Alone

Alone

"Alone! Just leave me alone!" screamed Ginny as she stormed out of the Gryffindor common room, leaving behind a multitude of shocked classmates and one very discouraged best friend. Hermione turned to Ron and Harry and shook her head slowly.

"I don't get it - I know she's upset about breaking up with Dean, so why won't she talk to me about it?" she whispered. "I'm only trying to help and she shouts at me in front of everyone."

Harry glanced around the room at his classmates and, seeing that far too many interested eyes were focused on the recipient of Ginny's shouts, suggested that the three of them might want to discuss this somewhere else. Hermione sighed heavily and nodded, gathering up her books and recommended the Room of Requirement. As the trio exited the common room they could hear bits and pieces of conversation beginning again and knew their friends were speculating about what was happening between Ginny and Hermione.

"Why doesn't she get it?" Ginny fumed as she strode through the corridors of Hogwarts. "I don't want to talk about it, I don't need to talk about it and I will bloody well not feel better after I have talked about it!" A couple of nearby Ravenclaws looked at Ginny strangely and she realized that she had been ranting aloud as she walked. Blushing slightly, Ginny forced a smile as she passed the Ravenclaw girls and headed towards the front doors of the castle.

Blinking as she stepped out into the bright sunshine of a glorious fall day, Ginny swept her gaze around the Hogwarts grounds and started in the direction of the Quidditch pitch, hoping that it would be empty. "Why does Hermione always think that everything needs to be analyzed to death? She just doesn't get that not everybody reacts the same way - and that maybe I need to deal with what I'm feeling alone first..." she muttered as she climbed towards the top of the stands.

When Ginny reached the top row, she sat and pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them and burying her head in her arms. She sniffled as thoughts of Dean flashed through her mind and sobs wracked her body as she remembered the things Dean had said to her last night.

"You don't care about me Ginny!" said Dean as he paced in front of the fireplace. "I'm just a convenient snog so you don't have to feel alone."

"Convenient?!" exclaimed Ginny. "You're wrong Dean. I do care about you!"

Dean stopped pacing and turned to face her. "No. You're too wrapped up in your own little world to really care about me." He sat down heavily next to Ginny and leaned backwards. "I care about you Ginny. That's why this has to end. If you ever decide to be honest with yourself, maybe you'll understand why."

Ginny stared at him in disbelief. Too wrapped up in her own little world? Being honest with herself? What in the world was Dean talking about? Slowly it sank in that Dean was talking again and she turned towards him as the tears started to slowly drip down her face.

"...no matter who it is, he's never going to live up to your ideal, Ginny. You have this 'perfect' man in your mind and its not fair to string me along when you know there's no chance I'll measure up," declared Dean. " I don't know if you've just built up this romantic ideal in your head or if it's a way of pushing people away without feeling like its your fault - but either way, if you don't face up to it, you're going to end up alone."

Ron and Harry watched as Hermione paced determinedly around the room, muttering under her breath. From years of experience, the boys knew better than to interrupt Hermione when she was in a mood like this. Instead, they simply watched and waited, knowing that eventually her thoughts would be organized enough for her to share them. After ten or eleven minutes of pacing, Hermione finally nodded decisively and sat down across from Harry and Ron.

"Okay. So the way I see it, we all know that something major happened last night and that Ginny needs to talk about it to someone, right?" she asked.

With a sideways glance at Harry, Ron said, "Are you sure that we shouldn't just leave her alone until she says she wants to talk?"

"Boys!" huffed Hermione. "I'm quite sure we shouldn't just leave her alone. She's hurting right now and the sooner she deals with it, the better." She turned to Harry and said imploringly, "I know that breaking up with someone isn't anywhere near as serious as someone you love dying, but this whole thing is kind of like when Sirius died, don't you think? I mean, you're doing okay now, right? But it would have been so much better for you if you had been able to talk to someone about the whole thing sooner, wouldn't it?"

Harry got a faraway look on his face before answering, "Yes, I suppose it would have been. But Hermione, I'm just not sure this is the same thing."

"Of course it is," she said as she pulled a piece of parchment and a quill out of her bag. "And I'm not going to just leave Ginny alone to stew over all of this. We just have to come up with a plan."

"Do I really hold everyone up against some imagined ideal man?" Ginny wondered as she wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her robes. "That's just stupid - why would I do something like that? I don't want to be alone. I like being in a relationship and I've had lots of boyfriends..." Ginny's thoughts trailed off as she watched a solitary figure walk out of the castle doors and head towards the Quidditch pitch. Her heart began to beat a little faster as the figure got closer and she realized it was Harry. His silky dark hair was ruffled by the light wind and he had his hands stuffed deep in his pockets as he walked - a sure sign he was deep in thought. Ginny knew that if she could see his face up close, his brilliant green eyes would be slightly unfocused and he would be gently biting on his lower lip.

"Wait a minute... when did I start thinking of Harry's hair as silky? And why do I know what his face would look like when he's thinking..." Ginny was so confused by these thoughts that she lost track of Harry until he was sitting on the bench next to her.

"All right there, Ginny?" he asked.

"How did you know where I was?" she asked, not meeting his eyes.

Harry smiled. "Oh I don't know... just a hunch I guess." He gently reached out and placed his hand on her chin, tilting her face so that he could see her eyes. "Now... want to tell me what's going on? It's not like you to blow up at Hermione like that."

When Ginny had stormed out of the castle, she had been sure she didn't want to share her feelings or thoughts with anyone. Sitting on the Quidditch pitch with Harry's hand on her face, though, she found herself pouring out the story of her breakup with Dean and all the things he had said to her. She repeated parts of it word for word and left nothing out.

"Wow. I'm really sorry - it sounds like Dean was just being a jerk. I mean, you're not lost in your own little world." Harry gently pulled Ginny into a hug and continued, "You're a warm, caring, beautiful person and Dean just wasn't good enough for you."

Ginny's heart fluttered as she listened to Harry but she pulled away from him and said, "No, I think Dean was right about some things. I didn't really want to be with Dean, but I couldn't be with my ideal guy, so I settled for Dean. He was right about that." Ginny bit her bottom lip as she looked at Harry. He was so gentle and kind and...perfect. But it wasn't like he thought of her as anything more than a little sister anyways.

"Ginny..." he whispered.

Tears glistened in her eyes as she looked at him. "I don't want to be alone, Harry."

Harry gathered her in her arms and kissed her gently before saying, "Don't worry Ginny, I won't let you be alone."