Harry Potter stood outside the front door of the Burrow with his hand raised to knock for several minutes, occasionally dropping his it and lifting it back up. He had apparated outside of the Weasley property at nearly 4:30 that morning. It was now 8:45. He had watched from a distance, looking for changes, for signs of movement, for anything. He heard the first commotion at around 7:00 and decided to wait until they were finished with breakfast to approach, whoever "they" were; Harry wasn't even sure who lived here anymore. He gave them a good hour and three-fourths to eat, mostly because he was stalling and partially because he didn't want to interrupt anything. Just as he raised his hand for the umpteenth time, the door opened and Ronald Weasley came out.

The past two years had been kind to Ron; he was more muscular, so he didn't look near as lanky, and somehow his nose seemed to fit his face a little better. The only thing different about him now was that, for the moment, he was at a complete loss for words. His eyes were as wide as an owl's, and his mouth hung slightly agape. Harry wanted to say something to help Ron find his voice, but nothing came to mind, so he settled for lowering his hand. They stood there for what felt like hours before Ron stepped outside and closed the door behind him.

"Harry," Ron continued to stare at him, now with his mouth closed and his eyes at their normal size, "Harry, bloody hell." After Ron seemed to accept that it was indeed Harry Potter who was standing before him, his face grew cross. "Where the hell have you been?"

Harry was prepared for this, though still not excited for it. "I told you-"

"You told us that you were leaving, you didn't say where to, or for how long, or why-"

"I said why."

"It was a load of rubbish! That you'd torn our family apart, that you couldn't bear to see the outcome of the war? Nothing was your fault; it was nothing you couldn't deal with!"

"I know, and I thought I'd be able to, but visions of Fred, of Tonks and Lupin, they kept invading my mind until I couldn't think of anything else. I became sick with it, and everywhere I looked there were reminders." Harry paused. "I was being eaten alive by memories, I had to do something."

"So you just up and leave? In the middle of the bloody night? Or did you think leaving a note would make it okay?"

"I know it wasn't okay, but-"

"You didn't think anybody would care? You were family, Harry, family! We were still dealing with losing Fred, and then we went and lost you, too! Mum cried for weeks! And don't even get me started on Ginny!"

Ginny; Harry's insides squirmed. He wasn't sure he was ready to talk about her yet. "Ron, I'm sorry. I really am. I know I can't make up for the past two years, but I do want to come back. I have since I left, I just didn't know if I was ready." Ron scoffed. "You of all people should understand, you know what it's like to be separated from the people you love and not be able to go back. For you, it was magic keeping you away, for me, it was the memories."

Ron sighed, and Harry knew that all was forgiven. That was the wondrous thing about true friendship; it can stand the stress that Harry had caused. "Yeah, I guess. But we missed you, mate. And I can't guarantee that everyone will act normally. They will be happy to see you, though. You should come inside, if you're ready. Everyone's here."

"Everyone? Why?"

Ron took a second before saying "Just a reunion, of sorts."

Ron led Harry inside, but told him to wait by the door while he headed to the dining room. Harry heard the room's silence and Ron's voice begin speaking softly, slowly, as though he were bracing himself for everyone's reactions. Suddenly there was a pause, and after Ron's next words, the clank of silverware being dropped into the sink, a squeak, a gasp, and the sound of footsteps running towards him. Mrs. Weasley bounded towards him and hugged him hard enough to make his eyes water.

"Harry dear, oh Harry! It's been so long!"

Harry hugged her back and said "I'm sorry , I truly am."

"I know dear," said Molly, releasing Harry with watery eyes, "I knew you'd have some trouble coping, I just didn't expect you to leave. No one holds anything against you, not truly. If you give them the chance, you'll fit right back into the family. Come on in! There's still some bacon if you'd like! Was there food where you went? You look like you haven't eaten in weeks."

She pulled Harry into the kitchen and continued towards the counter as Harry stopped and stared. Seated around the table were Mr. Weasley, Bill, Fleur, Charlie, Percy, and George. Even though Harry had thought about it several times over the past two years, it was still odd not to see Fred sitting beside his twin. Ron stood off to the side, anxiously observing everyone's reactions. It was Mr. Weasley who spoke first.

"Welcome back, Harry. Have a seat." He indicated the chair between him and Bill with a smile. Harry sat down and a plate of bacon was immediately deposited in front of him by Mrs. Weasley. "So tell us, where have you been off to?"

Harry began the story of his travels, answering all questions about landmarks, and fudging quite a few of them, because he hadn't been quite interested in sight seeing when he was abroad. Mostly, he kept to himself. He avoided heavily populated areas, and always kept his hair over his forehead if he went out, which he only did reluctantly, when he could starve himself no longer.

It turns out that Mrs. Weasley was right; within minutes everything had slipped back to how it normally was. Harry even found himself laughing, which sounded quite odd, seeing as he hadn't done it in so long. After the table was cleaned and the dishes were washed, everyone moved into the living room, where Mr. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, and Percy all sat in a corner talking about work. Ron in Harry sat in armchairs, halfheartedly playing a game of wizard's chess.

"Why isn't anyone leaving for work? It's Thursday, isn't it?" Harry inquired.

"Yeah, everyone's off…for the reunion," Ron added.

"Where do you work?"

"Well, I'm helping George out at the moment, but it's just temporary." He moved his bishop. "Hermione's at the ministry; Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures department. Her House-Elf regulations have been quite successful, I doubted her at first." He chuckled, and a thought frantically rose in Harry's head.

"Did I miss, er, are you guys-"

"Married? No, we're still together, though. We've just been comfortable where we are and," Ron looked up sheepishly, "I was kind of waiting for you. I think she was too, that's probably why we never talked about it."

A feeling that Harry couldn't quite describe flooded Harry's insides, and he found himself smiling. He always knew he had great friends, but all the same….

"'Smatter of fact, she should be here by now. She had to run to the office for something, but when I told her you were back she said she'd almost finished and she'd be right over."

"Is she staying here too?

"Yeah, we have a house in the city, but it's nice to be with the family at times like these."

Before Harry could ask what "times like these" were like, Hermione was coming through the front door. She stopped and spoke to Mrs. Weasley and George in the kitchen before entering the living room. She walked briskly to Harry's chair and plopped herself down on the arm.

"I knew it. I knew it, I did." Hermione began at a quicker-than-normal pace. "I told Ron you'd be back. Of course he'd thought so too at first, but after six months he grew skeptical and I told him you couldn't have left and, oh Harry!" Finally abandoning speech, Hermione threw her arms around Harry's neck and remained that way for several dozen seconds. Ron gave Harry a bemused look, and Hermione finally let go.

"Of course, you must have needed time, and although we had hoped to be spending it with you, well at least you got it. But you did get an awful lot of it," Hermione frowned, "What made you come back?"

"Well, everything, I guess. I spent so much time by myself that I realized I wasn't helping anything, I was just numbing the pain. So, here I am." Hermione looked at him sadly. "Well, I never expected everything to stay the same," Harry added, defensively, "I knew that I missed a chunk of time that couldn't be replaced. I was surprised that everything was as normal as it is."

"Yeah," Ron snorted, "You should have heard what Harry asked, he-"

But Hermione shushed him. Harry continued.

"I kept my head about the whole thing. I thought you two might have moved on, that's what I was most afraid of, but I kept the possibility in my head. And Ginny," Harry hadn't spoken that name in so long, "I never kidded myself about her. I reckon she's with another bloke, right?"

Hermione gave him that sad look again, this time with a little caution mixed in when she said "Harry-"

But whatever she was about to say was drowned out at the sound of another arrival.

"I'm here, I'm here, don't worry! Sorry I missed breakfast but there's still-"

Ginny Weasley stopped dead in her tracks as her eyes found Harry. She stared at him silently, with an expression on her face that he had never seen before. Tension mounted in the room and, for the first time since Harry's arrival, everyone seemed as though they didn't much care for being near him at the moment.

"Harry Potter," said Ginny quietly, still fixing him with that odd stare. After a few more seconds of silence, Mrs. Weasley asked for help in the kitchen, to which George, Hermione, Ron, Bill, and Fleur all agreed to, and Mr. Weasley announced that he needed to talk to Percy about some ministry stuff, and they left with Charlie trailing after. Harry stood up as Ginny stepped slowly closer to him. His breath quickened with nerves.

"Ginny, I'm-"

Ginny took that moment to slap him across the face. Her expression never changed, and Harry continued.

"Ginny, I-"

But Ginny slapped him once more, still staring at him.

"Look, I'm sure I deserve that, I know I deserve that, but I'm trying to speak." They stood facing each other for several minutes before Ginny sat in the armchair Ron had just vacated, and Harry returned to his.

"Look, Ginny, I know that things have changed, and I know I missed out on time that I can't get back, so I understand if you're mad, or if you don't want to talk to me, but-"

"I want to talk to you, of course I do. Why would you think I'd want to shut you out like that?"

"Well, I dunno, I mean the slaps were extremely inviting and everything, but…." Ginny laughed. It sounded sweet and echoed through Harry's head after she stopped. He had known that he missed her, but he had buried it along with everything else. That laugh, her smile, they made him want to turn back time and force himself to stay, tell himself that he was being stupid, that, of course, Ron and Hermione would be more helpful than anything, that Ginny, Ginny of all people, could make things go back to normal. Just as Harry was wondering how to get his hands on a time-turner, Mrs. Weasley announced that lunch was ready.

After everyone realized that Ginny was able to behave normally around Harry, the second meal had become quite like the first, with laughter throughout. Occasionally, however, Harry got the feeling that he was missing out on something, but the topic always changed before he could ask for clarification. After lunch, Mrs. Weasley decided to clean the house for some reason, and gave everyone chores but Harry, who, she said, needed time to readjust. Instead of readjusting, however, Harry decided to help Ginny with the dishes, since there were so many of them and she wasn't using magic.

"This'll take a while by hand, are you sure you're up to it?" Harry jested.

Ginny smirked. "Well, I was never really the domestic type. My household spells tend to cause, er, side effects."

"Side effects as in broken china?"

She laughed. "The very same. Besides, it's relaxing, doing something by hand. The warm water and the rhythm of it help calm my mind." She became silent.

"You, er, you read my letter, right? The one to you, I mean." Harry didn't know why he asked it, as he was sure she had, and regretted it when Ginny stopped washing, placed her palms on the small counter space between herself and the sink, and leaned forward, gazing out the window.

"Yes. 'I'm sorry, and I know you won't understand, but I need to do this. I'll think of you while I'm gone, and I don't expect you to wait for me, just know that I could never stop loving you, as hard as I tried.'" Ginny took in a deep breath. "Yeah, I got it."

"You memorized it?" Harry was taken aback.

Ginny turned her head towards his. "It's hard not to memorize something you read so much the ink was worn off the page within a week." She returned to the dishes.

"Oh, yeah. Well, I meant it. And I don't care if you're with someone," Harry started as Ginny looked ready to speak, "and I won't ask you for anything, but if it doesn't work out in the end, well, you can choose then."

Ginny fixed him with a curious look and said "No one's told you…."

Harry's brow furrowed. "Told me wha-"

That was when Harry noticed the gleam of light that reflected off of her left hand. He had prepared himself against Ginny dating someone else, heck, he even prepared himself against several "someone else's", but never in all of his preparations had it ever occurred to him that she might be engaged; that she might be getting ready to exchange lifelong vows with someone else. She was only out of school a year, and…and weren't they supposed to end up together? Harry knew that was a guilty thought, but he couldn't help it. It had been in the back of his mind since his sixth year, maybe even before that and he just didn't notice. Of course, this would explain everything.

"The reunion…." Harry finished out loud.

"The what?"

"When is it? The wedding?" Harry heard the front door slam from what seemed like miles away in his current state of shock.

Ginny looked like she didn't want to answer, and then "Saturday. The rehearsal dinner's tonight. That's why I'm here."

"You're not staying?"

"No, I have a flat nearby, so I just stay there. I'm too lazy to pack."

Harry didn't know what else to say, and soon found he didn't have to.

"Hey Sweetie."

A man Harry had never seen before walked into the kitchen and bent to kiss Ginny. She kissed him back with the side of her mouth, keeping her eyes on Harry as she did.