A/N: Hello...

Disclaimer: HP belongs to JK..

Bittersweet

Chapter 1- A Simple Life

The morning dawned bright and early but the occupant of the flat on the second floor of the building in the busy street of Muggle London was far from feeling the same. In fact, when she woke up the first thing she did was curse the dazzling sun that was such a bitter contrast to her gloomy, depressing existence.

With feet in slippers she walked over to the kitchen and spooned some tea leaves into a pot. That was the beginning of her everyday life— typical, dull, normal and absolutely miserable. But still, she had a routine and stick to it she did. That was why she then proceeded to the bathroom and did her necessities. But she made the mistake of looking at the face in the mirror. She then remembered that so long before she had been used to seeing a vibrant girl in the reflection.

This was what caused her to think and all her thoughts were so far-off that she didn't notice that she was headed straight for the stove top.

"Ouch!" Ginny cried out as she touched the handle of the pot she had used to steep the tea in with her bare hands. "Of all the stupid, idiotic things to do! Really, burning the palm of my hand just caps it all! Is this the never-ending punishment that seems to follow me everywhere?" She asked no one in particular with anguish as she padded to her bedroom to fetch some liniment to apply on the reddish, scalded areas on her palm.

She reached the room and pulled at the top bureau drawer with her uninjured hand. She rummaged through all the mess and finally found the bottle of witch's remedy she had been in possession of for a rather long time. She twisted the cap open and spread some of the oil-like substance on her burn.

She sat down on a wicker chair and placed her hand face up on her knee noting the slight marks on her hands with ointment in them causing them to sting. Before the incident, tears had already been forming at the back of her eyes and the brief and instant contact with heat caused them to, all the more, want to break free.

Suddenly, the tension, hurt, dismay and failure of the last few days and weeks caught up with her along with the stupid realization that she had nothing. No magic, no friends, no family and no love. Oh, especially, no love, no Draco! All those things made her bury her face in her hands and sob her heart out.

She simply sat there, tears falling almost in waterfalls, spilling out uncontrollably as she thought of all she had lost: Her magic— having been a witch all her life and coming from a family full of them, she had no idea how to be a Muggle and everything that came with it.

Her friends— cutting herself from the Wizarding World, she had had no choice but to cut ties with all her magical friends; it hurt all the more because she had no one to ask help from or to share experiences with.

Her family— having been the youngest in a family of seven children, she was so used to a big family with loving, caring parents all of which were now gone from her life.

Her Love— Draco, because she still loved him and there was no denying that she was never going to get over him; what with all the memories of their times together, it was just too much to handle especially considering that they had not left each other in good terms… in fact, they had not left each other in any terms, period.

After a good, long cry, she looked up and saw, according to the clock, that she had been weeping a nice half hour. She looked in the direction of the stove and saw that she had left the tea still steeping and guessed that it was probably too strong for her now.

She walked up to it, turned the fire off (after great difficulty) and threw the contents down the drain while she used her other hand as a shield against the hot, rising steam. Already empty of its contents, Ginny put the pot in the sink, hoping she would remember to wash it later.

Next, she went into the bathroom and immediately splashed some cold, running water on her swollen eyes. She then looked up from the cool liquid to stare at her face in the mirror. And the sight she beheld was totally different from the pretty, vivacious girl in Hogwarts years ago.

Her eyes were now merely red, puffy slits; her cheeks drained of all color. Her hair was all rumpled up and had been dislodged from the band encircling it; her hands, as she brought it up to touch her eyes, were trembling, a sure sign of stress.

She grabbed a paper towel from the container and wiped her face in front of the mirror. She grabbed some more and began drying her hands while walking towards the kitchen. When she was done, she walked over to the trash bin near the window. That was when something caught her attention. Red sparks! Outside her window… red sparks that looked like they had come form a wizard's wand… red sparks that were uncommon in the Muggle part of England.

She all but rushed to the window to gaze below at the normally calm Muggle streets when she saw a man with red hair sprawled in the concrete streets. Her eyes grew wide in panic as she recognized it as her brother, Ron and beyond she could just see other figures with red hair that stood out.

"Oh No!" Her voice was dripping with distress as she saw that he had been hurt and also that they had probably come to take her. She thanked her lucky stars that she had been forewarned of their presence. That by an incredibly fortunate chance she could evade the people, who she had run from.

Her mind instantly went on panic mode then and she reacted quickly to the situation. She all but ran to her bedroom. She crouched down low beside her bed as she groped for her suitcase, which had several clothes and necessities in them. She had readied this on the first day of her Muggle life. It was done exactly for an emergency situation like this one.

Finding the case she grasped its leather handle and ran to her bureau. She got her purse lying atop it. Not stopping to check if her money and other valuables were inside, she set about applying the plan she had so carefully laid out in case they were, indeed, able to track her down.

She grabbed her coat from the rack and replaced her slippers with shoes. She pulled open the door to her apartment and checked to see if anyone was going to see her. It was too early for that and a Sunday at that so everyone was sleeping in late. She again blessed her stroke of luck with this fact and turned right as she headed for the back of the building.

She pushed open a door, which she knew led to the fire exit and saw the metal structure that was her road to escape. Not stopping to think or see of she was going to be safe, she lunged forward onto the rickety fortification. She grasped the railing for support and climbed the down the steps until she reached the last one.

As there were no steps that led to the ground she counted to five and jumped down onto the alleyway. She was already on another street, faraway from the street where she had spied her family. She heaved a sigh of relief. She had escaped.

She scurried in the direction of the train station that would take her to another part of England far from that city. Grasping her coat nearer her, she murmured, "Sorry, mum, dad, brothers. I'm not ready to face you all yet. I just hope that when I am ready you could already forgive me."

And with one last look at the building that had housed her for eight months, she purposefully walked towards the station and on to her new future. And she sincerely hoped that there was a new future waiting for her out there. And she knew, in the deepest part of her heart were her memories of love, and the consolation that if life had given her such a blessing, it might give it again and she would be there to make sure that, next time, it would last.

A/N:

I hope that I made a good choice by actually continuing this story. As for now, I have no idea where it's going…