Chapter 14

Ginny followed Ron and Hermione through the barrier of platform 9 ¾ to board the Hogwarts Express. The first thing she noticed as she looked around the magical platform was how much happier everyone looked than they had at the end of last term. Voldemort had not been seen or heard from since the battle on Hogwarts and people were beginning to feel safe again.

Her father had told them not to mention the fact that Harry had returned to any of their fellow students since the ministry was still unaware of his appearance, and the three had agreed to do so, but that would not stop them from going up to Sirius and finding out where Harry was as soon as the feast drew to an end.

She had been forced to go without seeing Harry for three months when she didn't know if he were dead of alive, and then forced to go another ten weeks after she knew he was indeed alive. She refused to go more than an hour in the same building as him without seeing him regardless of whatever warnings others might give her, and judging by the expressions on Ron and Hermione's faces, they felt the same way.

After kissing her mother and father good bye, the three students climbed into the train and found an empty compartment near the end where they stowed their trunks before sitting back for the long ride back to school.

During the trip, several of their classmates came by and asked how they were doing, but none stayed long since it was obvious they weren't going to be very good company, and about halfway there, they got caught up in their own conversation about what they thought the coming term had in store for them, but the topic of Harry never came up.

They were all still confused about the revelation Dumbledore had made about Harry having changed a great deal since the last time they had seen him, and no one had any idea about what had gone on yet. They all assumed that since Harry's appearance had not been publicized that there were only a few people who knew the truth, the Weasley's, Hermione, Sirius, and the Hogwarts staff. They figured that he would be staying with Sirius in his rooms to keep him from being noticed by any of the other students and word getting out that he was back.

Before they realized it, the train began to slow and they looked out the windows to see the village of Hogsmeade coming into view. They hastily pulled on their robes and followed the crowd of chattering students off the train and made their way to the waiting carriages.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Harry finished packing his trunk once Sirius had delivered the remainder of his supplies to him. He used the bed post to pull himself to his feet and once steady reached for the set of robes Dumbledore had brought him earlier. He pulled them awkwardly over his head and situated his mangled arm into the right sleeve before pulling his left arm through its sleeve.

Oblivious to the fact that Sirius and Remus were sitting on the bed next to his, he waved his left hand and closed his trunk with a snap, and with another wave of his hand levitated it before making his way to the doors of the room he had lived in these past many weeks.

He walked slowly down the long hallway, wincing in pain every time his right leg struck the ground, causing him to limp noticeably and cause Sirius' and Remus' hearts to break.

He was forced to stop several times on his assent to Gryffindor Tower to catch his breath and take the agonizing weight from his sore leg, causing his trip to his dormitory to take nearly twenty minutes, the entire trip being followed by his parents best friends who knew better than to try to help him, that he would only brush off their help if not more and do it on his own anyways.

At long last, they approached the portrait of the fat lady and they could just make out Harry's voice as he whispered the password, allowing himself access to the common room. Once he was inside, the fat lady closed behind him and Sirius and Remus turned without a word and headed toward their rooms to change before going to the great hall to await the arrival of the students.

An hour later, the teachers were sitting at the head table speaking quietly among themselves when the massive doors opened slightly to admit Harry, who limped slowly toward the Gryffindor table, his head trained to his feet and his hair shielding his face from their view completely.

He took a seat near the back of the table, almost hidden in the shadows, and sat unmoving with his eyes now focused on the plate before him, but if one were to watch carefully, they would notice him subconsciously pulling at the wrist of his shirt on his left arm, making sure it was covering his arm completely.

About twenty minutes later, a great commotion could be heard from the entrance of the school as the great doors were opened and the students spilled into the entry hall. Apparently though, Harry either didn't notice the commotion or chose to ignore it and he continued to stare at the table before him.

The doors suddenly opened with a loud bang and hundreds of students poured into the great hall. Several of them noticed the dark figure sitting alone at the Gryffindor table and they leaned over to their neighbors inquiring as to who it was and why they were already at the castle, but no one seemed to know the answer so they just continued to stare at the boy in mild curiosity before taking their own seats at their respective tables.

Near the middle of the group of entering students came a red headed boy and girl and a girl with bushy brown hair. All three of them were silent and focused on finding seats until a Ravenclaw behind Hermione tapped her on the shoulder.

"Who is that sitting at the Gryffindor table? Is he a transfer student or something? I don't recognize him, but then again, I can't see his face" he whispered into her ear.

Curious, she looked to where he was indicating and saw the lone figure in the shadows, but she too was unable to recognize him. He looked as though he were wearing the standard black Hogwarts robes and that combined with his long dark hair and the shadows surrounding him made him impossible to identify, curious, she turned to Ron and Ginny.

"Ron, Ginny, let's go see who that is, I don't recognize him and he looks like he could use some company" she told her friends as she drug them across the hall toward the figure in the corner.

Not wanting to argue with Hogwarts head girl, they followed her obediently over to the table and sat across from the student, who didn't even raise his head to acknowledge their presence.

He looked almost as tall as Ron, but they could tell by his loose robes that he was quite thin. He had thick pitch black hair that hung below his shoulders and with his head bowed toward the table it formed a dark curtain that shielded his features from their view.

As they took their seats at the table, Ginny couldn't help but feel as though there were something familiar about this boy, but what she couldn't quite place. She seated herself next to Hermione and just continued to gaze at the boy in interest.

"Hi, I'm Hermione Granger, Head Girl here at Hogwarts, and this is my boyfriend Ron Weasley and his younger sister Ginny. Where are you from? I don't think I've seen you here before" they were all shocked when he didn't even raise his head, let alone answer her questions, he just continued to stare unblinking at the table before him.

Before they could ask anymore questions though, Professor McGonagall came through the door with the anxious first years following her.

They all watched the sorting in silence, all but the black haired stranger anyways, and clapped when new students were sorted into their house. When the ceremony was over, Dumbledore tapped the side of his goblet for silence as he got to his feet.

The hall quieted down immediately and he began his start of term speech, telling the students about the rules of the castle and introducing the staff members seated with him at the table. All the students listened politely, with their eyes fixed on the old wizard before them, and Hermione was frustrated by the new students' lack of respect as he continued to stare at the plate in front of him, not even paying attention to the headmasters' speech. Annoyed, she turned her attention back to the headmaster only to see him starring back at the boy sitting across from her. He gathered a deep breath before speaking again, his eyes never slipping off of the boy.

"I have one final announcement to make to all of you and I ask you listen carefully to me. Undoubtedly, all of you are aware of the events that occurred at the castle on March fourth of last year and the disappearance of one of our students"

Hermione was shocked, why was Dumbledore starring at this student in front of her while he talked about Harry, he had told them he didn't want word of Harry's reappearance getting out, so what did this boy have to do with him, unless.

"We all feared that Mr. Potter had been killed by Lord Voldemort, but a few weeks after the end of term, he was found by one of our search teams. He will be rejoining his housemates and classes with the rest of you tomorrow. Now I know how anxious you are to ask him questions, but I must insist you refrain from doing so until a later date. Now, let the feast begin" with that he clapped his hands and the plates covering the table were instantly covered with delicious looking food.

Most of the students were so excited about the announcement about Harry that they just starred at the boy at the end of the table in awe, waiting to see if it was indeed him as they slowly filled their plates with the food. After several minutes though when it became obvious they wouldn't see anything, they began to chatter quietly and eat their food.

Hermione, Ron, and Ginny though ignored the food and just starred at the black head in front of them.

"Harry? Is that you?" Ginny asked quietly, looking intently at him and seeing for the first time that his arm was held to his chest in a sling.

"Please answer me Harry, I've missed you so much" she pleaded

Ron and Hermione just sat in silence starring at him as well but not trusting their voices.

Slowly, the boy in front of them lifted his gaze from the table and looked intently into Ginny's brown eyes, still completely oblivious to the other students in the hall who were shooting him curious looks between bites of food.

When his gaze lifted to meet that of Ginny, Ron and Hermione had to control their reactions upon seeing the still unhealed cuts and bruises on his face.

Ginny though smiled at her boyfriend ignoring the wounds, and he continued to hold her eyes for several minutes before turning his gaze toward those of his two best friends, who smiled at him in turn.

The first thing they noticed about his eyes was how much pain was hidden in them and how much sorrow, but they were soon gone to be replaced by a wall that forced his emotions away from the surface and buried them deep inside.

"It's good to see you again Harry" Hermione whispered to her friend, and Ron nodded in agreement.

"It's good to be back" his answer was softly spoken and barley audible over the noise of the hall, but the three heard it and their smiles grew even wider.

A moment later though, Harry had climbed back into the shell he had been in when they arrived and his eyes lost their focus as he began to dish a small amount of food onto his empty plate, which looked quite awkward since he was doing so with his left hand. Curious, they looked to his right arm and were startled to see it was held in a sling against his chest.

The others followed his lead and began to dish their own dinner and ate it quietly, every once in a while trying to spark a conversation with Harry, but every attempt proved futile so they ate in silence.

When dinner ended and Dumbledore dismissed them all to their common rooms, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione stood slowly and waited until the hall was almost emptied of students before turning to see Harry still sitting as though he hadn't heard the announcement.

Sirius walked over to them and leaned over the table to look right at Harry for a moment before speaking quietly to his godson.

"Harry, dinner is over, it's time to go to your common room, if you need me tonight, send Hedwig to get me, if not, I'll see you at breakfast."

He straightened up and watched as Harry got to his feet, using the table to support his weight until they were squarely under him. He then turned and made his way slowly to the doors of the hall, limping every time his right leg made contact with the ground.

Sirius then turned to the three students beside him "It will take him a while to get to the tower, his leg and ribs are still pretty painful when he walks any distance, but he won't let you help him, so don't try, just make sure he gets there alright will you?"

"Of course Sirius, we would never leave him" Hermione answered honestly, smiling at him.

He them bid them all goodnight before exiting the hall himself through one of the side doors.

Ron, Hermione, and Ginny left through the front doors and caught up with Harry who had just begun to climb the grand marble staircase and they could all tell he was already exhausted from the effort it was costing him to do so.

Although concerned for their friends' well being, they heeded Sirius' warnings and didn't try to help him, none of them knowing that the one time Sirius had tried to help Harry up the stairs he had been stunned by a flick of the black haired boys wrist and left on staircase, not reawakened until Remus had found him two hours later. Harry had successfully made it clear that he wanted to get around on his own that day.

Over twenty minutes later, they reached the portrait of the fat lady and Harry whispered the password so softly that none of his friends heard him.

When they entered the common room, they were met with the whole population of Gryffindor starring silently at them, or more correctly, Harry.

The black haired seventh year limped straight through the common room though with his head bowed and his hair once again blocking his face from their inquisitive eyes. He proceeded to the staircase leading to his dorm and wearily climbed it to the quite of his bed, unaware of the many pairs of eyes trained on his retreating back. When they heard the door at the top of the stairs close, the students turned to Ron, Hermione, and Ginny asking a thousand questions which none of them wanted to answer so they too went to their respective dorms to go to sleep and ignored their housemates irritated expressions.

As Ginny got into bed that night, her thoughts turned to the boy in the seventh year dorms and she was filled with questions. Why wouldn't he talk to anyone about what had happened, and why did he block out the world around him like it didn't exist?

He had changed since she had last seen him, changed form the open, loving, and fun filled boy she loved to this empty shell who almost refused to acknowledge his friends and kept his face downcast and hidden from the world. She knew he had been through a lot since that day they had been sitting in each others arms by the lake, and she hated to see him like this, but if she were honest with herself, she realized that she was scarred of the person he had become.

Not just because of the warning from Dumbledore, though that was part of the reason, but because she knew how powerful he was, if he could do magic without a wand or incantations then he was very strong indeed and that power frightened her more than anything else in the world, especially considering how much he had been through and the fact that he wouldn't let anybody close enough to him to help. With these thoughts rolling around in her mind, Ginny fell into a restless sleep, vowing to herself that she loved Harry no matter what and would do anything in her power to try to help him recover.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A/N: I know I said I would post this Thursday, but lets just say there were complications. My friend/roommate (I am away from home at college) decided we wanted to go home Thursday afternoon, which is nearly 400 miles away. She drove and we planned on coming back Friday, but she was put in the hospital and had to have emergency surgery Friday morning, so I was stranded 400 miles from school with no vehicle and no one to bring me back until today. My mom brought me up and I have just now been able to post this even though it and the next 2 chapters have been written for about a week. So, I hope you can understand this, and the next chapter tells what was going through Harry and Ron's heads during dinner and the one after that has a lot of Harry Ginny time, in fact about ten pages of it! Thanks for reviewing and please review this and let me know what you think (wow, this is a really long a/n).