On the Surface

~~On the Surface.

It was windy and warm, and they were walking hand in hand. He was thinking of nothing at all, but images of a dream kept tugging at the corners of his consciousness, vying for attention like impatient children. He paid them no heed. He never paid them any heed.

What he dreamt was dream alone, and this was his life, his truth, his reality.

Ginny would wake him often, shaking the dreams off him, picking them off his hair and skin as if they were dried up autumn leaves. "You were saying something, dear," she'd whisper against his palm, having raised it to her mouth, holding it gently to her cheek.

"Was I?" he'd say sleepily.

"Mmm. You were calling someone's name, dear," she said, holding his hand just a fraction tighter.

"Really? Whose was it?"

Ginny smiled, and her white teeth glittered in the darkness. "Oh, I didn't quite make it out, dear. I'm sure it was mine," she said, giggling. "You wouldn't dream of anyone else, would you?"

Harry would laugh gently, drawing her down for a kiss. "Wouldn't dream of it," he'd say.

And in the daylight, he'd have forgotten all about it, enjoying the dazy, languid feeling of the warm summer afternoon. "Would you do anything for me?" Ginny asked suddenly, smiling gently at Harry, her bright hair sailing behind her in the breeze. They were walking along a beautiful shoreline, and the sun was setting. Her eyes were warm on his, and Harry was sure he had never been happier. He smiled, and his eyes crinkled.

"Yes," he said, completely relaxed, looking curiously at a weirdly shaped seashell momentarily scuffling his toe.

"Because you love me?" she continued, her voice soft and lulling.

"Mmmm," he said, not quite hearing her, his ears full of the wind, his eyes full of the sea.

"Jump then, dear. Jump," she said, softly, her voice the same even, warm cadence as before.

He looked up at her, slightly startled. He'd thought she said.... His brow furrowed. "Hmm?"

She was grinning at him. "See, there? That sparkling sea, and the sun drowning in it? I want to see you, just where the sun stops. Jump, Harry," she repeated.

Harry stood still, having walked to the edge of the grassy cliff. He looked down, staring at the sparkle, not really thinking about much of anything at all. The wind ruffled his hair, blowing it into his eyes, and he tasted salt on his tongue. He could feel Ginny's yellow sundress fluttering against his ankle. His head started spinning, and he felt somewhat uncharacteristically faint, though he didn't really know why, exactly. She was only teasing.

"Anything, for you," he murmured, smiling, almost sleepily.

"Oh, my -dear-," she said, and pushed him.

He fell, soundlessly, the water rising up in a shower of sparkling effervescence when he reached it. She found the sight quite beautiful, and tears prickled at the back of her eyelids. She smiled mistily. "That's my Harry," she said, and continued on her way.

~~