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NB. This is the only disclaimer this story will have. All subsequent chapters follow the same principle.
Chapter One
Ginny Weasley was homeless.
Well, for all intents and purposes she was homeless. Sure, she could always move back to the Burrow. Her parents would welcome her back with open arms, her room was always available and she would be safe. But he would be there often. So there was not where she wanted to be. She could always go to Ron and Hermione's but Hermione was never really her friend. Not really. And Ron was about as loyal to her during matters involving him as Percy was to the family during the war. She would find no sanctuary there.
So here she was, in the middle of the night, standing in the rain outside Colin's flat desperately trying to be heard over the near torrential downpour. The buzz of the door was faint in the rain but it was the best sound Ginny had heard all day. Colin was at his door to meet his waterlogged friend, as she climbed the three flights of stairs, with the most sympathetic look she had ever seen on the blond.
"Gin, what are you doing here? Why aren't you home with Harry?"
"Harry left me," was all Ginny managed to say before she dissolved into a puddle of tears.
"C'mere," Colin said, pulling Ginny into his tiny studio flat, closing the door behind them.
"I don't know what happened. I thought we were happy," Ginny finally managed, when her tears subsided and she got comfortable on Colin's lumpy settee. "We had a row, but that's normal, couples have rows all the time, and then out of nowhere he says he doesn't love me anymore and that this isn't working. I thought we were happy!" That was all she could manage before dissolving into another puddle of tears. With those words Colin headed to his small kitchenette to make the redhead a cup of tea.
"So you left?" Colin asked, while handing Ginny the mug of the steaming liquid. He desperately wanted to know how his friend came to be walking around London in the middle of the night.
In between hiccups and sniffles Ginny said, "He said I should probably find somewhere else to stay tomorrow, but I couldn't bear staying in that house with the person who had just ripped out my heart, for another minute. So I packed what I could and left, but I didn't know where to go. I needed somewhere I knew Harry wouldn't visit or I wouldn't accidentally run into him."
The two friends sat in silence for a while and the seconds slipped into minutes, with Ginny just sipping her tea and staring at the floor. Finally she looked Colin in the eyes and in a flat, dead voice that Colin would never have associated with his vivacious friend and asked, "Colin, what went wrong? Did I not do something? Was I not enough?" Again, Ginny was overcome with tears.
"Gin, it's not you. I don't know what the problem is, but it's definitely not you," Colin said, while pulling his friend into a deep hug. He could feel the sobs wracking her body and knew that this would not be an easy night for the redhead. Never before had he seen her seem so weak and fragile. She was always the one with the strength to take on anything, the one who, despite her five feet, five inch frame always seemed ten feet tall. Now she looked like a small child. He didn't like this look on her at all. But he couldn't fix her alone, he would need reinforcements.
"Gin, why don't you get out of these wet clothes and I'll make up the couch for you. We can come up with a game plan in the morning." Ginny nodded in reply, and moved towards the bathroom.
Seeing her so broken, Colin decided Luna would need to know about this. Luna was the best person to help him fix their friend. He would owl her in the morning.
Colin woke up much earlier than he should have considering the time he finally went to sleep, the sobs of his heartbroken friend keeping him awake much longer than he had expected. He couldn't imagine such a small person having so many tears to shed. Last night had made him realize that the Saviour of the Wizarding World was not all he was cracked up to be. On some level Colin had always known that. All through Hogwarts he had known that Harry wasn't a saint but he had no reason to think badly of him.
After Hogwarts, Harry had started enjoying his fame, even revelling in it. The Boy-Who-Lived had turned into someone more akin to Gilderoy Lockhart than the Harry they knew from his formative years, but even then he was generally pretty reasonable. This situation was making him rethink all he thought he knew about Harry. He couldn't begin to imagine what could have led to such an abrupt end to such a long and powerful relationship as that of Harry and Ginny.
They had been the poster couple for a functional relationship since Hogwarts. During the war they had taken a break for some noble reason regarding Ginny's protection but that was quickly rectified when the war ended. Then Harry had gone off to join the Aurors doing his save-the-world thing and Ginny had finished her last year at Hogwarts. But there wasn't a Hogsmeade weekend that didn't find Harry and Ginny together for the day. When she finally finished Hogwarts she had been accepted to start Healer Training and they had taken their relationship to the next level, with Ginny moving into Harry's London flat. All seemed well. During those two years it seemed that the Weasleys were finally going to get Harry as an actual son, not just honorary, then last night happened. It must have been some row for it to lead to this.
Looking over at one of his best friends asleep on his sofa with tear stains streaking her face, Colin knew he really needed to fix this – either getting to the bottom of what caused this almighty row and fixing it or helping her move on. Either way, he'd need reinforcements to get the job done. An early morning owl to Luna to arrange long-term housing for Ginny was the first priority. Colin's tiny little studio was not enough room for two – it was barely enough room for him.
After a quick owl to Luna, Colin went ahead making breakfast for himself and Ginny. The smell of coffee and the tapping of Colin's owl Warhol on the window woke Ginny from her fitful sleep and she was greeted to Colin with a big smile on his face and a steaming cup of coffee in his hand. After accepting the coffee, Ginny sat up and made some room on the settee for him to sit.
"I know you're not a morning person so why are you so happy?" Ginny inquired, in between sips from the mug.
"I just got Luna's reply. She says you can have her spare room for as long as you need it, since clearly there isn't enough room here. The space will give you a chance to clear your head, regroup and figure out what direction you wish to go in now. Besides, this is a studio, I seriously doubt you want to accidentally walk in on me in some compromising position with a lovely model…or two…or three," Colin replied, ending with a cheeky wink at the redhead.
Colin Creevey had taken his photography hobby from his Hogwarts years and turned it into a fairly lucrative occupation. He was a permanent staff member of Witch Weekly and was also frequently a freelance photographer for the Daily Prophet and The Quibbler. It wasn't much of a salary but it paid the bills. What it lacked in cash flow it made up in experience and as a result Colin Creevey had one of the best portfolios of any photographer working in Britain. To be fair, Colin's humble living was largely due to his stashing away all his money to save for his very own photo studio. He had high aspirations; he just needed the right connection to make it work. At the moment, that was what he was lacking.
"Indeed, I've seen your scrawny bum enough times for one lifetime," Ginny smiled, while pulling him into a hug. "Thanks for breakfast, letting me crash here and generally sorting out my life. I love you more than seven fuzzy bunnies," she said, using the madcap terms of endearment they came up with in fifth year.
"I love you more than half a dozen supermodels," Colin returned.
"Now, I'm going to grab a shower and get out of your hair. I have lots to do. Maybe I can even talk to Harry."
"What are you going to do today?"
"I'm going to The Three Broomsticks, I have to talk to Madam Rosmerta about changing my hours. I need more money if I'm to support myself. Then I have to get the rest of my stuff from Harry's and move it to Luna's and defer my study for a year. I also want to talk to Harry, work out what went wrong and try to fix it. So I best be off."
"Gin, what if, for arguments sake, Harry doesn't want to get back together, what then?" Colin was concerned that Ginny might be getting her hopes up.
With a heavy sigh and an even heavier heart Ginny said, "I don't know, move on, I guess."
Colin's only response was to nod as he watched his friend retreat to the bathroom.
Ginny was sitting at a table at the back of the Leaky Cauldron nursing a cup of coffee and skimming through the want adverts of the Daily Prophet. She had gone to Madam Rosemerta at the Three Broomsticks and was told that her working hours could not be increased or extended so Ginny now needed to find another job. Her measly wages were fine when she was living with Harry and he was handling all their expenses, but now that she would have to maintain her own flat and expenses, it just would not be enough. She would now need to find a proper job. It was this reason that found Ginny pouring over the classifieds to seek now employment.
The lunch time crowd had just stormed in and the pub was swamped. Witches and wizards from all over Wizarding England tended to flock to the pub during their lunch break to sample the pub's culinary fare. It was not unusual for magical folk to stop in to the pub with the intentions of getting a take-away, spotting old and new friends and end up staying in the pub for hours. This was the kind of friendly, family style atmosphere that Ginny liked which is why she would spend extended hours of her free days sitting at a tiny table in the back and just 'people watch'.
Ginny was just smiling with a little girl with brown ringlets who was eating a lollipop the size of her head when the greetings and acknowledgements from many persons in the pub caught her ears over the din.
"Hello, Mr. Potter!"
"Greetings, Mr. Potter."
"Good day, Mr. Potter!"
"How do you do, Mr. Potter?"
"Good to see you, Mr. Potter."
Ginny's head snapped up involuntarily and her eyes immediately found the head of messy black hair. She was just about to raise her hand to try and gain Harry's attention when something or rather someone else drew her attention. Draped across Harry in a manner too familiar to be platonic was Tracey Davis – former Slytherin in Harry's year and his Auror partner. Ginny watched the scene unfold before her with barely concealed shock. From her vantage point at the back of the room she could see Tracey's arm placed gently in the crook of Harry's, she could see him addressing his admirers with a big grin on his face, saw how carefully he steered Tracey through the crowd towards the bar to place their lunch orders, how he placed his hand gently on the small of her back, then the delicate kiss he placed on her temple before she moved towards their table that the patrons had made available for 'The Chosen One'.
The redhead could feel her heart breaking as she bore witness to the reason that their relationship had come to an end so callously the night before. It was now clear that this affair had been going on for quite some time and that her planned visit to the Ministry for this afternoon would have been a wasted trip. With an empty hole where her heart used to be and her vision blurred by unshed tears, Ginny left the pub and made her way towards Florean Fortescue – comfort food was in order before she could even think clearly enough to move the rest of her things to Luna's flat.
Ginny was still red-faced and puffy-nosed and hour later sitting at a small table in Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream shop. Her peanut brittle sundae was a warm puddle of its former self and she was no closer to gathering her courage to start her life over. She was sure that while she would get the requisite sympathy from her parents and brothers, there would still be the side-eyed looks of pity and the underlying questions of what she did wrong to lose the wizarding hero. That was more than she could bear right now. Ginny was so caught up in her own pity party that she didn't hear the young woman behind the counter greet the next customer nor did she notice the man until he was standing right next to her.
"Weasley, can I sit here?"
Ginny looked up to see a much older, much more mature Draco Malfoy towering over her. He looked far more impressive than she remembered him being in school. Far more sculpted and chiselled, less pointy and pale. The years since they left Hogwarts had certainly been kind to the blond.
"Umm…what? Why?" Ginny had barely been able to mumble her question in between sniffles.
"Well, the shop is full and I only have about ten minutes to eat this treat before I have to head back to work and you are at the only table with an available seat. So I'm asking again, can I sit here?"
Looking around the shop Ginny confirmed that she was indeed sitting at the only relatively empty table. While she was hesitant to sit at a table with Malfoy, she had far too much on her mind to really pay attention to a trivial issue like next to whom she was sitting.
"Oh, um, yeah, sure, I guess." She mumbled her reply and went back to staring at her ice cream while Malfoy made himself comfortable in the vacant chair at the tiny circular table.
"So, what's the matter, Weasley? Someone kicked your crup?" At the sound of his voice Ginny turned to face the blond. She had expected to find him with the mocking smirk she remembered from school but instead she found what appeared to be genuine concern.
"Oh, uh, no I'm fine," she said, much too quickly to be genuine. Malfoy obviously noticed her lie because he just raised one disbelieving eyebrow at her while still eating his chocolate caramel sundae.
"No really. What's the matter, Weasley? You've obviously been crying." He continued spooning his dessert into his mouth.
"I'm fine, really." She still sounded unconvincing, even to her own ears. His raised eyebrow maintained its disbelieving position and with a heavy sigh Ginny confessed her situation to the enemy of her family.
"Fine! I've lost my job, my house and my boyfriend. I've hit the proverbial rock bottom and if it wasn't for the charity of my friends, I'd be sleeping on the streets!" Her voice was a little louder than necessary and that was obviously not what the youngest Malfoy had expected her to say, judging by the unmasked look of surprise on his face.
"Right. Okay, I assume you split with Scarhead and he was the source of your living arrangements so that explains the housing situation but what about the job, why don't you have one?" He finished his sundae and turned to face her completely, his full attention focused on her. He didn't appear to be mocking, just curious, so that spurred on Ginny to explain further. There really was something to be said for venting your problems to perfect strangers – even if said stranger was her family's lifelong enemy.
"I used to work part-time at The Three Broomsticks while I studied to be a healer. I'm in my second year and all my wages were going to paying for school. Since I now have to provide for myself I tried to get a more full-time position but Madam Rosmerta didn't have one so I had to quit in order to find something more permanent. I deferred school for this year to sort my life out, hopefully get a job so that I can go back soon."
Ginny was having a hard time coming to terms with her current situation and the more she spoke was the more hopeless she felt and the harder it was becoming to keep back the tears.
"Okay, that covers job and school, apparently, but what about housing? Why don't you just go back home to your parents for a while? That has to be easier than whatever it is you're doing now."
"I can't go back there." The defeated tone of her voice was not something Draco ever remembered hearing in this particular Weasley. She was always the 'hex first, figure out an alibi later' type in school. Draco was so caught up in memories of Ginny Weasley during her Hogwarts days that he almost missed when she started speaking again.
"I can't take their pitying looks and whispered conversations about how I managed to lose The Chosen One and sent him scurrying into the arms of that utter cow Davis."
Draco almost laughed out loud at the Weasley girl's description of his former housemate. For many years he and his friends had called Davis the exact same thing so it was funny to hear that the old school name still had merit. "So where do you plan to stay?" He finally asked.
"I'm staying with Luna and her fiancé Rolf Scamander until I figure something else out. At least I'll get no pity there." That much was true. Luna actually had a very low opinion of Harry in recent years, due in large part to his taking Ginny for granted and his revelry in the media spotlight.
"Look, Weasley," Draco finally said as he got up to leave, "I've really got to go, I'm already late for a meeting, but I think I can solve one of those problems. Come to this address on Monday at 9am and I'll see what I can do about your job situation." He removed a business card from his business suit pocket and handed it to her. "Oh, and for the record, don't think too much about Potter and Davis, those two half-bloods deserve each other." He was halfway across the room from a very stunned, very confused redhead when he turned back to her and said, "And the ice cream works best when you actually eat it." With those parting words, Draco Malfoy, donning designer sunglasses, stepped onto the bright, busy street of Diagon Alley.
Ginny looked down at the card in her hand, the address indicating somewhere in Muggle London and wondered, what the hell just happened? She would have all weekend to worry about that but right now she needed to get her belongings moved into Luna's flat.
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