Harry Potter and all related characters belong to JK Rowling.

Chapter 1

Ginny Weasley had finally finished her 7th year at Hogwarts. She was free. NEWTS were complete, and she had her entire future before her. Compared to the previous six years, this last year at Hogwarts had been downright boring. During her sixth year Harry, Ron and Hermione had tracked down the remaining horocruxs, and Harry had fulfilled the prophecy by eliminating Voldermort. There had been battles throughout all of sixth year, climaxing with a final battle on the grounds at Hogwarts. Much to her annoyance Ginny had been locked up and away from the most of the fighting, but in the end, the final battle had required every last person.

The start of seventh year had seen Aurors rounding up what was left of the Dark Lord's band of Death Eaters. In contrast to the first time Voldermort disappeared, it was much easier to distinguish sides. This time around loyalties had to be acted upon and no amount of deception or pleading could conceal the truth. At the graduation ceremony marking the conclusion of Ginny's time at Hogwarts, Headmistress McGonagall could truthfully declare that the wizarding world was now free and safe from Voldermort.

Harry disappeared after the final battle. After spending so much of his life anticipating the showdown with Voldermort, Harry decided he needed to escape from Britain. The days following the battle even those closest to him said he greatly resembled a prisoner of Azkaban. He turned his temporary break-up with Ginny into a permanent one, said a few good-byes and then vanished. Ginny had been heart broken for months.

Harry had written Ginny a few times trying to explain why he couldn't stay in Britain, but it was a poor attempt to console a deserted girlfriend. It had taken awhile, but now, to her surprise and relief, Ginny found herself caring less and less if he was around. Much like the rest of the student population, Ginny found herself in a mild stupor for most of her final year. It felt like only by sheer force of habit did she make it to class each day. NEWT'S had taken what little strength the 7th years had left and the train ride home proved to be a quiet and somber occasion.

Ginny had suffered tremendous losses due to the war and had unconsciously retreated from people as a method of coping with her pain. Charlie had died standing next to Harry in the final days of the Death Eaters stand. His life had been given for a noble cause, but his absence still hurt. It all just seemed so unfair. He had been so young; he would never would get the chance to have a family or reach his full potential. Ginny kept thinking Charlie would have been a wonderful father. This thought always brought hot tears to her eyes.

Ginny lost Bill to grief. Coping with the loss of his brother, and struggling to establish a place in British society as a partial werewolf, had proved to be too much for Bill. He had taken (more like fled in Ginny's mind) his bride, Fleur, to France and started working for a Gringotts branch just outside of Paris. Bill didn't communicate much with the family anymore, and Ginny wondered if he would ever truly come back to them.

Percy had reluctantly made peace with his parents before the worst of the battles had taken place. He never got the chance to reconcile with his siblings before he was abducted and tortured by death eaters. Percy was now a permanent resident of St. Mungo's. He was in a catatonic state, unable or unwilling to talk, move or respond to anything. It was the most depressing thing Ginny had ever seen. She had visited a few times, but couldn't stand going back. She had whispered her apologies, and had forgiven him for all the rotten things he had done, but in her heart, Ginny knew she was too late.

Fred and George were the only ones that seemed to escape the war relatively unscathed. It didn't take long for their business to grow into a massive organization, with far reaching interests in various fields. Ginny couldn't keep track of all the splinter companies or even how they were related to practical jokes. The twins were the same boisterous duo that Ginny had known growing up, but careful examination revealed their reluctance to let many people very close to them. Neither of them were dating anybody, and they kept their circle of friends very small and very close. That circle never seemed to include Ginny.

Ron and Hermione dated briefly but found that without Harry their connection was not as strong. They were still good friends, but not like they used to be. It had been an awkward transition to go from friends to lovers back to friends again, and with each shift their distance grew.

Ron had shocked everyone and applied for further schooling in Charms and Transfiguration. He was accepted at the London School for Advanced Wizardry and was well on his way to becoming the most sought after scholar in the field of Charms. He shared a flat in London with a couple of guys from his program and appeared to be content if not happy. He was doing his best to move on without Harry or Hermione, but in the process he left Ginny standing alone as well.

Hermione, equally as shocking, decided she would leave the wizarding world for a stretch. She wanted to reconnect with her family and perhaps develop a strategy to build a bridge between her two, very separate worlds. Last Ginny had heard, Hermione had moved to the States for an extended fellowship with a muggle academic institution. Ginny wasn't sure exactly what that meant, but wished Hermione the best.

To say that it had been hard to lose her brothers, her best friends, and her purpose in less than a year was an understatement. Ginny found herself avoiding thinking about the future at all costs. It made her feel anxious and small. She had been asked time and time again what she was going to do after school. To satisfy those who asked, she always said she wanted to apply to become a medi-witch. People would smile and nod in approval. It was easier than telling them the truth…she had no idea what she would do.

Running away seemed like a good idea, and Ginny secretly envied Harry's ability and resources to take a vacation from real life. On the train ride home after graduation Ginny decide she would give herself a month to rest and plan. She wouldn't stress about coming up with the right answers, or making her parents feel better about the current state of her family. She wouldn't think about Harry, Ron or Hermione or attempt to fix any relationship problems with anybody. Ginny decided by the middle of summer she would be able to get on with her life. In that time she would surely come up with something that would make her happy.

One thing she knew for certain was that she couldn't stay at the Burrow for too much longer. It would be way to weird not having any of her brothers there, and her mother would drive her absolutely insane. No, Ginny was determined to forge her own path regardless of the fuss her mom would make. She could count on her dad to smooth things over…he was good like that.