Chapter 6

The two of them walked hand in hand toward the lake. They laughed and joked, and occasionally Harry would steal a quick kiss or a hug while they walked. Once they came to the lake they started looking around for Ron and Hermione. Ginny's brow was furrowed.

"Where are they?"

Suddenly, Harry saw them. They were on a blanket that was spread out underneath a large tree. His eyes grew wide as he took in the sight before him. His two best friends were lying next to each other, snogging each other senseless.

Ginny turned and saw them too. Her eyes grew wide, and she sucked in a huge breath. Before she could react Harry put a hand over her mouth and pulled her behind a tree. She struggled under him, and once he thought they were well-hidden, he removed his hand from her mouth and put a finger to his lips. She closed her mouth and nodded.

He whispered, "Let's let them have a few more moments of privacy before everything changes."

"Oh, Harry, Mum is going to be beside herself. She always wanted them to end up together."

She leaned over and peeked around the tree trunk. Her eyes went wide again and Harry pulled her back.

"Don't watch!"

"You mean you're not a bit amused by the fact that two people who have avoided the truth about their feelings for years are currently ravaging each other?"

"Ginny, its Ron and Hermione. That's sort of gross…"

"Oh, please. You're going to have to get used to it, just like Ron is going to have to get used to you kissing me."

"Oh, but I plan to only do that in private!"

"Ok, ok. So, shall we break it up now?"

Harry dared to check the status of his friends' snog session.

"Oh, Merlin – that's Hermione on top!", he gasped.

Ginny burst into stifled giggles.

Harry was half shocked that Hermione could be so bold and half extremely impressed and amused. He watched Ginny with her hand over her mouth, keeping the laughter at bay.

"Ok, it's time to break it up."

She nodded and grabbed his hand. She pulled him over to the path and said loudly, "Harry, where are they?"

She raised her eyebrows at him and he caught on.

"Hermione! Ron! Where are you?"

They walked slowly to the edge of the small lake and looked around.

"Here we are!"

Hermione waved from the blanket. Harry and Ginny walked over and Harry took stock of his friends' appearances.

Hermione's hair was bushier than usual, and her cheeks were flushed with pink. She kept straightening her shirt self-consciously. Ron, on the other hand, had the goofiest grin on his face Harry had ever seen. His hair was sticking up and his shirt was crooked, but he looked too happy to care.

Harry looked at Ginny and they both broke into laughter as they plopped down on the blanket. Hermione furrowed her brow.

"What's so funny?"

She looked at Ron and reached up to smooth his hair. She must have realized how telling that movement was because she quickly pulled her hand away and looked from Harry's face to her lap.

Harry said, "What's so funny is that you two have never looked more content. What happened while we were gone?"

Ron looked at Hermione, and she looked embarrassed. Ginny hopped up and said, "Come on, Hermione. Girl talk time. 'Scuse us, boys."

She grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her up. The two of them trotted off, deep in whispered conversation. Harry looked at Ron.

"Ok, what happened?"

Ron shook his head, "It was amazing, Harry. We got here and started talking about different things, and then she said something about how she wasn't happy about me becoming an Auror. I asked her why, and she started crying! I thought I had ruined everything but when I started to apologize she grabbed my hand and said I hadn't done anything wrong. The she started talking about the day at the Department of Mysteries."

He swallowed hard and looked at the ground.

"She just kept crying, and she said she didn't think she could handle losing me. So I, of course, say there's no way she's going to lose me. She said that I can't promise her that. So then I knew I had to tell her everything…"

Harry nodded. "What did you say?"

Ron looked up. "I said, 'I may not be able to promise that bad things aren't going to happen or that we are going to live to see five years from now, but I can promise one thing. For the rest of my life I will not leave your side, if that's what you want."

"What did she say?"

"She just looked at me and said, 'what are you saying, Ron?' So I said, 'I'm saying that I have been in love with you for so long that I can't remember when or how it started. I'm saying that thinking of you with any other bloke, especially Krum, makes me feel sick. And I'm saying that no matter what happens with Voldemort (yes, I said his name) I am going to be there to protect you. I would die before I let anybody hurt you again.' I told her that when I saw her lying on the floor after that curse hit her that I thought I'd lost her forever and my heart shattered into a million pieces."

Harry shook his head. "Wow. I am impressed, mate."

Ron grinned, "Me too!"

"So what did she say after all that?"

"Well she was crying a lot and all she said was, 'I'm in love with you too.' So then something really embarrassing happened…"

"What?"

Ron blushed furiously and mumbled something under his breath.

"What?"

"I lost it, Harry! I started crying!"

Harry almost laughed, but realized that would shatter Ron. So he simply choked out, "You did?"

Ron nodded and said, "You know, that never happens to me. I was so embarrassed…and then..."

He grinned widely, the same goofy grin Harry had seen earlier.

"And then, what?" Harry asked.

"And then, she kissed me. She practically tackled me! It was the most wonderful, amazing thing that has ever happened to me."

He closed his eyes and fell over onto his back, "Harry, I'm a goner."

Harry laughed and said, "Tell me about it."

Ron looked up at Harry. "Could you ever have imagined where we are today? You and Ginny…I thought she had given up on you for sure, and you…I thought you were going to lock yourself in your room and never come out. No offense."

Harry shook his head. "No, I know. I don't think I could have imagined this because honestly, I didn't know it was possible to feel this way."

"It's bloody brilliant, isn't it?" Ron laughed.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, it is."

He looked up as he heard Ginny and Hermione's voices nearing.

"We're back and I'm starving!" Ginny came bounding up and plopped down next to Harry.

Hermione sat down and Ron put the picnic basket in the middle of the blanket. Ginny and Hermione started taking food out.

"Mum insisted on making all of this even though I told her we couldn't eat it all. She was just so proud of you three geniuses."

"You know Ginny; this is your O.W.L. year. Things are going to get a lot harder."

"I know that, Hermione."

"If you want, when you get your class schedule I can give you some of my study tips. I'll even help you organize everything!" Hermione's eyes were sparkling, and Ginny looked at Harry, a bit horrified.

Ron shook his head and said, "Hermione, you are one of a kind."

She blushed.

The four of them ate lunch while laughing and talking. Harry felt so warm and happy. This was exactly where he wanted to be. After lunch they spread out the second blanket and they all lay on their backs looking up at the sky. They started picking out shapes in the clouds and laughing at their assessments.

Soon, with his full belly and the sun beating down on him, Harry started to feel very sleepy. The sound of the frogs in the lake seemed to be lulling him to sleep. He closed his eyes and dreamed nothing at all.

"Harry. Harry…wake up."

Harry heard Ginny's voice and felt several soft kisses on his cheek. He slowly opened his eyes.

"Hi," he said groggily.

"Hi, love." Ginny smiled at him.

Harry looked up and saw Remus standing over him, smiling as well. Harry sat up quickly.

"Hi, Remus! What are you doing here?"

"Well, I'm here to make sure the wards are working and that you four are safe away from the house."

"Oh, ok."

"Have you eaten lunch, Professor?" Ginny asked.

"Not yet, no."

"Well we have all this food left over. Why don't you have some?"

"Ok, thank you, Ginny."

Remus sat down and Ginny began fixing him a plate of food. He smiled at her as she handed it to him.

"I heard you all got your O.W.L. results today."

"Yep. That's how we got the afternoon off!" Ron said.

"So, they were good?" Remus looked at Harry when he asked.

Harry beamed. "I got 8."

"That's wonderful, Harry! How'd you do in Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

"I got an O."

"Of course. That's fantastic. Hermione, I assume you passed everything?"

"Yes sir. I got 10."

"Excellent, I'm not at all surprised. And Ron? How did you do?"

"I got 8 too, sir."

"Well, I say. You three really did deserve the day off."

"So does the Order have a meeting soon?" Harry said abruptly.

Lupin eyed Harry appraisingly, "Soon enough."

"Did you come alone today?" Ginny asked Remus. Apparently she was trying to get the conversation off the subject of Order meetings.

"No, Tonks came with me. She's doing a perimeter check at the moment," Remus said and took a big bite of potatoes.

"I see…" Ginny raised her eyebrows at Harry.

Harry rolled his eyes at her, and then turned back to Lupin.

"So are you and Tonks personally assigned to me now?"

"Actually Harry, we both volunteered and asked if we could be in charge of this assignment. It's an excuse to see you. Is that alright with you?" Remus took another big bite of food while looking at Harry, expecting an answer.

"Of course it is. I'm sorry. I was just hoping I'd see Dumbledore soon."

"Don't worry, you will eventually."

"Tonks!" Ginny said as the young spunky Auror appeared on the path.

Tonks was currently sporting a new, tamer hairdo. It was a natural brown color that suited her.

"What's with the new hair color, Tonks?" Harry asked as she sat down next to Remus.

"I don't know. I felt like trying out something a bit more proper." She glanced at Remus as she put her hand to her hair.

Ginny looked at Harry and smiled.

"I think it looks nice." Remus said, thoughtfully.

"Thank you, Remus."

Ginny giggled.

"Would you like some lunch, Tonks?"

"Just a bit, yeah. Thanks!"

"You know this really is a nice spot." Lupin said, looking around at the small lake and the trees that surrounded it. He had cleaned his plate, setting it beside him to stretch out on the blanket.

The next few hours were spent in comfortable conversation. Lupin recounted stories from his youth about the Marauders and their adventures. He told a wonderful tale about first meeting Sirius. Harry asked Tonks about Auror training and she began to tell about her first days and how difficult training had been. She was pleased to learn that Harry and Ron were interested in applying.

Eventually the three girls were huddled in a whispered giggle-fest (even Hermione), and Lupin was telling Harry and Ron about his tangle with a vampire back in his youth. The sun began to fade, and the happy group gathered everything up and began walking back to the Burrow.

Harry had had such a wonderful afternoon. He couldn't believe how lucky he was. It wasn't until dinnertime that any sense of dread crept into his mind. Dinnertime was the moment when Arthur Weasley came home from work, accompanied shortly thereafter by Bill, and Harry remembered what he had to do.

Ginny gave Harry a meaningful look once the meal was over and Harry stood up, clearing his throat loudly (more loudly than he meant to). When every eye turned to him, he almost sat down and became mute, but he saw Ginny looking at him expectantly so managed to croak out some words.

"Um…Mr. Weasley, could I have a word with you in private, please?"

Mr. Weasley looked at Harry inquiringly, "Of course, Harry. Let's go to the parlor. Excuse us, everyone."

Harry turned to follow him out and Ginny touched his arm to get his attention.

"Maybe Bill should go too?" she asked quietly.

He nodded. "Yeah, ok."

She smiled at him and looked about as nervous as he felt. He looked up and said,

"Bill, could you join us?"

Bill looked fairly surprised and said, "Sure, Harry."

He got up and Harry followed him out after squeezing Ginny's hand.

His stomach felt completely tied up in knots. He realized he had no idea what to say, and had the wild notion to turn around and run out of the house. Once he got to the parlor, Bill closed the door behind them and sat down next to his father by the fire.

"Have a seat, Harry." Arthur gestured to the chair opposite him and Bill.

Harry forced his legs to move and sat down.

"So, what is it that you would like to talk about?"

Harry felt his palms begin to sweat and decided he'd better not drag this out. "Here goes…" he thought.

"Well, sir…it's about Ginny."

Arthur looked surprised, "Oh?"

Bill's eyebrows shot up.

Harry stammered on, "A-actually…it's about me and Ginny."

Now Arthur's eyebrows shot up, "Oh!"

"Yes sir. You see…she and I had developed feelings for each other…"

"I see. When did this happen?"

"Well, over the past two weeks we have been writing about how we felt, and once I got here it became official."

"Hmm..." Mr. Weasley began stroking the side of his face, staring into the fire.

"Mr. Weasley, I can't begin to thank you for all that you have done for me over the years. Your family and your home have been shared with me like they were mine. I know I have no right to ask for Ginny on top of everything else…" He looked at the floor.

"Harry, I wouldn't think for a second that you are trying to take advantage of us. I think of you as one of my own. We all love having you here. If Ginny has chosen you, I couldn't be happier."

Harry looked up, "Really?"

Mr. Weasley smiled at Harry sincerely, "You are already a part of this family, Harry."

"Thank you, sir."

"I do, however, have some concerns."

Harry swallowed hard. "Yes?"

"You two are still young and I know that things happen in young relationships. I need to know that you will respect Ginny physically."

"Oh, Merlin." Harry thought. He almost threw up right on the rug.

He swallowed again and answered, "Mr. Weasley…of course I will."

Bill looked from his father to Harry, "Will you also respect her emotionally? She's very special to us, Harry. We won't have you playing with her heart."

"I wouldn't do that. I'll be honest that I don't know what the future holds. I'm not being naive about the face that I might not be around for long…"

"Don't say that, Harry!" Mr. Weasley said, his face showing his obvious concern.

"Well, it's true. I have made sure Ginny understands that, and I want you to know that too."

Arthur and Bill both nodded.

"She has somehow made me believe that I might have a future…if I do, I want her to be in it. I'm not going to jeopardize that."

"Alright. I'll be honest with you, Harry. I knew this day would come eventually, but I can't say that it is easy for me."

"What day is that, sir?"

"The day my little girl grows up…" He trailed off, smiling. "I always thought it might be you I'd have this talk with, but I wasn't so sure recently."

"I wasn't either."

Arthur stood up and said, "Harry, I trust you to take care of her, and that is very hard for a father to say."

Harry stood up, "Thank you, sir."

"I just want both of you to be happy, son." He reached out and hugged Harry.

Harry felt a lump rise in his throat, "Thank you…"

Bill shook Harry's hand as Arthur released him and said, "I'm happy for you, Harry, but you do realized that if you hurt her you'll have seven Weasley men very angry with you."

Harry nodded.

"Ok, good."

There was a rap on the door.

"Come in." Mr. Weasley said.

Ginny opened the door and looked at all three faces in turn.

"Is everything alright?"

"Yes, dear." Arthur held out his arm and Ginny crossed the room and hugged her father.

"Is this what you want, Ginevra?"

She looked up at him, "Harry?"

"Yes."

She looked at Harry and then back at her father and nodded.

He squeezed her gently and said, "Alright, then."

Bill said, "Come here, Gin."

She crossed to her big brother.

"If you ever need me to come knock some sense into him, I will, ok?"

She laughed and said, "Ok."

"No offense, Harry. And just make sure I don't ever have to knock some sense into you, ok?" Bill said as he hugged Ginny.

She nodded, "Don't worry."

She turned and went to Harry, "Alright?"

He smiled, "Yeah."

She looked relieved and put her arms around his waist. He put an arm around her shoulders and the two of them looked back at Mr. Weasley and Bill.

Ginny said, "Think I could have my boyfriend back now?"

"Sure."

"Thanks."

She took Harry's hand, pulled him out of the room, and kept pulling him up the stairs and into her room.

The moment they crossed the threshold, she turned and took his face in her hands and gently took his lips with hers. She kissed him slowly, so that every hair on his body stood on end. His skin felt like it was on fire.

"Oh, Ginny…" he moaned.

"I love you so much," she said when his lips weren't on his.

"Mmmm…" was all he could manage.

Her hands started to wander. One was in his hair and the other one trailed down his neck and onto his chest. The kiss deepened and Ginny started moving her tongue against his. His knees almost buckled and he pulled her as close as he could. He knew she could probably feel how excited he was but he was determined not to be embarrassed by it.

She pulled away slightly and looked up at him through her eyelashes.

"I love you."

"Oh, Ginny. I love you too. We better…" he reluctantly released her and took a few steps back.

Ginny's eyes got big, "Whoa. What is that?"

Harry didn't know what she meant until he looked down at his hands and saw something hovering about a centimeter from his skin. Every inch of his body was radiating with something that disturbed the air around it. He looked back up at her.

"Is that…magic coming out of you?"

He nodded slowly, "I think so…"

He watched as it slowly began to fade and he felt normal again.

"Is that what happened earlier?"

He nodded. "The first time you told me you loved me."

"Have you ever heard of that happening to other wizards?"

"No, but I've seen it happen before."

"To who?"

"Dumbledore."

"Oh. Wow…"

"Yeah, I don't understand it…I really need to talk to him."

"Are you still mad at him?"

Harry had written some mean things in his first letters, venting about the injustice of Dumbledore's actions without revealing what the actions were.

"No. Remus helped me understand why Dumbledore did what he did."

"Are you ready to tell me about it?"

"Its just…he was afraid that Voldemort might be…you know, I guess it boils down to the fact that he didn't tell me what was going on with the prophecy and everything else until after the Department Of Mysteries."

"Why not?"

"Because…he was trying to protect me. I guess because he loves me."

Ginny nodded. "He probably thought he was doing the right thing. My parents and brothers used to keep things from me all the time, not because they didn't think I could handle it, but because they just didn't want anything to hurt me."

"No one has ever done that for me before. I just couldn't understand it…I wasn't very nice to him, Gin."

"What did you do?"

"I sort of wrecked his office. I smashed everything I could."

"Harry!" Ginny jaw dropped.

"I know…"

"He didn't stop you?"

"He said he deserved it for not telling me the truth. And…I yelled at him…a lot."

"Oh, Harry…"

"Yeah, I know. That's why I need to see him. I've got to apologize."

"Harry, I'm sure he knows you were just upset."

"Can I tell you a secret?"

"Of course."

"He told me why he didn't make me a prefect."

"Really?" She leaned forward involuntarily, eager for the explanation.

"Yeah. He said he thought I already had enough to deal with."

"Hmm…what do you think?"

"I think he's probably right, but it still hurts."

"You are still the most talented wizard in your year."

"No, I'm not!"

"Harry! Do you remember a little thing called the Triwizard Tournament?"

"I had help with all those things."

"You alone cast a perfect summoning charm and rode like the wind in the first task. That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen!"

Harry blushed.

"You really know how to make me feel better."

"Good! I can't stand to see you thinking the worst about yourself. Dumbledore will be around soon. You can apologize, and it will all be resolved between you two. Plus, I'll bet being Quidditch Captain is way more fun than being a prefect."

He laughed and pulled her close. "Yeah, if I can get rid of that pesky lifetime Quidditch ban!"

He squeezed her and relished the feeling of her words washing over him.

"I love you, Gin."

"I love you too, Harry."