White Noise

Chapter 1:

The Building of Dangerous Liaisons

Ginny hesitated outside the tall grey building. For the first time she noticed how similar it was to the Muggle prison Harry had once shown her.

She hadn't been back here since his death. Ron had been the one to clean out her desk of any personal items she'd kept at her office. They were mementos of a happier life: her wedding, her brothers' weddings. There were pictures of nieces and nephews; there were pictures of faraway places that they'd always planned to vacation to.

Her brother was such a sweetheart, she thought to herself. It couldn't have been easy for him to see those pictures, to realize dreams lost. She'd have to thank him again someday; not today.

Thinking on all this, she realized she wasn't sure she was ready to go back to work. It had been six months since Harry's death. She still thought about him every half minute. As a caser she'd have to be completely clear-headed. One mistake could ruin a person's life; she knew this from first-hand experience.

She fidgeted with her wedding band, twisting it this way and that. She hoped she looked alright; or, at least, she hoped she looked better then she had the previous morning. Ginny knew she was as pale as the first snow because she hadn't actually been outside for any length of time for a long time but she'd taken the time to dab on a bit of bronzer, not a lot, but just enough. She'd also pressed her old work robes the night before and magically cut two inches off her deep red hair. She tried, although it was probably a pathetic attempt.

"Ginny?"

She jumped a little, then turned, surprised at the sound of her name. She hadn't heard anyone but her closest friends and family members say her name as of late. Coming from anyone else it sounded like a foreign, unknown word.

Dakotah Prior looked the same as she always had: the American witch was a svelte blonde with big, emerald-colored eyes and red, red lips. Ginny had never minded her: she seemed smart enough but she had never really spoken to her either. Besides, Dakotah was in an in-field detective, not a caser.

Ginny tried giving her best practiced smile but knew she failed miserably when Dakotah hesitated to come anywhere near her. Well, what was she supposed to do? Tell Dakotah she wouldn't break? She had to hide her snort, knowing that would never work.

"How are you? It's been a long time..." Dakotah mused as she came up to Ginny. "Are you coming back, then?" she asked finally.

Ginny nodded timidly. "Yes, that's the plan, anyway. Is my old office still available?"

"Actually, I'm in your office now," Dakotah answered sheepishly. She looked guilty, as if she had committed a crime or some other offense.

Ginny shrugged nonchalantly. She wasn't going to let it bug her. Not when she had so many other things to be thinking of. It was just an office after all. It had been Harry's office originally, and then theirs, but it was just an office.

"We didn't know if you were coming back..." she explained helplessly.

For a moment Ginny thought Dakotah might actually start to cry... "Really, Dakotah, don't worry about it. It's only an office, after all." She started to walk toward what she hoped was her employer.

Dakotah hurried to join her. "Nothing much has changed. Same people, really. You know Les; he never hires anyone new and never fires anyone old. He's a stale fellow, really," she mused quietly.

Her listener was only really half there. Instead she was focusing on the front doors. Right through them, she knew, would be Harry's picture sitting among rows and rows of pictures to honor the importance of lives already extinguished. Dumbledore's picture was there, as was Percy's. There were others, of course. Some of them Ginny recognized as witches and wizards she'd studied at Hogwarts, others she did not.

Dakotah took Ginny's hand within her own and squeezed. Ginny was suddenly very thankful she'd met her past coworker outside. It helped to not have to go inside alone.

She entered the Building of Dangerous Liaisons with the morning sun hot on her back. The same wand reader was still there, gleaming black and white or silver and gold depending one where you were standing. For her, it was silver and gold.

Ginny produced her personal signature charm, her wand making orange-ish yellow sparks, as always. The doors swung open with the same gusto they always had, mussing up Ginny's hair, as always.

The pictures were there, alright. Thankfully, she didn't see Harry's against the cold concrete walls. Maybe some other day she would search it out but for now, for now she just wanted everything to be back to some sort of normalcy. At least, as normal as life could be without Harry next to her.

She found her brother's picture automatically, though. She would never, ever forget where Percy's picture hung. She went to him automatically. Although he drove her nuts when he was alive and although he had disowned them for awhile he had come back but for such a short time only until Voldemort's Death Eaters had caught up to him. Having him back for so little a time was a blessing and a curse. They had all reconciled, she reminded herself, and that's what matters most.

Percy stared back at her wearing horn-rimmed glasses and running his hand repeatedly through his thick red hair. She didn't know when the picture had been taken but she knew he had been studying at the time. He always ran his hand through his hair when he was studying; it was a sort of nervous habit of his. She smiled thoughtfully, missing him a little bit.

"Do you think about him much?" Dakotah asked, looking at Percy's image.

Ginny shrugged. "No, not really. I did at first but...things just sort of changed after...well, after you know," Ginny finished quietly.

Dakotah nodded.

"Well," Ginny started, turning toward Dakotah, "I suppose that I should talk to Les. Let him know that I want to come back. It's time," she said with a conviction she wasn't quite sure she felt.

Dakotah nodded. "Good for you, Ginny. If you need me, you know where my office is."

Ginny smiled. "Thanks for everything."

***

Les's office was on the third floor. Ginny stared up the three flights and thought about changing her mind. She didn't really feel like walking up all those stairs. She would apparate except that she could hardly remember what his office looked like and for all she knew she might end up splicing herself mid-transport. She didn't really relish that thought.

She sighed as she knew that she would have to do this. She had to at least start paying her rent. She hadn't paid it for six months and truthfully, she didn't know how she had kept from being evicted.

It probably took her only a minute and a half to walk up the stairs, if that, but it seemed like she was walking to the other side of the moon. Not a good sign, she decided.

It turned out to be a good thing that she didn't apparate upstairs, Les's office had moved. It was at the top of the stairs now rather then at the end of the hall. She knocked lightly, knowing that oftentimes her boss napped at his desk. He didn't like being startled from sleep.

He would hate her job.

"Come in!"

His voice was as gruff as it as always been. Ginny found it somewhat reassuring: at least some things didn't change. She remembered the last time she'd seen him, at Harry's funeral. He had been wearing a suit and tie. They had all been wearing Muggle clothing because, although Harry had been one of the most powerful (and good) wizards of his time, he hadn't totally cut ties from his mother's heritage.

Unlike his usual outfit of a too baggy robe, Les had looked smart and official. There weren't any loose threads or food stains, which Ginny had appreciated.

"Good morning, Les!" she greeted more cheerily then she felt. Her smile was pasted on her lips and she imagined that she looked a bit more than a little tense.

Les's greenish blue eyes widened in surprise and his jaw dropped. She noted that he was a lot heavier than he had been: his jowls hung low and his cheeks were bright red. Ginny worried that he was breathing too heavily for hardly moving. At least, she knew he wasn't running marathons up and down the three flights of stairs.

It took some effort for him to stand up and when he finally did, he was wheezing and Ginny was afraid that he would pass out on her. She almost told him to sit back down but didn't want to offend him.

"Ginny Potter!" he cried out with a strained grin. "What can I do for you?" His voice was loud, jovial.

She smiled timidly. "Can I have my job back?"

His eyes widened again. "Dakotah was moved to your office," he warned her.

She gulped down spit and nerves. He was giving her her job back. She nodded. "Yes, I know. I've already had a run in with Dakotah. It's fine." And, because she was nervous and afraid of any awkward silences she continued on dumbly: "She's still the same person she was a long time ago, isn't she? I mean, she hasn't changed?"

While lumbering toward her, he shook his head. "Did you think she would?" He pet Ginny's shoulder with a beefy hand but somehow she was grateful that she was here. Once again, her mum and dad were right: it did feel good to be back at work.

"Of course you can have your job back," he said finally.

"Even though I've been gone so long?" she hesitated to ask this although she wanted to be sure that she wasn't being put on.

He shook his head with a confused look on his face. "Why would the length of your absence affect whether or not you can come back to work? You're a wonderful caser, Ginny, the best we've got. You can have your job back," he told her with an air of seriousness she hadn't known existed in his voice box.

She nodded and took his hand in her own so that she might shake it. "Thank you so much, Les!" Tears threatened to fill her eyes as gratitude welled up in her breast.

Les turned his back on her, waving his hand in order to shoo her out of his office. "Go on now, get out of here. You can have the ground floor corner office. Meg took maternity leave."

"Did I know she was pregnant?" Ginny asked herself out loud.

Les shrugged although his back was still turned toward her. "I don't know. If you did, I'm sure she won't be offended that you forgot. We know you've had a rough time of it all."

Ginny nodded. "Oh, OK..."

***

Ginny whispered "Alohomora!" as quietly as she could in the event any of her Muggle neighbors might hear her coming home. She knew for sure Janet would but only because Janet was the nosiest woman in the apartment. If she was a wish, Ginny would have recommended her to work for Rita Skeeter, she was that nosy. She would have been good at that job too.

She had to kick the door shut with her foot because her hands were full with groceries. Tonight would be the first time in a long time that she would have fresh vegetables. Her mother had brought groceries over to house once a week for the last six months but Ginny had never managed to cook or eat the vegetables in time. She found vegetables didn't stay fresh very long.

"Oomph!" she let out as she hefted the bag onto the kitchen counter then she methodically took each object out and put it in its proper place. Almost immediately someone was knocking on her door.

The groceries were left at the countertop, forgotten for the moment (and probably the evening, Ginny thought rather wistfully). "Yes?" she asked as she swung the door open, stubbing her toe on the corner of the door.

"Dammit!" she yelped, dropping to the floor to rub her sore toe.

Remembering she had just opened the door, Ginny looked up to see Dakotah standing there poised as ever as Ginny was groping her foot.

Dakotah smiled down at Ginny. "Evening, Ginny."

Ginny stood, smoothing out her work robes as she did so. "What can I do for you? I don't know that you've ever been to my flat..."

The blonde waved her hand in the air and took the liberty of breezing past Ginny. A plastic bag, like the ones at the muggle grocer, swung back and from the crook of her arm. This was not a good omen, in Ginny's eyes.

Ginny pointed at the bag, eyeing it suspiciously. "What's that?"

"My supplies," Dakotah answered. She was acting as if she walked into Ginny's flat carrying plastic muggle bags daily.

"What supplies?"

Dakotah shrugged. From behind her, Ginny watched her pale hands rummage through the bag warily. She wasn't sure what to think when Dakotah pulled out a pair of scissors, followed by a box with a picture of a blonde on the front.

"Do you mind, Gin? I think its time for a change. The muggle way," Dakotah announced, winking at her.

Ginny closed her eyes as she tried to think clearly. "What?" she asked impatiently, giving up on thinking clearly.

Her coworker came to stand next to her. With her eyes still closed, Ginny didn't know exactly what Dakotah was doing, aside from pulling at the ends of Ginny's hair and tsk-tsking impatiently.

"I think you'd look good with a layered hair cut. You know? Some layers in the front to frame your face? You have such a beautiful face, Ginny, you should show it off." Dakotah walked away from her and Ginny dared opening her eyes.

"And then," Dakotah started as she picked up the pictured box, "I thought I'd give you some nice blonde highlights. Nothing too drastic, of course," she assured Ginny hurriedly upon seeing the probably horrified look on Ginny's face.

"It's a new time in your life, Ginny. Time for a new look too."

I'm not so sure about that.

"Is that stuff even safe?" she asked, a bit curious as to what the contents in the box looked like.

Dakotah sighed and rolled her eyes. "Of course it is Ginny! Muggles do this all the time! Hell, my mom is a Muggle! I've watched her do this my whole life! I know what I'm doing."

"Your mum is a Muggle?" Ginny asked, quizzically.

"Yep," Dakotah replied cheerily. "So see, Ginny? I know what I'm doing? And you'd look good with a more updated haircut."

Ginny looked past Dakotah and surveyed her reflection in the mirror above the davenport. Her hair was getting long. She knew it needed to be cut. In fact, if she remembered correctly, the day of Harry's death had been the day she was last going to trim it but obviously things came up.

She frowned, studying her hair a little more closely than surface wise. It would be nice to have a change. Her hair was dark red, it had been for a long time now, and it would be nice to have highlights in it. She glanced at Dakotah. Her hair was up right now but Ginny could see that some chunks were lighter blonde than the rest. It looked good.

Her nod was a bit firmer than she was in her decision but Dakotah took it either way.

She waved her wand and conjured a chair out of Ginny's floor lamp. She pet the back of the wood chair. "Sit, relax. Tonight is about you."