A/N: Hello everyone! Here's the eleventh chapter...hope you like it! Seriously, if you like it PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE review! Reviews keep me going. Thanks so much if you do. :) I don't own any of it!

Chapter 11

Knock knock.

Ginny heard the knocks on her bedroom door and turned towards them, calling, "Come in!"

The door opened and Ron stuck his head in, then his whole body as he sat down on the edge of Ginny's bed. Ginny smiled at her brother but couldn't help be a bit disappointed. Every time someone knocked, though she knew it was highly illogical, she hoped it might be Harry returning, coming back, wrapping her in his arms and swinging her around the room before planting a kiss on her lips, promising to never go away again. But of course, the knocker wasn't Harry. It was Ron.

"Hello," Ginny greeted him, scooting over on the bed to make room for her brother.

"Hey, Ginny," Ron said. "Listen, we're gonna start the map searching again. You can stay up here or come down if you want…I know it's early."

Ginny glanced at her watch, which told her the time was currently seven in the morning. She sighed and shook her head.

"No, I'll come, I just need a few minutes," she stated. "Hermione sure is dedicated to this…it makes me feel awful to dread these sessions."

Ron shook his head and put his hand on his sister's shoulder.

"Don't feel bad," he urged. "It's early, it's boring, and you probably want to do other things. Hermione is dedicated to everything in general, so it's not really much of a surprise that she's dedicated to her best friend…her first friend, too."

"Really?" Ginny cocked her head, sensing a story coming up. She loved hearing stories about Harry, Ron and Hermione. They were always much more interesting than her own stories about the Hogwarts experience.

Ron nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "You've heard the troll in the dungeon story, right?"

"Bits of it," Ginny shrugged. "And not for a while. Refresh my memory?"

"All right," Ron agreed. "Well in the beginning of our first year, Harry and I hated Hermione. We thought she was a know-it-all, which, mind you, she is, but we didn't want to deal with her back then. Everyone else in Hogwarts hated her too. So I guess we made fun of her a bit, and tried to avoid talking to her."

"Ron, you're horrible!" Ginny exclaimed, hitting him on the arm.

"Hey, your boyfriend was too," Ron said. "But anyway, one day I said something that really upset her, so she spent the whole day in the bathroom, crying. It was Halloween, so we were all in the middle of the huge feast when Quirrell, the Defense teacher at the time, burst in saying there was a troll in the dungeon. So we were all led out, and then Harry said something like, 'what about Hermione? She doesn't know there's a troll.'"

Ginny sighed at Harry's bit of chivalry and Ron rolled his eyes.

"Just hold it in till the end, okay?" he said, and then continued. "So like I was saying, Harry said that, and I was a bit wary to go, but he convinced me and we went and saved her Hermione from the troll. So I guess Harry was the one that really warmed up to her first. And over the years, Harry's been the one that has been consistently kind to her. Unlike me…I've been quite a git over the years."

"But only because you loved her, Ron," Ginny said soothingly, putting a hand on her brother's shoulder. "And she understands that. She loves you too."

"I know," Ron nodded. "I'm not jealous of Harry or anything. It's just…he's always been her number one best friend. No offence to you, either."

"None taken," Ginny dismissed the statement. "I know they're best friends…I would never try to take Harry's place."

"You really couldn't take Harry's place…in anything," Ron said thoughtfully. "Not that anyone could, really."

A bit of annoyance surged up in Ginny, but she controlled her temper, taking a deep breath, thinking about Ron's words.

"I suppose not," she admitted. "He was certainly one of a kind…I miss him."

"I know," Ron nodded, putting his arm around his little sister. "I do too. But don't worry, we're gonna find him. I promise."

Ginny nodded her head in agreement and pulled away.

"Thanks, Ron," she said. "I'll be down in a few, all right?"

Closing the door behind her brother's retreating figure, Ginny glanced over at her dresser. The wood surface was littered with quills, ink wells, old scraps of parchment, photographs, and a few homemade picture frames with precious pictures inside the borders.

Slipping on a pair of jeans, Ginny picked up one of the frames, examining the photograph within. She was in the center, her arms wrapped around Ron and Percy. Beside them stood each twin, for at that time there were two, and beside the twins stood Bill and Charlie. Ginny smiled, recalling the memory. It had been taken years ago, before she had even gotten her Hogwarts acceptance letter, back when everything and everyone was simple and content.

She put down the frame and picked up the next one. Ginny's heart fluttered as she looked at the vibrant photograph, closing her eyes to fight back tears and to absorb the memory. In the photo, a younger, more naïve Ginny sat in the shade of sagging tree branches beside a bespectacled, black haired boy.

"Harry," she whispered out loud, touching the photograph with her fingertips.

She set aside the photograph and continued to dress herself, finally finishing her look with a gold locket. Glancing back at the picture, she forced herself to draw her eyes away as she left the room, closing the door firmly behind her.

Voices drifted up the stairs, and it was obvious that the group had started the debate without her. Ginny walked into the kitchen, smiling at the faces crowded around the table. Ron sat beside Hermione, and next to them sat Neville and Luna, who sat near George, Bill, and Fleur. The others were not to be seen yet.

"Merlin, you people are dedicated," Ginny muttered, taking the remaining seat at the end of the table. "I feel terrible."

"Do not feel terribly," Luna piped up. "I'm sure you're going through much more emotional distress than some of us."

"I'm not going through distress," Ginny said a bit too indignantly. "I am a strong, powerful, independent witch, and I do not need to rely on the Savior of the Wizarding World to live."

"That's true," Luna admitted, shrugging. "But you do need him to be truly happy."

Ginny bit her lip. Sometimes she hated how spot on Luna could be.

"Whatever," Ginny gave up, running her fingers through her red tresses. "Let's just get on with it."

"I still think he went to Australia," Luna said.

"Well I think he went to the States," Hermione countered. "They symbolize new opportunities, and—"

"Hermione, Harry didn't think about this as extensively as you," Ginny piped up. "He decided this in a matter of hours. I agree with Luna. I feel like he would go to Australia."

"But my parents are in Australia," Hermione protested. "Wouldn't that be some sort of reminder of us?"

Ginny's heart sank. Ron had told her how Hermione had modified her parents' memories, and how she planned to try to find them. But due to everything that had been going on, the Ministry and Hermione herself had not had a chance to invest any time in that.

"I…I don't think he would consider that, Hermione," Ginny said, her tone gentler. "He never really met your parents, and probably wouldn't know who they are if he saw them on the street. Besides, Harry doesn't consider everything…he acts impulsively."

"I agree with Ginny," Luna said, nodding. "I think that since your parents are in Australia that might have made Harry choose it more so than the others. I don't think he really wanted to go based on what you've all said, and I think the fact that your parents are there might have been some sort of subconscious comfort to him."

Hermione sighed, staring at the map and a piece of parchment full of complex, useless notes. Tears gathered in Hermione's eyes and she dabbed at her eyes as Ron put his arms around her. Ginny smiled at her brother's bit of affection as Hermione smiled a bit as well.

"I suppose we have nothing better to go on," Hermione nodded. "We should start with Australia then."

"Hey," Ron said suddenly when Hermione had finished speaking. "Since we're going to Australia to look for Harry…why don't we find your parents while we're there?"

Ron had barely finished his sentence when Hermione flung herself at him, kissing him. Despite the twinge of jealousy she felt, Ginny smiled. Her brother was happy, one of her best friends was happy, and that was enough to make her happy.

"Really?" Hermione asked, pulling away, her brown eyes bright. "Is that all right with you all?"

"Absolutely," Neville said, and the others agreed, nodding. "It's extremely important that you find them. We'd be awful if we tried to stop you."

Hermione looked around at her friends, tears accumulating in her eyes.

"Thank you all so much," she choked out.

"We're your friends, Hermione," Ginny said, resting her hand on Hermione's arm. "It's what we do."

Hermione nodded and wiped her eyes.

"Thank you. All of you. But before we go to Australia, I think we need to contact Gringotts. Harry must have taken money out of his vault before he went, and maybe they'll have some information to give us. We have to be careful though…we don't want this Harry running away story to end up in the Prophet."

The friends nodded, and, gathering their belongings together, grasped hands and Apparated to Diagon Alley. The streets were crowded as they had been, and the mourning drapes still hung in the shop windows. Ginny bit her lip. Just a few meters down, in the muggle clothing shop, Harry had Disapparated...

She shook her head and took a breath. Her mind had to be clear. She couldn't wallow in sadness.

Gringotts loomed before them, its massive columns towering above all the small shops below. Ginny followed the group up the marble steps, pushing through the enormous doorway. They walked forward purposefully, right to one of the available goblins. Ginny stood behind Hermione, ready to back her up if matters took a turn for the worse.

"Excuse me, sir," Hermione said, emphasizing her polite tone. It worked, and the goblin's interest was peaked. "I…I don't know if you know, but I'm Hermione Granger, Harry Potter's best friend, a member of the trio that helped to defeat Voldemort."

Hermione paused, and Ginny examined the goblin's face. He didn't seem to be impressed.

"Well, er, anyway," Hermione stumbled over her words, trying to regain her confidence. "As good friends of Harry, we're concerned about him. And…well…we want to know if he took any large sums of gold out of his vault."

The goblin peered at them over the desk, his spindly fingers curled around the edges. A smirk crossed his face.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that, Miss Granger," he replied firmly. "Each witch or wizard's vault is their own business."

Hermione blushed, but shook her hair out of her face and stuck her chin up.

"I need to know," she stated, even more firmly than the goblin. "We need to bring Harry Potter back to the Wizarding World before he leaves entirely. Without him, the Ministry might reform back to its old ways."

This interested the goblin, and he sat forward a bit.

"Back?" he questioned. "He has gone?"

Hermione opened her mouth and then closed it.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that, sir," she replied, mimicking the goblin's choice of words. "Each wizard's life plans is his own business."

The goblin frowned, but then smiled.

"Ah, well…" he mused, falling silent for a moment. "Mr. Potter took seven hundred thousand pounds of muggle money out of his vault."

Ginny nearly choked. She didn't understand muggle money perfectly, but any large thousand of something was sure to be enormous.

"Se-Seven hundred th-thousand?" Hermione stammered. "Really?"

The goblin nodded.

"Oh," she said. "Well. Do you know where he took the money?"

"He did not say," the goblin replied.

Ginny bit her lip. There went their only hope of confirmation whether Harry was in Australia.

"Oh Harry," she whispered under her breath as Hermione talked to the goblin. "Where are you?"

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