55A/N: Well, I promised a quick update, and I guess you can't really call this quick. But less slow than I usually am, anyway. Hope you'll enjoy! (Explanation for 4, 5 and 6 at the end…)
I. Something There – Beauty and the Beast Soundtrack (Lily Evans/James Potter)
There's something sweet and almost kind
But he was mean and he was coarse and unrefined
And now he's dear and so unsure
I wonder why I didn't see it there before
Mary is never going to shut up. Neither will Sirius, she is sure. Even Remus looked almost smug this morning.
She cannot quite believe it herself. She wasn't supposed to cave. She was supposed to hate him forever. Because he used to be worthy of her hate, didn't he?
He did.
But something has changed now. And last night she kissed him. And it felt way too good.
This is not happening – is it? When did James Potter suddenly go from being the meanest and most immature boy in the whole world to actually being… kind of irresistibly charming? And not so mean, at all.
But when he greets her with a hesitant grin, pulling his hand through his hair nervously, she somehow grins back and reaches for a repeat of last night (that actually turns out even better).
II. Way Back Into Love – Music and Lyrics Soundtrack (Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks)
I've been living with a shadow over head
I've been sleeping with a cloud above my bed
I've been lonely for so long
Trapped in the past, I just can't seem to move on
I've been hiding all my hopes and dreams away, just in case I ever need them again someday´
All I wanna do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
"Dumbledore is dead, Nymphadora. Try to be reasonable." His voice was weak, pleading, but she was tired of it. So damn tired.
"I am, Remus. I am a lot more bloody reasonable than you, that's for sure! And you're a real git if you think that losing Dumbledore makes me love you any less, or gives us any less right to be together."
She had pushed him into an empty classroom as soon as they had left the hospital wing, and had strategically placed herself in front of the door, blocking his chance of escape. And now she was yelling out her frustration at him, positively glaring.
"Nymphadora…" he tried again, searching his head for the arguments he knew were there, but that he also knew she had already heard and rejected too many times.
"And don't call me that!" she fired up. "You know me better than that, Remus."
The use of his first name had more effect on him than he should have allowed. It made him want to forget all of his reasons for turning her down, and it made his guilt over her mousy-coloured hair increase tenfold. Especially when she used it in that rejected voice.
Swallowing, he nodded, trying to stop the unbidden images running through his head at top speed of her worried face saving him from himself after Sirius's death, of her tearful eyes as he rejected her the first time, of her glowing eyes that he hadn't seen in such a long time, that he knew he could get back with just one word (but, he tried to reason with himself, hr would also eventually permanently remove by uttering that word).
And then he saw Sirius and James, rolling their eyes at his reasoning and telling him to stop being such a ruddy git. And he saw Albus, his eyes sparkling.
She must have seen the change in his eyes, because suddenly her lips were attacking his, more fierce than ever. And, as she had somehow known, this time, he didn't push them away.
III. Baby Hold On – Dixie Chicks (Ginny Weasley/Harry Potter)
It's a new day, let's look at all we've got
It's everything we thought we ever wanted – it's beautiful
Baby hold on, let's start this over, we're not much older now
If you still see what I see, keep holding on, hold on to me
It's silence and it's his arm around her waist and she leans into him with an almost-smile. It's been days now, maybe weeks, possibly even months and it's still not real to her that her brother (Fred, she has to learn to say it again sometime – almost like when she was two and could only pronounce it 'Fjed') is gone, while Harry is here. It's the reversed from last year, because Harry was gone then and she wanted to hate him for that. Wanted to a bit when he returned too, really. But she has long since given up on that. He's just Harry and she loves him, still, always.
They're not much older now, and they've suddenly got everything they thought they ever wanted – freedom, peace, time. The chance to be together. But it's not enough, and it never will be – it can't – how can anything ever be without Fred's grin and jokes and overprotective big brother-ness?
They're not much older now, but as she holds onto his hand she feels something forbidden rise in her throat, and the world has changed, it has all changed because Ginny Weasley wasn't supposed to cry, ever. He's not the same either, and his eyes are somehow both blacker and brighter, but she still loves him, always will, and he still loves her (he assures her with sincerity in his eyes that he will never stop, as in forever) and maybe that's enough. Maybe it will be.
IV. Last Name – Carrie Underwood (Susan Bones)
Last night, I got served a little bit too much of that poison, baby
Last night, I did things I'm not proud of and I got a little crazy
Last night, I met a guy on the dance floor and I let him call me baby
It started off "hey, cutie, where are you from" and then it turned into "oh no, what have I done?"
And I don't even know his last name
She woke up with an arm around her waist and almost let out a shriek. Stopping herself just in time, she lay there, taking deep breaths, feeling the oncoming nausea at the light streaming in from the window.
How the hell had she ended up here?
And then it, slowly and painfully, started coming back to her. Hannah telling her, over and over, that she needed to get out, meet some people. Have fun, even. Mostly just to shut her up, Susan had agreed. And then… there had been drinks. Many drinks. Some guy had been buying her them, and she had been about to turn him down when he asked her to dance, but Hannah's pleading face had been there and she'd said yes, just because.
But it had been nice, somehow, to be close to him, to just blend in with the crowd, just let the music pound in her ears. And when he called her baby in that hoarse voice, she must have lost her mind, because it was she who leaned in and pushed her lips to his.
When he led her out of there, his eyes dark in hers, his hand around the small of her back, she had even forgotten that Hannah was there somewhere, waiting for her. For the first time in three years, she was forgetting everything.
And now, she was here, in what she could only assume was his bed. With a sickening jolt, she realized that she wasn't wearing anything.
"Mornin'," he whispered, and this time, she actually did jump a little. "Rough night, huh?"
"I – I don't know. I don't do this. I – I don't even know who you –" she stuttered, and his smile was kinder than she'd expected.
"It's okay," he said, putting his hand over hers. "S'not too late for that, you know. I'm David. David Macmillan."
And she turned and heaved all over his carpet as she realized just why his voice and eyes had seemed so comfortingly familiar.
V. In Love With A Girl – Gavin DeGraw (David Macmillan/Susan Bones)
I'm in love with a girl who knows me better
Fell for the woman just when I met her
Took my sweet time when I was bitter
Someone understands
He didn't recognize her that night – of course he didn't. He had been pouring down drinks for hours straight, weeks actually, or more like years. He didn't care anymore. He didn't care about anything.
He'd never bothered about her. If he had, he might've seen it that night, even though it had been years since he had barely noticed that hysterical girl at his brother's funeral. (It was his big brother's funeral – how could he be expected to care, to bother about anyone, particularly someone he didn't even know?)
So he didn't recognize her and it did happen. And after she had thrown up on his floor and locked herself in his bathroom for half an hour, they talked a bit. It was the first time he'd been able to talk about his brother in three years.
Susan didn't pity him. When she cried, it wasn't just the tears of someone who felt for him, who was frightened by the phenomenon of death. She knew.
It wasn't that she was beautiful. That was what had attracted him to her that night, but then she was still just some girl who might serve as a distraction for a couple of hours. The something more came later, something unexplainable. Something about the way her tears felt against pressed against his cheeks, about the soft, teary, shared smile, about her scent of life and living.
David didn't give a rat's ass if someone didn't approve. He'd stopped bothering about the world in general three years ago when his brother was lost in a battle he wasn't even allowed to fight. Susan had made him capable of caring again, and that was all that mattered.
VI. Twisted – Carrie Underwood (Susan Bones/David Macmillan)
Everybody's telling me, I'm over my head
But they don't feel you loving me
It's twisted, messed up
And the more I think about it, it's crazy, but so what
I might never understand it
I'm caught up and I'm hanging on
I'm gonna love you even if it's wrong
"Susie, are you sure this is, well – a good idea?" Hannah's eyes are worried.
No, she's not sure. She hasn't been sure about anything for three years. The only thing she knows is that for three unbearable years, she hasn't felt anything and with David, she feels. She laughs. She forgets, yes, sometimes, but never for long. And he understands that too.
"I – think so. I don't know, okay? But… I – right now, yes, I'm sure."
"But –"
Hannah doesn't get it. It's understandable, of course. How could anyone understand that maybe this is the best thing that ever happened to both of them? That maybe, even if it seems twisted and crazy and maybe even a dishonour to Ernie's memory, it might be the only way for them to get through this. Together.
Maybe she shouldn't have stayed that morning, and then never talked to him again. But it's too late now. They're in to deep in this thing, whatever it is and whatever it'll grow into. Right now, it's inevitable.
"Hi," she sighs into his kiss, and the feeling of his body pressed up against her makes her feel alive.
She's not crazy. She knows he's not Ernie, and that she'll never get him back. It's not about that (even though the knowledge is seducing that if, somehow, they would end up married, her son might be named Gary Macmillan after all, just like they decided one sparkling night at seventeen…)
But it's not about that. It's about David and his black eyes in hers and his rough lips kissing away her tears.
VII. I Hope – Dixie Chicks (Hannah Abbott/Neville Longbottom)
Cause our children are watching us, they put their trust in us, they're gonna be like us
So let's learn from our history, and do it differently
I hope for more love, more joy and laughter
I hope we'll have more than we'll ever need
I hope we'll have more happy ever afters
It's Sunday morning and she wakes her husband with a soft kiss.
"Good morning," she whispers as he grunts something incomprehensible in response.
Slowly, his eyes flutter open and he blinks at her wide smile, stifling a yawn to ask, "What's up? And so ea-ear-early?"
She just keeps grinning, and almost absentmindedly her hand moves to cradle her so far flat stomach. Neville doesn't miss the gesture. His mouth falls open. "Are you - ?" he breathes, as if he's hardly daring to utter the words. They've been hoping for a while now, and both has been feeling slightly deflated watching Ginny's stomach expanding these last couple of months while nothing has happened to them.
Enthusiastically she nods, and as he gapes even more, she can't stay composed and flings himself onto him, kissing him hard on the mouth.
It's everything they've dreamed of. It's the whole family he's never had and she hasn't seen in a long time. And they've got the chance to do this right. This time, there's no war, not even lingering Death Eaters anymore. It's not always perfect, but right now, it's never been more right and never closer to the happily ever after they never even dared to dream of.
A/N: Okay. Dead Ernie's brother and his ex. If it's too weird for you, I get it. I'm still not quite sure how to feel about them myself. I can kind of see it, but just – if you can't, I totally get that. Anyway, how did that crazy idea come into my head? Well, see, I had kind of already named a certain boyfriend of Molly Weasley the second Gary Macmillan when I later decided that Ernie was going to die… And since I want my stories to go together, I had to fix that somehow. This was a way, and then I kind of got intrigued with how it turned out… Let me know if it's just my weird brain or if I should explore them further!