A/N: There are plenty of stories in which Ginny either attempts or actually commits suicide. This is NOT one of them. Ginny will not comtemplate, attempt, or commit suicide. Just to let you guys know. However, she's not going to be a complete angel either.

Life went on, of course. The earth doesn't stop spinning on its axis simply because someone is miserable. The sun still rose in the morning and set at night, Malfoy was still a prat, Ron and Hermione still weren't admitting to how they felt.

And Ginny was still completely miserable.

~*~

She woke up the next morning, not knowing why she was feeling so lost. Then with a sick rush, she remembered.

Madame De Courcy...your destiny...Harry...

She fell back against the pillows. I wonder, she thought drearily, if I could just stay here...

"Ginny!" one of her roommates called. "Time to get up!"

Apparently not.

~*~

Ron, Hermione, and Harry were chatting away about Snuffles's latest letter when Ginny finally came down to breakfast.

Hermione looked at her with alarm, noticing the dark circles under her eyes and the listless expression on her face. Somehow, Ginny seemed so small and helpless and-lost.

"Gin?" Ron asked, looking at his little sister anxiously. "Ginny, what's wrong?"

Ginny looked at her brother. "I'm fine, Ron." Her voice was quite expressionless. "Just fine." She sat down and stared at the food blankly.

"Do you want some pumpkin juice?" Harry offered after a moment.

Ginny started at the sound of his voice. "No," she muttered, still staring at her plate of untouched food.

Harry looked helplessly at Ron and Hermione, unsure what to do. Trying to be comforting, he reached out across the table and touched her shoulder.

Ginny flinched and jumped out of her seat.

Harry stared at her, his jaw dropping open. And he wasn't the only one.

"I-I have to go," Ginny muttered, and practically ran out of the Great Hall.

"Oy, Ron!" Fred called out. His good-natured face was frowning. "What was that about?"

Ron shrugged helplessly, staring after his sister. "Dunno."

~*~

"She flinched."

Later, as the three friends walked to the Quidditch pitch, Harry would not shut up about what happened this morning.

"She actually flinched, like I was going to hit her or-"

"I'm sure it wasn't like that, Harry," Hermione said soothingly. But she looked worried, something that Harry didn't miss.

"Did I do something?" Harry asked plaintively.

Ron shook his head. "Nothing that I can think of, mate."

~*~

After on, Ron turned to Hermione. "Look," he said quietly, "d'you think you can find out what's wrong with Ginny? Maybe it's one of those girl things, and since you're a girl-"

"How nice of you to notice," Hermione said sarcastically. "But I will talk to her. She's not acting like herself."

"You're telling me," Ron muttered, shaking his head. "Flinching…listen, you'd better find out quick, alright?"

Hermione nodded.

~*~

Ginny stared out the window.

I hate this.

Not since her first year had she felt so…cut off from everything, from her friends and family and...

Her lips tightened.

This isn't fair. It's not fair.

"Um, Ginny?"

Ginny turned to see Colin behind her.

"Hullo, Colin," she said quietly and turned back to the window. It was rather rude of her, of course, but she just wasn't in the mood to deal with his questions.

"Ginny-I know you're tired of hearing this, but-are you sure you're-"

"I'm fine, Colin." She winced inwardly at how abrupt that sounded. "Seriously, though," she added with an apologetic smile, "I'm okay."

Colin seemed to buy it, because his answering smile looked more relaxed. He sat down next to her on the window seat. "You know..." Colin said, carefully not looking at her, instead staring at the ground, "there's a trip to Hogsmeade coming up tomorrow."

Ginny raised an eyebrow. "Yeah..." she said, unsure of where he was going with this.

Colin's hand brushed against hers. Looking down, she realized with a sense of shock that he was lacing his fingers with hers.

He still wasn't looking at her. "I was thinking...we should go together."

Ginny had no idea where to even look, much less say. A part of her had known, without really acknowledging it, that Colin liked her as more than a friend.

I should say no...I have to say no...

Why though?

Her mouth, ignoring the turmoil in her head, opened. "As friends or as...what?"

Colin's breathing was a little unsteady, and Ginny realized just how much courage it had taken him to do this. He was actually nervous. Nervous about asking her out.

"I-I don't want to go as just friends...if that's okay."

Ginny distractedly noticed that Colin wasn't so bad-looking after all, and of course, he was quite sweet...

Have you lost your mind? a part of her screamed. Don't you remember what Madame said?

I do remember, but I can't be sure that she's right...And Colin's sweet. I like him. It's not like we're going to get married...

"All right," Ginny said quickly, before she could talk herself out of the idea.

Colin finally looked at her, his eyes wide. "R-really?"

"Yeah," Ginny said, smiling at him.

Colin's face broke out into a huge smile. He clumsily kissed her on the cheek, then glanced at his watch. "Oh...bugger, I've got detention with Filch..."

"We'll talk later," she told him quickly, ignoring the pricks that her conscience was giving her.

Colin's smile grew smaller, but wasn't dimmed in intensity. "Yeah...yeah, okay." He turned and started walking out, then just as he got to the portrait hole, he turned. "You did say yes, right?"

Ginny managed to stop herself from laughing hysterically. Unable to stop a giggle or two from escaping, she said as seriously as possible, "I believe so, yes."

She hadn't thought it possible for Colin's smile to get any bigger, but she was wrong. "Amazing," he said, grinning madly. "See you later then."

"Yeah," Ginny replied. "See you later."

As Colin left, Ginny turned back to the window again.

It'll be okay, she tried to reassure herself. This can work after all. It'll be fine. You're going to be okay...

I just want everything to be okay again, Ginny thought in despair. Please let everything be okay again. Please. Just let it be okay again.

"I just want to feel...safe in my own skin...I just want to be happy again..."

Dido, Honestly OK