Never look back

i A/N: Hiya this is my first shot at a fanfic. Thanks to Alice.and thanks to amber my wonderfull btea (ok there might be a slight note of sarcasm in the wonder full but she's helpful funny nice and a great pleasure to work with and that's the truth)

Disclamer: These are NOT my characters, but I thought of the plot line. It may take me a while and be ever so slightly confusing, but please bear with me and forgive my appalling spelling (I do try, honest Enjoy!) i

"FOR THE LAST TIME, BOY-GET THE DOOR!"

'Does he always have to shout?' thought Harry as he walked into the hallway towards the front door of Number Four, Privet Drive. His uncle was definitely in one of those moods.

The knocking grew more impatient.

"I'm coming, I'm coming! Jeez...," Harry sighed exasperatedly. It was probably just one of his cousin Dudley's cronies come to call.

But, as he opened the door, he was almost toppled over by a flash of fiery red hair and felt a pair of thin arms circle his neck, pulling him into tight hug.

"Harry! I missed you!" the female voiced squeaked into his neck. Ginny Weasley, the youngest and only daughter of the Weasley clan, loosened her hold on him, and gave him a chaste kiss.

"Hey, Harry, I'm here too, you know!"

Harry turned to see his best friend-and Ginny's older brother-Ron Weasley, standing on the front step with slight look of indignation on his face, and couldn't help but laugh. Hermione Granger, his other best friend, was also there, beaming at him from the newly manicured lawn. Harry went over and hugged his best friends, then turned back to Ginny and, wrapping his arms around again, kissed her as if it was as necessary as breathing.

As Hermione took Ron's hand and lead them all into the hallway, Harry saw platinum blond gleam in of the corner of his eye and sighed.

"You can come, too," said Harry. He didn't have to like it, but Malfoy had proven his loyalty to Dumbledore and the Order in their 6th year, and, despite the palpable animosity between them, Harry and Ron had finally accepted him.

'No, not Malfoy, it's Draco now,' Harry chided himself, feeling a bit guilty. Draco was now his trusted, if somewhat reluctant, friend.

"Hello Harry, how are you?" Draco said, as if trying not to aggravate anyone by being too friendly.

Fighting the urge to roll his eyes at Draco's formality, Harry forced a smile. "Fine mate, and you?" He glanced back at the group. "Actually, have you all been having a good summer?"

"All the better now that we're seeing you, Harry," Ginny said, snuggling into his chest. Ron gagged.

Hearing the commotion, Dudley, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon all filed nervously into the hall. Dudley, looking looked positively ill from his lingering fear of all things magical and from the sight of his cousin kissing a girl, summoned as much wit as he could and he murmured sarcastically, "When's the wedding?"

Oblivious to the rhetorical Muggle saying, Ginny and Ron answered literally, "Six weeks."

Harry smiled at the thought, remembering back to the previous year…

i Knowing in his heart that she was his soul mate, he had thrown all pretenses to the wind and decided to ask Ginny to marry him. To hell with the people who thought it was too soon, that they were too young, that they should finish school lfirst-he knew he only had one chance to be happy in his life, short as it may still be due to Voldemort and the prophesy, and he was damned if he was going to let her get away.

A trip to Madame Jules' Baubles and Bangles in Hogsmeade and a hefty sum of galleons later, he had a half-carat solitaire Star Diamond (a rare magical stone that glowed with a white sparkly shimmer, even in the dark) and he was ready.

Christmas Eve at the Burrow, Harry had knelt down in front of the whole Weasley family and, glancing at Mr. Weasley (who had already given his approval) and Ron (who had already proposed to Hermione on her birthday a few months earlier and had, too, given his blessing), asked his love to marry him. She agreed and, after cries of joy and hugs all around (not to mention a reprimand from the frantically happy Mrs. Weasley for not telling her early, too), the girls almost immediately descended into talks of the wedding, deciding quickly to hold a joint wedding celebration for both couples at the Burrow the following summer after graduation. Harry sighed and turned toward Ron, who embraced him and, trying to hide the quaver in his voice, welcomed Harry to the family he always knew he belonged to… i

Snapping back to the present, Harry noticed this otherwise joyous news had turned Uncle Vernon's face a horrible shade of puce, and it took a great deal of will for Harry not to duck and cover—he knew what was coming.

"WHAT ARE THESE FREAKS DOING IN MY HOUSE!" The walls of Number Four vibrated from the sheer volume of his bellow. Not wanting the house to crumble while he was still inside (after he left was fine), Harry moved quickly to diffuse the situation.

"Actually, why are you here, you lot" Harry asked, looking from his fiancée, whom he was holding protectively in his arms, to his soon-to-be-wed friends and then back again. "Not that I mind," he added, sheepishly.

"Well," Ginny explained, "Since the danger has died down a bit, we thought we'd steal you back to the Burrow for the rest of the summer. Everyone has really missed you. Fred and George have even been holding back some of their newest products so 'their benefactor' can have a first peek."

Dudley, recalling the feeling of being suffocated by his own tongue courtesy of Fred and George's Ton-Tongue Toffee, whimpered in the background. His parents, also remembering, then grabbed him and hurriedly rushed back into the kitchen, shutting the door with an angry slam. Laughing quietly, Harry turned back to his friends.

"I'm staying at the Burrow, too," Hermione chimed. "There is so much still to do—with all flowers and the food and the attire and the cakes—if I left it all up to Ron, it would get done just about as quickly as his History of Magic essays." She glared at her fiancé, who shot her an irritated look. Aware of the imminent argument, Harry changed the subject.

"And how do you figure in, Draco? Hermione and Ginny haven't hooked you into the wedding planning, too, have they?" he said genially.

But, his smile quickly faded as he saw sad, pitying looks cross each of his friends' faces.

Ginny broke the disturbing silence. "Well, after what happened last year, Lucius…," she turned to Draco, silently asking if she should continue. He nodded, looking a bit happier than before, and she continued, with a bit more determination in her voice. "Well, he disowned him. All of his old friends abandoned him, and, with nowhere to live and no friends, we insisted he come stay with us at the Burrow until he can find his own place."

Even though Draco did look better and had a bit more color in his face (due, no doubt, to Mrs. Weasley's molly-coddling) Harry knew better than to press the matter. He knew what it felt like to be rejected, and this was neither the time nor place to talk about such things.

Number Four Privet Drive was very quiet at night, and that's how Harry liked it best. After several minutes of pleading—and, finally, Ron's threat to turn the house into a giant pumpkin-Uncle Vernon had conceded to allow Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Draco to stay the night.

But even with his friends safe and asleep a few feet away, and Ginny snuggled warmly at his side, her arm draped over him and her Star Diamond ring making her face glow angelically, something was nagging at the back of Harry's mind.

Not that this was unusual for him. Last year, it was Voldemort giving him sleepless nights, causing his scar to burn and feeding him horrible nightmares. Tonight, he lay awake for another reason-one he couldn't quite put his finger on.

'Is it Draco?' he thought. It was because of him and his discoveries that Harry was able to weaken Voldemort last term. Harry had been initially suspicious of the Slytherin's sudden desire to help the Order, but, while under the influence of the strongest Veritasyrum Snape could brew, Draco had proven that his intentions were pure. The potion had also let slip that Draco had more feelings for Ginny than Harry was comfortable with, but Harry couldn't change that.

'No, that's not it… Without him, we would all be in danger still… Is it cold feet about the wedding?' he pondered. No, marrying Ginny was one of the only things he was sure about anymore.

Finally dismissing the feeling to restless overexcitement at getting to leave Privet Drive, Harry wrapped his arms around his sleeping bride and let a restful sleep to wash over him.

Somewhere far way, a high-pitched laugh pierced the night like a sword.

i Reviews please i