Disclaimer: I own nothing, I tell you. NOTHING!!



Fire and Rain



Chapter 1

Hiding Places



Ginny Weasley sat sipping a glass of pumpkin juice as she studied her favourite brother. Ron hadn't looked that excited since their father had taken them to the Quidditch World Cup, and that had been nearly two years ago. Of course, it hadn't turned out to be all that great after all, but that was in the past now. Voldemort, along with most of his followers, was now gone for good, and Ginny was proud to say that her brother had aided in his descent. Not only had he helped Harry fight him, but he had helped eliminate him. Speaking of Harry...

"Earth to Ginny! Come in, Ginny."

"Huh? Oh...sorry, Ron." she said, blushing furiously (why did she always have to do that?).

"What could you have possibly been thinking about, Ginny?" Ron asked with a small grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Oh, nothing.." she replied, avoiding eye contact. Even though she had long ago gotten over her crush on Harry, he still made her blush once in a while. She sighed loudly, and Ron turned back to the window he had been peering out of for the last hour or so.

"How much longer 'til they get here?" Ron asked in a somewhat whiny tone of voice.

"Don't worry, Ron. They should be here soon," Ginny reassured her brother. 'They' were Harry and Hermione. After the whole Voldemort ordeal earlier that spring, Dumbledore had thought it best to cancel the rest of the school term, considering that the students were all either disgruntled or extremely overjoyed by the recent events and couldn't fully pay attention in class either way. Every single student (even Hermione...though she had been a teensy bit disappointed at first) welcomed the decision with open arms. Two months had already passed, and summer was starting to get very dull for everyone. Ginny had come up with the idea of having Harry and Hermione over for the rest of the summer not only to add a little excitement to The Burrow, but to save Harry from the Dursleys. Mr and Mrs. Weasley instantly agreed that he didn't deserve to suffer there, let alone for an extra month. They had both left earlier that day to pick him and Hermione up, the Muggle way, of course. There was no way the Dursleys would appreciate them destroying their living room again... And the Grangers weren't exactly used to having people suddenly appear out of nowhere in their home.

The sound of a car turning into the laneway caught Ginny's attention, and she moved to the window along with her brother. Her suspicions were confirmed.

"They're here!"

Ron instantly ran out the door and toward the car, Ginny right on his heels.

"Ron!,"a dark haired boy exclaimed, jumping out of the car and giving the other boy a very brotherly hug.

"Harry, you're actually here!" Ron said, returning the hug.

"Of course he is, Ron." Ginny moved in and also gave Harry a hug. "Welcome back, Harry!"

"Thanks, Gin. It feels really good to be back, like I'm finally coming home." He smiled as he looked on toward The Burrow.

"Ouch! Ron, get off of me! I...can't...breath..."

Harry and Ginny turned to see Hermione getting squeezed to death by Ron and slowly turning purple. Ron did as he was told, but still sported the wide grin he'd been wearing ever since he woke up that morning.

"Sorry, Herm. I'm just so happy you guys are finally here! I couldn't believe it when Mum and Dad told me you were coming for the REST of the summer...I still can't believe...This is SO wicked!"

"Ok, drama queen. That'll be enough." Ginny teased her brother as she moved to greet Hermione with a warm hug. The two had become quite close the previous year, Ginny being Hermione's only female friend and Ginny having been cursed with a bunch of airheads as roomates.

"Cookies and pumpkin juice anyone?" Mrs. Weasley asked. After a collective "Oh yes, please!", they all made their way to the comforting work of love that was The Burrow.



"No! I don't believe it!" Hermione exclaimed, shocked.

"Start believing it. Lavender Brown broke up with Justin Finch-Fletchley so she could go out with Seamus Finnigan. At least that's what I heard..." Ginny told her as they sat around the fireplace, munching on some popcorn.

"Alright, girls. I think you've had your fair share of gossip for the night," Ron chuckled as he and Harry sat down with them.

"Oh, shove it, Ron. We know you 'manly men' like to gossip, too." Hermione retorted. "Just ask Ginny who she got her information from."

"The one and only Dean Thomas, himself," she replied with pride. "He told me lots of other things, too. Like how this one time you accidently..."

"That'll be enough!" Ron interrupted her, slightly turning pink around the ears, a dead giveaway of his immense embarassment. "Remind me to beat the hell out of Dean the next time I see him," he whispered somewhat loudly to Harry, who, in turn, tried desperately not to burst out laughing.

"So, Hermione, what have you been up to this summer?" Harry asked. He had been meaning to talk to her ever since they had arrived at The Burrow.

Hermione's face instantly lit up. "Well, considering we had an extra month to do whatever we wanted, I decided to start my research on..."

"Must you always talk about books and research and whatnot?" Ron asked. He received a fistful of popcorn to the head as an answer.

"Come on, Ron. She's not as bad as she used to be," Harry winked at her. Hermione felt herself blush. 'Oh my god...did I just do that? Come on, Hermione, it's just Harry. Snap out of it,' she told herself. But she had every right to blush; Harry had obviously grown taller during the summer, and his facial features had definitely matured. He wasn't the same boy she had first met on the Hogwarts Express, nearly 6 years earlier. No, Harry Potter had become very handsome over the summer. Almost too handsome for Hermione to stand. 'What the hell am I thinking? He's my best friend!'she tried convincing herself.

"Anyway!" The sound of Ginny's voice brought an end to Hermione's train of thought. "Let's do something...how about we play a game or something?"

"Like...?" Ron looked bored.

"Like...," Ginny stood and thought for a moment, "...how about Hide and Seek! We could play outside in the dark!"

"Ginny, that's so childish."

"Oh, Ron. It'll be fun, just like old times," Harry said as he stood up along with Ginny.

"Yeah, Ron. It'll be fun," Hermione also stood.

Obviously outnumbered and not wanting to see Ginny's temper make an appearance, Ron gave in. "Ok...but I'm not It."

"No, last one there's It!" Hermione said as she, Harry and Ginny took off toward the back door.

"Hey! No fair!" Ron yelled at them as he stood up and raced after them.



"This is so unfair...," Ron grumbled to himself as he made his way toward a tree to count. He could hear the others snickering in the background. "One...two...three...four..."

Harry and Hermione immediatly took off in the same direction, and Ginny went the opposite way.

"Where are we going?" Hermione asked once they were out of earshot from Ron.

Harry looked around for a moment, not quite sure where to go next. "Uh...how about this way," he said, grabbing Hermione's hand as he started running to his left. Suddenly, a white light flashed before their eyes, and as soon as they had started running, they vanished.





A/N: Please read and review! Come on! It's right down there!