Bulla Aurea Puerorum

Except for Ginny Weasley

Except for Ginny Weasley

I woke up with tears staining my face. They were left over from the tears I'd cried during my nightmare, and I quickly snuggled back towards Ginny, having rolled away during the night. She was still asleep and I watched her eyelids flicker as light sun shone in from the window.

I let my thoughts come as they may, thinking about the dullness of my classes and the butterflies in my stomach as I lay so close to Ginny.
As I sat there, I suddenly remembered that today was our first Hogsmeade trip after break. We'd only had one before the break and it had been tossed into shadows from the events the week before, when Eddie and I had stood out on the field in the rain.

I was suddenly excited, imagining how different this trip would be from the last, and by the time Ginny woke up I had planned out our entire day.

Most couples went to Madame Puddifoots Tea Shoppe during Hogsmeade trips, but I couldn't stand the aura of pink vomit. No, instead I planned to take Ginny for Butterbeers at the Three Broomsticks (and make out in the bathroom until it was time to meet the rest of our friends).

Before long, Ginny was waking up and I excitedly told her my plan. We quickly changed, me stealing a pair of black mom jeans and a skin-tight, half zipped cream sweater from her wardrobe, as well as a pair of beaten up black converse. I quickly brushed my hair and pulled it into a mid ponytail, letting my bangs fall into place on my forehead. Ginny looked beautiful as always in a large red jumper, a beige toque pulled over her head and matching beige converse. I kissed her before we left the dorm, lacing my fingers between hers and swinging them back and forth between us.

We stopped at the Great Hall for breakfast, the houses mixed among the tables as per usual in the mornings. Draco and Sage sat hand in hand at the Ravenclaw table, Draco trying to cut a sausage with his one free hand and failing miserably. I noted Maeve and Luna sitting together at the Slytherin table, Luna wearing a pair of wild glasses as she talked animatedly to Maeve. Burke sat not far from them, looking on in disgust at the obvious chemistry between the two. It wasn't until then that I noticed just how many couples there were at Hogwarts. Ivory and Harry sat hand in hand at the Gryffindor table, Atlas sitting not far from them with a pretty girl, her dark skin a deep coffee colour. Her black curls flowed over her shoulders, and a large birthmark covered half her face, a few dark freckles placed here and there on her cheeks and forehead. If I hadn't been so in love with Ginny, I might have been jealous of Atlas. I knew I recognized her, but couldn't think of her name.

As we approached the Hufflepuff table, Lucy appeared to be reading a letter, tears filling her eyes as they roamed over the page. Eddie looked at her with his eyebrows pulled together in worry, scanning her face. His hand sat gently on hers, but when she looked up and noticed me she pushed it off and folded up the letter.

"Morning," Ginny smiled. "Is everything alright?"

"Quite. Just excited for Hogsmeade is all." Lucy said.

I knew she was lying, her sentences sounding posh as they always did when she lied.

We ate in silence, Eddie and I still not as acquainted as we used to be. His cheeks still appeared hollowed, and he barely touched his food. That is, until Lucy nudged him and slyly gestured to her own, overflowing plate. He smirked in a sad way and popped a piece of sausage in his mouth. I could tell his chewing was forced and that Lucy's nudge was not by accident, but again, I didn't ask.

Some things you just don't ask about.

*      *      *

Fast forward 10 minutes and Ginny and I walked ahead of Lucy and Eddie, our hands swinging back and forth between us as we followed the gravel road towards Hogsmeade. I was giddy, excited to spend my first real date with Ginny in the snow covered village. I was certain that winter would always be my favourite season, the season in which I fell in love.

We crested a hill and the tops of the buildings in Hogsmeade became visible, snowy white and billowing smoke from invisible chimneys. Villagers bustled about the streets, inky blobs in a world of white.

The air bit at my cheeks and stung my eyes, cold and harsh. My cheeks burned red and I grinned wide as if I'd slept with a hanger in my mouth, happily walking with Ginny. She grinned just as hard, her brown eyes meeting mine as we laughed about something trivial.

I couldn't have felt happier, but I was interrupted by a lamp post, smacking hard into it and stumbling back. It took only a few moments to realize that it was not, in fact, a street light but a tall, skeletal figure. He stood tall in a dark cloak, his face hollowed and fingers long and spindly. His face was partially hidden by shadows, and all that I could see above his nose were two prinpricks of light reflecting off his eyes.

The way he stood there, looming over me, creeped me out. It took Ginny to tug my hand for me to keep walking. I mumbled a sorry as I passed and turned my head. He had turned to watch us and I saw him standing there, still watching as Ginny and I crossed the threshold into the Three Broomsticks. I couldn't get his eyes out of my head, even as Ginny placed a warm butterbeer in front of me, looking in my eyes and saying my name.

"'Phee?" It sounded through my head as if I was listening under water. I snapped back into consiousness with a confusing blink at her.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"What? Oh- yes. Yes, I'm fine." I said, shaking my head. I looked down at my hands, my fingers curled around my sleeves, my bangs falling over my eyes.

And then she took both my hands in hers, lightly tracing circles onto my skin, her eyes focused down. I forgot about the cloaked man, about his eyes, his stance, his skeletal appearance. The unnease it caused, the creeping tension, the unnatural familiarity. All that I thought of was this beautiful girl infront of me, her face flushed with emotion and her hands shaking from nerves.

It was my turn to bring her out of her daydream.

My eyelids fluttering with emotion, I whispered her name, appreciating the feeling of it on my tongue. It belonged there, on my lips. She looked up and for a moment the world slowed and all that was left moving was her eyes and mine.

I belonged here in the dark with her, the end of the hallway leading away from the restaurant and past the bathrooms. My lips moving against hers and my hands in her hair.

There was no one in the world left except for Ginny Weasley.