Status: done.
The Conversation
The Conversation
The Conversation
The funeral had ended and the mourners had dispersed. She found him sitting by the lake with the wind blowing his messy black hair around.
“Harry!” she called out to him.
“Reese.” He replied but did not look her way.
“Hi,” she said sitting down next to him.
“What do you want, Reese?” He asked coldly.
“Harry, please just-”
“You didn’t have anything to say months ago, what could you have to say now?” He said angrily.
She nodded somewhat regretfully. “I know. But that’s not why I’m here.”
“Why are you here, then?” He snapped.
“You need to talk to someone. And you don’t want to. So I’m here to make you.”
“Talk about what?”
“Anything.”
“Anything?” He repeated.
“Anything at all.”
“Why’d you do it?”
“Okay. Not anything.” She amended.
“So there are conditions-”
“Oh shut up Harry.” She retorted. She had forgotten how annoying he could be. “How are you?”
“Well, fantastic really. My parents are still dead. So is my godfather. My girlfriend who I really really cared about broke up with me for no reason. The only person who had a clue about Voldemort is dead. Voldemort is getting stronger everyday. And I just couldn’t stop Dumbledore’s murder. So overall, I think it’s been a great couple of years, don’t you think?”
“Sarcasm does not become you, Harry.”
He said nothing in reply.
“How are you feeling?”
“Why do you care?”
“Stop deflecting, Harry!”
“No! I can’t talk to you just like that. As if nothing’s changed.”
“Just because we broke up, it doesn’t mean that I don’t still care about you.”
“We didn’t break up, you just-”
“I know. Okay? I know what I did.”
“Damn it, Reese…you never even gave me a reason.”
“Harry-”
“Why did you do it, Reese?” He said, turning to look at me.
“I’ll tell you-”
“I think I deserve that much.”
“If you really want to know. But first you gotta talk to me.”
“There’s nothing to say.”
“Snape just murdered Dumbledore, Harry! What are you feeling?”
“Hatred. Stupidity. More hatred.” He listed off.
“Why?” She questioned, knowing he wanted to vent.
“Snape. Dumbledore trusted him and then he…he murdered Dumbledore. Dumbledore…he looked at him that night as he expected Snape to help him and then…he killed him. And I couldn’t stop him.”
“You can’t sa-”
“I should’ve been able to save him.”
“No. You couldn’t.”
“You weren’t there-”
“But I know what happened. Dumbledore did everything for the greater good that the world could have. He saved you instead of himself, knowing that you had to live. You have to fight. It was you.”
“I’m sick of it. If I was just another student, Dumbledore would’ve protected himself.”
“If you were just another student, you wouldn’t have been with him in the first place.”
“And I wouldn’t have met you.”
“What do you mean?”
“If I wasn’t ‘The Boy Who Lived,’ I wouldn’t have met you.”
“That’s not true.”
“Can you honestly tell me that you would’ve cared about me if I wasn’t-”
“Yes. I can.” She snapped. “Really Harry? Is that…is that how you think of me? That I only loved you for the…for the fame?”
“Er—well…”
“Wow. Thanks Harry. Glad to know you think so highly of me.”
“Come off it, Reese. I don’t have to be nice. You ignored me. I have a right to be bitter.”
“Fine…” she grumbled.
The pair sat in silence for a moment before Reese spoke.
“When we first met, did you think it was a ploy…just to meet you…because you were famous?”
“No…I’m angry Reese. At Snape, at Voldemort, at myself, at you. And-”
“I’m the only one of the four you can take it out on. I gave you a reason to, after all.”
“I remember the day we first met.” She knew he was changing the topic, but went along with it to appease him.
“Well I did…fall for you quite easily that day.” She murmured.
Harry chuckled. “Yeah. November 5th, during our third year.” She glanced at him in surprise. She didn’t think he’d remember the day they met. “I don’t think you even tripped over anything at all that day. You just…tripped…over air.” He laughed, recalling the memory.
“Yeah…” she laughed lightly while flushing red. “You know how clumsy I can get.”
“You were always so graceful.”
“Gravity and I don’t have a good friendship.”
Harry snorted. “Gravity hates you.”
“So what’s next?”
“Hm?”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m not coming back to Hogwarts next year.”
“Neither are Ron or Hermione I assume.”
“Probably not. They’ll come with me, even if I don’t want them to.”
“You don’t want them to come because you think you have to do whatever it is by yourself. You don’t want them getting hurt.”
Harry laughed dryly. “Sometimes I wish you don’t know me as well as you do.”
“We dated for six months, Harry. It was inevitable that I know you.”
“Why-”
“Have you told Ginny about leaving? She wanted to go with you, right?”
“No.”
“No?”
“You don’t know Ginny as well as you know me.”
“For good reason.” She muttered under her breath.
Ignoring the comment he mumbled, “She knew it was coming.”
“So, you’ll have her to come back to; that’s something to look forward to.” Harry did not miss the bitterness in her voice.
“Its over.”
“What is?”
“Me and Ginny. If I come back-”
“When you come back.” She corrected vehemently.
“We aren’t getting back together.”
Reese bit her lip to hide her smile. “Oh, that’s too bad. You guys made a…cute couple.”
“You’re transparent, Reese Charmicheal.”
“Why aren’t you getting back together?”
“Why are you jealous?”
“I asked first.”
Harry smiled at her. “Ginny is more like a sister to me, as much as Hermione is. I tried to pretend that it wasn’t true…but I used her as a replacement. And I think she knew that.”
“Why did you-”
“You have to answer my question first.”
Sighing, she replied “Just because I…did what I did…it doesn’t mean I stopped caring about you. Why did you use her as a replacement?”
“There’s this girl with curly brown hair and really…really white teeth. Even whiter than Hermione’s and her parents are dentists. And she broke my heart, for no reason. And I knew that she and Ginny had a problem. So I used her. To make you— this girl jealous. Apparently it worked.”
“Ginny and I only had a problem because-”
“You were jealous of her, even when you and I were dating.”
“…True. Because she spent so much time with you. She was Ron’s sister. You saw her over winter and summer holidays when you stayed at the Burrow. You saw her in your common room every night. I just…I always felt that she knew you on a level I never would. And then there was the fact that she liked you since before she even started Hogwarts.”
“And you don’t think that I was jealous?”
“Of what?”
“Reese…most of your friends are guys. Actually…I think Hermione may be your only friend who’s a girl.”
“So?”
Harry laughed, “Reese…we aren’t in the same house. So every time you went back to the Ravenclaw common room, there was always a group of guys waiting to talk to you. You always seemed to be with a group of guys-”
“You dated Ginny up until today. I didn’t date any of those guys. They were just friends.”
“But they were all guys and there were so many of them.”
“You honestly thought about that?”
“I thought about a lot of things when I was with you. And when I wasn’t.”
“Like what?”
“Like why you did it. Like if you would be safe when I left a few nights. I couldn’t find you before I left. I didn’t know if you were going to get hurt. And I thought about if you missed me. If you still cared.”
“I do.”
“Then why?”
“It doesn’t matter-”
“Yes it does! Reese, what did I do? You ignored me for a month. The only thing you said to me was ‘We’re done.’ I need an explanation. What did I do?”
“Nothing. You…you didn’t do anything. You were….amazing.” She chucked a stone forcefully into the water and watching the ripples fan out. “It wasn’t you.”
“Do not give me that ‘its not you, its me’ line. Reese I know you better than that.”
“I was afraid, alright?” she blurted out. “I was afraid.”
“Of what? Of me?”
“No! Never of you.”
“Then what were you afraid of?”
“I was afraid of what could happen.”
“What do you mean?”
“Harry…our world was in turmoil around us. People were getting arrested. People were disappearing. People were dying…And you were…one of the most amazing people I’d ever met. And I knew that you were going to fight to the end. And that scared me. You scared me, only in the way that I was so desperately afraid to lose you that I…I avoided you because I knew that ending it would be painful but it would hurt when you left to fight too.”
“That’s stupid.”
“Is it Harry? You just broke up with Ginny over what could happen?”
“Its still stupid.”
“Thanks Harry.” She deadpanned.
“So…you didn’t hate me.”
“Why would you think that?”
“You ignored me for weeks. You practically run away every time you saw me!”
“Okay, so I guess that wasn’t the best thing I could’ve done.”
“Things weren’t horrible between us.”
“No, they never were.”
“Merlin, you were shy.” Harry muttered.
“I just never had much to say.”
“Please, if I so much mentioned anything about a Quidditch team, you’d go off a rant so long, I’d forget what we were talking about. And half of those times, I’m pretty sure you forgot what you were talking about too.”
“Then why didn’t you just tell me to shut up?”
“I liked listening to you.”
“I liked being with you.”
“I have to go.”
“I know.”
“I want to because I want to end this. I want him gone. I don’t want him to kill anyone else. But I don’t want to leave you here.”
“Why?”
“Just because its over, it doesn’t mean I still don’t care.”
“Harry-”
“I’m leaving.”
“I know.”
“Will you be here if—when I get back?”
Harry was looking at her now. For the first time, he was looking at her.
She smiled at him. “I’ll be here,” she replied.
He leaned in and kissed her, his soft lips meeting hers. The wind blew around them, making the trees of the forest sway. They merely sat together on the edge of the lake, ignorant of passing time as they made up for what they lost.
The funeral had ended and the mourners had dispersed. She found him sitting by the lake with the wind blowing his messy black hair around.
“Harry!” she called out to him.
“Reese.” He replied but did not look her way.
“Hi,” she said sitting down next to him.
“What do you want, Reese?” He asked coldly.
“Harry, please just-”
“You didn’t have anything to say months ago, what could you have to say now?” He said angrily.
She nodded somewhat regretfully. “I know. But that’s not why I’m here.”
“Why are you here, then?” He snapped.
“You need to talk to someone. And you don’t want to. So I’m here to make you.”
“Talk about what?”
“Anything.”
“Anything?” He repeated.
“Anything at all.”
“Why’d you do it?”
“Okay. Not anything.” She amended.
“So there are conditions-”
“Oh shut up Harry.” She retorted. She had forgotten how annoying he could be. “How are you?”
“Well, fantastic really. My parents are still dead. So is my godfather. My girlfriend who I really really cared about broke up with me for no reason. The only person who had a clue about Voldemort is dead. Voldemort is getting stronger everyday. And I just couldn’t stop Dumbledore’s murder. So overall, I think it’s been a great couple of years, don’t you think?”
“Sarcasm does not become you, Harry.”
He said nothing in reply.
“How are you feeling?”
“Why do you care?”
“Stop deflecting, Harry!”
“No! I can’t talk to you just like that. As if nothing’s changed.”
“Just because we broke up, it doesn’t mean that I don’t still care about you.”
“We didn’t break up, you just-”
“I know. Okay? I know what I did.”
“Damn it, Reese…you never even gave me a reason.”
“Harry-”
“Why did you do it, Reese?” He said, turning to look at me.
“I’ll tell you-”
“I think I deserve that much.”
“If you really want to know. But first you gotta talk to me.”
“There’s nothing to say.”
“Snape just murdered Dumbledore, Harry! What are you feeling?”
“Hatred. Stupidity. More hatred.” He listed off.
“Why?” She questioned, knowing he wanted to vent.
“Snape. Dumbledore trusted him and then he…he murdered Dumbledore. Dumbledore…he looked at him that night as he expected Snape to help him and then…he killed him. And I couldn’t stop him.”
“You can’t sa-”
“I should’ve been able to save him.”
“No. You couldn’t.”
“You weren’t there-”
“But I know what happened. Dumbledore did everything for the greater good that the world could have. He saved you instead of himself, knowing that you had to live. You have to fight. It was you.”
“I’m sick of it. If I was just another student, Dumbledore would’ve protected himself.”
“If you were just another student, you wouldn’t have been with him in the first place.”
“And I wouldn’t have met you.”
“What do you mean?”
“If I wasn’t ‘The Boy Who Lived,’ I wouldn’t have met you.”
“That’s not true.”
“Can you honestly tell me that you would’ve cared about me if I wasn’t-”
“Yes. I can.” She snapped. “Really Harry? Is that…is that how you think of me? That I only loved you for the…for the fame?”
“Er—well…”
“Wow. Thanks Harry. Glad to know you think so highly of me.”
“Come off it, Reese. I don’t have to be nice. You ignored me. I have a right to be bitter.”
“Fine…” she grumbled.
The pair sat in silence for a moment before Reese spoke.
“When we first met, did you think it was a ploy…just to meet you…because you were famous?”
“No…I’m angry Reese. At Snape, at Voldemort, at myself, at you. And-”
“I’m the only one of the four you can take it out on. I gave you a reason to, after all.”
“I remember the day we first met.” She knew he was changing the topic, but went along with it to appease him.
“Well I did…fall for you quite easily that day.” She murmured.
Harry chuckled. “Yeah. November 5th, during our third year.” She glanced at him in surprise. She didn’t think he’d remember the day they met. “I don’t think you even tripped over anything at all that day. You just…tripped…over air.” He laughed, recalling the memory.
“Yeah…” she laughed lightly while flushing red. “You know how clumsy I can get.”
“You were always so graceful.”
“Gravity and I don’t have a good friendship.”
Harry snorted. “Gravity hates you.”
“So what’s next?”
“Hm?”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m not coming back to Hogwarts next year.”
“Neither are Ron or Hermione I assume.”
“Probably not. They’ll come with me, even if I don’t want them to.”
“You don’t want them to come because you think you have to do whatever it is by yourself. You don’t want them getting hurt.”
Harry laughed dryly. “Sometimes I wish you don’t know me as well as you do.”
“We dated for six months, Harry. It was inevitable that I know you.”
“Why-”
“Have you told Ginny about leaving? She wanted to go with you, right?”
“No.”
“No?”
“You don’t know Ginny as well as you know me.”
“For good reason.” She muttered under her breath.
Ignoring the comment he mumbled, “She knew it was coming.”
“So, you’ll have her to come back to; that’s something to look forward to.” Harry did not miss the bitterness in her voice.
“Its over.”
“What is?”
“Me and Ginny. If I come back-”
“When you come back.” She corrected vehemently.
“We aren’t getting back together.”
Reese bit her lip to hide her smile. “Oh, that’s too bad. You guys made a…cute couple.”
“You’re transparent, Reese Charmicheal.”
“Why aren’t you getting back together?”
“Why are you jealous?”
“I asked first.”
Harry smiled at her. “Ginny is more like a sister to me, as much as Hermione is. I tried to pretend that it wasn’t true…but I used her as a replacement. And I think she knew that.”
“Why did you-”
“You have to answer my question first.”
Sighing, she replied “Just because I…did what I did…it doesn’t mean I stopped caring about you. Why did you use her as a replacement?”
“There’s this girl with curly brown hair and really…really white teeth. Even whiter than Hermione’s and her parents are dentists. And she broke my heart, for no reason. And I knew that she and Ginny had a problem. So I used her. To make you— this girl jealous. Apparently it worked.”
“Ginny and I only had a problem because-”
“You were jealous of her, even when you and I were dating.”
“…True. Because she spent so much time with you. She was Ron’s sister. You saw her over winter and summer holidays when you stayed at the Burrow. You saw her in your common room every night. I just…I always felt that she knew you on a level I never would. And then there was the fact that she liked you since before she even started Hogwarts.”
“And you don’t think that I was jealous?”
“Of what?”
“Reese…most of your friends are guys. Actually…I think Hermione may be your only friend who’s a girl.”
“So?”
Harry laughed, “Reese…we aren’t in the same house. So every time you went back to the Ravenclaw common room, there was always a group of guys waiting to talk to you. You always seemed to be with a group of guys-”
“You dated Ginny up until today. I didn’t date any of those guys. They were just friends.”
“But they were all guys and there were so many of them.”
“You honestly thought about that?”
“I thought about a lot of things when I was with you. And when I wasn’t.”
“Like what?”
“Like why you did it. Like if you would be safe when I left a few nights. I couldn’t find you before I left. I didn’t know if you were going to get hurt. And I thought about if you missed me. If you still cared.”
“I do.”
“Then why?”
“It doesn’t matter-”
“Yes it does! Reese, what did I do? You ignored me for a month. The only thing you said to me was ‘We’re done.’ I need an explanation. What did I do?”
“Nothing. You…you didn’t do anything. You were….amazing.” She chucked a stone forcefully into the water and watching the ripples fan out. “It wasn’t you.”
“Do not give me that ‘its not you, its me’ line. Reese I know you better than that.”
“I was afraid, alright?” she blurted out. “I was afraid.”
“Of what? Of me?”
“No! Never of you.”
“Then what were you afraid of?”
“I was afraid of what could happen.”
“What do you mean?”
“Harry…our world was in turmoil around us. People were getting arrested. People were disappearing. People were dying…And you were…one of the most amazing people I’d ever met. And I knew that you were going to fight to the end. And that scared me. You scared me, only in the way that I was so desperately afraid to lose you that I…I avoided you because I knew that ending it would be painful but it would hurt when you left to fight too.”
“That’s stupid.”
“Is it Harry? You just broke up with Ginny over what could happen?”
“Its still stupid.”
“Thanks Harry.” She deadpanned.
“So…you didn’t hate me.”
“Why would you think that?”
“You ignored me for weeks. You practically run away every time you saw me!”
“Okay, so I guess that wasn’t the best thing I could’ve done.”
“Things weren’t horrible between us.”
“No, they never were.”
“Merlin, you were shy.” Harry muttered.
“I just never had much to say.”
“Please, if I so much mentioned anything about a Quidditch team, you’d go off a rant so long, I’d forget what we were talking about. And half of those times, I’m pretty sure you forgot what you were talking about too.”
“Then why didn’t you just tell me to shut up?”
“I liked listening to you.”
“I liked being with you.”
“I have to go.”
“I know.”
“I want to because I want to end this. I want him gone. I don’t want him to kill anyone else. But I don’t want to leave you here.”
“Why?”
“Just because its over, it doesn’t mean I still don’t care.”
“Harry-”
“I’m leaving.”
“I know.”
“Will you be here if—when I get back?”
Harry was looking at her now. For the first time, he was looking at her.
She smiled at him. “I’ll be here,” she replied.
He leaned in and kissed her, his soft lips meeting hers. The wind blew around them, making the trees of the forest sway. They merely sat together on the edge of the lake, ignorant of passing time as they made up for what they lost.