Disclaimer: I will never ever own Harry Potter.

A/N: Ok, and now it's back to the rest of the family. It was hard to figure out how to readjust them all to a new day and a new year. I hope this works.

The next morning dawned grey and cool. While Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny all seemed to have calmed down from their tumultuous night, by mutual silent consent, none of them seemed to be in any mood to leave the comfort of the Burrow. It was just a day that seemed made for staying inside and reading, and Hermione was more than glad to do just that. Harry and Ron, however, were bored.

Once they'd all finished eating breakfast, Molly went to Shell Cottage to check in on Bill, Fleur and Vicky. Arthur was in the shed, fiddling with Sirius's old motorbike, and George and Percy were still up in their rooms asleep. (Ginny had cracked open the door to the twins' room on her way down to breakfast to be sure George was actually in there. She was relieved when she saw his tousled head asleep on his pillow.)

Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione had merely adjourned to the living room when they'd finished eating. The boys sat together in the corner of the room, shooting dirty looks at the fire where both Hermione and Ginny were curled up with blankets and books.

"Can you believe they just want to sit there and read," Ron muttered darkly to Harry, who shook his head in disgust.

"Well, of course," he answered, his voice just as low. "Hermione would rather sit and read than do pretty much anything else, and she got to Ginny before we did. So, yeah. I can believe it."

Neither girl looked up during this conversation, but this was because, while Harry and Ron had no problem complaining about this to each other, they were too smart to do it loudly enough to be heard.

Finally, after minutes of the boys alternately sighing and rolling their eyes, they were all distracted by a clatter of footsteps on the stairs. Ginny looked up quickly, and Harry realized that while she might have agreed to read, she was still worried about George. When he entered the living room, he nodded at all of them and then fumbled his sleepy way into the kitchen.

Harry and Ron looked at each other and shrugged. They were about to join George in the kitchen under the assumption that at least he'd talk to them when they were startled by Ginny suddenly marching past them in that very direction. They sank slowly back into their seats and resumed their study of Hermione (Ron) and the fire (Harry). They both knew better than to go in the kitchen now.

Ginny sat down at the kitchen table and watched the back of George's head as he tried to figure out what to eat. He pulled cereal from the cupboard and turned around, jumping in surprise when he saw his sister sitting there watching him.

"What's the idea!" he exclaimed, taking a deep breath and settling down beside her. "You couldn't have said something?"

She shrugged. "Guess not."

George pulled a face, and she returned the favor. The two sat in silence for a minute while he poured his cereal, and then Ginny finally said, "If you don't tell me what happened, I have no problem going right to Katie myself, you know."

George's lips twitched in a smirk.

"You wouldn't dare," he said, trying to sound serious.

"Oh yeah?" Ginny asked, and when he looked into her eyes, he saw a twinkle that reminded him of the one he used to see across the room every night before he fell asleep. His smile faded. The game was over.

"It was fine," he said, his voice suddenly subdued, and Ginny's own smile vanished.

"What happened? Did something go wrong?"

George relaxed. This was more like Ginny and a lot less like… well, this was Ginny again. He managed a small smile.

"No, nothing went wrong. It was good. She was… it was good," he repeated lamely. The memory of the kiss came floating back, and his smile widened. Ginny relaxed.

"Good," she said, returning his smile. "Glad to hear it."

Neither of them spoke for a few minutes, and then she said, "Are you going back to the shop today?"

George surprised both of them by shaking his head.

"I think… I think I want to go to Shell Cottage and see Bill. I didn't really get a chance to talk to him yesterday after we all got back, and I feel kind of bad about it."

Ginny stared at him, but she nodded slowly. "Ok. Well, Mum's there now. If you go soon, you'll see her."

George looked at Ginny skeptically. "Like that's a goal? She'll want to know why I got in so late last night. That's not really a conversation I want to have. She heard me when I got here."

Ginny bit her lip to keep her curiosity in check. Now she wanted to know the answer to that question, and George knew it. He winked at her.

"State secrets, Gin," he said, taking the last mouthful of cereal, and she swatted at him.

"You and your state secrets. You always told me I'd inherit them someday, you know. I'm not giving up on that."

And George was forcefully reminded of when he … when they … used to say that, and once again, nothing seemed funny anymore.

"I need to get ready," he said, standing up from the table, moving mechanically toward the stairs. He needed to keep moving. He needed to not remember.

Katie likes you, he reminded himself as he went back up the stairs, well aware of Ginny staring after him, bewildered. You need to keep it together if you want her to keep liking you, and if that means blocking out the things that hurt, well… so be it.