Bon Voyage

Ginny sighed with relief. She had successfully sneaked out with no one the wiser. She rubbed her head, relishing the peace and quiet of the summer night versus the ruckus that was inside the Leaky Cauldron. She drifted towards the edge of the balcony, looking over the London landscape, its lights twinkling brighter than the stars above her.

It wasn't that she wasn't happy for Ron and Hermione. She really was. But she had had more than enough toasts and mingling and loud conversations. The last few days had been filled with last-minute wedding plans, making sure everything was completely perfect. What could one expect with Hermione as the bride?

The wedding had been perfect, too. Ginny congratulated herself on that. It had, after all, been mainly her making sure everything was tip-top and to the new couple's standards. Everything down to the last rose petal had been transfigured and charmed to the limit.

So she felt she deserved a bit of time to herself. She had made her bridesmaid's toast and clapped when they cut the cake and smiled so much her cheeks felt sore. So as soon as the dancing started, she made her excuses and slipped out to breathe the night air and revel in the solitude.

The muted sounds of celebration behind her became louder for a second, and then quieted again. She heard the door close as someone shuffled out to the balcony. She turned, preparing to smile and make small talk with whoever had found her.

"Harry?" she said, surprised. She had been so busy with the wedding preparations; she hadn't had time to catch up with some of her old school friends, Harry being one of them.

He stumbled slightly toward her, the wineglass in his hand trembling a bit. "Hiya, Ginny," he muttered.

She was taken aback for a second, noticing his slightly unfocussed eyes. She hadn't really talked to Harry in four or five years now. They had seen each other a few times because of Ron and Hermione, but she had been busy with her life and he with his.

"How are you doing?" she asked politely as he stood next to her, staring at the buildings before them.

"Great. Just...great," he replied, sounding a little sarcastic. He turned and stared at her. "And you, Gin?"

"Um...good. Good too," she replied, caught off guard by his response. She watched as he slumped down, sitting on the concrete, back against balcony.

"Sit down," he said, patting the concrete next to him with one hand and draining his wineglass with the other hand.

"Okay," she said as she slowly sunk next to him. They sat in silence for a few moments. Harry was obviously lost in thought, and Ginny didn't want to intrude. She instead surveyed him out of the corner of her eye, noting how much he had changed.

He slouched more and looked heavy with the weight of the world, which she found ironic since he had been able to throw that weight off when he defeated Voldemort a decade ago. There were a few wrinkles around his eyes, showing his weariness. He seemed so different from the Harry that she had known, how happy and carefree he was after the battle. They had dated for a year, but had drifted apart from their busy schedules. He was a reporter for the Daily Prophet and her a Healer. She had faithfully read his articles until they started becoming fewer and fewer the past few years. She normally had to scour the paper a few times through to find a blurb penned by him.

"Pretty strange, huh?" he said out of the blue, shaking Ginny from her reverie.

"What?" she asked, startled.

He gestured feebly with his hand. "Ron and Hermione. Married."

"Oh," she responded. "Yeah, it is. Seemed like just yesterday they were arguing and yelling at each other." She paused and then quipped caustically, "Oh wait, it was yesterday."

He let out a short laugh. "They've always had a pretty fucked up view of love, those two. Usually makes the rest of us look pretty normal."

"Yeah, well, the fact that they're the ones getting married and we're the ones sitting here makes us look more fucked up than them," replied Ginny.

"Yup. They're the happily ever after ones now. Lucky bastards." Harry shook his head.

They sat in silence for a few moments, both listening to the laughter and music inside.

"So why are you in there, enjoying the fun like the rest of them, Ginevra?" asked Harry.

Ginny smiled slightly at the full use of her name. "I think I've had enough 'fun' like that for awhile. Besides, I'm not really looking forward to having Neville pester me for a dance."

"Don't really like bruised toes?"

Ginny shook her head and smiled again.

"So then you're here by yourself?" asked Harry after another moment of silence. He seemed to be choosing his words carefully.

"Yeah," replied Ginny, trying to sound casual and okay with her single-ness.

"Whatever happened to that Viking boy? Erik?"

Ginny chuckled. "Viking?"

"Big guy, name like Erik...seemed like a Viking," Harry explained.

"Ah. Well, Erik and I ended about a year ago. Difference of opinion," Ginny added diplomatically.

"Difference of opinion? What really happened?"

She paused. "He moved to Panama."

Harry turned to her. "Panama? What the hell's in Panama?"

"Oh, I don't know," she said flippantly. "He was the engineer type. Building a bridge or some sort like that."

"Well, why didn't you just do the long-distance thing?"

"I believe his parting words were 'Come with me to Panama or this won't work out.' And my parting words were 'Bon voyage,'" said Ginny, remembering their last fight.

"Ouch," said Harry.

"Yeah, well..." Ginny trailed off, trying to think of other happier things to think about.

They lapsed into silence again as Ginny battled with herself. She was being stupid. She hadn't really seen Harry in years. She couldn't expect that something would just happen tonight. That was just being childish. And way too hopeful. But why would he ask her about who she was dating? And he remembered Erik. That meant he paid attention. And here they were, alone on the balcony.

"Harry, I--" she started.

"Gin, it's--" he said at the same time.

They both stopped and waited for the other to start.

Harry spoke first. "Gin, it's been great to see you. Really." He peered at the bottom of his wineglass. "And it's not just the seven glasses of wine that's talking."

"It has been great," she replied quietly, waiting for him to say more.

"And I've missed our friendship. We had some good times, right?" He looked at her. She nodded in response. "I just...you see, I can't--"

"Harry?" a voice called.

"Bollocks," he muttered under his breath.

The door to the balcony opened and Cho Chang's head peered out. Her ebony eyebrows rose gracefully as she saw Ginny and Harry sitting next to each other on the concrete, barely a millimeter between their bodies.

"Cho," Harry started, struggling to get up. Ginny did the same.

"Harry, I've been looking all over for you, dear. Why did you sneak off?" she asked accusingly, her eyes flitting towards Ginny. "Hello, Ginny," she added coolly.

"Hi Cho, great to see you..." Ginny trailed off as Cho turned her interest back towards Harry, obviously not interested in what Ginny was saying.

"I, um, I just needed some fresh air," Harry mumbled. "And, and Ginny was here..." He trailed off.

"Yes, well, I'm sure there are people inside who want to chat with you, dear, so you should come in," Cho said sweetly, although it had a harsh tone in Ginny's opinion.

Harry looked a bit lost. "Yeah. Right. Alright." He turned to Ginny. "I guess I'll be seeing you around, right?"

"Yeah, I'm sure we'll see each other," said Ginny politely.

"Harry," Cho called from inside.

"Right. I..." He looked like he wanted to say more, but couldn't think of the words. "Bye," he muttered as he went back inside.

"Bon voyage," said Ginny quietly as the door slammed shut. She turned back toward the city landscape, feeling a bit more bittersweet than before.