MetaFic

It was a glorious late autumn day. A breeze played with the few leaves that still clung stubbornly to the dark bare branches. It tugged at the heaps of brown and gold foliage that covered the garden scattering the lawn with a fresh dusting of autumn.

He sat on the worn swing that hung beneath the large oak tree that dominated the immediate landscape. He swung slowly back and forth, his mood at odds with the warm sunshine and the excited shrieks of his children as they charged around the garden. They dived into the piles of leaves his wife had collected as she’d ignored his mood and got on with things.

He didn’t know why he felt so awful. After all he had done the right thing hadn’t he? And besides if anyone needed to apologise then it wasn’t him. But if it was the right thing to do, then why did he feel so wrong?

He watched his red-wellie clad youngest chase their mongrel across the lawn. She was shouting at the hound for stealing the stick she had been using in her mock fight with her brothers, but the dog paid no attention to her and ducked under their back gate into the field beyond.

She stopped chasing the dog and she spied her father. She beamed at him, her disappointment at losing her stick forgotten. He tried to return her smile but his scowl remained and her face dropped. His heart sank, this doing what he thought was right was becoming less and less attractive by the minute. He opened his arms and forced a smile hoping that she would come to him but she ran off to her mother leaving him alone with his dark mood.

Ginny looked up as she scooped the girl up into her arms and shook her head slowly at him, her facing full of disapproval. She turned to her daughter, her face lit up by a smile as she tweaked her youngest’s nose causing the girl to squeal in delight. Ginny set her down and sent her on her way. She watched as her daughter ran to join her brothers before turning back to Harry. He expected to see more disapproval, but instead she looked sadly at him, her hurt only too apparent. She gathered up the rake and walked over to the shed without a backward glance. A few minutes later she was inside with the children leaving him alone.

*

How long he’d sat there he didn’t know. The last vestiges of the day had slunk away as the sun sank slowly behind the trees silhouetting their stark shapes and left him in darkness.
His shoulders ached from his hunched position and his whole body shivered from the cold.

“Are you going to stay out there all night?” She asked.

“Probably.”

“You should have cast a warming charm; you’ll catch your death out here.”

“Probably.”

“But you thought that you’d punish yourself and not cast one.”

He mumbled his reply. He knew she was right. She’d dealt with his moodiness for so long now that she knew him too well for her to be fooled like the others.

“Do you think they’ll want to come back? I mean cancelling on them like that. I mean I really messed up this time didn’t I?”

Her felt her arms slip round his waist as she snuggled up to his back.

“I think so, Harry. Remus and Tonks love you too much to stay away for too long. No doubt Remus is letting Tonks know exactly how unreasonable you are at this very moment.”

His mood darkened, the last thing he wanted to do was to set his best friends arguing. Ginny sensed his mood and tightened her hug.

“Don’t worry Harry, when he’s finished ranting, she’ll calm him down and find a way of distracting him.” He felt her laugh as she spoke, obviously amused at the prospect of Tonks using her charms in that way on her husband.

“And what about us?”

“I can’t pretend that I’m not hurt Harry. I’d looked forward to this for a while and now it’s all wasted. Plus the kids have all gone to bed upset because their moody daddy hasn’t read them a story.”

“I’m sorry Ginny, I really am.”

“I know Harry. But in future try to remember that what you think is the best course of action may not be the best for everyone else.”

He leaned back into her embrace and managed to kiss her jaw.

“So, are you going to ‘calm me down’?” he asked hopefully.

“After you’ve given our messy hound a bath. The stupid mutt has been rolling in the cow pats again and is awaiting your attention.”

“Can we use Scourgify on him?” He slipped his arm around her waist letting her know what he’d rather be doing instead of cleaning the dog.

She stood up making him flap wildly as he struggled to stop himself from falling.

“No, Harry, you can’t.” She laughed at him as he landed in a heap under the swing narrowly avoiding being hit on the head by the seat as it swung back and forth.

“But Ginny!”

“Dog or the doghouse Harry, it’s your choice.”

She walked back towards the house leaving him to struggle to his feet. As he brushed the dirt and the leaves off himself, he let out a long sigh. He looked back of the wreckage of the day wishing that he had a time turner and could put things right quickly. Instead he faced the long haul of getting back in his family’s good books, not to mention having to face Remus again.

He walked forlornly back towards the warm candlelight in the porch.

“Next time Potter,” he said to himself, “if you chose to get on your high horse make sure there’s one else going to get hurt when you fall off.”