Hermione stood in front of the mirror, fixing her hair. Ginny was sitting on the bed, watching her carefully.
“It looks fine, Hermione.”
“Ginny, are you sure you don’t want me to do your hair?” Hermione said as she turned around to face Ginny.
Ginny didn’t really care what she looked like. She had no one to impress.
Turning around, Ginny looked out the window down to the tent on the Weasley lawn. Harry and Ron were standing around, watching some of the guests make their way to the tent for the reception.
The wedding ceremony had been that morning, and for Ginny, and it had been one of the most painful experiences. Harry had looked as handsome as ever, not that he had even tried. She and Harry were to walk down the aisle arm and arm, but Harry had forced Ron to walk with her instead. This only proved to frustrate Ginny.
It was enough for her to know that Harry was willing to give her up forever. But then for him to not even be brave enough to face her, well that just made her angry.
So there Harry had been, with the perfect opportunity to make things seem normal, and he had passed up the chance. And on top of it, Ginny caught Harry staring at her multiple times during the beautiful ceremony.
Ginny was so unfocused on the wedding that she didn’t even compliment Fleur on her dress. Moving on was proving to be extremely difficult.
So there Ginny sat, staring hopelessly at Harry from her bedroom window.
“Ginny…” Hermione said quietly, after noticing Ginny’s actions.
“Don’t even start,” Ginny said, shifting her gaze back to the room she was sitting in.
“Ginny, the only way you are going to get over this is if you stop paying him so much attention. Stop staring at him and start moving on.”
Ginny shook her head. “If I asked you to move on from Ron, knowing that he loved you but being the stubborn git that he is””
“Ginny, I understand,” Hermione stopped her.
“No one understands! Not even you! If you knew Ron loved you and just wouldn’t admit it”could you just move on?” Ginny stared at Hermione’s face, waiting for some sort of a reaction.
Hermione stared sadly at Ginny, and shook her head sideways. Hermione did understand after all.
*********
Harry found his table and plopped himself down at the seat. Ron came over a few minutes later and took the chair next to Harry. The reception had already started”people were walking around, and a few were even dancing in the middle. Ginny, Hermione, Bill, and Fleur seemed to be the only ones visibly missing from the mass of people.
There was a girl sitting across from Harry whom he did not know. According to her place card, her name was Shari. There was a boy to the left of Shari who looked remarkably like her, whose name appeared to be Will. Harry watched the brother and sister talk quietly as he glanced around for any sign of Hermione or Ginny.
“We’re not going to have to dance with anyone, are we?” Ron asked Harry, a worried look spreading across his face.
“I don’t think so,” Harry replied, rolling his eyes at Ron.
He suddenly spotted her”Ginny’s blue dress was about knee-length, her hair pulled back nicely. She was simply dressed, but still just as beautiful as ever. Harry swallowed hard as he watched Ginny walk towards their table.
She sure wasn’t going to be a coward about the whole situation. She took the seat between Will and Ron and placed her hands carefully on her lap.
Hermione made her way over to their table a few minutes later, taking the only vacant seat next to Shari and Harry.
“How are you, Harry?” Ginny asked, a hint of anger in her voice.
Harry looked up from his plate, directly into her eyes. “You look lovely, Ginny,” he said calmly.
Ginny blushed a little, before picking up her fork and stabbing it into a piece of fruit.
Bill’s words were still running through his mind. Being scared comes with being in love. Harry knew, deep down, that he was making the biggest mistake of his life. If she sticking to this ultimatum, this now or never, then he wasn’t willing to accept never.
But as Harry sat there, watching her angrily eat and clearly not happy to be in his presence, he realized that saying he needed her now was probably not an option. She wouldn’t accept him now.
“Fleur looks beautiful!” Hermione exclaimed, re-directing his concentration to Bill and Fleur who had just entered the tent.
They looked unbelievably happy, and Harry knew that Ginny was the only one who could make him feel that way.
********
About two hours into the reception, Hermione was getting frustrated with Ron’s refusal to dance.
“Ron, seriously, no one is going to pay attention to you!” She said, trying to address his fears.
“I’m a bad dancer, Hermione! You don’t want to suffer!” He shot back.
“Oh, for god sakes,” Ginny interjected. “Ron, just dance with her so I don’t have to sit here and listen to you two argue.”
Ron nodded his head solemnly and made his way to the dance floor with Hermione. Ginny remained in her seat, staring at Harry, who was pretending not to pay attention to her. They were the only ones left at their table.
Both of them remained silent. Hermione walked over to Harry about 3 songs later, insisting that they share just one dance. Harry agreed without speaking, just nodding his head slowly.
Ginny sat at the table for some time, watching girl after girl dance with Harry. He just kept getting asked. She couldn’t help but think that if they were still together, he wouldn’t be sharing any dance with anyone but her. Jealousy and sadness suddenly overtook her. Before she knew what was happening, tears were pouring down her cheeks. She took one last glance at Harry, before quickly standing up and sprinting out of the tent.
She ran just outside the tent, into their storage shed, where her brothers and her all kept their broomsticks. The tears kept coming uncontrollably, and she sobbed loudly.
Harry, who had seen Ginny sprint out of the tent, followed her. He opened the door to shed to find Ginny sitting on ground, crying. A look of deep sadness spread over his face, as he sat down on the floor next to her.
While carefully rubbing her back, he talked to her in a soothing voice.
“Shhh, everything’s okay…you’re gonna be okay…” he repeated.
Ginny placed her head on Harry’s shoulder as she calmed down. She looked into his eyes, and grabbed his hand tightly. The tears started coming again, and she let out a few sobs.
Harry stroked her hair, trying incredibly hard to soothe her.
After what seemed like hours, but in reality was only ten minutes, Ginny turned to face Harry once again.
“I’m okay,” she said. “I’m going to be okay.”
Harry nodded, knowing that now would be the perfect time to tell her how he really felt. To tell her how much he needed her”how much he loved her.
“Thank you,” Ginny said, trying very hard to be strong. She could sense the tension in air, she knew that Harry’s feelings for her were going to come out sooner or later. She knew he was a volcano waiting to erupt.
Harry looked at Ginny again as she stood up. He didn’t say anything as he watched her walk away.
*************
“Where have you been?” Hermione asked when Ginny had reappeared in the tent.
She didn’t say anything, but Hermione could see the redness in her eyes.
“Oh, Ginny…” she said, suddenly feeling bad for her. “Are you okay?”
She was sick of people asking that. She was sick of people telling her she would be okay. And she was sure sick of saying that she was okay, when she clearly was not.
“I think I’m going to call it an evening,” Ginny said, glancing over at Bill and Fleur who were still dancing wildly in the center of the dance floor.
Hermione looked her over, and nodded her head at her, watching to see where she headed. When Ginny was safely inside the Weasley house, she turned her attention back to Ron, who was throwing his arms wildly about on the dance floor.
“Ron! Do be careful! You’re going to knock someone’s eye out!”
************
Ginny walked up the stairs to her room, thinking hard about what had just happened. Harry had been there for her, and that meant something.
As she pushed open the door to her room, she stared into the darkness. She felt lonely and sad, and knew there was really nothing she could do about it. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she noticed the outline of someone on her bed.
She didn’t scream, or even speak. She just stared. She could spot that body from a mile away if she had to.
Ginny carefully flicked on the light and looked directly at Harry. He smiled at her as she sat down on the bed next to him.
“I have a question for you,” Harry said, still smiling. Ginny couldn’t figure out why he was so happy. She just continued to stare at him.
“I’m sorry about everything,” he said, watching her carefully.
Ginny swallowed hard. “That’s not a question,” she replied, trying to suppress the small amount of happiness that was slowly flowing through her body.
Harry looked at her carefully. “Will you dance with me?”
A/N: Please review!
Together We Can by free_hugs
Chapter Notes: I'm sorry it took me so long to post the rest of this story--I've had it done for a while now! Enjoy!