Disclaimer: Since I forgot to do this in the first couple of chapters, I'll do it now. Even though I wish I owned these characters, the sad truth is that I do not. They belong to the brilliant J.K. Rowling!

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Nearly Five Years Later –

Ginny Weasley sat at the kitchen table of the small flat that she resided in, mulling over the recent news in the Daily Prophet as she nursed a steaming cup of tea. This had been a morning routine that she had started up five years ago. Every single morning she would wake up and start a pot of tea – she usually did this the muggle way. She would gather the Daily Prophet from, and tip, the owl sitting on the window sill in her kitchen, and then scan each page looking for any news – any scrap at all – on Harry Potter. Never able to find any, she would finish brewing her tea, sit down at the table, and read her paper properly. She would always feel a mixture of emotions when she failed to see his name anywhere. First, she felt relief; it most likely meant that he was all right. Fear pushed right past relief, because she still had no idea where he was. He'd sent a total of five owls. That was one a year, and all of them said the same thing.

I'm fine. Please don't worry about me. I'm trying to protect you all. I hope you understand. Don't try tracing this, you won't find me.

Love,

Harry

They were always short and to the point, and always gave the instruction to not try to find him. Ginny tried to understand his logic behind leaving, but she just couldn't. Even with everything that had gone on, she felt safer with him near because she knew he would never let anything happen to any of them. And maybe she had been selfish to think that, since everything was done and over with, they could pick back up where they had left off. Perhaps she had been foolish to think that, but she believed that something had always been there between them, and had been determined to rekindle it. The morning she had gone downstairs and found his note five years ago, she had been heartbroken, and she had been furious. She never expected him to be gone this long. Whenever she got to really thinking about him, she found herself asking, "Harry, what are you up to?" and longed for an answer.

The paper in her hands wasn't particularly exciting. There was no news worth discussing except, perhaps, the fact that, starting that week, six death eaters had been sent to Azkaban. The captures were tales of wizard duels that ended with Aurors on the winning end, but never mentioned any names of any Aurors, which Ginny felt was odd. Surely, they'd give credit where credit was due, and catching Death Eaters couldn't be any small feat.

"I'd feel cheated," Ginny muttered to herself as she closed the paper and refolded it. She drank the rest of the tea in her cup, rinsed it, and then shuffled back to her room to get ready for work. She was owner of a new Quidditch Supply shop in Diagon Alley; during the war, the old shop had shut down because it hadn't been getting business, and it never re-opened. There had been a high demand of broomsticks and Quidditch uniforms, and so Ginny set up a new shop which she named Weasley Quidditch Supply. It wasn't catchy, but she received business all the same. At least once every couple months she received a large order of broomsticks from the ministry to use for their Auror team. This pleased her to no end, because she knew that they could get top of the line broomsticks at other, more well-known shops, but chose hers instead.

She also helped George out in her spare time in the shop that he and Fred had started in her fifth year at Hogwarts. It was still a booming business, especially with all of the school aged kids looking for any way possible to skip out of class, and she and George had made a deal to promote each other in their shops. All in all, it was working out nicely for everyone.

Once she was ready, she closed her eyes and thought of her shop, thought of the sleek broomsticks and crisp uniforms, then turned on the spot and disappeared from her bedroom.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

She Apparated just outside the shop, and when her feet were firmly on the ground, she loosened the grip she had on her purse and began rummaging for the shop keys. As she searched, she had the strangest feeling that she was being watched, and when she glanced up to look up and down the Alley, she saw no one. It was still early, and shops were just about to open, so it might have been a shop keeper looking out the window at her, but she doubted that notion when she felt her hair flutter down from atop her shoulder. She halted the search for her keys and turned her head to the side slightly, trying to detect wind, but caught no draft. She ignored the goosebumps that suddenly popped up all over her arms.

'Odd,' she thought, and continued digging around in her purse until she pulled out the set she had been looking for. She plucked the right one from the lot of them and unlocked the door, and when she opened it, she pulled out her wand and took down the protective barrier to keep thieves from breaking in during the night hours when no one was there. She stepped over the threshold, finally, and smiled. The shop was like a second home to her. She felt comfortable there, and even though it had the tendency to be busy beyond belief, she was happy to be there every day. She had hired help as well, a man by the name of Grayson Loyola. He was two years her senior and a very quiet man most days, but knew how to do business. He knew how to turn on the charm and was a master at selling anything to almost anyone. He was a gem, and proved to be a positive addition to her business. One thing she liked about him was that he was always willing to work, even when he wasn't scheduled. He never complained when she called him in on a moments notice; it was almost as if he had no life outside of Weasley Quidditch Supply. She would have to remember a raise for Grayson, for his readiness and salesmanship. In fact, if she recalled, he was due in later that day. Perhaps she would bring it up to him then.

Agreeing with that thought, she set to work on getting the store ready to open. She made sure the floors were free of debris and all uniforms were hanging on their proper racks. She refused to let any store of hers be untidy.

As far as good days for doing business went, this was not one of them. Ginny had seen many people roaming around the shop and even talked up all the products that she had caught them eyeing, but in the end she had only sold one broom, had taken one order for a new set of uniforms, and a few broom grooming kits. It hadn't been necessary for Grayson to stay, but she let him stay anyway. It wasn't as though he had done nothing the rest of the night, either. He took a thorough inventory count, stocked the shelves to their full capacity, but only after he'd dusted them off first. He made the store shine by the end of the night, and so when it came time to close up, there was nothing left to do but record all sales.

"Grayson," Ginny started, surveying the shop from behind the desk, "have I ever told you how amazing you are?" He looked up at her and she noticed his cheeks turn a light shade of pink. Ginny complimented his work ethic and attitude often, but he still wasn't used to it. However, he did generally make light of it, she guessed to make himself feel less awkward.

"Not today, no," he said, and she smiled.

"I hired you on in, I want to say, February. Is that correct?" When he nodded, she went on. "You've brought in an enormous amount of sales, and you've had to work long hours and you never complain. And even though we're nearing the end of July and the business has started to slow down a little, you never do. Slow down, that is. I'm very impressed." She gave him a bright, warm smile. "This is why I've decided to give you a bit of a bonus." She watched as his eyes went wide.

"Oh, but really, I love doing the work. I love staying busy. It's all my pleasure, I assure you. No bonus is necessary."

Ginny's head tilted to one side, her brow lightly furrowed. He was a strange man, indeed. Who would turn down a bonus?

"Nevertheless," she began slowly, "you're getting a bonus. I appreciate all of your hard work." When he opened his mouth once more, most likely to argue, she continued, more loudly. "Case closed. You're getting one and that's that. We'll discuss a reasonable amount." She knew she would have to set the going rate high, because he would, no doubt, negotiate for a lower amount.

"If you insist," he said after a moment, and then pursed his lips. "Perhaps we could discuss it tonight, over drinks? At the Leaky Cauldron?" He had been looking down at the floor as he said this, but then peeked up at her through his lashes shyly. She couldn't help but smile at this, and she nodded. If he thought that this was going to be something other than a little business outing, then she would have to set him straight; she wasn't yet ready to give up on Harry.

"Yeah, all right," she said finally. Ginny reached below the counter and gathered her purse, and then Grayson helped her lock up, then they set off down the Alley towards the Leaky Cauldron.

As they walked, they talked. She let Grayson set the walking pace, and he set it slow, his hands sliding inside the pockets of his slacks.

"So, you're working at your brother's shop tomorrow, are you?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I am. George never has a lull in sales," she said with a laugh. "He says that he's got kids coming in left and right buying stuff before it runs out of stock. Children will do just about anything to miss class." She smiled. "He reckons he's going to need a helping hand tomorrow. Says that he has a feeling it's going to be busy." She looked up at him and said, "You'll do okay on your own. I doubt we'll be busy. But, if we are, I'm just a few shops away."

Just then, she bumped shoulders with someone and looked over while saying, "Excuse me," but the apology died on her lips when she saw no one. She paused and looked around, getting the eerie feeling she'd had before, when she thought she was being watched. Her brow knitted together and she turned in a slow circle, looking around. Grayson, noticing the look on her face, asked, "Ginny? Are you all right?" She looked up at him again, then glanced briefly back down the Alley before nodding.

"I'm fine," she answered, and turned. She sent Grayson a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and began walking again.

The rest of the night she was distracted, and apologized profusely to Grayson when she announced that she was going to turn in early.

"I'm sorry. I know we said we were going to go over a proper bonus amount for you, but I'm just not feeling up to par right now." Grayson told her that he understood, and waited outside with her while she prepared to Apparate home.

"Goodnight," he said to her, and she nodded her goodnight to him before picturing her home and disappearing.

Once she was inside, she locked her doors and set up protection charms all around the house, still unable to shake the feeling that she was not alone.

"You're losing it," she kept telling herself as she got ready for bed. The incident in Diagon Alley had her looking over her shoulder every time she heard a noise. She wasn't easily frightened; she grew up with six brothers, so she knew just about every trick in the book for scaring the wits out of someone. She thought she'd been immune, but apparently not.

She'd gone to bed that night with the lights on, and when she'd woken up the next morning, they had been shut off.

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Authors Note: Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed! I appreciate all of your feedback! If you're reading this now and have not yet reviewed, then please do? I like hearing what people have to say! Constructive criticism is great!

Also, I'm sorry if you notice that there's a delay in my posting chapters. When I do post, I'm at work where I have access to a computer with Microsoft Word which, sadly, my mothers laptop does not come equipped with. So, I'm doing my best to get chapters posted, but I can't promise it's going to be a quick turnover!