A Fresh Start

Ginny Weasley sighed as sat on her bed in her London flat. She was contemplating on what to write on her diary. Lately, she had been having a difficult time thinking of what to write. It was almost as if her days were just cloned. The same things happened all the time. She'd wake up, go to work, and then go back home. It was the same case on weekends as well. She was lucky enough to even find the will to go shopping for essentials. And sometimes, she considered getting mail, which consisted of bills mostly, the highlight of her week, or possibly even month. If it weren't for work, she'd probably die of boredom by now.

She could still remember the time she got her diary. Her aunt had owned the thick notebook previously and decided to pass it down to Ginny. It was the summer before her first year at Hogwarts. Naturally, when she was at school, she had plenty to write about. New things she learned, new friends she made, a few infatuations...so many. She wrote about things that delighted her, but also things that upset her. By the time she was out of Hogwarts, she'd already filled so many pages, more than her aunt who'd owned it for more than a decade.

Now, it would take a month before she'd even filled at least four pages. All the entries were similar, all revolving around the words: 'same old.'

She glanced at the clock by her bedside table and sighed once more. It was past ten in the evening. She decided it was time to sleep and quickly scrambled for words to write.

January 11, 2009

Dear Diary,

Need some spice in my life!

"Oh wow, six words," she mumbled, sarcasm thick in her voice.

Ginny put the diary aside and drifted off to a quiet, dreamless sleep.

-

"Morning, Gin," said Hermione as Ginny entered the familiar doors of the muggle hospital.

She was already seated at the lounge, waiting for their carts to come. Hermione was Ginny's best friend since they were at school. They'd known each other since Ginny's first year but only got to know each other in her third year. It was that summer that Hermione stayed over at the Burrow, along with Harry Potter. They were there because of Ron. The Trio, they were often called. Instead of spending most of her time with the boys, Hermione was with Ginny. Since then, they had grown inseparable. And even now, they couldn't bear to stay apart for more than a few weeks. They felt the need to tell each other everything. Because of this, they volunteered together at St. Bart's every Saturday. On weekdays, Hermione taught Transfiguration at Hogwarts and Ginny was a healer at St. Mungo's.

"Hey, Herm," Ginny replied, "Anything new?"

"Um...hang on, you remember Harry Potter, right?" Her face lighted up.

"Who doesn't?" she said, taking a seat next to Hermione.

"Well...I'm going out with him tonight. He was at the school the other day. I don't know why, but he was. Merlin, Ginny! He looks really different now. So anyway, he said we had a lot to catch up on. I mean, it's been more than a year..." she babbled on.

"Well, what about you? Anything new?" Hermione asked upon finishing her story.

"Same old," Ginny replied with a very bored look on her face.

"C'mon, there has to be something," she pressed.

Ginny thought about that for about a second a replied, "Nope," with a pop.

The trays came in for the volunteers. They each got a cart and went off to their separate wings. It was their duty to bring food to the patients on their assigned wings.

"Hey Harold," Ginny greeted the old man who'd been at the hospital for weeks now. She brought in his tray of food and saw the slight smile on his wrinkled face.

"Ah! Finally," he said, sitting up. "So, Ginevra, you're here on a Saturday again?"

"I'm afraid so. There's nothing better to do anyway," she replied. "And besides, who'd give you your meals? You wouldn't want to starve, now, would you?" she added teasingly.

"Ah! Indeed I wouldn't. But a beautiful girl like you should be outside. When I was your age..."

The next hour passed just the same.

Ginny walked to the staff lounge for the morning break. She was not surprised that Hermione was not there; her bushy-haired friend usually spent her breaks talking to patients. Instead, she let the volunteers tell her about all sorts of news. Usually, Ginny did not pay attention, as they mostly talked about things that did not particularly interest the redhead. This week, they were talking about some new movie. So, she spent her time occupying her thoughts with what to cook for dinner tonight and etcetera. There really wasn't anything else to think about.

Soon enough, the break was over and they were off. This time, they had to collect the dishes from the rooms and do a little bit of cleaning. After a few more chores, there was a break once more, which would be followed by lunch. This time, Hermione was there. Ginny took a seat next to her and they both sat in silence.

For a few moments, they both did not say anything at all. They fidgeted little. Hermione didn't seem to mind. Ginny did. She wasn't very comfortable in silence, having been brought up in a very noisy house. And besides, her life was dull enough as it is.

"So," the younger of the two said after moments of gaucherie, "anything new in our world?" She whispered the last words. The pair would only talk of magic and their world without the presence of the non-magic folk, for fear of eavesdroppers. However, when there was no other choice, they would just have to talk about it, but with hushed tones.

Hermione was startled at the sound of Ginny's voice. She probably had not noticed that her friend was seated next to her. Clearly, she had been thinking deeply, as she always did.

"Well, did you hear the one about Pansy Par-" she replied after a moment.

"Next." No way did Ginny want to hear about that. Pansy Parkinson and her drones were a waste of her time, no matter how much she had.

"Um, what about the accident last night?"

"What happened?" Alas, something new!

"Apparently some wizard had too much to drink. He rode a muggle car and crashed," she answered.

"Do you know who it is?"

"Nope, sorry. I haven't got the details. I just heard a few people talking about it this morning. I didn't get to grab a copy of the Prophet either," she explained. "Anyway, I don't think it's anything too serious. I bet they have him all healed at St. Mungo's already. Or, better yet, he could already be at the bar again," she chuckled.

Ginny laughed at that. "I swear, when I get a husband, I will not have him drunk. Men these days..." she joked.

The rest of their break consisted of some light-hearted chatter, thanks to their previous topic. Ginny was thankful for it, it felt good to laugh.

"Ginny can you do me a favor?" Chris, a volunteer asked, just as Ginny was standing up, ready for her next shift.

"Sure."

"Can you take my wing for me, please? I have to step out for a few minutes--family emergency. I'll be back in time for clean-up." Ginny stared at the floor, overwhelmed at the sound of all that work. "Please, Ginny?" Chris begged.

"Well, okay..." she sighed. She was suddenly thrown into a quick, tight hug. Before she knew it, Chris was out the door.

A groan came out of Ginny's lips when she saw the carts she had to deal with.

She decided to do her wing first, but quickly this time. There was no time to chat. Then she walked to Chris's unfamiliar wing, knocking on the first door she saw.

Her knock was answered by a soft, "Yes?"

She pushed the cart into the room, keeping her eyes on the floor. She positioned it next to the small table. She started pouring juice into a cup. For the first time since she entered the room, she laid her eyes on the tall body resting on the bed in the center of the room. She started looking by the feet, upward, noticing the many bandages wrapped around. And finally, her eyes rested on the gray eyes of the man. She almost dropped the pitcher.

"Draco."