Waiting in Vain

WAITING IN VAIN
by Augurey
TWO: BY MOONLIGHT

At four in the morning, Ginny gave up on sleep. She sat up in bed and glanced around the pitch black room. Hermione was asleep on the bed across from her; the little diamond in her ring had caught a bit of moonlight, and each little glimmer was hitting the wall next to her bed.

Ginny mused on how lucky Hermione was, being engaged, happy, and securely employed in a good job that she loved. She knew there was no need to be jealous, because she had all those things minus the engagement. She was, however, impressed by any woman that knew how to deal with Ron.

She decided that she needed to get outside. It was too stuffy inside the Burrow tonight. She quickly got up, slipped on her shoes, and grabbed the nearest cloak. No one was awake; most of her family slept soundly. Even so, she walked on tip toes as she found her way down the stairs and out the front door.

Outside, the air was crisp and fresh. She could almost smell the snow that had fallen on the ground the day before.

Ginny rummaged around inside her cloak for her wand. "Lumos," she muttered into the darkness. A path of light appeared in front of her as she made her way around the house quietly, and into the garden. She collapsed on the ground near the picnic table.

Why, thought Ginny, why am I so stupid?

She closed her eyes and imagined it all away, hoping to momentarily disappear. No thoughts, however painful, escaped from her mind. Inside, she was screaming. Why couldn't it all just go away? Why couldn't she take it all back?

* * * *

Harry woke up, startled. The room was dark, but he could make out the silhouette of Ron, on his old bed. Harry could feel himself shaking. His hands were even moving. He realized he must have had a nightmare, but it was all a bit fuzzy and dark. He was racing through the Chamber of Secrets, forever ago. She was on the ground, white as a sheet and very cold. He felt all the blood rush to his head. She wasn't dead. It was only a nightmare, a dream. Not real at all. He tried to calm himself.

He rose from his bed and began pacing across the floor, until a glint of light caught the corner of his eye. He inched toward the window and glanced out. Nothing, until he saw the picnic table, and a beam of light dancing around on the bush right in front of it. Ginny was lying on the ground, moving the wand around as if it were a piece of string.

Without thinking, he pulled his cloak around his shoulders, and rushed down the stairs.

* * * *

Outside, Ginny had begun to charm a flower to float above the picnic table, when she heard footsteps in the snow. For a short moment, she told herself to ignore it. It was probably nobody, so she continued to quietly charm the flower, until someone touched her shoulder. The flower fell to the table, and Ginny dropped her wand in the snow.

She spun around. "I was just..." she paused, "Harry."

Harry looked just as surprised as she was. He stepped back, not really knowing why, and smiled. At that moment, he realized she had taken off her cloak and was dressed in only a very large shirt and a pair of shorts.

"What are you doing out here this early?" asked Harry. "It's so cold, you should.."

"....Put on my cloak?" She hesitated a moment, and then picked it up off the ground and threw it around her shoulders. Harry looked incredibly agitated. It looked as though he'd been awake as long as she had. Little circles had appeared under his eyes, and his face was almost pale. "What do you mean, what am I doing? What are you doing?"

"I was just...I had a....there was a..." Harry scowled at himself. "I had a nightmare, saw you lying on the table. I thought....well, I don't know what I thought. But I'm here."

"I should probably go back upstairs. It's getting....early," said Ginny, a hint of dejection in her eyes. She began to walk towards the house.

"No, please, don't go." Harry barely grabbed her arm. "I'd like you to stay."

"All right, then." Ginny walked over to the table and sat down, motioning for him to join her. She looked at him expectantly.

He sat down beside her awkwardly, questioning himself silently as to why he had asked her to stay when he didn't really know what to say to her, how to say it, or why. Ginny was smiling at him softly, still waiting for him to speak.

"So," Harry put on a false tone, "Do tell me, Miss Weasley. What have you been up to in the past.....oh, say, seven years?"

Ginny almost blushed. "Ah, yes, Mister Potter. Thank you dearly for asking. I dare say it's been quite an uneventful almost-decade for me. I've been working in publishing." She said this very matter-of-factly.

"Publishing. Yes, very good, then. And has any of your...." he stopped short, wondering if it was appropriate to broach such an old and embarrassing topic, "poetry," he said spurting the word right out, "been published?"

"Poetry." said Ginny. "No, I'm afraid I have retired my poetic talents. I write stories, columns. Anything to fill space these days."

"Yes, I see. I have read a few of your columns." he admitted, nudging her. "Now then, let's see, which was the last I read?" He scratched his chin. "American Quidditch Team Loses Another World Famous Seeker."

Ginny giggled. Jonathan, who had met Ron at a Christmas party the prior year, knew of his obsession with Quidditch, and thought Ginny must be as well informed as her brother.

"Yes, well, I didn't enjoy writing that. I had Ron do most of the hard work, including interviewing some of your....team mates." Ginny finally stopped staring at the ground, and focused on Harry. "I'm sorry you aren't where you want to be."

At that moment, things got a little less awkward, and Harry felt it was the first time he could explain his problems with his career. No one else understood. Even his best friends, and especially Ron.

"Don't apologize. You know, I honestly thought it'd be exciting. Playing Quidditch. On an American team, no less." Harry laughed and met Ginny's eyes. "Imagine my surprise when I figured out I was just pushing myself away from the place I needed to be, and the people I needed to see. I'm awfully homesick."

"Maybe you'll get to come home soon," said Ginny, her eyes full of warmth and depth, "I'll bet you Mum would let you stay here for as long as you like, and Ron has a huge place near Diagon Alley. Then again, Hermione might be living with him now. Oh I feel dreadful, I know absolutely nothing..."

Ginny stopped herself. She closed her eyes, and dropped her head back. When she opened her eyes, she felt little drops of cold snow on her face. She shook her head quickly and held out her hand. All around them, small snowflakes floated down towards the ground, covering the frosty green grass.

"This is fantastic. Amazing." Ginny mused. "Snow. Harry, it's Christmas morning! Can you believe it? Five AM, Christmas morning, it's snowing."

"I can believe it." He was watching Ginny with amazement.

"I should go to sleep," she said, looking at Harry with a large grin on her face. "Goodnight, Harry."

Ginny jumped up, grabbed her wand off the ground, and started rushing towards the house. She wasn't paying attention. Even as Harry jumped up to warn her, it was much too late. Ginny started slipping on the icy patch of path near side of the house. Her feet gave way and she landed with a loud thud on the ground.

It was silent. Harry was afraid she was upset, crying, or something else equally unhappy. He rushed to her side, and was completely shocked to see her giggling to herself. She looked up at him, and only laughed harder, until it echoed loudly off the house. Only seconds later, he joined in himself, and held out his hand to help her up.

Ginny took his hand, still laughing happily. She only made it halfway up, though. Just as Harry had gotten his arm around her back to pull her upright, her feet began to slip. This time she didn't go alone. As she lost grip, Harry pulled her arm to keep her from falling. Instead of keeping her up, he lost balance and fell directly on the ground, and brought Ginny tumbling down on top of him.

"Hi," said Ginny as soon as their laughing subsided. She rolled over a little and tried to sit up. "Oh...my."

"Quite," Harry echoed. "Yes, let's try this once more."

He inched his way towards the snow and used that instead of the ice to stand up. Ginny followed suit soon after. "Right, then," she spoke quietly. "Goodnight, Harry."

Ginny walked up to the front door and opened it as silently as she could, and as soon as she was inside, she let out a deep breath. "That wasn't so bad." she said to herself. She tiptoed back up the stairs and found her way back into her bed with only a small snore out of Hermione, who was obviously still fast asleep. Ginny pulled the covers up around her once again and suddenly felt as though she could sleep for ages.

It's been such a long day, she thought to herself, Thank God it's over!

* * * *

When Ginny woke up that day, she wasn't surprised to see that it was past noon. The sun beamed right into her eyes. She squinted, and sat up. She could hear the booming voices of her brothers from down in the living room. Figuring that everyone had already opened gifts, and were now just enjoying the time together, Ginny took her time getting dressed.

As she was about to go down stairs, she glanced out the window quickly. It was still snowing. This brought a smile to her face. Snow always put Ginny in a good mood. She left her room and when she stepped into the living room, she saw her entire family, smiling, laughing, and talking. It was a warming sight.

"Ah, yes, the monster awakens," said Fred loudly, almost over all the noise. Everyone stopped talking, laughed at Fred, and focused on Ginny.

"Now Fred, be kind." Molly got off her chair and walked towards the kitchen. "Would you like some hot chocolate, Ginny?"

"Yes, I'd love some, but let me get it," said Ginny, happily. On her way to the kitchen she smacked Fred on the back of his head.

"Oy! Come on now, I was just joking," said Fred, as he patted his head, frowning at his sister.

Ginny smiled back at Fred as she approached the kitchen counter. She laughed to herself as she began to pour herself some of the Hot Chocolate that was on the stove. She was just about to take a sip, when she felt someone's hand on her shoulder.

"I beat you, you know," Harry whispered to her.

She jumped a little. "Excuse me? You beat me? At what, exactly?"

Harry grabbed a cup and poured himself a glass of hot chocolate, and then smiled broadly at Ginny. "I beat you. I was awake at least a half hour before you." He leaned against the counter and stirred his hot chocolate lazily with a spoon. Ginny rolled her eyes, and stuck out her tongue.

"Whatever you say, Harry."

He touched the tip of her nose with his index finger, and then walked around her into the living room.

"Someone hasn't opened her presents yet!" Arthur yelled from the couch next to the tree. Ginny's ears perked up. She decided it was time to focus her attention on her gifts.