Young (Drarry Fanfic)

Do You Mean?

Do you mean, do you mean what you say?
What you said now you can't take away.
You're my Gospel, but I'm losing faith, losing faith.
Do you mean, do you mean what you say?
Take a minute, do you need to stop and think?
What we have now, we can throw away, throw away.

— Do You Mean (The Chainsmokers)

~oOo~

Ginny stuffs her hands into her coat pocket and stares at the looming edifice across the street. It's an old apartment building in the heart of muggle London. She looks up, peering at the sixth floor window of a darkened flat. Although it appears vacant, she knows, with absolute
certainty that she will find Harry within.

She involuntarily shudders, recalling the horrific state she'd found Harry in the day Malfoy's engagement to Astoria Greengrass had been announced in the papers.

That experience was something she never wished to relive ever again.

With a sigh, Ginny rubs her tired, bloodshot eyes. She had not slept a wink last night. She, Luna, Ron, and Hermione had kept a quiet vigil at home, trying to drown their worries in Elfwine as they waited for news. It was well into the night that the uneasy stillness in the flat was shattered. However, it wasn't Harry who stumbled through the Floo, but an extremely distraught Astoria. Much to everyone's shock.

Without so much as pausing to catch her breath, the poor woman then proceeded to explain that Draco had Warded himself in his bedroom and that Harry had simply disappeared without a word.

Ginny knew then where Harry had gone. There was only one place he would run to if he wanted to escape from everything – his flat in muggle London. It's a place that only she knows about. Not even Ron and Hermione are privy to this rather major detail about their best mate.

Even Ginny had initially been kept in the dark. Had she not accidentally found the rental contract when she helped Harry clean up Grimmauld Place all those years ago, she might have never known.

Ginny huffs out a breath, blowing her bangs out of her eyes. She feels inside her pocket for the item that had been entrusted to her by Astoria with the explicit instructions that she must hand it to Harry personally.

Taking it out, Ginny scrutinizes the miniature item in her palm. Although it is currently no bigger than a candy bar, it's still easily recognisable – an old Hogwarts trunk. She flips it over, frowning at the engraving on the side.

PROPERTY OF D. L. MALFOY

Why, in Merlin's beard, Astoria would suddenly want Harry to have this is beyond her. But considering the pleading look Astoria had given her, the matter must be extremely important.

Stuffing the tiny trunk back into her pocket, Ginny steels herself and swiftly crosses the street with quick strides.

The muggles are completely oblivious to it, but the moment Ginny enters the building, she immediately feels the powerful pulse of a very familiar magical signature.

Ginny frowns.

Harry had clearly put up the strongest Wards he can muster.

Bristling, Ginny marches into the creaky, old lift, muttering under her breath, "If you think this is enough to stop me..."

~o~

Harry stares blankly up at the ceiling; his eyes tracing the peeling paint over and over again. He doesn't know how long he's been sitting on the kitchen floor, leaning against one of the old cupboards. He doesn't even remember how he got there in the first place. The only thing he's vaguely aware of is the cold tile underneath him.