On the night of October 31st, 1981, young Harry Potter didn't just temporarily vanquish the Dark Lord. Instead, he managed to reunite all of his soul fragments and destroy him completely. But this incredible act had a price: Harry's magic. Discovering this, Dumbledore realized that if he publicized the truth of events, Harry would never be able to defend himself from Voldemort's followers, and as such, he instead fabricated a story in which James and Lily, both formidable fighters, an Auror and a spell-crafter respectively, had finally managed to take down Voldemort, at the tragic price of their own lives. Sadly, after they had defeated him, their infant son had been killed by falling debris as the house collapsed. His obscurity and safety from the magical world assured, he sent Harry to his only living relatives—who conveniently happened to be muggles. Lily's sister Petunia, when Dumbledore's letter informed her that Harry did not have magic, was happy to raise her sister's child not to be a freak, and along the way, she learned a little something about the poisonous path that her family was focussed on.
A/N: I will add a bit of a note here, because I've never really liked Molly Weasley. She was trying to protect her children, and I understood that, but her actions in doing so always struck me as stupid and nonsensical. I apologize if this comes across a little bit more strongly than I intended. It is not meant to be bashing, and I tried to keep the characters in character, and portray both sides of the conflict to the best of my ability. Also remember, that since this is from Ginny's point of view, she will automatically see a skewed version of the fight. She feels that her mother does not support her dreams, and acts accordingly, when really, all that Molly wants is the best for her children.
Ginny Weasley glanced at her youngest and favourite brother. Ron was being surprisingly intelligent when it came to this plan, and surprisingly mature.
"She's driving me mad," Ron groaned. "I mean, Lavender is a great..."
"Girlfriend," Ginny supplied, wanting him to avoid using terminology that would lead to her having to smack him in order to defend her gender's honour.
"Yeah," Ron agreed quickly. "But I don't want to marry her!" Ron had been dating Lavender since his sixth year at Hogwarts, and they had just never broken up. "But mum won't get off my back!"
Ginny winced sympathetically. She absolutely knew the feeling. Her mother hadn't stopped nagging her about finding a nice man and settling down since the summer after she had graduated. Ginny herself had broken up with her most recent boyfriend, Dean Thomas, towards the end of her fifth year at Hogwarts, and hadn't seriously dated anyone since. Sure, there had been a few dates, but nothing long-term. And certainly no guys that she had been remotely interested in getting to know better.
And it wasn't like she wasn't doing anything. Ginny had gotten a spot as a second-string Chaser for her Quidditch team, the Holyhead Harpies, the summer after her seventh year. That had been advanced to first string two years ago, when she was nineteen, and now, at twenty-one, Ginny was an international Quidditch sensation at the peak of her career.
Not that it mattered to her mother. Did it matter that Ginny was the youngest Chaser currently on first string in the league? That she had a scoring record unparalleled by any other woman? That she drew a salary of one hundred and fifty thousand galleons a year? No. Of course not. Her mother thought that she was worthless if she wasn't settling down and popping out children.
She loved her mother, but Molly Weasley was very traditional, and frankly, the idea that Ginny might want to do more with her life wasn't just unthinkable, it was downright indecent. The last time that they had had a conversation, things had been said on both sides that Ginny was somewhat ashamed of, and she knew that they needed some distance for awhile.
Molly had always wanted Ginny to be just like her. And Ginny simply didn't have the time for that. They had always had explosive arguments, even when Ginny was a little girl, and they had simply gotten worse as Ginny got older.
The last one, for instance, had been particularly nasty. Ginny had accused her mother of never doing anything worthwhile with her life, and Molly had flat-out demanded that Ginny give up her ridiculous plans and start behaving like a proper young lady.
Ginny didn't want to damage her relationship with her mother forever, and if they kept having it out like this, Ginny didn't know how much more she would be able to forgive. It was one thing to call Ginny's dreams of being a professional Quidditch player ridiculous when she was a child, and such plans were unfeasible at best. Ginny had thought, though, that now that she had proven that she was capable, her mother would finally support her. But apparently that was too much to ask.
On the other side, she also knew that she had been unnecessarily harsh—in fact, some of her comments had been downright cruel. The solution was simple: she needed to leave the wizarding world for awhile. Perhaps it seemed drastic, but Ginny knew that a complete break was the only thing that would get her mother's nose out of how she lived her life. Bill and Charlie had proven that, when they had graduated, and then taken off to Egypt and Romania respectively.
The Quidditch season was over—had just ended in fact—and only the tryout camps were held during the summer. She might be needed at a couple of events, but other than that, she was free and clear until end of August. That gave her nearly five months.
Which brought her to Ron's problem. "Ron, if you aren't serious about Lavender, you need to break up with her," Ginny advised. "It's just not fair otherwise."
Ron was currently rather aimless. He had at first applied to Auror training, before discovering that he needed his Potions NEWT to get into the Academy. He could retake the NEWT at the ministry after sufficient independent study, but he needed to be motivated to actually do so. He was working at Fred and George's joke shop in Diagon Alley, and dating a girl because she had a good rack.
Ron displayed impressive emotional fortitude. "I know, Gin. I'm just not sure what to say."
"Okay... try telling her that you just haven't been feeling it lately," Ginny instructed. "Like you just aren't connecting, and that it isn't anything that's her fault, just that you don't feel like she's the one. Girls eat stuff like that up."
Ron snorted.
"Then tell her that she'll make another man very happy someday, and that she's really an amazing person."
"But I don't think that," Ron protested.
"Which is why you shouldn't still be dating her," Ginny said, exasperated. "It isn't fair to her—she deserves a man that thinks that she's the world."
"And if I say that, she won't cry?" Ron asked hopefully.
Ginny groaned. "Of course she'll cry, Ron. You're going to be breaking her heart. But hopefully this will soften the blow, and tell her that she didn't do anything wrong. She deserves that much from you."
Ron nodded determinedly, and set off to break up with Lavender. Ginny hoped that he didn't bungle it up too badly—she loved her brother, but he could often be quite insensitive in matters of the heart.
That done, she decided to make her plans for her escape to the muggle world. She would need a flat that was nowhere near Diagon Alley, St. Mungo's, the Ministry, or King's Cross Station. If she was there, it was too likely that she might run into someone that she knew, and this would only work if her mother couldn't come and nag her every few days like she currently did.
And then, because she needed to do this properly, she needed a job. Walking distance, because the bus and the tube were both very complicated, from what various muggle-born classmates had told her, and she wasn't prepared to get mixed up in that.
She found a newspaper in London that detailed apartment listings, and she got lucky enough that she found a suitable one on the first visit—it was an older building, with one bedroom and one bathroom, and a cafe down the street that hired her on the spot when she inquired as to their vacant positions.
Now all that was left was telling her family that she was leaving. She flooed to The Burrow.
"Mum?" She called cautiously.
Molly bustled into the room. "Oh, Ginny. There you are, dear. I was expecting you hours ago. Have you finally decided to discuss this reasonably?" Ginny gritted her teeth. Getting into a yelling match right now was not what was needed, but then, Molly at least deserved to know what was driving her precious baby girl away.
"No, Mum. Frankly, I will never be prepared to discuss this reasonably, if by this, you mean my desire to have a career instead of a husband. I am here to tell you that I am leaving. I'll be honest, this afternoon, I was so angry that I considered not bothering to inform you, but Bill and Charlie gave you the courtesy of telling you when you drove them out of the country. So, congratulations—you've done it again. Fred and George live above their shop and rarely come home, Bill and Charlie haven't been home since Bill's wedding six years ago, Percy hasn't been for dinner in months, and now you've driven me out of the magical world entirely."
She was being unfair, but she was also being realistic. Only a true smack in the face would have her mother realize how close she really was to permanently losing her only daughter.
"I've found a flat to rent. In the muggle world. The season is over until August, so I've gotten a job at a cafe nearby. I need some distance, mum. From you, and from the wizarding world. I am not planning on telling you where this flat is. I am not planning to get a floo connection. I plan to assert mail wards, and anti-locater charms and anti-scrying spells."
"But you won't be safe!" Molly shrieked in horror.
Ginny closed her eyes, hard. "Mum, I know that I'm your baby girl, but I'm also an adult now, and if you cannot accept that, then I need some space. I'll be perfectly safe."
Then, before her mother could protest, she flooed out again. She could owl her father later.
She finished packing her essentials, and got ready to move.