Chapter One

Ginny Weasley thought she had it all. After the war, she went back to Hogwarts for her seventh and final year of her education and was soon after drafted as a reserve chaser for the Holyhead Harpies'. It was like a dream come true for Ginny and when the starting chaser decided to retire in favor of getting married and starting a family, Ginny's career escalated. Soon, Ginny Weasley was a household name in the Wizarding community. Her life was a whirlwind of games, press conferences' and a number of endorsements for various quidditch gear, including the new line of Firebolt's.

It was during one of these endorsements that she met Drake, an up and coming beater for the Tutshill Tornados. Like everything else in Ginny's life, their relationship was a whirlwind romance. The press portrayed their relationship as perfect, and to Ginny it was. There was even speculation on when Drake was going to pop the question.

It seemed to Ginny that she was finally getting everything she had ever wanted, but soon, her world came crashing down around her. It was a night just like any other when it happened. Practice that day ran a little late, but that was nothing out of the ordinary, and Ginny decided to stop and get some carry-out from Drake's favorite restaurant before heading home to the flat they shared. She used her wand to remove the wards that kept the press at bay and to unlock the door and stepped into the dark flat. She flicked her wand at the lamp in the sitting room and moved into the kitchen to put away Drake's dinner with a warming charm. It wasn't unusual for his practice's to run late either.

That's when she heard it. She had thought that she was alone, but someone was in the flat. She set the bags of carry-out on the kitchen counter and held her wand out in front of her defensively as she moved down the hallway toward the noise. Her heart beat fast in her chest as she crept toward the bedroom door, images of Death Eaters flashing through her mind. Even as it was happening, she knew it was a silly thought. All the Death Eaters were captured after the war.

As quietly as she could, she pushed open the bedroom door. Once her eyes were adjusted to the dark, she saw movement in the room and flicked on the light. The sight she came upon in that moment will forever be engraved in her mind. There was Drake, naked, and in bed with another woman.

"What are you doing home?" asked Drake in an irritated voice. He seemed almost angry for the intrusion and not a bit remorseful for what he'd done. Ginny didn't know what to say. Everything seemed to have been fine in their relationship. She had always thought that if something like this was happening behind her back that she would be able to tell. But Drake had obviously been very careful because she hadn't a clue about any of it.

Ginny could hear the other woman in the room as she hastily tried to get dressed, but she never spared her a glance. To this day she couldn't say what she even looked like. When she heard the sound of the woman's apparition, Drake casually got out of bed and pulled on his discarded boxers.

"How could you?" said Ginny, finding her voice. "How could you do this to me? To us?"

"Ginny, you had to of known this would happen," said Drake, pulling his t-shirt over his head. He walked past where she stood in the doorway and headed to the kitchen. She could hear him as he inspected the food she had brought home to surprise him.

"Ugh, chicken again. I thought that maybe we could go out for dinner tonight," said Drake, holding up a styrofoam container and giving it an experimental sniff before it went flying out of his hand and splattered all over the kitchen floor. He looked up in surprise only to find a wand aimed between his eyes.

"Why would I want to go anywhere with you?" Ginny ground out between clenched teeth.

"We've got to keep up with appearances dear," said Drake, smirking at her. It was the one thing that always bothered Ginny about Drake, he cared too much about appearances.

"Damn the press," said Ginny. "We're over. I don't want to ever see you again."

She turned on her heal and went back in the bedroom, pulling her duffle bag from the closet and hastily shoving clothes into it. Drake was still in the kitchen when she was finished, leaning against the counter with his arms folded over his chest and a smile on his face like he found the entire situation amusing.

"You'll be nothing without me," he said once she reached the front door. She froze with her hand on the handle and turned to face him one final time.

"No, you've got that wrong," she said, pulling out her wand. "You'll be nothing without me." And before she let the tears that were forming in her eye's spill over, she let him know just what she thought of him with her signature hex, the Bat-bogey.

Ginny apparated into a clearing a few yards from the Burrow and let her bag drop to the ground. She stood there for some time, staring up at the familiar crooked house. The light was on in the kitchen and she could see her mum cleaning up from dinner and making a pot of tea. Ginny had no idea what she was going to say to her family. She knew her eyes were red and swollen from crying and she knew her mother would ask questions, but all she honestly wanted to do was crawl into her old bed and sleep. She felt drained, both physically and emotionally, and she still had a lot to deal with. Once the press got wind of the break up, they would be all over her, hounding her with questions.

Taking a few deep breaths, she hefted her bag back on her shoulder and made her way into the back garden. Before she even reached the door, it was wrenched open from the inside and Molly Weasley emerged with a big smile on her face.

"Ginny! What a surprise! What are you doing here?" she exclaimed, rushing out to meet her daughter.

"Hi mum," said Ginny sullenly. The smile on Molly's face faded.

"Ginny, what's wrong? What's happened? Are you all right? Are you hurt? Is Drake hurt?", said Molly, checking her daughter for injuries.

"I'm not hurt mum," said Ginny as she stepped into the warm kitchen. "I can't say as much for Drake though," she added under he breath.

"What happened?" asked Molly, concerned. It was very unlike Ginny to be so down.

"Drake and I split up. Can I stay here for a bit?" said Ginny as she dropped her bag on the floor by the door.

"Of course you can dear. Sit down, I'll get you a cup of tea and you can tell me what happened," said Molly. "Are you hungry?"

"No mum, that's fine. I think I'm just going to go to bed. I don't really feel like talking about it right now."

The sound of someone clearing their throat startled Ginny and she reached reflexively for her wand as she spun around. With her mother fussing over her, she hadn't even noticed Harry sitting at the kitchen table.

"I think I'll be going Molly," said Harry awkwardly, standing from the table. "Thanks for dinner and thanks for . . . listening."

"Any time dear, any time. Don't forget about dinner on Sunday. The whole family will be here," said Molly as she pulled him into a hug. He momentarily made eye contact with Ginny but quickly looked away. 'Great', she thought to herself. 'Now my ex-boyfriend knows all about my failed love life.'

Ginny stowed her wand back in the pocket of her robes and took advantage of her mother's distraction to slip out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her old bedroom. The door hinges creaked from lack of use when she pushed open the door and she flicked her wand at the bedside lamp to light up the familiar room. Everything was exactly the way she remembered it right down to the bedding. She smiled despite herself when a picture of her and Harry that she had taped to her mirror caught her eye. It was taken during her fifth year at Hogwarts by Colin Creevey down by the lake at their favorite spot.

Sighing to herself, she sat down on the bed and scrubbed her hands across her face. She really was exhausted. A soft knock at the door made her jump and she looked up to find her mother standing uncertainly in the doorway.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it dear?" asked Molly. If there was one thing she knew about her daughter, it was that Ginny didn't like to show weakness. She would hold it all in, bottle it up, until she finally just snapped.

"What is there to talk about? Drake's a jerk. End of story," said Ginny. She stood from the bed and started rifling through her duffle bag. She had packed so quickly that she really had no idea what she grabbed. And she knew she would have to go back to get the rest of her stuff.

"What did he do? I'm sure you two can work things out," said Molly. She stepped into the room and took a seat at the end of the bed.

Ginny didn't answer right away, still digging through the few meager belongings she had brought with her until she came across what she was looking for. She pulled out the pajama's and tossed the behind her onto the bed. "He cheated on me mum," said Ginny, not looking her mother in the eye. She felt humiliated by the whole thing and knew it would only get worse once the press heard.

"Cheated on you? How do you know?" said Molly, her eyes going wide.

Ginny sighed. "I know because I walked in on him in our bed with another woman," she said. She could feel the tears forming in her eyes and knew it would be useless to try to hold them back. "He didn't even say he was sorry," she said as the tears started to cascade down her cheeks.

"Oh, Ginny," said Molly, reaching over to wrap her arms around her daughter. She sat like that for some time, holding her daughter in her arms and trying to comfort her the only way she knew how. She knew that this was something that Ginny would eventually have to deal with publically but she wanted to protect her from all that any way that she could. And Merlin help Drake when her son's found out what that man did to their little sister.

After what seemed like hours, it felt to Ginny as if she cried all that she could. She knew that she deserved better but right then she could only concentrate on the hurt. "Thanks for being here for me mum," she said as she sat up, sniffling. She used her sleeve to wipe a few stray tears from her cheek and gave her mother a weak smile.

"We're all here for you, even Harry," said Molly. She stood from the bed and smoothed out her robes.

"Yeah, why was he here?" asked Ginny curiously, remembering that Harry was in the kitchen when she arrived. Sure, she knew her brother was Harry's best friend, but she didn't know he came over just to chat.

Molly hesitated for a moment before answering. "He just needed someone to talk to," she said.

Ginny knew her mother was being evasive but was too tired to press the subject further. That didn't mean, however, that she wasn't still curious. What could possibly be going on in Harry's life that he sought out her mother? But all that could wait for now. She had more pressing things to deal with.

A/N: Let me know what you think of the first chapter. What do you thing should happen?

Please review! :)