Chapter Three-A Trip to Hogwarts

Chapter Three- The Mysterious Person

"Ron! How could you get into a fight like that? You broke his nose?" Mrs. Weasley hypercriticized.

Once the Weasley parents found the scene with Ron clutching his knee in agony, and everyone gathered around him, they both blew their top. Mrs. Weasley had rushed off to get the remainder of the boys' supplies, leaving Mr. Weasley to do the dirty work, healing Ron, for Mrs. Weasley wouldn't hear of Charlie or Bill healing their little brother.

" How could you, Ron?" Ginny, who had stayed home, asked in a shaken voice. Evidently, she wouldn't believe that her brother had hurt another person, and particularly in public. She shook her head, looking much like Percy, who had been Head Boy and the head of the Weasley family smarts.

Once Ron had been healed, Mrs. Weasley rushed them all off, scolding all they way, even to Harry, although, a tiny bit more compassionately. After all, Harry wasn't the one that got their knee crushed. Once they all were back at the burrow, the fighting, criticizing, and scolding became worse and it seemed that Mrs. Weasley was the only person on the opposing side.

Sitting on the couch, totally unperturbed about the situation, Ron examined his newly healed knee. Harry figured that this sort of thing had happened on a regular basis, and, quite frankly, Ron was all too used to it.

"Mom! Blimey! Ron is fine! And Malfoy was asking for it, calling Hermione a mudblood, and all." Fred said, taking a swig of soda, and almost spilling it when Mrs. Weasley extended her arm to slap his face shortly. "That word is not ever going to come out of your mouth AGAIN!" she said, trying to keep the infamous Weasley temper under control by taking a deep breath.

Fred nodded abruptly, a look of shock in his eyes. George opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but then clamped it shut. The room was hushed for quite a while, except for the steady crunching of Ginny and her barbecued potato chips.

"Ahem. Well, I'd better go pack my stuff, school starts in two days." Harry uttered, breaking the deadly silence. Mr. Weasley nodded, and Harry quietly clomped up the stairs, trying to create a diversion for Ron to escape. He glanced back at the silent room, and Ron looked at him, shrugged, and got up to follow him.

"Ah, no! Ron Weasley, I have to expel you from any child-play, to have you all to me, all day tomorrow, NO fooling around! I will have a list of things for you to do in the morning, and I expect them all to be done by noon." Mrs. Weasley said in a rigorous voice. Ron's jaw dropped, and finally Mrs. Weasley was satisfied-and went into the garden. Mr. Weasley followed her reluctantly, giving a sympathetic glance back at Ron.

"Ah, man! You know how much there is to do around here," George said, "and to finish them all by noon is impossible." Beside him, Fred nodded, taking another defiant swig of soda. Ron sighed, a wearied sigh, and headed up the stairs with Harry, who was enthusiastic to get his Hogwarts possessions packed up. Going back to Hogwarts seemed radically great at the moment.

"Harry, how am I supposed to do all of that in one afternoon." Ron inquired, pushing open the squeaky door to his room. Harry smiled a weary smile, and replied, " She never said that you couldn't use magic." Ron shook his head, "We can't use magic outta' school, remember?" Harry headed over to his trunk, "True, but she never said that you couldn't have help that can do magic."

Ron's head shot up, a wide grin spreading quickly like an epidemic. "Bill and Charlie." was all that he said, but Harry comprehended, and laughed. Maybe this wouldn't be as hard as he thought.

Dumping his trunk, with little effort, Harry sighed at the mess that he had just made upon the floor. He heard Ron give a light chuckle, and do the same, only his trunk was less organized than Harry's, but not by far. Harry figured that if he started to pack his luggage neatly, he would turn into a miniature Hermione, which neither of the two boys desired. To them, that would be worse than loosing the House Cup, and Quidditch Cup to the Slytherins.

Harry piled his clothes, Hogwarts robes, and his father's invisibility cloak into the bottom of his trunk. Followed by his books and parchment, and then he placed his ink bottles and quills into the isolated part of his trunk, where he also kept his wand, Quidditch books, and broomstick polishing kit.

Harry had also accumulated odd sorts of do-dads and whatnots into his trunk; most of the things were innocent little possessions including some of Colin Creevey's pictures of funny happenings at Hogwarts. Harry picked up one of Hermione, only she wasn't herself, she was stone.

There was a big commotion at Hogwarts in Harry's second year. Involving a big, huge snake, Ginny, Tom Riddle, and many petrified students, but let's not get into that now.

Quickly securing his trunk, Harry walked over to help Ron, who was helplessly throwing odd sorts of materials into his trunk, not caring a bit. "Harry, I don't need help. I'm a big boy now, remember?" Ron said, tossing in his old, frilly, maroon dress robes into the chest in disgust. Harry shrugged, and took a seat on the bed, lying back, his thoughts on what they would do to Malfoy for vengeance.

"Harry, you still got that invisibility cloak?" Ron asked, shutting his trunk with a kick.

Harry looked around to check that the room was empty, and that no one had heard Ron mention his father's cloak. "Yea, why?"

"We're gonna' need it." Ron responded. Typical; they had needed the invisibility cloak quite often at Hogwarts, most of the time to get back at Malfoy, or to cause mischief. Harry nodded, and sat up, his stomach grumbling loudly. They hadn't had any lunch, and it was almost dinnertime. Unlike the Dursleys, though, the Weasleys hadn't intended to starve Harry.

The Dursleys were Harry's relatives that had, unfortunately, taken on Harry when Lord Voldemort killed his mother and father. The only thing that kept him alive was his mother's love, which spared him, leaving only a single lightning scar on his forehead, behind. The Dursleys were ignorant muggles that refused to become a part of the wizarding world. They claimed that Harry was attending a school for mischievous boys to all the remaining relatives, who all, especially Aunt Marge, despised Harry.

Harry glanced at the door, which opened noisily, and Fred and George entered. "Hey Harry! Still pretty steamy down there, mom's all ticked off at Ron." Fred said, taking a seat on the orange carpet. All of Ron's room had a different shade of orange, including his Chudley Cannons' posters, Ron's favorite quidditch team.

George paced over to the tiny window to glimpse out into the quickly setting sun; the days were getting shorter. Ron moved toward the bed, and sat down beside Harry. "They either want something, or they are hiding something." Ron whispered, yawning.

"Harry, you know in Flourish and Blots? Malfoy was in there, he was under an invisibility cloak." Fred said casually, trying to sound like he wasn't bothered about the fact that Draco Malfoy may have a cloak. Ron's eyebrows shot upward at this comment.

"How do you know?" Ron asked, sounding very skeptical. Fred shrugged, and said, " You tell 'em George." George walked stiffly over to the center of the room, trying to look normal.

" The point is that there was another person in that room beside us that could be seen, and Malfoy. Someone that we need to find out, because Malfoy and the other person were staying close together and we have no idea who it was." George said, taking a seat.

Ron repeated his question, " How do you know?" only this time he put more emphasis on it. " Marauders Map, made our own copy after we gave one to Harry. We marked everyone that we knew on it, and made it bigger, to include Diagon Alley. But we also…" " included people that we didn't know on it; we made it show us little dots to where every person is." George finished for Fred. Both boys smiled, clearly relieved to have it said, and nodded in unison.

Ron looked unconvinced, but shrugged and asked in a 'you're kidding' voice, " And why do you need to know who was with Malfoy?" Harry looked at the twins, who were bewildered with the question.

"Um, because, we-er, um," George stuttered, glancing at Harry for help. "Is it because you want to get back at Malfoy and tease him for being so close to that other person, especially if it was a girl?" Harry implied, saving the twins from Ron's 'so you are lying' stare, which was instantly replaced with a look of vengeance. " So let's start the research!" Ron said enthusiastically, on account of the fact that the Weasley twins were extremely good with plotting revenge, and their ideas were always really good, and full of mischief.

That moment, Ginny walked in, avoiding everyone's eyes. She slipped over to her trunk, which was hidden in the corner of Ron's room, completely surrounded by Ron's comics of Martin Miggs. She yanked and tugged on it, but the trunk wouldn't budge.

Harry sighed, and, seeing that Fred, George, and Ron were already huddled together, most likely brainstorming about who the mysterious person was, he got up from the bed, and walked past the huddled crew, over to Ginny. Once he reached her, he noticed a major change in her that he had not seen before.

Ginny was beautiful. Her soft, brown eyes sparkled, and her wavy, flaming red hair shined. She had filled out, and had a nice form. Harry scolded himself for never taking the time to notice how Ginny was. He hadn't even noticed that Ginny was now fourteen, one year younger than he was.

She stopped her effort, and stepped back, giving Harry room. As Harry moved toward the trunk, he could feel her eyes examining him. Harry saw that the comics needed to be removed, and he began to excavate them. He hoped that Ginny would bend down to help him, he wanted to talk to her for once.

After moving about five stacks of comics, she did just that. Harry glanced over at her, and she glanced back in return. Ginny blushed and went on removing comics. "Ginny, so how are you?" Harry asked, not touching the comics. She gasped a short little gasp that was full of 'Harry Potter is talking to me.'

She slowly looked up to meet Harry's eyes, holding his gaze. " G-good, Harry. What about you?" " Oh, me? I'm fine, still a little shaken about last year, but you know." Ginny widened her eyes at this comment, but she didn't say anything. Instead she glanced over at the three whispering guys, and asked, "What are they doing?" Harry shrugged, " Just trying to figure out who someone is."

At this, she shot Harry an alarmed glance. " What kind of someone?" "Oh nothing really, just some plot to get revenge." Harry replied, trying to hold Ginny's gaze more than three seconds. She still looked worried, and Harry was now getting suspicious.

"Ginny?" Harry asked, once again retrieving her gaze. "Yea?" " What's the matter?" Harry quickly asked, once again removing the comics. Ginny looked at a loss for words, then she quickly recovered. " It's just that school starts in two days, and everyone has changed." Harry nodded, understanding her.

"Have I changed?" Harry asked looking out the window while she considered this. It was going to storm. There were low hanging, dark rain clouds, and the wind was howling around every corner in the house. A pale, but very vigorous lightning bolt striped the dark, cloudy sky, lighting up the orange room. An overwhelming and very intense thunderclap sounded through the room. Ginny made a quick move towards Harry's hand, and gripped it, not realizing what she was doing. Everyone went silent for two very short moments, and then each person went back to whispering.

Ginny looked long at her hand, which was engulfed in Harry's. He looked at her staring at their clasped hands, and he blushed. Harry had never blushed before, but then again, Harry had never held Ginny's hand, either. She looked back up at Harry, and then she too flushed, her cheeks going red.

" Ginny, have I?" Harry asked, giving her hand a slight squeeze. He looked at her, but she wasn't looking at him, she was thinking again, leaving her hand enclosed in his. When she had come to a conclusion, she met Harry's eyes again.

She nodded, her eyes full of wonder, but wonder of what? "How have I…" Harry started, but Ginny brought her finger up to his lips to signal to be quiet. He agreed, and clamped his mouth shut.

"Harry," she whispered in a quiet, lofty voice, " you have changed. You have changed, a lot, Harry, a lot." She stayed quiet, and gripped his hand even more. " How, Ginny? Neville couldn't say, but can you?" Harry replied quietly. Ginny gave Harry a sorry look, and then sighed, " Do you really want to know?" she asked. Harry nodded in urgency.

" Yes, you have changed, but not physically, well, you are more buff, and muscular, but besides that, you have only changed emotionally, and mentally." She paused to search his eyes for any sign of confusion, and when she found none, she continued. " Harry, you have, well, become more aware of the things happening in everyday life, right? You constantly are on the lookout for danger, and you notice little things, like the muggle news, and things like your dreams, which constantly remind you to wake up to check for danger during the night." " Wha-what? H-how do you know? That isn't true…" Harry protested, widening his eyes. " Shhh! I just do, and yes it is true. I've been watching you. You act more alert, and you are more careful, and plus, I have been studying Divination." Ginny said, once again hushing Harry.

" Not another death prediction. No!" Harry said, giving Ginny a hard look. His Divination teacher had predicted that Harry would die several times last year, each of his classmates getting worried, but really, someone else had died. Cedric Diggory was murdered by Voldemort at the end of the third task in the Triwizard Tournament.

Ginny raised an eyebrow at him, and smiled a weak smile. "No, Harry, you asked so I gave you the answer." Harry looked at her long and hard, trying to comprehend. There was something that Ginny was hiding, but she thought that it was best not to tell him what she was thinking, Harry will find something new this year, and it will only add to his worrying.

Harry nodded, and sighed, sorry that he had asked, but astonished that Ginny knew that he had become more aware of his surroundings ever since Cedric had died. Another lightning bolt pierced the sky with fierce light, and Ginny squeezed Harry's hand again, using her other hand to remove the comics once more.

They went on like that for quite a while, clearing away the comics with one hand, and holding their other hands together. No one spoke during that time either, besides the rare "Aha!" and " I got it! Oh, wait." from the still huddled boys.

Soon the comics were cleared, and Harry released Ginny's hand to help her carry down the trunk to her room. Harry gripped the ends of the trunk, and carried it out the door, following Ginny down to her room. As Harry walked out the door, he glanced back at the huddle consisting of the twins, and Ron. Ron was looking stealthily at him, his eyes wanting an explanation. Harry proceeded down to Ginny's room, and placed it just outside of her door, thinking that it wasn't polite to go into a girl's bedroom without their permission, which was very considerate of him.

As Harry walked back up to Ron's room, he heard Ginny call up to him, " Thanks, Harry!" Harry nodded and continued to enter Ron's room. The scene had changed, however. Fred and George were over by Harry's trunk, and were conversing in hushed voices, and Ron was standing over by his comics, his arms crossed in disapproval.

" Harry, what the heck did you do with my comics?" Ron asked, picking up one that showed a bushy-haired guy, sitting up in his bed, waving merrily to Ron. " Just helped Ginny get her…" Harry started, " Were you and Ginny holding hands?" Ron interrupted. At this, Fred and George stopped whispering, and looked over at Harry, with surprised looks on their faces.

Harry felt the blood rush to his face, and he nodded, quickly saying, "The thunder scared her." to cover it up. Ron smiled, and unfolded his arms to give Harry a quick punch to say 'you're kidding, right?' Fred and George stood up, coming over to Harry with amused expressions. George smiled even broader, and said, "Ginny loves storms." Harry gapped at him.

" Ginny l-loves st-st…" Harry stuttered, a look of bewilderment on his face. " Yea Harry. Ginny loves storms. She just wanted to hold your hand, and guess what? You let her." Ron said, clapping him hardly on the back. Fred burst into laughter, followed shortly by George, who fell back onto the floor chuckling hysterically.

Ron led Harry away from the twins, to the opposite side of the room, and gripped Harry's arm firmly. " What? Wh…" Harry started as Ron tightened his grip even more, a look of, something Harry didn't like at all, in his eye.

" What is the real reason, Harry, and tell me the bloody truth." Ron said, giving Harry a glare. " Alright. When the first thunder…" " No! Tell me all that she said, she's been acting weirdly lately." Harry looked exasperated at Ron, but started over.

"Okay. I saw her pulling on her trunk, and she couldn't move it, so I got up to help. Your comics needed to be moved, and I started to move them, and she decided to help me. You with me so far?" Harry queried, and seeing Ron nod, he carried on. " I asked her how she was, and she said that she was fine, and asked me in return. I said that I was fine also. Then she asked what you were doing over there in that little huddle and I said that you guys were trying to figure out who someone was. She looked really weird after I said that, and she asked what kind of someone you were looking for."

Ron held up his hand, releasing his grip on Harry's arm, and said, "Whoa! Hold up. Why did she ask that?" " 'Cause she felt the need to, I don't know." Harry sighed, and gave Ron a very wearied look. "Go on." Ron said, lowering his arm to his side, listening intently. " I said that you were trying to plot revenge on someone, and needed to know who somebody was. Then she still looked worried, and I asked what was wrong. She took a while to answer, but she finally said that school started in two days and she said that everyone had changed-even me." "Okay, so she took a while to respond, which means that there was another reason that she didn't want to tell you." Harry looked perplexed at this thought, and then Ron pelted him with one more question.

"Harry. Do you like my little sister?" Harry's mouth hung open, looking very unattractive. Fred and George had restrained their laughter to hear Harry's response. "Well?" George implied, a look of curiosity in his face.

Harry grumbled and gapped at the three boys who were deadly silent. Harry had never thought of that, all he could think about was how beautiful Ginny had gotten, and the glisten in her eyes as she spoke to him, but there was something he didn't like about her. Ginny knew Harry than Harry did himself.

Harry shrugged, trying to change the subject, but the boys wouldn't let him. "Harry?" Ron imposed, looking very impatient. "Alright. I don't really know Ginny, but, she's just so pretty and all." Harry began, looking desperately at the door. He wanted to run out into Mrs. Weasley's arms, but that wouldn't really be a good idea in the mood that she was in.

Fred came to the rescue, " Yea, Ginny has gotten attractive. But she's my sister, so I never compliment her, it may sound really weird." " Yea, but why were you holding hands?" Ron interrupted. " ' Cause I didn't want to hurt her feelings, I guess." Harry said, receiving a nod from George, who pulled Fred away to talk to him some more. Harry sighed, and tried to avoid Ron's eyes which held a deadly stare. "Ron! I didn't bloody do anything wrong to your little sister." Harry pronounced, yawning, his stomach growling even more loudly than before.

Ron shook his head as to brush the subject away. "Blast it, Harry. I know that you didn't do anything wrong, it's just she's my little sister." " I know, man, it's okay, just don't ever give me that look again." Harry said, hearing Mrs. Weasley call for dinner. Finally, Harry thought.

On the way back down to the kitchen, which lingered with the smell of roast beef, and cooked vegetables, Ron caught Harry's eye, and whispered into his ear.

" It was Ginny."

Authors Note: Okay, as if that wasn't sappy enough, Hee hee. Oh well. You don't really think that Harry and Ginny are gonna end up together, now do you? Oh, yes, it could very well be possible, but then again, maybe not. I guess I'll just leave you hangin' here, after all, it's what I'm supposed to do, right? Oh, well anyway, please review! I am in the process of writing the next chapter! Thanx!!