"David," Sarah said once she saw David was alone. It was the Sunday after Hogsmeade. "Can I talk to you?"
"Sure," David said, and put down his book, 'Morte D'Arthur'.
"Well," Sarah started, "I know you know who your parents are, and we know too." David opened his mouth, shocked. Sarah kept going before he could butt in. "Really, it's alright! Robert heard your father talking to Dumbledore. And you knew Ginny was here... now you know they both are. I just thought you may like to know. Dumbledore has forbidden Harry to see you, apparently, and he's hiding in the castle until you're ready. Ginny's return is being kept from everyone, too. Apart from Robert, and Professors Weasley and Granger, and Monica, and Bill, and Ginny Jr as well." Sarah sighed. "So only the Weasley's at Hogwarts... why didn't I just say that?"
But David hadn't heard the rest. His father was here? At Hogwarts? David felt anger rising in him, like a snake about to strike, and with it rose his power.
"I would leave me alone, if I were you," David said, gritting his teeth against a biting remark.
"Are you su-?"
"Yes, I'm sure!"
Sarah left without a word. She went to find Robert and Daniel, up in the boys' dormitory.
"Harry! You're back! Where have you been? Oh Harry!" Hermione flung herself onto Harry. "You've changed so much," she sobbed into his dark green robes.
"It's Ok Hermione," Harry patted her back as she hugged him and cried. Suddenly she pulled away roughly.
"No, it's not OK!" she said angrily. "You had no right to leave us like that! None! And not even a note... 13 years Harry! 13! We thought you were dead! Ginny wrote to us!"
"I was with Ginny the whole time," Harry told Hermione, trying to calm her down. "Dumbledore knew I was alive, but he thought it better to keep it secret. He wanted me to get away from everything..."
"What about David?" Hermione asked suddenly, "does he know about this?"
"James? No, he doesn't."
Hermione ignored the name. "You have to tell him!"
"I can't, Dumbledore has forbidden me to show myself to him, he'd most likely kill me, or something quite ashorrible, Dumbledore reckons."
"No, Harry, David is a lovely young man. He wouldn't hurt a fly, unless it was annoying him..." Hermione added, for some reason. "Dumbledore should know he wouldn't hurt anyone! He's basically a father to him, himself!"
"You didn't see him the other day... he stormed into Dumbledore's office, and I just managed to hide, and he started going off about how I ran away, and Ginny ran away, and how he didn't have a father in his opinion, and he shattered the photo frame and glass that was on Dumbledore's desk, and you know that he put a pretty hefty unbreakable charm on that..." Harry explained.
"We'll talk about this later... We have to find Ron! Oh Harry! He was ecstatic when Ginny turned up, he'll be extra happy to have you back! He misses you so much! Come on, the bell's almost going to go, we'll wait in his office!"
Hermione dragged Harry along with her to the Defence Office. Sure enough, the bell went and students passed the door chattering away, not a care in the world...
The door opened and closed. Ron stood there looking at Harry speechlessly. He just stared. Ron, Harry noticed, had changed a lot. He had grown out of his lankiness and had filled out a little, and seemed a lot more confident than Harry remembered, just by the way he held himself, even in his shock...
"Ron," Harry said, quite formally, wondering how Ron would react one he got over his shock.
"Harry..." Ron's eyes were wide and glistened with unshed tears. "You're alive?"
"The last time I checked..." Harry agreed.
Ron moved towards Harry in one swift movement, and Harry didn't have time to duck.
"Ron!" Hermione squealed, terrified. "Harry, are you ok?"
Ron's fist had caught him on his right cheek and tears sprung to Harry's eyes. He was more shocked than anything. "Geez Ron... I'm glad to see you to," Harry said, rubbing his cheek, it was bleeding slightly. Harry looked at Ron's left hand. There was a little blood on Ron's wedding band, and his knuckles were bruising.
Ron still just stared.
"Apologise this instant, Ronald Weasley!" Hermione demanded, she looked like she might start crying again.
"No, it's Ok, Hermione. I suppose I deserved it in a way."
"Bloody Oath you did!" Ron exclaimed. "Not a word in 13 years, and now you turn up out of the blue, just after Ginny... and what about David? Does he know?"
Harry was getting sick of him being called David... his name was James.
"No, James doesn't know. And he wont, until he's ready. Dumbledore thinks he may hurt me."
"He probably could too, have you seen him yet? Harry he's so strong! He looks so much like you, features wise, but he is nothing like you in build... well not when you were young... you look like him now though. I heard he even managed to smash a frame of Dumbledore's, it had an unbreakable charm on it... Dumbledore's charm! Impossible..."
Ron ran out of words.
"Harry!" Ron embraced a startled Harry in a brotherly hug.
Ginny made her way, invisible, into the Entrance Hall, from the grounds, and started the trek up to one of the top towers on the other side of the castle where she and Harry were staying.
He was sitting on one of the arms of the cosy armchairs, holding something white to his cheek.
"What's that?" Ginny asked, coming up to him and taking the cold cloth from him. She winced. "What happened?"
"Not much... Ron just socked me..."
"He what?!" Ginny shrieked. "Why didn't Madam Pomfrey heal it?"
"She said I deserved it, for scaring everyone like that. I do, in a way." Harry agreed. "How was your day, love?" he asked, putting the cloth back to his cheek and kissing Ginny gently.
"Wonderful... I almost forgot what Diagon Alley was like! You'll have to come back with me Harry, it's wonderful! A lot of it has been rebuilt, in the old style, since Voldemort's death, but Gringotts still stands proud," she said wistfully. "And I saw James again, Harry you have to see him."
"David, Ginny, his name's David," Harry said bitterly. There was a pause. "I'm sorry, we've missed so much, haven't we?" Harry asked pulling Ginny onto his lap as he sat back in the armchair. "Were you happy, Gin?"
"I was with you, of course I was happy."
"I'm sorry we couldn't have been here... I know you love me, and I love you, but I wish I could have made things better for you..."
Ginny sighed. "Harry, don't talk like that, we're back now. And you're coming tomorrow with me to see mum."
Harry looked horrified. Ginny turned and laughed slightly, and put her forehead against his. "It's alright, she might make your face match a little better."
Harry twisted Ginny's hair around her neck in a noose, and pulled lightly. "Watch it, Miss Potter, watch it." Ginny laughed. They would make it through this... together. Like they'd made it through everything else.
Molly Weasley sat at her table in the Burrow, with Charlie Weasley and his girlfriend, Jenni Stromer, who was an American muggle, talking over their plans to be married.
"You don't want to rush into this," Molly was saying. She was quite worried, the two had barely known each other for four months... she couldn't help but think Charlie was making a mistake.
"Mum, why can't you just be happy for us?"
"Oh! I am! Don't get me wrong. Jenni, you're lovely, and I'm sure you think you love each other, but you barely know each other!"
Before Charlie could retort, there was a knock on the door. Who would be using the door? Molly hadn't heard a car...
"I'll be right back," Molly said. She walked to the door, expecting to tell the person that she didn't want anything. The door opened just before they got there, and a pretty red-head girl, and a dark haired boy stepped in looking around cautiously. A flood of recognition passed over Molly as the two looked right at her. She uttered a little squeal and everything went black.
Harry felt a brief panic wash over him. They hadn't killed her had they? He and Ginny both got down beside Mrs Weasley as someone rushed in, wands drawn. Two someones. Harry looked up and locked eyes with Charlie Weasley. He would have been almost forty now... next to him stood a lady with blonde hair and grey eyes...
He had his mouth open staring from Harry, to Ginny, to Mrs Weasley, and back again.
"Charlie, love, who are they?" The lady asked, touching his arm.
"Ennervate," Ginny looked up after saying this and gasped, she apparently hadn't noticed Charlie and the lady. "Oh," she said, surprised.
Well, that's another chapter for you. There's only a few more weeks til I start my exchange… AAAAH! Lol. Please review.