'Cause it makes me that much stronger,
Makes me work a little bit harder.
It makes me that much wiser.
So thanks for making me a fighter.
Made me learn a little bit faster,
Made my skin a little bit thicker.
Makes me that much smarter,
So thanks for making me a fighter.

Chapter 3: That was then…this is now

The only sound Ginny could hear then was her heavy, uneven breathing, and the only thing she could see was the headline and her picture staring up at her.

She reached out behind her to find a chair. With shaking knees, she collapsed behind her leaning up against the wall, never removing her eyes from the paper. A cold sweat overtook her body, and Ginny felt like she was about to faint.

She wasn't really dead, was she? Of course she wasn't!

Ginny didn't know hold long she sat in that on the floor hugging her knees, but she finally mustered up enough courage to pick up the paper again. She stood up, her knees buckling so badly that she could hardly walk, so she let herself fall to the floor, got onto all fours on the ground, and crawled over to the paper.

There she was- on the front page of the Daily Prophet, and that one word of the headline still shone at her almost evilly.

Dead

Ginny swallowed hard and forced herself to pick up the paper and to actually read the article

Daily Prophet Reporter, Ginny Weasley, found Dead in Office

By: Claire Nelson

Our own reporter, Virginia Weasley, was found dead in her office yesterday evening at six o'clock by Mr. Malfoy, Weasley's boss. She appeared to have been stabbed in the face and she had bruises covering the front of her neck. It has been recently released that she was either strangled or bled to death by officials.

We tried to contact Mr. Malfoy to give us a statement about loosing his employee, but he has refused to talk to any members of the press.

Tears began to cloud Ginny's vision, making it impossible to read the entire article.

Her family…seriously upset, of course…We tried to get a word….said a funeral would…next Sunday…

Although Ginny could not make out the words in the article because of her tears, but one sentence near the end of the article stood out perfectly clear.

The murderer is still unknown and out on loose.

Her grip tightened on the paper, not to read it, but just to have something to hold her.

Outside, Ginny heard music blasting from the people in the next house, and she heard people out at the lake, laughing.

How could the world just go on like this?

She wasn't dead! She was right here; someone had to know she was out here on vacation! She desperately racked her brain trying to think of someone who would be coming in any moment now, to come out and see if Ginny ever made it on her vacation and would find her here.

A weary sob escaped her lips. No one knew she was out here- not even her friends, all of whom she hadn't seen recently being as she'd been spending most of her time at work. They all thought she was really dead.

Suddenly, Ginny felt extremely sick. She dropped the paper and ran into the bathroom as fast as she could, just making it in time to the toilet to throw up. She rested her head against the sink, still sitting on the floor.

Draco.

The name was almost heavenly now. Draco knew she had taken a vacation! Had she not only talked to him yesterday telling him she would be taking a vacation?

But then Ginny's hope slowly diminished as the sick feeling of realization washed over her.

Draco had been the one to find her body, and it wouldn't be like he could find her out here; she hadn't told anyone where she was going.

How could she be so stupid?

And Ginny closed her eyes, hugging herself with her arms, trying to just to clear her mind and make this all go away. Because she wasn't really dead…

****

Ginny let out a groan as her eyes opened, blinking her sticky eyes trying to think about what she was doing in the bathroom.

Why was she in the bathroom? Oh, that's right…

Everything that had happened before flooded back inside Ginny, and thoughts began to spin inside her mind.

She was not dead. Quietly, she crept back into the bedroom, seeing that it was pitch black outside, and she let her frail body fall on top of the bed. The newspaper still lay where it had been before.

There had been a body, but it certainly wasn't her's. And someone was dead, but it wasn't her. Who could it have been then?

Then Ginny's insides turned cold for the second time that day. Someone else had died in Ginny's office, but it wasn't here. Then it had to be…

Laura…

It had to be Laura. Ginny had given Laura the keys to her office, and Laura had just dyed her hair to match Ginny's!

Laura was the one dead. Laura was dead instead of Ginny…

Ginny bit her lip and stared hard in front of her. Laura was dead because of her. Someone had come into Ginny's office and meant to kill her, and they thought- think- they have.

But they killed Laura.

Brushing away another fit of tears, Ginny stood up and grabbed her bag. No more time for moping about this. She had to do something about it, actually, she had convinced herself.

She'd have to face the outside world sometime; she couldn't slink out here like a coward forever. She might as well go now

Throwing her few possessions into a bag- clothes, muggle money she had exchanged from wizard money, her purse, but she paused at putting her wand in. Chewing her lip, she stuffed it in the bottom, piling her clothes on top of it. She would use her wand- not yet at least, not when people could be tracking it.

Then something crossed Ginny's mind. She threw open the drawer of her nightstand, finding exactly what she needed.

She picked up the pocketknife that lay in the drawer as Ginny's form of protection and started sawing off her long, red hair to about her mid-neck. Once she finished, she stared at her locks that lay on the floor, and she quickly stuffed them into her bag to hid them.

Then she slipped on her sneakers, knowing she'd have to literally run for it; she grabbed her hat off wardrobe and sunglasses, stuffing her hair into the hat and hiding her eyes with the sunglasses.

She slung her bag over her shoulder, hands shaking, and made way to the door. She paused at the door, looking back at what was supposed to be a relaxing weekend.

Not even a moment later, she shut the door leaving the house and the weekend behind her. That was then, and this is now.

And now she was going to go find Laura's killer.

Now she was going to go find the person who wants her dead…

A/N Hope you enjoyed that chapter! I know I didn't have Ginny sniveling long, but I love making an independent Ginny! J Please review and let me know what you think! Sorry this took me so long to get out- all of my betas seemed to have disappeared!

-Karen