Ginny groaned like she'd never groaned before. She couldn't believe her family was moving. She didn't understand why they just couldn't rebuild the Burrow. Since it had been destroyed by the Death Eaters in her sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witch Craft and Wizardry they had been cramped inside her older brother Percy's small house. It wasn't too bad since Ron had moved in with Harry and Hermione at the house in Grimmauld Place. But George hadn't been functional for the longest time without his twin brother and partner in crime, Fred. The entire family was stricken with the loss of their son and brother.

Though the fundamentals of the school had been shaken up by the war and many of the students were still frightened, Ginny welcomed her final year at Hogwarts. The absence of most of her friends and some of her favourite teachers, even Severus Snape the potions master, made the year long and torturous. She'd already decided to take a year off of school to help her family rebuild the Burrow.

But her mother and father had found an actual house and were waiting for her to come back from school so they could move in. They said that since most of the family had moved out they didn't need a huge house held up by magic anymore. Ginny disagreed. She loved the Burrow with its many floors held up by nothing more than a charm produced by her father and she'd argued this countless times with her parents but the answer was always no. So now she was packing her things from the small bedroom Percy had let her use, she was sure it had once been his office. It didn't take long; she didn't have many things since the destruction of the Burrow.

The family decided not to apparate there merely for a little bit of family time. They rented a car from the ministry and drove. Ginny's father, Arthur, had been given a ridiculously high raise for his actions against You-Know-Who during the war. Therefore the Weasely family could afford the house and ministry cars.

With her family getting used to their new found wealth and her brother finally able to move on from Fred's death, Ginny was stuck in the middle of a depression that even her boyfriend, Harry Potter couldn't fix. Even he was beginning to get on her nerves. He was always willing to talk, but never about the war. He just wanted to forget it ever happened and move on from the life of the fear that he might be killed at any second whereas Ginny needed to talk about it with someone. She desperately missed her brother and she knew that her own family would be no use to her to talk to. But Harry, over and over, avoided all talk about the war against You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters.

After the Christmas of the first year away from school Ginny knew she had to get away from her family. She accepted to help an old friend reopen the owl emporium since the disappearance of Mr Eeylops. She moved from her parents' new home to a small apartment in Diagon Alley she shared with her business partner, Katy McCrea. Katy's parents had been brutalised by Death Eaters and were still in St. Mungo's. She was someone who could talk with Ginny about the war. So they talked and talked every day, while working and relaxing in their rooms. She was also a good friend who could support her in her dying relationship with the famed Harry Potter.

The shop finally opened after three months of hard work. The business took off and they soon opened a post office in accordance to their owl shop. They worked all day every day except for the weekends where they took the time to organize sales numbers and to relax. They only stayed open for two weekends and that was when the new school year for the students of Hogwarts was about to begin. They had decided on that long before the time came. By now it was nearing May. Ginny was feeding the birds on display when Harry walked in. She looked at her watch. "I'll be off in an hour if you can wait?" she smiled.

He smiled back. "Course," he said. "Since it's the weekend would you like to spend it at Grimmauld place? It's not nearly as bad as it was since the last time you were there."

"I'll have to see how much work there has to be done."

"Ok. Regardless I'm taking you for dinner tonight." Ginny rolled her eyes but couldn't help but smile even more. He was too sweet... it made it harder for her to think of her final conclusion. "I'll pick you up in an hour, ok?"

"Ok."

He leaned forward and kissed her passionately before leaving the shop once again. Ginny sighed sadly and went back to her desk. She had decided that it was time to end her relationship with Harry. She'd cried over him for the last time and Katy had agreed. Now she was going to leave him and move on from the relationship that started while they were in school.

Forty-five minutes later she heard the bell that signalled the opening of the door and looked up from the desk. A fiery hatred filled her chest. There, in front of her, in her shop was her sworn enemy. She heard he'd gotten out of Azkaban because the ministry decided that, because of his father, he was pressured into joining the Death Eaters and You-Know-Who. Draco Malfoy, tall, strong and handsome walked into the shop holding a cage with an old screech owl inside. He stopped when he noticed her. He sighed and Ginny noticed the sadness in his eyes. She didn't care. He was the reason her brother was dead. He let the Death Eaters into the school and let Severus kill Albus Dumbledore. "What can I do for you today?" she asked in a bitter tone.

He didn't answer for a moment. He stepped forward and put the cage on the desk and looked deep into her eyes. "First I want to apologise." he said quietly and with honesty in his eyes. Ginny blinked. She didn't expect this. She'd expected him to play innocent and act as if he'd done nothing wrong. But his grey eyes were filled with something she expected from anyone but him. He saw the confusion in her eyes and he sighed. He was no longer looking at her, but at his feet. This was a sign of submission she'd never seen in him. He continued what he had been talking about. "Everyone is blaming me for what happened at Hogwarts... and it's true... It is my fault. I let in the Death Eaters and I was supposed to kill the Headmaster... but I was weak. And because of this battle your brother was killed along with Remus and many others. I've apologised to a lot of the others... including the rest of your family. Ron hasn't forgiven me, mainly because of our rivalry at school... I think. But I have many others who deserve my apologies. You included. I'm sorry."

Ginny stood there, stunned. It was a beautiful speech, coming from the lips of a Malfoy. She remembered back when she'd come home from Fred's funeral when she'd screamed to her pillow saying she would never forgive any of the Death Eaters whether it be Bellatrix Lestrange or Draco Malfoy. But then again, she never expected them to be in her and her friend's shop apologising to her. By her stunned silence Draco seemed to be able to smile a bit. "I can understand if you don't want to forgive me... I know it's a lot to take it... a Malfoy apologising to a Weasely. Neither my mum or dad weren't happy when they found out what I was doing."

That jerked Ginny out of her silent state. "Your father?" she said quickly. "Isn't he in... you know..."

"Azkaban? Yeah, but we're still allowed to visit him. He's bitter, of course, and thinks I should still be trying to kill Harry, but I won't. I'm done with him and the rest of the Death Eaters. I've disowned myself from the Malfoy family. I took my part of the fortune and left. And, no, this isn't a dream, I'm really here, really apologising to you."

Before Ginny could speak again the door opened and an angry voice rang out. "MALFOY!"

It was Harry. He strode forward and pulled the much taller man away from the desk. Draco sighed and went without complaint. Harry now stood between the desk and Draco. Ginny felt the weight in her heart grow heavier. He was really sorry. He no longer sneered at Harry or insulted him. He didn't even take out his wand to defend himself. Harry's however was already out and pointing at Draco's heart. Draco raised his hands defensively. "Look, I just came in to get my owl checked out. He's sick. Since it was her I apologized like I did you, Ron and Hermione."

"Don't you dare use their first names!" Harry yelled.

Draco's shoulder's drooped. "Then can you pass me my owl so I can get out of here before you curse me?"

"Don't worry about it," Ginny said quickly. "He can stay here for the weekend and you can come back on Monday to pick him up."

"Ginny!" Harry snapped.

Ginny looked at Draco you mouthed thank you when Harry wasn't looking. She smiled slightly. "This is what I do, Harry. Just like you're training to catch dark witches and wizards. It's my job. I can't let an owl suffer because of past feuds."

Harry growled. "Fine, get out of here, Malfoy. I don't want to see your face again after Monday."

Draco backed out of the shop and disappeared. Finally Harry lowered his wand and turned to Ginny. "Ready to go?"

Ginny couldn't believe it. He came into her shop, threatened her customer and then acts as if nothing happened? She looked up at Katy who heard the whole thing from her office up the stairs. "Go ahead, Gin. I'll close up."

Together Ginny and Harry walked to the most successful restaurant since the war. Run by Harry's friend Susan Bones and assisted by about a hundred house elves the food was delicious and fair priced. They got a booth in the back and Ginny began to get nervous about what she was going to say to him. He never took bad news well. They ordered drinks, hers being non alcoholic, and their dinners. Harry talked about his training to be an auror and how difficult it was. Ginny went along with it but wasn't really interested in it. It wasn't until after their plates were cleared when she took Harry's hand in her own, something she did when she wanted him to shut up. His mouth shut as he first noticed his girlfriend's strange silence. She looked sad, even though he couldn't see her eyes properly in the dim light. "What's wrong, love?" he said.

"Harry... can we talk?" she said quietly.

He laughed. "Aren't we? But, one second... before you speak I want to ask you something."

Ginny's stomach did a back flip when Harry moved back and reached for something in his pocket. No! She screamed in her head. Anything but that!

Harry pulled out a box and opened it. A magnificent diamond ring glinted at her. "Will you marry me?"

Ginny looked up at the man she'd loved since before her first year at Hogwarts. She had held that love and let it fuel the fire in her heart. Even now the green eyes that caused her to fall in love with him made that fire burn a little harder. But she couldn't do it. "N-No." she said with a stutter she didn't mean to let out.

He stared at her with complete surprise. He'd done everything right! He got a ring that he knew would appeal to her taste, not too big or small... Merlin's beard he'd even asked her father for his blessings! He was sure she would say yes! What had he done wrong? "G-Ginny... I don't understand." he said quietly.

"I know, so allow me to explain." Ginny sighed and started the explanation she'd practised in front of the mirror and Katy. "You never want to talk about what I want to talk about. And don't play stupid, you know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Ginny," Harry sighed. "It was almost two years ago. Don't you think it's time to...?"

"Time for what!" she snapped and the restaurant went quiet. "Time to get over it? Time to forget? Well? What? My brother was killed that night, Harry, and you weren't even willing to talk about it! You're parents died when you were a baby so you don't even remember them. Lucky you! I grew up basing my entire life on my brothers! I expected to be able to talk to you of all people about this! But you're nothing but a coward, Harry Potter. Fuck you!"

The entire place was silent as Ginny walked out of the building. The same thing was running through everyone's head. The famous Harry Potter's girlfriend just dumped him because he wouldn't talk about the war he ended. The velvet box fell from his hand and dropped to the floor. He must have sat there for ten minutes before his brain accepted that she was really gone and out of his life forever.

Ginny returned to the apartment in a surprisingly good mood. Though she'd just broken up with the Harry Potter, she felt free for the first time since the war. Katy smiled when she entered and opened a bottle of expensive wine. They talked about the boys they fancied while at school. No longer being in a relationship Ginny no longer felt guilty about doing so.

Around ten thirty Katy turned in, being too drunk to stay awake. Ginny, however, went down to the shop beneath their room to take a look at Draco's old screech owl. All of the other owls had been let out in a vegetated garden in the basement where they could spread their wings and hunt the mice that were let lose down there. But this screech owl looked too weak to sit on a perch let alone fly. Ginny lifted the owl out of the cage and it gave a feeble hoot of complaint. Ginny gave the owl a careful but thorough inspection. There was no sign of feather rot or other diseases that would affect an owl. She finally concluded that the poor bird was just old. It had been with Draco since his first year at Hogwarts and screech owls generally only lived for thirteen years or so.

Suddenly there was the bell of the door opening. "We're closed." she called and looked up.

She gasped. It was Harry. He was drunk and raving. Ginny looked to the door where the stairs to the apartment were. It was off to the side between the two of them but much closer to him than her. She wouldn't make it. Even raving drunk Harry had faster reflexes and could take her down faster than an owl on a mouse. But she still had her wand and if he was slurring he wouldn't be able to mutter a spell. She pulled it out but Harry was faster, hissing the expelliarmus spell and her wand went flying. He advanced on her from the other side of the desk. "You can't leave me... I'm Harry Potter! The Chosen One!"

He launched himself across the desk and Ginny took her chance to make a mad dive for her wand. Harry jumped again and she screamed the stunning spell. With a flash of red from hell Harry crumpled onto the floor of the owl shop. In the silence Draco's screech owl let out another feeble hoot. The noise was comforting. Without waiting for anyone to come by and see what had happened she took Harry's wrist and apparated to number twelve, Grimmauld place. She landed in the kitchen and heard the yelp from Kreacher, now very old, and a younger house elf in training. When Kreacher came out from the chair he rushed to Harry. "Master Potter," he said in a gruff voice. "What happened to him, mistress?"

"He's drunk, Kreacher." Ginny spat and let go of his wrist.

There was a thunder of footsteps from the hallway and her brother, Ron and girlfriend, Hermione, ran in. "What in blazes?" Ron yelled. "Ginny! What are you doing here? And what's wrong with Harry?"

"He's drunk, Ron." Ginny snapped at her youngest older brother. "You might want to keep an eye on him for a while."

Hermione gave Ginny a look before looking at Harry. "He looks like he's been crying. What happened?" she asked.

"I dumped him after he proposed to me."

The couple and house elves looked at her. All of them, even the younger elf who didn't know the family that well, thought they would end up getting married. To hear that they broke up was much unexpected. "What happened?" Ron whispered.

"It just wasn't working out, ok?"

"No it's not ok! Why didn't you tell us?"

"If it was any of your business I would have, but it's not!"

With that Ginny apparated back to the shop where Katy was looking around, still quite drunk. "What's going on?" she yawned.

"It's a long story. I'll tell you in the morning." Ginny sighed and lifted the old screech owl back into his cage.

Katy gave her a weird, half-drunk look before stumbling back up the stairs.