How did you all like Chapter One? Well, here's installment number two. Sorry that the paragraphs aren't indented, that's another glitch with FF. Enjoy!

~thisisaline~

Ding, ding ,ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

The clock chimes twelve. Midnight. The Burrow is no longer the busy and slightly chaotic place it is during daylight hours, but it is not completely silent either. The ghoul moans in the attic above them. Ron is snoring in the next bed. He grunts, mumbles something about a spider, and turns over, in deep sleep again.

Harry wishes he could be asleep like that, but he isn't, and it's really annoying him. They've all been working to rebuild Hogwarts nearly the whole day, and it's left him dead tired, even though they've been using magic. McGonagall thinks it'll take another month. He sincerely hopes it'll be sooner.

Unfortunately his brain does not agree with his tired body. Visiting his old school has brought back too many memories, and it does not want to go to sleep. He checks his watch.

Twelve oh one.

Now they're all staying at the Burrow, Molly's demand, of course: him, Hermione, Tonks, Remus, Teddy, Bill, Fleur, Charlie, Percy, and his girlfriend Audrey. When you added that to the Weasleys who had not yet moved out, or in the case of Percy, walked out: Molly, Mr. Weasley, George, Ron, and Ginny, you got fifteen people and a Burrow that was nearing exploding point. Harry thinks that they're all lucky that Molly didn't invite the rest of the wizarding population to come and stay.

Twelve oh two.

On top of this, there's a floating population as well: Kingsley, who often pops in to report the latest happenings at the Ministry; Neville and his grandmother, Augusta Longbottom, who seems to be an old friend of Molly's; the remaining members of the Order, who come in often to exchange news. Sometimes, Luna and her dad even come down from their house to visit. Molly claims it's good for them to be together, to help each other move on.

Twelve oh three.

Hermione is going to Australia next week to bring back her parents and restore their memories. She's decided she'll tell them everything; they'll want to know, she says. Ron has decided to go with her…he says it's for 'extra protection' but Harry knows the real reason, of course, and knows it has nothing to do with protection.

Twelve oh four.

He's giving up, knowing he's not going to get to sleep tonight. He throws off the covers and walks down several flights of stairs towards the cozy Burrow kitchen. He passes bedrooms and bedrooms, whose doors are shut and inhabitants asleep.

Except for one. The door is halfway open. He stops and peers inside. This is a room he remembers and knows all too well, though he has only been inside once. Ginny's room.

Posters odd collectors' items of the all witch Quidditch team, the Holyhead Harpies, cover the walls, though not as obsessively as in Ron's room. Alongside these are photographs; so many photographs that he doesn't remember from the one time he's been inside here. Muggle photos and wizarding ones both are present.

He suspects they've been put up in the aftermath of the war. For memories of happier times, perhaps. Ginny with her family, laughing together. Fred taking a little Ginny on a ride on his toy broom. Ginny and Luna. Ginny and Hermione. Hermione and Ron.

And he, he is everywhere. Sharing a joke with Ron. Talking to Hermione. Standing with Luna. Flying on the Quidditch pitch. In one familiar picture, he sees himself struggling against Gilderoy Lockhart, refusing to be dragged into view. In half the pictures he isn't even looking in the direction of the camera.

Harry smiles slightly. He suspects the photographic talents of Colin Creevey had been involved in the taking of these pictures. Colin Creevey, who is now dead. The smile disappears.

He steps into the room. Surprising. Ginny is not inside. The bedcovers lay in a crumpled mess on the floor, as though the person had very exasperatedly thrown them off. He continues down the steps.

Finally in the kitchen, he locates a pitcher of water and begins to hunt for a glass. The Burrow, not always known for its tidiness, is now in a state close to chaos. The belongings of fifteen people are scattered across the room: broomsticks, cauldrons, books, spectacles, umbrellas, rain boots, and on and on.

Harry looks outside the window. The moon is a waxing gibbous. It will be full in three days, maybe four. He wonders what Remus is going to do when full moon arrives. Molly is probably already making plans.

What is that, on the hill? It's just ahead of the Weasleys' house. Harry steps closer to look. A girl is sitting in the grass, gazing up at the stars. Her hair is spread all over her shoulders and down her back. Long, red hair. Ginny's hair.

He hasn't talked to Ginny, really talked to her, for so long. It's been too long, he thinks. And he has so much to say, so much he owes her. He decides he will take his water and join her on the grass.

The door creaks as he opens it and steps out. She turns around quickly, wand at the ready, relaxing when she sees who it is.

"Hey."

"Hey," she replies. She turns back.

Harry moves over and sits next to her. Not too close, but close enough for him to feel the warmth radiating from her slender body. Her hair is held away from her face by a delicate brown hairband which matches her eyes perfectly. There is a light dusting of makeup on her features. Not too much. Just…enough.

"What's up?" he asks.

"Nothing. Couldn't sleep. You?"

"Same." He looks up at the night sky and the hills and the village below, searching among the lights for something to say. "Full moon's in three days."

"Yeah. I wonder, though…"

"What?"

"If Teddy will…you know. Be a werewolf or not."

He thinks on that for some time. He hopes, for both Remus and his godson's sake that he doesn't turn out to be one. Tonks would be sad for her child but would get over it. But Remus, he's not sure. He would blame himself for condemning his son to the same life that he had.

Maybe things would get better now, with Kingsley as Minister for Magic. At least, Harry thinks, he'll get rid of all those stupid anti-werewolf legislations and regulations.

"I haven't talked to you for a long time. It feels…odd," he confesses to her. She nods silently. "So what are you planning to do, now that we're Voldemort-free?"

Ginny tilts her head slightly. Moonlight illuminates her features and gives them a silver glow. "I don't know, really." Her voice is sort of flat, Harry notices. Unenthusiastic. Very uncharacteristic of her.

They sit in silence for a moment.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Her voice cuts through the calm, still darkness. Stars twinkle brightly above them. He is a little confused now.

"Why didn't I tell you what?"

Her voice is quiet, but he hangs on every word she says. "Anything. Everything. Didn't you trust me?" Her voice catches.

Harry bites his lip. He knows she won't appreciate the truth. What to say?

"It wasn't like that," he says. "It's not like that, really. I just…"

"You just what? Am I not good enough to hear the famous Harry Potter's plans?" She has always been the one who stood by him, steadfast, and defended him. To hear the sarcastic tone in her voice as she says 'famous Harry Potter' is painful. "Did you think I wouldn't care? Or did you think I was too stupid to figure out you were up to something in the first place?"

Her voice is rising, louder and louder. "I saw you dead, Harry! I saw you dead! Do you think you were protecting me then?"

"Ginny…"

"You told Ron, didn't you? And Hermione. Honestly, didn't you even care what I'd think? What I'd feel?"

"It wasn't like that," he protests. "I was trying to protect you."

She laughs without humor, derisively. "Protect me! As if I need protection from you! Did you really think you'd be protecting me, Harry? Did you honestly think I'd sit quiet in Hogwarts like a good little student while Ron and Hermione and you were off who knows where doing who knows what? That is, if you even remembered me."

"No." he says. "I knew you wouldn't sit quiet."

"Of course you did. And how, exactly, did you know this?"

His voice is low as he answers. "Because I know you."

At this, Ginny sits up very straight and faces him. Her eyes are fiery and piercing. "You think you know me, do you? I don't know about that. But judging from how you've been acting lately, I don't really think you do."

She stands up to leave, but he catches her hand and pulls her back down. She recoils, her eyes blazing.

"Let go of me!"

He loosens his grip but doesn't let go. "Wait." She settles slowly back onto the grass, with an expression that reads 'this had better be good'.

"I do know a part of you, Ginny," he continues. "I know the Ginny who's brave and fierce and stands up for her friend. The Ginny who cares too much for her own good, who's selfless, and kind, and has a wonderful sense of humor. But I know that there's more to the Ginny I know. So we're both right."

Quiet. Silence. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said all that."

"I should be sorry. I didn't tell you anything about what I was going to do."

"It's not your fault. You were…confused."

He smiles slightly. "I most certainly was."

"You make me sound better than I am."

Harry looks into her eyes. "No. To tell you exactly who you are…I don't think I know words to do that."

The corners of her mouth curve up slightly. They are looking into each other's eyes. She can practically hear the violins playing the romantic music that seems to yell at her 'snog him already!' No. She's not going to.

"So," she says, forcing her eyes away. "What are your plans now? Or are you just going to…you know, wing it?"

"I actually do have a plan, for once. I'm going to be an Auror."

How like him. She could have guessed it herself. Even after killing Voldemort, all the boy wants to do is go around chasing more dark wizards. She wonders, does he tryto get himself killed?

"Of course you want to be an Auror. So you're going back to school then? Or are they letting you skip N.E.W.T.s?"

"No. Kingsley says I still have to take them."

"So you and I'll be in the same year, then." She grins and he smiles back. "Is Ron going back, do you know? Haven't had a nice heart to heart with him yet like I've just had with you…got to add him to my list of people to yell at."

"I think so," he answers. "I mean, he's planning to be an Auror too. Hermione's going back, obviously."

Ginny laughs. "She'd go even if she didn't have to, wouldn't she?"

There's silence again. But with the weight off both of their shoulders, it's a carefree, friendly silence. And Ginny again has to push away the voice that grows more and more insistent in her head.

"Guess what?" she says suddenly. To distract herself.

"What?"

Their hands are close. Very, very close. Like, millimeters away from touching, close. Harry's heart, he notices, is beating very fast. Why? It's Ginny, he thinks. Only Ginny.

"Well," she replies, drawing the syllable out. "Did you hear about the Holyhead Harpies having a position open for Chaser?"

"Yeah, I did, Esmeralda Robins went off to play for England, didn't she?"

"Yeah. And so they need a new Chaser, right?"

"Right…"

"So…I applied and they selected me to try out in two weeks! They think they can manage with their reserve player for the rest of the year, so if I make it I'll just play reserve until N.E.W.T.s are over, so…yeah."

He turns to her. "That's great! You'll make it, definitely, Ginny!" She watches him for approval. The smile on his face is genuine. Suddenly, her arms act on their own as her brain shouts at them 'stopit!' Harry hesitates, watching her face, and returns her hug.

He inhales deeply. Chocolate, grass, and flowery perfume. That's what Ginny smells like. With a slight shock, he realizes that he has smelled the scent of the perfume elsewhere. Not on Ginny, though. In his Amortentia in sixth year. He doesn't really know what to think. Best not to even go there. He's sure she wouldn't want him, anyway.

"It's good to be on speaking terms again," he says quietly.

"I agree." And then, in a softer voice. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." He replies. "I looked at you a lot of nights, when you were in your dormitory. On the Marauder's Map. I wondered what you were thinking about."

She laughs slightly. "You, mostly. What else would I be thinking of?"

The way she says it, so sure and definite, makes warmth spread through him. With it comes the steadiness and fire and passion that Ginny always brings to things. And that's what makes him say it.

"Ginny," he says softly. "I don't know how to really say it, but do you want to…do you want…"

"Harry…"

"Of course, it's okay if you say no."

"Harry."

"Perfectly okay. I mean I understand and everything and…"

"Harry!" He looks up at last. "God, you're stubborn. What on earth makes you think I'd say no?"

He shrugs helplessly. "I just…"

"Harry Potter, I was obsessed with you for a good four years of my life at the minimum. Do you honestly think I'm telling you no?"

"Er…no?"

She smacks him on the head. "Good. Only if you're planning on snogging me now, I'd say don't, because I'm pretty sure Mum has this whole place bugged. Not that she would mind- I just think she has her hands full with Ron and Hermione and Percy and Audrey already."

"Okay." He can think of nothing else to say, but he doesn't need to. They look at each other and understand.

Ding-dong.

The clock inside the Burrow strikes one. He's been out for close to an hour; Ginny he doesn't know how long.

"Let's go back in," he says. "It's already one."

"Okay," she agrees. And they walk back into the house together, hand in hand. It's perfect, the feel of her hand in his. He couldn't wish for much more now.

Score:Harry-1,Life-0.