Broken

That was then, this is now

Five years had passed since Ginny Weasley left the world she knew and entered the muggle one. Ginny did not have an easy time adjusting to muggle life. She often missed home and had no one to rely on. When she couldn’t figure out some new thing that came into her life. Ginny had no one to ask for help. Often Ginny was frustrated. However, no matter how frustrated she was, Ginny refused to return home. There was no way she’d go back to the life that lay before her if she wasn’t allowed to practice magic. Eventually Ginny was able to contact Bart Burns and she soon had a phony birth certificate and school records. Before Ginny had been put on trial she had been hoping to become a Healer at St. Mungo’s. Ginny decided not to give up her dream of healing and instead enrolled at a university. She wanted to study to be a doctor. It had been hard work, but Ginny had graduated from regular university last spring and was now enrolled in medical school. To realize her dream of becoming a doctor Ginny took out a great deal of student loans and worked whenever she wasn’t at school or training in the hospital.

Today, Ginny was rushing into the café where she worked as a waitress. She had chosen this as her job because she could usually chose her own hours. Sometimes she could even pick up extra shifts if another waitress called in sick. Ginny’s brown eyes scanned the restaurant, looking for her friend Veronica as she pulled off her coat and began to tie on her apron. Ginny spotted Veronica taking an order and talking to customers. Ginny knew that Veronica always chatted them up to get a better tip. Ginny shook her head and smiled. She knelt down to put her backpack behind the counter for safekeeping. After standing up, Ginny looked at herself in the mirror. She suddenly realized how much she had changed in the past few years. All the baby fat was now gone from her cheeks, leaving behind high cheekbones dusted lightly with freckles. Her red hair had darkened a bit with time and now reached the nape of her neck. Most of the time she styled it to look tousled, but not overly so. Ginny realized how very muggle she looked now and her eyes widened at the thought of her family seeing her. Ginny considered herself pretty, but wondered what men in the magical world would think of her if they saw her now. Ginny dismissed the thoughts and picked up a pad and pen to take orders. She tucked them into her apron pockets and walked to her serving area.

Immediately Ginny saw Carl, the host, seating two men. One seemed about her age and the other seemed a great deal older. The younger man had brown hair and bright blue eyes. The man was looking around the café and finally gave her a glance. He suddenly seemed surprised to see her and watched as she walked over to take their order.

“Hello, my name’s Ginny. I’ll be your server today.” Ginny gave each man a menu and waited as the older man perused the menu, not looking at her. The younger man continued to stare at her. Ginny decided to ignore him. “Can I get you something to drink?”

“I’ll have some tea please.” Just then, the older man looked at her. A startled look also came onto his face. Ginny made a mental note to look at herself in the mirror as soon as she placed this drink order. Ginny lightly brushed her hand across her face and turned to the younger man.

“What would you like, sir?”

The young man seemed to recover some of his senses. “Uhhh. I’ll have a coke.”

Ginny nodded and said, “I’ll be back with your drinks. I’ll take your dinner orders then?”

Both men nodded and Ginny practically ran away. She wanted to see if this had something to do with her appearance or if they were just strange guys. Walking over to an empty table, Ginny picked up a spoon and looked at her reflection on the back of it. Everything seemed to be in place. Two eyes, one nose, one mouth. What the hell was wrong with those two? Ginny decided not to think about it and placed their drink order.

Back at the table, Harry Potter blinked several times. The Weasleys had told him several times that Ginny was living as a muggle in London. But to be faced with it was quite another story. She looked the same to him and yet she seemed different. She still had red hair and nicely set features. But now it seemed she looked tired. It was as if all the magic she ever had was suddenly out of her system, leaving her looking like an average muggle. He had been startled to see her. The Weasleys knew very little about Ginny’s muggle life. She did not come home for holidays no matter how much her family begged. Ron had told him that she wrote every so often, but didn’t give many details about her life. She mainly told them she was fine and not to worry.

Thinking back on it, Harry decided it must have been some trick of fate that had led he and Remus to pick that café to eat. Harry and Remus were establishing a new home for the Order of the Phoenix and this place was highly recommended by the real estate agent. He and Remus had been asked to pose as muggles and spy on the death eaters. It seemed a great deal of them had settled in this area. Remus and Harry willing agreed and magically changed their appearances so the death eaters wouldn’t recognize them. Harry had simply picked out a face from a magazine and said a spell to change his appearance for a period of time. Remus had done the same. Harry now wondered how Ginny stayed safe in an area with such a high death eater population.

Harry leaned across the table and whispered to Remus. “What’s going on here? Can you believe this?”

“What? That we’ve found Ginny? I am surprised. Should we tell her who we are? She looked so frightened by our behavior. I’m sure she thinks we’re freaks.” Remus casually leaned against the booth behind him

Ginny, who had been missing for the last five years, had somehow come back into all their lives. How was it that she had managed to find a job with no identification or education? Harry looked over at Ginny and saw that she was absentmindedly chewing on the end of a pen. She seemed to be studying a thick book of some sort. Quickly she highlighted something on the page. Suddenly, a bell rung. Ginny looked up and saw that the drinks were ready. She placed them on her serving tray and cautiously walked back to Harry and Remus.

“Here you go. Are you gents ready to order?” Ginny pulled out her pad and poised her pen above it

Harry nodded and examined the menu. “I’ll have a hamburger.” He handed the menu back to Ginny. Ginny tore her eyes away from his piercing gaze and looked at Lupin.

“The fish and chips for me, thanks.” He smiled at her and Ginny smiled back. She walked away without looking back at them.

Harry continued staring at Ginny until Remus snapped a finger in his face. “Earth to Harry. We knew Ginny was living as a muggle, what’s so interesting about this to you?”

Harry couldn’t really say. He didn’t know why seeing Ginny living as an ordinary muggle fascinated him so much or why she entranced him. He had lived with her for several weeks at a time when he visited the burrow. Then again he saw her daily when they were in school together. Why did muggle Ginny enthrall him? Looking at her with a critical eye, it wasn’t as f she was incredibly beautiful. She was pretty enough. He had no delusions that she looked like a supermodel or anything. Yet, she had gained a quality that he rarely saw. She seemed had a way about her that he liked. Harry’s rational mind told him not to judge her immediately. His mind reminded him that life outside the world of magic must have changed her. But in what ways? He would love to hear Ginny’s stories of her first few months as a muggle. He remembered that story telling abilities that she had when she was at school.

“It’s just that her family misses her so much It’s kind of a shock to see someone from your past that had something so awful happen to them. The worst part is that we can’t even really talk to her. She mustn’t know who we really are.” Harry thought that keeping this secret was the worst. As he and Lupin were spying for the Order, they had charmed their appearances to change them. Harry wished he could truly say hello. Remus nodded in agreement with Harry’s word and they both sat in silence until their food arrived. Ginny placed it in front of them and moved as if to walk away from them. Harry stopped her by grabbing onto her wrist. Her eyes were dark and showed her curiosity at this strange gesture. Harry swallowed several times before saying, “Thank you.”

Ginny nodded and Harry released her wrist. Ginny wondered what was wrong with the strange man. Meanwhile, Harry wondered why he had even grabbed at her.