A/N I'm always happy to answer any questions you may have regarding my story, but I have to request that you don't ask any questions regarding the mysterious voices yet. Give me time and all will be revealed.

"Why didn't we know about this?" a harsh voice hissed into the darkness.

"They already suspect me, I can't get anything out of him," a more gentle voice responded.

"Well then fucking try harder!"

"Maybe it's just me, but I don't think that some little twit he's shagging is the best way to get to him. Just tonight he was caught with another girl."

"No, I know his attachment to that family. Hell, he's probably just hoping he'll get her knocked up or something so he can be a real part of that family."

"I don't think that's the issue. It is my job to know isn't it?"

"Well seeing as how you didn't even know about her...."

"Yes, but I was just talking to her about it tonight and I was on my way to come tell you...."

"Why do I find that just a little too convenient?"

"Well when I found her she was obviously drunk, so she was so much more willing to talk. If it hadn't been for that scene her brother caused, I probably could have gotten all kinds of information out of her."

"Well then I suggest you find a way to get her drunk again, and soon!"

When Ginny opened her eyes she was lying on a couch. She felt like her head was about to explode. She was vaguely aware of the fact that her throbbing head was on someone's lap. She rolled over so she could see the face of the person she could only guess had been taking care of her.

"Morning, love. Did you have a rough night?"

"Harry! What are you doing here? You've got to go, people could see us!" Ginny quickly sat up. "Oh shit that hurt," she moaned pulling her hand to her head.

"It's okay, everyone knows." Ginny was shocked at how surprisingly calm Harry was. She closed her eyes and tried to remember what had happened the night before.

"Oh fuck! Harry it's entirely my fault! I was so angry with you that I got completely sloshed! Colin came in looking for me, and thought I should try and walk it off some. He didn't want the wrong people finding me in that state. I was telling him how pissed off at you I was, I'm sure I was being much too loud. I didn't know what I was doing. Hell, I even had to lean on him so I could walk!"

"Ginny, calm down, it's not your fault." Harry reached over and took her hand.

Ginny's eyes flashed with emotion. "Fuck! Harry it is Trounce, she's the one trying to hurt you! We ran into her last night, and I started going off about what a lousy boyfriend I had. I told her that you drove me to drink! She didn't seem to care at all that I was sloshed; she only seemed interested in what I was saying about you. Oh I bet she ran off and let it slip to just the right people so now everyone knows!"

"Ginny can I say something now?" Harry tried not to laugh at his upset and hung over girlfriend. She nodded. "It was Ron. He told everyone."

"Why would he do that?" Ginny asked, confused.

"Well, I was trying to find you. I needed to fix things with us, but Lavender told me that you had gone to the fourth floor with Colin. To a broom closet none the less."

"Well that's just silly. Lavender passed us when we were walking towards the ground floor."

"Exactly. She was trying to get me in the broom closet. And she did. Unfortunately, Ron didn't see how she tricked me, or how desperately I was trying to get out. He just happened to be walking down the hall just in time to see me go in and her follow me."

For the first time Ginny noticed the welt on Harry's face. "Did he do that to you?" she asked angrily.

"Yeah, I'd be willing to bet he broke a couple ribs too. I was just trying to get him to calm down; I couldn't bring myself to fight him back. I knew what an idiot he would feel like when he realized what was going on, and I didn't want to have to share in his feelings of idiocy." Harry winced as Ginny ran her hand over his jaw. "Plus, I didn't think it go over well with your family if I landed him in St. Mungo's," Harry added with a smirk.

Ginny was able to laugh through her anger, but suddenly stopped remembering Harry's words. "Wait, what do you mean you'd be willing to bet? Didn't you go to the hospital wing?"

"Well, I still hadn't found you, and Ron had told the whole world that you were my girlfriend, so I came back here and waited for you to get back. I don't know how you managed to find your way back by yourself."

"I don't either," Ginny said with a giggle. "But now you've got to go to the hospital wing. Don't fight me on this, I'm coming with you."

"Yes Mrs. Weasley." Ginny playfully slapped Harry. "Okay, broken ribs ring any bells?"

"Sorry!" Ginny slipped her hand into Harry's and led him towards the hospital wing. "You know this may be nice, no more secrets." Harry didn't answer her. Already he was consumed with worry for her well being. But he wasn't going to let her know, he wanted her to be worry free.

Harry was out of the hospital wing in time for dinner. He had managed to convince Ginny to go to her classes, despite her massive headache. He entered the Great Hall and quickly found her sitting by herself at the Gryffindor table. He walked over and sat down beside her, placing a small kiss on her cheek for their not so subtle audience.

"See, now this isn't so bad, is it?" Ginny asked with a smile.

"No, not at all," Harry replied. "In fact, I may just have to thank Ron for making it so I can snog his sister in public without caring who sees." Harry was about to kiss Ginny again when he saw Ron and Hermione walk over to where they were sitting.

"Ron..." Hermione prompted, pushing him into the seat across from Harry.

"I'm sorry about last night," Ron mumbled. "I should have known you wouldn't hurt my sister."

"It's okay, and so am I. But Ron, I'm only going to tell you this once: I love your sister and I would never intentionally do anything to hurt her."

Ron's eyes widened. "I didn't know you loved her, I didn't know," Ron stammered.

"Well I love him too, and if he did hurt me, I'd hurt him myself. So from now on, let me handle my love life. But thank you for trying to defend my honor," Ginny said smiling at her brother. "So Harry what's on the agenda for tonight? Any more broom closets you'd like to visit?"

Harry blushed and looked at the floor. "Actually I have to go meet with Lavender. I'm going to tell her that she's either going to have to respect the fact that all we'll ever be is friends, or I'll have to find a new tutor."

"I'm coming with you," Ginny said quickly.

"Actually, Harry," Hermione interrupted, "I've changed my mind. I'll be your tutor. I already help Ron with most of his homework anyway. I might as well just help you both at the same time. So why don't you go tell Lavender that her services are no longer needed?"

"Thank you thank you thank you!" Ginny squealed.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Harry added. "I was supposed to have a session with her tonight, do you want to work?"

"Sure, I always like to get my homework done on Fridays so it isn't looming over my head all weekend," Hermione replied.

"Gin, are you still going to come with me to talk to Lavender?" Harry looked questioningly at his girlfriend.

"Actually I had completely forgotten. I was supposed to help Colin with a charms essay last night; it was why he was looking for me. I better go find him and see if he still needs any help." Ginny gave Harry a small kiss and disappeared out of the Great Hall.

Four hours later Ginny had finally finished helping Colin with his essay.

"I'm exhausted," she said more to herself than to Colin.

"Well you did have a rough night last night," Colin teased.

"Thanks for taking care of me."

"I'd do anything for you, Gin." Colin sheepishly looked at the ground. "So has Harry been treating you well these days?"

"Well other than not doing a very good job of fending off Lavender and not having any spare time, yes," Ginny laughed at herself. "Honestly though Colin, I never imagined I could feel like this. I love him with all my heart, and I know he loves me too. We have this intense connection; it's not like anything I've ever felt before. It's like every time I kiss him, I know he's the only person I want to kiss for the rest of my life."

"I'm happy for you," Colin said masking his disappointment. "Can I ask you something though?"

"Anything, what are best friends for?"

"Well, it's just that, somewhere in the back of my mind, I always pictured you and me ending up together. I know it's silly, but I did. We just always have so much fun together. Do you think that if it wasn't for Harry, there could ever have been anything between us?"

"Oh Colin, you shouldn't think about things like that. We'll never get anywhere in the world if all we do is ask what if. I love you Colin, you've been there for me during some of the hardest times in my life. I know I can depend on you like family. But I can't answer your question. It wouldn't be fair, because there is a Harry. There's a Harry that I love with all of my heart."

"I understand," Colin said as he packed up his books. "I'm going to head to bed now though; I'll see you in the morning."

Ginny watched Colin walk out of the library. She felt a pang of guilt in her heart. She had been so busy with everything else in her life she really had been neglecting Colin. She was determined she would make it up to him. She gathered her own things and headed for bed. It had been much too long since she had gotten a good night's sleep.

Harry looked nervously around his room. He didn't know how time had gone by so quickly. He looked at the small table he had asked Dobby to set up in his room. He nodded approvingly, eyeing the crisp white table cloth covered with red rose petals. He looked at the unlit candles sitting on the table.

"Well there's always time for a little extra homework," he thought as he closed his eyes in concentration. He focused all of his energy on lighting the candle. A few moments later, there was a delicate glow coming from the table. "Perfect. This is going to be the best Valentine's Day ever." Harry walked over to the mirror and looked himself over. He brushed some dirt off the black muggle dress pants and green collared shirt Hermione had helped him pick out. He tried to flatten his hair to no avail. "I guess that's as good as it's going to get." Harry began to pace the floor of his bedroom waiting for Ginny to arrive. He knew that celebrating Valentine's Day alone in his private bedroom didn't look very appropriate to outsiders, but considering Harry wasn't able to leave the grounds it was the only way they could really be alone. Harry was so nervous he didn't even notice that Ginny had arrived.

"Hi," she said shyly.

"You look amazing," Harry said, gasping for breath at the sight of her. She was wearing a simple blue muggle dress that hung half way down her thighs. It hung to her curves so beautifully that it made Harry go crazy. The dress had a tasteful v-neck, and Ginny wore the locket that Harry had given her.

"Oh Hermione helped me pick this dress out. It's not something I would normally wear, but tonight isn't any normal night."

"Well I think you should let Hermione help you pick out your clothes more often. I don't think you've ever looked prettier." Ginny blushed. She was feeling unusually shy around Harry tonight. "I don't know how long it's been since we've really been alone together. It seems like you've been even busier than I have lately."

"I'll say. There were a few weeks in there I could almost forget I had O.W.L.S. coming up. I think the professors picked up on that and decided to start assigning three times the homework."

"Trust me, it'll get worse before it gets better," Harry said laughing. "Would you like to have a seat, I do believe dinner is ready." Harry led Ginny to the table he had set up and suddenly two plates of food appeared.

"Oh Harry this looks wonderful," Ginny gushed. They made mild chit chat for the next thirty minutes, making their way through the delicious dinner Dobby had prepared.

"Ginny, I wanted to do something special for you tonight. I know things haven't been that easy on either one of us lately. It feels like as soon as the world found out about us, it started to do everything in its power to keep us from having time for each other."

"Harry just arranging this night is more than enough," Ginny interrupted.

"Be that as it may, I wanted to share something with you. I know I told you about Sirius's birthday present, but I haven't been able to look at it again. It was too hard to do alone. So I want you to discover my parents with me because while they're my past, I think you're my future."

"Harry, I'd be honored to share that with you." Harry got up from the table and returned with the journal. He opened the book to the second entry.

"Memoritas!" Harry and Ginny were now standing in someone's back yard. They looked around and saw four men sitting at a picnic table laughing about something. "That's my dad," Harry said pointing.

"I can tell," Ginny replied with a smile.

"Sirius Black, I swear you're going to eat us out of house and home," a very pregnant Lily teased as she walked out of the house carrying a tray of food.

"You know you love me," a young Sirius joked. "We just can't let James know how much." Sirius winked and raised an eyebrow at James.

"Oh stuff it!" Lily replied tossing her head back in laughter.

"Let me get that for you," a ragged looking Remus said standing up from his seat.

"Don't worry, I've got it. I may be six months pregnant, but I can still take care of my boys." Lily set the food down and gave James a sweet kiss.

"No more of that or else I'll have you back in that condition before you can get out of it," James teased his wife.

"That's not possible," Peter Pettigrew said quietly from his place at the table.

"He was only joking," Sirius said. "Honestly Peter, sometimes I just don't know what to make of you."

"Leave him alone," Lily scolded. She pulled her wand out of her robes and said a spell that started to play music throughout the yard.

"I think they're playing our song," James said standing up from the table. He walked over and wrapped his arms around his wife. He waltzed her around the picnic table, and dipped her low. "Oy! You're getting too heavy to do that with anymore!" he teased.

"You know I think you're right. I also think I'm too heavy for our bed to be able to support both our weights. I think you'd be much better off on the couch," she replied with a grin.

"Ouch!" Sirius exclaimed laughing. "You know that's just another thing I love about you Lily. You're the only person, other than me of course, who can really put James in his place."

"Well fortunately for me," James said slyly, "My place is and always will be, with Lily." He pulled his wife into a deep, loving kiss, only stopping when the applause from his friends became too much to bare. Harry turned to see what Ginny had thought of his parents. He saw a look of awe on her face, but before he could comment they scene was gone and they were back in Harry's bedroom.

"Harry your parents were so happy and in love," Ginny said smiling.

"It's a shame I had to take all of that away from them," Harry replied sadly.

"I don't ever want to hear you say that again," Ginny said firmly. "I would be willing to bet that the happiest day of their lives was the day you were born. I think they would have traded their lives for yours any day of the week. Just enjoy knowing that for a time, they lived happily, without being consumed with thoughts of war." Ginny walked over to Harry and gave him a delicate kiss. "This was the best Valentine's Day ever. I'm going to go, because I only want to remember good things about tonight, and I can feel your thoughts turning to war and death. So have a good night, and promise me you'll try to get some sleep."

"Thank you for everything. Good night, I love you."

"I love you too."

Harry watched Ginny walk out of the room and quickly grabbed his invisibility cloak. He crept out of his room, careful not to make any noise. He followed Ginny back to the Gryffindor Common Room, keeping a careful eye out for anything suspicious. He hated that he felt like he was reduced to following her, but he had to protect her, and he knew she would protest. "Is this what I'm going to be reduced to for the rest of my life?" he thought sadly as Ginny disappeared through the portrait hole. "I can't be everywhere all the time. Between following Ginny, Hermione, and Ron, I've barely gotten any rest. I'm tired of always being afraid of losing someone." Harry determined that night, that he wasn't going to sit back and let things happen anymore, he was going to start acting.

The next day at breakfast everyone was in high spirits. Ron and Hermione had apparently had an evening a lovely as Ginny and Harry. They said that they went into Hogsmeade, but left the rest of the details to the imagination.

"So, I say we spend the day lounging around, being lazy," Ron said clasping Hermione's hand in his own.

"Well you're all more than welcome to come spend the day in my room," Harry suggested.

"Why does it not surprise me that the two of you would want to spend the day in a bedroom," Ginny said, causing Hermione to blush. "Hermione is there something you'd like to share?"

"No, I was just thinking about things," she responded quietly, examining the hand that Ron was holding.

"Good morning." They all looked up to see Professor Trounce standing over them. "May I have a word with you two, Ron and Ginny?" Ron looked apologetically at Hermione who looked like she was about to start yelling.

"Anything you want to say to Ron and Ginny you can say to Harry and me too," Hermione said defensively.

"I hate to say it, but Hermione's right," Harry said, letting his suspicions of their professor show.

"I had a feeling that you all might say that. Very well, would you all please join me in my office then?" They left the table and followed her into the hall. Harry protectively held Ginny's hand.

"Don't worry," he whispered to her quietly. "No one will hurt you as long as I'm here."

A/N Okay, I'm sorry if it seems like I'm just wishing weeks away. There's only so much that has to happen and most of it should be towards the end of the school term. So, we're flying through the uneventful times. I know I could focus more on classes, but that's just not a relevant part of my story. Also, I probably would have normally put the last bit of this chapter in the beginning of the next, but since I won't be updating for awhile I wanted to give you as much as I could. I'll be home sometime Tuesday, so hopefully I'll get another update up no later than Wednesday.