the pull of the sea [LINNY]

Full Moon

"Yes."

They stand in silence for a while looking up at the stars that blink down at them in return. Ginny wonders why their meetings are always filled with silence. She wants to break the silence, to talk to this beautiful girl, but when she turns, the girl is gone.

Again.

________

The next few months pass in a blur for Ginny. She sees moon girl again. She goes to the beach everyday and everyday moon girl is there. They talk, sometimes about the moon and stars, when they are feeling free and wild, and when they feel heavy and grounded, as Ginny feels so often when moon girl is not with her to hold her hand and rub reassuring circles into her palm, they talk about the sea, and the legends and myths that surround it. The monsters and demons that lurk in the depth. They talk about the pull of the sea that Ginny feels, when she wants to walk into the sea and never walk back out, except to see moon girl again on their midnight meetings. Moon girl tells her she used to feel that pull, though she doesn't anymore.

She does not know moon girls name and moon girl does not know hers. Ginny had told moon girl about her nickname, and moon girl had laughed. Short and light, but sweet, and Ginny strives to make her laugh that way again. Moon girl had told her that she called Ginny the water wraith. Ginny liked that. So many people had told Ginny that she was a fiery little devil, Ginny likes being associated with water, not fire for once. They had never asked each other's names, and they had never talked about Micheals party, and they had never talked about other people.

She is so caught up in thought she doesn't realise everyone seems to be worrying about her.

Hermione gives her a cup of peppermint tea the next time Ginny visits. "Ginny, how are you feeling?"she asks tentatively.

Ginny was thinking about the faint whiff of roses she always smelt when she was with moon girl. "I'm good."she said, not really paying attention, was that the smell of the shampoo moon girl used? "Everything's good." Hermione seemed pleased with that, so Ginny didn't feel bad for lying to her.

Harry asked her if she would help him with the flowers in the garden, (the ipomoea were needing a little more attention nowadays) in an attempt to spend more time with her. She helped him, but they didn't speak about Ginny's growing distance.

Ron gave her sweets and gifts at every opportunity, to show his affection, to show that people still cared about her and that she could talk to them. She thanked Ron and returned his gifts with gifts of her own, and with them a silent, unspoken dismissal of his concern.

It was only when Dean Thomas asked what was wrong ( the only one to ask outright) that Ginny realised she was becoming obsessed. She hadn't told anyone about moon girl and she hadn't asked anyone if they knew who she was. She wanted to know who she was, but she liked what they had, meeting each other on the beach and sitting, talking with each other until they left, together or alone, always going in opposite directions.

Ginny looks at Dean. He's a good guy. She remembers they dated at school for a short while. He was always kind to her, he was always ready to help.

"Who is the prettiest person you know?" She asks. She doesn't know exactly why she asks this particular question, but she knows she wants to hear the answer. If Dean knows who moon girl is then he'll say it now, and if he doesn't then there is no need for Ginny to ask him if he knows a woman with hair like a silver lake and eyes like an endless blue abyss.

He is taken aback by this question, obviously not expecting it. "Well, I don't know if this counts but... at Corners last party..." Ginny's heart speeds up. This is going somewhere! "At...your boyfriend I mean... Michaels last party" he says, correcting himself. Ginny is impatient "Well, Neville brought a friend with him and she was pretty... pretty damn fine" he says the last bit to himself, remembering this 'damn fine' guest that Neville brought with him.

"What was her name?" Ginny is quite sure he is talking about moon girl so she doesn't know why she asks but... "Wait, don't tell me" she doesn't want to ruin what they have, and if moon girl wanted her name to be known she would have told Ginny herself.

She remembers then that Dean is an amazing artist, so she asks him to draw her. "Draw the pretty girl?" Dean asks, unsure of why Ginny would want him to do such a thing.
" Yeah. Don't show me though. I'll get an envelope for you to put in in."
She leaves before Dean can ask anymore questions, and out of the corner of her eye sees him take his drawing materials out of the bag he always carries around. This was probably not what he expected when he asked her what was wrong. A question, Ginny realises, she forgot to answer, except with a question of her own. She sighs and heads up to Harry's office. he should have an envelope around here somewhere.

The reason Ginny doesn't want to know , but wants the envelope is because she wants the power. She wants the power to open it whenever she wants, and she wants to know she has the self control not to. She wants to know she is worthy of moon girls trust.

When Ginny gets home, after the night outside with moon girl, she stands at the window of her flat for a long time. She can still see the moon from here. Only half of it is visible, it's beginning to set. Her stomach cries out for food. Ginny sighs and goes to sleep.