A/N: Hey guys! This installment took a surprisingly short amount of time to write, so I decided to get it posted straight away. Everything going to plan and Ron will make his first appearance in the next part. Oh also, I'll put a bit of a warning on this part it gets a bit corny near the end. ENJOY!


THE JOURNEY HOME

Chapter Six - Fireside Briefing

-------------------------------------

Ginny dumped her backpack next to a tree and conjured a bright green fire to keep them warm. The recruits all collapsed gratefully around it, exhausted after a full day hiking. Harry pulled some sheets of parchment and a quill from his bag and quietly began scribbling.

"So what's for dinner?" Agrius asked, lying flat on his back next to the fire.

"Whaterver you can catch," Harry replied, not looking up.

Ginny watched the recruits' process this, all exchanging shocked looks.

"You're kidding, right?" Joshua laughed nervously.

Harry glanced up from his parchment, his expression blank. "Unless you've brought some food, because I know I haven't."

"Not even a bar of chocolate?" Agrius sat up with a look of disbelief.

"You can eat tomorrow when we get there," Harry replied, turning back to his notes, "assuming Ron wants to feed you."

"Who's Ron?" Alice asked.

Harry and Ginny exchanged a look of surprise. "Ron - Ron Weasley. Were you briefed at all before this mission?" Harry demanded throwing his notes to the ground.

Gabriel shrugged. "No, not really."

Harry swore under his breath.

"Typical Tonks," Ginny muttered with a laugh.

If you find it so funny you can brief them," Harry growled.

"Calm down alright, it's not that big a deal," Ginny soothed.

"They're training to be aurors Ginny, they're supposed to know every piece of information available about a mission before they even leave the office."

Ginny gritted her teeth. "I realise that Harry, but it's not their fault and it's not mine, so would you just get off our backs?"

Harry scowled and then took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."

"Good," Ginny replied, "thank you."

Enya leaned over to Alice. "Do they have history or what?" she whispered. Ginny scowled at her. Enya coughed a couple of times and became very interested in the grass in front of her.

"You're here because my brother, Ron, needs some extra wands," Ginny explained. "I suppose I should start at the beginning."

Harry nodded in agreement.

Ginny continued. "About seven years ago Lord Voldemort..." there was a collective shudder that made Harry scowl again, "attacked Hogwarts. I realise you all know that and you know Harry was one of the people there, but there were a lot of others there too. I was there, and my brother Ron, who we're going to see, and another friend of ours, a very close friend named Hermione Granger. Hermione was one of the casualties of the attack. The problem was that none of us knew exactly what happened to her, her body was never found and the only witnesses were either dead or worse. At first we tried to find out what happened, but the place was a shambles. The collective effort of us, the Ministry and the Order of the Phoenix turned up absolutely nothing. Not even a hint of a lead. Well, I had to go back to school and Harry was about to start auror training, but Ron decided to keep looking. He's been all over the world, and until last night we thought he hadn't found anything but..."

"He has." Harry took over. "He owled Tonks with details of a combination of spells, potions and simple enchantments he's collected. The combination, coupled with an ancient myth about the moon containing the history of the Earth, might give us some insight into what happened to Hermione. I've checked out everything he sent and to make it work we need at least six different wizards casting four different spells in three different languages, and we need the myth to be more than a myth."

"You're telling me this guy spent seven years of his life looking for someone that's probably dead?" Joshua asked. Harry nodded. "Sounds a bit..." he wagged his finger in a circle round his ear and made a cuckoo noise.

"I think it's romantic," Enya shot back, "I bet he loved her."

"He did," Ginny replied quietly, "always has, always will." She suddenly felt Harry's eyes on her.

"Told you," Enya grinned triumphantly at Joshua.

"I still think he's nuts," Joshua replied.

"You've obviously never been in love," Gabriel spoke.

"And you have?" Joshua asked.

Gabriel held up his hand to show off a glittering gold wedding band. "Yeah, actually." The two girls shuffled closer to Gabriel and began hammering him with questions about his wife and his wedding. Joshua snorted.

"Listen up, it's starting to get late and we all need to get some sleep." Harry stood up and conjured two tents side-by-side a few metres from the fire. "Tomorrow I'm going to split you up and you'll use the skills you've learnt so far in training to find your way to our destination." The recruits groaned as they lifted themselves off the ground. There was a momentary scuffle when Gabriel stepped too close to the fire and caught his pants alight, but Ginny quickly extinguished it with a wave of her wand and they all headed off to bed.

Ginny called a quick goodnight to them and moved closer to the fire. She slipped her hand into her bag and pulled a container from it. "Turkey sandwich?" she asked, offering the container to Harry.

"Thank you," Harry accepted a sandwich and sat down across from Ginny. "So, Miss Weasley, what do you get up to these days?"

Ginny felt a little odd playing catch up with a man she had once been so close to. "Umm... I'm in charge of the Si Hyphenas Ward at St Mungos. It's the children's branch of the permanent spell damage ward, and I live in Hogsmeade. And you?"

Harry looked thoughtful for a minute. "I work as an independent auror, mostly assigned to round up former death eaters and active dark wizards, and I live in a one-bedroom apartment in the outskirts of muggle London. You live alone in Hogsmeade?"

"No. I have a flatmate," Ginny grinned at the frown of Harry's face, "her name is Jules and we met while I was in auror training."

"I still don't understand why you gave it up. You were ten times better than this lot." He motioned to the tents.

Ginny shook her head. "I just couldn't do that to mum, especially after Ron left."

Harry nodded. "What about Jules, why'd she quit training?"

"She was never in the program. She was working for Witch Weekly doing an article on the boom of applicants after Voldemorts fall, then we met again while I was at St Mungos and she had a spare room. She works at Hogwarts now, just as a substitute though, she really wants to write books, she says she just needs one good idea and she'll be set."

Harry smiled, "I'm glad you're happy."

Ginny nodded. "I have a good job I love and a close circle of friends, I am happy," she paused, "Harry?"

"Hmm?"

"How bout you, are you happy?"

Harry stared back at her for a long time before he finally spoke. "I think it's time for bed." He picked up his bag and headed to the boys tent.

"Harry?" Ginny called after him.

Harry stopped at the entrance to the tent and turned around.

"You coming, it'll mean a lot to Ron. It means a lot to me."

Harry smiled. "I'm glad." He disappeared into the tent and Ginny spent several more minutes in front of the fire before extinguishing it and heading to bed herself.


-------------------------------------

Thank you to everyone reading this story and an even bigger thank you to everyone reviewing! I really appreciate it!