The seventh time, he asks her if she remembers their last DA meeting together, right before she went home for the Easter holiday and never came back.
Ginny thinks about his hand on her arm holding her back as the other DA members headed off to bed. She remembers his stare because he had a way of looking at her so intensely that she felt both more relaxed and more on edge. They both knew she wasn't going to come back after the holiday, that he'd have to keep going on his own. She remembers taking both his hands in hers and promising, beyond reason and hope, promising to come back.
He's still watching her, waiting for her answer. He wants her to remember so that they can be those people again. He wants this to be the grand romantic tale of love in the midst of war instead of what it is -- a sad story of infidelity in the midst of nothing.
There was a time when she would have given him that comfort, that peace of mind. There was a time when she would have given him anything. She opens her mouth to answer, but the words get stuck in her throat. Instead, she silently starts picking her clothes up off the floor and ignores his questioning stare.
She can't pretend for him, not when all of her energy is trying to pretend for Harry.
She walks out of his bedroom and knows that she can't ever go back.
Re: Neville/Ginny -- Tear Down My Reason (2/2)
The seventh time, he asks her if she remembers their last DA meeting together, right before she went home for the Easter holiday and never came back.
Ginny thinks about his hand on her arm holding her back as the other DA members headed off to bed. She remembers his stare because he had a way of looking at her so intensely that she felt both more relaxed and more on edge. They both knew she wasn't going to come back after the holiday, that he'd have to keep going on his own. She remembers taking both his hands in hers and promising, beyond reason and hope, promising to come back.
He's still watching her, waiting for her answer. He wants her to remember so that they can be those people again. He wants this to be the grand romantic tale of love in the midst of war instead of what it is -- a sad story of infidelity in the midst of nothing.
There was a time when she would have given him that comfort, that peace of mind. There was a time when she would have given him anything. She opens her mouth to answer, but the words get stuck in her throat. Instead, she silently starts picking her clothes up off the floor and ignores his questioning stare.
She can't pretend for him, not when all of her energy is trying to pretend for Harry.
She walks out of his bedroom and knows that she can't ever go back.
~
But, of course, there is an eighth time.