It is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all
By Alfred Lord Tennyson
She stared blankly at the ceiling, as her head sunk into the comfortable pillows. The blankets came right up to her chin and she wriggled slightly, moving even further down the bed; any further and her toes would be seen poking out from underneath the covers.
The delicious smell of sizzling bacon met her nose and it twitched. Ginny sighed as her stomach grumbled, pleading for her to feed it. She didn’t want to leave the safety of the bed. She just wanted to stay here, away from the worried and angry voices of her family who were probably furiously searching for her after she disappeared at the funeral.
“Miss Weasley?” The voice of Blenkinsop Waterbut sounded through the closed door.
“Miss Weasley, if you’re interested, breakfast is waiting for you downstairs,” he said loudly through the wooden door.
She closed her eyes, wishing herself to fall asleep again; but sleep did not come. She stayed wide awake.
Ginny pushed back the covers and hopped out of the bed, her feet hit the cold surface of the floor boards. In the back of her head, she wished that she was at the Burrow with Harry, getting out of bed and putting on her fluffy pink slippers to go down for breakfast.
The best she could do was put on her shoes and socks back on and clamber down the stairs towards the wonderful smelling food. In front of the same seat she sat at last night, and early this morning, was a plate of sunny side up eggs and long, juicy, mouth-watering pieces of bacon.
“Thank you, Mr. Waterbut,” she murmured quietly, taking a seat and picking up the knife and fork.
Silence followed her words as Blenkinsop busied himself with cleaning mugs and Ginny began to eat. After a few moment of quiet, with the exception of the sound of Ginny’s cutlery scraping against the plate, Blenkinsop turned around and held out a hand which she took in confusion.
“Please Miss Weasley, call me Blen, all my friends do,” Blenkinsop said kindly, shaking her hand.
Ginny managed a small smile when Blen’s words sunk in. Obviously, he thought of her as a friend. She couldn’t help but wonder why though; all she had done was bother him with her problems. Blenkinsop Waterbut was a peculiar man.
“Please call me Ginny, Blen,” Ginny said, smiling again.
She finished her breakfast and pulled out her wallet to pay but Blen pushed it away.
“No need for that Ginny,” he said. “You don’t need to pay for anything.”
Ginny pulled out her wand from her pocket and stared at it for a moment before flicking it gently. Bubbles and soap suds covered the plate, but when they disappeared the plate was sparkling clean.
“Why thank you, Ginny!” Blen said warmly.
“No problem, Blen,” replied Ginny brightly.
They sat there for a moment before Blen said, “So, Ginny, do you want to talk more about last night?”
They were back to this again; it was a thought she had been trying not to remember.
“Ginny, are you glad that you found love with Harry?” he asked suddenly, catching her off guard.
She nodded. She was happy to have loved Harry. He had always been so brave. He had always been there to protect her. Not that she needed it, she could defend herself. But she still knew he would protect her if she needed it.
“See here Ginny, do you regret falling in love with Harry?” he asked, this time she had been waiting for him to say something more.
No, she didn’t regret falling in love with Harry. The time she had spent with him had been wonderful. The picnics down at the pond had been the best, with the most delicious turkey sandwiches she had ever eaten, because Harry had made them, without magic. Even the time she had fallen out of the oak tree had been time well-spent. Harry had carried her all the way up to the Burrow and into her room.
“Have you Ginny, ever heard the saying, ‘It is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all?’” he asked curiously. “It was said by a Muggle, Alfred Lord Tennyson; couldn’t have put it better myself.”
The words sunk in; Blen was right. She didn’t regret falling in love with Harry. She was happy to have loved Harry before he died. Many a girl had a crush on him and said that they loved him. But she was the only one who had truly loved the one and only Harry Potter. No one could take that away from her, even if Harry was dead.
It is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. It was true. She was happy that she had loved. As sad as she was that it was cut short, some people never have loved throughout in their entire lifetime.
She was lucky to have loved then to have never loved at all.
Ginny made her way around the bar to face Blenkinsop. She wrapped her arms around him and he patted her gently on the back with one of his hands.
“Oh thank you, Blen, you don’t know how you have helped me,” she cried.
Ginny pocketed her wand and opened the door to the road outside.
“I hope we meet again Blen, thank you very much,” she said softly before disappearing out the door.
Before she Disapparated, she turned to face the Green Dragon Inn and her mouth dropped. The entire building had vanished into thin air, not leaving a single trace.
With a crack, Ginny Weasley disappeared from the dusty road leading to nowhere and appeared in her home, the Burrow.
Her family had been so worried. When Molly Weasley had first spotted her daughter, she had wrapped her in a tight hug. However, afterwards she endured a very long lecture. Ginny never went looking for the Green Dragon Inn again; she knew she wouldn’t find it.
Love’s a funny thing. You think that once you find it, you’ll never loose it. Ginny thought that about Harry during their time together. She never really thought he’d be gone. But then again, she never thought she’d fall in love again.
Three years after Harry’s death and Ginny’s run-in with the Green Dragon’s owner, Blenkinsop Waterbut, Ginny met and grew to love a wizard she met in Diagon Alley. She ran several times into the man before Michael Richard finally asked her out on a date.
Nearly four years after they had started dating, Michael took their relationship to the next level and proposed. Ginny and Michael Richard lived happily at the Burrow.
No one would replace Harry is Ginny’s eyes. But that didn’t mean that she would never love someone else again.
Blenkinsop Waterbut’s words of wisdom still echoed distantly in her mind. She would never forget the man whose words helped her love again.
It is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.