AN: Chapters have been kind of short in the beginning but they get longer as I write more. They'll never be really long, but they will be long-er-ish.
JKR is a far more superior writer than me. Thank heaven for large miracles.
"Hey guys!" Ron said, bursting into the kitchen. "What's going on?" Then, eyeing the mess of pots and pans on the counter he said, "Ginny, you better get that cleaned up. Mum's in a foul mood and she'll have kittens when she sees that. Oh, boy I would not like to be you then."
"What'd you do to get her so upset, Ron?" asked Hermione as she helped Ginny clean the counter.
"Oh, it wasn't my fault," Ron lowered his voice. "She ran into Malfoy's mother in Gringotts and well, you know how it is."
"Yeah, well it's-" but they didn't hear what Harry tried to say. Mrs. Weasley had just stormed into the kitchen.
"Ginny, what is this mess?!"
"Just doing a little cooking, Mum." she replied, cowering slightly as her mother swelled with rage.
"Well don't! The last thing I need is a cluttered house!"
"Sorry Mum," Ginny whispered as her mother started to rave about responsibility and respect for your elders.
"Let's go," said Ron quietly. "Before she starts to throw the dishes around."
And indeed, as the crept from the kitchen, Mrs. Weasley started to summon things to her side so ferociously that several bowls broke in the process.
"Wow, Malfoy's mum must have been especially foul today. I mean, that is bad, even for our mother," Ginny said.
"Not surprising, what with Lucius Malfoy getting chucked into Azkaban." Harry replied.
Downstairs, they heard two distinctively loud pops and Mrs. Weasley's screaming began again.
"Fred and George must be back," observed Hermione coolly. This was affirmed when they both came running up the stairs, spoons banging them in the back of their heads until Mrs. Weasley summoned them back.
"Lovely day," said George.
"Quite," replied Fred, giving Harry an obvious wink as they rushed past. Harry's face flushed again.
"You okay, Harry?" asked Ron. "You look odd."
"I-I'm f-fine," he stammered back. "Just a little tired."
Ron grinned. "Well, rest up mate! We're going to Grimmauld Place for dinner with the Order. Fred and George are finally being allowed to join. Of course, Mum isn’t too thrilled about it but even she admits that they are old enough for it."
"Really?" Hermione said startled. "Well then, what made Dumbledore change his mind? I would have thought that they would be considered too immature for that."
"Dumbledore never said no, Hermione, he only said to wait until they were older. They've been doing great with the joke shop. I went by today. There was such a big crowd; Fred said that they were thinking of opening another shop in Hogsmeade. Also," he lowered his voice, "they were thinking about opening one in Knockturn Alley. You know, one with more adult pranks."
"You've got to be kidding me." Ginny said, laughing. "Oh well, Fred and George always did think on a larger, riskier scale."
"But, Knockturn Alley isn't safe!" Hermione cried out. "What decent person would they get to even work there?"
"Oh come off it Hermione. It's not like they have premises or anything. It was just an idea," Ron said, rolling his eyes.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry paced his room. Ron and Hermione were downstairs taking a medical potion that Madame Pomfrey had been sending them over the summer. Ron still had nightmares due to the terrifying images that the tentacles of the brain had left. Hermiones's potion was to lessen the pain that Dolohov's curse had caused. Lucky for them, of all his schoolmates that had helped him, they were the only two who had sustained serious injuries.
Harry sighed. He was so overcome with emotions that it exhausted him. He knew he'd have to tell Ron and Hermione about the prophecy. The one that made him victim or murderer. He could imagine the looks on their faces as he explained that he was a marked man. Marked either for death or murder and he would-- No. He wouldn't think about that now. He couldn’t. But the thoughts were ever pressing on his mind. He needed something, anything. Anything to take his mind of the empty feelings he had experienced that summer when Sirius was gone. Nothing could stop the flood of tears and anger when they started. Nothing, except for--
Ginny. He'd been so caught off guard in the parlor earlier, simply because of a dream that he had had. He was talking to Sirius in the Room of Requirement.
“You don't need me anymore, Harry. You've got friends who will take care of you. If there was one thing in my life that I regret, it was that I never fell in love. Oh, I loved your father, your mother and my friends. But I have never loved for myself."
Sirius gripped his arm and stared intently into his eyes. "Don't make the same mistake I did. Don't die unloved. It will never be worth it.”
His figure started to fade away.
"But who?" Harry said. "Who would I love?"
What remained of him smiled. "You’ll know."
Where Sirius had stood, there was a new figure with her back to Harry. As she turned around, he woke up.
There had been something comfortably familiar about her but he couldn't put his finger on it. Now he wondered. Is it Ginny?
Thanks for waiting so long. I'm going to try to get another chapter in today. If not, you will have to wait until the end of the Christmas break. Here's your spoiler to think on:
"I guess that was a first step," she whispered smiling a little. Her eyes glittered as he leaned forward.
"And this is the second," he said, softly kissing her back.
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