A/N Thanks to my first reviewer!!:
Njferrell: Yes, Harry is of age now, so he could do what he likes, and Lupin did say that. But he then says Harry has no choice in the matter. And, in the end, Harry gives in because he hates fighting. And you never know what he has up his sleeve…
Sneaking Off
Harry Potter stood in his almost empty room in number 12 Grimmauld Place. He sighed as he looked around and held himself back from unpacking for the seventh time since the day of his argument with Lupin. Well, his first argument with him at any rate.
Since that fateful day that Lupin had told Harry he was to be moving to Malfoy Manor (for his 'safety'), Harry had come up with several other arguments to get out of going. One of the most frequent being that Malfoy was a traitor. He was a Death Eater. And even if Lupin said that he trusted Malfoy when he claimed that he was no longer a follower of Voldemort, who was to say that Malfoy was telling the truth? Too many years had Dumbledore trusted Severus Snape, and look where that took him… To his complete and total death.
Harry tried not to grimace at the word, or even the thought of Dumbledore's death. It had been over a year, but it still cut Harry very deeply.
Slowly, Harry sat down on his bed and stared out of the window, thinking what troubles the day may bring. The weather looked ok; better than it had in the last couple of days this summer, anyway. The first week of the holidays had been dismal. Harry guessed it was because of all Voldemort's activity, and Dementors swooping around everywhere. Then again, the inside of this house didn't help the atmosphere very much…
"Harry!"
Harry jolted at the sound of his name being called.
"Harry! The Weasley's are here!" Lupin's voice shouted.
Harry immediately jumped up and ran at great speed down the stairs to see his surrogate family. He hardly ever got to see them at the moment. That was another argument for not going to Malfoys' as well. Why could he not just stay with the Weasleys'? Well, Lupin's answer to that was always something about them needing to be together. So why couldn't they be together with Harry as well?
"Harry!" Ginny squealed at him as he ran into her arms at the bottom of the stairs, really not caring that both of her parents and almost all of her brothers were watching. "How are you? Is everything ok?"
"I'm fine," Harry replied as he let her go and waved at everyone else, "But Remus is still going on!"
"Now, Harry, don't start that again. We're going to have a nice meal tonight, not like four days ago!" Lupin snapped at him as he walked out of the room.
"Better not, dear," Mrs Weasley cut in before Harry could say anything, "It's for the best after all."
Suddenly, everyone had seemed to disappear from the hallway and left Harry and Ginny on their own.
"I just don't see why I can't come and stay with you. Or even Hermione's family!" Harry moaned, sitting on the bottom stair.
"Well, that one is understandable, isn't it?" Ginny started, sitting next to him. Even the smell of her hair made him relax all of a sudden. "Hermione has told her parents all about you, but they're muggles, Harry. Do you really think they'd want someone to be staying with them, who could be attacked at any moment? By a force they don't even understand?"
"You sound like Hermione, you know that?" Harry said sarcastically. Ginny rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to talk, but Harry jumped in. "Well ok, I get that, but why can't I just come and stay with you?"
Ginny's gaze fell to the floor. Harry knew that she was feeling guilty.
"I'm sorry, Harry," She started quietly, "But after what happened with Bill, were all scared. We want to stick together. Not even Fleur is staying with us at the moment; she's with her family as well. Lupin is going to stay with Tonks and her parents. All the Order members are with their families."
Harry stood up violently and breathed deeply to control his rising anger.
"So what you're saying is, I'm just a burden to everyone."
"No!" Ginny was at his side in a second. "I'm not saying that at all! You'd never be a burden to anyone!"
"Just a boy with no family…"
"Harry…"
"I've always thought of you as my family! And now you won't even give me somewhere to stay, just because there's the tiniest chance I might be attacked at your house!" Harry snapped.
"The chance is bigger than 'slight', and you know it!" Ginny retorted sadly. "And anyway, I'm not sure that that's the only reason."
"Well what else could it be?" Harry asked sarcastically.
"The fact that you and I are together…" She answered embarrassedly.
Harry's frown flipped into a cheeky smile as he realised what Ginny meant by 'together'.
"Mum doesn't want us to be able to sneak away into a room, I think," She continued.
"Like now?" Harry said slyly.
"Excuse me?"
"Like, sneak away now…" He repeated.
Ginny paused for a moment to stare at him. Then she suppressed a laugh and his him playfully on the arm, "Harry!"
"What?" He asked innocently. "Oh please, Gin! It's been so long!"
"It's been a week and a half!" She laughed again.
"Gin, come on, they haven't even noticed we're not there…" Harry pleaded.
Ginny eyed him scrutinizingly for one more moment, then took his hand and ran up the stairs towards his room.
Three days later, Harry stood up from his bed and pulled on his boxer shorts, which were thrown so effortlessly across the room only an hour before.
"Oh, Harry," Ginny said sleepily from the bed, "I was just falling asleep…"
"Well you can't," He laughed, kneeling down on the floor next to the bed. "I said you were helping be pack, your mum'll be up here in a minute. I bet you."
Harry kissed her on the cheek and walked back to the other side of the room, where his jeans were, and pulled them on as well.
By this time, Ginny was sitting up in bed, a thin sheet wrapped around her body.
"I hate watching you get dressed," She said sadly.
"Well, it must be better than not seeing me at all," Harry said, doing up the final button on his shirt.
"Don't say that…"
Harry turned round to look at his girlfriend. That beautiful figure, with her head slumped and one tear falling down her cheek.
"Hey, Gin," He said, walking over to her, "It's not forever."
Ginny nodded slightly and cried some more.
"I just can't believe who you're staying with…" She coughed.
"Oh, God, don't remind me…"
Harry had done well for the past three days not to argue again with Lupin about his choice of 'accommodation' for Harry, as he now called it. And since today was the day he was meant to leave Grimmauld Place, he didn't much want to think about what he might be doing tonight.
The next thing Harry knew, Ginny was dressed and standing next to him, brushing her hair, so that it didn't look like she had just had wild sex in the room upstairs, much like Harry's always looked.
"I'm going to miss you…" Ginny said after a few minutes of silence.
"I know… I'll miss you too," Harry replied, taking her by the waist and kissing her for a long period of time.
"Harry! Ginny!"
"Oh no…" Ginny whispered at the sound of her mother's voice, "You have to go…"
Harry just carried on kissing her neck. He never wanted to leave. He wanted to stay in this room, at this moment, for ever more.
"Harry…" Ginny whispered breathlessly.
"Just one more minute…" He whispered back, moving her head by the chin with one finger, so that she was kissing him again.
"Ginny! Harry!" Mrs Weasley called again.
"Harry," Ginny pulled away and stared at him sadly. "It's time for you to leave…"
Harry stared at her incomprehensively, breathing quickly, tears streaming down his face.
"You have to go now…"
"I'll write to you mate, ok?" Ron said to him in the hall not ten minutes later. Harry nodded his head, not really looking at anyone, or anything. "I'll get Hermione to write loads as well. Yeah?" Ron paused, but Harry still said nothing. "If I see her, I'll give her a hug from you?"
Harry nodded slowly again, still watching the carpet intently.
"Well, Harry, time for us to be going then!" Lupin said loudly, obviously getting nervous from so much thick silence.
"I'll see you soon, Harry," Ginny said, taking his hand.
Harry squeezed it suddenly and his eyes darted up to meet hers.
"I love you," He mouthed as everyone around his started to shout their 'goodbye's.
Ginny's mouth widened into a bright smile, and she kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Bye, Harry…"
She pulled his hand off hers, and suddenly there was something tight holding onto his left arm. Harry realised it was Lupin, getting ready for the side along apparation. But before he could turn his head towards Ginny and Ron again, Harry was being pulled through the air tight tube, having to cling onto his trunk and Hedwig's cage so tightly that he was yanked back, and the apparation was all the more slow.
Then suddenly, clean, but freezing, air swept through his lungs as he landed, staring at a dark mansion surrounded by white flowers.
"Now, Harry, you will behave yourself won't you?" Lupin said after ringing the doorbell.
"What do you expect me to do? Curse him?" Harry said sarcastically. Thinking as an after-thought that that may not be such a bad idea.
"Yes actually," Lupin replied, hearing scurrying behind the door, "Just be civil; that's all I ask."
"Then you ask too much," Harry said quickly before the front door swung open slowly to reveal a surprisingly bright front hall. Not to mention large.
It took Harry a few seconds to realise who Lupin was talking to. He looked down, and saw a house elf. Oh, how pathetic, Harry thought.
"Yes, come in," The house elf bowed down so low that its crooked nose actually touched the floor. Harry made a mental note never to tell Hermione about this. "Master Malfoy will be down in one moment."
Harry rolled his eyes as he walked through the door, 'Master Malfoy', more like 'Master Death Eater'!
"Well Harry," Lupin said quietly to him, "It doesn't look half bad here, does it? Better than Grimmauld Place at any rate!"
Lupin turned, smiling at the joke that obviously thought funny, to Harry, but his face dropped when he saw Harry's.
"Any place that Sirius lived is ten times better than here!" Harry whispered angrily.
"Harry…"
"Don't worry about it, Professor."
Both Harry and Lupin jumped and turned to see Malfoy standing on the staircase. Harry was surprised to see how well he looked, considering that he had been cooped up 'hiding' form Voldemort for a year. Harry thought this ridiculous: why on earth would Malfoy hide from Voldemort at his own house? That was the major flaw in his plan to pretend he was innocent.
"I expected nothing less from him," Malfoy finished as he walked down the rest of the (very grand) staircase.
"Yes, well he won't speak like that again, Draco, I assure you," Lupin said, addressing Malfoy courteously.
"Won't I?" Harry snapped loudly, "You always forget that I can do what I want! You always forget that I'm and adult now, Remus!"
"Oh Harry be quiet!"
Harry was taken aback by Lupin's tone of voice, so that completely shut him up.
"Anyway, it's time for me to leave," Lupin started, "I need to get to Tonks' house as soon as possible. Thank you for doing this, Draco, I'll see you soon Harry."
And with that, Lupin was gone.
There followed an awkward silence in the hall.
"Why are you letting me stay here?" Harry fired at Malfoy suddenly.
"Why did you want to come?" Malfoy fired back.
"What?" Harry asked incredulously, "Want to come? I was forced!"
"You're of age, you could have done what you wanted! Why are you here?" Malfoy asked again.
"I told you, I was forced!" Harry shouted.
"Get over yourself, Potter! Now, do you want me to show you your room, or not?" Malfoy asked.
"What?" Harry said distractedly.
"Do you want me to show you your room, or do you want to sleep here, in the hall?" Malfoy said sarcastically.
Harry felt like he had been confunded, but then shook his head and said, "What do you think?"
Malfoy turned on the spot and walked towards the stairs, signalling to the house elf that it should carry Harry's things. Harry followed, staring round at the magnificent mansion he had been sent to. He had no idea what it would be like to live here, but he was sure it would feel like a long, hard time.
A/N There you go! Hope you like the chapter. I'd tried to show how in love Harry and Ginny are. And what an animal Harry is… ahem… Anyways, hope you read the next one when it's up!
