I'm comin' 'round to open up the blinds

You can't hide here any  longer

-Dido, See the Sun Again   

Ginny Weasley slowly pushed the door of flat 5D open. “Anybody home?” She called out into the silence. 

“Yeah, right here,” a sullen voice said from the breakfast bar. Outside, the sun was shining brightly. Inside, the blinds were shut tight and the curtains drawn. Everything was cast into a dark gray shadow, even the person sitting at the bar. Squinting, Ginny was able to make out the familiar blonde head attached to shoulders that were slumped over the bar. She was surprised she had even been able to see him in the semi-dark. For the past three weeks, all he had worn was black pants and a black sweater. She wasn't even sure if he changed at all.  

“Draco, when was the last time you combed your hair?” Ginny began to set the groceries on the counter on the other side of the bar. If she wasn't so familiar with his flat, and the darkness of it, Ginny probably would have tripped over the mess that he had made and neglected to clean up. 

Draco was silent in thought. “Three weeks,” he finally answered. 

“And when’s the last time you showed?” Ginny asked, wrinkling her nose at the smell of a slight body odor.

”I don’t know… a couple days. Bugger off, would ya?” Draco replied  

“Maybe you should try it out. But, you are out of bed today, so I won't push my luck.” Ginny moved over to the blinds and drew them open. She turned to see Draco shrink back as if he’d been burned. 

“Sod off,” he told her, shielding his eyes from the light as she moved to the next window.

“Now, what would my day be like without a dose of your witty charm and sunny disposition?” Ginny questioned with her hands on her hips, the windows now successfully opened. She would not say it to his face, but Draco looked terrible. If he, the King of Hygiene, knew that he hadn’t showered in three days, then he must know that he was slightly less than perfect in the appearance department.  

“Shit,” Draco replied. “Don't you have some brothers you can bother?” 

“Fortunately for you, no.” She moved back to the groceries now that there was some light in the house. “Fred and George are doing inventory in their shop. Ron is busy doing whatever it is those Quidditch celebrities do. And I haven't heard from Bill and Charlie in a couple of weeks. Consider yourself lucky,” she finished with a smile.

“Why do you keep doing this Gin?” Draco asked weakly as he watched her put away the last of the groceries. 

Ginny turned to face him and gave him a soft smile. “Because I like to.” 

Draco snorted at that, then replied “You don't have to.” 

“If I didn't come over, you wouldn't get out of bed or eat. You'd starve to death with disgusting bed sores. And,” Ginny paused. “You can thank me later.”  Ginny sighed as she moved in the living room. “Remember when I broke up with Allen? You were there at two in the morning, just to talk to me. And… you brought double fudge gelato.” 

“That was different,” Draco got off the stool, trudged into the living room and flopped on the sofa next to her. 

“How?” 

“Because you two had ended. Pansy led me to believe that she was coming back. Going to bloody 'find herself'.” Draco mocked.  

“I know,” Ginny rubbed his arm affectionately. This was the first time that he had mentioned Pansy since Draco had come home to an almost completely empty flat with a note on the bed. It had been from Pansy, who Draco had been engaged to, saying that she didn't know what she wanted anymore and that she needed to find herself. She had decided she needed to go to America to do this. Pansy was supposed to call when she got there but it had been three weeks and Draco still hadn't heard anything from her. 

“Why don't we do something tonight?” Ginny suggested. He was out of bed... maybe she could persuade him out of the house too? 

“I don't want to,” Draco grumbled. 

“Fine. When are you going back to work?” “Probably never.” 

“You're going to lose your job.” 

He laughed coldly, reminding Ginny of the old Draco, the Draco he was before she became friends with him. “With the amount of money the Malfoy family, myself included, has given them, they are too scared to even think of it.” 

Ginny sighed. “There is the Ministry Yule Ball in a few weeks. Will you think about going? You can be my date if you'd like.” 

“What happened to Christopher?” Draco said, completely ignoring her question. 

“He's not right. He apologized too much.” 

“They're never right for you. Jason was too busy, Alexander was a sex addict, Seth was too shy, Colin was too gay...” Draco said as he listed each name off on his fingers. Ginny gave him a playful shove. 

“I have never dated Colin. And, he is gay, so don't take the mickey.” 

“Wouldn't dream of it,” Ginny didn't have to look at him to know that he had just rolled his eyes at her. 

“Will you think about it? The Yule Ball?” Ginny asked, trying to bring the subject up again. 

“Will you bugger off?” 

“For about 12 hours.” 

Draco shot her a sharp look that clearly told her that she wasn't welcome.

“Draco, I know you hurt, but Pansy isn't coming back.” Ginny grabbed his head and turned it back towards her when he looked away. His eyes turned from gray to almost black for a second. He was angry, she knew, but he needed to see that there was life beyond Pansy. “I'm sure she'll contact you sometime, but for right now, for whatever reason only known to her, she's not. So please live a little. You've been getting pissed every night when you hadn't even had anything stronger than butterbeer for ages before she left.”  

Draco just glared at her, saying nothing. His eyes watched her as she stood up and his ears heard her when she said she would be back after work. He even heard her tell him to take the shower she suggested earlier. But he could say nothing. He knew that when she wasn't there, he felt nothing. He was nothing. And he knew that she knew, he would be in that exact same spot when she came back, only a little bit more drunk.