Harry Potter lay on his bed at Number 4, Privet Drive, staring at the ceiling. It was after midnight, but like every night for the last week, he could not sleep. His thoughts kept going back to that fateful night at the Ministry of Magic only a couple of weeks earlier.

The thoughts kept raging through his mind that it was his fault. His friends being put in danger, three of them were injured, all of them almost killed. Sirius was dead. Members of The Order of the Phoenix were injured. All of it was his fault.

In his mind, it didn’t matter that Voldemort had tricked him. If only he had studied Occlumency harder, had learned to block out Voldemort’s intrusions, none of this would have happened. Sirius would still be alive. His friends would have never been trust into a battle that they were not experienced enough to handle. And his heart would not feel like it was being ripped out.

To top all of that off, after the battle he had found out why it had all happened. He and he alone, was the only thing standing between Voldemort and his taking over the entire wizarding world. The prophesy that Harry had been lured to the Department of Mysteries to retrieve had stated that “Neither could live while the other survived”.

After Harry had practically destroyed Dumbledore’s office, Dumbledore had confessed to withholding this little nugget of information from him. And then had told Harry what power he had that Voldemort didn’t. Love.

Love!?!... How was that going to help him? Was he supposed to hug Voldemort to death? Was he supposed to invite him on a camping trip so they could sit around a campfire singing “Cum-Bye-Ah” until Voldemort passed out with the emotion of it? Somehow, Harry did not see that happening.

Slowly, Harry swung his legs off the bed and he sat up on the edge of it. Running his hand through his hair, he felt a gnawing in his stomach. He vaguely recognized that he had not eaten in 2 days, and then only a little toast. He stood up slowly and walked over to the mirror.

The boy that looked back at him was hardly recognizable. His hair was disheveled, there were bags under his eyes, and he was even skinnier than normal. The most startling thing to him was that his eyes, normally a vivid green, were dull and empty. It was like there was no life left in them.

“They might as well look dead,” he thought, “It’s not like I don’t have a death sentence over me, anyway.”

“DAMN IT!” he swore. In a sudden surge of anger he spun and punched the wall next to Hedwig’s cage. Pain shot through his hand as Hedwig flapped around in agitation.

Suddenly a voice rang through his head. “That was stupid of you!” It took a minute for Harry to pinpoint the voice. It was the same voice that Ginny Weasley had used when reminding him that she was the only other person he knew that had been possessed by Voldemort.

As the pain in his hand intensified, his willpower broke. Ever so slowly, he sank to the floor by his bed, and the tears started to fall. Tears he had been holding back since the night in Dumbledore’s office. Tears he swore would never come.

“Why me?” he muttered as sobs wracked though his body. “Why does it have to be me? Why can’t I be a normal boy, with normal problems? Why does everyone who gets close to me get hurt? WHY???”

“Because it is,” a soft voice said behind him.

Choking down his sobs in surprise, Harry spun around.

There stood his Aunt Petunia.

Harry quickly looked away. “Sorry to have woken you,” he said, embarrassed to have been overheard.

He heard the door close softly. Harry staggered to his feet and turned around to go wipe his face when he saw her still standing there. There was noticeable sadness in her eyes.

With tenderness he had never seen her exhibit before, other than with Dudley; she reached up with a warm, wet washcloth and gently wiped the tears from his face. Then she did the most unexpected thing of all, she hugged him.

His surprised was so great that for a minute he forgot why she was here. Then she quietly said, “Now you know why I didn’t want you to know you were a wizard.”

Shocked, He pulled away from her and looked her in the eye. Understanding and compassion were evident on her face. “You know?” She gave a small nod.

“Your mother told me before she and your father went into hiding. She said she would protect you as much as she could. The second I saw you on our doorstep, I knew she was dead. I loved my sister with all my heart and I swore to protect you from this fate. But I could not. I saw the magic growing in you just like I could see it grow in her. To some extent that is why I was so unkind to you. Magic had taken her away from me, and to me you represented the magical world. And to be honest, I hated you for it.”

“It was not until recently, after a chat with Professor Dumbledore, that I see that it was not you who took her away from me. It was that evil monster that killed her. I hope some day you can forgive me.”

Stunned by this speech, Harry was unable to answer for a while. When did, the only thing he could say was, “It may take some time.”

She nodded again and giving him a final hug turned and quietly left the room.

Exhaustion crashed over him in a way he could not remember. He crawled into bed, and started to stare at the ceiling again, but this time his heart felt a little lighter, and he soon drifted off to sleep.

* * *

His heart was beating fast in his chest as he chased after the girl in front of him. He could not make out who it was, but he knew he must catch her. Once he caught her he knew his reward would be a kiss. She liked to tease him, make him chase her. He could not stop. He was drawn to her like a moth to a flame. Only a little more and she would be his, and he would see her face.

She darted around a tree, and he cut under it snatching her around the waist as she ran by. She was laughing as he spun her around. He looked down, anxious to know the identity of his prize. He looked down into a pair of milk chocolate brown eyes, freckles and a mane of red hair……

“POTTER! GET UP!”

Harry’s eyes snapped open, and for a second he could not remember where he was.

“Mom wants downstairs, NOW!” The voice was that of his beefy cousin, Dudley.

Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs he answered, “I’ll be right down”.

“It must have been a dream,” he thought. The conversation with his aunt had been so real, though. He knew it was too good to have been true.

As he got up and started to get dressed he heard Dudley slam the front door on his way out to be with his friends. The day before, Harry had heard him saying that he would be going to an amusement park today.

As he walked downstairs he thought about the dream he was having just before he woke up. He had had that same dream before, but not since the night that Sirius had died. In the couple of weeks leading up to that night he had had that same dream 3 times.

He came to a halt as he entered the kitchen. Sitting at the table was Petunia, drinking a cup of tea. Across from her was a place setting that included a plate piled high with bacon, eggs, and toast. Next to it was a glass of juice and another cup of tea.

“Please sit Harry. You look like you could use a good meal.” She said quietly, but with a small smile on her lips.

Harry looked at the plate then back to his Aunt. He questioned her with his eyes if it was for him. She only nodded.

He hesitantly tasted a bite of bacon, and found that it was just the way he liked it. Everything smelled great, but this couldn’t be right.

“I thought I dreamt last night,” he said, looking at his aunt, “especially after the way Dudley woke me this morning.”

She nodded slowly, and then looked down at the table. “Just because my thinking has changed, doesn’t mean that Vernon and Dudley’s has.”

Understanding seeped through Harry. “Thank you for the breakfast,” was all he could say. He began to attack his food with gusto, not realizing until that moment how hungry he was.

After he finished, Harry and his aunt talked for a few minutes about some little things like how warm the weather was, or that Dudley was learning to drive. They stayed away from important topics, though. Maybe that would come later, maybe it wouldn’t, but for now he felt more at ease.

* * *

Every day for the next three days the same story unfolded. Harry would come down to breakfast after Vernon and Dudley had left, He and his aunt would chit-chat for a few minutes, then he would do his assigned chores. (Dudley still did not have any assigned to him.)

On the forth day, as he was finishing his breakfast, Petunia asked a question that stunned him.

“Who is Ginny?” She asked as he started to get up.

“Um…She is my friend Ron’s little sister.” He answered, wondering where this was going. “Why do you ask?”

“I was walking by your room yesterday morning, and I heard you say her name in your sleep,” was her reply. There was a hint of mirth in her eyes as she said it.

Harry’s face was suddenly very warm. He had had the same dream again that night, only this time he had started to lean down to kiss her before he woke up.

“It sounded like she was more than a friend’s little sister to me. Do you want to talk about it?

He slowly sank back into his chair. “I think I like her.” There, he said it. It was the first time he had said it out loud. The thought had been growing in his mind since he had lost interest in Cho Chang.

“You think?”

“It’s confusing to me. I think about her a lot of the time, and I keep having this same dream about her, but it’s complicated.” He kept his head down, looking at his hands.

“How is it complicated? Either you like her, or you don’t.”

“Like I said, she is my best friend’s little sister.”

“So?”

“He’s…um…more than a little protective.”

“Sounds like a typical big brother to me. Does she like you?”

“She did. When we first met, she had a crush on me.” Harry again blushed slightly.

“What about now?”

“Hermione, my other best friend, said she gave up on me, and has started dating other guys.”

“That doesn’t mean she doesn’t like you. It means that she didn’t think you would ever like her.”

“Even if that’s the case, I can’t be with her. I can’t be with anyone until this mess with Voldemort is over. He will use anyone close to me. He has before, and he will do it again. I have come to accept that I must defeat him, or die trying. But I will not put my friends in danger to do it. It would be better for them if I pushed them all away until this is over. This decision has torn me apart; I love my friends more than anything.”

Petunia sat there with a shocked look on her face. It took a while for her to say anything.

“Dumbledore said you would have to do things in the future, but he did not say what. I thought you would have to fight in a war, but you make it sound like you must be the one to do it all.”

“I am. That is why my parents went into hiding. It was foretold in a prophesy that either I must kill him, or he must kill me. I have no idea how I am supposed to do that. But I will not let my friends get hurt while I flounder away at this. It has already cost me my parents, my godfather, and a young man that became my friend when we competed against each other in the Tri Wizard Tournament”

She looked at him with sympathy in her eyes. “Surely there must be a way to beat him.”

Harry Frowned down at the table, “There is a line in prophesy that states that I have a power that Voldemort does not. Dumbledore says that it is love. I just don’t see how the ability to love can win against that monster.”

Petunia looked at him sharply. “Do not under estimate the power of love. Love is the most powerful emotion there is. Love can make you be stronger because when you love, you not only fight for yourself, but you fight for those you love. Your mother loved you enough to die for you. That love protected you and still does while you call this house your home. How can you say that it is not powerful enough to see you through this?”

It was Harry’s turn to be shocked. He had never heard his Aunt talk like this before. He did not know what to say.

Before he could say anything, she continued, “You say that you want to protect your friends? Pushing them away will not do that. Only by loving them enough to fight for them, and letting them love you enough to fight for you, can you use this power.”

“I see the owls coming almost every day with letters. I have yet to see one go back to them with a letter. Is this part of you pushing them away?”

He could only nod.

“Do you still have the letters?”

He nodded again.

“Go upstairs, read them, write back to them, and tell them how you feel about them. It seems to me that that is the only way.”

Harry sat there for a full five minutes after Petunias speech. “She’s right” he thought. He stood up, walked around the table, and did something he never thought he would do. He kissed Petunia on the cheek.

As he left the kitchen to head upstairs, he snuck a glance back at his aunt. She was touching her cheek where he had kissed her.

After Harry went back upstairs, he sat on his bed for a while and thought about what his aunt had said. He knew she was right, but that did not stop him from worrying about what could happen to his friends.

He thought about Ron and Hermione, his two best friends. Braver and more loyal friends could not be found. They were really more like a brother and sister to him than friends. They had had arguments in the past, but had always made up in the end.

Ron and he had argued during the Tri Wizard tournament, but even then Ron had remained loyal. Once they actually talked, their friendship was stronger for it.

He had not spoken to Hermione for a while after she had told Professor McGonagall about his Firebolt. Now, even Harry had to admit that she had only had his best interests at heart.

The three of them had been through so much during their time at school. They had never had what could be called a normal year. How many “normal” students had fought a troll, rescued a convicted murderer, or started a secret organization? How many others had figured out the Chamber of Secrets, or figured out a way for a fourteen year old boy to win a tournament designed for much older and experienced wizards? He wasn’t sure of the answer to these questions, but he thought the list would be very short.

Harry started thinking about the other people he cared about in his life. Hagrid had been the first person to introduce him to the wizarding world. That alone singled him out as special in Harry’s eyes, but Hagrid had always been a loyal friend as well. It is true that Harry did not always look forward to Hagrid’s classes, but he did always look forward to tea in the stone cabin.

Next he thought about Molly and Arthur Weasley. What else could he say about the parents of his best mate? They were like second parents to him. Molly doted on him like he was one of her own. She had even told Sirius that he was as good as one of her own. Hearing her say that had caused his heart to swell with joy. She always fussed over him whenever he stayed with the Weasleys making sure that he ate enough and that he was doing well.

Arthur had been the one to warn him about Sirius Black when it was still thought he was trying to kill Harry. He had always treated Harry with more respect than many other adults did. He was the one to accompany Harry to his trial a year earlier, and it had made Harry feel better to know that Arthur was there.

He thought about Dumbledore next. He had some mixed emotions about the Hogwarts Headmaster. He was still a little irritated that Dumbledore had kept him in the dark about everything. But even with that, The Headmaster had always made sure Harry had enough information to complete whatever task he had to do. Harry did not know if this was intentional, but the coincidences were uncanny. It was like he was letting Harry test his wings to find out what he was capable of, but always seemed to help him out if he was in a little over his head. This man had become as much like a Grandfather as a mentor to Harry.

Remus was his last link to his parents. He knew that the werewolf cared deeply for him, almost as much as Sirius had. Remus had taken Harry under his wing when he was a teacher at Hogwarts. He had taught Harry the Patronus Charm, and had been the one to figure out that Sirius was innocent. Harry knew that, with Sirius gone, Remus would be next in line to be his Godfather. Harry also knew he could not ask for a better one.

Then there was Fed and George. The mere thought of them always brought a smile Harry’s face. They were like the cousins you always wanted to visit because they would always keep you laughing. They never took anything to serious. They had made him feel better about himself when everyone else thought it was him opening Chamber in his second year. They had more than scoffed at the idea, and had gone as far as to make a farce out of it by proclaim to all to make way for the heir of Slytherin as he walked sown the halls. They had also given him one of his most prized possessions, The Marauder’s Map.

Lastly he thought about Ginny. It amazed him how much she had changed in his eyes. He chuckled when he thought about the crush she had on him for the first couple of years. He could really see now how out of character she had been around him. Gone was the shy, quiet little girl who would blush whenever he would speak to her. Ever since she had gotten over him, her true personality had started shine. Though out the last year, he had started to see her for who she really was. He found her to be smart, incredibly funny, mischievous, and quite a force to be reckoned with.

The dreams he had been having about her only seemed to confuse him. She was no longer Ron’s little sister in his mind, but what was she? That she had grown into a very pretty young lady was obvious, but he knew other girls who were pretty. What was it about her that made her different? Why was he having dreams about her? Could it really be that he was starting to fall for her?

The more Harry thought about it, the more he tried analyze it. What made her different? He thought about every memory he had of her, going through them, trying to see what was different about her.

Then it hit him, he could not think of one memory about her that was negative. Even the image of her lying in the Chamber, close to death, was not a negative one. He had risen to the challenge that day and had saved her. He had thwarted Voldemort for the third time in his life, and the second time in as many years. While he felt sad that she had to go through that, he was proud to have been able to save her.

But more than that was the realization that she always seemed to know what he needed at the time. She was not afraid to tell him off when he needed it, like last year at Christmas. She also seemed to know when he just needed someone to just listen, like when they were in the library this last spring.

There was one big problem with this picture, though. She was over him. Hermione had told him that over a year ago. She had even started dating other guys. First she had dated Michael Corner, and now Dean Thomas.

This thought constricted his heart a little bit. What if now, after all this time that she had a crush on him, he had a crush on her, and she just thought of him as Ron’s best friend. Wouldn’t that be ironic?

Harry thought about this for a long time while lying on his bed. At some point he dozed off. He was in the middle of dreaming about Ginny again when he heard a tapping at his window.

He looked up to see an owl with a letter in its beak. He walked over to the window, opened it and let the owl in. After extracting the letter, he reached up to stroke its feathery head when it gave him a good nip on the end of his finger.

“What was that for?” he said to the bird. It just looked at him then at the letter.

“Okay, I’ll read it. Sheesh”

Turning it over, he saw that it was from Dumbledore. Puzzled at this he tore the envelope open, and started to read.

Dear Harry,

I hope this letter find you well. Your friends, as well as myself, have been concerned that you have not written them back. In addition, Mrs. Figg informs me that you have not been outside once this summer. This is a concern to us all.

Harry, I implore you to not let your grief over the loss of Sirius to keep you in a depressed state. Remember what I said about him being a brave man who would not be kept out of battle. He would not want you sulking over this.

Please send word,

Professor Dumbledore

P.S. The owl will remain until you write back.

Harry could only chuckle. He could picture a visit from Mad-Eye Moody if he did not respond.

Crossing to the desk, he pulled out a piece of parchment, and sat down to write his response.

Dear Professor,

I apologize for not writing sooner. I have had a lot think about his summer, but I know that is no excuse.

I am doing better now, mainly due to a conversation you had with my aunt. She has actually been kind. She has helped me to see things in a slightly different light.

I will write to every one else as soon as I can.

Harry.

With that, Harry gave the letter to the owl, and sent it on its way.

* * *

The rest of the afternoon, Harry spent time reading through the letters he had received over the past couple of weeks. He had gotten 3 each from Ron and Hermione, and two from Ginny.

The letters from Ron and Hermione were almost all alike. They expressed there concern for him and implored him to write back. The first letter from Ginny was like that, but the second was little different. He was little taken aback as he read it.

Harry,

I know you are hurting right now, but you need to realize that there are people here who care about you. You are not, I repeat, NOT, going to push us away like that. You need to get off your butt, and let us know how you are doing.

We care about you, but you are hurting us with your silence. Let us be there for you.

If you don’t, expect to be hexed the next time I see you. And if you don’t think I won’t just ask any of my brothers. You taught me too many spells this last year, and I am not afraid to use them on you. Got it?

Ginny.

The only thing he could think of was that she hadn’t learned how to send a howler yet, or that was just what this letter would have been. That she was right, only made him smile. How could she know him so well as to know that he had been trying to push them away?

He pulled out some more parchment and proceeded to write back to each of them letting them know he was okay. He just needed to think some things through, and that he would write more soon.

He then let Hedwig out of her cage, gave her the letters and sent her off with them. She seemed happy to stretch her wings, and with a hoot set off to the Burrow.

By this time, It was well past dark, so Harry lay down, closed his eyes and fell into a peaceful sleep, his only dream of chasing a red headed figure through the trees.

Harry woke the next morning feeling better than he had all summer. It was the best, most peaceful, sleep he had had in a long time. He really doubted that he had even moved all night. His muscles were stiff, but in a good way.

After a trip to the bathroom, he showered and started to get dressed. While he was doing so, he looked in the mirror. He realized that he looked very different than he did just a few days earlier. There was life back in his eyes, and the bags were gone from under them. He was still skinnier than normal, but not as bad.

He took a moment to reflect on the past few days. Ever since the night his aunt had come to his room, he had been feeling better. Maybe it was the fact that he was eating better, but he did not think so. That he had let out some of the emotion that night had probably helped, but he did not think that was the biggest reason.

The best way he could describe it was he felt people cared, AND he was starting to be able to accept that support. He always knew there were those that cared, like the Weasleys and Hermione, but he was getting better at letting them. He also felt the change in Petunia was a key in this. He knew he may never really think of her a surrogate mother, but the peace that seemed to be forming between them was nice. He also wasn’t quite ready to forgive her for the years of abuse and neglect. He just wasn’t sure if he was ready to open himself up that much to her so soon.

After Harry heard Dudley leave for the morning, he walked down stairs. As he had become accustomed to, Petunia was sitting at the table. Some muffins and fruit were on the table waiting for him. She smiled as he walked in and sat down.

“How was your night?” she inquired.

“Best night sleep I’ve had in a long time,” he replied.

“Did you read the letters?”

He could only nod as his mouth was full of muffin.

“Did you write back?”

Nod

“Was there a letter from Ginny?”

His face flamed, “Yes.”

“And?”

“She told me off.”

“What?”

“If it could have been a howler, it would have been. She basically told me to stop pushing them away and let them be there for me. You’ve met her mom once or twice; she definitely gets her temper from that side of the family.”

Petunia couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her. “It sounds like she knows you pretty well.”

“Yes, she, more than most people, seems to know how to get through my thick head.”

“I would say there is still hope then,” she said with a knowing look.

“In what?”

“You and her.”

He sat there for a while without saying anything. After a few minutes he looked at his aunt and said, “I hope so.” He sat there for a while longer think of how to say what he wanted to say next.

“Aunt Petunia? I know that we are in a different place than we were even a week ago, and I want you to know that I really appreciate it. I like the relationship we are starting to have, but I wanted to ask if you would not mind if I wrote to Professor Dumbledore and asked if I could stay with the Weasleys the rest of the summer. I would still like to spend time with you, and could come visit, but I think I need to be around them.”

She smiled sadly at this. “Harry, I, too, have liked getting to know you this summer. We would both be fooling ourselves, however, if we thought the past could be wiped away with a mere week of … friendship. I understand about you wanting to be with them. But let’s talk about it some more this afternoon before we decide. Okay? I have to run to the grocer’s and pick up some things. We are having company for lunch; you are welcome to join us.”

Harry nodded. He got up put his dishes in the sink and started to head back upstairs. As he got to the door, he turned and hesitated for a moment.

“Is there something else, Harry?”

“Um… yeah. I know I said the other night that it would take some time to …well…you know… forgive.” She nodded slightly. “I think that I am almost there. In fact, I am sure of it.”

She smiled warmly at him, and he could not be sure, but he thought he saw her eyes get misty.

* * *

Harry spent the morning working on his summer reading list from school. It was hard to concentrate, though. First, it was History of Magic, and a dryer subject did not exist. Second, because he kept thinking about this morning’s conversation.

The thought could not leave his mind that his aunt thought he still had a chance with Ginny. This idea made his stomach flutter a little. He was positive he was, at least, in like with her. The idea frightened him.

What if he told her? What if she said yes? What if Ron got mad? What if she didn’t like him that way? What if she did? What if they got together then broke up? What if…What if…WHAT IF?

He knew himself well enough to know that he would rather take a bludger to the head, and then try to figure out relationships. But then, wasn’t that the point of love? To have relationships? To have people in your life you cared about?


After a while he heard his aunt come home and could hear her working in the kitchen. Just before noon, he heard the doorbell ring and his aunt answer it. It seemed her lunch guest had arrived. He could barely hear their voices as they went into the kitchen. He went down to join them for lunch.

What he saw when he got there stopped him dead in his tracks. At the table with Petunia was…Mrs. Weasley??

As soon as she saw him walk in and freeze, Mrs. Weasley jumped out of her chair and gave him one of her bone crushing hugs. Harry was too stunned to speak.

“Harry, my goodness it’s good to see you. I have been so worried about you. Let me look at you. My, my, my…you look better than you did at the station. It looks like you are eating okay, though you could still stand to gain a few pounds.” She rambled on like this for a couple of minutes as she alternated gushing and hugging him. He looked at his aunt and thought he saw a look of humor mixed with a touch of envy.

After Mrs. Weasley settled down, Harry was finally able to speak. “Mrs. Weasley, it’s so good to see you. How did you get here? Why the surprise visit?”

“Well, Albus told me about your letter to him yesterday, and I thought I would call your aunt and thank her for taking such good care of you this summer. I called her on the fellytone…I mean, telephone, last night and she asked me to lunch today.”

“Oh, Harry! We were so worried about you. You didn’t answer the letters from Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, and after what happened we were at a loss. We were so glad you wrote back. I am glad to see you are well.”

Harry looked down at his plate. He knew he had hurt them by not writing back, and the thought hurt his heart. Molly could see this.

As gently as she could, she said, “Harry, don’t blame yourself, you were having a tough time. Anyone would have. I just hope that you will let us be there for you.”

Harry had to grin. “Yeah, Ginny said that in her letter, too. Although she was a little more…forceful…about it.”

Both Mrs. Weasley and Petunia laughed at this. Mrs. Weasley said, “Ginny asked me how to make it a howler, but I wouldn’t tell her how. Maybe when she learns to control her temper a little better I will, but not yet.”

Harry had to smirk, “You mean when she’s thirty?” They all laughed at that. But Petunia also winked at him.

Petunia cleared her throat, “Mrs. Weasley…may I call you Molly?” She nodded. “Harry has asked me if he could stay with you the rest of the summer. I have no objections but would like to see him some more this year, would that be alright?”

“Of course that would be fine. Albus has already said he could join us anytime this year. He and Bill have worked to put up some extra protection around the place, and he thinks that it would be completely safe. Hermione will be joining us day after tomorrow, and I know both of my youngest would like have Harry around.”

Harry couldn’t be sure, but he thought she had put a little too much emphasis on the word both. He looked at Petunia and she smiled and winked at him again.

They spent the rest of the lunch just chatting and catching up. Petunia and Mrs. Weasley seemed to be okay with each other, if a little guarded. Mrs. Weasley told him that both Ron and Ginny had been helping the twins with their store, and were both there today.

As lunch came to an end, the ladies said their goodbyes, and Harry walked Mrs. Weasley to the door. When they got there, she turned and gave Harry another big hug. “Do take care of yourself, Harry.”

“Mrs. Weasley…”

“Harry, I think the time has come for you to call me Molly.”

“Um…okay…Molly, if it’s okay, could I invite Professor Dumbledore and Professor Lupin to dinner night after next? I have something to tell everyone, and would rather tell everyone at the same time. I will help with dinner and cleaning up.”

“Of course it’s fine, dear. Although, you should be careful about volunteering like that, I may start expecting it.”

He smiled sheepishly. “I would like that, actually. You can ask me to do anything.”

She smiled kindly back at him and touched his cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon, Harry. Just floo from Mrs. Figg’s house.”

“Goodbye, Mrs. Weas…Molly.”

After she left, Harry went back to the kitchen. He walked over to his aunt, wrapped her up in a big hug, and whispered in her ear, “Thank you.”

She looked at him with tears in her eyes, “Just remember to visit me some this summer. Okay?”

“I will. We have too much to catch up on.”

With that he went back up to his room.

* * *

After a short nap, Harry awoke feeling good. Tomorrow he would be going to the Weasley’s house. The Burrow was one of his favorite places to be. While the Weasleys did not have much money, the house was full of love and warmth. It was a place where, if you were hungry, Molly would find you something to eat; if you needed an ear to listen to you, it was handy. While Mr. and Mrs. Weasley did not let their kids get away with anything, they still let them be kids.

For a few minutes, he lay there looking at the ceiling, a slight smile on his face. Then he got up, went to the desk, and pulled out two pieces of parchment. One letter he addressed to Remus Lupin, the other to Professor Dumbledore. He invited both to dinner the night after next. It would not be a full moon, so he knew Remus would be in condition to join them.

After sending Hedwig on her way, he thought about what he was going to say to everyone. He wanted, first and foremost, to let each person there know how he felt about them. He had never done that with Sirius, and he now regretted that. He had decided he would not let that happen to him again. His best thought was to try to get each of them alone for a few minutes, knowing this would be hard at The Burrow, but it would be easier to tell them something like that in a one-on-one setting.

The reason he had wanted to invite the professors to dinner was quite different. Though. Harry had decided to inform them of the prophesy concerning himself and Voldemort. He knew that he could not do this alone, but he could not let them put themselves in danger by being close to him without telling them the truth.

He half hoped they would decide to distance themselves from him. He did not want them to be anymore of a target than they already were. They were all fighting against Voldemort and his followers as it was, and that alone put a bull’s eye on each of their cloaks. Being close to Harry would just make it that much easier for the Dark Lord to take aim.

If they decided to stand by him, he wanted it to be their choice, not because they were kept in the dark. He had been kept in the dark for too long about all of this for him to wish that on anyone. He still harbored some anger toward Dumledore even though he knew the Headmaster was just doing what he thought was best. He knew that Dumbledore might not agree with this, but he intended to go ahead with his plan and had told the Professor about it in his letter.

Harry smiled when he thought the next couple of days would be pretty full, and quite difficult to go through. He knew he had a hard time relating his feeling toward anyone. Going up in this house had not really prepared him for that. The past week not withstanding, it had been like growing up in an emotional vacuum. Harry knew he would have to summon all of his Gryffindor courage to make it though.

With that he went downstairs to make himself a sandwich before Vernon and Dudley showed up.

The sun was shining through the window as Harry woke up the next morning. Once again, he had slept through the night. He could get used to this. He was actually feeling somewhat rested. He rose from the bed, stretched his muscles, and did a few toe touches to limber up. Sleeping well did have the draw back of stiff muscles, but it was a great trade off.

After showering, he decided to shave as well. He still did not need to shave every day, but he wanted to look presentable for the day. After all, he was going to the Burrow today. Although he had never really worried about how he had looked going there before, he did today.

It’s because Ginny will be there, came the thought in his mind. He flushed a little at this thought. He had to admit, though, that this was the most logical explanation.

Following through with a thought from the night before, he wrote a quick note and sent it off with Hedwig toward Diagon Alley. He smiled when he thought of what she was going to order for him. He had also given her instructions that he would be at the Burrow and to return to him there.

He had packed most of his things the night before, but took the time to pack what was left before he put on his old trainers and headed down stairs.

As usual, Petunia was waiting with a cup of tea in her hand. She smiled sadly as he entered the room. He could see by the look that she really didn’t want him to go. He smiled back at her as he sat down to breakfast, and began to eat.

“Good morning, Aunt Petunia,” He said.

“Good morning, Harry. Did you sleep well?”

“Very well, thanks.”

They chatted for a few minutes before settling into a comfortable silence while he ate.

After a while, Petunia cleared her throat. “Harry, I got something for you. I hope you like it.” She had said this almost shyly.

Harry looked up to see her push a large, wrapped box across the table to him. That it surprised him was an understatement. All he could do was look at it for a minute.

“It won’t explode if you open it,” she said laughing a little.

His cheeks reddened as he reached up and started to open the box. Inside was something he never thought he would have given to him by any one from this house. It was a new outfit of clothes with the tags still on them. He looked at her with an open mouth.

“I couldn’t have you going off to meet your Ginny in Dudley’s old things now could I?” She said as he looked at her.

“I…I…um…Thank you”

“Eloquently spoken,” she said again with a laugh. “I guessed at the size. I hope they fit.”

“I’m sure they will be fine,” he replied.

The shirt was green, pull over, mock turtle neck style. The pants were black denim. He checked the labels and thought they would be close to fitting. In the box were also a black belt, and a new pair of black trainers. At the bottom was a pack of stationary and envelopes. It was a clear invitation to write to her.

He looked at her, again, with a question in her eyes.

“I haven’t bought you new clothes since you were two. I thought it was time I did. I hope you like them. I thought the green would bring out your eyes.”

“Thank you so much. It means a lot to me.”

“You’re welcome. Well, don’t just stand there, go try them on.”

He ran upstairs, changed out of the old hand-me-downs of Dudley’s, and then came back downstairs. He was surprised to see his aunt looking at him with what he could only discern as pride.

“You look very handsome.”

Once again, he blushed. He then walked over, and gave her a big hug. He didn’t say it, but the message was clear. He had forgiven her.

After he had pulled away from her, he grinned and said, “I got you something, too. It won’t be here until this afternoon. You may want to keep it in the attic, or my room. I don’t think Vernon would like it too much.”

“What, if I may ask, is it?”

His smile got bigger. “An owl and a book on how to care for it.”

“What...Why?”

“I want you to write to me as well.”

Tears sprang to her eyes, as she gave him a hug that almost matched Mrs. Weasley’s. “Thank you,” was all she could manage.

After they parted, he went upstairs and collected his trunk and Hedwig’s cage. Petunia walked him to the door, and gave him another hug.

“Be careful, and don’t forget to visit.”

“I won’t. By the way, my birthday is next week. If it is okay with Mrs. Weasley, would you like to come over for lunch?”

“I don’t know how to get there.” She replied hesitantly.

“Mrs. Figg can show you how.”

“I would like to.”

“Great, see you then.”

With that he walked out the front door to Mrs. Figg’s House.

* * *

The fireplace at the Burrow roared to life with green flames and Harry stepped out. Seeing the soot settle around him, he was glad he had remembered to wear his traveling cloak. After all it would be a shame to get his new clothes dirty within an hour after putting them on.

He looked around the living room of the house of the family he cared for more than any other in the world. In fact, the only place he felt more at home was Hogwarts. He really did love this house, and the people that lived here. It made his heart swell just to see the familiar sights and smell the familiar smells of this place. The furniture was old and lumpy, the paint was starting to peel off the walls, and the rug on the floor was threadbare, but he could see through all of that and knew the love that flowed through this place.

A smiling Mrs. Weasley came out of the kitchen to welcome him. After another world famous hug, she asked him if he was hungry.

“Always,” he said, beaming at her. “Of all of the things that could have rubbed off on me from Ron, it had to be his appetite, and not his chess skill.”

She laughed out loud at this and led him to the kitchen.

“I hope you don’t mind some left over lamb stew,” she said. “It’s just the two of us for a while, and I’m afraid I didn’t have time this morning to make a proper lunch.”

“That sounds great to me. I love your stew. Where is everyone today?”

“Ron is helping at the shop again, though I think the twins use him as a test subject more than anything else. They should all be back before supper tonight.”

“That sounds like them. Is Ginny helping them as well?” He tried not to sound too interested.

Mrs. Weasley looked at him a little too shrewdly. “No, she is visiting Luna Lovegood over at The Quibbler.”

Uh oh, he thought. I wonder if she knows something.

“I didn’t know Luna lived around here.” He said as a way of altering the topic.

“Yes, she and her dad live in the village. Ginny and she have known each other for years.”

After that, she and Harry spent some time just talking, mostly about the other family members. Bill was still working for Gingotts in London, and he and Fleur were becoming rather serious. Charlie was still in Romania, but was try to get on with a dragon preserve here in England. Percy still was not talking to the family, and avoided Mr. Weasley whenever they saw each other at the Ministry for Magic. Fred and George were doing well with their shop, and although they still called this house their home, they spent most nights in a flat above the shop.

“I still can’t figure out where they got the money to get started. They won’t tell a soul.”

Harry tried not to blush as she said this. He had not told anyone that he had given them the winnings from the Tri Wizard Tournament the previous year. He supposed the cat would be out of the bag sooner or later, but was not ready to tell anyone yet.

“They do seem to love what they are doing, though. I just wish they had finished school. It is no wonder they wanted to leave I guess. Ron and Ginny have told us how horrible it was for all of you this last year. I imagine they felt it was for the best, and they are making a good living. They are even talking of expanding.”

After a few more minutes of this, and another bowl of stew, Harry went to take his things up to Ron’s room. After he had everything stowed, he came back down.

“Mrs. Weasley?”

“Harry, I told you to call me Molly.”

“Okay, Molly, I wanted to thank you for checking up on me with my aunt. She had been great these last few weeks, but it is nice to know you cared.”

“Harry, you don’t have to thank me for that. I would do that for any of my kids. Even though you don’t have red hair, I still think of you almost as one of my own.”

Harry turned a light shade of red at this. Damn it! Why do I keep blushing lately?

“You have no idea how much that means to me, Molly.”

Molly blushed slightly at this.

“Why don’t you go out and get some fresh air? If you have the mind, maybe you could pick some vegetables from the garden for dinner tonight.”

“That sounds good. Any in particular you want?”

“Just some beans and carrots. Oh, and Harry?” she said as he turned to leave. “That outfit looks nice on you. I’ll bet the girls will like it, too.” At this she smirked at him.

This time his face turned a dark red.

“Remember, Harry. A mum always knows.”

With that he fled the room to the yard out back. As he left, he could hear her laughing.

* * *

After Harry brought the vegetables back in to Molly, he took a little stroll down to the pond. He sat on an old bench and just looked out over the water letting the coolness of the shade and the slight breeze wash over him. He hadn’t been outside all summer, and this felt wonderful. Before long, he dozed off, waking when he heard Molly calling for him. He had just started to dream of chasing a girl through the trees.

He hadn’t realized that he had slept that long out there. It was almost time for dinner and the rest of the family would be home soon. He got up, stretched, and wandered back up to the house.

It seems he had slept even longer than he thought as all four of the youngest Weasleys were now home.

“Hiya, mate.” Ron said as he shook Harry’s hand and slapped him on the back. The youngest Weasley boy looked very happy to see him.

“Harry, m’boy, how ya doing?” this was Fred, or maybe George, he always had a hard time telling them apart.

“What’s the news from muggle land?” The other asked. They both shook his hand warmly.

Last, but certainly not least, Ginny came up and gave him a little hug. “Hi, Harry. How are you?”

“Better now that I am here. It is good to see all of you. How long have you all been home?”

“We just got here. Mom was calling for you as we flooed in.” Ron joined in.

They all passed pleasantries for a while, and then Molly got everyone up. “Get washed, all of you. Your father will be home soon and dinner is almost ready. We’re having pork chops, mashed potatoes, beans and carrots, and for dessert, I baked an apple pie.”

With that being said, everyone rushed upstairs to wash and when they came back down stairs, Mr. Weasley was already sitting at the table. He got up and shook Harry’s hand then the whole family showed their appreciation for Molly’s cooking by eating as much as they could. It never failed to amaze Harry that she could prepare enough food to feed this lot.

As they ate, they all got caught up on their respective summers. Harry told them of the nice time at the Dursley’s. Ron sat with his mouth open at this. He couldn’t believe the change after listening to Harry complaining for the past five years.

At one point, without realizing it, he had started watching Ginny. It was like he was seeing her for the first time. He watched as she ate, thinking that he was a fool for not seeing how pretty she was before. All of the sudden, she looked at him and caught him staring. A curious look crossed her face as he tried to look like he was reaching for the potatoes to cover up. What he managed to do instead was put his hand in the butter dish. He blushed and looked around to see Molly looking at him with a smirk on her face. After that, he used all of his will power to not look at Ginny for more than a glance the rest of the meal.

After the dinner was finished, Harry helped gather the dishes from the table. While he was doing this, Molly stopped beside him.

“I guess turn about is fair play,” she said with a grin.

“Wha…What do you mean?” he asked.

“First she sticks her elbow in the butter during your first stay here, then tonight you do close to the same. What goes around, comes around.”

He tried to cover it up. “I’m not sure what you are talking about.”

“You know. Just so you know, I approve,” She whispered in a conspiring tone.

“You do?”

“Yes, Harry. I do.” She smiled gently at him.

“Thank you.”

With that, she started the dishes washing them selves and she and Harry joined the other in the living room.

As they entered, Fred and George jumped up, grabbed Harry, and started to lead him up to their room.

“We need to talk.”

“In private.”

“Um…alright” Harry was confused.

Ron yelled at them, “HEY! Don’t be too long, it’s been a while since I got to beat him at wizard’s chess.”

“Don’t worry, Ickle Ronnie, he will be back down in plenty of time for his defeat.”

“What makes you think I will lose?” Harry said with a little indignation.

This time it was Ginny who piped up with a sad shake of her head, “Harry, we have been watching you get beaten by Ron for years. It's become a tradition, and you don't mess with tradition?”

Harry did a reasonable impression of a fish on dry land as his mouth slowly opened and closed several times. This caused the whole house to bust out in laughter. The twins could hardly stand as they led Harry upstairs.

After they entered the twin’s bedroom, they cast a locking charm and a silencing charm on the door.

“Harry, we need to talk business,” Fred said.

“We need to go over with you how the place is doing,” George said.

“What do you mean? Why go over it with me?”

Fred, “Well, you are our benefactor.”

George, “And that gives you the right to twenty percent of the profit.”

Fred, “That is assuming there is a profit.”

George, “And assuming we haven’t spent your portion trying to get the attention of the ladies.”

Fred, “Unfortunately, with George’s ugly mug, that takes a lot of money.”

George, “And the same goes for Fred. He chases them away faster than Ron to a buffet.”

“Wait a minute guys. What are you talking about? I didn’t do that to get a cut. I don’t want a percent of the take.”

“Ah, we thought you would say that, didn’t we Fred?”

“Yes, we did, George”

“That is why, without your knowing it, we have been putting the money into your account all along.”

“You will find, that your Gingotts account will keep getting bigger as time goes by.”

“And as you told us when you gave us the money,”

“We don’t want it, and we will be offended if you don’t take it.”

Harry just sat there shaking his head. The generosity of this family was truly amazing.

“Okay, okay, I give. How much money have I made so far?”

“5000 galleons give or take a few.”

Harry could only shake his head more.

After filling Harry in on all of the details, they said it was time to go back downstairs.

Harry stopped them.

“Guys I want to talk to you about something,” he said quietly. “I need to be serious with you for a minute.”

They looked at each other. Even though they were jokesters, they knew when to calm it down.

“What is it?” They said together.

“I have been doing a lot of thinking over the summer. I was not in the best of shape at the onset.”

They nodded, not sure where this was going.

“One of the things I felt worst about was the fact that I never told Sirius how I felt about him. I decided I would not let that happen again. One of the things I decided to do was to tell the people that I care about how I feel about them. You guys get to be the first on that list.”

“Oh, no. Don’t tell me you’re going to get all mushy on us,” Fred said with a swoon.

“Or worse yet, all romantic,” replied George.

Harry laughed a little. “Maybe a little mushy, but definitely not romantic. Look, you guys have always been there for me. You were the ones to help me load my trunk during my first trip to Hogwart’s, you introduced me to my best friend. You made me feel better during the whole ‘Heir of Slytherin’ episode a few years ago. I have been the butt of many of your jokes, and a co-conspirator on some others.”

“What I am trying to say is that I think the world of you guys. You are like family to me. I have often thought of you as being like the cousins you always want to visit because they always keep it fun. What I’m trying to say is… I love you guys.”

The twins just sat there dumbfound for a few seconds. Harry thought that was only time he had seen them silenced.

“He was right,” George said after a minute. “It was mushy..”

“But not romantic.”

“Yeah, thank Merlin.”

“Just save the romantic stuff.”

They finished together, “for our sister.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes you do.”

“We saw your hand in the butter dish.”

“And we saw what caused it.”

“And just so you know..”

“We love you too, Harry.”

With that, they headed back downstairs where certain defeat waited for Harry at the hand of his best friend.

A strange sound invaded Harry’s ears as he woke up the next morning. It took a few seconds for him to place it, but when he did, he smiled into his pillow. It was the sound of Ron’s snores that assailed him. The sound gave him comfort. That sound made him know that he was safe in the Burrow.

A quick glance at the window, and another at his watch, told him it was still early. As he lay there, he heard Molly walk down the stairs to start her day. He knew it was her from the humming that accompanied the creaks on the floorboards. A few minutes later, Mr. Weasley walked down as well.

Harry took this opportunity to get up, get dressed, and visit the loo. Once he had cleaned up, he went down stairs to begin the day. As he was walking down, he saw Ginny coming out of her room on her way to the loo.

“Good Morning, Harry.”

“Morning,” was all he could say. He tried hard not to be to obvious as he looked at her with her hair messed up from sleeping. He decided that, even first thing in the morning, she looked beautiful. Of course, he had to force himself not blush as he thought this.

“I hope Ron’s snoring didn’t keep you awake,” she said with a smile.

“Nah, I’m used to it after spending the last five years sharing a dorm with him. It makes me feel at home.”

Ginny giggled a little at this. When she did her face lit up. It made it him stop breathing for a second or two.

“Ginny?” He started hesitantly. “Are you going to be around later today? I want to talk to you about something.”

“What is it, Harry?”

“Nothing bad, at least, I hope not. I’m going to talk to everyone else, too.”

“All right, I’m helping Fred and George this morning, but should be back mid-afternoon.”

“That sounds great. I’ll talk to you then.”

With that he went on down to the kitchen. As he got there, he heard the shower start, knowing Ginny was starting to get cleaned up.

“Good morning, Mr. Weasley. Good Morning Mrs. Wea…er…Molly,” he corrected as she shot him a look then smiled as he changed it.

Mr. Weasley cleared his throat. “Harry, I think you can call me Arthur, as well.”

“Okay, sir.” He just couldn’t help being polite to them.

“Have a seat, dear. I’ll whip up some more eggs and ham. I wasn’t expecting anyone else to come down for a while. Ginny always cleans up first, and Ron likes to sleep late. The twins already left for their shop.” Molly said.

“I know,” Harry said with a smile. “We have to practically push Ron out of bed at school to get him up for classes.”

They all chuckled at this. None of the Weasleys could resist a good joke about one of their own.

While Molly started to pull out the ingredients, he and Arthur chatted for a few minutes. Finally Harry screwed up his courage.

“Molly, Arthur? Can I talk to you for a few minutes?”

They looked at each other then back at him. Molly walked over, sat a plate of eggs and ham in front of him then sat down next to him.

“What is it, Harry? Is something wrong? Are you in trouble, or something? Are you having dreams again?” she started to ramble nervously.

Arthur put his hand on her arm, “Now, Molly. Let him speak.”

Harry looked at him gratefully.

“It’s nothing bad, actually it’s kinda…I don’t know…good in a way. It’s sort of a continuation of a talk I had with the twins last night.” He was having a hard time looking them in the eye.

Arthur put his hand on Harry’s shoulder. “Son, whatever it is, you can talk to us about it. Whatever it is, we can probably help.”

“Well…Ever since what happened at the Ministry, I have had something nagging at my mind. With Sirius dying, I was in a right state. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep. All I wanted to do was give up. Does that make sense?”

They nodded, looking at him somberly.

“Then something happened. The weight of it hit me one night, and I broke down. That was the first night my Aunt Petunia and I talked. The next day, she invited me down for breakfast. We talked some more. She made me see some things in a new light. It was a couple of days after that when I wrote back to everyone.”

“I think my problem was I never got to tell Sirius how much I cared for him. I never got to tell him that…that…I…loved him.” With this, a lump formed in his throat and ears formed in his eyes. Molly leaned over and gave him a hug. Finding strength from that he pressed on.

“I decided I would not let that happen again. I want everyone to know how much I care for them.”

“Harry,” Molly interrupted him. “I think everyone knows how much you think of them.”

“Maybe, but I don’t want there to be any doubt.” She nodded.

“Molly, do you remember the first time we met?” Again, she nodded. “You were so kind to me even though you didn’t know me from Merlin. And then, you sent me a jumper for Christmas. I was the first present I had ever gotten from an adult, did you know that?”

“No, I just remember Ron saying you didn’t expect anything from the Dursleys.”

“Then the next summer, you welcomed me into your home and thought nothing of it. I can never thank you enough for that.”

Arthur spoke up, “Harry, we were happy to do that for you. There are no thanks needed for that.”

“That is exactly what I mean. The two of you have cared for me like one of your own. Arthur, you were the one to warn me about Sirius the next year. Even against the advice of everyone else. You wanted me to be safe, and you knew that the only way I could be was for me to know what was going on.”

“I just wanted you to be safe.”

“I know, but you didn’t try to keep me in the dark at the same time. You have no idea how much that touched me. What I am trying to say is you treated me like I was one of you children. You have cared for me like I was your own flesh and blood. Even though Sirius was my godfather, I think of you, I love both of you, like second parents. I really just want you to know that I couldn’t ask for better role-models in my life. I am so glad you are in my life.”

With that he looked up at them. Molly was openly crying and Arthur was looking like he was holding back tears at this. It was a few minutes before either one of them could compose themselves.

Finally, Arthur was able to speak, “Harry, What you have just said was one of the most touching things I have ever heard. I am honored that you think of us as parents. I don’t think you could have given us a better compliment. And just so it is all out in the open, we love you like a son as well, even without the red hair.”

Molly had not yet stopped crying. She did, however, jump to her feet and pull Harry into yet another mighty hug. Harry returned it with all of the feeling he could. After what seemed like an hour, they finally parted. Molly wiped her eyes, and turned back to the kitchen to begin preparing more food for the rest of the family.

Arthur smiled at Harry as he sat back down and started to eat. The message in that smile was worth more than anything in the world. They really did think of him as one of their own.

After few minute of eating in silence, Harry was about to take a bite of eggs when Arthur spoke quietly, “So, Harry, Molly tells me you fancy Ginny.”

Harry froze with the fork halfway to his mouth. He faced turned bright red, and the eggs fell off the fork. He slowly looked up to see a look of pure humor on Arthur’s face.

“I…I…um…I…”

“Harry, don’t worry, it’s not me you have to convince. It’s Ginny. Just take it slow, okay?”

Harry could only nod. With that, Arthur got up said his goodbyes and left for work. Harry could swear he heard Arthur bust out laughing as he flooed away.

* * *


As Harry was finishing breakfast, Ginny ran downstairs. She grabbed some toast, ham and some eggs and threw them together in a quick sandwich. Then with a hasty goodbye to Harry and Molly she ran for the fireplace and flooed to the twins’ shop. As she did this Molly muttered under her breath about her “…dainty, little princess…” and “…as bad as Ron…” Harry just chuckled and shook his head.

Harry sat at the table for a while just chatting with Molly. She asked him again if he would pick some vegetables for dinner that night. He agreed, and went to do his “chore”. It was different doing chores here than it was at the Dursley’s. Even though he and Petunia had started getting along, there was a part of him that had not liked doing his chores on Privet Drive. The past angst and hurt had made him resent it still. Here, though, he felt like it was truly appreciated. He hadn’t been kidding when he had told Molly she could ask him to do anything. There is nothing he wouldn’t do for this family if it was in his power.

Around ten o’clock, he re-appeared in the kitchen with a basket full of parsnips, carrots, onions, lettuce, and the first tomatoes of the year, he saw Ron coming down the stairs. His eyes were still full of sleep, and he had the same grouchy look that he always had in the morning at school.

“Morning, Sunshine,” Harry said as Ron plopped into a chair at the table.

Ron just glared back at him and grunted.

After Ron had eaten a few bites of food, and had some juice, he started to wake up a little bit. He and Harry began to chat about everything and nothing.

“Hey, Ron. After you get cleaned up, you want to go flying for a little bit?”

“Sounds good to me,” he replied as he stuffed the last of the ham into his mouth.

After Ron went back upstairs, Harry looked around the kitchen. Molly was kneading some bread, and on the counter was a large roast that looked like it was getting ready to go in the oven. Harry remembered that he had asked Molly if he could invite Professors Lupin and Dumbledore to dinner. He felt a twinge of guilt that Molly was buying such a large piece of meat for the dinner.

“Molly?” he started slowly.

“Yes, Harry,” she looked up from the dough.

“I don’t know how to say this, and I don’t want to sound insulting or anything, but if I could help pay for dinner tonight…since it was my idea…I would appreciate it.”

She looked at him with some humor and a touch of pink in her cheeks.

“Harry,” She said gently. “That is sweet of you, and I know you mean in the most sincere way, but you don’t have to worry. We have never had much money, especially with seven kids around the house, but that has changed a little. Along with the fact that most of the kids are out of the house, and Arthur got a small raise, the twins have insisted on paying us a room and board fee even though the don’t stay here most nights. We are actually doing much better financially. We are even going to start fixing the place up a little.”

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. First because she had not gotten mad at him for suggesting it, and second because he was happy that they were doing better. He knew how tough it had been for them.

“That’s great. Be sure to let me know if you need help with the projects. After growing up like I did, I am pretty handy around the house and don’t mind doing just about anything.” It was a way he saw that he could, in part, re-pay them for their kindness and love.

Molly laughed at this. “Harry, like I said before, be careful volunteering like that, I will hold you to it.”

Harry just beamed back, “Anytime.”

Not long after, Ron came bounding down the stairs with both his and Harry’s brooms in his hands.

“Let’s go!” The boys both rushed out the door and mounting their brooms, raced off to the grove that served as a makeshift Quidditch pitch. They played tag for a little bit, then practiced some keeper drills. Ron had definitely improved over the past year. Harry felt that if he continued to play like this, they would have a great team this year even if his ban was not lifted.

After an hour or so of doing this, they took a little break and settled to the ground to rest under the shade of a tree. As they let the cool breeze wash over them, Harry tried to think of how to say what he was going to say to his best friend.

‘Hey Ron…I wanted to talk to you about something, something important.”

Ron opened one eye and looked over at Harry. “Let me guess, you want to tell me how that even though you were depressed at the beginning of the year, you came around and wanted to let everyone know how much you mean to them. And now, it’s my turn, and you love me. Am I right?”

For the second time in the last two days, Harry did a passing impersonation of a fish out of water.

“How…what…when…how did you know that?” Ron was holding his sides as he laughed hard at his best friend.

After he had settled back down, Ron started in again. “The twins told last night what you had said to them. You were in the loo, and they thought I should be forewarned. Harry, you don’t have to do this, everyone who is your friend knows how you feel about them.”

“I know they do. But…it’s like this…I feel…I don’t know…like I need to tell them and you. Does that make sense? I mean, I never told Sirius, and I feel bad that I didn’t. I just want to make sure everyone knows. So now, you get to be quiet and listen.”

Ron just chuckled at his friend lack of composure, but he nodded and kept quiet.
“I don’t know if you realize this, but you were the first real friend I ever had. When I met you on the train five years ago, I was so scared that I wouldn’t fit in. You made me feel comfortable, and helped me in more ways than you can know. You have always been there for me. Even when we weren’t speaking during fourth year, you still found a way to warn me about the dragons.”

Harry stopped and took a deep breath before he continued. “You have been more than a friend to me, more than a best friend, you have been a brother to me. I couldn’t have asked for a better one, if I could have ordered from a catalog. I love you, mate, there’s no other way of putting it.”

While Harry spoke, Ron’s expression had turned more somber. “Bloody hell, Harry. The twins told me it was rough, but this…I mean…I don’t know what to say. You know that I feel the same way, right? I may have five brothers already, but you became my sixth. I still say one of the luckiest days of my life was that day on the train.”

They both looked at each other, both of them more than a little choked up. Slowly Harry extended his hand for a shake. Ron reached up grabbed his hand, then without warning, pulled Harry into a brotherly hug. It was the kind of hug that only brothers and teammates could give.

As they parted, both a little embarrassed, they could hear Molly calling them. Ron wiped his eyes and said, “Come on Harry, I race you to the house.” They jumped on their brooms and sped away, laughing as they went.

Harry and Ron laughed all the way to the burrow. Harry reveled in the fact that he could be so at ease anyplace in the world. It was the most relaxed he had been since before his fourth year at school. Here at the Burrow, he was just Harry, just another teenager.

As they stepped into the kitchen, Harry was immediately besieged by a mass of curly brown hair. Hermione had launched herself at him and embraced him in a tight hug.

“It’s so good to see you guys,” she said excitedly.

“Nice to see you, too, Hermione,” he laughed as he hugged her back.

She turned to hug Ron and Harry noticed it was a little more tentative on both their parts. He also noticed the slight flush on both of their cheeks as they broke apart. “Hmm...That is interesting.” He thought as they tried not to look at each other. He silently wondered if his friends had a little thing for each other. The thought was pushed aside the next moment as Molly told them to get cleaned up for lunch.

While they were eating lunch, they caught up on their respective summers. Hermione had been on holiday with her parents to the coast. She had spent most of her time on the beach reading and, as a result, had almost finished her summer reading list. Harry and Ron both teased her about not being able take a break from studying even on holiday.

“Well someone has to be able to help you with your homework,” she teased back.

She scolded Harry for a few minutes for not writing back for the first couple of weeks, but let it drop when she saw the contrite look on his face.

Just they were finishing, they heard the floo connect. Molly went to answer it and they could hear a muffled conversation. When she came back into the kitchen she spoke to Ron, “Old Mr. Barmes wanted to know if you could help him move some boxes in his shed, I said I would send you over. He told me it would only take about 30 minutes or so.”

“But, Mum, Hermione just got here. Couldn’t I do it tomorrow?”

“No. He said he needed it done today. Besides, you still have to work off the cost of breaking his weather vane last year while riding your broom. How you couldn’t see it is beyond me,” she said sternly. Her tone left no room for argument.

“All right, I’m going. Sorry guys, I’ll see you in a half hour,” He said to Harry and Hermione.

“That’s okay, Ron. I needed to talk to Hermione anyway.” Harry said as he glanced at Hermione. She looked back at him with a slightly puzzled look in her eyes.

“Oh, Merlin. Here he goes again. Careful, Mione, looks like it’s your turn. Don’t worry; it will only hurt for a minute.” Ron chuckled as he said this. Hermione looked completely confused now.

“Oh, get out of here, you prat,” Harry said as he blushed.

After Ron had left, Harry turned to Hermione, “Feel like a walk?”

“I guess,” she replied tentatively.

They went out the back door, and walked down by the pond. When they got to the bench, Harry sat down and motioned for her to do the same. She did so with a little bit of hesitation, after all, it wasn’t like Harry to initiate a conversation.

She looked over at him and could tell he was nervous. They had known each other for a long time, and couldn’t think of a time when he looked quite this antsy. What could it be? She thought to herself.

“Um…Hermione...um…First off, I want to say ‘I’m sorry’ for not writing back earlier this year. I know I should have, but there was so much going on …up here.” He touched the side of his head, “that I wasn’t thinking straight. I was having a hard time with everything that happened at the end of the year, and I was really confused. Can you forgive me?”

“Of course I can, Harry. I was never mad at you…okay, maybe a little…but I was more worried about you.”

He smiled. “Thank you for that. I was a right mess there for a while, but I came around. One of the things that had me going mental was the fact that I never got to tell Sirius how much he meant to me. So after I came around, I decided to let the people in care about know how I felt about them. Do you understand?”

“Not really. Your friends know you care about them, Harry. I mean, you show it in a lot of small ways. You never had to say it for us to know.”

“I just don’t want there to be any doubt. I want to tell the ones I care about, how much I love them.” At this, her eyes started to get a little wider. “I want them to know how much I care.” They got a little wider yet. “Hermione, I love you…”

“HARRY! WAIT!” At this he looked up sharply at her, a little confused.

“Harry, I care about you, and we have been good friends for a long time, but I don’t think I want anything…more…than that. I’m sorry, I don’t want to hurt you or anything, but I just can’t see us as anything more than friends.”

At this, Harry’s eyes flew wide open. “Wait, Hermione, I wasn’t…”

“Its okay, Harry. I don’t want you to be hurt, but I just can’t return those types of feelings for you. I hope you understand. I think of you like a brother, and I just can’t see that being any other way.” She started to get up and head back to the house, tears starting in her eyes.

“HERMIONE! Wait a minute.” She stopped and turned around to find Harry laughing so hard he was about to fall off the bench. She watched him for a minute or so wondering if she had forced him over the edge.

When he stopped laughing enough to speak he said between chuckles, “Hermy, I am not IN love with you. (giggle) I wasn’t trying to tell you that. (snort) Please sit back down.”

As his words sank in, she turned dark red. “Oh, Harry! I am so embarrassed. The way you started talking, I thought you were going to ask me to…well…be your…um…well…girlfriend.” He cracked up again. “Harry! Stop laughing at me! This isn’t funny!”

He forced himself to stop, but only barely. “Look, I’m sorry I laughed, all right? What I was really trying to say, although, I guess not very well, was that I think of you like a sister, too.” She buried her face in her hands. “Hey, don’t be embarrassed by that, I can see why you thought I was going to say that, okay?” She looked up and nodded.

“Hermione, I never had a family growing up. My relatives never treated me very good, at least until recently, and I always wanted that. You came into my life and have given me something I always wanted, a sister. You’ve been a great one. You’ve pushed me to be better at school. You have tried, for the most part, to keep me out of trouble. But when the chips were down, you have been right there beside me.”

“I do love you, Hermione, more than you could ever know. I love you as much as I could if we had the same parents, and THAT is what I wanted to tell you.” After that, he was quiet.

He looked at her, and her lower lip started to tremble. As soon as it did she threw herself at him and hugged him tight. “Harry, I think that is the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me. I was scared that it was going to be the other thing and ruin what we do have. You mean too much to me for that to happen, it would have broke my heart.”

“Hermy, you’re rambling.”

“Sorry. Harry? I love you, too, but why are you doing this? What aren’t you telling me?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” he said, suddenly wary.

“Harry James, there is something you’re not saying. I know you too well.”

“Well, you don’t know me that well if you thought I was in love with you,” he smirked trying to change the topic.

“Oh, ha ha. Spill it, what’s up?” He could tell her temper was starting to rise, and he knew she would not give up.

Slowly he replied, “You’re right, there is something else, but that is something I am going to tell everyone at once tonight. I just think it will be easier to do it that way. I’m not trying to duck it, but, please, let it wait until tonight, okay?” His eyes were pleading.

She looked at him thoughtfully for a moment. “Okay, I let it go for now.”

This time, he hugged her. “Thanks.”

“What are sisters for? Come on, Ron should be back soon,” she chuckled.

As they walked back to the house, Harry got a mischievous gleam in his eye. “So, how long has my darling sister had a thing for Ron?”

She stopped dead in her tracks, mouth open and blushing furiously. “How did you…”

Remembering Molly’s words from the day before, he said, “A brother always knows.” With that, he continued walking to house.

* * *

After Ron got back from the neighbor’s house, the three friends went out to the garden to relax. They talked about whatever came to mind, and it usually had no significance. It was what friends do when they are relaxed.

Every now and then, Harry would catch Hermione’s eye and she would blush a little. Whenever this happened, he would smile a little and wink. Ron, on the other hand, seemed oblivious to this. Harry did, however, catch him looking at Hermione a time or two. He thought he saw a little bit of longing in Ron’s eyes when he saw this. He just smiled and shook his head when he saw this.

Around three o’clock, Ginny came walking out of the house. When Harry saw her, he felt a wave of nervousness flutter in his stomach. She looked pretty with the sunlight glinting off of her hair. He had never noticed before how the sun brought out streaks of gold mixed in with the red. He thought the color was very nice indeed.

She walked over, greeted Hermione with a hug, and sat down with them. They all sat there talking for a little while. Harry could sense her glancing at him from time to time, and he knew she was remembering that he had wanted to speak with her this afternoon. Finally he screwed up what little Gryffindor courage he had left.

“Hey Gin, you…um…feel like going for a little walk?” He tried to not sound too nervous.

She thought for a few seconds as she chewed the inside of her lip. “I guess I could, although I had wanted to go in and scrub the loo,” she deadpanned.

Harry’s face fell, but then he heard Ron and Hermione start laughing. He glanced back at Ginny and saw a twinkle in her eyes. He couldn’t believe he had fallen for that, if only for a second.

“Of course I’ll go for a walk. I told you this morning I would. Come on,” she said as she got to her feet.

Harry stood up and they started off to the pond. Behind them he heard Ron whisper something to Hermione, and then heard her exclaim, “What? No way!” Then Ron started laughing.

As Harry and Ginny got to the pond, she made a sharp turn and walked into the grove of trees that flanked the pond. She walked up a path that wound through the trees and up over a little hill. Harry had never been up here.

“Ginny? Where are we going?”

She looked at him a smiled. “There is a place that I go to when I want to be alone and think. It’s quiet and peaceful. It’s just up at the top of this hill.”

Harry followed her until they got to the top of the hill. When they got there, they were standing on top of a little bluff. You could see several fields surrounded by trees from there. The view was very nice.

Ginny sat down, letting her feet hang over the side. Harry sat down next to her and looked out over the fields. Ginny surprised him by reaching into a hole in the rocks and pulling out two muggle sodas. She handed one to Harry and opened the other for herself. They were ice cold. He looked at her with a question in his eyes.

She started laughing. “I charmed the hole to keep them cold. I have a weakness for this cola. This is the only place I can keep it without Ron drinking them all.”

Harry chuckled and took a drink. The burning in the back of his throat felt good. He had rarely got to drink them at the Dursleys as Dudley would hog them all. He drank a couple of them this summer while talking with Petunia.

“Harry, you said you wanted to talk to me. What is it about?”

“Several things, actually. First off, I wanted to thank you for writing to me this summer. I know I was a prat at the beginning with not writing back. It was actually your second letter that got it through my thick head to write.” She grimaced when he said this. “No, don’t feel bad about that. That was exactly what I needed at the time. I am glad that you don’t know how to make a howler, though,” he said as he smiled.

She grinned from ear to ear. “Fat lot you know. Two days after I sent that letter, I got Fred and George to teach me how to make one. If you hadn’t written back, I was sending you one the next day.”

“Remind me to thank them for that,” he said sarcastically. She snorted into her soda.

“Gin, I’ve kind of been working my way through your family with these talks. I want to let everyone know what they mean to me. You are the last one, since I really don’t know Bill and Charlie all that well, and I don’t think I’ll be speaking to Percy anytime soon. You know, your family means the world to me.”

“You mean the world to us, too,” she said solemnly.

He felt a little lump in his throat when she said this.

“There's more, though. I feel like I need to tell each person what they mean to me, and that’s why I wanted to talk to you.”

He paused for a minute to try to think about how to continue. She sat there saying nothing, but waiting for him to collect his thoughts. He hadn’t realized until now that she had put her hand on his in a comforting way.

Finally he was able to go on. “Do you know how much you have changed to me?”

She shook her head.

“I remember the first time I came to stay here with your family. You were so shy and quiet.” She had just taken a drink when he said this, and she practically spit it out.

“Harry, I think you are the only person who has ever described me as shy and quiet,” she laughed.

“You were when I first knew you. Although, I seem to recall a small crush you had at the time.”

She was now blushing scarlet. “You would have to remember that.”

“Hey, even though I didn’t say so, I thought it was sweet. You have to remember how much I hated attention though.””

“I know, I wasn’t really subtle, was I? Especially with that singing Valentine.”

He laughed at the memory. “Right, how did that go again? Let’s see, His eyes are as green…” Whap! She smacked his arm.

“You don’t have to rub it in, Potter!” She glared at him, although her eyes were dancing again.

“I’m sorry. But that is what I am talking about. My perception of you has changed a lot. You went from that, to now you can tell me off without batting an eyelash. I’m glad I have got to know the real Ginny Weasley. She’s a great person. You always seem to know how to get through to me, you know that?”

She smiled warmly at him.

“Ginny, there’s something else I have to tell you. I don’t really know how to say it.”

She got a worried look in her eye. “What is it, Harry? Are you in some kind of trouble?”

“No, not any more than usual, anyway.” She looked relieved at that. “I know the crush you had on me is gone. You have been dating other guys. I know you are seeing Dean now.”

“Harry, I…”

“Wait! Let me finish. Please?”

She nodded.

“Like I said, I know you don’t think of me like that any more. But I feel it is only right to tell you, that now the tables have turned. Do you understand?”

She looked puzzled and shook her head.

“Well…um…it’s like this. Sometime this last spring it started, and it…well…it’s grown since then. Sometime during that time, I…um…I…well…I started having feelings for you. Not like Ron’s little sister, not like a friend. I think I have fallen for you.”

There! He said it. He looked up at her. Her mouth was open in shock.

She started to speak hesitantly, “Harry. I don’t know what to say. I mean…”

“I’m not asking you to say anything, Gin. In fact, I don’t want you to.”

“What? Why?”

“There is something I need to tell everyone at dinner tonight. No matter what you would say, you need to hear that before you say anything. And, I am not telling you this to try to take you from Dean. I couldn’t do that to you or him. I just feel it is a little dishonest if I don’t tell you. Besides, tonight is going to be hard enough without trying to do it after you have told me that you don’t think of me that way. You can break my heart tomorrow, okay?”

He tried to look at her, but he couldn’t. If he would have, he would have seen a tear in the corner of her eye.

They sat there for a little while not looking at each other. Finally Ginny stood up, and reached to give Harry a hand.

As he stood up, she leaned in and gave him a small hug. “I’ll let it go for now, Harry, but we will talk about this again, all right?”

He nodded. She smiled at him sadly, then turned and started to walk back to the house. He waited a few minutes then started back, as well.

Harry took his time as he wandered back to the house. He thought about the day’s conversations and how they had gone. All in all, he thought they had gone well. To his relief, no one had laughed at him, or belittled him. He got the sense they knew he was building to something, and were letting him take his own route there. Hermione had confronted him, but that was to be expected. She always wanted the answers. She wouldn’t be herself if she wasn’t trying to get information.



For the most part, he felt good about having told everyone how he felt. He knew full well that what he was going to tell them tonight might cause them to pull away from him a little, and if the truth be told, he almost hoped for it. Anything that could keep them safer was worth it. He knew that being close to him made them more of a target. He also knew them well enough to know that it would take a lot for them to back away from someone because of Voldemort. He could not help hoping that they would try to be safer, though.



He was starting to get a little anxious for the dinner tonight. He took his time as he walked back and tried to focus his thoughts. He would wait until everyone was almost done eating. That way, he wouldn’t be interrupted, and everyone could still enjoy their dinner.



As he approached the house, he started to get a little more nervous. It was almost time to eat, and everyone would be there by now. He hoped they would let him until he chose to start talking about it. As he reached the pond, a familiar figure appeared before him. The sandy hair, patched robes, and gentle look could only be one person.



“Professor Lupin! It’s good to see you.” Harry ran the last few feet, and warmly shook the werewolf’s hand.



“Hi, Harry. It’s been too long. How are you holding up?”



“I’m good. How are you?”



“As well as can be expected, I suppose.” There was a touch of sadness in Remus’s eyes.



“Professor? How are you handling everything with Sirius being…gone?”



A dry chuckle met Harry’s words. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that? I mean, I am the adult, I should be checking on you.”



“He may have been my Godfather, but he was like a brother to you. You had known him for years.”



“It was hard at first, but I realized that I was given something with him that can never be taken away. I was given a second chance to know him. I never thought I would have that again when he went to Azkaban. I thought I had lost him forever. We were able to have a couple of more years together, I am grateful for that. I also know that he died doing something he believed in. It still hurts, but it gets easier all the time.



“How are you holding up, Harry?” There was more than a touch of concern in his eyes.



“I am better now than I was at the beginning of the summer. Some talks with my aunt, and a couple of near howlers from friends got me thinking in the right direction again. I was almost ready to give up at the start, though.”



Remus looked a little stunned. “Your aunt? Is this the same aunt that treated you miserably your whole life? They same one that made you wear your cousin’s old worn out clothing?”



Harry chuckled. “Yes, she was actually very kind this year. We patched a lot of bridges, and became closer. She even bought me these clothes. She also told me the reason she did what she did was that she blamed me for my mother’s death.” The last part was said quietly while he looked at his shoes.



“Harry? Look at me. You are not to blame for any of this. Your mother and father both died because they wanted to protect you, and so did Sirius. That does not mean it is your fault. They loved you enough to put you before themselves. That’s what happens when you love.”



For all of his improvement the past couple of weeks, Harry realized in that moment that he was still not done grieving. Tears came to his eyes as he started to sob. He felt Remus pull him into a hug, and Harry broke down at last and let the emotion overtake him. The pain that he had bottled up flowed out of him through his tears, and he clutched the man who was his parent’s friend to him as he wept.



After a few minutes, he was able to pull himself together. He straightened up and wiped his eyes, and saw that Remus had been crying as well. It was what they had both needed, to share the pain of loss with some who might understand. It made Harry realize that what he was going to say next was absolutely the right thing to do.



“R-Remus?” The older man smiled warmly at him. “With Sirius being gone, I had something I wanted to ask you.”



“Anything, Harry.”



“Well, Sirius was my godfather, and with him gone, I was wondering if you…If you would take over…I mean if you want to…if you would let me think the same way of you?”



Remus got misty-eyed once more. “Do you know how close it came to being me that was your official godfather? No? Lily and James couldn’t decide who to pick, so they left it up to us. We argued for a week about it and then we decide to settle it the Marauder way.”



“And what, pray tell, is the Marauder way?”



“A one week prank war. I was leading after four days, having Sirius go bald just before a date, but I forgot the full moon was that week. When I woke up the last morning, which was the last day of the prank war, he had slipped Polyjuice to me just before I woke up. When I looked in the mirror, I saw Snape looking back at me. He never would tell me how he got some hair from that git. He only said that some grease-proof tongs and rubber gloves were involved.” Harry was laughing by this time. That sounded like something Sirius would do.



“After that, I had to concede. He became your godfather with the understanding I would take over if he could no longer fulfill his duties. So, to answer your question, I have always thought of you like a godson, even if it wasn’t official. I would be honored if you thought the same of me.”



“Thank you, Remus. Does this mean I can call you ‘Uncle Moony’?”



“Only if you don’t want me to answer.” They both laughed.



“Harry, there is one other thing I need to discuss with you. Next Monday is going to be the reading of Sirius’s will. I am the Executor of the will, so I know that other than some specific things he left for people in The Order, he left everything but a few thousand galleons, which he left to me, to you. You will need to be present at the reading for it to take effect.”



Harry looked at him sadly. “I’ll be there, just tell me when and where.”



“I will.”



They both looked out across the pond without talking for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts. The sun was getting low in the sky, and the reflection off the pond was like a mirror. The serenity of the moment was disturbed by Molly calling them to dinner. They both stood and headed toward the lopsided house.



Remus stopped Harry after a few steps. “Do you know why Ginny came into the house, grabbed Hermione, drug her up to her room, all without saying anything to anyone else?”



“N-no, not really.” Once again, he was blushing scarlet.



* * *



The aromas that were coming from the kitchen were enough to make one’s mouth water. Harry could not think of a time when he had smelt anything so wonderful. As they walked in the house, he could tell he was not the only one affected by the smell. Ron’s eyes kept shifting to the table, and even the twins seemed to be anxious to move that direction.



Everyone was there, including Professor Dumbledore, and Molly told all of them to get cleaned up for dinner. Everyone bolted to wash up, with Ron grumbling that it was “…about time they came in…” and “…dying of starvation…” Hermione smacked him in the back of the head as she smiled warmly at him. Harry could tell she was not upset with Ron. He did notice a twinkle in her eye that he did not recognize when she looked back at him as they went upstairs.



Professor Dumbledore walked over to Harry and reached out to shake his hand. Harry took it and shook it warmly.



“Thank you for coming, Sir.”



“I would never miss a chance to sample some of Molly’s wonderful cooking. Although, I think she may have outdone herself tonight, judging by the wonderful aroma.”



“Yes, sir.”



“Harry? Are you sure you want to tell everyone tonight?” the wizened Professor asked quietly.



Harry nodded and said quietly, “They are the closest thing to family I have, Sir. They have a right to know what I am up against so they can protect themselves. Being close to me makes them bigger targets.”



“I understand. I may not agree whole-heartedly, but it is your decision. I know you can trust everyone here, and I will stand by you no matter what.”



“Thank you for understanding, Professor.”



“Harry, while we are not at school I would be pleased if you would call me Albus. We are past the point in our relationship for the other formalities.”



“I’ll try, Sir.”



“Now, I believe Ronald has been kept drooling for far too long. Shall we?” Dumbledore said, motioning to the table.



Everyone was just sitting down as the two entered they kitchen. Harry let the Professor take the seat at the end of the table and he took the only other empty seat. It wasn’t until he sat down that he realized he was seated next to Ginny. He glanced at her, and she smiled back at him.



On his other side was Remus. Across from him and Ginny, Ron and Hermione were sitting next to each other. On Ron’s other side were the twins. Arthur was at the other end of the table, and Molly was next to him, and beside Remus. Harry wondered if this arrangement was by chance, or by design.



The food tasted better than it smelled, and everyone ate with gusto. Conversation flowed up and down the table. The twins were having Remus tell them of stories from his Hogwarts days. Harry listened to every word as all the stories included his father and sometimes his mother.



Hermione had tried to draw Dumbledore into a conversation about house elf rights, but the Professor artfully dodged the topic. Soon he added some stories of his own about when the Marauders were in school. Harry kept noticing Hermione glancing between himself and Ginny, smirking whenever she did.



All too soon, everyone was full and Molly was dishing up treacle tart for all to enjoy. Harry knew the time had come for him to say what he needed to say. He looked at his dessert for a few minutes while trying to collect his thoughts. He then noticed that the table had gone quiet, and when he looked up, he saw that everyone was waiting for him to start talking. He felt Ginny’s hand slip into his and felt her give it a reassuring squeeze.



“I guess you are all wondering why I wanted to talk to everyone tonight.” As he spoke, he looked around the room at everyone there. He saw looks of concern mixed with affection in all of their eyes.



“What I have to say tonight is not easy for me, but I feel you have the right to know. I have tried to tell you all how much you mean to me these past couple of days. The people that are here at this table I feel are family to me, but there are some things you need to know so you can decide how close you want to be with me.”



At this, Molly raised her voice from down the table. “Harry James Potter! There is nothing you can tell us that would make us not want to as close to you as we already are!”



“Molly, calm down, let’s let him speak.” Arthur once again tried to calm her down. Harry guessed he had had a lot practice over years at this.



Harry looked down for a second before continuing. “Have any of you every wondered why Voldemort…” there were several gasps around the table, “…seems to always try to come after me?” There were some nods around the table.



“There is more to it than just me surviving his curse when I was a baby. You see…He went there that night…to…to…kill me. I know everyone thinks he went there to kill my parents, but the truth is, they just got in the way. I was his target that night.” Harry was looking at his plate at this point, but heard several gasps of surprise.



“There is a reason he wanted to kill me.” Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself to say the next part. “Sometime just before I was born a prophesy was made that connected him and me. That is what he was trying to get that night at the Ministry.”



“I will not give you the exact words of it, but it stated that a child would be born at the end of July with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord. It said that he would be born to parent who had defied Voldemort three times. It also said that Voldemort would mark the child but that the child would have ‘a power the Dark Lord knows not’. It went on to say that either of them must kill the other and that neither could live until they did.”



Harry looked up at this and tried to gauge the reaction around the table. Remus looked thoughtful, Molly was sniffing back tears, Arthur looked almost mad, and the twins were looking more serious than they ever had. Ron looked like he wanted to hit something while Hermione had her mouth open in shock. As he looked at Dumbledore, he saw the professor looking older than he could remember. Lastly he looked at Ginny. Her eyes were closed tightly like she was trying to keep tears from forming. It was then that he noticed she had not let go of his had.



A voice at the other end of the table brought Harry’s attention back to that end. Arthur spoke quietly, but in the silence of the room it still sounded loud. “Harry, why does this have any bearing on how close to you we should be?”



He thought for a moment, then said, “Look at the Weasley family clock. Right now all hands are pointing to ‘Mortal Peril’. It there was something worse than that, being close to me would make the hands point there. It could even be that being close to me is what is causing the hands to point there now.”



Harry heard a sound like a cat hissing come from across the table. “Is THAT why you told us all how you feel? Were you trying to tell us goodbye?” He looked up to see a furious Hermione glaring at him.



Taken aback, he held his hands up in front of him. He spoke softly, “No, it’s not. I wanted everyone to know how I felt in case that is what happens.” She glared even harder at him, this time joined by Ron. “Look, I see this ending one of three ways: I kill him, he kills me, or we kill each other.” His temper was rising a little now. “If you look at it that way, the odds are not in my favor. Sixty seven percent chance I don’t make it. The good news is, looking at it that way, there is a sixty seven percent chance he won’t be around either. I have come to terms with the fact I may die, but want the people I love to be safe. That means the people at this table. If putting distance between us makes you all safer, then I am all for it.”



At this, Harry stood up. His temper dissipating, he spoke softly, “I want you all to think about it. I love you all, but I want you safe. I will love you no matter what you decide.”



With that, he turned and walked outside. They needed time to think and talk, and he needed some air. As he walked out the door, he could hear Molly crying, and others sniffing. He did not hear a chair scrape the floor as it was pushed back. He walked down to the pond, sat down on the bench, and buried his head in his hands. He hoped they chose well.

Harry sat with his head in his hands for several minutes. He was willing the tears to stay away. He had done it. He had told the ones he loved the awful truth. He had let them know in no uncertain terms that he was a marked man and that he had to face this horrible task at some time or another. He must become a killer or be killed himself.

It seemed like something out of a movie. He had a hard time reconciling the idea in his own mind. He had told them that he understood that he may die, but did he really? Did he know, truly, what he had to do? Was he even capable of doing what he knew he must? Doubts began to creep into his thoughts.

How does one kill when he hated death? How do you find the malice of heart to finish off another human being? Where would he find the strength to deliver the final blow? All of these thoughts began to race through his mind at top speed. He could feel his pulse quicken and a knot tighten in his stomach. What now?

His thoughts drifted back to a time when he did kill, the time when he and his friends had saved the Sorcerer’s Stone in his first year. He looked at that differently, however. It had not been his intention to kill Quirrell, only to stop him. It had been purely chance that what he had done had ended a life.

Harry sat back and looked up at the sky. Darkness had fallen while they had eaten dinner. A three quarter moon was beginning to rise in the east. It caused the edges of the few clouds in the sky to glow silver against the ebony of the starlit sky. The thought struck him that in another week Remus would have to suffer a full moon. He felt sorry that his friend and adoptive godfather would have to suffer through that alone.

He did not know how long he had sat there when he heard the crunch a shoe on the path behind him. He looked up to see Professor Dumbledore walking toward him. He started to stand up to greet the wizened man.

“Please stay seated, Harry.” The professor said politely. “I have a couple of things to discuss with you before I depart for the evening.”

“Of course, Prof…I mean, A-Albus”, it felt awkward to use the man’s first name. Dumbledore smiled and showing a nimbleness of a much, much younger man, plopped down on the grass beside the bench.

“A beautiful night, is it not, Harry? I often sit on the grass by the lake at Hogwarts during the summer and look up at the stars. I find it peaceful and relaxing. There are times I wish, however, that I could read the stars as the centaurs do so that I might find some meaning in this world. Alas, I do not have that talent, so I must try to deduce the outcome of events the old-fashioned way, by trying to puzzle them out.”

Harry sat quietly. He was used to this man saying things cryptically, and knew that he would get to the point eventually.

“I can sense your despair. I can feel that you do not know how you are going to accomplish this great task that had been set before you, am I right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“That is understandable, Harry. I had those same feelings when I knew I had to face Grindelwald. I did not know how I was to defeat a man such as that. I spent many days and weeks trying to figure that out, and I was considerably older than you are now. I had years of study and training under by belt, but I still felt that perhaps I was not ready. Then I realized something.”

Harry got a hopeful look in his eye.

“I realized I did not have to do it alone. There were people willing to fight with me, beside me. There were people I could trust to stand with me until the end. You have that as well. I hope you gain the understanding that nothing like this can be accomplished alone, and that you have friends that will stand with you regardless of the out come.”

Harry sighed and looked out across the pond like he was studying the stillness of the surface. “I only want them to be safe.”

“You cannot make that choice for them, Harry. All you can do is give them the option and let them make the decision. If they choose to stand with you, then accept that help.”

“I will try, sir. There is a part of me that hopes they will pull back, though. I guess it is part of what Hermione calls my ‘saving people thing’.”

At this, the professor chuckled, “Every hero has that, Harry, and whether or not you want the title, that is what you are. It is, as I have said before, the difference between doing what is right, and what is easy, and you have always tried to do what was right.”

“Not always, sir. I did not do the right thing in leading my friends into danger. They could have, and rightly should have, been killed. I did not do the right thing in not trying harder with to learn Occlumency from Snape.”

“Professor Snape, Harry”

“Yes, sir. I also did not treat you right once we were back in your office that night. I feel bad about the way I behaved, and wanted to tell you that I am sorry. I guess I still have a long way to go with learning to control my emotions.”

“Harry, you put way too much upon yourself. If I may be so bold, you do not have the highly strategic mind that your friend, Ronald, has, nor do you have the vast intellect that your other friend, Hermione, does. Not that you are deficient, but they are better in those areas. They, however, look to you as their leader. Why is that?”

“I don’t know.”

“It is because that they trust you, even more than themselves, to do what is right at the time. They approached you to teach the D. A. Yes, I know about that. Why? Because even with Hermione's vast knowledge of spells, the other students would not have been as eager to learn from her as they were from you. They knew that even the other students looked to you, Harry Potter, as a leader.”

“Regardless of what was being said in the Daily Profit, the other students still believed in you enough to lead them in that act of rebellion. They did this not because you are “The Boy Who Lived”. They did this because in the time they have known you they have learned to trust you. It is because they have always seen you try to do the right thing.”

“I want you to understand this, leaders make mistakes. You will never have all of the answers, and in those times you have to go with your instincts. It was your instinct, Harry, which allowed your friends to survive that night. It was what you had taught them that gave them enough skill to hold the Deatheaters off until help arrived.”

“As to going there, you were tricked in a very calculated way, covering a large period of time. More experienced wizards than you yourself have fallen victim to it. You have nothing to be ashamed of.”

“As to your outburst in my office that night, you needed to get that out of your system. I am not upset about it as long as my candy dish survived, and it did. Besides, half of the things you destroyed, I have no idea what they were for.”

Harry smiled weakly. “Thanks for understanding, Sir. You know that despite what I said that night, I have nothing but respect for, don’t you?”

“It warms my heart to hear that. I was afraid that after what I told you that night, about my decisions concerning you, that I had lost that.”

“Never, sir.”

“Good! Now, on to other things. I said before that I had a couple of things to discuss with you. First off, I will tell you that the ban on you playing Quidditch has been lifted, so I expect to see you flying well this year.”

Harry’s heart gave a leap at this news. He had hoped it would happen, but still harbored some fear that it would not.

“Secondly, I wish to tutor you in some private lessons this year. I hope they will give you some insight into what you must do in the future. These will be above and beyond you academic studies. I hope this is acceptable to you.”

“Yes, sir. What kind of lessons will I be learning?”

“It will not be so much lessons, as giving you information that may help you not only complete your task, but maybe survive it as well. I will let you know the time of each session.”

“And lastly, I hope that next weekend I can ask you to accompany me in visiting an old friend to try to persuade him into joining us on staff at Hogwarts this year. I think that if you go with me, it will give him the…ah…incentive…to take time out of his schedule to help broaden the young minds of you and your peers. Will you help me with this?”

“If you think it will help, I will try. Sir.”

“I do. I think only someone of your standing will coax him.”

“I will do what I can.”

“Excellent. I will return to collect you next Saturday at 7:00 P.M. Now, I must be off. There is a cave on the coast I have been wanting to explore, and as I have nothing terribly pressing, I think I will take a couple of days and do just that.”

“Ah Harry, it ha been good to see you, but it is almost time for me be off. Besides, I believe that Miss Weasley would like few words with you.” Dumbledore’s eyes sparkled in the moonlight as he said this.

Harry looked up to see Ginny walking down the path. He felt his breath suck in at the site of the moonlight on her hair, and the glow the light created on her skin as she walked toward them. He could hear the professor chuckling behind him.

Dumbledore had once again displayed a surprising nimbleness as he sprang to his feet. “Harry, I will see you next Saturday. I bid both of you goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Professor,” they both said as he started up the path to the house. They watched him walk for a moment then Harry turned and sat back down on the bench. Ginny walked over and sat beside him. They both looked across the pond for few moments, neither one wanting to break the silence.

Finally Ginny spoke, “You know, I’m trying to figure whether you are incredibly noble, or very thick.”

Surprised, he looked at her. “How do you figure?”

“I’m talking about what you said. Either you’re very noble, or you haven’t a clue,” she said simply.

“I’m still not sure what you mean.”

“Okay, for now we will go with ‘haven’t a clue’.” Her eyes were twinkling as she said this. Harry knew he was being teased, but didn’t know what to make of it at this point.

“Come on, It’s time to get back up to the house. You have played the tragic hero enough for one night. Besides, you need to get some sleep. Letting out your emotions like that can be tiring. Just remember, you promised to have a little chat with me tomorrow, and I will hold you to that.”

With that, she got up and started to head back up to the house. Harry followed closely behind her. She did not turn to look at him or speak until they got to the door of the kitchen. Once there, she turned to face him.

“Just so you know, you may be clueless, but there is still some noble in there.”

Before he could do anything but look confused, she disappeared inside.

“What!?!” he said to himself as he shook his head. He swore that talking to girls was more confusing than trying to figure out the twin’s next prank. You never knew where they were coming from.

He walked in through the kitchen and started to head up the stairs when he saw everyone sitting in the living room. He was stunned by how normal everything looked. Ron and Hermione were playing chess in front of the fire. Fred and George were listening to a story from Remus. Arthur was reading through some muggle technical magazine. Molly was knitting what looked to be a scarf, but was almost long enough to fit Hagrid. Ginny, who had just come in, was settling down with the twins on the floor.

Harry just stood there looking at them. How could they be so relaxed after what he had told them? It looked like any other normal night at the Burrow.

Ron looked up, “Hey, Harry, want another shot at me after I finish up with Hermione?”

Harry just stood there with a puzzled look.

“Harry, Harry, Earth to Harry.” The twins were now trying to get his attention.

There was still no response.

“Oh, for Merlin’s sake!” Ginny jumped up, walked over a waved her hand in front of his face. “Snap out of it.”

Harry shook his head. “What’s going on with everyone?”

Arthur looked up from his magazine, “What do you mean, Harry?”

“What do I mean? Did you all not hear what I said at dinner?”

It was Molly’s turn to speak, “Yes, we did.” She said, all the while her needles clacking together. “We just decided it didn’t change anything. Now Arthur, you’re not looking to buy more tools are you?”

“No, dear. I’m just looking.”

“What do you mean, it doesn’t change anything?” Harry was getting a little frustrated now.

“What she means is,” This time it was Remus, “It doesn’t change anything.”

Harry started to speak, but was cut off by Remus. “Harry, I have known of this prophesy since right after you were born. When Molly talked to your aunt, she let it slip what you told her. Molly, of course called the rest of the family together to discuss how to approach you about it. The only one that did not know until today was Hermione.”

“And I had figured most of it out already,” his surrogate sister piped up.

“So you see, Harry…” Fred spoke up.

“Even though you may think things have changed…” George’s turn

“You’re still the same…” Fred.

“Skinny, specky, git…” George

“That we know and love.” They both finished together.

“BOYS! Now is not the time.” Molly glared at them.

“Sorry, mum.” Not sounding at all sorry.

Harry just stood there shaking his head in exasperation. “How does this not change anything? Do you really understand what may happen?”

Arthur stood up and walked over to Harry. He placed both of his hands on Harry’s shoulders and looked him right in the eye. “Yes we do. Maybe more than you do. Molly lost two brothers in the first war. Remus lost two of his best friends. I, myself fought with the Order back then. We will still fight, with or without this prophesy. The only thing it changes is that now we know that one of us has a chance to beat him. We wish to Merlin that it didn’t have to be you, but we will never turn our backs on you just because you have this task.”

While Arthur was speaking, Ron and Hermione had walked over. Ron took this time to speak, “Do you remember when we went to save the Sorcerer’s Stone? Do you remember the chess game? I knew even then, somehow, that it would be you. For some reason, it was always you. The only thing is, now we know for sure.”

Harry did not realize until now that Ginny had slipped her hand back into his, and he could feel her trying to will comfort into him as he stood there.

Molly came up on the other side and wrapped her arms around him. “Harry, we said before, that we think of you as family, and this family does not run when times get tough. Even with that messy black hair, you are one of our kids, the same goes for Hermione. Although, I do wish we could do something with that hair to make it lay down.” She tried to pat his hair into place as she said this.

They all chuckled as she said this.

Hermione was next to speak, “Harry, we love you as much as you love us, don’t you see that?”

He nodded, and with that, a great sob wracked through his body. The tears flowed as relief flooded through his heart. He had not known until now that his biggest fear was to lose these people. He cried freely and unashamedly in front of them. It was the tears of love.

After he had settled back down, Arthur turned to everyone in the room. “I think that’s enough for one night. I suggest we all head up to bed. Remus you are welcome to stay in one of the spare rooms.”

“Thank you, but I really must be getting back. Tonks said she wanted to talk to me tonight. Although, for the life of me, I can’t figure out what.”

Harry just grinned, “Maybe it’s your animal magnetism, Moony.”

At this the twin’s ears perked up. “Why did you just call him Moony?”

“You know, as in “Wormtail, Moony, Padfoot, and Prongs,” Harry replied.

The twins just stood there with mouths open.

Remus laughed, “With that I will take my leave. Goodnight all.” At this, he stepped into the fireplace and disappeared.

Everyone else was heading up. Ginny gave Harry’s hand one last squeeze and went up as well. “All in all,” Harry thought, “not a bad day”.

**

Harry woke up late the next morning. He had a sense of peace about him that he did not know he could feel. He had told everyone about the prophesy, and they had decided to stand by him. They had not only done that, but had told him they would fight with him, and for him. They were his family, and they loved him. He lay in bed for a while just enjoying the feeling that came with that knowledge.

Eventually his bladder got the best of him, and he got up and headed to the loo. When he returned, showered and cleaned up for the day, he noticed that Ron was not in his bed. Either his friend had risen very early, or it was later than Harry thought. He glanced at his watch to see that it was almost ten o’clock. He had slept for almost eleven hours. No wonder his bladder had been screaming at him.

He made his bed and walked down the creaky stairs to the kitchen. Molly was busy at the stove when he stepped in. She looked over at him and gave him a big smile.

“Good morning, dear. Did you sleep okay?”

“Yes, ma’am. That was the longest I think I have slept since the last time I was in the hospital wing.”

“Harry James Potter, you should not joke like that!”

“Sorry, ma’am,” he said contritely.

“And how many times am I going to have to tell you to call me Molly?”

“Probably many more,” he said cheekily. “Firstly, because you deserve the respect, and secondly, because, to me, ‘ma’am’ sounds a whole lot like ‘mum’.”

Molly had been bustling about the kitchen as they talked, but this made her pull up short. She looked at him with an open mouth, but no words were coming out. She took three long, slow, deep breaths before she was able to speak. “Thank you,” was all she could manage before turning back to the stove. Harry thought that was the only time he had seen her speechless.

When she turned back to him a couple of minute later, she had a plate heaped with sausages, scrambled eggs, and potatoes. He had to smile. You could always tell when Molly was pleased with you by how much food she put on your plate. He must have really pleased her as he didn’t think he would be able eat all of it. After all, he was not Ron.

He was just settling in to try when there was a tapping at the window. Molly walked over and let in a medium sized brown owl with nearly white legs. It flew straight over to Harry and perched on the back of the chair beside him. He looked at the bird curiously then reached up to untie the letter that was attached to it. He realized at once who it was from when he saw that it was not written on parchment, but on muggle stationary. It was from his Aunt Petunia.

Smiling a little, he opened the letter and began to read.

Dear Harry,

Thank you so much for this beautiful owl. I have named him “Socks” because of the white legs, but also because I can go check on him in you room without Vernon knowing by saying “I am going up to check on my socks”, and he thinks I am doing laundry. I have tried to follow the instruction book that came with him, so I hope this message gets to you all right.

I have missed our daily talks and look forward to when I can see you again. It is funny, but Dudley has asked about you a couple of times as well. I almost think he misses you, too. It would be nice if he could get to know you like I am beginning to. I will try to ease it into conversation, if that is okay with you.

I would still like to come to your birthday party, if I am still invited. I did enjoy talking to Molly the other day, and would like to see her again. Maybe she could let me help with dinner, although, if she is like a lot of women, she may not want anyone else fussing in her kitchen. We can be possessive that way.

On a more personal note, how are things going with your Ginny? Have you told her yet? Molly showed me a picture of her family, (it looked to have been taken in Egypt) and she is very cute. Don’t wait too long or she may not be available.

I hope to hear from you soon,

Petunia

When Harry finished reading the last chapter, he looked around to make sure no had read it over his shoulder. He knew his cheeks were flushed, and even though he had told her how he felt, he was still shy about it. He absently offered the owl some of his sausage.

“Harry? Is everything okay?”

“Yes, ma’am,” she beamed at him. “It’s just a letter from my aunt. She wants to know if it would be okay to visit for lunch on my birthday. She said she would help make lunch. I had invited her before I left to come here. I hope that is all right.”

“Of course it is, Harry. I would be glad to have her come and help prepare the meal.”

Harry looked at her with a lopsided grin. “What is this? Molly Weasley letting someone else fix a meal in her kitchen? What is the world coming to?”


“I didn’t say she could take it over. I said she could help. Besides, you can always tell a woman’s true heart by how she handles herself in the kitchen. Did she say anything else?”

“She said she misses talking to me, and that Dudley has even asked about me a couple of times.”

“That’s nice. Was there anything else?”

“Not really; other than thanking me for the owl. I bought it for her so she could write to me.”

“I’m surprised. I thought she would ask about Ginny.” There was a glint in her eyes that she had seen many times in twins.

“W-Why would she ask about Ginny?”

“When I showed her a picture of the family, she pointed to Ginny and asked if that was her. For some reason she was very interested in her.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes while Harry continued with his meal. Then a thought struck him. “Hey, where is everyone anyway?”

Molly laughed at this, “Ron is back helping with the twins today, and Hermione went with him. I think she wanted to check out the bookstore. I also think she just wanted to spend some time with Ron.” Molly had a knowing gleam in her eyes as she continued, “I’m not sure where Ginny is, but she is around some place.”

“I thought it seemed quiet.”

“Well, you should probably head up and write a letter back to your aunt. The owl looks like he is waiting to take a message back with him.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said in a whining but teasing tone of voice.

Molly laughed as he headed up stairs. “I hope he’s the one. He would make a nice addition to the family,” she thought as she watched him disappear.

Up in his room, Harry opened the packet of stationary his aunt had bought him. He selected a crisp new sheet and pulled a Muggle pen (they were easier to use than a quill) out of his book bag. After reading the letter from his aunt once more, he began to write:

Dear Aunt Petunia,

You are very welcome for the owl. I think “Socks” is a great name for him for all of the reasons you stated. He is a very well mannered owl as well. He did not try to nip me even once.

Molly said you are more than welcome to come and help with the lunch. Trust me when I say the Weasleys can all eat a fair amount, so she will need all the help she can get. Ron alone can eat twice what I can, and be hungry an hour later.

I am surprised that Dudley asked about me. I would have thought he would have just been happy I was gone. Who knows, maybe someday he and I can talk.

And yes, I did tell Ginny. I am not sure what she will say about it though. She has said she wants to talk to me today. I am certain she cares about me, but I don’t think it is in the way I want her to.

I am really looking forward to seeing you on my birthday. Remember just go to Mrs. Figg’s and use her Floo.

Harry

Harry carefully folded the letter and placed it in the envelope. He then headed down stairs to give it back to Socks for the return to Privet Drive.

After tying the letter to the owl’s leg, he said, “Take this to Aunt Petunia, but don’t let the other two see you, okay?” The owl hooted, then flew out the window and up into the sky.

Harry sat down at the table, and glanced at his watch. He was surprised to see it was nearly one o’clock. He hadn’t realized it was that late. He was also surprised that Molly was not preparing lunch for them, as she always refused to let any of her kids skip a meal. Feeling a bit hungry, he grabbed an apple and was about to take a bite when Molly came in from the back yard, a smile on her face.

“Harry, Ginny asked me to tell you she wanted to talk to you. She said she would be at ‘her spot’. I told her I would send you as soon as I saw you.” Her eyes were dancing merrily as she said this.

“Okay, I go see her, thank you,” he said quietly as he put the apple back in the bowl. As he walked out the back door and down to the path, he did not notice Molly smiling broadly as he walked away.

* * *

Harry walked down the path to the pond, and then made the requisite turn to head up the hill to “Ginny’s spot”. His steps slowed as he started getting nearer. This was it. He knew she would tell him that he was just a friend now. After all, she was dating Dean, and she was not the type of girl to turn her back on that.

He could almost hear her in his mind telling him that she was flattered by his affection, but that she was taken. She would tell him that he would get over her and find another girl in time. That girl would be lucky to have him, and she hoped the best for him. She would say that she did care for him, and that she hoped they could still be friends. His chest started to constrict a little.

Of course, she may not be that gentle. She could blow up at him for not noticing her sooner. She could be mad that she had wasted a few years with her crush on him, and now he had the gall to notice her. Just who did he think he was to try to break up her and Dean. He had a lot of nerve.

These and a hundred other bad thoughts flitted through his mind as he came upon the cliffs at the top of the hill. He was completely unprepared for what he saw when he topped the hill.

Ginny was sitting on a blanket back a few feet from the edge of the bluffs reading a book. She was wearing a pale yellow sun dress that made the colour of her hair stand out boldly against it. She was humming along with some tune he did not recognize while bouncing her head in time with the notes. She looked completely at ease while she sat there. Just to her right was a picnic basket that looked to be filled to overflowing.

He stood there for what seemed like an eternity just looking at her. She looked like something out of a painting. Her red hair glistened in the sunlight; her skin fairly glowed as the light reflected off her skin. In that moment, he wished he were a poet so he could find the words to adequately describe how she looked just then.

Finally, he came back to his senses, and slowly walked toward her. When he got to the edge of the blanket she looked up from her book. She smiled up at him prettily as her eyes twinkled.

“It’s about time you got here, I’m starving,” she said as she put her lace in the book and set it to the side. She sat up on her knees and pulled the picnic basket around in front of her. She opened it and started pulling out plates and covered bowls, arranging them on the blanket as she did.

“Ginny? What’s going…?”

“Harry,” she interrupted, “sit down. We can talk after we eat. Don’t you know, after all of these years of being around Ron, that you should not keep a Weasley from eating?”

“Um…no…um…I mean, yes, but I didn’t know…”

Her eyes were sparkling with mischief, “Easy there, boy. Calm down. Take a deep breath. I wouldn’t want you to strain something.”

“What is this?” he asked in a bewildered tone.

“This is called a picnic, Harry. It’s when people eat outside, normally something prepared ahead of time. They do it so they can enjoy the outdoors and eat at the same time.” She was serving up food as she talked.

“I know what a picnic is, but why are we having one?” He was thoroughly confused now.

She handed him a plate with some fried chicken, potato salad, three-bean salad, and a roll on it. He took it then looked back at her. She filled a plate for her self, and then looked up at him.

“I wanted to eat outside, and we were going to talk anyway, so I decided to get two birds with one stone. Didn’t you notice mum hadn’t prepared lunch?”

“Yeah, but that still doesn’t explain…”

“Oops, I almost forgot!” She jumped up and ran to her charmed hole in the rocks. She reached in and pulled out two of the ice cold colas she had hidden there. She handed him one as she plopped back down on the blanket.

Harry was starting to regain some control of his senses. “Ginny, what if Dean saw this? What would he think?”

She started laughing. “I guess I was right last night, you are clueless”

Harry was starting to get a little annoyed. “Ginny, what is going on?” he demanded.

Ginny rolled her eyes and let out a deep breath. “I can see you aren’t going to just wait until after we eat to talk, are you? Fine. Harry, I am not seeing Dean. We have some of the same interests and we enjoy talking to each other, so we thought we would give it a try. We did go out for a little while, but realized quickly that we were meant to be friends and nothing else. By the end of the term, he had discovered that he likes Demelza Robbins, anyway.”

“But you told Ron on the train that you and Dean were dating.”

“One of these days you are going to have to learn when I am joking. This is never going to work if you think I am serious all the time.”

She smiled at him as she watched the confusion on his face as he tried to work through what she had said. Finally, he gave his head a little shake as realization kicked in. “Wait a minute! What, exactly, is not going to work?”

“Us, silly! Going out!” She was getting exasperated now.

The look on his face was priceless, rather like having been hit over the head with a beater’s bat.

“Us? G-going out?”

“Yes, Harry,” she said in a patronizing tone.

“You…you mean…you like me? Like that?”

She dropped her hands down limply at her side and looked at him in amazement while shaking her head in disbelief. Finally she said, “Yes, Harry, I like you. Like that.”

He was quiet for a moment then asked softly, “Does this mean you would like to go on a date with me?” His voice was full of hope and nervousness.

She couldn’t hold it in any longer. She fell over backwards, laughing so hard she had to hold her sides. It took her several minutes to regain her composure, and then when she finally did she looked over to see the absolute embarrassment on his face and quickly brought herself under control.

“Harry, I guess it escaped your notice, but we ARE on a date. What else would you call this?” she asked while still chuckling.

“Oh,” Was all he could muster as he looked down at his hands.

“Harry, look at me. You really didn’t realize that?”

“No, I didn’t. All the way up here, I thought you wanted to talk to me to tell me you didn’t think of me that way,” he admitted as he shyly looked up at her

“Was this better?” she asked while smiling sweetly at him.

“Much.”

“Good! Now, there are rules to dating a Weasley. Want to hear them?” She asked primly.

He nodded, grinning at her change of demeanour.

“Rule number one: Never keep a Weasley from eating. Have you got that one?” He nodded. “Good. Rule number two: First see rule number one. Are we clear?” Nod. “Good. Let’s eat.”

They ate quietly for a little while. Every now and then Harry would look at Ginny in amazement. He couldn’t believe he was sitting here, on a date, with the girl he had been dreaming about for weeks. Once, Ginny caught him looking and she flushed a little from his look. He thought it made her look stunning.

When they were almost done, she spoke, “Harry, when was it?” It was almost a whisper.

He looked up. “When was what?”

“When did you start liking me? As more than a friend, I mean.”

“I started noticing you a few weeks before that night at the Ministry,” he said softly. “I don’t know exactly when, but I started looking forward to you being around, and found I missed it when you weren’t there. I even kept having the same dream about you. It was nothing scandalous, just a nice, sweet dream.”

“What changed?” The tone in her voice told him she really needed to know the answer that question.

“I think I finally got to know the real you. Like I told you yesterday, I finally got to see the real Ginny Weasley, not the one that had the crush on me. I got to know you for you, and not Ron’s little sister. I got to find out what a great person you are.”

“Thank you, Harry.” He could tell she was pleased.

Almost without thinking, they started to pack the items from the picnic away in the basket. While they were doing this, they both reached for the same bowl, and accidentally grabbed each others hand instead of the bowl. They looked at each other and blushed.

Harry reached up and tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. The touch made his heart beat faster.

“Ginny?” he asked hesitantly.

“Yes?” she sounded like she was having trouble breathing

“May I…kiss…you?” he asked shyly.

“Yes, you may, Harry, but for future reference, you don’t need to ask me. I think it’s sweet that you did, though.”

He smiled, leaned forward slightly, and gently touched his lips to hers as he gently pulled her in to an embrace at the same time. They slowly increased the pressure until it felt just right. They stayed like that for a few seconds then slowly pulled their lips away from each other. They hugged each other for a few minutes with their heads resting on each other’s shoulder. He inhaled the flowery scent of her hair as he clutched her to him. This kiss was better than the one in his dreams had been. Finally, they slowly pulled away from each other.

She smiled warmly at him then squeezed his hand gently. “We better get back home; Mum will come looking if we stay much longer.”

“Does she know where to look?”

“Silly boy, she told you where to come find me. Who do you think helped me with lunch?” she teased lightly.

“I guess that’s more of me being clueless, huh?”

“Good guess, Harry.”

Harry stood up and offered a hand to Ginny. They picked up the blanket and shook the debris off it. Working together they folded it neatly and she draped it over her arm. He then picked up the basket and they slowly started down the path. They walked, hand in hand, until they reached the pond. Harry stopped and turned to face her.

“Thank you for not breaking my heart,” he said looking deep into her eyes.

“You’re welcome, Harry. Thank you for telling me.”

He leaned in again for another soft kiss.

Inside the house, five red heads, and one bushy brown head looked out the window. Each one had a smile on their face.

***

* * *

Over the course of the next few days, Harry and Ginny had several more “dates”. Whenever she was not helping the twins at their shop, she and Harry would go for a walk, or sit on the bluffs and just talk. When they were together, Harry felt happier than he ever had before. He did not want it to ever end.

Talking with Ginny was not like talking with Ron. When talking with Ron, they would talk in a way that only guys would understand. They would jibe each other, or talk about sports, or just badmouth the Slytherins. None of it was serious in nature, or heavy in topic.

It was also not like talking with Hermione. When he talked with Hermione, it tended to be more serious. She tended to over think everything. She wanted to analyze every topic to death. You could pick almost any topic, other than Quidditch, and she would have an opinion. Since they were both raised in the muggle world, they could discuss topics that crossed from one community to the other. She would sometimes try to draw him into a debate about topics for which he had little opinion, but he had learned long ago how to distract her from those topics.

It just felt different talking with Ginny, though. They would joke and banter like he and Ron could, and they could discuss more serious topics like he and Hermione could, but he also found he could open up to her on an emotional level that he didn’t feel a comfort with in talking to the other two.

They spent quite a bit of time with Ron and Hermione just sitting around and talking. They would, however, find a couple of hours each day to be alone with each other. They spent several hours talking about their respective childhoods; Harry almost alone, and Ginny being the only girl with six over protective big brothers. They talked about their hopes and dreams, about their likes and dislikes, and just generally got to know each other better.

They shared in their sorrow over Sirius. Ginny had got to know him during the summer before at Gimmauld Place. They had both let out some tears when talking about him, and they had both found comfort in sharing that pain.

Talking wasn’t the only thing they did, however. They had spent more than a little time in more romantic activities. They had been embarrassed more than once by someone walking up on them while they were engaged in a snogging session. They had both been horrified the first time Molly had caught them. She had informed them that, while it was natural for them to want to engage in that particular activity, there were also a few specialized wards that would sound if things went any further. Harry was skeptical until Ginny had informed him of a time when the alarm had gone off because Charlie and a girlfriend had gotten carried away in the broom shed. The poor girl had never been seen at the Burrow again.

Harry told Ginny, Ron, and Hermione about the special lessons Dumbledore would be giving him once they were back at school. None of them could quite figure out what they would be about, though. They had theorized about everything from advanced defensive techniques to powerful offensive spells to aurer level dueling practice. Neither Molly nor Arthur knew what they would be either, but stated that knowing Dumbledore as they did, it would not be anything ordinary.

Harry had also attended the reading of Sirius’s will. Ginny and Molly had gone with him for moral support. As Remus had told him, most of Black estate had been left to him. This included, to his dismay, Kreacher. The frog voiced house elf had appeared when Harry called him, all the while muttering obscenities under his breath. At a suggestion from Remus, Harry had sent Kreacher to the kitchens at Hogwarts in order to keep him out of trouble. Before they left, Remus told them he would be over for Harry’s birthday.

Around ten o’clock on the day after the reading, Socks arrived with another letter from his aunt.

Dear Harry,

I am pleased that I will be able to come over for your birthday. Please thank Molly for letting me help with the meal and ask her if there is anything I can bring. I am ashamed to say that I do not really know any of your favorite dishes, so if she can suggest something, I will be more than happy to bring it.

Okay, now out with it! What did Ginny say? It’s been like waiting for a new episode of my favorite soap opera. (Yes, I watch them, so what.)

I have a question about Socks. How do I go about ordering treats for him? A box arrived with him, but I do not know how to get more.

With Love,

Petunia

P.S. What is a Floo?

Harry chuckled to himself as he wrote her back answering her questions and at Molly’s insistence informed her that she only need bring herself, and made him invite Dudley as well. Harry didn’t think his cousin would want to come, but included the invite in the letter as well.

* * *

Harry was awakened on the morning of his birthday by the sound of an air horn going off in ear. It was immediately followed by the sound of fire crackers going off right above his head. He opened his eyes to the sight of some of Fred and George’s fireworks going off above him. As he scrambled out of his bed trying to grab both his glasses and his wand, he could hear screams of laughter coming from the doorway to the room he was sharing with Ron. He looked up to see the twins, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny standing at the door laughing at him. Ron took that moment to snap a picture of him.

“This will be excellent blackmail material once we get back to school,” Ron said as he lowered the camera. With a growl, he started to raise his wand at them, but before he could, they bolted down the hallway to the steps that led down to the kitchen.

All except Ginny that is. She stood in the doorway just looking at him with a lopsided smirk on her face. It was then that he realized he was standing there with nothing on but a pair of boxer shorts. He blushed scarlet as her eyes slowly lowered to take in his chest, then back up to look him in the eye.

“I see Quidditch has been good to you, Mr. Potter,” she said as she arched eyebrow. She then slowly turned and exited down the hall.

Ten minutes later, a blushing Harry, walked down to the kitchen for breakfast. He was met with a chorus of catcalls and wolf whistles. Glaring at them as he did it, he sat down next to Ginny. He noticed she was a little flushed a little as he did.

“Happy birthday, Harry,” she said as she leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

The twins and Ron were grinning widely at him.

“So, Harry, Ginny seemed a little distracted when she came down. She almost ran into the wall as she walked in here.” Ron started in.

Harry’s face was crimson by now.

“Yes, Harry, please tell us…” Fred added.

“Do you have this effect…” George added.

“On all the ladies?” Fred

“Or just our dear sister?” George.

“Although, brother mine, maybe we should be asking Hermione,” Fred.

“Quite right, Fred, how about it Hermione? Does the effect extend to all girls?” George

“I can’t say I really noticed,” she said hesitantly, trying to look anywhere but at Harry and Ginny.

“Good!” Ron blurted out, and then turned red himself. Every one else, except Hermione, laughed at this.

“That’s enough, everyone! You’ve embarrassed them enough.” Molly said as she started to put breakfast on the table. Un-deterred, they all continued to banter back and forth throughout the meal.

After the food was gone, Molly swished her wand, and the dishes flew to the sink. With another flick, several presents were summoned and placed beside Harry. He looked up excitedly as they landed next to him. Ginny gave his hand a squeeze then let go so he could use them both to un-wrap the gifts.

Ron had gotten him a wand holster for his arm which could be worn under his sleeve. Hermione got him a book on defensive spells in which the pictures moved to show the correct wand movement. The twins gave him a selection of products from their shop, much to Molly’s chagrin. Molly and Arthur gave him a tin of fudge, and two new shirts.

The last present was from Ginny. He looked at her and smiled, which she returned shyly, but he noticed she looked nervous. He could sense her fidgeting as he started opening the gift. Inside was a framed picture of her and him. In the picture, she was holding her wand in front of her, and he was to the side and slightly behind her with his right hand on hers and his left hand on her left shoulder. It kept repeating a scene of him showing her a wand movement. He looked at her with a question in his eye.

“Colon took it during a D.A. meeting. You were showing us the shield charm,” she said quietly while turning the famous Weasley red. “He gave me a copy, and then I asked him for a second copy.”

“Why did you want a second copy?”

“So if we ever got together, I could give one to you,” she said looking down.

He leaned over and kissed her gently on the cheek. “Thank you. I love it.”

She looked up at him and smiled brightly. They looked into each other’s eyes for a few seconds, forgetting there was anyone else in the room until they heard a small cough.

“All right, everyone outside while I clean up. Harry’s aunt will be here soon, and we don’t need you lot under foot while we prepare lunch,” Molly stated.

They all trouped outside to enjoy the morning. Harry thanked everyone again as they got up from the table. So far, it had been the best birthday of his life.

The twins had left Lee Jordan in charge of the store for the day so they could celebrate Harry’s birthday with him. They had told him they did that for every one in their family. For all of their pranks and jokes, they had big hearts.

They all decided to go down to the grove and play some Quidditch while they waited for lunch. They tried to get Hermione involved, but she politely refused. Instead she borrowed the book she gave Harry and sat under a tree and watched them play. Because of the odd number of players, they decided to play with only half the pitch and Ron keeping for both sides. The twins naturally paired up, and Harry and Ginny made the other team.

They had played four games to a hundred points, with each side winning two, when Molly called them in for lunch. Harry had forgotten about his aunt arriving and immediately felt bad that he had not been there to greet her. He excused himself and tore up to the house as fast as he could on his Firebolt.

When he got there, he jumped off of his broom, and ran into the house. His aunt and Molly were standing by the sink, talking and drinking some tea. Harry walked over to his aunt and gave her a hug.

“I am so sorry, Aunt Petunia. I lost track of time out there.” He said.

“Think nothing of it, Harry. I saw you out there, and was glad you were having a good time. I was impressed by the way you could fly.”

By this time the rest of the teens were coming into the kitchen. Harry introduced them as they came in.

“Aunt Petunia, These are my best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Guys, this is my Aunt Petunia.”

Hermione stepped up and offered her hand, “Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Dursley.”

“The pleasure is mine, Hermione. Please call me Petunia, all of you.”

Ron stepped up, somewhat warily, “It’s nice to meet you, Ma’am.”

“Likewise, Ron. Harry has told me a lot about both of you.”

“Aunt Petunia, you may remember the twins here, Fred and George.” Harry smiled at the memory of the prank they had played on Dudley.”

“Ma’am,” they both said shaking her hand, chuckling as they did so.

“Ah, yes, the reason Dudley was afraid to come with me today,” she said. They grinned in response.

Finally, he took Ginny’s hand and led her forward. “And this is Ginny, my girlfriend.” He was surprised to feel a little choked up as he said that. It was the first time he’d had the opportunity to introduce her that way.

Ginny blushed a little when he said that, but he could tell she was pleased. She smiled and extended her hand. “It is nice to meet you, Ma’am. I am glad you could come over today.”

“I am very pleased to meet you, Ginny. I see Harry finally got up the nerve to tell how he feels.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

Petunia leaned over to Harry and said in a whisper loud enough for everyone to hear, “She very pretty, Harry. Hang on to her.”

“I’ll do my best,” he said looking straight at Ginny.

With that, Molly told all of them to get ready for lunch. They all went and washed up and then talked merrily through the meal. Petunia looked a little out place as she sat next to Harry. He tried to include her in the conversations, but knew she probably would never feel completely at ease here. After all, she had spent many years despising the magical world, and this house and everyone in it was as magical as you could get.

After the meal, Petunia offered to help clean up, but Molly told her it would be no problem and then set the dishes to doing themselves with a flick of her wrist. Petunia then pulled Harry aside and gave him his birthday gift. It was a large, thin, rectangular package. It was a collage of pictures of a young, red haired girl.

“These are pictures of your mother when she was a little girl, Harry. It has been in the attic for many years. I thought you should have.”

Harry looked at the pictures, and his eyes misted over. He was too choked up to speak at that point, so he pulled her into a fierce hug.

Finally he was able to speak, “Thank you, I will treasure it always.”

With that, it was time for Petunia to go home. Harry walked her to the fireplace. She made him promise to visit for lunch the following Wednesday and to bring Ginny with him. After a last hug, she stepped into the fireplace and disappeared in a ball of green flames.

Harry turned back to the room and saw everyone watching him. “Thanks for being nice to her. I appreciate it.”

They all nodded back to him, except for Ron. Harry looked at him.

Ron just said, “Harry, I know you have forgiven her, but there was a part of me that wanted to hex her for the way she and her family treated you all those years. After what you have told me, if her son comes around, I may do it anyway.”

Hermione glared at him, but he just shrugged. The twins and Ginny nodded in agreement.

Harry just smiled, “Thanks, mate.”

With that, Ginny grabbed Harry’s hand and started to lead him outside. “Um, Ginny? Where are we going?”

“I still have to give you the second part of your gift.”

“Oh, yeah? And what, would that be?”

“I thought we could go up to our spot, and I could show you how much I liked being introduced as your girlfriend. I also thought we could run a test to see how effective Mum’s wards are,” she said with an impish smile on her face.

He was only too happy to oblige.

Harry could not remember a better summer. Even with all the bad stuff going on in the wizarding world, he was happier than he ever had been. Friends surrounded him and he had a beautiful girlfriend. He had even put on a little weight thanks to Molly’s great cooking.

The best part to him was spending time with Ginny. The afternoon of his birthday she had made good on her word to test the wards of the property. They discovered that if either of them touched bare skin other than an arm or on a face, a bell started ringing. It started off quiet and got louder as things progressed. It seemed to give fair warning before becoming too loud and drawing the attention of everyone at the burrow.

They did discover what happened when the alarm was ignored. It was not, however, them that set it off. They had just returned from a walk through the countryside, when they heard the bells going off. They walked into the kitchen to a sharp look from Molly.

“Don’t look at us, Mom.” Ginny said quickly. “All we have done today is hold hands.”

Molly narrowed her eyes and then pulled out her wand and let it rest on her open palm. She muttered a spell under her breath, and the wand spun a couple of times, then pointed out in back of the Burrow. Molly shook her head and then started out back.

Harry could hear her saying, “I knew I should have warned them as well.”

Harry looked at Ginny with a puzzled look. She grinned back at him with laughter in her eyes. She pulled on his hand as she walked out the back door after her Mom.

They saw Molly walk to the tool shed and open the door. Seconds later, they saw a disheveled Ron and Hermione exit the shed quickly. They were both blushing a deep shade of red. Molly was right behind them with a scowl on her face. Harry might have been mistaken, but he could swear he saw a hint of humor in her eyes, though.

He turned to look at Ginny and could see that she was barely able to keep from laughing. She had her fist stuffed in her mouth in an attempt to keep quiet. She quickly dragged him around behind the shed and they both fell to the ground holding onto their sides with laughter. It took several minutes to regain their composure.

“What do you suppose they were doing that made the alarms go off that loudly?” Harry asked, still chuckling.

“I’m not sure, but knowing how loud it gets when we…um…yeah. They must have gone quite a bit farther.” Ginny’s eyes were dancing as she said this.

Harry looked puzzled for a second, and then said, “How did I miss that they were together? As far as I knew, they were still dancing around each other.”

“I’m not sure. They must have been hiding it pretty well. Either that, or we were just too preoccupied.”

“Well, I know that I have been delightfully distracted,” he said with a smirk.

“Why, Mr. Potter, I do believe you are trying to flatter me,” she said as she put her arms around his neck. “And flattery will get you anywhere.”

He leaned in and captured her lips with his, and, after a few minutes, pulled back slowly. “I think we better save ‘anywhere’ for a time when we are not surrounded by your mom’s wards.”

“Spoilsport,” she pouted.

With that, they walked back to the house fully prepared to take the mickey out of the newest couple in the house.


Two mornings later, Harry woke in a panic. In four days it would be Ginny’s birthday, and he had no idea what to get her. He had never bought a gift for a girlfriend before, and did not know what was appropriate. He would need help.

Even though it was early, he got up, got dressed and headed down to the kitchen. As usual, Molly was already there. To his surprise, Hermione was there as well. She was reading through an Ancient Runes book and jotting down notes.

“You’re up early, Harry,” Hermione said as she glanced up from her book.

“What, can’t I get up early?”

“You hadn’t yet this summer. I saw no reason for a change now,” she quipped back.

“Oh, ha, ha. If you must know, I have a problem I could use help from both of you on.”

Molly walked over and sat a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon in front of him. “What can we help you with, dear?”

“Ginny’s birthday is coming up, and I haven’t a clue what to get her. I’m afraid to get her something she may not like. Is it too soon for jewelry? How much should I spend? How will I know if it is something she would like? What’s appropriate? How do I buy it without her knowing about it? What…”

“Harry!” He looked up sharply as Hermione cut him off. “Calm down or you will explode.”

Molly was trying to not laugh, and was failing miserably. “Harry, whatever you get her she will like, just let it come from the heart. Don’t make it anything expensive. Think about what she likes and buy appropriately.”

He buried his head in the crook of his arm on the table. “That’s what I’ve been trying to do.”

Hermione was laughing now. “You didn’t think we would just tell you what to get her and let it go at that did you?”

“I was hoping,” he replied with a pout.

“Oh, no. We will help you figure it out, but we will not decide for you,” she said sternly. Molly nodded in agreement.

“Think about it. What does Ginny like?” Molly asked.

“Well, she likes flying.”

“Okay, what can you get her that has to do with flying and says ‘girlfriend’?” Hermione asked.

He thought for a minute, but nothing came to mind. “I guess nothing.”

“Okay, what else does she like?”

“She likes reading poetry.”

Molly smiled, “Good. Now what could you get her that would tell her how you feel.”

“Well, I could get her…”

Ten minutes later, he had a plan in place and he could pick it up in town the next day while Ginny was helping the twins. Both Molly and Hermione agreed that it was a thoughtful gift.


The morning of Ginny’s birthday started like every other birthday started at the Burrow, with a bang. The twins had woken Harry and Ron up early so they could get the jump on their little sister. One of them floated a bucket of water over her bed, while the other readied the fireworks. At the count of three, the fireworks went off. Ginny sat straight up in bed just as the water cascaded over her. She started sputtering and reaching for her wand at the same time, so her brothers decided it was time to vacate the room.

Harry, on the other hand, was more than a little distracted. The water had soaked not only her hair, but the t-shirt she had slept in as well. The wet cotton clung to her body like it was vacuum-sealed and the water made it almost transparent as well. Harry was getting a look at something that he had only imagined before. He was frozen in place with his mouth open.

Hermione started giggling from the cot she had been sleeping in before the commotion. She stood up and walked over to Harry. She placed a finger on his chin and gently pushed it up and closed his mouth. She then covered his eyes, turned him around, and gave him a gentle push out the door.

As she closed the door behind him, Harry heard her ask Ginny, “Don’t you know better than to do that? He may never work the same way again.”

Harry was in a daze as he made his way down the stairs. He was so preoccupied that he almost lost his footing twice. His mouth was still gaping as he sat down at the table.

“Oy, Harry. What’s up with you?” Ron asked him from across the table.

“Huh? What?” was all he could manage to say.

“Oh, dear. Did Ickle Harrikins see something…” Fred started.

“…That maybe he shouldn’t have?” George finished.

“I…um…I don’t know what…you m-m-mean,” Harry stammered as he looked everywhere but at the brothers of his girlfriend.

Ron looked lost. “What are you guys talking…? Oh.” Realization sank on him. He looked at Harry then at the stairs, then back at Harry. He had a truly mortified look on his face. “Harry? You didn’t see anything…er…did you?”

Harry tried to regain his composure. “Ron, your sister was fully dressed. What could I have seen?” He tried to fend off the question.

This seemed to mollify Ron, as he looked somewhat relieved. The twins, however, had identical smirks on their faces. They caught Harry’s eye and George mouthed the words, “Wet t-shirt” to him. Harry blushed a bright crimson. The twins both started laughing at this.

Hermione was the next one down the stairs. She sat down next to Ron and gave him a peck on the cheek. The twins looked at each other, then back to where Ron and Hermione were sitting.

“Oy! When did this happen?” Fred asked.

Hermione looked up at then, a little surprised, “When did what happen?”

“You. Kissing our Ickle Ronnikins,” George replied.

“Yes, yes, little brother. When did this start, and…” Fred

“…More importantly, is our Hermione as precise in everything…” George.

“…As she is in her essay writing?” They finished together.

Ron blushed Weasley red and started to sputter and Hermione was glaring at them hard enough to drill holes through them.

Molly chose this moment to intercede. “BOYS! You will not suggest any such thing in this house. Remember the wards? The ones you have each set off more than once? You will apologize now!”

“Sorry.” Although their eyes were dancing in a way that could only mean they were not finished with this topic.

Ginny entered the kitchen a few minutes later. Her hair and clothes were now dry. After glaring daggers at all of her brothers, her eyes found Harry. She smiled shyly and looked down at the floor, glancing up, and then looking back down. She sat down next to him, and he leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek.

“Happy Birthday, Ginny,” he whispered in her ear. She smiled warmly at him as a blush crept her cheeks.

Molly walked over and levitated Ginny’s birthday presents to the bench beside her. “Happy Birthday, Dear”, she said as she wrapped the tiny redhead up in one of her famous hugs.

Everyone else at the table chorused birthday greetings and well wishes as breakfast was brought to the table. Ginny began unwrapping her presents between bites of food. Arthur and Molly had gotten her a new set of dress robes. The twins gave her an assortment of product from their shop, but also gave her a card that said they had set up an account for her at Madam Maulkin’s. Ron surprised no one when he gave her a box of chocolates. From Hermione, she received a fancy box of personalized parchment meant for letter writing.

Harry’s gift was the last one she opened. Inside was a muggle book. It was a book of poetry by various authors. The title of the book was "Love’s Promises". On the cover was a picture of a red haired girl sitting under a tree while a young man stood off to the side with a bouquet of flowers in his hand. Ginny’s eyes shone brightly as she looked at the book.

When she opened the cover she saw an inscription on the inside. “I saw this book and I thought about you, I saw just about everything and thought about you. Love, Harry” Tears formed in her eyes as she read this. She leaned over and gave him a lingering kiss on the lips, paying no attention to the fact that her family and Hermione were watching.

“Thank you,” was all she could manage to say after pulling back a little.

“Uh, hem,” came a sound from across the table. Harry looked up to see everyone looking at them.

“Hey, Potter. I think we may need to have a little talk later,” said George. His eyes were full of mischief, though, not malice.

“Too right, we do, my fine looking brother,” Fred intoned with an identical look in his eyes.

Ginny lowered her head slightly and tilted it to the side, looking at the twins from under her eyebrows. “You will do no such thing, or you will find out exactly how many different body parts a Bat-Bogey Hex can be performed on,” she said with no small amount of threat in her voice.

Harry looked at the twins and nodded once sharply with a cheeky grin on his face.

“Consider yourself lucky that we are afraid of our sister, Potter!” Fred said in a sullen voice. His face quickly changed back to normal indicated he was not really upset.

A few minutes later, the twins left for their shop, followed closely by Ron. Hermione gave her apologies to Ginny for going with them on her birthday, but said she wanted to keep an eye on the twins to stop them from picking on Ron too much.

Harry and Ginny spent the rest of the morning together. They did the usual chores, and picked some vegetables for dinner. Ginny’s favorites were parsnips and carrots sautéed in butter and herbs, so they picked plenty of those. The rest of the morning they spent wandering around the property.

Eventually they found themselves sitting on a low branch in the orchard. Harry was straddling the branch and leaning against the trunk. Ginny was leaning up against him. He had his arms around her waist and he rested his chin on her head.

He still felt a little guilty about staring at her that morning. He just hadn’t been able to look away. He had never seen anything like that before, and he found that he liked it. He took a breath as if to say something then stopped and let it out. He started again, but found he didn’t know what to say.

“Something on your mind, Harry?”

“Um…no…well…um…yeah,” he stammered.

“Well?”

“I…um…wanted to say I was sorry,” he said meekly.

She turned around to look at him with a question in her eye. “What do you have to be sorry for?”

“For staring at your…I mean…you this morning,” he said. As he said it he could not resist glancing down at her chest.

When he looked back up, he saw a look of pure humor on her face. She looked like she was trying to keep from laughing. After getting herself under control she took his hands in hers and looked him square in the eye.

“Harry, you really don’t have a clue, do you?”

“What do you mean?” he was more puzzled than ever.

“You didn’t see anything more than I wanted you to.” His jaw fell to his chest.

“What?!?”

“Harry, do you really think I didn’t know the twins had something planned? I’ve only lived with them for fifteen years. I was wearing a white t-shirt. Did you see me try to cover up? You saw exactly what I wanted you to.”

“It’s no wonder I love you,” he said shaking his head. Ginny’s head snapped up and she looked at him wide-eyed and in shock.

“Ginny, what’s wrong?” he asked, puzzled at her expression.

“Did you mean that, Harry?”

He thought about what he had said and realized that was the first time he had said that to her. “Yes, I do,” he said looking her right in the eye.

Tears welled up in her eyes and she lunged forward to capture his lips with hers. She was crying as she kissed him for all she was worth.

When she finally pulled back, she looked him straight back in the eye. “I love you, too. I have since I met you. I never thought I would hear you say that to me. That was the best birthday present you could have given me. Thank you, Harry.”

They spent the rest of the day testing Molly’s wards.

* * *

That night, as Harry lay in bed, he replayed the day over and over in his mind. As he thought about it, his heart filled with joy. He knew that if he were to use this memory, he would conjure a Patronus that would see no equal. He knew that it was the love he felt for Ginny combined with the love he felt for the rest of his family.

That love made him feel strong. It made him feel like he could do anything. It made him want to win this war and live through it so he could protect these people and have a happy life with them after ward.

He now understood the power the Dark Lord knows not. He now understood that the greatest power he had, the greatest power anyone had, was the ability to love. This was the greatest magic of all.

Fin.