No, Sirius, don't! She's going to kill you!, Harry screamed. Run, just run!

Harry yelled as loud as he could at his godfather, but it didn't seem to make any difference. He tried running to him instead, but it was like running in place: no matter how hard he pushed himself he wasn't going anywhere. Sirius looked at him then and opened his mouth, "Harry?", he asked. Why did he sound so concerned about Harry? He was the one about to go through the Veil.

"Harry, wake up!" he felt someone shaking his shoulders and he bolted upright in bed, breathing heavily. He grabbed for his glasses and put them on, looking around. Ron stood next to his bed with worry in his eyes.

"Are you alright, mate?" he asked.

Harry nodded and wiped his sweaty face on his sheet, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bad dream."

Ron already knew about the nightly dreams Harry had about Sirius, and as much as he wanted Harry to say something about them, he knew by now that Harry wouldn't say a word about them.

Ron decided to let it go and change the subject, "Are you hungry? Mum wanted me to come tell you dinner'd be ready in about an hour."

"I'm starved, actually. Uncle Vernon decided that since I'd be coming here today that I didn't need to eat breakfast or lunch since I'd be eating with you guys," Harry answered, appreciating the fact that Ron had changed the topic from his nightmares.

"Those gits. I don't know how you survive on such little food," Ron shook his head, completely mystified.

Harry laughed, "You get used to it after a while."

Harry got off the bed and started putting on a clean new shirt, all the while talking to Ron about his summer. As they were getting ready to head downstairs, a thought occurred to Harry, "Hey, Ron? What did your mum mean earlier about still being mad at you? What'd you do?"

Ron went a little pink and said, "Well, I sort of invited Hermione to come stay here for the rest of holiday with us. Guess I forgot to tell mum, cause when I mentioned it this morning she nearly missed my head with a jinx."

Harry chuckled, "Well, at least Hermione will be here. She knows most of the counter jinxes. When does she get here?"

"Uh, actually, she got here about an hour ago while you were sleeping. I thought about waking you, but you seemed like you could use the sleep."

"That's great!," Harry exclaimed, "And, thanks, I was awfully tired." His stomach growled loudly and both boys laughed, "And hungry, apparently." They both laughed again and headed downstairs."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"I can't believe you've already finished all your summer homework!," Ginny said to Hermione, shaking her head, "We still have almost two months until school starts!"

Hermione rolled her eyes from where she sat at the dining table, "Yes, but now I don't have to worry about it for the rest of holiday. You should start on yours, too."

Ginny just shook her head and continued to help her Mum get dinner ready. Hermione continued to talk about homework, but Ginny was paying attention. She kept thinking about earlier when Harry had first gotten to the Burrow. She had been so excited to see him that she'd just run into his arms to give him a hug. The poor boy had seemed so uncomfortable by the action that he'd simply said, "Hi, Ginny," and stepped away from her.

Ginny felt her face turn a little red as she thought about what Harry must think of her. He must still see me as his brother's 11-year old sister who had a crush on him back during her first year. I've grown out of that, Ginny said to herself. She heard the stairs creak and turned to see Hermione pop up from her seat and fly towards the stairs, "Harry! I'm so happy to see you!"

Hermione gave Harry a big hug, which he returned with only a little discomfort. He'd gotten used to Hermione hugging him.

Ginny felt a slight pang of jealousy as she watched Harry hug Hermione back, Alright, maybe I'm not completely over it, Ginny thought. She shook herself from her thoughts and forced herself to concentrate on buttering the large pile of rolls in front of her.

Hermione was still talking to the boys, "I'm just so happy to be here and to see you both!," she said and she gave both of them another quick hug. Both Harry caught Ginny's eye as they both noticed how Ron turned a little pink as their other best friend hugged him, and they grinned.

I wonder if they'll finally admit they like each other this year, Harry thought to himself. He walked to the table and took a seat while looking around the small kitchen.

None of the towels matched, the eating utensils came from at least six different sets, and all of the chairs at the table were the same height but had different appearances. Harry loved every part of it. Aunt Petunia would faint if she saw this, Harry thought. The Dursley's liked everything exactly the same and neat as a pin, Probably one of the reasons why they can't stand the sight of me, he thought as he ran his hand through his black hair that constantly stuck out in all directions. Harry continued looking around the room until his eyes fell on a certain redhead that was currently putting butter on the dinner rolls.

Ginny's hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail that exposed her long neck. Several strands had escaped to curl around her cheeks and chin, and she had some flour on the apron she was wearing. Her eyes had a faraway look, like she was lost in a daydream. She's so gorgeous, Harry thought. Wait, what!?, Harry felt the shock as he realized what he'd just thought. That's Ginny. Ron's little sister, Ginny. You're friend, Ginny. Harry was rapidly trying to rationalize his thoughts, and was doing quite admirably until he realized he couldn't force his heart to beat slower.

Why does that happen whenever she's around? Maybe I'm just more awkward around girls than I thought, Harry considered this possibility until he thought of Hermione. She's a girl and this doesn't happen when I'm with her, Harry shot a quick glance at his friend, Nope, nothing.

Harry was still pondering this when he realized the whole room was staring at him, "What?," he asked as he turned red.

Hermione looked at him, "I've been saying your name, but you didn't answer."

"Oh, sorry, I was just thinking...about some stuff"

She laughed, "I think I know what you were thinking about," she said as Harry felt his face burn. He shot a quick look at Ginny and prayed that Hermione hadn't figured out where his thoughts had been.

"Food," Hermioned said, smiling, "you were staring at the bread with the same look on your face that Ron gets whenever he's around food...or thinking about food, or…."

"Hey!," Ron said with an annoyed look, "There's nothing wrong with having a healthy appetite."

"Healthy!," Hermioned snorted, "You could feed the whole wizarding world for a week with the amount of food you eat in a day."

"Is that right?!," Ron was starting to get upset and that was never a good thing, especially when it involved Hermione. But, Harry thought, It is taking everyone's minds off the original topic of conversation, which is just fine with me.

"Alright, you two, settle down," Mrs. Weasley interrupted Ron and Hermione, who were now facing each other at the table with their arms crossed. "It's time for dinner."

That announcement caught Ron's attention immediately and he turned towards the food with an excited smile on his face. Hermione just rolled her eyes, but Harry knew this was just the beginning of the two's long-standing tradition of fighting.