.Chapter One

"Harry?" Ginny Weasley asked cautiously, knocking on the door.

There was no answer.

"Harry, open up. It's me, Ginny." she demanded.

Once again, she was greeted with a cold silence.

Ginny sighed. She couldn't stand Harry, closed up in darkness, all alone. She wanted to save him from drowning in his sea of sorrow. Talk to him about what was going on.

It was a dark and a rainy day in June, unnaturally bitter for a summer day. The rain outside were tears, grieving the death of a dear friend, Rubeus Hagrid.

Grimmauld Place was even more dismal than usual. Just walking down a long corridor or up the rigid stairs of the gloomy old mansion was painful. The air alone, the cold and dampness, seem to bring excruciating thoughts and fears to life.

Harry barricaded himself in the room that once belonged to Sirius Black. He had been up there nearly all day and hadn't come down for lunch or even when Dumbledor stopped by to check up on him.

Ginny couldn't stand his separation from the rest of the world any longer. It was so wrong of him to hide from those who care about him, yet settle with his personal sorrow. Without his approval, she marched right in.

Harry hastily stood up from the floor and whipped his eyes. Ginny was struck with guilt and regretted barging in the way she did.

"I didn't want you to see me like this." Harry said in a small voice. His green eyes refused to meet her own.

"Look Harry, I'm sorry," she ventured to step toward him but he turned his back on her. He starred out the window and pretended to be engrossed in the pouring rain.

Ginny had avoided him for a year, ever since Sirius was murdered, but there was so many things that where left unsaid since last June. None of it may have mattered now, but she had to speak to him anyway. Even if he wasn't willing to listen.

"You don't need to apologize, Ginny. You don't need to feel sorry for me." Harry said finally, still focused on the rain. His tone was as harsh as the weather outside.

"But I am sorry. I just wanted to talk to you."

"If you want to talk about Hagrid, you're wasting your time. I really don't want to talk about it."

"Harry," she sat down on the bed, attempting to reason with him, "did it ever occur to you that talking about it might help. Bring you out of this state of isolation. You can't just remove yourself from the rest of the world."

"Why not!" He shouted. "I don't want to be apart of this world if it means I have to loose the people I care for! Why can't everyone just leave me the hell alone!"

"I know you're upset," Ginny's voice was beginning to rise, "but that doesn't mean we all have to suffer."

"What the hell do you know about suffering? You didn't loose your godfather! You didn't loose your best friend! You have no idea what I've been put through!"

"Why is this always about you?" she shouted back, "Sirius wasn't my godfather and I wasn't as close with Hagrid as you were but that doesn't mean I don't hurt."

Harry turned around to glare at her, looking deeply insulted.

"Stop shutting people out of your life, Harry," Ginny continued, "you're not the only one who has ever experienced pain. You know, for someone as brave as you to face Voldemort and the dementors, you're acting like a big coward."

To Ginny's frustration Harry didn't say a word. He just stood there shocked by the words coming out of her mouth.

"Anyway," She said after a long silence. It wasn't the way she intended this conversation to be going. It had to be stopped before it got any worse. "I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry I avoided you this year. I wanted to say I'm sorry about Sirius…I'm sorry about Hagrid..."

She couldn't believe how stupid she sounded. It was all played out in her mind how she was going to say it, yet she sounded like an idiot and could tell Harry wanted nothing more than to have her gone.

Ginny already knew how much Harry was hurting and then she went and called him a coward. How could she have something that was so foul? She never met anyone less of a coward then he was, until that very moment.

Harry turned his back to her again and focused on the rain that fell even harder. It began to thunder and a flash of lightning lit up the darkened room.

"I didn't come up here to argue with you and I can see I'm wasting your time. It was stupid of me to come up here." She said hoping to God she wouldn't start crying. "Well I'll just leave you alone now."

Ginny was half way towards the door when Harry suddenly stopped her. He caught her hand and held it tight.

She looked into his eyes for the first time in so long, they were red and filled with tears. Her heart was breaking and she desperately wanted to take back the horrible things she just said to him.

"Stay with me?" He asked her, his voice shaking.

Ginny smiled and nodded her head.

After a moment Harry whispered, "I am a coward". He sat down on the bed, and buried his face in his hands. "I'm sorry I shut you out." he mumbled.

Sitting next to him, Ginny placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and didn't say a word the rest of the afternoon.

They didn't need to speak, their silence spoke to them, and they understood each other. The two sat alone together allowing the rain in their lives to dry in the sunlight they began shine on one another.