The next morning came bright and sunny, quite opposite to her mood, Ginny thought. Her mother and most of Grimmauld's occupants were already in the kitchen, including Harry.

'Morning Ginny,' her mother greeted her, 'oh my, rough night?'

Ginny nodded.

'Well, breakfast'll cheer you up. Come on.'

Her plate was set at her usual place, next to Harry. No, not next to Harry!

With a sigh Ginny sat down, avoiding at all costs to look at Harry. Had she not been so determined to avoid his gaze, she would have noticed that Harry was staring fixedly at his plate, a frown creasing his brows.

After breakfast everyone went their own way. Ron went to write Hermione a letter, Fred and George had work to do at their shop, Mr Weasley went to the ministry, Charlie and Bill had something to do for the Order, Mrs Weasley stayed in the kitchen, Ginny went to her room and Harry… well Harry disappeared.

At eleven Ginny decided she'd had enough gloom: it was time to see if a little sunshine couldn't cheer her up. She stepped out the back door and into the garden. Nobody had bothered working at it, so it was muddy and overgrown. A small terrace sat in the centre, the sunlight seeping through the branches of the trees. Ginny sat down and leaned back, closing her eyes to catch some much needed sun. No sounds penetrated the silence, save one. The sound was rhythmical, like a backbeat to a song. At times it would speed up, then slow down again. After ten minutes it stopped altogether and a different sound started. Soft pops penetrated the silence, becoming a little softer each time. By the time that they were barely noticeable, Ginny had moved further into the garden to investigate the source of the strange noises.

A shed came into view, overgrown by shrubs, an old rosebush covering the front wall almost entirely. As Ginny stood still to determine whether the sounds were emitted from within, they stopped entirely. Then the first sound started once more, occasionally interjected by the pops. As before the pops became softer and softer until they could not be heard. When this happened the only sound left was that of something similar to chopping wood. It speeded up until Ginny heard something entirely different.

'Yes!'

There was a person in there!

Quickly but quietly Ginny walked the rest of the distance to the shed. She tried looking through the window, but it was grimy and she could only make out shadows in the dimly lit shed. One shadow flitted through the room, which looked much bigger on the inside than it did on the outside, Ginny noticed.

Just then a sound like a bell broke the silence.

'Wow, twelve already?' the muffled voice came, 'Lunch!'

Ginny swallowed. Oh help, what was she going to do now? She'd be seen if the person came through the door.

Quickly she scrambled around the corner of the shed and waited. And waited.

After five minutes without sound, save for her heavy breathing and thumping heart, Ginny cautiously made her way around the corner and to the window and peeped through.

Silence.

Darkness.

She tried the door.

Locked.