A/N: Hey! Just a quick note, coz my computer is a mess at the moment and could cut out at any point! Thanks 4 the reviews, ill get back to people next chapter. This chapter Harry is with his family! Yay! Happy Harry, kind of... Ginny's got the ache. The fluff comes next chapter, so you'll have to wait for it, im afraid. Only minimal fluff this chapter. But it's cute, so read! Hugs and smiles, Angel.

Btw... we're nearing the big 1000 reviews! Woohoo! This means surprize time! The 1000 reviewer gets the biggest surprise, even better than the last one at 500 reviews. Brooke got her own oc last time (Brooke, Draco's date!) and3 chapters b4 anyone else,and you could get an even bigger prize! Woohoo! jumps up and down This is fun! Does cartwheel and hits head I think i need to lie down...

Chapter 37- A slap in the face

It was almost too surreal for Harry. Everything began to move in slow motion: his mother embracing him tightly and giving him a kiss on the head; his father holding him in a fatherly hug. Harry simply stood immobiley, his mouth wide open in disbelief and an invisible force playing on his heart strings. It took a moment for his senses to keep up, and all he managed to say feebly was:

'I missed you.'

Lily looked sadly at Harry with his eyes, and tipped her head adoringly to one side.

'Come here.' She said angelically, and pulled her only son into a hug once more.

Harry clung onto his mother like a child, aching for reassurance and love. He snuggled up to her small frame, and allowed her to stroke the back of his head comfortingly. He clasped his eyes tightly down, not allowing a single tear to escape, before he pulled away unwillingly.

'Are you alright?' Lily asked, and Harry broke.

'I'm fine.' He croaked, his eyes wet and alert. 'Just glad I'm going home.'

'Well we're glad to have you home.' James said grandly, a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. 'It makes a nice change.'

Harry faced the man he'd been told of so often, and it was like looking in a mirror. His father was boyish, and impish. His mop of raven hair was identical to Harry's, and he had a definite playful streak. Harry could tell this just by looking at the expression on his face; It was the one Erin wore constantly.

'Mum!' A bright red head cheered, and Harry smiled at her timing. 'Dad!'

Erin flung her trunk into the floor and hugged each parent in turn.

'Have a good journey?' Lily asked Erin. 'I hope there were no problems with the snow.'

Snow. Harry took a wide look around at the station, which was covered with winter flakes. It really was perfect.

'No, everything was fine.' Erin chimed, glee etching into her features.

James cupped Erin's rosy face into his weathered hands, and smiled.

'I'm glad you're in a good mood, Princess.' He cooed, then turned to Harry. 'Maybe in too much of a good mood...'

'What are you implying?' Erin teased her father.

'Your brother told me all about your little boyfriend, Dean.' James toyed, and his wife rolled her eyes. 'And I've also heard about yourself and Miss Weasley at the ball, Son. Has she finally given in?'

'Don't tease the kids.' Lily said, playfully slapping James on the shoulder.

'I'll tell you all about it later…Dad.' Harry grinned.

The next few hours were quite a blur to Harry. The family flued home to the 'Potter mansion,' Lily and James went to check on dinner, and Erin tugged Harry up to his bedroom where he exhaustedly fell asleep.

It was morning when Harry awoke, and the sun was smiling through a large shiny window dressed with rich red curtains.

He rolled slumberly out of bed with a smile on his face, and slipped on what he assumed to be his silk dressing gown and slippers, before admiring his bedroom properly.

The walls were predictably red, and the decorations gold. Posters and pictures were everywhere: The marauders first year to the current day, him and Erin through the ages. A large family portrait also took up a large amount of space, Harry was glad to see, yet not as much as Ginny. Pictures of Ginny were left, right and center, some from before Ginny could have even been at Hogwarts. Had he loved her for that long?

Harry took a steady step towards his collection and peeled a muggle Polaroid photo off the wall. Ginny was sitting angelically on a swing which had been cleverly fixed to a tree. Vines holding beautiful flowers grew down the ropes, and Ginny smiled in her innocent white dungarees and shiny golden hair which barley reached her shoulders.

Harry turned the picture over to read the caption: 'Ginevra looking like an angel, summer before the year I make her mine.' Harry chuckled. This was the little girl he'd fallen in love with: Ginny, barely 11 years old. Now she was a lot different, yet in some ways just the same.

Harry put the photo in his pocket, and surveyed the trinkets and compilations that he kept: A shelf of books and Quidditch magazines, a box of chocolate frogs, and a couple of magical gadgets on his bedside cabinet, beside a plate of what looked like last nights dinner. Everything else was packed away…Well, he had always liked to keep things simple.

Harry skipped merrily out of his bedroom, worrying for a moment that he wouldn't be able to find his way down, before a large set of stairs unfolded themselves before him. He pranced down them daintily, like he had the time of day, then followed the noise of the morning until he found his family.

Lily and Erin were giggling around the worktop in their bright and sunny kitchen, wearing pastel house dresses and flowery aprons.

'Good morning.' Harry grinned in the doorway.

'Good morning, sunshine.'

'Morning Harry.'

'Did you sleep well?' Lily asked, putting pasty bowels into the sink. 'You don't look as peaky as you did yesterday.'

'Well he slept for long enough.' Erin giggled. 'You missed dinner!'

'I was just tired from the train journey.' Harry smiled, watching his mother flutter about her kitchen.

'I'm sure they're working you too hard.' Lily sighed. 'They never gave us the amount of homework you get when your dad and I were at Hogwarts.'

'Of course they did, dear.' James grinned from the backdoor. 'We just never did it.'

James Potter smiled his way inside from the cold, and put a large bunch of yellow roses in the vase on the kitchen table. Harry wondered for a moment how he could have picked fresh roses on a snowy winter day, before he decided to ponder on it later.

'Speak for yourself.' Lily frowned, taking a steaming tray of cupcakes out of the large toasty oven. 'I did all my homework.'

'But there are certain way of getting out of it.' James cheekily told his children. 'Especially if you're a prefect, or of course, a Marauder.'

'But I'm not a Marauder, Dad.' Erin pouted at her father, as she sadly picked up a wooden spoon.

'Of course you are, Princess.' James replied. 'You're a little Marauder angel. Your mother was ours back in my time. We found we needed a little feminine influence… Someone to talk us out of some of the crazy things we planned to do.'

'But Erin doesn't do that.' Harry mocked. 'She usually talks us into them.'

Breakfast was as pleasant as it could have been, and after five slices of warm buttered toast, Harry sat watching his mother and sister absentmindedly with a smile. Lily and Erin were making chocolate chip fairy cakes. They smelled like the sweetest vanilla, and were topped with thick coats of green or purple icing. Harry thought they were wonderful.

'What do you reckon, Harry?' Erin asked brightly. 'Silver or gold sprinkles?'

'Gold.' He replied. 'Definitely the gold.'

'Good choice.'

When it reached about midday Harry excused himself from the kitchen and returned to his bedroom; the place where his mind had been lingering.

The photos on the wall were just as haunting as before, and even more enchanting. Harry came across a favorable picture of himself and Erin, who could be barely 3 and 4 years old. Harry wore a t-shirt with a duck on it, and Erin had a black ribbon in her wisps of thick red hair.

'Cute, weren't we?' Erin chuckled, as she let herself inside. 'Quite the pair. People used to think we were twins.'

Harry looked from Erin's hazel oval eyes, to his green oval eyes. They both looked so much like their mother's.

'Bet you haven't found the best photo yet though.' Erin grinned in a tease, as she danced to Harry's cupboard, opened the door, and pulled out a life-size picture of Ginny.

'You have to be joking.' Harry laughed, as his sister lent 'Ginny' up against the wall.

'Nope.' Erin replied. 'You had this made, and behind our parents, Ginny's and the Marauder's backs. I'm the only other person who knows about it.'

Harry eyed the large picture wearily, before shoving it under his bed and sitting down. He reached slowly inside his trouser pocket, and extracted the crumpled picture of Ginny on the swing. He examined it.

'Why do I have so many pictures of her?' Harry stressed, fingering the creases. 'Am I some sort of a stalker in this world?'

'No!' Erin laughed. 'You're just in love! If you like, you can blame your weird obsession on me. I started it.'

'How?' Harry asked.

'By taking your very first picture of her.' Erin explained. 'It was your first day at Hogwarts, and I came to the station with my camera. Ginny was in the background of one of the pictures I took. Of course, when you saw her it was love at first sight. The first letter I got from you from Hogwarts you demanded all the photos, so you could check if she was in any.'

'That's madness.' Harry stated.

'That's you.' Erin smiled.

Harry put the picture on his bedside cabinet, and laid down.

'Do you think your Harry will ever get her?' Harry asked distantly.

'I don't know.' Erin said, sitting down beside him. 'I would have said no, until I met you and your Ginny.'

'What do we have to do with it?' Harry questioned.

'You're the same people, you know.' Erin smiled. 'Just from different worlds. And you and your Ginny seem so perfect for each other, so I don't see why my Harry and Ginny shouldn't be.'

Harry shifted in his bed, uncomfortably.

'You kissed her, didn't you?' Erin stated. 'That night at the ball.'

'How'd you know?' Harry asked, sitting slowly up.

'I could just feel it.' Erin said, looking thoughtfully out of the window. 'And see it.'

Harry thought back to what Erin had told him some weeks ago about auras, and wondered in that was what she meant.

'What should I do about Ginny?' Harry asked lightly. Erin was so easy to talk to, and Harry suddenly had no problems opening up.

'Do you like her?'

'I don't know.'

'Well until then, there's not a lot you can do.' Erin shrugged, swinging her legs. 'Maybe you should go over there, see how she's doing. She wasn't a happy bunny on the train, as you know.'

Harry grimaced at the memory of Ginny flouncing away after he'd shunted her. He hadn't meant to, he just didn't want to worry her, yet now all thoughts of Voldemort seemed to have floated away.

'Maybe I will…pop by.' Harry said. 'It can't hurt.'

'That's the spirit.' Erin cheered, as she jumped up from Harry's bed and wandered towards an open box of Honeydukes candy. 'May I? You know how I love sweets.

Harry chuckled.

'Be my guest.'

It was perhaps an hour later when Harry was finally washed and dressed. He was wearing smart jeans and trainers, with a clean shirt and green sweater vest. Erin had picked it out for him, reminding him of how Ginny loved them, whilst he'd gelled his hair.

The two children charged down the stairs and into the kitchen, to find their parents rushing about franticly in work robes.

'We've got to go out, kids.' James explained, as he threw on his clock. 'The ministry have just called…very important...'

'It's nothing to worry about though.' Lily insisted, as she clipped her hair back. 'Just a little task. The ministry just wants as many Aurors out as possible.'

'I thought you booked Christmas off.' Erin said, slumping disappointedly into a kitchen chair.

'I'm sorry, baby.' Lily sighed. 'But it's important.'

'We wont be long.' James reminded them, as he picked up his case. 'Order in some dinner, and make sure you get to bed at a reasonable time.'

'We will.' Erin droned.

'I'm so sorry we have to work.' Lily apologized, as she picked up the floo powder. 'We'll make it up to you.'

'We promise.' James added, as his wife kissed each child in turn.

'Goodbye!' Lily said, and they were gone.

'Well that's that.' Erin sighed, slipping off her trademark black boots. 'I'm going to go and do some crystal gazing. I don't feel like going out now. Have fun at the Weasleys…'

Harry watched Erin grimly slum away into the shadows, before picking up the floo powder.

After a whirl and rush of soot, Harry arrived at the Burrow. At least, that's where he hoped he was, as the room he'd arrived in was quite different from the one he remembered.

There was no clutter or mess in the room, and the furniture wasn't worn or mismatched. There were no knitting needles around either, or chess pieces, and that burnt spot where Fred had dropped an exploding tea cake on the rug had vanished. In fact, so had the rug.

This room was clean and grand. On the floor was a rich burgundy carpet, the ceiling a chandelier and the walls, paintings. Around the edges of the room were neat cream couches, with tassels, and a glass coffee table to each. On the left: a sculpture of a lion, the right: a black family tapestry. The only reason Harry knew he was in the Burrow was because the family clock still hung on the wall, and because Ron was running down the stairs.

'Harry!' His redheaded friend yelled excitedly. 'What are you doing here?'

'Just thought I'd come by' Harry smiled at Ron's grin. 'Thought I'd see how you were doing.'

'Now bad.' Ron said, opening his arms out to his sides. 'I live in a palace!'

'I'd have to agree.' Harry chuckled, as they flopped into large cream couches.

'How's your house?' Ron asked, placing his feet up on a matching cream foot stall.

'It's a mansion, thank you very much.' Harry declared. 'And it's not too shabby.'

'Good…' Ron nodded, before whispering. 'And your parents?'

'Great.' Harry assured him. 'I couldn't be happier.'

Of course, Harry knew that was a lie. He could certainly could be happier, and would be once he'd talked with a certain someone. Harry was sure he'd find the redhead in question tucked away in her room, yet asking for her would only bring up the subject Harry was most avoiding…

'So, how's Erin?' Ron asked, scratching for a conversation. 'I'm surprised she didn't tag along.'

'She was going to, but then Mum and Dad had to go to work.' Harry explained. 'She got a bit upset, and went to her room. I suppose she doesn't get to see them often.'

'More the you do…' Ron said, and Harry grabbed the opportunity to casually ask:

'So where's Ginny?'

Ron chuckled.

'Ah, yeah, she's in her room.' He explained. 'Been up there since we got back. You really put her in a bad mood on the train.'

'What did I do?' Harry asked, shaking his head. 'I'm dead serious, I don't understand. Erin said she was mad with me, but I don't see why she should be. If she has a problem, she should just come out with it, and-'

'Calm it, mate.' Ron said seriously, kicking his footstall away. 'I don't know why she's mad at you. From the way you were at the ball, I figured you'd be her favorite person in the world by now.'

Harry turned his head away.

'Look, if you want to talk about it, I'm all ears.' Ron said as comfortingly as he could be. 'I was a bit mad at first, but then Hermione talked to me, and now I'm all for it. I'd rather it be you then anyone else.'

'I don't know.' Harry sighed, picking at his jeans.

The large lounge door slid noisily open, and the youngest Weasley appeared round the edge. She wore tight straight jeans, a pretty white blouse and wavy wet red hair.

'Mum's tea parties running over.' Ginny stated lazily, taking no notice of Harry. 'She said we've got to get the house elves to sort out our dinner ourselves. They're waiting in the parlor.'

She slipped effortlessly back into the other room, and slammed the door shut once more.

'Great.' Harry cursed. 'She isn't even speaking to me.'

'Oh, come on mate.' Ron encouraged, nudging Harry in the shoulder. 'Just talk to her. If you asked her out, she wouldn't say no.'

'But I don't know if that's what I want.' Harry stressed, as he left his chair and began pacing around.

'What do you mean?' Ron asked. 'You like her, don't you?'

'Of course I like her.' Harry grumbled.

'As more then a friend?'

'Kind of.'

'Do you love her?'

'I don't know…'

'Do you find her attractive?'

'Very.' Harry said, before stopping. 'Where's Hermione when you need her?'

'I've been asking myself the very same thing.' Ron mused, taking an ornament off the table and shining it. 'She's at home…she won't be coming over until Christmas Eve.'

'Great.' Harry mumbled, kicking at the fireplace. 'Just when I need her nagging advice, she's not here.'

'Well don't ask me what to do.' Ron insisted, replacing the china piece. 'I've got the emotional capacity of a teaspoon, or whatever… I'm surprised Hermione even puts up with me.'

'I'm surprised you two even figured out you liked each other.' Harry moaned. 'You're both impossibly stubborn, and entirely blind when it comes to each other. You can't see what's right in front of your nose.'

'Neither can you.' Ron chuckled, and Harry's face went blank. 'You really don't see it, do you? You're just as bad as I am!'

'How? W-what?' Harry stuttered.

'Ginny.' Ron grinned. 'You love her.'

'Ginny…' Harry thought aloud, as the living room door opened again. 'Ginny!'

'Hurry up, Ron.' Ginny insisted, as she flew across the room. 'Some of us would like to eat today!'

'It's not my fault Mum has these stupid tea parties and forgets to feed her children!' Ron shouted after her, as she began to climb the stairs.

Harry started to follow her.

'Ginny, could we-'

'Don't you even start!' The fiery red head cursed at him, pointing accusingly.

'Don't talk to Harry like that.' Ron raged. 'Take your anger out on someone else. He's our guest!'

'I'm aware or that, Ronald.' Ginny said spitefully, digging her nails into the rail. 'And I'll treat him with some decency, when he treats me with some decency!'

Ginny bolted up the remaining stairs, then charged to her bedroom, slamming her door so loudly that you must have been able to here it at least 10 houses away.

'What just happened here?' Ron simpered, falling back into his chair.

'It felt like a slap in the face.' Harry said sadly. 'Except a slap in the face doesn't hurt on the inside.'

Ron exhaled loudly, and Harry ran a shivered hand through his hair.

'Ginny's never spoken to me like that before.' Harry said to himself.

'Well get used to it.' Ron stated ordinarily, climbing up from his couch. 'You think I've got a temper…well, now you're seen it. I'm going to go and sort out dinner. What do you want?'

'Ginny.' Harry sighed.

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