The clouds were forming and she could feel her anger brewing; wanting, no, needing to get out. It needed to lash out of something and it needed to be done soon. If not, it would turn against her and her worst fears would be realized. Analyzing herself is the last thing she actually wanted. Maybe that's what she really needed to do, but that was not allowed to happen. She had agreed to this a few years ago during one of those stupid "make a goal" New Year bull shit assignments from school. The only problem was that it seemed to have worked too well. And now, she was brewing all alone in the middle of the night. Though she knew she had those friends that would never leave her now, she still remembered those that tried. Maybe it was partially her fault, but she was not to dwell on this; she was breaking the rules. Her rules. That she set for a reason. Hell, just thinking of that broke the rule. What a dumb rule. Maybe it should become more of a guideline. She should be able to think of the good times too, right? Completely ignoring the past is probably a bad idea anyways. She needed to remember when she was a ray of sunshine to herself and to those around her, that she was not alone and that those who left aren't important. But most importantly, she needs to remember to not shut out the people who are here now or she really would be alone.
As the anger ebbed away, she started to feel normal again. She felt passive and blank. Of course she had her spurts of feeling every now and again but it wasn't how it used to be all those years ago; when she could just look at a friend in class and laugh out loud over something that was funny two weeks ago. That form of her was gone. She didn't know if it ever truly existed or not, but she wasn't about to make herself find out anytime soon. She couldn't and she wouldn't. Yet another one of her rules. When was she ever going to learn that these rules weren't helping her anymore? All because of him. He left her for "the greater good". Ginny scoffed. "The greater good, my ass," she thought. She was tired of sitting around, waiting for him to come back. She looked around her small room, doubting why he would ever come back for her. She was broke and was barely holding onto living in her small flat. Every day she considered moving back into the Burrow, but she couldn't stand the thought of it. He was the savior of the wizarding world and could not want a Weasley as he once did. He disappeared soon after he destroyed the most evil wizard of their age and never turned back. She wondered if he ever settled down with anyone, but found that she couldn't stand the thought. She could feel her anger coming back, but she breathed and pushed it away for another time.
She looked at the calendar and sighed. May 1st, 2008. One more day and it would be ten years since the final battle at Hogwarts. Ten years since she had last seen her brother, Fred…the last time she saw, him. Harry couldn't handle all the pressure they wanted from him. She knew he never wanted to be the world's savior and her heart went out to him. Even ten years later. She just could not believe he would abandon them like that. With her thoughts still on Harry and what tomorrow would bring she fell into a fitful sleep.
Ginny woke up to silence and rolled over, remembering the date. After an hour of silent tears, she got up to face the day. It would be full of many tears and memorials. They were to have a memorial at Hogwarts, another at the ministry (which she had to go to since she worked there), and then a small family gathering to go pay their respects to Fred. Ginny let her mind wander to her childhood as she got dressed in her best robes. She took out her wand and her still vibrant red hair fell into loose curls. Tears began to sting at the corners of her chocolate eyes but she quickly blinked them away. It is time to be strong, not weak. There was a knock at the door and she rushed to it as she blinked away the rest of her tears. To her mild surprise, Dennis Creevey was at her door. He had grown into a nice enough wizard and had started to become more affectionate to her in the past few years. Each of them had taken comfort in the other; Ginny over losing Harry and Dennis over losing his older brother. It had been hard on him those first few years but he took it in as best of stride as he could and helped rebuild the castle and then the wizarding world.
"Hiya Dennis, how are you holding up," I asked.
He leaned in for a hug, "I'm alright I guess. You look great, Gin."
She smiled at the compliment and hugged him back, "You're looking rather dashing yourself Dennis."
He blushed but remained quiet about it, "shall we go then?" offering her his arm.
She gladly took it and together they turned on the spot and found themselves at the gates of Hogwarts. Ginny looked up and sighed, "You wouldn't guess that a battle had happened here. The castle seemed to have forgotten it all…"
Dennis looked over at her and squeezed her hand, "None of us have forgotten Gin, not even Hogwarts." Ginny took in another sigh and walked with Dennis up to where the memorial was to be held. She immediately recognized the flaming red hair and bushy brown hair and ran to her brother and sister-in-law. Hermione hugged the youngest Weasley and smiled sadly. The four of them sat together just like they would have with Harry. Dennis didn't really feel it, but the other three felt the immense sadness of not having their best friend with them for this occasion. Headmistress McGonagall droned on for an hour with half of the audience too lost in their own memories to pay that much attention to what she saying. After it was all said and done Ginny, Ron and Hermione left to go to the memorial at the ministry. Ginny gave one last hug to Dennis before turning on the spot and disappearing with a soft pop.
The three of them approached the new fountain in the middle of the atrium and looked sadly at it. It was simple enough in the middle with small statues of all types of creatures and magic and non-magic beings all standing around each other. All around the statues were names of those they lost in the war, either with Deceased or Missing in Action next to each name. Ron went to go find their brother's name, but Ginny went to the center where his name was. She looked at the plaque, it read:
Harry Potter-Hero-Missing in Action
She felt the tears start to fall again and she could not stop them. She turned on her heel and ran head long into a tall, raven haired man.
"Oof!" She fell backwards, but the man caught her before hitting the ground.
She looked up to see who the man was only for her breath to catch, "Harry?"