Author notes: Well, this is my first ever published fic! Beware! Please review, it'll help me out. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 1: Down Diagon Alley

She looked at her big, brown eyes reflected in the mirror as she took some strands of her red hair between two fingers.

"I think I want to cut it…"

"Huh!" A grunt from Ron made Ginny turn around to face him, looking slightly irritated.

"…My hair."

Ron sat back in his chair with a mixture of surprise, and a relieved look on his freckly face. He had almost been dogging her steps the last months. To see if she was okay, he claimed the reason was, but she had a suspicion that he didn't want to be alone either.

Ron looked down at his hands. "Oh, that. But Gin… What's up with you? You've just been all silent and sad lately! Since, you know… Harry-" Ron said, but when he saw her expression, he fell silent.

It felt like a big rock had just collided with her heart. Every time Harry's name was mentioned, she felt that way, except every time, the rock was bigger and the collision more painful. This time she felt like she would be knocked off her feet; the only reason why she didn't was that she was sitting.

"I don't want to talk about Harry, Ron! I just want to get a haircut! That's all! Nothing more!" She knew he noticed her shaky voice, but it was impossible to control the emotions bubbling up inside her. Ginny didn't know if anyone had ever felt the sorrow she was trying to deal with at the moment; all she knew was that it felt like she was drowning in her own grief. And no one was able to pull her out of it. She would have keep on swimming until she found a rock to climb on to.

The rock never seemed to appear.

Ginny closed her eyes so that she only could hear Ron as he continued, now in a lower voice.

"Well, I miss him too, Gin. He was my best mate. Is my best mate," he corrected. "Is."

Ginny felt tears pressing against her eyelids, but she refused to cry. She had been crying more than she thought was possible for a human being to cry. Now she wanted to get over Harry. Not forget him, but get over him.

"So, can we go to Diagon Alley to get my hair cut?" She rose from the couch she was sitting in, grabbed her purse, and walked straight over to the fireplace where she seized some floo powder from a small pot on the mantelpiece. Then she looked over at Ron, who was still parked in the chair, looking puzzled at her.

"Are you serious?" he said, looking as though he thought it was some kind of dim-witted joke. Starting to feel irritated, Ginny marched over to the chair, and took a hold on Ron's arm.

"Of course I'm serious! Why wouldn't I be? Now, are you coming, or do I have to go alone?" she snapped, trying to drag him to his feet, but giving up as he put up a great resistance.

"But Ginny-" Ron started, as if he wanted to talk her out of going to Diagon Alley.

"Fine! I don't know why you have such a problem with me wanting to cut my hair, but I'll go alone!" Ginny barked at him. She let go of his wrist and stepped into the fireplace by herself. As she threw the powder into the fire and said "Diagon Alley" as clearly as she could, she thought she saw Ron getting up from the chair behind her, but didn't have time to turn around and check properly. The next second she was spinning fast, holding her elbows as close to her body as she possibly could.

---

She hadn't been quite herself since the night Harry had disappeared, left alone to herself wondering whether he was alive or dead, if she would ever meet him again, or if she had lost him forever.

At the time he had broken up with her, she hadn't lost her fate in that they would get back together once it was all over. There was no doubt in her mind that he would succeed finishing You-Know-Who off for good. And then he would come back to her, and things would be fine again. They would start a life together, and put the whole story of You-Know-Who behind them.

But things didn't quite turn out as she had thought they would.

Last summer, the Death Eater and the Order had another fight that resulted in several deaths: Alastor Moody finally found his end in Bellatrix Lestrange's killing curse; Fenrir Greyback and Remus Lupin had both been transformed into werewolves as the full moon entered the night sky, and Greyback had attacked everyone around him right away, causing the death of Minerva McGonagall and Charlie Weasley. In the end, Lupin and Greyback had started to fight each other; two strong, fully transformed werewolves biting and ripping each other everywhere while a shocked Tonks stood frozen not far away, watching the fight with terror in her eyes.

After a long and bloody fight, it was Neville who ended it in the end by sending a Disarming charm at a Death Eater that missed, and hit Greyback in his forehead, knocking him out. He was left to bleed to death while Lupin, badly wounded, was sent to St. Mungo after the battle.

It had taken a while before he turned up. But finally, when about half of the Death Eaters, and not few from the Order had been knocked out or killed, he turned up. The Dark Lord had entered the fight, his hood covering his face, his wand raised.

From that moment, Ginny didn't actually remember what happened. One second it was dead silent; the next, Harry ran forwards, and when she opened her eyes again, both of them had disappeared.

It had felt like her heart jumped up in her throat and choked her when she realized Harry was missing. How she had yelled for him. She had run until her legs couldn't hold her up anymore, and then she had sat down, whispering Harry's name over and over again, hoping she could conjure him out of thin air if she whispered long enough.

That was the last time she had seen him.

---

"How would you like it, miss?"

The hairdresser's eyes met hers in the mirror as he put a plastic collar around her.

"You know… Just cut! This hair is too long for my own good. It's so goddamn heavy. It drags my head down to the ground. I want something new and fresh," she told the hairdresser, who gave her a wink, and picked up a pair of scissors, who at once whistled, as if it was eager to get started to cut.

"Say goodbye to your long, red strands, and hello to a brand new look."

---

Her hands ran down her neck where her hair tickled her slightly when she moved her head. She actually liked this new hairstyle. It was very different from the long, curly hair she had before, but she liked it. It made her look fresh, and that wasn't bad, seeing as she didn't feel fresh at all.

There were, strangely enough, very few people in Diagon Alley this day. In fact, the only people Ginny noticed were two men who were sitting on the table behind her in a little café called A Cauldron Full of FlavorsNipping to a cup of tea and trying to get used to her new look, Ginny listened to the two men's conversation.

"Cheers, Philip! May your beard be at least twice as long before the next time we run out of Firewhiskey." The harsh voice indicated that the man was about sixty years old.

"Hear hear, Ernie! God, have I missed this. You and I, sitting here with our glasses full of Firewhiskey, talking about the old days."

Ginny could hear the sound of two glasses colliding in a toast, followed by some gulps. Obviously the two men were drinking Firewhiskey as if the world ended unless they drank the whole glass in one sip.

"Aah. I feel ten years younger already. It's been a hard time, those years when You-Know-Who was back. The wife wouldn't let me leave the house. Not even for a drink."

Again, Ginny could hear the two men taking another mouthful of their glasses.

"Well. Let's hear it for Harry Potter who made him disappear again, and allowed us to get out of the house for a drink now and then."

Ginny suddenly felt her heart beating at double speed. She hadn't gotten used to Harry's name being mentioned everywhere yet. At Hogwarts, yes, because he was around all the time, but all other places, people talked about him. Ginny was sick of it. She felt it as if they were invading her privacy, not letting her have any quiet time to get over what happened with Harry. It was as if the world had agreed to talk about Harry all the time, not allowing her to forget him.

You don't want to forget him, you stupid worm.

"No, I don't," she mumbled to herself, taking another nip of her tea.

"You know, Ernie, Patty told me just yesterday that she had seen Harry Potter not far from here. I thought the poor bastard was dead a long time ago, but it seems he isn't."

At those words, Ginny dropped her tea cup. Warm tea ran down her table as she sat there, motionless like a statue, listening to every word from the two men.

"Really? Where? I thought no one had seen him for ages. "

"He looked all shabby and dirty, but she swore it was him. I think it was down in Knockturn Alley somewhere." The man started to laugh, and Ginny felt a sudden cold spreading through her body.

Harry? In Knockturn Alley?

She got to her feet without giving the cup of tea she had dropped a thought, and started to run down Diagon Alley. Behind her, the waitress yelled something after her. Probably because she had left not only the tea cup, but the bill unpaid. Ginny didn't notice it. She didn't notice the cold wind, or that it had become dark. Her heart was thumping like mad, as she turned a corner and continued down Knockturn Alley, her eyes searching for something she didn't know between the shops and the few people that were there.

Harry would be here. She was sure of it. She would find Harry here, take him back to the Burrow, and hear him tell her everything that had happened since she last saw him, a year ago. She would find him. She would!

Gasping for air, Ginny sat down on a bench in a small, dark park at the end of Knockturn Alley next to a man who had his face covered with a big newspaper and a hat.

She must have ran for at least half an hour, her feet were hurting, and it felt as if she hadn't breathed properly for a lifetime.

Tears were threatening to take over, and Ginny felt no point in fighting it. She hadn't found Harry. Deep down, she had known she wouldn't, but the loss of hope that had been there for that half hour still hurt. She would give whatever it took to meet Harry one last time. At least long enough to take a proper goodbye. As she sat there, breathing heavily, listening to her heartbeat, and feeling hot tears steam down her face, Ginny suddenly felt a tiredness taking over her body. As she wiped the tears of her cheek, she felt her eyes closing, and the next second, her head dropped down on the shoulder of the man sitting next to her on the bench.

---

Draco Malfoy closed the paper he was reading, and smirked. It wasn't every day a Weasley was seen down in Knockturn Alley. And least of all Ginny Weasley, the most precious of them all. Draco turned to look at the girl who was resting her head upon his shoulder, wondering why she was here. In fact, she looked rather troubled, he thought, looking at the wet stripes of tears that had ran down her face. But part from that, he couldn't deny that she had really grown up. He remembered her as the little girl who had sent Harry Potter a pathetic Valentine's card and been so desperate to go to the Yule Ball that she had accepted to go with Neville Longbottom. Now she was a woman. And, he had to admit, a damn beautiful one, with the red hair around her face and her eyes closed.

Draco took off his hat, and ran his fingers through his blond hair. He would wait for her to wake up, and then… He didn't know yet, but the opportunity was too good to turn down. The only Weasley daughter, left all alone by herself in Knockturn Alley, looking as if she was having an emotional breakdown.

He could not let the opportunity pass.

A/N: Ohoho! You've really read through the whole thing? Congrats to you! Please review!