Disclaimer: JKR- Everything. Me- Nothin'.
Isolation
The first rays of sunlight broke through the windows, creeping ever so slowly towards the bed where Ginny Weasley slept. It was a matter of moments before they reached her face, but she was awake before the rays could pull her from slumber. She stared at the ceiling blankly before peeling the yellow flowered duvet from her body and getting out of bed.
She crossed the floor of her bedroom, stopping for a moment to stare into the full-length mirror that was mounted next to her door. As she gazed at her reflection she took in her appearance, half expecting to see a change, but she was met with the usual… plain old Ginny. The same auburn hair that fell to the middle of her back… the same chocolate brown eyes… the same freckles that slightly powdered her face and shoulders, not as pronounced as in her youth but still there all the same.
She sighed softly and gave her reflection a small smile before leaving her room and walking into her living room and over to her entertainment center. She pressed the power button on her TV and watched as the black screen was consumed by talking cartoon animal things. She rolled her eyes, cursing the failed attempts at muggle entertainment.
Finding herself quickly annoyed by the program, Ginny turned her attention to the VCR. She considered herself a pretty intelligent witch, given she was no Hermione, but she could hold her own and was as the top of her class when she attended Hogwarts. When it came to muggle contraptions, however, she was completely clueless. Even after using the machine for little over a year, she still was unable to understand it. When she got it to work, it was completely by luck.
Finally after poking at it for what seemed like forever, she got the damned thing to work, and she was greeted by the image of a well-muscled American whose name always escaped her. She looked at the screen and thought to herself, 'Who is it? Benny Breaks…Bully Blinks…Billy Blanks! Yeah, that's it!' She stepped back from the TV and began doing what Billy called Tae Bo.
*****
An hour later, Ginny collapsed onto a plush, navy couch that took up residence in her living room. Despite the lack of breath and muscle exhaustion, she felt a vague sense of fulfillment at the daily body beating. After a few moments, she gathered enough will power to get up and wander into kitchen to fix herself breakfast. Almost mechanically, she set to preparing her meal. Within twenty minutes her meal was complete and she carried it on a tray back into the living room, plopping it down on the oak coffee table as she sat on the couch. She picked up the remote, the only thing she could work besides the toaster, and turned the channel to some absurd talk show, finally settling down to eat her breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, a croissant, fruit, and orange juice.
When she finished, Ginny turned off the TV and carried her tray back into the kitchen. As she washed the dishes she found herself thinking back to one not so very special morning in the Burrow.
It was a full house that morning in the Burrow. Bill, Charlie, Percy, and the twins and all their families had returned home to celebrate their parents' wedding anniversary the previous day. They had all left after breakfast, to return to their busy lives and jobs. Harry and Hermione were the only two remaining. The two had decided to spend the last month of summer holiday at the Weasley's before returning to Hogwarts for their last year of school, much to both Ginny and Ron's delight. Though Ginny's crush on Harry had faded she still could not help from stuttering and blushing every time he talked to her.
It was her and Ron's turn to wash the dishes that morning, a task that would not have been so daunting if the Weasley family didn't have enough people to almost fill two quidditch teams plus Harry and Hermione. Ron and she were silent as they washed the breakfast dishes.
"So, Gin, I take it you still have a thing for Harry?" Ron spoke up nonchalantly, as if he had asked what the weather was like outside.
Ginny's eyes widened and her face turned the color of her freckles. She opened her mouth to reply but all that came out was, "Um.. uh..."
He laughed at her. "I take that as a yes. Really, Gin, I would have thought by third year at least you would have gotten the clue that you and Harry will never happen," he said voice dripping with the usual tone of 'I'm your big brother so I'm right about everything'. He casually dried a plate and set it down.
Despite the fact that she did not like Harry anymore, she felt her face flush with anger as she turned to her brother. She waited a moment before saying a little too calmly, "Ronald, I suggest that you never let those words come out of your mouth again or it won't be my fault when I tell Mum whose room Hermione left at 3 o'clock last night." She smirked as she watched the color drain from his face.
"Y-you wouldn't?!" Ron half stated, half asked. He narrowed his eyes in an attempt to not back down to her threats.
"I don't know. Would I?" She smiled sweetly and turned around to leave the kitchen.
When she was a few steps away she heard him say, "It's still hopeless though. Harry would never like you." She clenched her fists and turned around, promptly dunking his head into the soapy dishwater. She laughed as she fled up the stairs.
Ginny blinked and tried to shake away the memory. It hurt to think about her family. It had been so long since she had seen her family (or anyone else for that matter)… well, one year, two months, and twelve days to be exact.
About a year and a half after Ginny graduated from Hogwarts, Voldemort rose again for the long, final war. He had finally gained his power completely and gathered enough followers to begin the war, first attacking Hogwarts. Ginny blinked back tears just thinking about it. Voldemort had no real reason to attack Hogwarts except for what it represented: the future of the wizarding world. By the time Dumbledore found out he was being attacked it was too late. Unable to send the students home, he along with all the other professors was able to perform a spell that protected the students. They were able to protect the students but they had ultimately lost the battle.
And unfortunately, all battles have their casualties. Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and Hagrid died in the attack. This came as a great shock to the wizarding world, especially Harry and the Weasley family. After the Hogwarts attack they had devoted their entire lives to fighting against Voldemort. The war had also brought everyone's true loyalties, pitting friends against friends, families against families, and in some cases fathers against sons, as was the case with Draco Malfoy and his disgustingly evil father, Lucius. She felt no fuzzy feelings for Draco, but she knew how hard it must have been to change sides and go against his father and Voldemort, especially with the killing of his mother, Narcissa. Among the Weasley clan, Charlie and Percy had died in the war. Ginny allowed tears to flow freely at this. She had not even been allowed to go to their funerals. That was one of the worst parts… not being able to mourn with her family.
Ginny felt the anger rise in her, so great that she began shaking. With a frustrated cry, she threw a glass at the wall across the room. She sunk down on the kitchen floor, running her hands through her hair dejectedly. At the beginning of the war, her mother along with Bill's wife, Charlotte, their two kids, Mark, 6, and Norah, 4, Percy's wife, Penelope, their son, Joseph, 3, George's wife, Alicia (formerly Alicia Spinnet) and Fred's wife, Angelina (formerly Angelina Johnson), who was pregnant at the time the war began. No one in the Weasley family knew where they were sent or how they were doing. They were sometimes able to send them messages but they would never get a reply.
The entire Weasley family including Harry and Hermione had begged Ginny to go with them, but she, being the stubborn Weasley she was, refused to flee, insisting that she could do much more good staying at fighting. She had been right at first, but that was before the raid at Godric's Hollow. The raid was masterminded by Ron and Harry and key strategists had been Charlie, Percy, Hermione, and even little Ginny. They were able to force the Death Eater's to retreat, gaining the light side's first victory. Defeating the Death Eaters there had been the first huge step to changing the tide of the war, which up until that point they were losing. This also made Voldemort aware of what a threat the Weasley family really was.
Ginny remembered the day that Charlie and Percy were killed. It was such a dark day in her mind. She remembered crying all day until the tears refused to flow. She remembered looking out her window wondering if all this fighting was really worth it. She remembered her father coming in and telling her that it was too risky for Ginny to stay and fight… that everyone had decided that it was best that she go into hiding and live as a muggle until the war was over… that it was too dangerous for her to live with her mother… that she had to be alone.
And that is where she was today… alone in the middle of nowhere.
*****
The sound of running water in the sink behind her brought Ginny out of her daze. Wiping at a few tears, she stood up and turned off the water. She reached under the sink and took out a small handbroom and dustpan, and crossed the kitchen to clean up the broken glass. As she went to throw the shards away, she stepped on a small piece that she had missed. She cursed the fact that she was not allowed to do magic as she tended to her foot.
She walked back into her bedroom, pulled her gardening clothes from her dresser, and changed into them. When she was younger and would watch her mother work in the garden, it was always beyond her how her mother could take enjoyment in such an action. Even now, Ginny hated gardening, but there was something about it that made her continue to do so each day. She figured it was due to the fact that she had control over something beside herself… that she was able to do something and have it respond back by either thriving or dying. Whatever it was, she tried not to think about it.
Gathering her gardening tools, she went out back and gardened for a few hours before the heat forced to stop for the day. She stood up admiring her garden for a moment, proud of what the weed patch had grown into, and went inside, closing only the screen door.
Ginny entered her bedroom, shedding her sweaty and soiled clothes, and went into her bathroom to take a long shower. When she finished, she changed into denim capri pants and a light blue, button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up. As she sat down at the edge of her bed and pulled her wet hair into a knot, she looked at the clock. It was around 2 p.m. She thought about making herself lunch but her thoughts were interrupted by a yawn that escaped her throat. Perhaps a nap would be better. She stretched her limbs before laying down on her better and falling asleep.
*****
When Ginny awoke sometime later the sun was beginning to set. She turned over on her side to look at the clock that sat on her bedside table. It was nearly 7 o'clock. She moaned and dragged herself out of bed. She moaned again when she realized the hunger gnawing at her stomach.
She left her room walking towards the kitchen, but stopped when she noticed a pair of shadows standing outside the screen door. 'Death Eaters!' she thought frenetically to herself. She froze, unsure of what to do. Her wand was too hidden to get in a hurry so her eyes frantically searched around her for a weapon. She spotted a fire poker by the fireplace and tried to make her way towards it, but it was too late. The pair had moved inside.
Ginny timidly brought her eyes to look at the pair. She was met with a pair of intense green eyes watching her hopingly. She gasped bringing her hands to her mouth, eyes widening.
"Oh my god, Harry!" she said, uttering her first words for the day.
"Hey Gin…" Harry replied almost shyly.
Both speechless, they stood there for a moment, just watching each other. After a few minutes, Ginny looked away to see whom the other person was. The man seemed to be unconscious and his head was drooping down so she could only see a head of white-blonde hair. She heard him moan and then he spoke...
"Hello Weasley."
He lifted his head and she was met with a pair of ice blue eyes set in an aristocratic face. She involuntarily gasped and took a step back.
"Malfoy?!"
*****
Author's Note: Well, there you have it… the first chapter of what I hope is many. Be kind and review.
Next Chapter: Why are Harry and Malfoy here?