At The Burrow
Harry barely got any sleep that night. He tossed and turned, wondering what was in the diary. Perhaps it would help him. Harry groaned in anger. It had always bothered him that Dumbledore always waited to tell him much. Why couldn't he just tell him! Harry stood up and strode over to the book, which lay on top of his trunk. He flipped through the pages. They were a blank, pure white.
Harry groaned again and slammed the book back down. An irritable Uncle Vernon shouted, "Keep it down in there!" from down the hall. This did not help Harry's mood. He threw himself back on his bed and slowly slipped into a fitful sleep.
Harry awoke early again, except this time it was because his eyes had just simply flitted open, not that the Dursleys has woken him up. Nervous, he stepped timidly down the stairs and into the kitchen to grab an apple. He took a bite and went to go find his aunt and uncle. Just like before, they were sitting in the living room, watching BBC.
Harry sat down in a chair and stared at them. He wasn't surprised that they didn't say good morning or even look up. He was used to that. After finishing his apple, Harry went up to his room and levitated his trunk and bags down the stairs. His room was completely empty, looking exactly the way it had when he had first moved into it when he was just 11.
Harry set his things down by the front door and stalked back into the living room.
"I'm leaving. Thanks, I guess. Bye." And without a single look back, a single goodbye in return, or even a weak wave or smile, Harry left the place he had been dreaming of leaving for so long. And it didn't feel a bit like the way he had thought it would. He wasn't sad that he was leaving. He wasn't even upset that he was leaving. But what he was truly afraid of was what he was entering. Harry grimly disapparated to the Burrow
"Harry!" a female voice rang. Hermione, followed by Ron, Mrs. and Mr. Weasley, the twins, Bill, Fleur, and Charlie raced out of the house. Harry grinned and said hi to everyone, wondering where Ginny was.
But he found her as he was walking down to the living room from putting away his things in Ron's room. Her door cracked open slightly, then, when she saw him, she flew out, grabbed his arm, and pulled him into her room.
"How's your summer been?" She asked, out of breath.
"Fine. Yours?" Harry responded nervously. The first and last thing he wanted was to be alone with Ginny.
"Good, I suppose. Have you found out anything about Voldemort?" she continued, interrupting Harry slightly, cutting off the final few letters in yours.
"Er- no. I haven't been able to do much of anything." Harry said as Ginny's face fell. Suddenly something clicked. Ginny wanted him to get all of that over with so that they could be together.
"Listen, Ginny, I'm sorry. But I can't take any chances. I don't want Voldemort to hurt you." He crossed the room and took the back of her head in his hands.
"Ginny, I love you and I never want anyone to hurt you. I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry." A single tear fell down Ginny's cheek and she threw her arms around Harry's neck. They hugged tightly, but simply. Harry knew that Ginny understood, even though neither of them wanted to accept it.
"Harry? Can I just say 1 thing?" Ginny asked, clearing her throat and wiping away tears. "I love you, too."
Harry leaned her head down to meet hers and kissed her. It was simple, though he wanted it to mean more. It was not hello, but goodbye. For now. And they broke apart after just a few seconds, and walked downstairs together, laughing at the ghoul in the attic, which had started to bang the pipes to the tune of Jingle Bells.
Everyone stopped talking when the laughing two entered the room. All eyes turned to face them.
"What!" Ginny said shrilly, eyes narrowing.
"Nothing." Fred said, before falling over in a fit of laughter.
Harry turned as red as Ron did when he got embarrassed and hurried to sit down next to Ron.
"So- who wants some lunch?" Molly asked, breaking both the tension and the silence. She cheerily stood up and traipsed into the kitchen. Everyone exchanged glances before following her.
"So, are you two back together again?" Hermione asked a quite irritated Harry after a dinner of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy. Harry groaned and said
"I'll tell you exactly what I told Ron, Fred, and George. No. How on earth do you think we could be? Voldemort's after everyone I bloody care about!" He then stomped away. When he and Ginny had actually been going out, he had loved saying a very proud yes when people asked if they were going out. But now it was just plain annoying.
"Everybody! Come 'ack!" Fleur asked, throwing her long silvery blonde hair over her shoulder. Everyone scowled and trudged back to see just what she wanted.
"What?" Ginny asked; sounding exasperated. Something about that struck Harry as extremely hilarious and he snorted to hold back a very loud snigger. Ginny blushed a brilliant shade of magenta, making Harry blush as well. They hid their red faces and ducked their heads to avoid looking at Fleur.
"'ank you all for b'ing here today. It 'eans a lot to 'ill and I." She flashed a big smile to everyone and flounced away to find Bill.
"Harry, Ginny." Mrs. Weasley said, turning to them. "How would you two like to go de-gnome the garden?" She smiled cheerfully, as though she was trying to get the two of them back together again. Ron looked at her as though he didn't think this was a very good idea, but she walked away without another word.
Harry forced a smile to rival Molly's and turned to face Ginny.
"Well, let's go then." He said and fluttered off to the garden, which seemed to be gnome-free.
"Uh, Harry?" Ginny began, confused. "Do you see any gnomes?"
"No." Harry answered while shaking his head. "What's going on here?" HE turned to go back inside. He tried to turn the knob, but it wouldn't budge, and neither would the door.
"The door's locked!" Harry yelled to Ginny, whose puzzled face became even more puzzled.
"Augh! How are we supposed to get in!" He kicked the door, but that resulted in his foot hurting rather badly.
"Uh, Harry? You do remember that you're 17, don't you?" Ginny asked, suppressing giggles. Harry suddenly turned red again and whispered "Alohamora" to the door, pointing his wand at the brass knob. It wiggled and pushed itself open, revealing Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George.
"Just what were you gits trying to do?" Ginny asked, a hint of amusement in her voice. She rapidly tapped her sneaker-clad foot on the hardwood floor.
"Why what ever do you mean?" Hermione asked with a smile.
"Well, now that that's done, Fred and I must complete some things we've been working on." George said, then pulled Fred up by the collar and yanked him upstairs to their room.
"And I've gotta unpack." Harry said, following them.
"And I should write to Luna." Ginny said, following all of them. This left Ron and Hermione alone together in the small kitchen.
"It's really quite sad, the two of them." Hermione said with a dreamy look in her eyes.
"Yep." Ron agreed. "They're so cute." Hermione sighed at him, her dreamy expression not fading.
"What's the matter?" Ron asked earnestly.
"Well, there's this boy I like….." She began. Ron's face went blank but then lit up.
"And there's this girl I like…." He said. They both inched closer and closer. Ron gathered Hermione's hair in his hands and whispered into her ear.
"I've liked you for a very long time." He breathed.
"And I've liked you for ages." Hermione continued.
As their lips became just centimeters apart, Ron said one last thing.
"Hermione Granger, I love you."
"Ronald Weasley, I love you too."
And they kissed at last. But they did not notice Harry slip back into the room. They didn't notice anybody slip back into the room. But when they finally broke apart everyone in the house was staring at them, some looking quite smug and the rest with their mouths on the floor.
"We have some wedding preparations to make….." Mrs. Weasley said before pushing Arthur, Bill, and Fleur out into the garden, mentioning something about the begonias.
"What's that I smell George?" Fred asked, pushing his nose into the air and dancing around the kitchen.
"Why, I believe its love!" George answered before prancing after his twin. Harry and Ginny stood there, looking quite amused.
A/N: This was very hard for me to write, as I am a big fan of Harry and Ginny. I hope you liked it!