WONKY CROSS

A/N:  The general theme of this story is VERY loosely inspired from my second favorite Ron line in the PoA movie…. And a personal challenge to incorporate the idea into a ‘real life’ situation (within the confines of a fantasy world, following what could very well could be “canon” in the interim from the last of Book 7 and may or may not disregard the Epilogue) as well as I could:

‘Well, Harry’s got a sort of a wonky cross?  And that’s trials and suffering.  And…. Uh, that there could be the sun, and that’s happiness.  So…. uh…. you’re going to suffer…. but you’re gonna be happy about it.’

This is a Harry/Charlie fic, but first there is a lot of suffering with Ginny…. So there’s bad het HP/GW in the beginning.  It’s kind-of Ginny bashing, but she’s not entirely evil (just that she’s self-centered and immature); it’s more like both of them dealing with bad decisions, not having dealt properly with the way The War changed them, having personal issues of incompatibility and realizing they have major differences in their sexuality.

~O~

PROLOGUE

They say hindsight is 20-20 and Harry proved the sentiment true, he supposed.  It was with a wry sense of amusement that he admitted his visual acuity had never been up to par in the first place (and he was not the brightest wizard of his age).

He’d spent his whole life in blinkers—fettered, fumbling, stumbling…. just muddling through and relied on sheer dumb-luck at slipping through blurry shadows; he’d either blindly followed others’ orders or impetuously acted on inadequate information and made dim decisions from being kept in the dark.

Enlightenment, clarity and deep personal self-awareness were frivolous indulgences he had not been allowed when he had so much more important concerns of simple survival on his mind; external issues and saving other people had always won out over the internal desires every time.

His fantasy of the future had always been cloudy-- myopic at best—an unattainable illusion at the worst.  There had never been a well thought-out plan about what might happen AFTER.

And even though the Boy-Who-Lived (twice now) had always had his own unique and profound crosses to bear, looking back, there were some wonky things that should have been immediately obvious and crystal-clear.

….If he’d had a normal upbringing (and adolescence), that is.