In the Bleak Midwinter

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"Ginny, hold up!"

Ginny stopped as the sound of her name hit her. She turned around, searching the hallway for whoever had been calling for her. A few yards away, some Ravenclaws were exchanging chocolate frog cards; a Slytherin couple was snogging behind the statue on Ginny's left; and Harry Potter was racing down the center of the hall toward her.

"Oh... hello, Harry." Ginny smiled.

"Ginny," he said, out of breath. "I had to call your name five times." He grinned. "Something on your mind?"

More like someone, Ginny thought wryly as Draco's face swam through her consciousness, but it would take all three of the Unforgiveable Curses to get her to admit that to Harry. Instead, she replied, "Yeah, I guess so. What did you need me for?"

"I - I just wanted to talk," he said. He gripped her elbow and pulled her down the hall and around the corner. Ginny, confused though she was, let him drag her to an empty section of hallway. He then let her go and turned to face her. "I'm sorry."

"Oh, Harry..." Ginny berated herself mentally. She should have known this was coming; Harry was so chivalric as to feel guilty when anyone snapped at him.

"No, really. As if your mum wasn't enough, you've got six brothers watching you also. You don't need one more person on your back. I won't bother you again."

"I trust you, Harry," Ginny told him, and she meant it. "I appreciate the fact that you are here for me. But you have to trust me as well. You have to know that when I need to tell you something, I will... but no sooner."

He studied his feet. "I do trust you, Ginny. It's Malfoy whom I don't trust."

Ginny's hackles rose, but she kept her outward appearance calm and her voice even. "Malfoy has nothing to do with it."

Harry met her eyes. "What exactly is 'it'?"

Ginny sighed. She couldn't tell Harry about Tom... it wasn't something he'd understand. He'd been faced with the prospect of battling Voldemort all his life; he had come to take Voldemort for granted. He didn't know what the young Voldemort was like. He didn't know about Tom.

But did anyone? Would anyone listen to her? Was there anyone besides Harry whom she could tell?

Ginny sighed. "I can't tell you what I don't know myself, Harry," she said simply. "But I accept your apology. No more worries, right?"

"Right," Harry answered. He smiled, but it didn't hide the confusion in his eyes.

Ginny knew he wouldn't give it up. Harry Potter just wasn't like that. "I - I have to go," she said hastily, trying to run from the questions that surely would come.

She felt Harry's eyes on her back as she rushed down the hallway and spun around the corner.

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Fortunately for Ginny, Ron and Hermione occupied much of Harry's time over the next couple of days. They were, after all, his best friends; Ginny wasn't part of their inner circle. He could only spend so much time thinking about her. She was an extra, a sidekick, a fallback plan... and she knew it.

Ginny watched them from her silent corner in the Gryffindor common room. They were laughing, huddling close to the fire and murmuring under their breaths. It was easy to see that they were meant to be close; they virtually completed each other. Harry was the determined one, Ron was the reckless one (although Harry gave him a run for his money sometimes), and Hermione was the intelligent one. They were all powerful, each in their own way.

Ginny knew that a part of her had always been jealous of that. Friendship was priceless and precious, as fragile as glass and as lasting as gold. It was also something she'd never truly had in her life. There was respectful love for her parents, there was honest love for her brothers, there was lustful love for boys... but there had never been any pure love, the uncorrupted love of friendship. Not for Ginny.

And yet a separate piece of Ginny knew that she would never find friendship from her brother and his two companions. They would always be loyal and caring to her, yes. But they could never give her what they gave each other. They could never love a new friend with the same magnitude. Three is a crowd... four is too many. This Ginny knew.

So who could be her friend? Was she destined to live an eternally lonely life? For a moment, Ginny imagined herself as an old maid, living in a secluded cottage far from the world and from humanity. This, she thought dryly, could easily come to pass. But a different part of her mind summoned a different picture: Ginny could find both lustful love and true love in one person, one soul mate. One man.

Ginny shivered. Where were these thoughts coming from? No specific man had come to mind, but a sudden sense of urgency had come over her. Some emotion that she was unable to control had descended upon her; she felt drawn to some mysterious person. Somewhere in the world, someone held Ginny's heart in his hands.

The only problem? She hadn't met them yet.

Or had she?

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