Summer was well upon them now. The air was thick and humid, and lush green grass was spread generously over the grounds. Tension was mounting as news of more and more deaths reached the school, and still all they had was rumours. Harry could hardly bear the thought of leaving his friends in the wizarding world, where God only knows what could happen, while he was stuck with the Dursleys in quaint, perfect Privet Drive, where the biggest problems were wilting hydrangeas and whether to paint the hall beige or taupe. As the summer term drew to an end, he actually found himself wishing that he could stay in the fatally dangerous world, which he loved nevertheless, and that he would rather risk his life there than sit safely in a house in Surrey with a family that he loathed.
“Earth to Harry?”
“What?”
Ginny was standing over him as he sat, cross-legged, lost in his reverie.
“You’re meant to be packing?”
“Oh, right, yeah…” said Harry, looking down at his half-full trunk on the floor in front of him.
“Not too skilled at the whole putting-clothes-in-a-trunk thing, are you?” she smirked.
Harry grinned sheepishly. His meagre attempts at trying to get his possessions to fly neatly into piles had so far managed to throw them even further awry.
“Here, let me help you,” said Ginny, and with a flick of her wand, the shirts folded and the creases on his robes sorted themselves, and he was left with a perfectly organised trunk.
“Why did I even try to do it without you?” asked Harry, staring at her in awe.
“I don’t know, Harry,” she answered, looking pleased with herself. “You shouldn’t have bothered.”
“Obviously,” said Harry, closing his trunk and standing up. “But then again, I’ll never learn if you always do it for me, will I?”
“Oh God, you sound like Hermione,” said Ginny. Harry squeezed her sides and she wriggled, fighting him off. “Harry!” she squealed. “Get off!”
They fell sideways onto his bed, just as Ron walked through the door.
“Harry, we had better get down to the feast or “ “
Ron stopped in the doorway and stared at them, frozen, mid-tickle, on Harry’s bed.
“We’ll be down in a minute,” said Ginny, still trying to prize Harry’s hands off her waist.
“Er, right,” mumbled Ron. “Well “ er “ see you there, then,” and he turned and disappeared down the stairs.
“What’s his problem?” asked Ginny, finally managing to get Harry’s hands off her and playing with his fingers affectionately.
“Well we are laying on my bed,” said Harry.
“So…?”
“So he still gets freaked out by that,” he told her, knowing that Ron would probably have been disturbed by what he had seen.
Ginny rolled her eyes. “What an idiot,” she said, leaning closer to Harry. “How could anyone possibly find a problem with this…?” and she kissed him delicately.
“Beats me, said Harry, smiling as they drew apart. “What I want to know, is whether you have a problem with this!” and he continued to tickle her, then picked her up set her down beside the bed.
“You’re so going to pay for that, Potter,” said Ginny breathlessly.
“Oh yeah?” asked Harry. “I’ll be ready for you, then.”
“Not if I catch you unawares,” said Ginny, with a twinkle in her eye. “Let’s go.”
They sat down opposite Ron and Hermione for the end of term feast. Harry noticed that Ron wouldn’t meet his eye and laughed to himself; it had been half a year, and Ron still hadn’t got used to Harry being with Ginny. The food appeared on the table in front of them, and everyone tucked in, Harry making the most of what was likely to be his last decent meal in a while. Once pudding had come and gone, Dumbledore tapped his glass with his spoon, and stood up.
“And so we come to the end of another year at Hogwarts,” he announced. “Some among us will not be coming back next year, but many new faces will be here to greet us in September. I can only hope that those who do not return do so for the right reason. We are living in times of great darkness, but if we can learn to face our fears, to overcome our demons, we will find strength and happiness in places that we had forgotten to look.” Harry looked up at Ron and Hermione, whose hands were joined on the table in front of them. “Those with power thrive on the weak. They find solution in oppression of the frightened; they use coercion, intimidation and often cruelty to get their way, and do not care how many lives are spoiled or sunk in the process. However, with unity, we can surmount this corruption; loss of a loved one only gives more reason to fight “ gain of a friend gives more might to do so.
“Be on your guard, look out for those around you, and concentrate on making the correct choice. If we do not make the right choices, if we are not vigilant and do not hold on to what is important, we might find ourselves living in anarchy before the year is up. We have too much to lose to let that happen.”
The train ride to London was much the same as any other time, except for the sombreness that was never usually present on the Hogwarts Express, but which now seemed to hold everyone on the train. Once they had pulled in to King’s Cross Station and hauled their trunks down onto Platform 9 ¾, Harry took Ginny by the hand, and led her away from the swarming crowds, to a place where they would not be overheard.
“Well then,” he said, “I guess I’ll see you soon.”
“Very soon, Harry,” she replied. “And don’t you go getting yourself all worked up about staying with the Muggles; you’ll be at Grimmauld Place before you can say Quidditch.”
Harry’s insides curled at the thought of Grimmauld Place “ he hadn’t been there since before Sirius died. Ginny had obviously read his expression, because she reached out and put her hand on his cheek.
“It’s going to be just fine,” she told him, then: “I love you,” said her voice.
Harry smiled and pulled her into a hug by the waist.
“I love you, too,” he thought, holding her body firmly to his and breathing in the smell of her hair to lock it in his memory.
They pulled apart and walked back, hand in hand, to where Ron and Hermione now stood. The four of them passed through the barrier, and there, looking as forbidding as ever, was Harry’s poor excuse for a family.
“So long, Ginny,” said Harry, and he leant down and kissed her tenderly.
“See you, Harry,” she replied.
Ron and Hermione came over to them and said goodbye, Hermione kissing him on the cheek and Ron shaking him hand warmly.
Harry wandered over to the Dursleys and they turned away from him. He followed them to the car as Dudley taunted: “Potter’s got a girlfriend, Potter’s got a girlfriend!”
Harry whipped round, pulling out his wand and moving right up to Dudley so that no one else could see it. “I’m allowed to use this, this year,” he muttered, pointing it at his cousin’s throat. “So, if I were you, I wouldn’t insult her, or I’ll jinx you into the next millennium.”
Dudley nodded quickly, and Harry stowed his wand back in his pocket. Even if he couldn’t use it until his birthday, it would be fun pretending.
A/N: Another short one, I'm afraid, but it’s either that or a long wait between updates. But I suppose this has been quite a long wait... sorry about that - submissions were closed for maintenance, so blame Mugglenet! (Don't really - Mugglenet are awesome) Please review with thoughts.