This story, much like the one it's a sequel to, came out of nowhere. I was sitting around not doing much of anything, and the urge to write this came upon me. All but the last section came from that first inspired session. Hopefully this will be unlike the last time in which I write myself into a corner based on an idea that was half-formed and published before I thought through what I would ultimately do with it.

Let's find out!

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~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Dear Harry,

Ron's probably already told you, but we're not at the Burrow anymore. I can't tell you where we are, but we're safe and together. Hermione came to join us here too just last night. She may have told you; I don't know.

What I do know is that Dumbledore has sworn the two of them to secrecy. They're not allowed to tell you anything at all for fear the letters may get intercepted. They told him this is just going to make you angry and frustrated, but he wouldn't budge. Since I know they're probably right, can I just please ask you not to do anything crazy? You don't owe me anything of course, but please? We're all worried about you and we want to see you; don't think we don't.

One thing I will say is that Dumbledore didn't swear me to secrecy, so I'm technically free to tell you anything I like. Not that there's anything to tell at the moment, but I promise I'll do what I can. Hang in there.

Ron did probably forget to mention this next bit, though. Percy's had a row with Mum and Dad and moved out. I won't go into details, but it was really awful. We'll tell you more about it when we see you (which hopefully won't be too far off), but just know that Percy is a taboo subject around here right now.

Please take care of yourself, and don't worry. There's no way they'll let you waste away there all summer. I don't know when, but I'm sure you'll be coming here to join us eventually. Until then, stay safe.

Love,

Ginny

Harry had been surprised to receive a letter from Ginny, who'd never written him before (save the odd singing "get well" card), but it was strangely heartening. He had thought Ron's and Hermione's last letters had been a bit sparse with details, and here was an explanation. He was rather annoyed with the two of them for agreeing to such a thing, but if he really thought about it, a promise to Dumbledore probably wasn't the wisest or easiest thing to break.

Ginny's offer to be his clandestine source of information assuaged some of his frustration and made him feel like he was getting away with something. So Dumbledore wanted to keep him completely in the dark? Fine. Let him try. As if Harry would ever willingly go along with such a thing.

He decided not to mention to Ron or Hermione that Ginny was circumventing their vow of silence; he told himself it was for expediency – if they found out, Dumbledore could make her promise to keep quiet, too – and definitely not out of spite.

He wrote back to her, thanking her for offering to help, and offering his condolences for the situation with Percy, even though he knew she, like Fred, George, and Ron, was not overly fond of Percy and was more likely angry with him for fighting with their parents than she was upset about him leaving. He also promised he'd do his best to stay out of trouble, though he reminded her that this was not always effective at keeping trouble from finding him.

He sent the letter of with Hedwig, along with ones to Ron and Hermione that he had already written, trying to get information out of them. Let them think he was still completely in the dark. And let Dumbledore think his attempts to cut him off entirely from the wizarding world – for whatever daft reason – was working. He'd get the last laugh in the end.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Dear Harry,

I hope you haven't been reading the Daily Prophet. If you have, I hope you know it's all a load of complete rubbish. If you haven't, please don't start. Hermione says its bound to upset you, and I'm certain she's right.

Of course, now that I've said that, you're going to go ahead and read it even if you weren't before, just to see, aren't you? Why you insist on torturing yourself is beyond me.

To answer some of your questions (as best I can), yes, we have seen a few people. I won't say whom specifically, because I don't want anyone to get in trouble, but I'm sure you can guess. I know things might seem Grim, but I promise everyone's all right.

Harry stopped, and reread that last line. If he was interpreting her hint correctly, the Weasleys had been in contact with Sirius. That was more than Ron or Hermione – or indeed Sirius himself – had yet told him. He was grateful for the information, but couldn't help the bitterness it brought up in him as well. Why did Ron, Hermione, and Ginny get to spend time with his godfather and not him?

I know you're probably annoyed that everyone is together when you're stuck by yourself – I would be too! - but don't think we're doing anything exciting. It feels like we've been doing chores and busy work nonstop since summer began. Think about that to cheer yourself up next time you're feeling left out.

This, too, was news. Ron and Hermione had both said they were "very busy", but hadn't bothered to say what they were doing. He'd been imagining all sorts of vague ideas of how they might be helping in the fight against Voldemort. If they were just polishing floors and degnoming gardens, it sort of took the sting out a little of not being part of it.

Fred and George have been driving everyone spare, as usual. In fact it's probably worse than usual since they're not used to being cooped up. They're of age now, of course, so they're using magic for literally everything. They can apparate now too, so they're always popping in and out of places, even if it's just the next room. It drives Mum mad.

They've been hard at work on Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, and they're doing a better job of keeping it a secret from Mum than before. I reckon it's because she has so many other things on her mind. Also they somehow got their hands on some money – some anonymous wealthy and handsome investor, you know – so they're using it to fund a new line of products that they plan to sell by owl order this year. Only I'm not supposed to know any of this, so don't say anything until they tell you. Also don't eat anything they give you, though surely that must be common sense by now, right?

Dumbledore's still keeping mum on when you can come to stay, though I'm sure Ron and Hermione have managed to tell you at least that much. He seems to think you're safer where you are, though how that's possible I can't imagine. Rest assured we haven't forgotten about you. We've only seen him once so far all summer, so we have to rely on Mum and Dad for any updates from him. It's almost as infuriating for us as I'm sure it is for you. I know telling you to be patient won't help, so I won't, but chin up. We'll see you soon. Not sure when exactly, but it can't be too much longer. Stay safe!

Love,

Ginny

Harry was coming to anticipate Ginny's letters even more than Ron's or Hermione's. She, like Sirius, understood how frustrated and cut off he felt, and even Sirius only ever offered condolences, commiserations, or warnings to keep his head down. Ginny was making a point to give him whatever scraps of information she had, and by the sounds of it, risking her parents' and Dumbledore's ire to do it.

He had to wonder what she'd meant about the Daily Prophet, though. He'd been checking the front page every day, as surely that was where any news about Voldemort would appear, but so far had seen nothing of interest. What was in there that she was afraid would upset him? Because she had been right; now that she'd said something he was going to have to look and see. At least he was forewarned – sort of – so hopefully it wouldn't upset him too much.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Dear Harry,

I told you not to read it! Though I don't know what I was expecing; of course you would look after I said that. You're absurdly stubborn; has anybody ever told you that?

Like I said before, it's all rubbish. Just building on what Rita Skeeter started last year. Hermione says it's all in an effort to discredit you, which I'm sure isn't going to make you feel better, but it's a good indicator of where the Prophet's priorities are at the moment.

As for our mutual pen friend, we haven't heard so much as a peep out of him. Nothing that Mum and Dad have seen fit to share with us, anyway, which I'm choosing to interpret positively. No news is good news, right? The consensus seems to be that he's lying low for the time being. In other words, there's nothing really going on. No idea when that will change, but it's a waiting game for now. This is all based on things we've overheard, mind. Which reminds me, Fred and George have got a few new tricks up their sleeves that I think you'll like.

Percy's still not talking to anyone. I wouldn't mind at all except Mum's taking it really hard. I think Dad is too, but he's better at hiding it. All I can say is that if he does decide to come back, for his own sake he'd better do it when Fred and George aren't around. Or me, for that matter.

In your last letter you said you'd been listening to Muggle news reports, too. You don't really think anything worth hearing is going to come up on there, do you? I mean, anything big enough to be reported on the Muggle news would be big enough that surely even the Prophet couldn't ignore it. Or maybe that's just me giving them too much credit. I suppose what I'm trying to say is please don't fret too much and give yourself an ulcer or something. I know I haven't been able to tell you very much despite saying I would, but I promise that's just because there isn't much to tell. Mad as it sounds, there really isn't much going on. I reckon we're not the only ones trying to get organized before making any moves.

There is a lot of other stuff I want to talk to you about, but it has to do with where we're staying and that's something I can't tell you. I mean I literally can't tell you, if you catch my meaning. Nothing world shattering, just weird stuff, you know? At the risk of irritating you, it'll make sense when you get here.

Take care of yourself, and stay safe.

Love,

Ginny

Ginny's latest letter gave Harry a lot to think about. The idea that Voldemort too needed time to get organized and make plans was something he honestly hadn't thought of. He'd been operating under the assumption that the dark wizard would hit the ground running, so to speak, but it did make sense upon further reflection. Most of Voldemort's previous year would have been occupied with his overly elaborate plan to abduct Harry and carry out his own resurrection, a plan which Harry was sure had not involved him escaping and immediately running to tell Dumbledore. He also would not have had any contact with any of his Death Eaters until that night, who would all need to be brought up to speed on whatever their next moves were meant to be.

None of this made Harry feel any better about not knowing what Voldemort was up to – because obviously he was up to something – but it sort of assuaged the sense of immediacy and impending doom a little, for which he was grateful. For the first time he got the sense that it wasn't so much he was out of the loop as it was there didn't appear much of a loop to be in.

Why couldn't the others have told him that, he thought irritably. Surely that wasn't "sensitive" information. Was Dumbledore really leaning on them so hard? Their letters spent more time talking about what they couldn't tell him than what they could.

Harry had also noticed her rather glib reference to Tom Riddle's diary, and while he was happy she was able to talk about things without giving away too much to any outside observer, he worried all the same. Not that he expected her to still be a broken wreck over something that had happened more than two years ago, but this wasn't the first time he'd gotten a sense she was putting on a brave face for his benefit. He made a mental note to ask her about it, provided he could think of a tactful way of doing so.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Dear Harry,

Happy birthday!

Are you going mad? I'm sure you must be. Hopefully all the sweets you're getting today will help a little. I know you said your aunt and uncle don't feed you well, especially since your cousin went on a diet.

Had he told Ginny that? He must have.

Snuffles is worried about you. I think he thinks you might be feeling stir crazy and do something stupid. I told him you're smarter than that, even though I understand the temptation has to be there. Ron and Hermione are worried too, even though they don't say it. Hermione seems to think you must be fuming by this point; I think she's worried about how you'll be when we finally see you. Please go easy on them; it's not their fault and they're not any happier about it than you are.

It was this part alone that made him stop himself from chucking the Honeydukes chocolate his friends had sent him in the bin out of spite. She was right, after all; it wasn't Ron and Hermione he should be upset with. If anyone, it was Dumbledore, who surely had his reasons, but would it kill him to occasionally explain what they were?

I overheard some people talking about "security concerns" the other day, and I can't say for certain but I think – and Fred and George agree with me – that they're talking about how to get you here safely. I don't know exactly when, and if I'm honest I don' t know if I'd want to tell you if I did. That's one thing that really does need to stay secret in case someone reads this who shouldn't. Be angry with me if you want, Harry, but I want you to be safe more than I want you to be pleased with me. As it happens, I don't actually know anyway, but just so you know my priorities.

Harry almost laughed despite being annoyed. Here Ron and Hermione kept apologizing for not being able to tell him anything, and now Ginny, who was not bound by the same restrictions (technically), was straight up telling him that she wouldn't tell him and that he just had to deal with it. She did not fear his ire; that much was certain.

We'll have a proper birthday celebration for you when you get here. Mum'll be excited to fuss over you and I know Snuffles misses you. We all miss you. Just hang in there for a little while longer.

Love,

Ginny

Harry couldn't honestly say it was a good birthday, but his spirits were lifted slightly by the idea of finally leaving Privet Drive – even if nobody could or would tell him when that would be. Even if they had a good reason for it (which he was forced to grudgingly admit that they might), it didn't make him any less irritated by it.

He was, however, very thankful in the coming days that he had kept his birthday chocolate. There were only so many wilted salads and grapefruit quarters one could reasonably be expected to tolerate.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Harry,

Thank Merlin you're all right! When we heard what happened we almost couldn't believe it. It was mad here, let me tell you. Everyone was running around yelling like a swarm of skrewts had just blasted through the front door. Dumbledore's in a fury and Mum was all for bringing you here immediately. She wasn't the only one, by the way. But apparently it has to be done carefully and secretly.

I don't know what you said to Hedwig, but she's been all over Ron and Hermione since she got here. I know you're upset, and you have every right to be, but that's a little uncalled for, don't you think? You know the situation they're in. And frankly, no one really knows any more about what happened than you do. Less, probably, since none of us were there. Nobody at the ministry is talking about it and if Dumbledore suspects anything he hasn't let slip where any of us could hear him.

Harry was surprised and even a little annoyed she had taken the time to chastise him. Though when he read it again, he did maybe feel the tiniest bit guilty about setting Hedwig to peck at them for answers they weren't allowed to give. Just the tiniest bit.

In any case, I stole her away to send this to you. I suppose I should thank you for not siccing her on me too, or had she just not gotten to me yet? I won't tell you to calm down since I can't imagine what it must be like to be stuck all by yourself and then attacked by dementors on top of everything else, but please don't take it out on your friends. We care about you and we want to help you.

Okay, maybe more than the tiniest bit, but still only a little.

I'm afraid to tell you anything else, since if I "endanger the mission" they might put it off, and that's the last thing any of us wants. I promise it won't be long now. And I know I say it all the time but please stay safe. If dementors can find you once, they can find you again. I know Dad already told you, and probably Dumbledore too, but I'm begging you Harry, please don't leave the house again. Just wait. Somehow we'll get you out of there.

See you soon,

Love,

Ginny

He hadn't heard from anyone else since that night, but based on what Ginny said, they likely wouldn't have anything to say to him anyway. Even with Hedwig pecking them. Served them right, though. (Only a little bit of guilt).

If he were being honest, being told it "won't be long" and they'd see him "soon" didn't do much to improve his mood, though at least it was confirmation they hadn't forgotten about him and weren't just going to let him stew for the rest of the summer. He'd actually started to believe that had been Dumbledore's plan, and may well have been but for a rogue dementor attack.

What did Ginny mean about no one knowing anything about it, though? Surely dementors roaming Little Whinging would be huge news. Unless they were secretly taking orders from Voldemort and the Ministry didn't know about it. That thought made him shudder, but it was the most plausible explanation he could come up with on the scant information he had. Which still wasn't enough.

He stubbornly sent Hedwig back again, once more demanding answers from his best friends and his godfather.

'Maybe just hoot at them instead,' he said to her as he stroked her head and sent her off.

In the end he would have to wait two more days for Ginny's promised help to arrive, but he grudginly did not leave the house – or his room save to use the toilet – the whole time. He was almost grateful for Aunt Petunia shoving food into his room through the old cat flap; he wasn't certain he'd be able to mustre the enerty to feed himself otherwise. He certainly didn't want to impose his company on the Dursleys (nor theirs on himself). He gave up asking her about the howler after the third time she acted as though she couldn't hear him.

It was Friday night, the Dursleys had gone, and Hedwig had not returned. Harry sat alone in the dark, wishing for any news, any word, from anyone. Even Ginny scolding him for having Hedwig torment Ron and Hermione would have comforted him.

Then he heard a crash in the kitchen.

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~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

It's November again! A.k.a NaNoWriMo, a.k.a. the time when 40 to 60% of my writing for the entire year is completed.

Let me just start by saying this is not the story I thought I'd be working on. And in truth, it's not the only one, but I did get a huge chunk of it done and finish the first chapter today, which was a surprise to me as much as to anyone else.

As I mentioned before, this timeline is not highest on my list of priorities, so expect any updates to be sporadic (gasp! You don't say!), but that being said the plot bunny has me for the moment and it is November, so who knows?

Leave a review if you liked it, or even if you didn't. I'm a grown-up. I can take it.