When it gets cold outside, and you got nobody to love,
You'll understand what I mean when I say,
There's no way we're gonna give up.
And like a little girl cries in the face of a monster that lives in her dreams.
Is there anyone out there cause it's getting harder and harder to breathe.

Chapter 2: A Spur of the moment Holiday

Ginny reclined back in her chair, extending her legs onto the windowsill as she gazed out the window in to the bright sunshine that washed over the freshly cut grass outside. So involved in this scene, Ginny didn't hear the door open behind her.

"Miss Weasley?"

Surprised, Ginny jumped, falling out of her chair and onto the floor. Laura stood in front of her, her face solemn, while Draco leaned against the wall next to her, a wide grin upon his face. Ginny could feel her cheeks burning.

"Yes, Laura?" Ginny pushed herself up quickly with as much dignity as she could, dusting herself off and trying to regain her composure.

"Mr. Malfoy is here to see you."

"Um…right," Ginny said, picking her chair up and sitting back down. Looking closer at Laura now, the sight horrified her.

Laura stood in front of her comfortably, wearing an identical outfit to Ginny's. Ginny jerked her head down checking her outfit, making sure that Laura was indeed wearing the exact same. 

Was she insane?

"Thanks, Laura." And once again, Ginny waited awkwardly for Laura to leave, but she didn't.

"Will you excuse me and Ms. Weasley?" Draco said, finally deciding to speak up. Laura's eyes flashed over to Draco, an icy glare, as if it was not in his position to ask her to leave Ginny.

"Of course, sir," Laura said hotly through clenched teeth as if she was trying to hold back her anger, but failing. She stomped out of the room immaturely and slammed the door.

"So you seem to have an…interesting relationship with your secretary, don't you?" Draco asked with a sneer, sitting down in a chair, and flipping through some of the papers that were on the edge of her desk.

"Can I help you, Mr. Malfoy?" Ginny replied, choosing to ignore Draco's statement about Laura- not knowing what herself relationship with her was.

A stalker and victim perhaps?

"You sent me a note asking for a time off, remember?"

"Oh yes," Ginny began the speech she had planned out in her head to convince Draco. "You see, I've been working non-stop here at work, and I feel that I just need some-"

"Fine, go ahead."

"What?" Ginny was caught off guard; she had thought it would have taken a lot more of her best persuading to get him to agree.

"You're right. You've given me the three articles that the Prophet needed. Take a week off. Claire can take over some of your work."

"R-really? Thank you! I'll leave this evening after hours and be back next week."

"Fine. I expect you back Thursday morning, on time."

"Of course."

Draco reached the end of the stack of Ginny's papers, and he left the room, snorting at Laura, who was waiting by the window with her ear to Ginny's door.

Uninvited, Laura strolled back into the room, taking Draco's old seat.

"I don't like that new boss," Laura remarked. "Do you Ginny?"

Ginny smiled. "Oh, no, I like him. He's just great."

"What- I mean, yeah he's okay…I mean, you know I just don't like his, erm, tone of voice…"

A small snicker Ginny tried to hold back escaped; and she hastily became involved with something in her desk draw, so she wouldn't have to look Laura in the eye. For if she did, she would surely be laughing at just how strange Laura could be sometimes.

****

"Hey there, Miss Virginia Weasley."

Ginny's eyes flew up to where the voice had come from. "Hey there, Marc."

Marc flashed a grin with his straight, white teeth.

"I have a surprise for you," he purred, planting a fresh kiss on Ginny's cheeks.

Ginny blushed for the second time that day. "What is it?"

"A weekend getaway to my family's log house this entire weekend."

"Oh," Ginny said in a low, obviously disappointed voice.

"Something wrong, Gin?"

"It's just…I have to work all weekend," Ginny lied. "You know, big article coming up, and my boss wants it in soon."

Marc's face dropped, and Ginny automatically felt guilty. "Oh. Well, maybe some other time, huh?"

"Yeah, some other time it would be great."

"Well, I have to get going now. I have my work too."

"Right, bye."

He picked up her hand and kissed it softly; she smiled. He rubbed his hand on hers, then lingered out of the room, holding her eyes the entire time.

Why did I just lie to him?

Sighing, Ginny began to stack up her papers; she couldn't wait any longer to get away. All she needed was a week- just even a day- to get away from her life, maybe just get caught up on some work, but to relax.

Hastily, she threw some of her papers, pens, and copies, everything into her bag and charged out of her office before she could convince herself otherwise.

She shut the door behind her and slammed a key on Laura's empty desk, so Laura could lock up for Ginny that night.

****

"Hi, I'd like to rent out a room here," Ginny said to the teenager who at the reception desk, chewing gum and flipping through a magazine.

"Okay then, we'll just need some information from you. Your name?" he asked, continuing to flip through the magazine and barely even looking up.

Ginny paused before answering. "Patty Smith."

Figuring if she used a different name, no one would be able to track her down. So when they asked her age, address, and all of the other information, Ginny made up answers. Oddly, she felt like a load had been lifted off her, knowing that no one would be able to bother her this weekend.

****

The next morning Ginny awoke, feeling, for once, relaxed. She was wrapped up tight in a quilt blanket, being bathed by the sun coming through her window.

Tap, tap.

An owl appeared at her window, flapping it's wings. She climbed out of bed, still clutching the warm blanket to her. Her bare feet hit the cold floor as she opened the window and paid the owl its fee.

She looked down at the folded paper and something caught her eye. A picture. It was her picture.

Ginny's eyebrows furrowed as she unfolded the paper, and she gasped. The paper fell to the floor, and Ginny still stared at the front page, horrified by the bold headline that still shone up at her from the floor:

Daily Prophet Reporter, Ginny Weasley, found Dead in Office

A/N I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review and let me know what you think about it so far. I won't be able to post soon since we're going on a vacation, so the next chapter should be up at the end of July. And a big- no huge- thanks to all of my betas who helped me make my story loads better!

-Karen