When Everything Breaks

CHAPTER TWO - OF GLUE AND CELLOTAPE

Again Ginny woke from a dream she wished she could not remember. She stared into the sparse, early morning darkness, trying not to see a face in every hidden corner. The nightmare had been different this time, Tom had seemed older and Harry had been there, standing in the shadows and watching.

She sat up and swung her legs over the side of her bed onto the floor. Reaching for her wand from the nightstand, her hand hit a rather solid obstruction. The picture fell onto the floor where it smashed. A picture that had not been there 24 hours ago.

"Lumos," she said softly. She turned the picture in her hand as she lifted it carefully from the floor, and almost dropped it again as she saw Harry beaming at her from it's confines.

He waved and blew her kisses through the falling snow. They had been happy when this was taken, just three months ago. She hated the way photos captured that one moment and kept it preserved. If the photo had progressed with the original, the occupant would have walked out of the frame two weeks ago.

She remembered too much. She found it strange that so many happy memories could be so painful. Memories of birthdays and anniversaries and of a schoolgirl crush that slowly grew into love.

She dropped the destroyed photo into her rubbish bin. It was enough to see the photos her mother kept around the house, like Harry was part of the family, but for her mother to keep insisting she had one in her room was too much. She looked around her room slowly, with its teenage décor and single bed, wondering what she was doing here. It's time to move on, she thought, pulling her door open and stepping out into the hall.

She smiled, but it felt so alien on her face that it soon melted into nothing. How long had it been since she had laughed or smiled? She couldn't even remember. What would she do now that Harry was gone? She couldn't remember what it was like to not be in love with him; she had been for so long.

Walking down to the kitchen, she heard the stairs beneath her creak and wondered why her parents didn't move now that it was just the two of them living here. Fred and George lived in London with their wives, Percy had long ago oved to Scotland with his wife, Charlie was still in Romania, Bill lived on his own, and Ron would soon be moving in with Hermione and Luna. Surely they weren't planning on having more children, or expecting her to stay forever?

Arthur Weasley was sitting at the table when Ginny walked into the kitchen; he looked up and smiled.

"Good morning dear," he said as he put down yesterday's copy of the Daily Profit.

"Morning Dad, what are you doing up so early?" Ginny asked as she busied herself with fixing some breakfast.

"Mundungus bewitched a whole truckload of Muggle toys, they were sent to stores all over London. It may take all day to sort out."

"Oh, do you want some help with that?" she asked, her brow furrowed in annoyance.

"No, you enjoy your Saturday off. I have a whole department to help me."

"But your department is only three people."

"I know," he replied with a smile which distinctly reminded Ginny of her twin brothers.

They sat in silence for the next 20 minutes; Mr Weasley again picked up the crumpled paper and began to read. Ginny stared into the murky depths of her coffee cup. She was startled when her mother laid a warm hand on her shoulder.

"Ginny dear, are you all right?" she asked.

"I'm fine, Mum," she replied evenly. Mr Weasley stood to leave, dropping the paper in front of Ginny, and kissed both his wife and youngest child before walking out the door. Ginny stared at the paper; she could see the tips of the word 'accommodation' from above the ruffled pages.

"No, leave that," she said as Mrs Weasley reached for the discarded Profit.

"You want to read the paper?"

"I want to look for somewhere to live, can't stay here forever you know." Ginny smiled hopefully and her mother patted her shoulder where that warm hand was still resting.

"I understand dear. Now, do you want some breakfast?"

"No Mum, I've already had some." Ginny indicated her crummy plate with a wave of her hand.

"You're sure you don't want some more?"

"Yes Mum, I'm quite sure." Mrs Weasley snatched up her plate and put it in the sink to be washed.

Mrs Weasley watched her daughter, as Ginny remained still and contemplating the full day ahead of her. She reached out for the paper and Mrs Weasley sighed loudly.

"Are you going to start looking straight away?" she asked. Ginny did not turn to her mother; she didn't want to see the look on her face.

"Now is as good a time as any, don't you think?" Mrs Weasley sighed again. It wasn't that she didn't want her daughter to be happy, it was just that she thought Harry would come back to Ginny and receive her ample forgiveness. In fact, everyone thought that. How wrong they were.

Ginny didn't find much of interest in the paper, a couple of apartments overlooking Diagon Alley and 3 in Knockturn Alley. Voldemort's hold on the wizarding world was increasing, so much that nobody was afraid anymore to say they supported his reign. Ginny felt a fleeting sense of panic and anxiety, but that soon passed when her mother again placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Find anything worth looking at?" she asked, peering over her shoulder to where the Profit was smudged with marks Ginny had left.

"A couple in Diagon Alley, but perhaps it would be better not to live so close to Fred and George," she replied as she handed the paper up to her mother.

"Shall we look today then? What else do you have planned?"

"That's all I have planned, except for a little shopping maybe."

"What do you have to buy dear?" Mrs Weasley sat heavily at the table, looking like it was a reluctant move. When had her house become so empty, she missed fussing over her children at the breakfast table.

"I just want to have a little look around. Might need a few things for the new place. All that stuff Harry and I bought together needs to be replaced," Ginny replied sadly.

"I still don't know why you didn't take it with you. You shouldn't have to buy all new things," her mother scolded with an odd little smile playing at the corners of her lips.

"I didn't want it, Mum. I didn't want to have to look at it and remember when we bought it."

"Oh," Mrs Weasley replied quietly. Ginny stood up and looked around the kitchen wearily, the moving hands on the clock caught her eye. The clock had changed over the years, Harry had been added after Sirius died and then of course the Dursley's house also had to be added. Mortal peril remained, and so many times had at least two of those hands pointed towards it, school was now gone since Ginny was the last to graduate three years ago. Then three Weasley wives were added, Hermione and Luna. And soon there would be more additions, as a niece and nephew were both on the way.

Ginny took little time getting ready for the day ahead. She looked into her wardrobe briefly, and then decided against wearing anything it contained. Instead she went to her drawers and pulled out a pair of old ripped jeans and last year's Weasley jumper. She descended the stairs for the second time that morning and met her mother back in the kitchen, where they decided to floo to Diagon Alley.

The first apartment Ginny had on her list was above the Magical Menagerie. However, despite the many silencing spells her mother tried, the noise was louder than Ron's singing in the shower and annoyed her just as much. The next was better, almost opposite Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and as Ginny walked around the apartment that became less and less of an irritation.

"I love it, Mum. What do you think?" she asked as they opened the spare bedroom door to look inside.

"It is very nice. You did notice what was across the street though, didn't you dear?"

"Yes, but it's so nice." Ginny spun around to emphasise her point.

"Then I think you should take it. It'll be nice to have you living somewhere safe. Unlike Bill, who needs to move out of that awful Muggle house till the war is over," her mother said with a scowl. This had been an annoyance to rival the hair and the earring for her parents, and it was one argument she was staying right out of.

Ginny approached the owner of the apartment, who had been showing them around, and secured her interest in the property. She wondered at the feeling of contentment as she looked around her new bedroom, with its view of the London street beyond the Leaky Cauldron.

"I'm happy. I'm actually happy," she said aloud to nobody in particular.

"I'm glad, dear," her mother replied as they walked out the front door and heading back to the burrow.