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.
***