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In another life, it would have been them.
She’s not unhappy, no really, she isn’t. She loves Ron, of course, she does. Ron, with his freckled cheeks and blue eyes, with his red hair and stupid jokes. Ron, who makes her feel like it all might just be okay, some day.
Maybe that's why she hates herself for even thinking about it. She doesn't admit it, doesn’t dare to, even in the privacy of her own mind. It’s not something she can admit, because it never was to be. She never believed in destiny, despite 2 prophecies having come true before her. She used to believe in making her own choices. She still does, but now she knows. Some choices were never a choice to begin with.
He’s her best friend. 7 years of friendship, with the backdrop of a war and an evil wizard. She loves him, why wouldn't she?
It would have been fun, she thinks, if he could have been ‘the One’.
He’s the ‘Chosen One’. Not the one for her. And never would be.
Strangely enough, she’s almost fine with it. Fine with the fact that it’s red hair that mimics that of her own boyfriend, that he twirls around his finger. That the dopey smiles he smiles are no longer for her, but for Ginny, now. That it's not her that he calls pretty, when he’s half asleep in front of the fireplace. That now, when he has a nightmare, she's not the one who wakes up and calms him down with a hand on his forehead. That it’s not her touch that makes him blush and his eyes darken. That now, she’s not the one he comes to first, for anything.
Because some things were never meant to have been.
Sometimes, she swears he wonders about it too. About what ifs and never haves and what abouts. Should’ves and Would’ves and Could'ves, that appear in his green eyes. She knows it has to have crossed his mind, how could it have not? With all the rumors. And with all the moments that could have tipped over into something else.
Late nights in front of the fireplace, with the fire burning low, and the common room empty. All the way back in third year, when she flung her time turner around his neck and they almost kissed and he wanted to. She did too. Right before the first task, when she came to wish him luck and she could barely breathe herself, because it was dragons, and he was 14 and what if she lost him? 5th year, when she stayed up late, to put Murtlap Essence on his hand after his detentions with that woman; when she wanted him to be a prefect with her so badly, when Gryffindor won the match, when he left Cho to come to her. When in the battle in the ministry, she got hurt and he visited her every day and the anguish in his eyes tore her apart more than the curse that scarred her skin. When in 6th year, he told Slughorn she was the most brilliant student in her year, when he ran after her when Ron kissed Lavender, when he started dating Ginny and she suppressed her panic at that, when she vowed to stick by him through it all, both her and Ron. To the Hunt, especially after Ron left, and her heart broke but she stuck by him. And they danced to bring themselves hope and she knew if he had kissed her then, she would've let him, knew if she had kissed him, he would’ve let her. When they visited his parents’ graves, and she broke a little seeing him gut wrenchingly sad. After she was tortured in the Manor, and he was crazy and livid with fear. When they returned to Hogwarts and he went off, leaving Ron and her to revel in what they had and then she saw him in Hagrid’s arms and knew she wouldn't get through it. After the battle, when they lived at Grimmauld, because he was an orphan and she was as good as one, and he would hold her close as nightmares shook their bodies and tortured their minds.
Ginny would never know him like that. Ron would never know her like that, either. And that was the beauty of their bond, her and Harry’s. There would never be anyone who got the other’s sadness like they did.
And now, well the war was over, and the nightmares were ending too. And they both loved red-haired Weasleys and the idea of the two of them was over without ever being started.
It would've been a good idea, though.
She thinks Ginny and Harry's children would have red hair and green eyes, or black hair and brown eyes. Just like Harry’s parents himself. It’s poetic, really, the way he and Ginny make sense.
It doesn't stop her from wondering, what she and Harry could have been. Sometimes in autumn, when the leaves fall and it's cold and her scarf is tucked around her neck, snug and warm, and she's sipping coffee, she regrets not finding out. Regrets not knowing what could've been. Because if her wishes had come true, he would’ve been the one.