Disclaimer: Guess what! I still don't own Harry Potter...Sad day.

Author's Note: Sorry it took me forever to update. Here's chapter two!

Chapter Two: Goodbye,

When Ginny and Hermione entered the kitchen, Hermione took the open seat beside Ron as was expected. What Ginny hadn't expected, though she reckoned she probably should have since it was obvious her mum had set it up this way, was that the only chair left open was right beside Harry.

She stood motionless for a moment, debating whether or not she wanted to sit down, when her mother broke into her thoughts by saying, "Hurry along, Ginny! We don't want to wait on you all night." Her mother's voice was light and cheerful, but Ginny knew she was serious as well, and that if she didn't sit down she would probably get in trouble for it later.

She slowly made her way around the table and sat in her seat without a word, As soon as Ginny was sitting at the table, Mrs. Weasley said, "Now, go on, Harry! Eat some pie, you look thin as a wand! Ginny, pass Harry the pie, please."

Ginny took the plate and passed it to Harry without a word, but she caught his eye for a moment and he said, "Thanks," but that was all, and both of them turned away from each other uncomfortably.

"So, Harry," Mr. Weasley said, cheerfully, "How's Auror training coming along?"

"Haha," Harry glanced at Ron and shook his head, "It's not coming along, actually."

"What? What do you mean?" Mrs. Weasley asked, in concern, "Arthur! Did they fire him?" She asked, turning to her husband.

"No, no, Mrs. Weasley!" Harry said, hurriedly. "I'm not fired...They're just...Making me go back to school." He explained,

"Isn't that something?" Ron asked, in amusement, "He kills You-Know - I mean, he kills Voldemort, and he still has to go back to school!"

"Well, now, that is something else, isn't it?...It may be a good idea though, you know, I keep telling Ginny that going back to school might make things go back to normal a little bit." Mrs. Weasley said, cheerfully.

"I'm not so sure anything will be normal back at school, to be honest, " Harry commented, his voice was mostly light-hearted, but there was a note of seriousness behind it.

"Thank you." Ginny said, to express her agreement. "That's what I keep saying."

For just one moment, a single moment, Harry looked at her with a genuine smile. But then his smile flickered to a frown, and he turned away again.

Mrs. Weasley looked utterly pleased with even that small smile between the two of them, and hopped to her feet with pleasure saying, "Who would like me to go get dessert now, hmm?"

Not long after, Ginny excused herself from the table and went outside the house...She needed some time alone. She walked over to a tree at the far end of the front lawn, and climbed speedily up it's branches to a spot where she could sit in a comfortable silence for a few minutes.

It was odd to think of Harry returning to school, she wasn't sure she could handle a year at Hogwarts with him at the rate things were going now. She had a new kind of dread about returning. Things would be extremely uncomfortable, especially since now that Ginny was seventeen, and Harry was returning for his seventh year, they would be in the same classes every day. The idea of facing him for hours every day after being distant for so long was both horrifying and exciting. She missed him. Maybe this would help them at least become friends again. Even if he didn't love her. On the other hand, it could go terribly wrong, facing each other each day could very well make their relationship worse, if that was even possible.

Ginny's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the subject on her mind. Harry approached the bottom of the tree and stood there awkwardly for a few moments, without a single word.

When the silence became too unbearable, Ginny said, "Just decided to find a tree to stand under, eh?"

"Exactly, yeah." He said, he seemed to try to keep his voice light, but she could hear a discomfort in it as well.

"So, ready to explain?" Ginny asked, hopping down from the branch she had been sitting on to stand next to him.

"Explain what, exactly?" Harry asked, keeping his voice emotionless.

"Why you've been avoiding us."

"I don't know what you mean, I haven't been avoiding anyone. I've been busy." He answered defensively.

"If you didn't come to talk, why did you come, Harry?" She asked, frustrated.

"I don't know." And then he was gone, just like that.

Ginny stared after him in dismay. She shouldn't have even tried. She felt tears stinging in her eyes, but fought them back. She had to move on and accept the fact that things were different now. He just didn't love her, and he'd never love her again. It was time to give him up.

But how was she supposed to do that when they were going to be stuck at school together?