Disclaimer is on first chapter!

Ginny Weasley slowly stood by her family on Platform 9 3/4. Hermione, Ron's girlfriend, and one of her confidants, was there waiting with them. Waiting for what you ask? They were waiting for Harry Potter, the family friend and the Boy-Who-Lived. 'And the boy I just can't seem to stop crushing on…' thought Ginny, but if she was honest with herself, she would know that it was more then a crush now. Harry had wedged himself firmly into her heart, and no matter how she tried to forget him in that way, those feelings wouldn't disappear, they only seem to get better every time she saw his eyes. Those eyes that carried so much pain yet could hold the brilliance of a thousand suns when he was happy.

Her musings were cut short however, when a tall man walked towards her family. She turned to get a better a look at him and noticed that he was at least 6'3'' and broad shouldered. He had a black leather trench coat that went all the way to his ankles and a pair of black leather pants, and both seem to have a large number of runes running along the entire cloth, giving him a powerful look The feet of this strange man were covered by black boots that had a plate of stainless steel covering the toe of each boot. His shirt was a black muscle shirt that was tight against his chest, showing off his well-muscled chest. The long black hair was set into a warrior braid and went down to a little past his shoulders. His eyes were covered by a set of shades and his face had a strong look that seemed to demand respect. His most distinguishing feature on his face however, was the tattoo that ran from his left upper-cheek to the middle of his forehead. Its thick black waving lines formed a number of runes set within a border of ancient Celtic lines.

He continued to walk straight at them, and his face had a smile on it that relaxed Ginny's troubled mind. It was a smile that she remembered, but there was no way that this man could be Harry…couldn't he? He reached them in short order and cleared his throat, catching the entire group's attention. They turned as he removed his sunglass and looked down into his coat to put them away. When he looked back up, brilliant green eyes looked over the group, and his smile grew to unimaginable power as his eyes passed over all of them.

"Hey! How you guys been doing?" the man asked cheerfully, his smile never leaving his strong face.

"H-Harry!?" stuttered Ginny. She couldn't get over the new look, but then she realized that this could only be Harry. His eyes gave him away; they had the same brilliance she had earlier been thinking about.

Harry's eyes started to twinkle, shocking her even more, the only person she had seen with eyes that twinkled like that were the Headmaster's. "Yep! Like the new look?" he asked jovially.

"Where have you been?!" asked Hermione, throwing herself on the boy she considered a brother.

Said boy looked down at her as she attempted to crush his rib cage, still smiling, he said, "Just doing a little on the side training little sis."

Hermione beamed up at him and moved to the side so that Molly Weasley could get her chance to finish to crushing of his body. Now, Hermione didn't have the strength to deliver a super-strong bear hug…yet…but Molly, now Molly had the power and the urge to deliver them and Harry felt (and heard) his back give a mighty crack. When Molly finally let go, Harry moved his torso a little to stretch his back and reposition it. His smile had still not left his face as he greeted the older woman, "Is it just me or are you getting stronger?"

Molly blushed and smiled an embarrassed smile. Arthur and Ron each gave Harry a good hand-shake, both chuckling. "Now Harry, where have you been?" asked Molly.

"I went over to an old friend's house after I asked him to train me, Dumbledore approved of my plans and I have kept in constant contact with him, though I have kept a few secrets due to the security of owl travel," they heard a disgruntle hoot as Hedwig flew to his shoulder, "I'm not saying that you would let anyone take my letters girl, its just that people could get a hold of them more easily then I would like."

Hedwig gave another hoot, and Harry responded, soon this dragged out into a playful argument between the master and his familiar. Ginny smiled as she saw Hedwig nip Harry's ear non-to-gently for yet again disagreeing with her, caused him to give a laughing 'ow!' and start another argument. "Um…Harry?" Ginny asked giggling as Hedwig gave another, stronger nip.

"Fine, Hedwig! You're the best owl in the whole-wide world and I should trust you more!" conceded Harry, smiling as Hedwig hooted and puffed out her chest-feathers, and then he turned to the person who tried to get his attention, "Ginny! I forgot to give you a hug! AHA!!!"

With that he grabbed her up and gave her a mighty hug, causing her to squeak before finally returning the hug. He set her down after a little while, though Ginny felt his reluctance to let her go, which sent a happy shiver up her spine. "There, now I've greeted everyone properly…what?" he asked as he noticed that the teenagers had smirks on their faces while the adults shared wide smiles.

Harry cocked his head to the side in a questioning manner, before shrugging his shoulders, "Ok, I guess we should get going, it's almost time for the train to leave.

The other shook themselves and nodded, and everyone said their goodbyes, before the teens headed for a compartment on the train. They all sat down as the train started up, with Harry giving his congratulations to Hermione and Ron, all the while saying that it was about bloody time. Soon the couple had to leave for the prefects compartment, leaving Harry and Ginny alone.

"So, how was your summer, Ginny?" Harry asked, turning his twinkling eyes and dazzling smile to her, causing her to blush a little, which in turn caused Harry's smile to widen and his eyes to go into overdrive.

"It wasn't too bad, though I worried a lot about you, plus Dean broke up with me half-way through, which in truth doesn't really bother me," she said, looked over to see his smile widen even more.

"Sooo…your without a boyfriend at this moment…," he said adopting the thinker pose, causing Ginny's eyebrow to arch up. He turned to her and his face got a serious look, "Ginny, you're a great person, and I would like to know you more and even though your over your crush on me, I would like to give us a try, that is if you agree." His eyes held a mixture of pleading, hope, and fear of rejection.

Ginny's mouth fell open, and for a few seconds all she could do was stare at him, until a smile that could power the sun appeared on her face, "Of course, Harry! I would love to get to know you more and give us a try!"

Harry smiled matched hers in intensity before he grabbed her up in a hug. "Great! You won't regret it!"

Ginny settled into his embrace, giving a contented sigh. She could feel his happiness at her acceptance and she could feel his deep caring for her, and she knew, with the right cultivation, that deep caring could turn into an unbreakable love for her, and she shuddered happily at the thought of cultivating that feeling. They sat back, with Ginny resting against his shoulder and talked about everything and nothing, getting to know each other. Ginny loved the feeling of his muscled arm and chest, for he had taken off his coat when they had entered.

'Perfect muscles for a seeker,' she thought lazily, loving the ripple of them when she traced her finger of them. She ran her finger down his arm, until she got to his wrist, where she felt something weird. Looking down, she noticed nothing, but she felt a bump that shouldn't be there. She leaned down to get a better look, looking back up to see Harry sleeping. She picked a little at the bump and felt it move a little, like a very tight…shirt! She realized what it was then, 'What's he doing with one of these? What has he to hide from everyone?' she thought.

It was a special magical material that acted like an invisibility cloak, only it covered the skin that wanted to hide scars or things of that nature and only showed unblemished skin, thus perfectly hiding the scarred tissue. Ginny rolled the material up a little and saw nothing till she got around the elbow. Scars began to appear as she got higher and higher, making her eyes go wide.

"Before I went to Hogwarts, I was beaten continuously, sometimes even after I got back from Hogwarts, for even the smallest infraction. The Dursleys hated me, and whenever I did something wrong, they would beat me, even if it wasn't my fault," Harry said quietly, looking down into her eyes, letting her see the years of torment that he had endured, finally able to talk about it, "I haven't told anyone except Madame Pomphry, and even she only got half-truths. I had her take a witches oath never to tell a soul about them, even Dumbledore doesn't know. She was the one who got the shirt for me, though she said that I should tell someone about what they did to me, but this is the first time I have let anyone else see them."

"W-Why…would they do something to someone like you?" Ginny asked with tears in her eyes as Harry stood, removing both his visible shirt and the special shirt that hid his scars. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw the scars of his youth, covering his chest arms, and she saw quite a few leading down to his legs.

"I think they wanted me to die on them, though they only hit me in areas that could be hidden easily, that's why I have only the scar on my face," he said as he traced a few scars, no doubt remembering the situations behind them.

"Why don't you tell anyone about them?" Ginny asked, tears in her eyes. Here was the boy she was certain that she was beginning to love, tracing scars that must have been hell to receive.

"I…I am ashamed of them," He said, turning his head to hide his tears from his girlfriend, not wanted her to see him weak. His eyes closed as he remembered how he got a few of them, only to open again when her fingers firmly gripped his chin, turning his face so that she could look into his eyes. He looked deeply into the eyes that had haunted his dreams for the past few weeks, and shivered when he saw the barely contained rage in them.

"You have NOTHING to be ashamed of, you hear me?" Ginny said, in a voice that dared him to disagree with her, "You're one of the most caring and loving individuals that I have ever met! Your heart makes you powerful, Harry. Its capacity to love is what sets you apart from every one else! Just because they never saw that doesn't mean that you should be ashamed of something you had no control over."

Harry sniffled a little, then his arms shot forward and pulled her to him, crushing her to his chest, "Thanks Ginny, you have no idea how much that means to me." Ginny smiled into his chest as she snuggled closer to him, before pulling away and smiling up at him.

"Never forget what I said Harry, now, you might want to get your shirt back on before Ron and Hermione come back in to see me snogging you senseless while your half-naked," she stated giggling. Harry chuckled and pulled both shirts on, before leaning back into the seat with Ginny sitting in his lap, her head lying on his shoulder.

This was how Ron and Hermione found them later, causing their eyes to widen. "Now what's this then?" asked Ron, a smirk playing at his lips.

"What's look like Ron, I do believe I am now officially dating your younger sister, who I might add, is a very wise woman and I plan on keeping her for a VERY long time," replied Harry, smiling up at his two friends.

Hermione smiled, "Ha! You owe me money Ron! I told you it would happen this way!"

Harry's right eyebrow arched up in question, "Hermione gambling? What's the world coming too?"

Hermione blushed, looking down, "I'm not a total rule-follower, Harry! I still like to cut loose every ONCE in awhile."

Harry laughed, "Oh, I know that, but I have a feeling you're going to…cut loose…a lot more then usual now." He said this with a glance towards Ron, who blushed as well.

"What about you, mate?" Ron asked after a second to recover, thinking he had him.

Harry smirked, "Have I ever once paid attention to the rules? Now that I have an extra incentive to break them, I think I'll be serving quite a few detentions this year, not that I think it won't be worth it." Ginny giggled, and then realized that she had yet to kiss him.

"I just realized we haven't actually kissed yet…" she started to say before her lips were caught by Harry's as he proceeded to shut down her entire thinking process with a kiss that left Ginny shaking from the emotion behind it.

"Get a room!" yelled Ron, turning around, and sitting down while Hermione plopped down beside him.

A few minutes later, the Harry and Ginny broke apart for much needed air. "You were saying?" Harry asked after recovering. Ginny opened her eyes and gave him a dreamy look before leaning back against him. After awhile, Harry gently picked her up and set her aside so he could stand and stretch, chuckling at her grumbling about upsetting her comfort.

As he was stretching, the door to their compartment opened to reveal Draco Malfoy, "Well, well, well, if it isn…"

He never got the chance to finish his tirade as Harry's hand wrapped around his face and slammed him hard against the compartment door opposite them, no doubt scaring the students within. Harry lifted him a till he was a few inches off the ground and then turned his head so he could look at the two flunkies who always followed him around, "Leave, NOW."

His tone scared them enough that they turned and ran away to their own compartment. As he watched them leave, he slowly turned his head to look into the fear filled eyes of Draco. He stared into them a little while causing Draco to shake at the penetrating gaze.

After a few seconds of scaring the Slytherin, Harry began his talk, "I'm warning you Draco, if you so much as look at me, or any of my friends in the wrong way, I'll shatter your skull with my own hands." To give his threat merit, he started to squeeze the other boy's head slightly, earning a whimper from the usually arrogant fool. "I will no longer tolerate neither you, your house, nor Snape," Harry stated, "This is your only warning, obey it, or face the consequences, your choice."

He held Draco there a few more seconds before letting him go and stepping back as the other teen ran like the devil was at his heels. Only then did Harry notice that he had an audience, who looked at him with shock, before someone started to clap, followed by the others. Harry smirked and gave a bow, before stepping back into his compartment.

His three companions looked at him with shock, although it quickly changed to smirks and laughing. Harry smiled and sat back down in his seat, pulling Ginny back into his lap and giving her a light kiss, before settling back to enjoy the rest of the ride back to his true home.

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the long wait. I promise to right more chapters faster. Now, I would like to dedicate this ch. to the two reviewers who reviewed my first chapter, and thank Ami Rose for her concern about the earthquakes. Now, I'm off to take more mortrin and read some while my body recovers from having my wisdom teeth taken out…ouchy…