Author's Disclaimer : This story is a work of fiction based on the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling. No infringement of any copyright is intended and no profit is being made.

Chapter 3

Friends and Family

Harry woke up at noon and spent the rest of the day in his room reading 101 ways to protect yourself from the Dark Lord. It was a Ministry of Magic publication and was practically useless but he found some parts to be very funny. There was a complete chapter on not using magic when confronted with the Dark Lord. The book suggested contacting the ministry in case that such a situation ever arose.

Hedwig returned with a letter from Prof. Lupin. The Order was sending someone to pick Harry up at six in the evening.

At five minutes to six Harry dragged his trunk downstairs as quietly as possible and waited for his entourage at the entrance.

At exactly six there was a knock on the door and he hurried to open it before the Dursley's made an appearance.

"Wotcher Harry." said Tonks. Her hair was orange this time and she was wearing a purple jacket. She reminded him of a popsicle. Prof. Lupin was standing behind her with a smile on his face.

Harry grabbed his trunk while Prof. Lupin took Hedwig's cage and they both stepped out. There was a large black ministry car waiting outside.

"Guess I'm in the good books of the Ministry this year." smirked Harry to no one in particular.

Both Tonks and Prof.Lupin ignored his comment and hurried him towards the car. Harry got in and looked back at the house. He saw his aunt in the upstairs window and gave her a small wave goodbye as the car finally left Privet Drive.

The drive to Ron's house in Ottery St. Catchpole took about three hours. The driver of the car did not appear to be a member of the Order and Tonks and Prof.Lupin were very quiet so Harry decided to wait until they got to the Burrow before asking any questions.

It was dark when they finally got to the home of the Weasley's. Harry had always had fond memories of the burrow and he felt surprisingly upbeat. Ron and Ginny were waiting at the door and Mrs.Weasley raced out of the house to hug him as soon as he got out of the car.

"Harry. We're so happy to have you here. Ron..stop grinning and take Harry's trunk upstairs!"

"Err...Mrs.Weasley. I just wanted to say thank you for putting me up." muttered Harry.

"Oh. It was our pleasure. Besides if you moved to France, Ron would most probably want to move there too."

After saying goodbye to Prof.Lupin and Tonks and eliciting a promise from them to visit the next day, Harry followed Ron upstairs.

"You'll be staying in Fred and George's old room. They spend all their time in their Diagon Alley shop and decided it would be more convenient for them to rent a room there. Mom wasn't pleased but they have their meals here to keep her happy." said Ron.

Harry cast a wary eye around the twins room wondering what surprises were hidden in it.

Ron seemed to understand his apprehension and said "I spent the morning going through the room. Got bitten by the carpet and stung by the lamp but everything else seems normal. We were waiting for you before starting dinner. So hurry up. I'm hungry"

After a wonderful meal and two games of Wizard's chess with Ron, Harry went to bed.

His last cohesive thought was that the pillows seemed to be extremely soft.

He woke up suddenly to find Ron poking him with his wand. He had a very big smile on his face.

"Oi. Mate. You're late for breakfast. It's ten in the morning and I'm starving."

"Give me five minutes to tidy up"

"No way mate. Come right now. Beside no one cares how you look."

Harry grumpily put on his glasses still wondering what Ron was so happy about. He made his way downstairs and was greeted with a huge roar as he entered the kitchen. Fred, George, Ginny and Mrs.Weasley were all laughing at at him.

"What's so funny?" asked Harry.

"Harry. You only had to dye your hair if you wanted to become an official Weasley." guffawed Ron.

Harry knew that something was wrong and ran to the bathroom. His face was bright red. He grimaced and tried washing it and scrubbed his face but nothing happened and he reluctantly returned to the kitchen.

"Well Harry. I guess you officially tested our latest product. Weasley's wonderful pillows. Only two galleons each. Guaranteed to bring color to your face. It will stay that way for a whole day." laughed Fred.

"Hey Harry. This is the first time you had a red face at breakfast instead of Ginny." said George.

Harry blushed a deeper shade of crimson.

Ginny was mumbling something that sounded like "make you pay...gits.....". Harry took a better look at her. She looked different somehow. Pretty. Beautiful almost. He couldn't help thinking that Dean was a very lucky guy to be dating her.

"Harry. Harry. Earth to Harry."

Harry turned away to see Ron waving his spoon at him.

"Why were you staring at Ginny?"

"Err..I wasn't staring. I just thought she said something to me." mumbled Harry.

"Well okay then. Just wanted to let you know that Hermione sent me a letter. She said that she was coming here tonight and would be staying at the Burrow for a couple of weeks."

"That's fantastic. I wonder what made her change her mind."

"Me too mate. Me too." said Ron with a thoughtful grin on his face.

"How about a quick game of Quidditch while Fred and George are here. Me and you against Fred and George."

"Hem..Hem...What about me?" screamed Ginny.

"Umm..okay. You can play too." said Ron.

As Ginny went upstairs Ron turned to Harry and said "She never wanted to play with me before you got here."

Harry shrugged and said "See you outside in ten minutes. I can't play in my pajamas."

As he was about to leave Molly Weasley grabbed his hand and pulled him into the kitchen.

"Harry. How are you? Really."

"I'm fine, Mrs Weasley. Really. I'm happy to be here."

"That's very good Harry. Arthur and I spoke to Prof.Dumbledore and wanted to talk to you about something. We wanted to officially adopt you so that we could be your guardians. You can have your own room at the Burrow. We're not very rich but everything we have is yours. And..."

Mrs.Weasley could not complete her sentence as Harry had just hugged her very tightly and was crying on her shoulder.

"Mrs.Weasley. It would be my honor to be a member of your family. Thank you very much." said Harry in between sobs.

They stood there for a while in complete silence. Harry felt an unspoken bond holding them together. He had always respected Molly and Arthur Weasley and would finally have a family of his own. Mrs. Weasley eased herself out of the hug, kissed him on his forehead and sent him on his way. She watched him climb the stairs and glanced at the family clock. A new arm had just appeared on it labeled Harry and was pointing towards Home.

The twins and Ron were flying around playing catch when Harry made his appearance in the garden. They had managed to charm a quaffle. They split into two teams with Harry and Ginny in one team and Fred and George in the other. Ron was to play goalie against both teams.

The game was loud and fast and both teams had problems scoring. Harry was really impressed with the improvement in Ron's game. He played with a self confidence that had been missing the previous year. Ginny was also very good as a chaser. Harry found it a little awkward to fly his broom while carrying the quaffle. Fred and George were decent individual players but played seamlessly as a team and were narrowly leading the game when disaster nearly struck.

Fred had fooled Ron with a neat maneuver and scored a goal. Ron was annoyed at himself for letting him score and threw the quaffle back to Ginny without looking at her. The quaffle struck Ginny on the side of the head and she tumbled from her broom. Harry gasped and immediately flew down as quickly as he could. He wished he had his Firebolt as he watched Ginny fall towards the ground. With supreme control and a desperate move he managed to get under Ginny and protected her with his body to cushion her fall. As they both hit the ground he felt the wind being knocked out of him.

Ginny quickly got up and helped him up. She hugged him and said "My hero!" and proceeded to firmly kiss him on the lips. She blushed and quickly ran home before anybody could say anything.

Harry shook his head and brushed the grass off his clothes. He refused to make eye contact with the twins or Ron as they headed home. He could hear them laughing as they put away the quidditch gear.

He went up to his room and had a cold shower. His back was throbbing but all he could think about was the kiss. He had really enjoyed his second kiss. But it was Ginny, Ron's little sister. He didn't see her 'that' way. He hoped it had been a one-time thing. She had just been grateful that he had saved her. That's all. Nothing more. He got dressed and decided that the best thing to do would be to act like nothing had happened and went back downstairs.

He saw Ginny in the kitchen. She smiled at him shyly and he smiled back. He wanted to say something....anything when they they heard a car pull up outside.

Ron rushed down and streaked towards the door.

Ginny looked at him and softly said "It's Hermione."

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Thanks again to all those who reviewed.

Bossygurl4ever – I understand exactly what you mean. This is my first fic and I am still learning how to expand my story. Hopefully you'll stay with me as I improve.

Lsnobita – Thanks for the review. I think the plot should pick up around chapter five. I appreciate all comments and criticisms.