Cast Away

Chapter 4 ~ Never The Same Again

The door at the top of the basement stairs gave a click and it opened, letting in a stream of un-natural light, shaded only by a figure which stood at the entrance.

'Ginny, are you down here?' Harry's voice rang out in the basement. Ginny looked up at him, her eyes dry from all tears, but red and puffy all the same. Harry saw her, and hurried down the stairs. She backed away from him, not wanting Harry to see her like this.

'What do you want?' Ginny sniffed.

'Everyone's looking for you, well, maybe not everyone, but I was.' Harry began, this made Ginny feel ten centimeters tall. 'I was worried, and I didn't know where you'd gotten to.'

'What's it like, being back in Grimmauld Place, Sirius's house?' Ginny said in a misty voice.

'It's the only thing I have left that reminds me of Sirius.' Harry said, his eyes looking toward the ceiling as if to aid the prevention of tears. Ginny sighed, he had to be told.

'Harry, do you know who Shannon Noll is?'

'No, sorry I don't, should I?' Harry looked confused.

'He is the man who you will hate soon,' Ginny explained.

'Why is that?'

'He is the man responsible for selling Grimmauld Place.' She told him. Harry's facial expression turned from confusion to hatrid.

'What? Sold? That's impossible!' Ginny held out the piece of parchment which she still had from when she rushed out of the main bedroom. Harry took it, and read it slowly. When he had finished reading, Harry scrunched up the parchment and threw it across the basement.

'Now do you understand?' Ginny asked softly.

'Why would they just poof all his belongings out of existance?' Harry said, gritting his teeth.

'I don't have the answer to that, sorry,'

'It's not your fault Ginny, thank you for telling me, I'm going to go ask Tonks about this.' Harry turned to walk up the stairs, but Ginny grabbed his arm frantically. She spun him around to look into her brown eyes.

'No! You must not tell them I told you!' She said, searching his eyes for a promise.

'I won't say you told me, I'll say I stumbled across that parchment while I was looking for you.' Ginny felt the panic growing inside her. Harry must have noticed it in her expression, so he sighed. 'What am I supposed to do, Ginny? They've sold Grimmauld Place, and all of Sirius's belongings are gone, I have to say something!' He pleaded. Ginny's bottom lip trembled, however, she released Harry's arm. 'I have nothing left of him, nothing.'

'Do what you want.' She said as calmly as she could manage. Harry opened his mouth to protest, but Ginny shut him out by turning around and walking away, across the basement. She sat in a corner, looking out into the empty room, eyes glazed over. 'They already hate me as it is, what could one more thing hurt?'

'Gin -' Harry began, but didn't know what to say. He sighed again, and prodded up the stairs.

~***~

'That girl's got problems,' Harry said as he entered the lounge room where Ron and Hermione were sitting on the carpeted floor. He thought it best not to tell them about the house being sold, and all of Sirius's belongings vanished. Harry found a seat on the floor opposite to Hermione and Ron, who stared at him curiously.

'Did you find Ginny?' Ron asked, Hermione glanced at Ron.

'Of course he found her, or else he wouldn't have come in saying "that girl's got problems",' Hermione said matter-of-factly. Ron gave Hermione a look which made him look like a lost cow. Harry and Hermione both chose to ignore that look.

'Ginny said that Tonks hates her.' Harry informed them. 'Well, she actually said "They all hate me", and I have a feeling that Molly and Arthur don't hate their own daughter, and Ron, you don't hate Ginny, neither do you Hermione, so she must mean Tonks.'

'Why would Tonks hate her?'

'Good question, Ron. I don't know.' Harry said.

'Tonks certainly doesn't seem like the type to hate anyone, does she?' Hermione said, trying to make sense of it all.

'No, not from how I see her, she's a lovely lady.' Said Harry.

'Maybe Ginny's just taking things out of proportion? She has been doing that a lot lately, she thinks no one loves her.' Ron piped up.

'Oh, that could be it, low self esteem, I've heard that's the worst case of depression.' Hermione frowned in concern.

'Why would she be depressed though? She has a loving family, great friends, a good life, she should be quite happy from how I see it.' Harry told them.

'Yes, but Harry, we don't know what goes on inside her head, do we?' Hermione pointed out.

'Am I the only thing you have interesting to talk about?' Three heads snapped to the entrance to the lounge room, Ginny was standing there.

'How long have you been there Ginny?' Ron asked.

'Does it matter? Long enough to know you're talking about, and Hermione is right, you don't know what goes on inside my head, so I suggest you stay out of my life!' Ginny yelled. Her face slightly red from anger. Harry, Ron and Hermione seemed quite taken aback by this outburst from Ginny.

'Ginny, it's not that bigger deal, we were just worried about you.' Hermione said soothingly.

'No, you don't say?' Ginny replied sarcastically. Hermione looked as if she'd just been slapped.

'Fine, maybe we won't worry about you, how does that sound?' Hermione said coldly.

'Hermione -' Harry was cut off.

'No, Harry, if she doesn't want us to care about her, then why should we?'

'Hermione -'

'Ron! Just leave it, okay?'

'I'll just leave you to it then.' Ginny said harshly, and left the room.

~***~

'That girl cannot be trusted with information like that, I know she'll tell someone, Harry at least, and we cannot have Harry know about this!' Tonks said to Molly and Arthur.

'Nymphadora, she is my daughter, and she is quite a trustworthy young lady, I'm sure she won't tell Harry, Ron, Hermione, or anyone else for that matter.' Molly said, trying to sway Tonks's opinion of Ginny.

'She won't do anything to get her into trouble.' Arthur said. 'Not after her first year at Hogwarts.' He added as an afterthought.

'That's right.' Molly agreed. Tonks stared over Molly's shoulder… right at Ginny.

'Haven't you been taught not to eavsdrop? Or is that something you've learnt from those no good brothers of yours, Fred and George?' Tonks said cooly.

'Kindly cease putting my children down, Nymphadora, I do not appreciate it.' Molly said sternly, her patience with Tonks growing thin.

'Why does everyone talk about me?' Ginny asked.

'It's nothing of your concern Ginny,' Molly said softly. 'Please just let us talk in peace now.'

'No! Harry has the right to know what's happening to his Godfather's things, and if one of you won't tell him… well, too bad, because I've already told him.' Ginny challenged.

'See Molly, you must have raised her wrong, she has no morals.' Tonks said.

'That is unfair judgement Nymphadora, and you know it!' Arthur bellowed. Tonks pouted.

'I told Harry because he has the right to know dammit!' Ginny shouted. 'He has nothing left of his Godfather, or his parents for that matter. If you were in his situation, you would want to know as well.' She said that last part specifically to Tonks.

'Ginny has a point you know.' Molly said slowly.

'The sooner school starts the better.' Tonks said bitterly. 'You people must be getting back to the Burrow now, I have lots of work to do before these people come and live in this house.'

'I do not appreciate your dismissal, however, we will leave, and our friendship will never be the same. Goodbye Nymphadora.' Molly said, and ushered Arthur and Ginny out of the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Tylah ~ I think we all wish Sirius was still alive, I mean, the next Harry Potter books won't be the same without him. I don't know why JK thought it necessary to kill a character! Thank you for reading & reviewing!

Kelz`* ~ Thank you for reading the story, and taking the time to review =)

AdversaireDAnges ~ Thank you for your lovely review, I will continue to update as soon as possible.

HarryzBabe ~ I did have a look at your story, I left a review as well. It seems to be coming along nicely, good luck with it, and I'll keep reading it. I'm glad you like my story!

purfectchild ~ Thank you! Yes, you should expect the unexpected! Besides, Tonks can't be loved by everyone, that would make her a Mary Sue! Hehehe, JK wrote a Mary Sue! I'm glad you like surprises, there's plenty more to come, believe me!

scholcomp25 ~ Hey, nice to see you coming up in another one of my stories, it means a lot when someone reads (and likes) more than one of my fictions! I will try to update as quickly as I can, thank you for taking the time to read and review.