Chapter 4: Eavesdropping

A/N- I would like to thank all my wonderful reviewers. And I'm really going to try to make the chapters longer.

Disclaimer- Don't own, don't sue. See chapter 1 for full disclaimer

At the first crack of dawn, Harry got out of bed. It had been a sleepless night for him and for everybody else. Ron had stayed up until about three in the morning. He quietly slipped out of bed into a cloak and slipped out of the room.

He headed towards the room Ginny and Hermione were sharing and cracked the door open. "Ginny?" he whispered.

He heard a soft rustling from inside and then a reply, "Harry?"

"Yeah, can you come out here?"

Another rustling followed and he heard the sound of Ginny walking towards the door. She emerged from the room in a light pink nightgown that went a little past her knees and fitted her loosely. "What?" she asked, showing no sign that she had just woken up.

"Could you sleep?"

"No," she answered truthfully.

"Me neither," Harry said as he headed towards the stairs.

"Where are we going?" asked Ginny, following him.

Instead of answering, he continued to walk down the stairs as quietly as he could; occasionally looking back to make sure Ginny was following him.

When he reached the bottom, he stopped abrubtly, causing Ginny to bump into him. "Sorry," she began but Harry quickly shushed her. At the kitchen able were Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Dumbledore, Shakebolt, Tonks and Lupin. He could barely make out the words they were saying.

"..reach the house..."

"...danger...Death Eaters..."

"We have to... Hogwarts..."

"Is it wise... thing?"

Harry turned back to face Ginny, who was wringing her hands nervously.

"Let's head back upstairs," he mouthed to her and when she nodded, began to ascend the stairs.

Once upstairs, Harry was faced with a problem. He needed to talk to Ginny but Ron was in his room and Hermione in the other. Sensing his problem, Ginny quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him into Fred and George's room.

Inside, Harry asked, "Is it safe in here? I mean, won't Fred and George have some sort of explosions or prank things up here?"

"No, mum cleaned it up when they moved to Hogsmeade."

"Oh," said Harry, feeling the awkwardness setting in. He sensed Ginny had questions to ask him so he waited in silence for her to begin.

"The adults, downstairs, what do you think they meant?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders and fixed his eyes on the floor. He could tell Ginny was about to say something but a knock at the door interrupted her. It was Ron and Hermione.

"Good morning Ron and Hermione," said Ginny brightly.

"Oh, come on Ginny, don't act so innocent. I know Harry snuck out of the room this morning," began Ron.

"And I heard him calling you out of the room. Don't think you two were the only ones who couldn't get any sleep last night," stated Hermione.

"So what were you doing to my sister, Harry?"

Panicked, Harry looked over at Ginny for help. 'Please, Ginny, please, I'm not ready to tell everyone about this,' he thought, hoping that Ginny would notice his uneasiness.

"We went outside for a walk," said Ginny without a moment's hesitation.

"A walk?" asked Ron, sounding slightly relieved and like he had expected more.

"Yes, Ronald. , a walk. Is it such a crime to go walking with your friend? You sound disappointed brother dear," said Ginny with a mischievous smile.

"Well, I," Ron muttered, looking out the window and his ears turning slightly red.

Hermione, Ginny and Harry began to laugh until the smell of breakfast reached the quartet. Ron sprinted down the stairs as if he hadn't ever encountered Molly's breakfast. Hermione followed but stopped at the door, "Coming?"

'In a minute," said Harry, watching his two best friends go down for breakfast. Once they were gone, Harry turned back to Ginny. "Thank you so much, Gin."

"Yeah, I could tell you didn't want to talk about 'it' to Hermione and Ron but may I ask what 'it' is?"

Harry walked up, closed the door, and headed back to where Ginny was sitting. He looked up into her chocolate brown eyes and again, found himself spilling all the fears that had formed while eavesdropping on the conversation and ended with, "And last night, my scar began to hurt." He waited and examined Ginny's face as she soaked up all she had been told. She moved her right arm to run t through her hair and he heard a soft jingle. He looked at her wrist and saw a small, plain silver chain with a small sapphire chain dangling off it. "What's that?" he asked before Ginny had a chance to truly comprehend Harry's first explosion and was caught off-guard by his sudden question.

"What, this?" she asked, holding up her wrist.

Harry nodded and admired the way the sunlight reflected off the charm, sending light rays of blue in every direction.

"Mum gave it to me for my birthday second year," she said, holding it out so he could see it better.

He reached and carefully fingered its simple beauty.

"But we didn't eavesdrop on the adults so you could ask me about my bracelet," said Ginny pulling back her wrist. "So, how is your scar right now?"

Harry reached up to feel it. "Fine."

"How much did it hurt last night?"

Harry closed his eyes and could still feel the pain that had coursed through him mere hours ago. "More than ever."

"And Ron didn't hear you?"

Harry knew this question was going to come so he confessed to have been outside thinking when his scar started to hurt. He had expected her to chastise him for being outside but instead she nodded, seemingly calculating a plan.

A silence filled the room for a few minutes. "Harry, do you trust me?"

Harry thought for a moment but decided on "Yes." He was mildly surprised he wasn't annoyed at the amount of questions Ginny was asking but it was probably due to the fact he had plenty of questions himself.

He was surprised when Ginny pulled out her wand. One, he hadn't known she was carrying it with her and two, she was about to do magic most likely.

She darkened the room and made sure the door was locked. He watched in suspense as she came over to the bed and signaled for him to sit down next to her. He did as he was told, as if in a trance. She reached out with her wand and carefully outlined his scar. Ginny then pointed the wand to her bracelet and spoke an incantation. "Enlever tonchagri neetav evcel aprendret outme." As the words escaped her lips, a soft blue glow filled the room. Harry felt an unmistakable warmth flow through his body and he didn't want this feeling to end.

Then the room went dark.

Harry opened the window to let light in and collapsed back onto the bed when he saw Ginny. She was on the floor, her red hair sprawled all over the ground.

After regaining motion of his legs, he bent down to hair and fixed her hair. He didn't want her lying on the ground but wasn't sure how she would react if he picked her up.

He then decided Ginny's well-being was more important than her feelings towards him and he picked her up and carried her to the room she was sharing with Hermione. He carefully placed her onto the bed.

Harry then sat at the foot of the bed, waiting for her to awake. It was his turn to ask the questions once she awoke.

"Harry! Ginny!" came the voice of Mrs. Weasley, "It's breakfast time!"

Harry stood up reluctantly. He had wanted to wait until Ginny woke up but didn't want Mrs. Weasley to get suspicious. As he opened the door, he heard Ginny's voice.

"Harry?"

Harry turned around and rushed over towards her. "Ginny, are you okay? What just happened?" he asked all in one breath, reaching out and grasping her hand. 'Maybe if I hold her hand, she won't go away like that again,' Harry thought. He knew it was childish but couldn't help but let that thought dart across his head.

Ginny chuckled. "I'm fine. It's a simple spell. It's just going to ease some of the pain from your scar when it starts to hurt."

"Gin, if it's so simple, why'd it knock you down?"

"Harry, don't worry about. You have enough on your plate as it is."

Harry nodded. However, that nagging feeling that had developed last night wouldn't leave Harry alone. 'I know why Ginny is in Gryffindor, but I don't know if I should be.'

He knew it was ridiculous questioning his Gryffindor status but everything seemed ridiculous to him right now, it seemed.

Ginny began to get up and in doing so quit holding Harry's hand. As Harry and Ginny went to leave the room, he thought up another question. "Where does the pain go?"

Ginny simply laughed and it filled Harry's stomach with butterflies.

For now, he would have to deal with the answers he had.

Yes, I know, plenty of rash decisions. In English, we're learning about how youth can make rash decisions and all (we're reading Romeo and Juliet, what do you excpect?) But don't panic. They won't die. As for the spell, it does mean something but I'll explain that later. Please click the review button and type. Please.

AlLiSon