I do not own Harry Potter, thank you for asking. :)

Harmony based although Hermione isn't mentioned much in here.

Crack of dawn.

It was time.

Harry Potter arose silently from his bed. He felt wide awake considering that he had barely slept through the night, waiting and dwelling on what he was going to do. He felt fresh and alert, felt like he was on a secret mission.

That was good. It kept him focused.

He glanced over at the sleeping figure beside him who was breathing easily, as if she had no troubles. A wave of hatred coursed through him, hatred he had never felt before ... he felt like taking out his wand, using it upon her ... revenging himself upon the woman who had turned her back upon him all these months ... leading him into a lie ... a net of lies spun from her cunning and his foolishness.

But he turned away last second, his hand tensed over his wand in the pocket of his jeans under the covers. He would never forgive himself if he brought more grief upon the Weasley family; they were still suffering the raw loss of Fred Weasley. He owed more than his life's worth to the family; he would not betray their trust by killing their youngest and only daughter, no matter his ill feelings.

His mind turned to Hermione, possibly waiting for him in the living room of number twelve, Grimmauld Place, a gift he had given her as she had seemed to love Sirius' old home, and felt his determination strengthen. He slipped silently and fluidly from under the covers, quickly replacing his body on the bed with the heavier pillows he had stuffed under the bed. Ginny Weasley moaned and fidgeted but otherwise, fell deeper into sleep.

Harry stood up quickly and turned his back on her, striding away towards the wardrobe in the corner. In the darkness of the curtains thrown closed across the windows and preventing the weak morning light to seep through, he got quickly dressed and pulled out his old school trunk from the very back of the wardrobe. He had filled this with all his possessions, ready to take to Grimmauld Place at a moment's notice.

The moment had arrived.

He grabbed the trunk and dragged it quickly towards the door. It made no noise on the heavily carpeted bedroom floor. He opened the door only halfway so that the hallway light would not fall far into the room and wake Ginny up. Shoving his trunk out first, he slipped his lanky frame out into the hallway and shut the door quietly behind him.

It felt strange to be moving in the silent house, alone, at a time that most people were spending sleeping. He glanced about as he bumped the trunk as quietly as possible down the stairs; he vaguely remembered painting the walls red and gold a few months back.

How long ago that felt.

He reached the foot of the stairs at last - setting his trunk by the door, he moved through the dark to the kitchen for a bowl of cereal. He didn't dare turn on a light; he groped through the darkness for a bowl and the cereal.

He could hardly swallow; in the end, he gave it up as a bad job and poured the rest of its contents down the sink. When the cereal refused to bubble down the sink, he took out his wand, and waved it quickly, sweeping away the last traces of his supposed breakfast.

'Scourgify!'

After he was done, he stowed it back into his jeans and moved out of the kitchen and towards the front door, willing and finally ready to leave the wretched place.

God knew he only wanted one person and one person alone.

'Harry?'

Startled, he whirled around and found himself looking into the uncertain face of Ginny Weasley, standing at the foot of the stairs with her red hair flowing out around her head. One hand was touching the banister, the other hanging limply at her side.

Her eyes found the trunk by the door; Harry did not bother to conceal it.

'What are you doing up so early?'

She bit her lip anxiously, her eyes darting from the trunk by the door to his hopefully expressionless face.

'I - I needed a drink of water. Are you - are you running away?'

He hesitated before answering; no matter what Ginny did to him, clearly remembered her little young self; he deserved a punching if he hurt her.

'Things haven't been right between us for awhile.'

Her eyebrows rose in mild surprise. Harry was taken aback; hadn't she noticed the initial awkwardness and the coolness between them? It had started right after she had moved in with him; she had become evasive and doubtful.

'So ... so you decided to leave at the crack of dawn like a thief?'

She was trying to make him guilty. It wasn't going to work. He had thought and brooded about this continuously, he was not going to allow her to doubt his own decisions.

'Hermione needs me.'

Ginny's expression hardened instantly, her red hair seemed to flare suddenly out around her, brighter and angrier than before. Her eyes looked slightly brighter. When she spoke, her voice was harder as well.

'Oh yes, I forgot, if it's darling Hermione-'

Harry flared.

'Stop having a go at her! So I'mnot allowed to go comfort her but you're allowed to go sneak around with other people behind my back, are you?'

There was a small pause as Ginny stared at him, evidently surprised, her hands clenching around the banister. She could see the rage lining Harry's face, his emerald green eyes flashing dangerously and one hand in his jeans pocket, clenched around his wand as if he wanted to pull it out and curse her.

She had never seen Harry act like this towards her and she didn't like it. At all. It was like she was looking into the face of a stranger; a stranger that she had once, maybe still did, loved.

'I'm not sure I know what you mean.'

'Do you? DO YOU?'

He was yelling now, and he'd pulled out his wand, he pointed it threateningly at her. She stepped back, frightened, feeling fear dig its little claws in her heart.

Tears welled up in her eyes.

'Harry, honest, I don't know what you mean, I - '

He let out a derisive laugh, he sounded madly angry now. Ginny's heart was making a tattoo against her chest, she scrambled backwards in terror.

'Don't think I don't know that you've been sneaking around with Dean. You're disgusting; you're not only lying to me but to him too. You make me sick.'

His venomous words caught her by surprise; she stared at him with tears trembling on her lashes.

'Harry, I didn't know - '

'Know what? That I would find out?'

He stopped, fell a step back, stared at her with a hard coldness in his eyes that scared her. She clung onto the banister as if it were a shield she could protect herself with, protect herself from his anger and the hardness in his words.

'You know I only came here to be with you because you were so upset after Fred passed away,' he spoke quietly, in a rough whisper that rustled the air between them. 'I wanted to leave . . . so badly. But I thought it was so selfish of me; to leave when you were mourning, when you were so weak and helpless, how could I do that to you and your family after all you'd done for me?'

The tears threatened to fall – she was surprised and dismayed at his cold tone and even colder words.

How fake the relationship had been . . . was this what he'd been thinking all along?

'You could have left.'

'You knew I wouldn't,' he replied and there it was; that ring of truth she hated.

'I stayed because I never wanted to leave you in that state. I told myself I would leave when you managed to get your life together. I told myself that I would return as soon as I was sure you were alright to Hermione. I told myself many things but the main reason I never left earlier was because you never seemed well enough for me to leave.'

Ginny felt her jaw clench at the words. Hermione. Of course, darling Hermione. Even in the short amount of time Ginny was Harry's girlfriend in Hogwarts, he'd always preferred the bushy haired beauty. Whether it was the way she moved or the things she said, Harry couldn't get enough of her, was always captivated by her humour and wit. The day the pair had finally come out and confessed to having a relationship with each other had been a very, very painful day for Ginny. She still remembered and had since detested Hermione for being the reason for the gleam in Harry's eye and the smile upon his lips.

'So you're leaving now,' she fought to keep her voice leveled, gulping back tears. I will not cry, I will not cry. 'Like a thief sneaking off in the middle of the night.'

'I didn't have a choice.'

'Everyone has a choice. You promised you would never, ever hurt me but you have. So many times. And this? This is the worst.'

'I'm past hurting you,' said he, his voice of deadly calm. 'You have been playing me all along.'

His words hurt her more than it should – she had never pretended with him, never.

'I – '

'Don't bother denying it,' he snapped, his voice becoming steely. Suddenly, he seemed to fold in himself with weariness and hurt. 'If I wasn't making you happy, you could have just said something,' he whispered and for the first time, she realized in just how much agony he'd been living with for the past couple of months. 'You didn't need to go that far, Ginny.'

Remorse tore at her; she reached out a consoling hand.

'Harry, please. I didn't mean to hurt you, I'm so sorry. We can work it out – '

His head jerked. 'You're sorry? 'We can work it out'?' His eyes had gone hard again. 'Ginny, you tore me apart. I thought we had an understanding. Do you know how much I sacrificed for you? Do you know just what I've done for you? I struggled to keep my feelings for Hermione back because I was so afraid that you would get hurt, because I knew you loved me.

'But then again, I guess it was because I thought I knew you. You, Ginny, someone who would never, ever want to hurt anyone even if it killed her. The girl who I would have been enough for. The girl who I would never have doubted, not even for a second. I was wrong.'

The tears, against her will, were welling up again. This time, they spilled out over her lashes.

'I am that girl,' she whispered.

'No,' his voice was getting stronger, louder. 'I don't know you.

'You are a stranger to me.'

And with one last burning look over his shoulder, before Ginny could stop him, he had heaved his trunk, opened the door and disappeared into the weak light of the morning.

By the time Ginny reached the door, tears trickling down her cheeks, he was gone.

As a note, I do not hate Harry/Ginny, this was just a scene in my head.

Don't get all hell bent just because you think I am bashing on that ship because I do not.

I was just figuring out a dramatic scene between a couple of characters and I came up with this.

Hope you guys like it. :)

x iRomantic