continually critisize your looks? No. Did I ever tell you to have removed one of the last links to your dead parents? No. Did I ever buy expensive and unecessary furniture at your expense? No. Did you ever have to put up with being yelled at every other night for no particular reason? No."
Harry paused, catching his breath. "Did you ever feel the pain of being in the with someone else, but not wanting to hurt my feelings? No. Because you have no heart, Sara. And the only way I've treated you is much better than you deserve."
With that, Harry turned and walked out of the house, leaving Sara looking rather put out by this turn of events.
Harry was pulled from his thoughts by a shout. He saw a blur flying towards him, and then everything went dark.
Harry was lying on something hard, darkness surrounding him, with his head throbbing painfully. Somewhere in the distance, he could hear voices yelling his name. “Harry! Harry, can you hear me? Harry!”
Harry heard some more yelling, people running towards him, and a female voice saying, “Occulus Reparo.” He felt something being forced onto his face; he opened his eyes to see a sea of freckled faces and red hair. Before he could even figure out where he was, his vision was once again obscured by a large quantity of bushy brown hair as Hermione hugged him; he could hear her crying into his shoulder.
“That was bloody scary, mate,” Harry looked past Hermione to see most of the Weasley family crowding around him, Ron at the front, his freckled face paler than usual.
“What happened?”
“You took a bludger to the head.”
“You were a bit out of it today, Harry,” Fred said, “not at all up to your usual standard.”
“Something wrong?” Charlie asked.
“Why isn’t Sara here, Harry?” Hermione asked, and Harry could see in her eyes that she already knew.
Knowing this was as good a time as any, he said quietly, “We broke up.”
The Weasleys’ reactions to this statement were just as he had expected. Hermione and Mrs Weasley began fussing over him, telling him he wasn’t to blame, and he mustn’t feel sad. Ron looked as though he wanted to hit something, and he began mumbling mutinously, saying that he’d never really liked her anyway.
Charlie, Mr Weasley and Percy walked over to him and helped him up, reassuring him that it was going to be okay. Lorena, Charlie’s girlfriend, went into the house to make some tea. Fred and George muttered something and then dashed up to the house with horrified looks on their faces, probably to undo some sort of prank that they had set up for Harry. All this only made Harry feel worse; they all seemed to think that Sara had broken up with him.
“Come inside, Harry dear, and we’ll get you something for your head,” Molly said.
For the rest of the day, everyone was much more subdued than usual. None of the Weasleys were saying it, but Harry knew that all of them were thinking about the last time that he had lost a girlfriend. Harry hadn’t told anyone about Ginny, but he knew he had to soon. So just before he left, he gave a note to Hermione.
I have to tell you something. Could you please come to my house as soon as you can. Don’t tell Ron.
Harry
Hermione walked up Harry’s front steps at seven o’clock, after telling Ron she was going out with some friends. She went up to him and said in a soft voice, “alright Harry, what’s wrong?”
“I saw Ginny last night.”
An incredulous look passed over her face. “What? Here? Where is she? Where’s she been?”
“I don’t know where she’s been. She came, and then, well…”
“You kissed her, I know. Then what happened?”
“Sara came down. Then I asked her whether Ginny could stay for a while, and she said yes and then went back to bed. Then Ginny started yelling at me, and she stormed out. I don’t know where she went after that, but I sent her a letter this morning.”
“So you broke up with Sara so you can start seeing Ginny again?”
“No. Well maybe. I don’t want to start seeing her straight away; her family don’t even know she’s alive. I’m going to go away for a while, to let her settle back in. And I’m not sure she’d even want to go out with me; she wouldn’t trust me.”
“Harry, why are you telling me all this?”
“Because I want someone to know what I’m doing, so someone knows I’m alright. And I know you won’t tell anyone about Ginny before she’s ready.”
“Will you come back?”
“I hope so. I’ll really miss you guys. Can you say good-bye to Ron for me, and explain why I couldn’t tell him?”
“Of course. I’ll miss you Harry,” she kissed him on the cheek, walked out the door, and disappeared with a crack, trying not to show him the tears shining in her eyes.
Ginny woke the next morning on the couch, the television still on from the night before. She picked up the remote and turned it off, cutting short whatever the woman on the screen was saying about a new brand of cereal.
She walked into the kitchen, and found Hedwig sitting on the table as she had done the day before, an envelope tied to her leg. The letter seemed to be calling to Ginny, Open me; you know you want to, it was saying. So she did.
This one contained a letter, three more photographs, and a strange slender box. As before, she picked up the parchment first, and began to read.
Looking at your picture from when we first met,
You gave me a smile that I could never forget.
You were a little shy,
But now I don’t know why.
I just want you to know
That I’ve been fighting to let you go
Some days I make it through
And then there’s nights that never end
I wish that I could believe
That there’s a day you’ll come back to me
But still I have to say
I’d like to go and start again
Just want you to know
That since I lost you
I lost myself
I just can’t fake it
There’s no one else
I just want you to know
Ginny could already feel the tears running down her face. To distract herself, she put the parchment down and picked up the pictures. The first showed a group of seemingly unrelated people, grouped together in front of some bookshelves, smiling and waving. A boy she recognised as Colin Creevey was running into the frame; he must have taken the picture.
Remember the old D.A.?
Learned every hex that was ever made
Marietta snitched on us for breaking rules
Since when did we follow them at school?
She smiled despite herself, remembering the purple pustules that probably still remained on Marietta’s face. She looked at the next picture, which was of Bill and Fleur’s wedding. There were lots of people in the photo; her family, Harry, Hermione, some of Bill’s friends, and many confused looking people from France.
We used to sit inside when it was cold out,
Listen to Fleur drowning the radio out.
I’m glad she and Bill got what they deserved
Married with two kids was the last I heard
Her smile widened as she remembered Fleur talking to cover the sound of the radio, which grew ever louder as her mother turned up the volume. She picked up the last photograph, and her heart gave a painful wrench. It showed Harry and Ginny somewhere in Diagon Alley, walking hand in hand. He bent down and kissed her, then noticed their photographer, and smiled sheepishly, before kissing her once more.
You’re the first girl I kissed
You were surrounded but I couldn’t miss.
Some say the first one I kissed was Cho
I’d say it was her that kissed me, though
Ginny stood to walk away, tears still dripping out of her eye, when she remembered the box. She picked it up and studied it, taking in its smooth white surface and velvety lining. She opened it slowly, savouring the moment for reasons she did not understand. She pulled back the blue velvet cloth and gasped.
Lying in the box was the most beautiful piece of jewellery Ginny had ever seen. It was a heart locket on a gold chain, with intricate patterns and tiny diamonds sparkling. She lifted it up and opened the locket, and found a piece of parchment, folded to fit into the heart. She unfolded the paper and read the words that had been so carefully written in green ink that reminded her of Harry’s eyes.
You will always have a place in my heart, and I hope I will have a place in yours, be it as a brother or friend.
It was then that Ginny understood. Harry was not sending her these letters to seduce her, or bring back what had been, despite what he might feel. He was sending her them to help her remember happier times, and to make her feel loved.
She had been selfish by yelling at him, and had probably broken his heart. He was forgiving her for that, so she in turn forgave him for Sara, who had helped him through the grief he must have felt when he lost her. Tomorrow she would go and see him, to tell him she still loved him, and thank him for what he had done for her.
She picked up her locket and summoned a picture of Harry, which she shrunk and put in the locket. She closed it, smiling as she watched Hedwig sail out of the hotel window, for what was hopefully the very last time.
Ta-da! I'm terribly sorry about the wait for the second chapter, hopefully this one won't take as long. Now that this one's in, however, I have to write the fourth and final chapter. That's right, folks. One more chapter and then finito!! *smiles sadly at disappointed faces*
Thankyou Backstreet Boys and the ever fabulous Nickelback for letting me borrow and alter lyrics which don't technically belong to me. Also, I don't own anything else but Sara, who sadly belongs to me.
Speaking of Sara, ouch!!! How about that breakup? I hope some of my anti-Sara fan club will be pleased. I worked rather hard on that.
Until next time........
chlo
xoxo