Ginny was running down the street. She was in shock, hardly caring where she was going.

How will I ever face him again? I got a front row seat of the snogfest show! Now I'm not even sure I can be friends with him . . .

As she made her way into a small town, Ginny stopped at a pub. After hesitating, she pushed the door open and entered the dim light of the bar.

"What'll it be?" A dirty man whose hair seemed to have an entire bottle of gel in it looked up at her from behind the counter. He reminded her of a fat professor Snape.

"Oh, um . . ."

"Try the Firewhiskey," a friendly male voice sounded from behind her. Even in her shock over Harry, Ginny had to admit that the man now sitting next to her was extremely good-looking.

Harry was about the average height, around 5'11. He had a cleft chin, dimples, and thick messy hair. Not to mention he was fit from numerous war and Auror training. This man was just as gorgeous, but in a different way. He was about 6'2, had dark brown hair, and blue eyes. When he smiled at her, Ginny also realized his teeth were perfectly white.

"Okay, then." She smiled at the man before turning back to the bartender. "I'll take a Firewhiskey." Just as she was handing the Snape-lookalike money, the mystery wizard held back her hand.

"No, let me." He paid for her drink and his own, handing the glass to her.

"Thank-you," She took the glass of Amber liquid and took a sip. "Ahh!" It burned all the way down her throat to her stomach, where it finally turned ice cold and then normal.

The man laughed, giving her a pat on her back. "First time, eh?"Ginny nodded, coughing.

"So what's your name?"

"Ginny. Ginny Weasley."

The man looked startled. "Harry Potter's old girlfriend? I heard you were in a coma."

Ginny took another sip of the alcohol. It's not bad as you get used to it. Better then feeling the pain that Harry's caused me . . .

"I woke up." She shrugged, turning to the man again. "Who're you?"

The man grinned. "Name's Jack. Pleased to meet you Milady."

Ginny tipped her now half-empty glass. "Pleasure's all mine."

Jack nodded, taking a sip of his drink. "Have you heard though, Harry Potter's getting married? I would think you'd be upset. I know I would be if I found out that the person I loved was getting married to someone else."

She laughed, tilting her head. "Oh, I'm upset all right. Don't you think otherwise."

"So is that why you're here?"

Ginny nodded, turning toward Jack. "Do you have a girlfriend?" Jack shook his head. "Oh, well for the sake of my story, imagine you did. What would you do if you saw your girlfriend snogging a different guy?"

Jack snorted. "And this is hypothetically right? I mean, this wouldn't have to do with Harry and his fiancee, would it?"

"Perhaps yes, perhaps no. Just answer the question and maybe I'll tell you." She drowned the rest of her drink.

"I would curse the idiot into obliviation. Did you do that to Harry?"

"No, I just ran here."

Jack clapped, grinning. "Gotcha. How did this all happen, anyway? Obviously you haven't been awake for the past two years, or Harry would still be with you. I know I would."

He's flirting with you. This isn't right, especially when I still love Harry. No, it's probably all in my mind. He's just being a friend.

"Well, I woke up about five days ago to find my boyfriend is getting married. That's all one needs to know to get the entire picture straight." Ginny picked up the second glass of Firewhiskey that the bartender had placed in front of her.

Jack pushed another few sickles to the man. "And when you went to see him--"

"I found him getting snogged by his fiancee, yes. Look, can we talk about something else, this is really getting to me."

"Okay then, how old are you?"

Ginny took another sip of whiskey. "Eighte- sorry, twenty-one. I keep forgetting that I was gone for three years. How old are you?"

Jack swirled his drink around. "Twenty-five."

"Really? You don't look it."

Jack grinned. "Oh, so you've been looking?"

"Nope."

"Since you just woke up, where have you been living?"

Ginny coughed again. "I've been living with my brother Ron and his wife Hermione."

Jack's eyebrows rose. "Hermione Granger? I work with her!"

"No kidding! You're a healer?" Ginny took yet another sip of whiskey, even though she was beginning to feel a bit faint.

"Yeah, I even know where she and her husband live. She's with Ron, you say? Nice chap, great chess player. It's almost as if he cheats. Do you– What the heck?"

Ginny collapsed in her bar chair, head in her arms on the counter. The bartender didn't give her a second glance, since it happened all the time. He just cleared away her glasses and turned to a new customer.

Jack picked up her head with one hand, let go, and watched as it fell against her arms again like a deadweight. "I'm surprised you didn't pass out sooner Ginny Weasley." He laughed, hoisting her into his arms. At least he found out where she lived, or he'd have been in real trouble.

XoxoxoX

It was dark, musty, and humid. The dungeon held empty cells, all equally chilling and life-draining. He started to walk, his feet making squelching noises against the damp ground.

Even in the dark, the red hair stood out against all the other cells. Heart hammering in his throat, he sprinted into the cell with a loud, "Reducto!"

"Ginny, please be all right!"

There was blood , a lot of it. It coated the floors, her robes, his hands. He lifted her sark-white face off the cold ground, cradling her in his arms.

"I'm sorry Harry . . ." She started to close her eyes, tears mixing with the blood.

"NO! Ginny, don't do this, you have to stay awake, please!" He shook her slightly until her brown eyes appeared again. " Stay with me," he whispered, wiping her face clean of tears.

She just shook her head and took a stuttering breath. "There's . . . there's something I have to tell you . . ."

"Anything." He pulled her close, stroking her hair in an effort to keep her awake.

"I . . . I love you."

"What? Gin, no GIN!" Her body stiffened in his arms as the last of her life left. He shuddered, her words still affecting him.

"So you decided to come, did you? You must know, the pain she inflicted upon herself did not come from me. It came from the other death eaters."

His fists clenched, eyes blazing with fury. Wormtail did this to her. He was the one who kidnaped her . . . he was going to pay. Standing up, he turned to face the man who had caused him so much misery. The man that had betrayed his parents, betrayed him, killed the one person who actually loved him.

"You'll pay for this!" He lashed out at Wormtail, knocking the small man off his feet. Fists hit every inch of the body that he could reach, smashing bones upon bones beneath his fingers.

"Crucio!"

He screamed in agony as death eaters appeared all around him. Wormtail stood up, blood dripping down his front.

"Dear, dear, little one. We are in trouble now, aren't we. The Dark Lord will be ever so pleased to hear that you fell into his excellently constructed plan."

The death eater gave a flick of his wand, and the screams subsided. "Go to hell, Malfoy!" His stupid outburst was rewarded with another wave of pain. He had to think now, or die.

Mustering up all his strength, he let forth the power that he had been working on ever since Dumbledore found it. The room filled with a blinding light, a force surging through every cell, knocking all death eaters off their feet.

He coughed, collapsing against a wall. And so it had begun, his becoming a murderer. The curse he had just preformed had no exact name. Dumbledore had called it 'the death eater defeater' curse. He had to pay a small price though, for the one time it could be used.

He looked down at his forearm to see a deep gauge in his skin, bleeding profusely. Gritting his teeth, he tore off a piece of his cloak, wrapping it tightly around the injury as a makeshift bandage.

Glancing around the room, he crawled over Malfoy's limp form and into Ginny's open cell. She was breathing . . .

"Merlin!" He choked, shrugging off his cloak and wrapping her small body inside it, hoping to get her warm.

Then, taking a deep breath, he lifted her up. His muscles, soar from the cruciatus, screamed in protest as her full weight fell against his arms. Panting heavily and scar bleeding, Harry strode out of the dungeon, Ginny in hand.

XoxoxoX

Harry paused, putting the pieces together in his head. "Does she still . . . love me?"

Ron and Hermione glanced at each other, Harry's gaze never breaking away.

"Erm, I-" Ron stuttered, remembering Ginny's words. "No Mate, she doesn't." Ron looked back down at the ground, guilty for lying to his best mate.

Harry sighed, nodding as he rubbed his eyes. "Thank merlin." What do you mean, thank merlin?

Grimacing at Harry's words, Hermione cleared her throat. "Where is Ginny, anyway?"

Harry rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know."

"WHAT! My baby sister is out there, all alone? She can't apparate! She doesn't have a wand!" Ron started to pace, stealing angry glances at Harry.

"It's not my fault! I didn't know she was awake because someone didn't tell me. And why doesn't she have a wand?"

Hermione stood up, stopping Ron from his nervous tracks. "It broke in two when the Burrow was destroyed."

"How could you let her out without a wand?" Harry was starting to get worried. From what he saw before, Ginny wasn't exactly ugly. What if someone took advantage of her?

"Shit." Harry was just about to apparate away when there was a knock on the door. Striding over, he opened it to see a man. What really surprised him was that Ginny was passed out in his arms.

"Jack?" Hermione looked curiously from her co-worker to the girl in his arms. "What happened?"

"What do you think? Drank too much and she passed out." Jack strode into the room, glancing at Harry who had an odd look on his face. "Where's her room?"

"Down the hall and to the left." Ron sighed, sitting down on the couch. He liked Jack, he was a good man. Maybe things would turn around for his little sister.

As soon as Jack left, Harry advanced slightly on Hermione. "Who is he?"

Hermione refrained from smiling. "He's my co-worker. You'd like him, Harry. He sort of reminds me of you." Harry mumbled something before sitting down next to Ron.

Jack returned, running his hands through his hair. "Is she okay?" Harry was looking at Jack in a concerned way.

He shrugged, heading for the door. "She should be fine. I put a hangover spell on her. Hermione, you can make the follow-up potion tomorrow, right?"

She nodded, waving goodbye as Jack grinned, closing the door. "Well then, Ginny's all right. Harry, shouldn't you be home with Alex?"

"Yeah, uh . . . Can you guys tell Ginny to meet me tomorrow at my flat around noon? I won't be kissing this time," he added lamely.

Ron nodded, clapping his friend on the shoulder. "I'll hold you to that."

XoxoxoX

The next morning, Ginny woke up with an extremely bad headache. What happened last night? She rolled over, shielding her eyes from the sunlight that was streaming through her window. As Ginny turned to look at herself in the mirror, she found a note taped to it.

Ginny, had a good time even if you passed out. It was funny, you should have seen your face. Anyway, if you ever feel like it, give me a visit. Hermione knows where I live.

Jack