Not What They Were- a Drinny fanfiction

Chapter 2

Ginny knocked on the door and waited with anticipation when the door swung open to reveal a small wrinkled old house elf she was disappointed.

"Ah, the blood traitor, Master is in the living room," he croaked as he scurried away, leaving Ginny to stand on the doorstep. After years of being Harry's house elf Kreacher remained as surly and insulting as ever, except to Harry, this prompted Harry to take over any tasks that might require the old elf to interact with people; so she was a little surprised when her presence was welcomed by Kreacher instead.

Stepping over the threshold, Ginny felt something was off. Ever since her first day at Grimmauld Place, back when it was headquarters for the Order, she felt a connection with the old house. There was nothing special about the home, in fact, it was quite foreboding, even now, but for Ginny, the old house held a mysterious allure. Once when they were left in the old home together, the Order refusing to allow them to help with any tasks, she confided these feelings to Sirius.

"Ahhh, well...my great-great-great-grandmother, Ursula Black, is to thank for that. The old woman was utterly obsessed with blood purity and even more with acquiring wives for her heirs, so much so that she performed a very dark, unyielding spell on this house. Whenever the pureblooded soulmate of the right Noble House of Black Heir walks through those doors, they will fall in love with the home, even if they have not yet realized their own feelings for one another. But if the witch who captures the heart of the homes rightful owner is a half blood or less, than the witch will be driven mad with fear....only goes to prove that you are truly Harry's girl"

Since that day she always expected her and Harry to be together, but her feelings for him the past few years had dwindled. And now that she has begun seeing a future again, the house was telling her otherwise.

The safe feeling of comfort that typically started growing inside of her once she crossed the doorway was missing. When she turned the corner to find Harry sitting in the center of the room, surrounded by bubble wrap and boxes, she realized why. The paintings and trinkets that once adorned the walls were now gone, the furniture, was removed, even the lightbulbs were missing from their sockets. Grimmauld Place was just walls and floors.

"Ginny," Harry looked up from his box "I wasn't expecting you for a while longer."

"Uh your letter did say 7, didn't it?" she wasn't quite sure what he was up to, redecorating? She thought to remember how he always wanted to gut the old home, though Ginny always talked him out of it.

"Oh, yeah, sorry lost track of time."

"It's OK, what's with the boxes? Are you packing up more of the Black family heirlooms?" She rubbed her shoulder nervously; maybe he was planning to move in with her and Luna? It would be a tight fit, but they would make it work.

"That's kinda why I asked you to come over" he stood to face her, "Umm...I don't honestly know how to say this....so I'm just going to get it out. Ginny....I'm moving"

Ginny was expecting a ring, not a roommate, but either way, she was happy. The new attitude he had recently developed made the idea of Harry as a roommate a good one.

"Harry that's fantastic!" She hugged him around the neck "it'll be a little cramped, but we will make it work, and Luna loves you anyways " Harry pulled her away from him, breaking their embrace.

"Gin, I'm not moving in with you" her face fell as he spoke, if he wasn't going to live with her and he wasn't living at Grimmauld Place, then where? "I'm moving to Egypt."

He waited for her to respond, but that was becoming less and less likely as the seconds passed and all she did was stare at him blankly. She was stunned, emotionally not magically.

"Gin I know you've noticed I haven't been....well me. Everything that happened...the war...the death....I have changed. Something just wasn't the same I know you've noticed it as well. I always thought once The Dark Lord was gone I could just...be. But I am reminded of who I was every day, the way people look at me. They all see the boy who lived, they all see the shining beacon of hope and good...I'm not him anymore. Last week...when we were working in Cairo on a case, that's when I realized I couldn't stay. I need to be somewhere where I can be the new me, away from all the reminders of who I once was. The past week for me has been the first real week I have had since the war. Every day I have been in Cairo, planning the move, and each day I was able to live my new life. Be the new me. The people in Cairo didn't experience things like we did here, they don't recognize me. To them, I am just another wizard, just another man going about his day. I can start over there. Please....you have to understand Gin" he was pleading with her, asking her permission to leave her.

She couldn't deny that he was no longer the man he once was. But she thought this past week was him reverting to his old self when in reality it was him preparing for his new life. How could she deny him his happiness when that was all she wanted for herself? She wouldn't make him stay, beg him, but she couldn't deny the horrible rip in her heart that was slowly growing inside of her.

"I understand" Ginny leaned in and gave him a small peck on the cheek. Without waiting to hear another word, she calmly walked out the front door, thankful that the rain hid her tears.

•~•~•~•~•~

Ginny had been drunk before, she had spent multiple nights nursing butterbeer and fire whiskey with her brothers or having some wine with Hermoine and Luna, but tonight she was going to get completely shit faced.

After leaving Harry's it took her a moment to realize where she was going, she had been wandering around the streets of London for nearly two hours when her tears had finally dried up, and her feet carried her to Knockturn Alley. Most days she would do everything she could to keep away from the dark corner of the Wizarding world, but she wanted to drink in peace, and that meant avoiding the Leaky Cauldron.

The streets in Knockturn Alley were not well lit, that combined with the torrential rains made it hard for Ginny to read shop signs. She had stumbled in and out of three dark magic shops before she finally found a pub. Green Light Stool was a dingy little bar at the end of a long winding street, the brick facade was crumbling, the dark windows were missing pieces of shades, and the heavy black door had a hole in the center covered by a sheet of plywood held on by a shotty spell. Inside the bar, Ginny found the same crumbling brick walls and missing blinds. The light inside was no better than outside, and the patrons left something to be desired. No one was sitting at the bar, the few patrons were seated at the small booths lining the walls, their faces hidden in the dark shadows, most likely hiding from themselves as much as from everyone else. Ginny walked straight to the long skinny deep green bar, aware of everyone's eyes on her back, and ordered her first of many glasses of fire whiskey that night.