Chapter Nine – A Fight, A Letter, and An Apology

Harry sat on the bed and watched as Ginny walked out the door. With a click of the knob the door closed and Harry flopped back onto the bed and let out a sigh. He caught up with his breath and looked over at the clock, it was past eight.

"Aw, bugger." He said as he shot up from the bed and quickly threw on his clothes.

Harry put on his straggling shoes and threw the invisibility cloak over him as he made his way out of the room. He looked both ways down the hall checking if the coast was clear then quickly made his way to the One-Eyed Witch passage. He got out of Honeyduke's Cellar then into Hogsmeade. From there he apparated to Diagon Alley in front of Fred and George's joke shop. He made his way inside and then up the stairs. He opened the door at the top to find Fred and George relaxing after a long days work.

"Hey Harry, long day?" George asked as he saw that Harry looked extremely overwhelmed.

"Oh…yes actually. Thanks again for letting me stay here. I really appreciate it."

"No problem Harry." George replied.

"Yeah, you're welcome here anytime. And don't worry, your secret's safe with us." Fred added.

"Thanks guys. I really need the time to figure things out."

Harry went to bed that night feeling better then he had felt in a long time, but he still couldn't help but thinking about Ginny's dreams. What did they mean? Was she having premonitions, or where they just dreams? These thoughts jumped around in his mind as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

Ginny slowly made her way back up to the tower. As she climbed the stairs into the portrait hole she found Ron and Hermione fretting over something. She was soon spotted and Hermione ran to her and engulfed her in a huge hug.

"Oh my gosh. We where so worried. Where have you been?" Hermione asked, "Are you okay?"

"Other than the fact that you are cutting off my air supply, I'm fine." Ginny replied gasping for air.

"Oh sorry," Hermione released her then frantically began bombarding her with questions.

"Hermione relax, I'm fine."

"Then where the bloody hell, have you been?" Ron cut in.

"I just umm…." Ginny had to come up with an excuse of her extended leave of absence and she needed one fast. But the only thing going through her mind was the sight of Harry's beautiful emerald eyes hovering over her.

"Ginny!" Hermione said snapping her fingers in front of her face bringing Ginny out of her trance.

"Ah…sorry, I just needed to spend some time alone. I needed to get away from the confusion…the gossip. I had to do…. something."

"Well you spent a hell of a long time just 'thinking'." Ron snapped at her.

"You know what Ron? At least I actually have a brain to think with."

"I'll have you know that I have a brain and at least I don't use it to think about Harry all the bloody time. I swear that's all you ever do anymore. You mope around all the time expecting someone to comfort you and now you go off and disappear not telling anyone.

And you keep all these secrets, so you know what? You need to get over yourself!"

You could hear the gasp that had fallen over the room. This brought Ginny to tears. She had been riding on cloud nine and Ron had to come and ruin it. The anger was burning up inside her, but the tears where falling on the outside. Something came over Ginny, she was pissed and the next thing she knew was that her fist was in Ron's face and Ron was on the floor.

"How dare you say that to me, I can't believe you!"

Professor Lupin came out of his office to see what all the commotion was about. He stood by and watched as Ginny let Ron have it.

"You are so fucking full of yourself. I can't believe you would say that…to ME! I'm your own sister. At least I spend my time thinking of someone other than myself Ronald Weasley! So you know what…I think you're the one who needs to get over yourself."

The tears where still rolling down her cheeks but Ginny got the point out. She stomped up to her room and left Ron on the floor with a broken nose. Lupin went straight over to him and asked Hermione what had happened.

"Oh, he had to open his big mouth again. Come on Ron, we best get you to the hospital wing."

She helped him up and Lupin helped her get him to Madame Pomfrey as she told him the entire story.

"Well Ron, I hope that teaches you a lesson. Never mess with a woman."

Ginny stayed up in her room the rest of the night and slept until the next morning. When she had decided to get up she went down to the common room to find that everyone had already made their way down to breakfast, all except for one. Professor Lupin came out of his office and stood in the middle of the room.

"Good morning Ginny."

"Oh, good morning professor," She replied.

"Can I speak with you a moment?"

"Ah…sure," Ginny made her way through the room following him into his office.

"Please, sit down. Would you like some tea?" He asked as he shut the door behind them.

"Sure."

Lupin poured them both a cup of tea then sat down in the executive chair behind the desk.

"You know, that little stunt you pulled last night was a pretty risky thing to do. You could have permanently hurt your brother. Hitting another student is grounds for serious consequences."

"Yes I know sir. I'm very sorry for my actions last night. My stupid brother deserved it but it was the wrong thing to do. I guess I just…lost my head. It just made me so mad that my own brother would say that… to me! I'm his sister!"

"I know what you mean. What Ron did was very wrong. He should not have said what he said. I think Ron had it coming, but even so. You shouldn't have hit him." Lupin said in a stern voice.

"I know sir."

"Under the circumstances, I think I will let you off with a warning…this time. But if this happens again I will have to take immediate action. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir. Thank you, I promise it won't happen again."

"Well I should hope not. I hope Ron doesn't do that again; I wouldn't want him to feel the wrath of you. But there is one other thing I would like to ask you before you leave. Have you heard from Harry lately?"

"Um…" Have I heard from him lately? Does spending a whole day in bed with him count? "… Yeah, actually I have."

"I had hoped so. How is he doing?"

"Well… I'm not completely sure. He's okay, alive, but he doesn't really tell me all the details. I'm in the dark just as much as everyone else is. I really wish he would write more often. I worry about him so much and that stupid brother of mine, I swear!"

"I know. Ron was way out of line. Well if you hear anything about him will you let me know, please?"

"Of course, thanks for the tea professor, but I really must be going."

"Alright, and remember, no more nose breaking."

Ginny smiled and nodded as she turned and left the room.

Harry had suddenly stopped spinning and stood in front of a tall wooded door of a house that seemed like it hadn't been opened in years, which was exactly what it was. The house stood alone in the countryside away from all the rustle and bustle of the city. Harry looked down at the address written on the piece of parchment then up to the numbers hanging on the door.

"Yep, this is the place."

Harry slid his hand into his packet and pulled out a copper key that seemed to be dull from the past years. He slid it into the lock and clicked it open. Harry turned the doorknob and pushed open the door. He walked into the doorway then shut it behind him.

He looked around the great room to find the furniture covered in white draperies as well as everything covered in dust. He stepped over to the fireplace where a sign hung. It read "Welcome to Godric's Hollow". Below it hung a picture of a man and wife along with their child.

Harry peered closer into the picture and saw that in fact the child was none other than himself and the man and wife, his parents. Harry reached out and ran his fingers across the frame leaving a line free of dust. At that moment the picture had started to come alive along with the rest of the room. The dust and white cloths were gone and cleaned up along with the rest of the house. Harry looked around to find not a gray, old, boarded up house, but a welcoming home that was bright and cheery.

"Welcome home Harry," he said to himself, "Welcome home."

The next few days were pretty uneventful in the Hogwarts castle. Other than the fact that Ron and Ginny wouldn't speak to each other, it seemed to be a pretty normal week.

Ginny was sitting at the Gryffendor table along with Hermione eating breakfast when the morning post arrived. An owl swooped down to drop a copy of The Daily Prophet in front of Hermione along with the other owls delivering mail. But what happened next shocked Ginny. A snowy white owl came through the window and landed on the table in front of her. Ginny untied the letter dangling from Hedwig's leg and slipped her a piece of bacon. Hedwig gave her a gentile nibble at her finger before flying away.

"Is it from Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, I think so."

Ginny opened the unmarked letter and read it to herself.

My dearest Ginny,

There are no words to describe how much I miss you. It has only been a few days since the last time I've seen you, but it seems like it's been an eternity. To keep my promise, I am writing to you.

I've been looking into family stuff to find out some of the many mysteries of my life. I've also been keeping tabs on the news. There hasn't been much movement with Voldermort since what happened at school. It's getting a little suspicious, but that's nothing new.

I can't wait to see you again. It hurts so much to be away from you. I love you so much and nothing can ever change that. I send all of my love to you. Please try to relax a little more. I will keep writing more often to keep you up on what is going on.

Love always,

Harry

P.S. Please let everyone know that I'm fine and doing well and tell Lupin not to worry so much. I know how he is. See you!

"So what does it say?" Hermione asked.

Ginny folded up the letter and slipped it into her pocket.

"He says that everything is fine and he's doing well. I guess he's looking into some family matters."

"Well that's good. At least he's alright."

A smile grew across Ginny's face as she thought about Harry and his beautiful eyes.

As they both went back to eating their breakfast Ron walked into the hall and sat next to Hermione.

"Well this is a good sign. You're actually sitting near each other. So have you decided to apologize yet Ron?"

"What! Why do I have to apologize? She's the one who broke my nose."

"Yeah, but that was your fault. If you hadn't said what you said, you wouldn't have ended up with a fist in your face." Ginny proved.

"She makes a good point Ron. You did say some pretty mean things to her."

"Fine! Fine! Ginny I'm sorry for what I said." Ron exclaimed.

"And…" Hermione nudged her elbow into his arm.

"And I promise I won't say something like that again. It was the wrong thing to do."

"Alright, I guess I have no choice but to accept your apology."

"Good. Now can I please eat? I'm starving." Ron said as he piled a huge amount of food on his plate and started to shovel it down.