Ginny opened her eyes groggily, grunting as she rolled over to turn off the alarm. She hated morning. They were never pleasant times. They were the reason dreams got shattered… and her dream had been very pleasant. It had involved a wonderful man… whose face she could not remember. She buried her head in the pillow and smiled. Then she thought back to last night and her smile turned into a frown as she groaned. Turning Harry down meant that Ron and Hermione knew that he liked her, which meant questions from Hermione, which meant frustration, which meant a crappy day.

Sighing, she rolled out of bed and walked to her bathroom to shower. She let the warm water soak her, and tried to figure out how to face Ron and Hermione. At least it was Saturday.

She decided that a big breakfast was in order. Waving her wand, she started assembling ingredients – waffle iron, mix for batter, eggs, bacon, and various pots and pans. With a flick of her wrist, her breakfast was preparing itself. Grinning at the prospect of her meal, she strolled into the living room to floo her best friend. Luna would know what to do with the Harry situation. Or, at least, she would have some sort of advice…

"Ginny?! Is that you?" Ginny's head was floating in Luna's fireplace.

"Yup. How you doin?" Ginny grinned.

"I'm good! I wasn't expecting to see your head in my fireplace though!"

"Aw, well, I'll leave if you want me to… " Ginny gave her a sad face.

"No, no, I'm just afraid of the Huffalumps. They've been particularly nasty, and their nest is by the fireplace. A bit unfortunate…."

Ginny grinned at her.

"Well, why are you in my fireplace?" Luna asked.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about something. I went and had dinner with Harry last night after work."

"Really? How is Harry?"

"He's good, but stressed a little about work. Anyway, we were eating and everything. And then you'll never guess the turn the conversation took."

"What? Did he ask about the Huffalumps?"

"No, he asked to be my boyfriend! After all these years!"

"What did you tell him?"

"Well, I told him no of course. I mean, he's like a brother. I can't even believe he has feelings for me. It all took place and ended back in Hogwarts. It's over and done with and we've both moved on."

"Well, that's a bit unexpected for him I'm sure. If he asked you, he would have been sure to get yes. Harry's a bit shy, and I'm sure that he wouldn't have asked without being sure of your response."

Ginny nodded sadly. Luna was quite insightful at times.

"I'm just worried that things are going to be awkward from now on. I don't really know what to do."

"Well, I think you should consult the Neffles. They'll know what to do. I'm sure there are some in your attic."

"Luna, dear, I live in an apartment."

"Well, then there's only one thing to do. Act as if nothing happened and continue being sisterly with him. He'll bring it up again if he feels a need to settle it or talk about it."

Ginny nodded in response.

"Thanks, Luna. I was kind of afraid of seeing him again. And I'm sure Ron or Hermione will be over to visit today." She pulled a face at the prospect of dealing with their questions about her emotions. She also didn't want to explain again that she didn't have a boyfriend for a reason.

Luna nodded sympathetically.

"I really must get back to writing this editorial for Dad's paper now, Ginny. Good luck!"

"Yeah, I'll talk to you later. I'm gonna go eat breakfast now."

They smiled at each other and Ginny returned her head to her apartment.

She smiled at the smells coming from the kitchen. Breakfast was almost ready.

She settled down to eat, and thought about what to do during the lovely day that it was turning out to be. Maybe she should visit her Mum, and then after that a stroll through Diagon Alley, perhaps an ice cream. Sounded like a plan to her.

Her waffles, eggs, and bacon quickly disappeared. She had learned to cook from the best, after all.

……………………………..

"Mum! I'm home!" Ginny called into the empty kitchen. That was strange.

"Ginny? Is that you??" She laughed in response to the excitement in her mother's voice.

"We're in here dear. Harry's come over to visit too!"

Ginny groaned and cursed under her breath. Maybe her plan wasn't that great after all.

She trudged to the door, getting ready to paste on a happy expression once she went through.

"Hey everyone!"

"Hey-"

"Ginny!" The twins said in response.

"Hey baby sis." That was Ron. Hermione sat next to him on the couch.

Her dad looked up at her and smiled softly. Her mom got up and gave her a big hug before ushering her to the seat next to Harry. Oh great…

She gingerly sat down and smiled at Harry. He smiled slightly in response.

"So, Ginny, tell us about work and about the program. How is it going?" Her mother asked.

"Well," she said, turning to look at her mother, "it's going well. Right now we're dealing with a ton of paperwork and training before we start actually visiting the patients."

"You're calling them patients?" Ron said in disgust.

"Well, they may have murdered and slaughtered and destroyed, but they are still human. What are we supposed to call them? Animals? They aren't animals, and they do, somewhere inside of them, have feelings." Ginny said in response, a bit annoyed at her brother's close-mindedness.

Hermione gave Ron a look that clearly said 'stop being an insensitive pig.'

"We're looking into what affect the Dark Mark has on their personalities right now. We think it might be the reason why they were so willing to continue killing. We are trying to figure out a way to take it off them, a counter-curse, so to say." Ginny continued.

"Well, I think it's wonderful, dear." Her dad spoke up.

"Thanks Dad." Ginny smiled at him.

"Hey Gin, we were wondering-" "If you wanted to try-" "One of our new products?" Fred and George grinned mischievously at her.

She wrinkled her nose in response. "No thanks. I was actually just stopping in to say hi. I think I'm going to go get some shopping done now. See you all later!" She stooped to kiss her mom and dad on the cheek and turned to walk out through the kitchen.

"Bye Gin!" A chorus followed her out the door, causing her to smile.

Once outside, she apparated to Diagon Alley.

……………………….

She spent the rest of the day in pleasant nothingness. After her stroll through Diagon Alley, she got ice cream and proceeded to walk to a park and sit on a bench, observing.

As she sat watching children play, her thoughts returned to work. She had been very excited to start the program. She truly thought that they could be assimilated back into society. Of course, they would have trackers on them at all times. It would take a lot of work. But she was willing to do the work, if it meant that the good people inside them had a chance to try, a chance to shine. Besides, tomorrow was a new day, and the next day was new. Newness deserved a chance to grow.