Chapter 10: Recovery in Egypt

I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Since there wasn't a bunch of events from the books that I had to work in I was able to let my imagination loose and come up with a nice, little adventure for Harry and the others. I'll be able to get the next chapter up shortly after this, and then the updates will probably slow down a bit.

In this chapter the Weasleys win a drawing in the Daily Prophet and use the money to visit Bill in Egypt. Harry hopes to use the vacation to help Ginny recover from the events of the previous year.

As usual, thanks for all of the reviews and I hope everyone enjoys!

(None of these characters belong to me, they are the property of J.K Rowling.)

About a week after they had returned from Hogwarts, everyone was sitting around the table eating breakfast. Fred and George were going out of their way to annoy Percy, Ron was flipping through an old Quidditch magazine, and Harry was watching Ginny, who was pushing food around her plate. He had been keeping an eye on her ever since they had gotten back from Hogwarts. On the outside she was acting like her normal self, at least more-so than when she was under Tom's control, but he could tell that something was wrong.

"You know you should probably eat some breakfast Gin, it's the most important meal of the day." he mumbled to her.

She blushed slightly, but continued just pushing her food around and not eating any of it. "I'm just not that hungry." she mumbled back.

Harry was about to say something in return when the fireplace flashed green and a very excited Mr. Weasley came through.

"We did it! We won!" he exclaimed giving Mrs. Weasley a hug.

"Calm down Arthur, what is it that we won?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"You know that raffle in the Daily Prophet that we won? They announced the winner today and it's us! We won a nice pile of gold." Mr. Weasley explained.

"Oh that's wonderful, what are we going to do with it?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Yeah dad, what are we going to do with the loot?" Ron added.

"Well I was thinking, it's been awhile since we've seen Bill, and since he's not going to be able to come back and visit us this summer, why don't we go to Egypt and visit him ourselves?"

Ginny gave a squeak of excitement and Fred and George added, "That's a brilliant idea!"

"It's settled then. Pack your things, we'll be leaving in a couple of days." Mr. Weasley said.

Harry grinned. It would be exciting to visit Bill in Egypt. Plus, he hoped it would be good for Ginny. When Mr. Weasley had announced his idea to visit Bill,he had noticed Ginny's eyes light with an excitement that he hadn't seen in awhile now. He knew that Bill was her favorite brother and he hoped that he'd be able to recruit his help in getting Ginny back to normal.

They spent the next few days frantically packing and avoiding Mrs. Weasley, who had gotten it in her head that they needed to clean the house before they left. It was during one of these chores that Harry made his first attempt at talking to Ginny. Mrs. Weasley had told Ginny to go outside to degnome the yard. Seeing an opportunity to talk to Ginny alone, he volunteered to help.

He followed behind her listening to her grumbling with amusement. Degnoming the garden had always been Ginny's least favorite task. She thought the gnomes were cute and felt that tossing them over the fence was cruel.

"So mum sent you out here as well?" Ginny asked as she quietly stalked a gnome that was trying, without success, to uproot a carrot. "I swear she's gone mental. We aren't even going to be home, why clean the house?"

Harry grinned as Ginny grabbed the gnome and tossed it over the fence. At the sound of the gnomes cursing, several others poked their heads of of the ground curiously. He quickly grabbed one that had appeared near his feet and tossed it over the fence as well.

"I actually volunteered to help you. I wanted to talk to you." he responded.

Ginny sighed as she tossed another gnome. "I know you do Harry, and so does everyone else. Everyone wants to know how I'm doing and wants to tell me that what happened wasn't my fault." she said.

"That's because it isn't. You must realize that Gin." he replied.

"I keep telling myself that Harry, and I want to believe it. But deep down I can't help but think that if I hadn't been so easy to control than none of the attacks would have happened." she explained.

"You were controlled by Voldemort, one of the most powerful wizards of all time, and you fought him the entire year. That doesn't make you weak, it makes you strong." he said with exasperation.

Ginny sighed again. "I know Harry, but it's going to be awhile before I can accept that. I-I just need some time."

Harry nodded his head and decided to give up on his attempt for now. They continued getting rid of the gnomes, which were now in a frenzy, in silence.

Mrs. Weasley watched and listened to the two from the kitchen window. Their conversation sounded like it was being discussed between two adults, not almost 12 and 13-year-olds. The two had already been through so much at such a young age.

The night that Harry had saved Ginny from the Chamber, she had looked into her daughter's eyes and instead of seeing the eyes of a care free child she had seen the eyes of someone much older than her body. It had broken her heart. She remembered seeing those same eyes in Harry when he had first arrived at their home all of those years ago. They had done everything they could to give him back his childhood and restore a youthful spark to him. She liked to think to believe that they had succeeded at this, but every once and awhile she would catch him looking of blankly into the distance with that same look in his eyes.

No matter how much she hated what Harry had gone through, she was thankful that he was here. He had now met You-Know-Who three times in his life, so if anyone could relate to what Ginny was going through, he could.

When he had first joined their family, Ginny had been the one to break him out of his shell and comfort him. Now, it was Harry's turn to return the favor.

The morning that they planned to leave for Egypt was chaos, not that anyone expected anything and the twins hurried to finish their packing as Mrs. Weasley yelled at them for not doing it the night before. Harry, Ginny, and Percy sat in the living room along with an anxious-looking Mr. Weasley.

"Molly, the international portkey is going to leave in less than five minutes." he said glancing at his watch.

"Don't complain to me, complain to your three sons." Mrs. Weasley shouted as she dragged in Ron, Fred, and George.

"Alright good we're all here. Everyone grab onto the backpack (Yes of course it's the portkey Ron) and also your luggage. It leaves in 30 seconds." Mr. Weasley explained while checking his watch again.

Harry braced himself as he clutched onto the portkey and his trunk. He hated traveling by portkey almost as much as floo. He never managed to land on his feet.

Finally, after a few more seconds of waiting, he felt the familiar tug on his naval and he and the Weasley family disappeared. They reappeared on a platform in various different states. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Percy, and Fred were standing up. Harry grumbled as he got up along with Ginny, Ron, and George, who made a rude hand gesture at his twin, who was laughing at him, earning an angry look from Mrs. Weasley.

"Hullo everyone, welcome to Egypt!" A familiar voice said behind them.

Ginny squealed and rushed over and jumped into Bill's arms, causing him to laugh as he almost fell over.

"Hey there pipsqueak! I'm glad to see you too!" he said hugging her back. "I heard you had an interesting year." he said in a much quieter voice.

Ginny tensed slightly. "Please don't ask me if I'm ok, that's all anyone's been asking me." she whispered back.

"I wouldn't dream of it." Bill replied kissing her on the head.

Harry had been the only one close enough to hear their exchange and he grinned inwardly. If anyone could help Ginny, it would be Bill.

He watched as Bill greeted each member of his family. He had always gotten along well with the many different personalities of the Weasley family. Naturally, since they were closest in age, he and Charlie were pretty much best mates. He was one of the only people who was able to stand having a lengthy conversation with Percy, who had idolized him ever since he'd become Head Boy. Fred and George had a deep level of respect for Bill, as they had never been able to successfully prank him. While Ron easily beat everyone else at wizarding chess, Bill was the only one who gave him somewhat of a challenge, but even he had only won a handful of games against Ron. Ginny and Bill had always had a special bond. Probably because she was the youngest and his only sister, Bill treated her differently from everyone else and had adored her since she was born. When Harry had first arrived at the Weasleys, Bill had been the second quickest to treat him like one of their own, Ginny being the first, and Harry had always been grateful for that.

"Well if it isn't my favorite adopted brother." Bill said giving Harry a hug and ruffling his hair.

Harry grinned. "It's good to see you too Bill." he replied.

Bill lowered his voice. "I was hoping to talk to you privately later. I heard that you were involved in what happened to Ginny this year and I was hoping to get the full story."

Harry nodded. "I was actually hoping to talk to you about it anyway." he responded.

"Good, I look forward to our cat." Bill replied.

"Now everyone follow me." He said addressing to the whole group. "I'll lead you to where you'll be staying.

He led them to what appeared to be a dig site covered in tents. They walked around several dug out tenches stopped in front of two large tents.

"Here we go. Home sweet home." Bill said grinning.

"We're going to be staying in tents?" Percy asked looking extremely skeptical.

"Why don't you go inside and take a look before you judge it?" Bill replied still grinning.

So one by one the Weasleys all entered the tent. Harry gasped in amazement as he looked around at the fully furnished room that stood in front of him. No matter how long he had been in the wizarding world, it still continued to surprise him.

"This tent has three rooms, I figured Fred and George will have one, Harry and Ron another, and Percy can have the last one. The other tent has two rooms, one for you Mum and Dad, and one for Ginny." Bill explained.

"Blimey." Ron said.

"It's brilliant." the twins added.

They spent the rest of the day exploring the tents and catching up with Bill. Finally, as night time approached, Bill leaned over and whispered to Harry, "How about we take a walk?".

Harry nodded his head and followed Bill out of the tent.

"Alright, how about you start from the beginning." Bill said as they began walking around the dig site.

Harry began explaining everything that had happened the previous year, starting with their confrontation with Lucius Malfoy at Flourish and Blotts, and ending with his rescue of Ginny from the Chamber of Secrets.

"Wow." Bill said when he had finished. "It does sound like you guys had quite the adventure. I can't thank you enough for saving Ginny."

Harry shrugged. "We did what we had to do. I just wish we had done something about the diary earlier on, then we might have prevented Ginny being taken into the Chamber." he said.

"From the sound of it, it might not have been very easy to destroy that diary, even if you had tried. Your description of it reminds me of a bit of dark magic that I encountered once in a pyramid. I just can't remember what it was." Bill said.

He paused for a bit seemingly deep in thought. "Damn, it's completely slipped my mind. Anyway, you said that you wanted to talk to me as well?"

"Aye. It's about Ginny." Harry replied. "She hasn't been herself since the Chamber and I know that she's blaming herself for what happened. I was hoping that maybe you could talk to her about it."

Bill nodded. "Alright I'll talk to her, but I think this might be something she'll have to realize herself. You really care for her don't you?"

"Of course I do. She's my closest friend. I care about her more than anything." Harry replied.

"And you just want to be friends with her? Nothing more?" Bill asked waggling his eyebrows.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked confused.

Bill just kept grinning. "Oh nothing. I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually.

Everyone was asleep when they arrived back at the tent. Bill bade Harry goodnight and headed back to his own tent. Harry crept to his room and climbed into his bed, careful not to wake Ron. He lay awake pondering what Bill had said. What did he mean by wanting to be more than friends with Ginny? Did he mean like, girlfriend and boyfriend?

He had never really thought of having a girlfriend. The thought of asking a girl on a date sounded terrifying. But, if he did get a girlfriend, he figured he wouldn't mind her to be Ginny. He thought about Ginny's long, silky, red hair and chocolate brown eyes and he felt a strange fluttering in his stomach.

"No, that wouldn't be bad at all." He thought as he drifted off to sleep.

He woke up the next morning to the smell of bacon and eggs. He grinned when he heard Ron shout, "breakfast!" and dash out of his bed. He groggily got out of bed and followed him downstairs to see Mrs. Weasley preparing breakfast. He noticed Ginny next to her and once again felt the strange fluttering in his stomach. What was going on with him? Was he sick?

Mrs. Weasley noticed them coming down the stairs. "Good morning boys. I'll have breakfast ready shortly."

Ginny turned and when she saw them coming down the stairs she went over and gave Harry their usual morning hug. As he hugged her he breathed in, Ginny smelt of Strawberries and chocolate and a scent that was just… Ginny. He felt the fluttering in his stomach worsen and he ended the hug rather quickly.

"Morning Gin." he mumbled without making eye contact as he sat down at the table.

Ginny looked at him oddly before shrugging and going back to helping Mrs. Weasley with breakfast.

Bill grinned from behind his cup of coffee as he watched harry and Ginny's interaction. It seemed that his talk with Harry the night before had had an affect on him.

"So what are we going to do today Bill?" Fred asked.

"Yeah what are you going to show us?" George added.

Bill grinned before responding. "I was thinking I'd show you some of the pyramids and dig sites."

That's how they spent the next few weeks. They explored many different parts of Egypt. Pyramids, the sphinx, dig sites, and anything else that could be found in Egypt. They even spent a few days in the wizarding district of Egypt.

Throughout the whole time Bill kept a close eye on Harry, Ron, and Ginny. The three seemed to be having a good time, but he noticed that something was off about the three, which he assumed was due to the events that had occurred at the end of their school year. He tried to think of a way to help the three and finally an opportunity presented itself one day.

One of his superiors told him hat they had discovered a new antechamber that they needed him to look through. It was small, so they didn't expect there to be any problems, but they wanted a curse breaker to look through it just in case. Bill figured that a non life-threatening adventure just might help the three.

So, early the next morning he woke them up just as the sun began rising in the morning, before anyone else had woken up.

"Erg… Wazamater? Ron groaned as he woke up.

"Shhh!" Bill hushed.

After he had woken up the three he gathered them outside.

"What's going on Bill?" Harry yawned.

"I've got a bit of a surprise for you three, but you can't tell mum or dad about it."

This seemed to get the three's attention. "What's the surprise?" Ginny asked eagerly.

"Just follow me and I'll show you." He responded as he led them to the pyramid he had been assigned to.

Ron complained when they arrived and he led them inside. "You already showed us this Pyramid Bill, there wasn't much in it."

"That's where you're wrong Ron, yesterday they discovered a small antechamber that no one had discovered yet. They want me to check it out so I decided to bring you along since there shouldn't be much danger." Bill explained.

They all grinned excitedly and Harry said, "Wicked!".

Bill chuckled at their excitement. "Right, now I'm going to need you to do EXACTLY as I say, and you should keep your wands out just in case."

They nodded and drew their wands as they followed Bill through the new hole in the wall that none of them had noticed before. Bill allowed Harry and Ginny to take the lead while he and Ron covered their backs. He began muttering spells and waving his wand around the passageway, trying to detect any traces of magic that might indicate a curse.

Suddenly he detected a surge of magic right in front of them and he shouted, "Everyone get back!" But it was too late. A stone wall had sprung up from the floor, separating Harry and Ginny from him and Ron.

Bill swore, he should have detected the trap earlier. He ran his wand over the new wall in front of him and swore again. It was heavily fortified with enchantments.

He turned to Ron, who was staring at the wall with wide eyes muttering "Not again."

He gently grabbed Ron's shoulder. "Ron, are you ok?"

Ron just shook his head. "It's just like the chamber, I got separated from Harry and Ginny and left behind. There was noting I could do to help."

Bill could see the panic in his eyes so he knelt down in front of him. "This isn't the Chamber Ron, this is just a small trap. And you can help this time, have you learned the spell Finite Incantatem?"

Ron nodded his head.

"Good, I want you to begin casting it on the wall." he explained.

As he and Ron began working on the wall Bill could only hope that Harry and Ginny were alright on the other side.

When Harry had heard Bill yell at them to get back he had turned around to see a wall rising from the floor. It rose quickly and cut him and Ginny off from Bill and Ron. He quickly turned to make sure Ginny was alright. Her eyes had gone wide and she was extremely pale. She began hammering her fists against the wall and looking around frantically for an exit.

Harry realized that Ginny was having a panic attack, being trapped behind the wall probably reminded her of being in the Chamber. He quickly collected her in his arms before she hurt herself.

"Shh Ginny shh, everything is going to be alright. Bill will get us out of here." he said calmly.

At first Ginny struggled against him, but she eventually calmed down. He lot go of her and she gave him a small smile. "Thanks Harry, for a second it felt like I was back in the Chamber."

Harry nodded. "You're Welcome. Now, what do you think we should do?" he asked.

"Well we could wait here for Bill to get through the wall, or… we could keep exploring." Ginny said with an adventurous look in her eye.

Harry laughed. "Now there's the adventurous girl that befriended me all those years ago. I was wondering where she had gone."

Ginny just grinned back at him and the two began moving along the passageway. It opened up into a small room, that Harry assume was the main chamber of the passageway. The edges were lined with pottery and jewelry. The walls were covered with hieroglyphs that began glowing as soon as they entered the room.

"Harry, what's going on?" Ginny asked.

Harry didn't answer, he was too busy staring at the coffin in the center of the room. Assign as the hieroglyphs had began glowing something in the coffin had started stirring.

Suddenly all of the glyphs went back to normal and a guttural moan came from the coffin. Harry and Ginny watched in horror as a mummy emerged from it.

Jumping into action, Harry stepped in front of Ginny and aimed his wand at the mummy, casting the first spell that came to mind. "Expelliarmus!"

The red bolt hit the mummy straight in the face, but all it did was tear off the linen and reveal it's decaying face. Suddenly, the hieroglyphs began glowing again and the mummy's face slowly began morphing into the face of Tom Riddle.

Harry felt Ginny begin to tremble behind him. He stayed in front of her sill aiming his wand at the mummy, but he couldn't think of what to do, his mind had gone completely blank. Suddenly he felt Ginny move from behind him. She stood up next to him, aiming her wand at the mummy with a fire in her eyes. She silently conjured the blue flames that he had seen Hermione make countless times.

The flames engulfed the mummy and it let out a piercing scream as it burned. When the flames finally disappeared, all that was left was a pile of ash and a cross-shaped amulet. Ginny shuddered a bit and quickly buried her face in Harry's shoulder. She didn't cry, she just released a long sigh of relief.

They suddenly heard footsteps behind them and they turned to see Bill and Ron using toward them.

"Are you two ok?" Bill asked anxiously when he got to them.

Ginny nodded her head and jumped into Bill's arms.

"What happened here?" Bill asked indicating the pile of ash in front of the empty coffin.

Harry quickly explained how the mummy had awoken and turned into Tom Riddle's face when he'd attempted to stop it. "I reckon Ginny save us with the blue flames she conjured." He finished.

"Well I couldn't let you save my life again Potter. Now we're even." Ginny said from Bill's arms while sticking her tongue out at him.

Harry laughed, glad to see that the Riddle-mummy hadn't seemed to negatively affect her.

"Whey do you reckon the mummy grew Tom's face?" Ron asked giving the ash pile a critical eye.

"I think I can answer that." Bill said. "The Egyptians like to cast a spell on the less important mummies that caused them to turn your worst fear if your'e near it. It was meant to ward off tomb raiders. If there weren't enough mummies than they would often add a few boggarts." he explained.

"What's a boggart?" Harry asked.

"It's a magical creature that does basically the same thing. You'll probably learn about them during your third year." Bill responded.

Harry and Ron nodded.

Bill noticed the amulet that was lying in the ash pile. He waved his wand over it a few times before he reached down and pocketed it.

"Well it looks like you guys have done my job for me. Now I think we should head back to the tents before mum or dad miss you.

As they made their way back to the tents a thought crossed Harry's mind. "Hey Bill, are we going to get into trouble for using underage magic?" he asked.

Bill shook his head. "No. The ministry here in Egypt doesn't really have any laws against underage magic. As long s you don't use it in front of muggles you should be fine." he explained.

"Wicked." Ron said.

Bill seemed to think about what he's said. "You know it would probably be best if you didn't tell that to Fred or George."

Everyone chuckled in agreement.

They soon arrived back at the tents. Harry and Ron slipped back into their tent, hoping to catch a few more hours of sleep before everyone woke up. Bill carried Ginny to her room and set her on her bed. He then pulled up a chair and looked Ginny in the eyes.

Ginny sighed. "I was wondering when this would happen."

Bill chuckled. "C'mon Ginny. You were possessed by the teenage memory of Lord Voldemort himself, there's no way I'm not going to at least have one conversation with you about it. I had hoped this little adventure might help, but now I'm worried that I might have made things worse." he said as he slumped back into his chair.

"Actually I think fighting that mummy helped. Kind of like facing your fears, you know? Before todayI spent a lot of my time feeling like Tom was still with me, taunting me. Now that feeling's gone. I think I'll always feel somewhat responsible for what happened, but now that I've gotten over my fear I think I can begin to accept that it was Tim that did it, not me." Ginny explained.

Bill gazed at Ginny for a few seconds. "You've grown up." he said simply.

Ginny wearily nodded her head. "The Chamber changed me Bill. I'm not the little girl that everyone used to know. You and Harry are the only ones who seem to have realized that. With everyone else it's like they're walking on eggshells around me."

Bill patted her shoulder. "Give them time, hopefully they will realize how you've changed."

They both sat in silence for a few seconds. Bill pulled out the amulet that he had picked out of the mummies remains. Ginny watched curiously as he ran his wand over it muttering a few spells. Finally he conjured a gold, chain necklace that he attached the amulet to.

"This is an Ankh amulet. In ancient Egypt it symbolized life." He explained as he placed the chain around her neck. "You can let it remind you that even after what you went through, you survived and still have your life to live."

Ginny got a bit teary-eyed and flung her arms around Bill's neck. "Thank you." she said.

"You're Welcome." he replied as he hugged her back.

When Ginny pulled back Bill added. "I also put a small enchantment on it. It's meant to ward off evil spirits."

Ginny gazed happily at the amulet. "I'll never take it off." she murmured.

"Good." Bill said. "Now, there is one more thing that I want to talk to you about." he added.

"What's that?" she asked curiously.

"Harry." he said.

"What about him?" she asked.

"I'm just hurt that you never told me that you had fallen so incredibly hard for someone." he said grinning.

"W-What are you talking about? Harry and I we're-we're just friends." She replied blushing slightly.

"Uh-huh, you sure have me convinced." Bill replied still grinning.

"Alright I have feelings for him, but it doesn't matter. Harry and I are friends and that's all he sees me as." Ginny pouted.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. I had a little talk with Harry when you first arrived. Have you noticed that he's been acting a bit odd lately?" he asked.

Ginny thought about it, and she realized that he had in fact been acting differently. He had seemed almost… uncomfortable around her. And yet he had been giving her a lot more hugs than he usually did.

Bill laughed. "I can see you've noticed it as well." After I had that chat with Harry I think he might have realized he's had feelings for you for awhile now." he explained.

"You really think so?" she asked.

Bill nodded. "Aye. But don't expect much from him, he is a teenage boy after all. Everyone else can tell that you two were made for each other, but he'll probably be the last to realize it."

Ginny nodded and gave a loud yawn.

Bill glanced down at his watch. "You should get some sleep, it'll probably be an hour still before mum wakes everyone up."

Ginny pulled her covers over her and lied down. As Bill got up to leave the room she turned to him.

"Bill?" she asked.

"Yes?" he replied.

"Thanks…thanks for everything." she said.

Bill smiled. "Anytime Ginny."

The rest of the summer seemed to go by in a blur. The Weasleys were thrilled to see that Ginny was back to her normal, cheerful self. Harry continued to act oddly around Ginny, something that didn't go unnoticed by Mrs. Weasley, who Bill caught planning wedding arrangements for the two.

They explored the rest of Egypt. When Percy asked why they didn't go to the Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the seven wonders of the world, Bill explained that, while muggles were allowed to see it, no wizards dared go near it. There was a great darkness about it that even skilled curse breakers like him didn't approach. Harry, Ginny, and Ron, who had become extremely suspicious of pyramid, were fine with ignoring this one.

Finally the day came for them to return home. Good-byes were exchanged between Bill and his family. Ginny jumped into his arms again, and Bill told her to write to him immediately if anything changed between her and that special someone.

Harry's brow furrowed when he heard this and he saw Ginny nod, blushing slightly. Who was Ginny's "special someone"?

Bill smirked a bit when he saw Harry's expression. He put Ginny down and walked over and patted Harry on the shoulder.

"You'll look after Ginny for me?" he asked. "Always." Harry replied shaking Bill's hand.

"Two minutes!" Mr. Weasley said, indicating the amount of time left until the portkey left.

They all put their hands on the mini Egyptian statue, a souvenir that they had gotten and had turned into a portkey. Two minutes later Harry felt a pull at his naval and they were pulled from Egypt. A few moments later the Weasleys and all their luggage appeared in the Leaky Cauldron. They had decided to spend their final day there before everyone left for Hogwarts.

Harry noticed a young, bushy haired witch getting up from one of the tables and walking towards them.

"Hermione!" Ron said excitedly from next to Harry. He rushed forward and hugged her. Hermione hugged him back looking both surprised and pleased. Harry and Ginny snickered. Ron seemed to realize what he had just done because his ears started turning red and he ended the hug awkwardly.

"Hullo Hermione." Harry said as both he and Ginny gave her a hug.

"Hello guys, i missed you so much this summer. How was Egypt? I bet it was fascinating…" Hermione began bombarding them with questions, but she was soon cut off.

"Hermione!" the twins said rushing over and each giving her an enthusiastic hug, mimicking Ron.

"So good to see you!" Fred said.

"Thrilled we are!" George added.

"But not quite as thrilled as Ronniekins it seems." Fred continued.

"He just isn't the same without you around." said George.

"Like peas in a pod you two are, almost like Harry and Ginny over there." Fred finished.

The two then promptly bowed and wandered off whistling, leaving Hermione and Ginny giggling and Harry and Ron looking very confused.

They spent the day buying their school supplies and enjoying the many shops of Diagon Alley. Hermione had to practically drag Harry, Ginny, and Ron away from the Quidditch shop where they had been staring at the new Firebolt.

Likewise, they had to stop Hermione from buying every book in Flourish and Blotts a few minutes later.

Their final stop was the Magical Menagerie. Ron wanted to have Scabbers looked at, he had been looking pretty under the weather ever since Egypt. Hermione was looking to get an owl of her own. While Ron was talking to the witch at the counter and Hermione was looking around, Harry and Ginny each bought supplies for their own pets.

When they left the shop Ron and Hermione were bickering about Hermione's choice in pet: Crookshanks. Harry and Ginny trailed behind them.

"They went most of the day without fighting. I'd kind of hoped that they'd grown out of it." Harry muttered to Ginny, causing her to giggle.

"After the greeting that Ron gave her I kind of hoped so also. I guess we're doomed to another year of those two." Ginny replied.

Harry groaned slightly in annoyance. As they continued walking, Harry happened to glance to his right into a side alley and he felt his heart skip a beat. Standing at the end of the alley, staring right back at him, was a massive, black dog.

"Harry?" What are you doing? Is something wrong?" Ginny asked Harry, who had come to a complete stop.

Harry glanced at Ginny and then looked back at the dog, but it had disappeared. "No. It's noting. I must just be seeing things." he replied as he started walking again.

Ginny gave him an odd look but didn't press him.

That night they all had a massive metal the Leaky Cauldron before everyone went off to their rooms to get ready for the following day. Ginny was putting her new supplies into her trunk when Hermione came into the room and plopped down on the bed.

"Alright Ginny, I want you to tell me all about Egypt." she said.

Ginny grinned and began filling her in on everything that had happened. She saved their adventure in the pyramid for last and enjoyed the shocked look that Hermione got on her face.

"You fought a mummy?!" she exclaimed causing Ginny to laugh.

"We did. I actually have you to thank for defeating it. I conjured those blue flames that you always make. Worked like a charm!" she explained.

"Can I see the amulet?" Hermione asked.

Ginny nodded and pulled the amulet out from underneath her shirt. Like she had promised Bill, she hadn't ever take it off. "Bill enchanted it to ward off evil spirits." she explained as Hermione looked at it.

"It's fascinating! You realize that it must be thousands of years old?" Hermione asked.

Ginny nodded as she put the amulet back underneath her shirt.

"Well it sounds like you guys had quite the adventure. Now were their any developments between you and our dark haired friend?" Hermione asked grinning. "I noticed he was acting a bit odd around you today."

Ginny blushed a bit. "Harry was great over the summer. He and Bill were hell bent on helping me get over what happened last year. I complained the entire time, but I'm grateful to both of them." Ginny explained.

"Anything else?" Hermione pushed. "That doesn't explain they way Harry's been acting around you."

Ginny blushed a bit more. "Bill told me that when we first arrived he had a talk with Harry about what happened in the Chamber. He said when they were done talking about that he had asked Harry about he and I's relationship."

Hermione giggled. "What did he say?"

"Bill says that he said we were just good friends, but the next day was when Harry started acting odd around me. Bill thinks he's starting to realize that he has feelings for me." Ginny finished.

"Oh Ginny I'm so happy for you!" Hermione exclaimed, causing her to blush even more.

"What about you?" Ginny asked. "Ron seemed pretty happy to see you this morning."

Now it was Hermione's turn to blush. "He did, didn't he?"

Ginny giggled. "Yeah he did. I wonder if maybe he's starting to realize his feelings for you as well." she pondered.

"Oh I hope so." Hermione said.

They suddenly heard a knock on their door and Harry's voice came from the other side. "Ginny? Can I talk to you?" he asked.

"Come on in Harry." Ginny called.

Harry walked into the room and Hermione got up to leave. "I'll go check to make sure that Ron is packed for tomorrow." she said.

"That's probably a good idea." Harry said. "He hadn't even started when I left the room."

Hermione nodded a left, giving Ginny a quick wink before closing the door behind her.

Harry sat down next to Ginny. "Why are you blushing?" he asked.

"Oh. Hermione and I were just talking about girl stuff." She explained. "Anyway, what's up Harry?"

Harry sighed. "I just overheard your mum and dad arguing downstairs about me." he said.

"What about you?" she asked concerned.

"It's about Sirius Black. You know how he escaped?" he asked.

Ginny nodded. The news had even reached the Egyptian wizarding papers.

"Well evidently the ministry thinks that he's after me. They think that he thinks that by killing me, he can bring Voldemort back." he explained.

Ginny paled and she pulled Harry into a hug. "You'll be fine thought right? I mean, Dumbledore won't let anything happen while he's there."

Harry nodded. "As long as Dumbledore is around I'll be fine."

They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Are you going to tell Ron and Hermione?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah I'll tell them tomorrow. I just wanted you to know first, and I needed to tell someone or I probably would've been awake all night." he replied.

A few minutes later Hermione returned looking very annoyed. "That boy is impossible! Somehow he managed to get all of his things strewn around your room in one day."

She slumped onto her bed and Crookshanks jumped onto her lap purring. Crookshanks and Midnight had taken an instant liking to each other and the two had spent the night prowling around the Leaky Cauldron together.

Harry got up and stretched. "Well I'm going to get to bed. I'll see you two in the morning."

"Goodnight Harry." Ginny and Hermione said as he left the room.

Hermione gave Ginny a questioning look, but Ginny just shook her head. Harry and told her about Sirius in confidence, she wouldn't betray him.

Hermione nodded her head in understanding and the two went to bed. Ginny sighed into her pillow. Why couldn't Harry ever have a normal school year?