Harry Potter looked out the window of the Hogwarts Express wistfully. Was it only this time last year that he had lost Sirius? He had thought then that he had reached the nadir of his Hogwarts career, but he had had no idea what would be in store the next year.
Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had been anything but routine. Still reeling from his godfather's death months before, he had nevertheless entered school with high hopes. He knew that he would need to train to defeat Voldemort—a prophecy in the Department of Mysteries had made his destiny clear—but he was also hoping for the start of a new romance, this time with Ron's younger sister Ginny. It had taken him the better part of a year for him to realize that he fancied her, but once he had established this it was only a matter of time before he made a move. One thing Harry Potter never shied away from was making a move, he thought proudly, albeit a little regretfully.
"Are you alright, Harry?" came Hermione's voice from beside him. Harry was sharing a compartment on the train with his two best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Conspicuously absent from the compartment was Harry's now ex-girlfriend Ginny Weasley—Harry had broken up with her the day before.
"Don't bug him," said Harry's other best friend Ron from where he was sitting gulping down a Chocolate Frog. "He'll be okay. Right, Harry?"
"He needs to talk about it, Ron!" said Hermione exasperatedly. "Unlike you, he actually shows glimpses of feelings occasionally, and he can't 'sleep it off' and be fine the next morning! Just because you have the emotional—"
"Guys, please," said Harry, his voice carrying a long-suffering tone that was not invisible to Ron and Hermione.
"All right," said Ron, slightly shamed. "Sorry, Harry."
"Don't worry about it," said Harry, giving his best friend a grin. "Say—have you guys decided what you're going to be doing for the summer yet?"
"Isn't it obvious, mate?" asked Ron, and Hermione nodded from her spot next to him. "We're going to Privet Drive with you."
"No—you can't do that," responded Harry quickly, thinking of how Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia would act if they found out that an of-age wizard and a witch that probably knew more spells than any other Hogwarts student would be spending the summer with them.
"Harry, we're doing it and that's final," said Hermione, her tone clearly giving Harry no room for argument. "I've already told McGonagall and the Order that Ron and I were planning on it, and she gave us her permission. It's done. If your relatives give us any problems, the Order will be waiting right outside," she finished, looking at Harry with a pleading gaze.
"Alright, fine," said Harry, then, realizing how ungrateful he sounded, added, "Thanks a lot, guys. This really means a lot to me."
"No problem," said Ron. "Hey—there's one thing I need to talk to you about, though," he continued, his voice gaining a hard edge that served as a warning to Harry that the conversation would not be pleasant.
"Erm—okay," responded Harry.
"Have you and my sister had a falling-out or something?" Ron asked. "It's obvious that she's not sitting with us, and you two have been inseparable as of late. I promise, if you've done anything to her—you haven't gone with some other girl, have you?" asked Ron, his voice pleading to Harry for that not to be the case. He doesn't want to beat me up; that's good at least, thought Harry bemusedly.
"No," said Harry hesitantly, unsure of how much he wanted to tell Ron. Finally he elected to tell him everything, as he could just get the full story from Ginny later on.
"I—I told her at Dumbledore's funeral that it would be best if we didn't see each other anymore," said Harry, and Ron's mouth fell open in shock.
"But—but why? You two were—I mean—"
"Great for each other?" offered Hermione, looking at Harry with a mildly threatening look on her face as well. "I agree. What have you done, Harry?"
"Nothing!" said Harry exasperatedly—why couldn't anyone see that he was just trying to help her? "How would you guys like it if she was to—to die like Dumbledore or Sirius did? Just from getting close to me? And don't give me that crap about how it wasn't my fault; Dumbledore practically gulped down poison just for me..."
"Exactly," interjected Hermione. "For you. Not because of you. Dumbledore's number one priority was protecting you. Sirius loved you like a son and would have gladly died for you; he died proudly defending you from Bellatrix and the Death Eaters."
"But I don't want anyone to die for me—"
"But they will! Like it or not, Harry, you are the one who has to defeat Voldemort—"
"Don't say the name," said Ron in a ghostly whisper, looking at Hermione with a desperate anger in his eyes.
"—you have to defeat Voldemort," said Hermione, emphasizing the Dark Lord's name, "and you are very lucky to have so many people on your side that want to protect you. That love you! Myself included! Not in that way, Ron!" she added upon seeing Ron's murderous glare focusing on Harry.
Harry had to struggle to keep a grin from spreading across his face. It was painfully obvious that Hermione and Ron had feelings for each other, and that they both knew it. Harry wondered if they were formally going out yet or if they were still in denial, but kept his silence in an admirable display of restraint.
Hermione's face went slightly red as she realized what she'd said, but the tinge faded when she realized that Harry wasn't going to say anything about her slip-up. "It's not your fault that these people die any more than it is Trelawney's fault for making that prophecy! Or God's fault for making you the Boy-Who-Lived! I'm sick of you blaming yourself, Harry, and until you get that through your head you're never going to be able to see your full potential!"
A palpable silence punctuated the compartment after her last statement; Ron still seemed to be in shock that Hermione had spoken to Harry this way. Harry, however, was not angry—on the contrary, he was grateful that somebody had finally decided to be straightforward with him. However, he still was not an advocate of continuing his relationship with Ginny, especially not after what happened with Dumbledore.
"What about you, Ron?" asked Harry once he had regained his voice. "I doubt you want your sister to be put in danger." It was a low blow, using Ron's reservations about putting his sister in any sort of danger as an excuse not to get back together with Ginny, but Harry didn't know what else to do; he had been cornered by Hermione's speech and would do almost anything at that point to avoid having to go back to Ginny and tell her he was wrong."
"No, I don't," said Ron, and Harry thought for an instant that Ron was on his side until he saw the same expression cross Ron's face that did whenever he had Harry checkmated. "But, being a member of the Weasley family, she's in danger anyway. No one is saying you have to put her on the front lines in the final battle, Harry, but she obviously has feelings for you and—well—you're the best person for her right now."
Another silence filled the compartment as Harry contemplated Ron's latest words. He had been terribly harsh to Ginny, hadn't he? Oh, no—but there was no way he could go back and apologize to her now. Not after he said what he had—she was probably already back with Dean Thomas or somebody. The very thought made his blood boil.
"Go apologize. Now," said Hermione simply, and at that instant the connection was made in Harry's brain that his anger towards Dean was an obvious sign of his feelings for Ginny. And they weren't just puppy love, either—there was a full-blown—something—going on in Harry's brain, and he wasn't going to get out of anything until he went and apologized. Taking a deep breath, Harry got up, nodded to Hermione, and exited the compartment.
He had no sooner stepped out of the compartment than he bumped directly into Ginny Weasley.
"Oh...hi," she said quickly. She looked very good, Harry couldn't help but notice. Her hair was falling down her face the way it usually did, cascading down her back just the right way, and—
"Hi," said Harry lamely. A blush almost worthy of a Weasley covered his face when Ginny looked at him curiously, and she had almost moved past him and disappeared into another compartment when Harry shouted after her.
"Gin! Wait! I—" Harry's sentence stopped short as she turned and stared at him openly, an obvious frustration covering her features.
"I'm sorry," Harry blurted before he had a chance to be scared out of it. It was funny how he could easily face down the incredibly Dark and well-trained followers of the Darkest wizard in centuries, but he had trouble expressing his feelings toward the girl that he—
Harry froze in shock, his mind not letting him discern the last portion of the thought. Thinking about his feelings for Ginny were like looking into a long, dark hallway—there was so much that he didn't understand.
Almost immediately Ginny's features softened, her face turning into the manifestation of love. Love, there was the word—there was nothing else for it but—
Ginny stepped forward, narrowing the gap between her and Harry, and their lips met in a sizzling kiss. Harry didn't comprehend, couldn't comprehend what was happening, but instead just let his feelings take over as he deepened the kiss, running his hand down Ginny's shoulder—
"Thank Merlin you came around," said Ginny softly. "I was beginning to think that I might never see you again."
"I'm so sorry, Gin," said Harry, anguish washing over him suddenly. "I was such a prat—to think that I could just forget my feelings for you—or that you'd even be any safer if I tried to protect you like that—"
"Is this Harry Potter?" asked Ginny, a gleam in her eyes. "The Harry Potter I know? Did you have some sort of life-changing experience? Did you find the Lord? Did you just have a deadly encounter with Voldemort right there by the sweets trolley?" The scary part for Harry was that he couldn't completely tell if she was kidding or not.
"Ron and Hermione knocked some sense into me," he said. "Well, not literally but—they gave me a pretty good talking-to, to tell the truth."
"Good," replied Ginny. "You deserved it." Just then, a shrill whistle split the air, and Harry and Ginny were jolted out of their little world. The train had arrived at King's Cross station.