Chapter 4
Harry grumbled as he slipped into his tiny office, late as always, but much later than normal. A half-empty mug of cold coffee was sitting on his desk, on top of a pile of work he was meant to have done by last week. Newspapers were spread all over his chair, and there were about seven purple memos fluttering near the ceiling. He grabbed the cup of coffee and the old newspapers and went back out of his office, passing the nameplate on the door which always took him by surprise, even after almost three years. Cameron Parker.
He dumped the newspapers in a bin, and went into the bathroom. He tipped the coffee into the sink and rinsed it out. Placing it on the side of the sink, Harry looked up into the mirror. The person in the reflection didn’t look like him, wasn’t him. The sandy blonde hair, the smoky blue-grey eyes, the olive complexion, the piercing in the top bit of his ear. None of that was him. And yet somehow, it was. It was what he had become.
Harry had never intended to become Cameron Parker. But when he had left Ginny standing there on his street three years ago, he hadn’t thought that the pain of being separated from her would be so strong. He’d been okay for five years, hadn’t he? But the truth was, he’d really thought that Ginny was dead. But now, knowing that Ginny was there, probably miserable, and missing him as much as he did her, it was almost too much to bear.
So he had come up with a solution which allowed him to see her, to talk to her, to comfort her, without her ever knowing he was there. He’d be able to make sure that she was ok.
Harry had found a spell, which, if cast every day, would allow him to alter his appearance. He’d gotten a job in Ginny’s office, and befriended her. They’d become best friends, which was strange, because for Harry, they already were.
When he got back to his office, Harry grabbed the memos and started to sort through them. Three notices about his work being late, two from clients, asking when they would be able to have their trials, one inviting him to a birthday party. The last one was from the office of the Daily Prophet. It simply said, ‘She wrote back to me. She asked if they were meant for her. She also included this:’
Harry looked in the little envelope and pulled out another piece of paper with two paragraphs of text on it. And as he read it, a smile crossed his face.
Let him know that you know best
‘Cause after all you do know best
Try to slip past his defence
Without granting innocence
Lay down a list of what is wrong
The things you told him all along
And pray to God he hears you
And pray to God he hears you
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
***
It was nearing sunset when Ginny found herself walking across the grounds of Hogwarts. She had received an owl this morning, containing another verse of the song, and she had needed time to think.
As he begins to raise his voice
You lower yours and grant him one last choice
Drive until you lose the road
Or break with the ones you’ve followed
He will do one of two things
He will admit to everything
Or he’ll say he’s just not the same
And you’ll begin to wonder why you came
The trees cast long shadows across the ground, and the lake was beautiful, parts of it sparkling in the orange light, and the rest as dark as night. The sun showed between the different towers of the castle as it set on the other side. She tried to imagine what was happening inside the thick walls. Was it the same as when she’d been at school? Memories flashed through her mind suddenly, ones she hadn’t thought about for years. Sitting in history of magic, staring absentmindedly out the window, letting the monotonous voice of Professor Binns wash over her. Sneaking out at midnight, going to Hogsmeade with friends, kissing Micheal, kissing Dean, kissing Harry, riding the Thestrals to the Ministry with Harry, being rescued from Riddle by Harry, sitting by the lake with Harry, walking in the forest with Harry.
Harry, Harry, Harry. This whole place was a constant reminder of Harry. As she passed by the grass next to the lake, she felt a horrible pang as she remembered Professor Dumbledore’s funeral. She could still feel the hurt, and yet the acceptance, that she’d felt that day.
Without even thinking about it, Ginny’s feet had led her around the same path she had taken with Harry so many times, so many years ago. She found herself walking the invisible path that only she and Harry knew, into the deepest part of the forest, where they had found their special place. The trees passed by quickly, all the same, but each one familiar. She saw the willow, where they’d sat for hours, simply talking and holding hands, and the pond beside it, where they’d once swum by moonlight in each other’s arms. This clearing was their place, exactly as it had been, and was filled with more memories than the rest of the grounds put together.
She must have sat there for hours under the willow tree that day, although at the time, it felt like no time passed at all. It was pitch black by the time she realised that it was time to leave, the moon her only source of light. A storm was coming, thunder rumbling somewhere close by, and a strong wind was howling. She couldn’t see the lightning through the thick canopy of leaves. She pulled out her wand and lit it, casting a small beam of light in front of her. Suddenly everything seemed so unfamiliar. She ran one way, then the next, trying to get her bearings. Hearing the tremendous crack of thunder immediately above her, she panicked. She chose a path and began to run down it, the wind whipping branches around, and knocking her into unseen thorn bushes. She could feel blood running down her face, legs and arms, but it could have easily been rain.
Soaked to the skin, and lost in the complete darkness of the forest, Ginny ran. Shivering, with goose bumps on her arms, she felt totally alone, and afraid. The wind blew through the trees like a hurricane, so hard and fast that trees bent so far they snapped, and it was all she could hear as she crashed into trees in the darkness. Her wand had stood no chance. It had long since blown away.
She was crying in desperation, yelling out even though she knew no one could hear. As she ran past a small tree, she heard an enormous creak about ten metres away, and suddenly the sky opened up, lit up like fireworks, as a huge tree fell towards her. The roots ripped from the ground, and she ran hard, but couldn’t move. She couldn’t get away, and she looked back just in time to see a massive, thick branch fall on her from behind.
She was knocked to the ground, and lay there, pinned to the spot by a weight she knew she could never lift. The rain fell, and she closed her eyes, trying to block out this nightmare, this reality that she couldn’t bear to face anymore.
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
did that make everything heaps clearer? i hope so. i think heaps of you were a bit confused. thanx to the fray for the lyrics and thanx to you guys for reading! hope you're liking it.
luv ya lots,
chlo
Between the Lines by chocomaniac
Chapter Notes: sorry it's taken sooooooo long! It's been deleted twice! Third times the charm, I always say.....