A/N: Here's chapter ten, all fixed up for your enjoyment!

Chapter Ten

The Worst Goodbye

Morning came quickly at Grimauld house on the first day of August, but Harry and Ginny slept through it. They were, in fact, the last people to wake up on the day of Fleur and Bill's wedding, which was not a good thing, considering they were still both asleep in Harry's bed.

Of the pair, Harry woke first, but even that wasn't until nine o'clock, some three hours after the some of the other occupants had first began to stir. Sadly, it probably would have been later still, but for the beastly nightmare Harry had, in which he was chasing after Voldemort, trying to defeat him by giving him a hug, because, after all, Dumbledore had told him that his greatest weapon was his ability to love. Shaking the haunting images from his mind, Harry sat up and stretched, then glanced at the sunshine merrily pouring in his window, and at the redhead still asleep beside him. Suddenly it occurred to Harry that he could be in very big trouble if he didn't get Ginny back to her room, and very soon.

With that in mind, he gently shook her awake, giving her a kiss on the forehead as he leapt from the bed to gather her clothing. She was just stretching awake when he dumped her things in her lap and told her to hurry, putting on clean jeans from his trunk as he did it. "Gin, we've over slept, and you've got to get back to your room!"

"Shit," she said, rushing now. Unfortunately, a knock came at the door before Ginny had more than her t-shirt and undergarments on. The pair shared a panic filled moment, and then Ginny dived under the bed, Harry sending her pyjama pants, socks and shoes after her. Then Harry strode to the door, doing his best to seem groggy and barely awake. Hermione came in, and Harry quickly tugged his shirt over his head. "Isn't that what you wore yesterday?" she asked.

"Dunno, maybe," Harry said, peeling the shirt off and grabbing another, suddenly noticing the marks Ginny's mouth had left on his chest the night before, and hoping that Hermione hadn't caught sight of the purplish bruising.

"What's that on your chest?" asked Hermione, who could never be counted on to not notice something.

"Er, bruise. Dudley threw something at me day before last, no big deal." Harry said automatically, as he tried to count the number of lies he had told people he loved in the past month or so. He figured that he would soon need to invent a new number to keep up with the steadily mounting figure.

"That's terrible! What did he throw?" asked Hermione.

"Umm… his fist." That was weak, but still Harry couldn't help but think that it was rather amusing that, with all the horrible things the Dursleys had done that he had never told anyone about, a great number of the things he had blamed on them really stemmed from his girlfriend. In fact, without Ginny, Ron and Hermione wouldn't know even half as much about his life with his aunt's family as they did.

"Harry, those people-"

"I don't want to hear about it, Hermione. They were rotten, and I never have to talk to or about them again. They can't affect me anymore," Harry assured his friend, squeezing her shoulder gently.

"I think you're wrong about that last part, but I just came up hear to wake you and Ginny up. We leave for the Burrow in an hour, and Remus wanted you up." Then Hermione left, and Harry closed the door. He didn't have time to think about what she said because he had to get Ginny back to her room before Hermione got there. He threw open the window, and helped her scramble through it and onto the roof.

Harry then grabbed his dress robes and threw them over his shoulder, heading downstairs. He passed Hermione and Ginny on his way to the steps, and he nodded to the pair as he had the night before on his way to speak to Remus. This time though, Hermione called after Harry to wait. "I'll walk down with you since Ginny isn't ready to go yet."

"Okay," said Harry, slightly wary of his friend and her new, annoying penchant for trying to talk about the Dursleys.

As they reached the third floor, where Hermione, Ron and a few order members slept in scattered bedrooms, Ron came into view leaning against his door, the one across from Hermione's. "There you two are! Is Ginny coming?" asked the gangly red head.

"Not right away," Hermione explained. "She was still asleep when I knocked on her door."

Harry forced himself not to blush or concentrate on his shoes. Hermione had already caught the marks on his chest, and Harry wasn't willing to risk everything on his ability to make up another 'clever' excuse if she saw him acting oddly.

"Right," said Ron, "Harry, do you have plans for the rest of the summer?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. And so do you too. We're leaving in eleven days, so pack your bags," Harry said just before he walked off, leaving his best friends standing shocked on the staircase between the first and second floor. He also left Ginny standing out of sight around a bend in the hall, but Harry didn't know that, or that she had even heard his news and was even more shocked than the other pair.

In fact, Ginny stood with those few words echoing hollowly in her heart until the voices of the other two snapped her out of it. Hermione and Ron were bickering as usual, and Ginny concentrated on their voices to avoid the pain of Harry's announcement. "Did Harry mention anything to you?" asked Hermione sharply.

"You've spent more time with him than I have," Ron told her.

"I thought we weren't leaving until September!" cried Hermione.

"Why do you suppose he wants to go so soon?" asked Ron, "You don't think he and Ginny have had another fight or something? I thought they were going to be friends."

"They are! They both even saw other people briefly," Hermione snapped.

"What? When?" asked Ron, looking baffled.

"In the last few weeks. Ginny met some muggle boy named Robert while she was at her friends house and Harry apparently got together with a muggle girl he was friends with when he was younger, I overheard him and Remus taking about it," Hermione said, "If we're leaving so much sooner, we're going to need different supplies."

"Does Ginny know? How could Harry do that to her? I'm going to-" In typical Ron fashion, the teenage boy had reacted all over the place until Hermione cut him off.

"You won't do anything, because as far and Harry and Ginny are concerned, you don't know anything. Besides, they had already broken up, and if the time line is what I think it is, they were going out with other people at about the same time!" Hermione told Ron, pulling him to a stop just outside the kitchen door while Ginny lurked in the shadowy hall not far away.

"Whose this Robert bloke anyway?" grumbled Ron.

"It doesn't matter, I don't think Ginny will ever see him again anyway." Hermione told Ron before hushing him and leading the way down to the kitchen and out of hearing range.

Ginny didn't know what exactly to think, except that Harry was leaving her much sooner than expected. Eleven days, the day after her birthday, they would be gone. Well, since there was nothing to be done about that, Ginny decided to make the most of their time left together, even if that meant disappearing from view more than was wise. Ginny refused to get mad at Harry for not warning her first, because that would only waste time. She would remind herself that for every day sooner he left, Harry would return one day sooner. That was the thought that would have to get her through the months. He would come back, and then they'd be able to tell everyone about their relationship, and live happily ever after. Ginny would make herself believe that, if it took all her will power in all the coming months.

She needed so badly to believe it that she would believe it.

So, with that in mind, Ginny walked into the kitchen, and straight into chaos. Several Order members, plus the four underage residents, were trying to help themselves to breakfast. The food was not very good, and there was zero organization, but it was great cover in which for Ginny to brush up against Harry teasingly. "Grab some toast and come to my room," Harry whispered to her, disappearing into the crowd for a moment. She spotted him walking quietly up the steps a few moments later, and Ginny followed discreetly behind.

When Ginny slipped into Harry's room, he wasn't there, but the window was open. She leaned out to find Harry sitting on the roof, soaking up the morning sun and munching a piece of toast. "So good of you to join me," he said with a smile.

"I feel like I haven't talked to you in forever," Ginny said as she sat beside him.

"I know. First with Hermione staying in your room so we couldn't use the mirrors, and what with us being so occupied last night," Harry said.

"And its not likely to get any better when we get to the Burrow for the wedding either. By the way, we only have a half hour before we go," Ginny said, finishing her toast and brushing away the crumbs.

A moment passed in companionable silence before Harry smile down at his girlfriend. "You know Gin, I've learned all sorts of things since we began to date. Like lying to loved ones is sometimes okay, and how to think fast on my feet, and where all the best hiding places are, and not to wish for company in case you get more than you want."

"I thought you were going to say that you learned how to undo a bra," teased Ginny.

"Well, there is that useful skill," Harry acknowledged with a grin.

"Just don't put it to use when I'm not around!" Ginny threatened, and was surprised when Harry's grin faded.

"Gin, there's something else I need to tell you. Hermione, Ron and I, we're leaving soon. Really soon," Harry said.

"How soon?" asked Ginny, hoping that his answer would be different from the one she'd overheard earlier.

"Eleven days," Harry said.

"Then I guess we'd better make them all count," Ginny said with a sad smile. "Are you sure you won't let me come?"

"That would just be inviting trouble. Voldemort I can handle, but your mum in a temper?" Harry said jokingly, "No thanks."

"What if I threatened to tell her some things that would really make her mad if you don't bring me along?" asked Ginny, not sure if she was really teasing or not.

"Then I'd say see you on the other side, because I doubt she'd go easy on you either," Harry smiled a bit.

"I know," said Ginny, tears leaking down her cheeks.

"You can't cry now. There's a wedding soon, and no one would even buy that their happy tears for your brother and Phlegm," Harry said, brushing away the watery marks with his thumb.

"I'll miss you Harry, so much," Ginny choked out.

"I'll miss you, too." Harry said, pulling her close, "But let's not make this harder by saying goodbye for eleven days. Let's enjoy ourselves instead," Harry's grin was wavering, and that's what made Ginny pull herself together. She had to be strong, because she knew if she asked it, he'd be too tempted to stay behind.

Harry had to leave, and Ginny had to make it okay for him to go, that was the only way the Boy Who Lived could defeat Lord Voldemort.