Ginny Weasley stood on tiptoes and stared out of a small dusty window at the grey sky. She was in the attic, where she had been spending a lot of her time recently. She had filled it with things that brought happy memories and books to learn charms and spells from. She didn't like spending time anywhere else in the house anymore. It was summer and the Weasley household had always been bustling with people and warmth. But since Hogwarts had closed the sky had been grey and Ginny had been miserable. Bill and Charlie had left home long ago and Percy was always busy at the ministry. But now Fred and George were always at their magic shop which was one of the few shops that had remained open and successful. In these dark times people would take anything they could find to protect themselves. It was sad to walk through Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade with so many familiar places boarded up. Though her mother almost never let her leave the house alone anyways. Ron spent most of his time with Harry and Hermione practicing spells.

Thinking of Harry made her sad. She hadn't spoken to him since they left Hogwarts and she missed him. Although she knew that they couldn't go back to how they were before, she still missed having him as a friend. The time that they had had together had been short, but wonderful although she understood why it was better this way.

Ginny stopped looking at the sky, it was making her feel even more depressed. She walked over to an old couch and sat down picking up a spell book. It was open to page 375, the latest spell she'd been trying to learn was Umpetrius- used to cause things to extremely overheat. Ginny thought it would come in handy. She had been practicing on a vase of flowers but so far all she had been able to do was singe the flower petals. Ginny picked up her wand and practiced for the next fifteen minutes, but her heart wasn't in it and she burnt the ends of her red hair. Sighing she closed the book and made her way downstairs to the kitchen. Her mother was sitting at the table looking through the morning post.

"Morning Mum," Ginny said. She sat down opposite her Mum and helped herself to a biscuit from the tin.

"Good morning honey. You think you could get out the books and start studying yourself, I want to reply to some of these letters first," she said without looking up. Mrs. Weasley had been trying to teach her daughter some of the things she would have been learning at school next year. Even though it was summer she couldn't bear the thought of her daughter not finishing her education. Ginny knew her Mum was trying her best, but it just didn't even compare with Hogwarts. Ginny missed her friends and she even missed her teachers.

"Sure," Ginny said with a sigh, "Could you fix my hair first though? I burnt it."

Her Mum looked up now and smiled at her daughter, then with a flick of her wand her straight red hair returned to normal.

Ginny left the kitchen and went to the living room to find Ron's school books from last year. Ginny really didn't feel like sitting alone so she piled the books in her arms and carried them back to the kitchen. She put her books on the table and took another biscuit. She really couldn't be bothered with studying today. Her mind kept wandering to her friends. She wondered where Ron, Harry and Hermione were right now, and Luna. Ginny took a piece of parchment and a quill and began to write a letter to Ron.

Dear Ron,

Not much has changed since I last wrote. Mum is doing her best to make sure I don't fall behind with school work and Dad is busy a lot. I have no idea what he is doing though, he says he can't tell me yet. Mum and I are missing you terribly. I hope you are doing well and that you are staying safe. Say hello to Hermione and Harry for me. Please come and visit is soon.

Love,

Ginny

"Mum, could you send this letter to Ron for me?" Ginny asked.

"Of course dear, I was just about to write to him myself," she replied.

Ginny handed her Mum the letter and then opened a Tranfiguration book. She did her best to loose herself in studying, she wanted something to occupy her mind, to stop her missing her friends. About an hour later, after a series of unsuccessful spells, and a mess of notes, she looked up to see that her lunch had been left on the table and her Mum had gone. She closed the book and gobbled up the sandwiches hungrily. Then she went to look for her Mum.

She found her sitting on a bench in the garden looking very sad. Her eyes were red and puffy like she had been crying and Ginny noticed she looked thinner than normal.

Ginny made her way down the garden path and sat next to her Mum. She rested her head on Ginny's shoulder and they both stared aimlessly up at the cloudy sky. Neither said anything. They didn't have to, they were both thinking the same thing.