“There’s something to be said for being able to do magic,” Ginny mumbled quietly as she struggled to help clean up the Weasley family kitchen.
Mrs. Weasley turned her head slightly as she let out a soft chuckle at Ginny’s comment.
A few minutes later, Ron came bounding down the stairs. Not seeing Ginny scrubbing the kitchen floor, he rammed himself into her, sending her flying across the kitchen and knocking over a few chairs along the way.
“Sorry, Ginny!” He said as he ran over to her to help her up, “It’s so nice being able to do magic outside of school that I forgot you would still be down here on your hands and knees!”
Ginny scowled at him as she positioned herself upright. Mrs. Weasley came over to examine her and make sure there were no bumps or bruises.
“Mum, I’m fine,” Ginny said as she pulled herself out of her mother’s grip. Mrs. Weasley headed outside mumbling under her breath something about “ungrateful children”.
Ginny turned around to find Ron staring out the kitchen window. “Waiting for an owl from Harry?” She asked.
He turned to look at her. “Yeah. I sent him one earlier this morning. I’m just anxious.”
“Anxious?”
“It’s just…He’s Harry. You know how he is, Gin. I just hope everything’s okay and he’s not struggling to stay alive or anything,” he managed a small smile. Ginny didn’t find it funny.
“You need to lighten up a bit.”
Ginny stared at him for a few seconds before harshly responding, “Ron, people are getting killed every day! Harry, your best friend, at some point will be facing You-Know-Who! And you’re telling me to lighten up! I can’t even go to bed at night without thinking about how some day one of you may not come home!” Tears began to fill her eyes as she pulled out a chair from the kitchen table and sat down.
Ron looked at her with an expression of mixed emotion. He placed a hand on her back and rubbed it slowly until she had calmed down.
As they both sat in silence, an owl came soaring towards the house. Ron moved over the window quickly to open it.
Hedwig, gracefully landing on the kitchen counter, held out her left leg where a note was attached. Ron opened it hastily.
Dear Ron and the rest of the Weasley family,
I’m doing fine so no need to worry about me. I have to keep this brief, but I look forward to seeing you next week.
--Harry
“Well at least he’s alive,” Ron mumbled. As he went to fold the letter up, Ron noticed Ginny glancing over his shoulder in an attempt to read it.
“Don’t worry, he’s fine,” Ron said as he began to head back upstairs, “You may want to finish cleaning the floor before Mum comes back,” he added.
“You could just do it for me! It would take like 3 seconds!”
“Nah, I enjoy watching you struggle,” Ron smirked.
*******
Harry stared at the pieces of paper spread all over his floor and taped to the walls of his room. He had never felt so occupied in his entire life. He had books strewn about and several letters awaiting replies on his desk.
He took a few deep breaths as he lied down on his bed to try and relax. All he had been thinking about lately was the horcruxes and the journey ahead of him. All the papers in his room were long lists and ideas about objects and places he needed to visit.
There was a knock on his door as his Aunt opened it carefully. Her small, square face was just barely visible in Harry’s dimly lit room.
“We’re going out to an important dinner for Vernon’s business. We should be back in a few hours,” she said and closed the door immediately after she finished speaking.
Harry had to give credit to Petunia; she had been overly nice to him lately. She always told them where they were going and when they were coming back.
She had seemed honestly hurt and distressed when Harry had unwillingly told her that Dumbledore had been killed. It had somehow seemed to worry her. And ever since then, she almost looked after him. She would come up to his room every so often to make sure he was still alive. Harry of course knew that she did all of this without his Uncle ever knowing.
Breathing deeply again, Harry pulled some letters off his desk and began to reread them. He had a few from Ron and Hermione, one from Lupin, and one unopened one from Ginny.
He ran his fingers over his name on the front of the envelope and studied her handwriting. He had received the letter two days ago and found that he did not have the courage to open it up. For someone who is supposed to be pretty brave, you sure aren’t showing it, a voice in Harry’s head told him.
He flipped the envelope over and slowly opened the letter. Before he unfolded the parchment, he tried to push all the thoughts of Ginny out of his head. He had thought about what he had done at the end of the school year for some time, and had come to the conclusion that although it seemed like he had made a mistake, Ginny had understood his reasons perfectly. She didn’t seem to complain.
His eyes scanned the letter carefully and he had to read it four times to make sure he wasn’t imagining things. It was short and sweet, but right to the point.
I love you, Harry.
That was all it said. She didn’t even bother to sign her name.
Harry suddenly felt guilty for not opening the letter sooner because he realized almost immediately that Ginny was probably awaiting some sort of response.
But what was he going to say to her? Harry may have liked Ginny, but love? He couldn’t possibly love her. They hadn’t been going out that long!
But as Harry pulled some blank parchment towards himself, he found that he was at a loss of what to say.
Within two minutes, he had completed his response to her and carefully rolled it up. When Hedwig returned, he planned on sending her right back to the Weasley’s.
********
The next morning, Ginny was woken up by Fred and George, who had made a surprise visit.
“How’s our favorite sister doing?” Fred asked her.
“I’m your only sister,” Ginny countered. She smirked.
Ron was attempting to lift the milk across the kitchen with his wand, but it kept flipping over and milk was spilling everywhere.
“Oh for goodness sake, Ron!” Mrs. Weasley shouted, “You are just like the twins! Just because you are of age does not mean you have to do magic every 5 seconds!”
“Hedwig’s back again?” Ron asked suddenly.
Everyone turned to look out the window. When Ron walked over to detach Harry’s letter, he realized it wasn’t addressed to him.
“Ginny, it’s for you,” he said as everyone turned to look at her.
She blushed faintly as she unrolled the parchment and read the few words Harry had written down. Her eyes scanned the parchment quickly as a scowl took over her face.
“What a git,” she said as she stormed off to her room.
“Did anyone catch what the letter said?” George asked as his eyes traced Ginny's movements upstairs.
Ron had folded his eyebrows close together as if he was thinking hard.
“Yeah, I saw it," he said quietly, " But I don’t understand what it means…”
“Well are you going to tell us? Or are we going to have to jinx you for it?” Fred said as he lifted his wand out of his pocket.
“It said, ‘Thanks’.”
“Surely there must have been more,” Mrs. Weasley said. Of course she had been listening the whole time.
Ron shook his head.
Meanwhile, Ginny had found herself a spot on the floor of her room. Her knees were pressed against her chest as she struggled to hold the tears back. She closed her eyes and breathed slowly as she kept repeating, everything will be okay, everything will be okay, everything will be okay…
Together We Can by free_hugs
Chapter Notes: I hope you enjoy the story! Please review--criticism is always welcome!