Expectations

Chapter 1: Tears of Pain

Ginny flew down the hall, angrily swiping tears away from her eyes. She should not be crying! She should be strong, like her mother! Or at least be able to laugh about it, like her brothers... But how had it happened? she wondered. How had it fallen apart? They had been in love...or at least that was what she had thought. She supposed she must be wrong, since he was obviously in love with Cho Chang, while she...

She had no one.

Ginny stifled a particularly large sob in her cloak, thanking whatever Gods and Goddesses were listening that it was Sunday morning and most of the students had yet to wake. She ran outside towards the lake, her pace slowing with every step until she collapsed halfway there, curling into a fetal ball and crying her eyes out.

"Ginny?" he asked, poking his head into the room and giving her a small, tentative smile.

She smiled back at him readily, looking up from her book on the bed, her heart swelling. Oh, how she loved him! And he loved her; they'd been going out now for...oh, what had it been? Almost three months, actually... Ever since September 1^st, when he'd sat with her at the Gryffindor table instead of with his friends. At least, that was how she counted it. He probably didn't count it until the Hogsmeade trip in late September. "Yes?"

"I need to talk to you," he said.

Ah. The six most nerve-wracking words in the English language. I need to talk to you. It usually was not good news. Usually, next you found out your parents had died, or your brother was injured, or you had been expelled from school, or...

No, she wouldn't think of that.

He was not breaking up with her. Why would he? They loved each other. They had dated for three months now. He was an integral part in her life.

Ginny got off the bed and slowly followed him down the stairs, her heart beating quickly. When they reached the Common Room, he stopped, looking around. She supposed he was checking for other students, but why would he do that? She shrugged inwardly to herself. It was probably nothing.

"Ginny..." he trailed off, seemingly uncertain as to what to say.

She smiled reassuringly. "What is it Harry? What's happened?"

He let out a deep whoosh of breath and ran a hand through his hair. "Gin, I can't do this anymore."

Her eyes filled with confusion, she asked carefully, "Do what anymore?"

"Ginny, I don't love you," he said flatly.

Her mouth dropped open and tears filled her eyes, threatening to spill over any second. "Wha...What...What are you talking about?" she whispered, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"Ginny, how do I put this any other way?" he asked, exasperated. "I don't love you."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't!" he exploded.

"But there has to be some other reason!" she said, her voice becoming high-pitched and her face reddening.

"You want another reason?" he asked angrily. "Here's another reason: I love someone else. There. There's your reason."

The tears were ready to spill over; there was no holding them back now. Ginny turned, and ran.

She closed her eyes in horrified acceptance. It had happened. Memories that precise were not fabrications of her imagination, nor products of a dream. It felt too real, too geared in...reality, she supposed, to have been false. It was true. It was horribly true.

She, Ginny Weasley, was in love with Harry Potter.

And he had just broken up with her, breaking her heart in the process.

***

Ginny walked back towards Gryffindor Tower slowly, watching for students. Maybe she could avoid them...

"Well," a cold voice sneered, "if it isn't the little Weasley; what's the matter, has Potter broken up with you?" The crowd that always seemed to follow him around snickered appreciatively.

She felt her spine tense while at the same time her eyes filled with tears. She couldn't even respond, and walked determinedly past where Draco Malfoy was standing.

"Ooh, have I struck a nerve?" He seemed to be genuinely shocked, but Ginny knew better.

"Honestly," a voice came from the opposite hallway. "Draco, I thought you were better than that," Blaise Zabini said, a smirk on his face. "Where did you learn to insult?" he asked, a brow raised. "Finishing school?"

Malfoy glared at Zabini, his face flushing marginally. Ginny watched with a mixture of shock and glee; finally, Malfoy was getting what he deserved--and it was from a fellow Slytherin no less. She looked at Zabini and was further intrigued when he signaled for her to go away. That snapped her out of her trance, and she walked away while Zabini and Malfoy continued to duel...with words, of course, although she wouldn't be surprised if they got to wands eventually.

Ginny shook her head, walking quickly towards Gryffindor Tower, her tears forgotten. After all, she'd just been handed a mystery to solve, and nothing could detract from the joy and fun of that.

"Ginny!" Ron called out happily as she neared the Fat Lady's portrait.

She looked up, jerked out of her thoughts, and slowed down. "Hi, Ron," she said quietly, still distracted.

"Are you alright?" he asked, taking in her flushed cheeks and red eyes.

"Yes, of course," she said, squaring her shoulders. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Ron raised a brow. "Because it's all over the Tower--and as soon as everyone gets up, the school--that Harry broke up with you."

Ginny lowered her eyes, saddened again.

"Oh, Gin! I'm sorry," Ron stuttered, "I didn't mean to bring it up, I mean..."

"Ron," Ginny interrupted him, "don'tworry about it." She walked past him, quietly giving the password to the Fat Lady and heading to her dorm without so much as glancing at the occupants of the common room, although she could tell there were a lot of them.

Luckily, the dorm was empty--actually rather surprising at this hour, but she didn't think much of it. They'd probably all been waiting in the common room to see her... And that meant they would probably be trooping up to confront her pretty soon. She sighed, fighting back tears, and crawled onto her bed, closing the curtains so that there would be no doubt she wanted to be left alone.

Then again, that was probably telling in itself. She, Ginny Weasley, never closed her curtains. She was relatively sure that after the Chamber of Secrets incident she had become claustrophobic. She never closed her draperies, and the one time someone had, she had woken up screaming.

Not that she hadn't anyways, especially during her first year. But she had always stopped as soon as she had realized what was happening--or rather, that nothing was happening. When she had woken up to a pitch black space, it was like being transported right back into her dream... No one had dared to touch her bed after that.

Ginny curled into a ball and let the tears leak down her cheeks again, her mind spinning.

Harry Potter doesn't love me.

Why would he? You're an overgrown redhead, that's why not.

She squeezed her eyes shut as more of them came. It was true...Oh, it was true. She was 175 centimeters... most of her roommates were only 150 or so. She was a giant compared to them, and she'd learned that most guys liked smaller girls...

Ginny sniffed.

Girls like Cho.

Girls like Hermione.

Girls like Parvati.

Girls not like her. Ginny Weasley.

She, along with everyone else, had been amazed when she had shot up over the summer before her fifth year. Some of the boys seemed to not rely on the rule that shorter girls were better, as she had noticed the appreciative glances she had gotten from them.

But, oh! What was she going to do? She loved Harry, and he had broken up with her for another girl. Why? What was wrong with her? Was it her hair? That could be dyed. Was it her height? She could slouch? Was it the fact that no one else seemed interested in her?

...She could go out with someone else.

Ginny bolted up, her eyes dancing. Of course--he would realize that he was wrong, that he loved her, if he saw her with someone else! Then he would want to try and win her back!

She frowned. But who? Definitely no one in Gryffindor... She really didn't feel like she could do that to one of them. Not a Hufflepuff. The Ravenclaws were always buried in their books, and besides, she didn't know any of them.

But that only left the Slytherins.

Ginny sighed, deciding to run through the list of fifth and sixth year Slytherins. After all, she knew they weren't all evil...

Ginny looked around anxiously. Where was she? She had left the Potions classroom only five minutes earlier; surely she hadn't traveled that far...

She attempted to calm the rushing panic that threatened to surround her. It would do her no good to get worked up about it, that was for sure.

"What's a Gryffindor doing all the way down here?" a voice drawled, its owner coming into the light of the torch on the wall.

"I-I got l-lost," she muttered, avoiding his eyes.

"What's your name?" he asked coldly.

Ginny looked up at him, her eyes betraying her curiosity. "Ginny Weasley."With a bit of bravery in her voice, she asked, "What's yours?"

"Blaise Zabini," he said, adding, "Not that it's any of your business, of course."

"You're not like the others," she blurted out, immediately berating herself for it. But it was true--any other Slytherin would have cursed first and asked questions later... And if they'd known she was a Gryffindor--and a Weasley at that--they wouldn't have cared either way.

His eyes darkened. "No, I suppose I'm not. We're not all scheming Death Eaters, you know."

Ginny flushed. "N-no, of course not, I just meant..."

He shook his head. "I know what you meant, and I don't blame you." He seemed sad. "The majority of Slytherin is rather evil, no matter what I have to say about it."

"Um..." Ginny trailed off uncertainly. "I need to get to lunch..."

He sighed. "I'll show you the way."

Ginny smiled. Of course. Blaise Zabini would be perfect. He was a Slytherin, first of all, so it would attract Harry's attention all the more quickly. Second, if she wasn't mistaken... He was related to Draco Malfoy. And then there was the undeniable fact that Harry hated Draco... And probably anything related to him.

She grinned suddenly. This could work.

No... It would work. She would make sure of it.

***************