Author's Note: Let me start by saying if you read the first chapter and didn't like it please do not go any farther than this sentence. I will give you no reason to flame me now, because I have already warned you. I do not own Harry Potter! (July 16th seems so far away, no?)
At nine o'clock that night Harry could be found staring into space in front of the Weasley's fireplace. Nobody was up, or so it seemed. But a young red head girl was quietly making her way down the stairs.
"Goodness!" Ginny gasped, for she had not expected anyone to be up and was startled by Harry's presence.
"Sorry," Harry apologized, "I can't sleep."
"Well, Ginny said taking her wand out from the back of her pajama pants, giving it a swift wave, "grab a mug of cocoa," she began as a tray with two fresh cups of the substance floated into the room, "and I'll tell you what I know."
Ginny softly dropped down on the cushiony chair that was opposite of Harry's, her face glowing due to the fireplace light. Harry suddenly thought of his mother, and how much Ginny looked like her, but the thought flew from his mind the instant she began talking.
"I suppose I should tell you everything?" she asked, pulling her feet under her so that she was sitting up straight.
"Yeah," he said softly, unsure of his own tone.
" Tonks is going to be over at Hogwarts, training for-get this- Defense Against the Dark Arts," she said with a girlish giggle, " Dumbledore is reinstating the D.A., so Tonks will be over that. Fudge is deadly upset because he can't keep Sir-…" Ginny froze, looking away from Harry, her hair covering her face.
"I'm sorry Harry," she whispered.
The mere mention of Sirius' name had caused Harry to give a small gasp, which had cut Ginny off.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered, "I really shouldn't be up this late. Oh, goodness, I-I think I'll go back up before Hermione comes looking for me, I don't want to worry her, I mean-,"
"Ginny, you don't have to leave," Harry said, his throat tightening.
Ginny's eyes glistened with tears.
"I never meant to bring him up. It was a simple mistake…"
Harry stood up from his chair and walked over to Ginny, who hurriedly wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest as she wept. Harry buried his own face in her ginger hair, silent tears falling from his eyes…
He woke up the next morning on the oversized couch with his arms wrapped around Ginny's small form. Right in his face were Fred and George, huge grins on their face.
"No," Harry said groggily, "you're wrong…whatever you're thinking…you're wrong…"
"So if we thought nothing happened we would be wrong?" Fred asked, his smile growing bigger.
"Even though we assume that in the moment right now it sure looks like something happened…" George commented.
Ron had just walked down the stairs with Hermione following him. At first sight of Harry and Ginny he immediately turned back around and began walking back up the stairs mumbling, "I don't even want to know…"
Ginny's eyes fluttered open, and in seeing her brother and the feeling of Harry right beside her she jumped up, her face turning as dark a shade of red as her face.
"She's only a fifth year!" Fred whispered as Ginny ran up the stairs in total embarrassment.
"Do you really think that…that…that happened?" Harry asked, taking in a huge breath of air.
"No, of course not," George said smiling, "we just had to make sure you were being honest. I mean, Ginny…she's our sister."
"Yeah, we won't take any chances," Fred agreed.
"She was really upset last night," Harry said sitting up and noticing the two full mugs of cold cocoa, "I don't know what got into her."
"She's been upset about Sir-…"
"I know…she mentioned Sirius last night and she got frantic to leave…"
"Mum has made us swear not to bring him up," Fred whispered. Harry became outraged.
"What am I? Caution when handled or something? Why can't you talk about Sirius? Do you think it's better for me to hold this all inside and not tell a soul about what's going on in my head? I'll tell you what's going on in my head! I WANT TO BE DEAD! THE ONLY THING WORTH LIVING FOR WAS TAKEN AWAY FROM ME AND I CAN'T EVEN TALK ABOUT IT WITHOUT SOMEONE BACKING AWAY FROM ME! I WISH THAT SOMEONE WOULD JUST SIT UP AND TAKE MY PAIN ON FULL FORCE, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT I'M HAVING TO DO! AND IF NOBODY HERE IS WILLING TO ENDURE MY EMOTIONS RIGHT NOW, I CAN LEAVE…I-I…" tears had come to Harry eyes, and he could say nothing more to Fred and George Weasley's dumbstruck faces. He turned and fled to his room, his only security was the lock on his door.
Harry heard a quiet, "alohamora," whispered and his door slowly opened. Ron stepped inside and shut the door behind him. He sat on the bed opposite of Harry and stared at him for a long while. Then he lowered his own head and let his tears fall onto his dirty jeans.
Then Hermione entered the room, sitting by Ron. She stared at her hands, then at Ron, and then at Harry.
"This hurts," she whispered. Ron looked up and wrapped one arm around her shoulder, gave her a sad smile, and let go of her.
Harry looked out the window as the three of them continued to sit in silence. And for a second he could hear Luna's voice in the wind whispering, "They're just behind the veil…"
(Okay, kinda dramatic but I just wanted to show you in this chapter how much those three depend on each other in this story, and how close I'm trying to show they are…you'll understand it later in the chapter…)