Disclaimer: I do not own anything created by J.K. Rowling. I am not making money out of this. You can't sue me (and win).

Chapter 004 - At the Burrow

Harry smiled, seeing Ron fly. It seemed to him it was a brand new broom, and Ron seemed to have no problem at all handling it. Some balls were flying towards Ron, and Ron was catching them, or hitting them back with the end of his broom.
"Ron, new broom?" Harry called out. Ron turned around, and looked down. "Harry!" he said, looking at him. Smiling, he flew down, waving his wand, making the balls drop down on the backyard's lawn.
Smiling, Harry looked at the broom. "..Cool broom, what is it?" he asked. "A Thunderburst." Ron said, smirking. "It's from the same producer as your Firebolt, thought this one's for Keepers. It's extra sturdy, more grip..." Ron rambled on and on, and they talked about brooms until five o'clock (Ron's Cleansweep 11 had apparently been crashed by one of his elderly brothers, and he got a new one in return for it).
Hitting his forehead with his hand, Harry stood up. "Shit, I forgot to do something.." he said, getting up from the ground where they had been sitting. "What's wrong?" Ron asked, while polishing his broom. "I would've sent professor McGonagall a note to say I'll go to her meeting."
"Meeting? But Harry, we're going to the will-reading of Sirius!" Ron said, getting up. "I know!" Harry said, "But I will talk to her before that.." Running inside the Burrow, he ran back, asking Ron: "Can I borrow Pigwidgeon?"
Sighing, Ron nodded. "Where would you be without me?" he asked, smirking. "Upstairs, asking your mother." Harry said, smiling broadly. Grunting. Ron walked to his room. Taking Pigwidgeon, Harry smiled. "Still as small as ever..." he said. He then wrote a small note:

Dear professor McGonagall,

I will be at your meeting, though I don't know where. If you would please reply...

Harry

Putting the note on Pigwidgeon, he said: "Bring this to Minerva McGonagall. And hurry."
Pigwidgeon just pecked his finger, and fluttered away. Harry looked after it, saying: "I hope she gets it soon." Ron sighed, saying: "You never know, she can-" but then Mrs. Weasley shouted: "Dinner's ready!" Ron smiled, and both of them walked down the stairs.

The dinner was grand, with all kinds of foods that even Harry didn't know. Ron looked at the food, saying: "Mom, what is all this?" Mrs. Weasley smiled, saying: "It's Egyptian, Hungarian and Brazilian...Bill had sent me a collected recipe-book with all recipes from the countries he visited while searching for some relieving of his curse..."

The table fell silent, hearing those words. "..Why, what's wrong?" Harry asked. Sniffling, Mrs. Weasley looked at him, saying: "...My poor Bill, he's still under that horrible curse...It's terrible...not even the best potions can do anything.." "Not even the Wolfsbane Potion?" Harry asked. "It's not the entire curse Bill's coping with..." Mr. Weasley said, from the other side of the table. "He had been bitten by a werewolf without a full moon.." Harry knew this, he had heard it before the summer break, but nodded politely. "It turned out that he transforms into a werewolf, retaining his sanity, but undergoing enormous pains during the entire time, and we haven't found a good way of making the pain bearable." Harry swallowed a piece of his Hungarian goulash. "..That must be horrible..." Harry said. "Yeah, it is. But I managed to live with it." Bill's voice said from the hall.

Mrs. Weasley jumped up, her face full of amazement. Bill walked in, his face even more rag-tagged than the last time Harry saw him. "Good heavens, Bill! You look awful!" his mother said, seeing him. "Yeah, I know.. Say, is that goulash?" Smiling, Mr. Weasley let a chair magically appear, and Bill sat down. "Sorry, I'm so late, but I have to go after dinner... Ms. McGonagall wanted to talk to me." "Why is that?" Mrs. Weasley said to Bill. "Dunno, she didn't say..Harry, she told me you'd be coming too, we could go together?" Harry was surprised, saying: "..Erm, well, sure." Harry said, not saying he had not the faintest idea of getting to professor McGonagall. Bill smiled, helping himself to a plate of goulash. "So, anything else new?" Bill asked. "It has been Harry's birthday." Ginny said softly, and Harry couldn't hear if she was happy or sad about it, and he ignored the tone she gave it. "Oh yeah!" Bill said, smiling. "Sorry about sending nothing, it was a full moon that night..." Harry looked at him, saying: "Really? I didn't notice...it was rather cloudy at my place.." He then realised his situation. The Dursley's were dead, and Dudley would become a wizard too. Shaking his head gently, he said: "Thanks for the food, but I'm not hungry anymore.." Standing up, he walked out of the house. He could already see the dusk fall in. Sighing, he felt the wind catch his hair, blowing it in his face. He didn't care, as he looked away from the Burrow. The only thing on his mind was Ginny, and it wasn't a pleasant thought. Shivering in the cold, though it was summer, he sat down, his knees supporting his head, as he closed his eyes.

Then, he was shocked to feel a hand on his shoulder. He knew that hand so good, he instantly said: "..Ginny, why?" Ginny sat next to him, her hand moving from his shoulder to his chest. "...Because..I don't want to be alone..." Harry looked at Ginny, and he saw she had cried recently. "...You cried." he said. She didn't say anything, leaning against him. Sighing, Harry looked up. "..You know I try to keep you safe." he said. "...I don't want to be safe." she said, looking up at him. "I want to be with you."

Harry was a little shocked to hear that. "...What?" he asked. Ginny looked at him, saying: "..I love you, Harry...ever since Salazar's chamber, I loved you. For saving my life, for being nice to me all the time... for giving me my first kiss.." Harry looked at her, saying: "I didn't give you your first kiss." Ginny looked at him, saying: "That's true...but your kiss was a real kiss, you made me enjoy it... guys like Dean Thomas kissed to enjoy themselves..." Harry looked at her, saying: "I didn't know that.." Ginny looked at him, hugging him. "You don't have to be sad, because this is my choice." she said, smiling, as she moved her head against his chest. Harry looked up at the sky, saying: "...That's not the reason I walked out, though." Ginny tilted her head slightly, saying: "..What do you mean? I thought you walked out because I said Bill it had been your birthday..." Harry shook his head, saying: "..I was attacked on my birthday. Lucius Malfoy blew up my room, and before that, they had killed my uncle and aunt..." "...And Dudley?" "...No, Dudley's alive...and he's on Hogwarts." Harry said. "..What?!" Ginny said. "A Muggle on Hogwarts?! How is that possible?" "...Dudley's a wizard.." Harry said. "A Slytherin." Ginny gasped, putting her hand in front of her mouth. "...That's impossible...it can't be.." Harry sighed, saying: "...It is, the Sorting Hat said so."

There was a silence, before they heard the door. Bill stepped out, saying: "Harry, you coming?"

Please R'n'R, I can't improve without criticism.