Disclaimer: I own nothing Harry Potter related in real life…only in my dreams am I in any way connected to JKR and the series.
A/N: OK, this plot bunny has been bouncing around my head forever and the style of writing was inspired by ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’. I use a lot of imagery here and I think this is one of the highest quality pieces I’ve written. I hope you enjoy!
Chapter One: Winter Ends
A hundred days have made me older
Since the last time that I saw your pretty face
A thousand lies have made me colder
And I don't think I can look at this the same
But all these miles that separate
Disappear now when I’m dreaming of your face
I'm here without you baby
But you're still on my lonely mind
I think about you baby
And I dream about you all the time
I'm here without you baby
But you're still with me in my dreams
And tonight it's only you and me
-Here Without You by 3 Doors Down
Tears. A raging river of tears streamed down Ginny’s face, pooling on and absorbing into her cloak as she watched Harry’s retreating back from her chair at Dumbledore’s funeral. The tears were certainly not of joy, but of sadness and heartbreak. She was sad for Harry and his quest for Voldemort, for the pain he was feeling, for Dumbledore, and lastly for herself. She now came to know the sheer torture of true love’s heartbreak.
Torn, shattered, numb and unfeeling, Ginny rose from her chair and went toward the lake. In its pristine depths, she saw her desperate, teary-eyed self looking hopelessly back at her, knowing that only one thing could heal her broken heart…Harry; the one person she couldn’t have because he didn’t want her.
It’s strange how these things turn out. She could have anyone, but wants the one and only who doesn’t feel the same. Like a flower in springtime, it was good while it lasted, but then winter came. Winter was Voldemort, cold, merciless and relentless. The only consolation was that maybe, just maybe, a seed from that flower had survived the winter, and when spring came again, it would be well ready to burst into a multicoloured bloom of possibility.
Ginny hoped that at the end of this war, with no winter, no Voldemort, she and Harry could start fresh and have a plain, simple relationship with no one out to kill them or tear them apart forever.
Two years later to the day, Ginny sat in the same spot, again staring at her teary reflection. Only three things had changed. The war was over, Ginny was dressed in graduation robes, and her tears were of joy, not sorrow. She had made it through her seven years of schooling, lived to tell the tale, and was ecstatic about it. She was going on to play Chaser for the Chudley Cannons after Hogwarts, a concept which thrilled and excited every molecule of her body at just the thought. She’d spend a few days at home before moving to the apartment complex near the field and starting her new life on her own. She often wondered about Harry, who of course would become an Auror along with Ron (Hermione had trained as a Healer) and if, at long last, the seeds of her flower were about to sprout.
This in mind, Ginny turned her fiery head back to the seating area in front of the small platform on the grounds. There sat Ron and Hermione, recently engaged and happily entangled in each other’s arms. Unconsciously, Ginny substituted them out for her and Harry. After almost two years not seeing him, Ginny could still remember every line on his face, ripple of muscle and part of his body that fit so perfectly against hers. The picture was almost palpable with the detail it held.
“Ginny,” said Ron who, with Hermione, had approached Ginny unnoticed as she was off in her own little world. “You ready to go?”
Ginny noticed Ron’s hand around Hermione’s waist and tried not to stare as she nodded yes and followed the happy couple out of the Hogwarts grounds.
The three then Apparated to the Burrow where a congratulatory party was to be held. Ginny arrived and went upstairs to change into her dress robes.
Harry hadn’t been at her graduation. She had been standing near the back of the line with the last name ‘Weasley’, and had had plenty of time to search the crowd for him. But not once did her eyes cross paths with his unmistakable green ones. She had a shadow of a hope that he would be there. But now that he was more famous than ever, and had probably been giving an interview or doing a photo shoot… something much more important.
Changed, Ginny made her way downstairs to meet her guests. All of her family had made it to the party. Her school friends Colin Creevey, Brittany and Kim were also in attendance along with many others. One person who should have been there was Luna Lovegood, but she was currently resting in a wooden box six feet underground. She had sadly been lost in the final battle. Another missing from their number was Dennis Creevey, who had been killed in an attack on his home not even a day after the fall of Voldemort. He died just when everyone thought they were safe.
Ginny beamed at all the happy, smiling faces around her, and felt lucky to have so many people who loved her unconditionally surrounding her. Ginny again searched the crowd, but her efforts were fruitless, as Harry hadn’t attended the party.
Ginny stepped off the last step of the staircase and mingled happily with her guests. She was slightly disappointed at Harry’s absence, even though she hadn’t really expected him to be there.
Try as she might, the past kept creeping up on Ginny, as did the memories she suddenly recalled.
Voldemort had just fallen, Dennis had just died, and Harry, Ron and Hermione had just spent the summer after they should have graduated bullying their brains to work in the sweltering heat and taking their N.E.W.T.s. They had all passed with flying colors and were being offered the most sought after jobs upfront. But, as a group, they decided to take a year off before starting their jobs. That way they knew that they were being hired for skill, not because they were the trio who had defeated Voldemort.
Ginny hadn’t seen hide nor hair of her brother, best friend or Ex since Bill and Fleur’s wedding, and was denied further chances to see them until Christmas Vacation during her seventh year.
The train ride home seemed to stretch on endlessly like writing an exceptionally long History of Magic essay. Ginny was also exceptionally hungry, but as she was sitting in the back of the train after calling in a favour with the Head Boy Michael Corner to get him to take over her Head Girl patrol duties for her, she would have to wait the longest for the food trolley to arrive and soothe the rumbling in her stomach. And to cap it all off, soon she would be seeing Harry and the excitement that was coursing through her body was exploding her senses.
She tried to pass the time with games of Gobstones and Exploding Snap, but her mind was still in a flurry of activity and anticipation, causing her eyebrows to become extremely singed.
Soon, the food trolley arrived and Ginny bought enough food to feed the entire Gryffindor table and have enough leftovers for the Giant Squid to have his fill. Kim and Brit watched in amazement as their friend devoured five pumpkin pasties, twelve chocolate frogs, and three boxes of Bertie Bott’s every flavor beans. They wondered in awe how she kept her perfect hourglass body that made men drool with meals like that. They then answered their own unasked question by reminding themselves that she was the captain of the Quidditch team.
Finally, the Hogwarts Express pulled into Platform 9¾ after what had felt like two weeks of travel. Ginny said quick goodbyes to Kim and Brit and rushed forward with her trunk to meet her welcoming party.
Harry wasn’t there. Oh well Ginny thought to herself, he’s probably at the house.
But Harry wasn’t at the house. Nor was he there for the duration of the winter break, not even for the traditional Weasley Family Christmas. The then non-engaged Ron and Hermione had made it, but not Harry, Ginny thought resentfully. The plus side of the visit, and it did have a plus side, was catching up with her best friend Hermione. They had been sending owls to each other, but seeing her in person was a refreshing change.
This, Ginny pinpointed, was when the ceaseless longing for Harry began. Day and night he filled her thoughts and dreams, and she realized Harry had stolen her heart and wasn’t giving it back. Even if he did return it, it would be torn, mangled and mutilated from the strain it had been through with their break-up and his absence in her life for so long.
Ginny decided in that moment that she was over Harry. He wasn’t there for her then, and he wasn’t there for her now. No one needed someone like that. She was moving on and never looking back… or so she thought.
Her parents had gone all out on the decorations for the party. Streamers of all colors adorned the walls and magically inflated balloons floated lazily near the ceiling and banners flashed congratulatory messages for all the new graduates of Hogwarts.
A few presents sat on the kitchen table, waiting patiently for Ginny to open them. She polished off her third slice of triple chocolate cake and made her way to the head of the table to open her gifts.
The first few were from her family, a new pair of Quidditch gloves, and her new Chudley Cannons jersey among them. One present stood out though. It was long like a pole, yet, oddly, slightly cone shaped at the end. Curious, Ginny ferociously tore at the paper to reveal a brand new broom. It was not just any broom though, it was the Nimbus Xcelerator, and it was just a rumor that they were even being developed; definitely not available to the general public.
Ginny frantically searched for a card from her mystery gift giver, but could find none.
“Well, are you going to stare at it all day, or are you going to give it a go?” came Ron’s voice from the back of the group.
Ginny grabbed her broom and went outside to the Burrow’s feild, around which she quickly took three exhilarating laps.
An hour later, when everyone had ridden the new broom and the guests had left, Ginny took her new broom up to her room where she propped it carefully up against the wall and wondered about her mystery gift giver. He/she had to be well connected to be able to get one of these before they came on the open market. Could it be…? Ginny pushed the thought from her mind. She was moving on.
Ginny pulled out her thoroughly non-magical diary; she had had enough of the magical kind for a lifetime and a half, and wrote the events of the day into it.
For old times sake, she flipped back to past entries and stopped on one at random. It was the entry for the day after Voldemort had died.
Dear Diary,
It has been a week since I’ve last written, which I’m usually very good at doing every day. I haven’t written for so long for the same reason I wasn’t fighting alongside my friends at the final battle; I was in a coma. It was mysterious circumstances in which I became incapacitated. I was eating dinner at home and my pumpkin juice tasted a little funny, but then again I had a cold and a stuffed nose, so everything tasted a little off, and I suddenly felt very sleepy. I went up to my room, and when I woke, I was told I had been asleep for a week and that Harry had defeated Voldemort just the day before. Curious timing isn’t it? I looked into it and couldn’t find anything of use on the subject, so I gave up and have resigned myself to the fact that I will never know what happened to myself. I’ll write again tomorrow.
-Ginny
To the present day Ginny still didn’t know what had happened to her.
Ginny’s last week at the Burrow passed in a flurry of happiness, sadness and a ceaseless flow of tears from Mrs. Weasley at the thought of her last child leaving the nest.
Not soon enough for Ginny, and all too soon for her mother, it was time for moving out. Around six last goodbye hugs were given along with useless advice like ‘don’t leave food cooking too long or you’ll burn it’, which Ginny had known practically her entire life.
“Don’t worry about me mum, I’ll be fine. I’ll send lots of owls to keep you posted,” Ginny reassured her frantic and worried mother. “Bye.”
With that, Ginny Apparated to her new dorm.
The building stood tall and gleaming in the afternoon sunlight. People loitered about the entrance with a distinctly fresh-out-of-Hogwarts look to them. Ginny spotted a cute blonde haired boy on her way in and waved. He waved back and seemed friendly enough. Maybe she would be able to find a guy here.
Ginny was halfway up her fifth flight of stairs (the elevator was broken) and was exhausted from dragging her trunk when she remembered she was a witch and levitated it the rest of the way. Relieved of her burden, she quickly made her way to the eighth floor where she would be staying.
“Room 210, room 210,” Ginny muttered to herself as she walked down the hall. “Room 210!” she announced loudly when she had finally found the right door.
Suddenly, the door to her right flew open, and in the entrance to the room stood Hermione.
“Hermione!” exclaimed Ginny, abandoning her trunk to give her best friend a hug. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m the team Healer.”
“Well that’s great, Hermione! Now I have someone I know here.”
“I’m not the only person you know here,” said Hermione as Ron stepped out of the room behind her.
“Ron!” Ginny said as she enveloped him in a hug too. “Why didn’t you tell me that you were the Keeper for the team?”
“Wanted to surprise you.”
“This is great! Now I know two people.”
“Three,” corrected Ron.
“Three? Who-”
“Hi, Ginny,” came a familiar voice from behind her. Ginny whipped around and her eyes met the unmistakable green ones that belonged to Harry Potter.
Ginny was rendered speechless.
Harry said, “Did you miss me?”
Maybe a seed from the flower had survived the winter after all.
Next chapter’s title: A Sprout Wilted