Harry Potter and the Mysteries Within

Chapter Four – Secrets Out

The next few days went by rather uneventfully at the Burrow. Harry helped Ron and Ginny with the little jobs that Mrs. Weasley set them around the house, even though Mrs. Weasley insisted that he take things easy and get some fresh air. But Harry thought that if he was to stay at the Burrow for the rest of the summer, then the least he could do was to help with the chores.

Other than the three teens, the house was empty for most daylight hours. Fred and George had their ever-growing business to attend to. They were so successful in fact, that they had enlisted the help of Lee Jordan full time, and were currently looking for a premise in Hogsmeade to set up their second shop.

Charlie, who after visiting the country with the rest of the Weasley's three years ago, had recently moved to Egypt to study the Egyptian Long Snout, a newly discovered and extremely rare breed of dragon.

Bill still had his desk job at Gringotts that he requested during the past year. Both he and Charlie were now working part time, and devoted much of their time in the Order, helping with preparations for the impending war.

Arthur was also very busy, juggling his work for the Ministry with his role as a senior member of the Order. After the news emerged that Voldemort had returned, Arthur's department had been merged with one of the main departments of the Ministry – Muggle Relations, and as such, Arthur's workload, and indeed status and level of responsibility, had also increased. Molly was never far from her husband's side, and with the amount of Order duties ever increasing, they found themselves away from the Burrow for much of the day. And of course, Percy hadn't stepped a foot inside the Burrow for over a year.

Friday dawned bright and crisp in Devon. Harry awoke around mid-morning, thanks to the foghorn like snore presently emanating from somewhere in the vicinity of Ron's left nostril. Harry didn't mind being woken up in this manor however, as it was almost a comforting sound to him, and reminded Harry of his time at Hogwarts. And besides, it was always a bonus to not be woken by either his Aunt or Uncle shouting orders or random insults his way, and as well as this, ever since arriving at the Burrow he hadn't had one single dream about his godfather's death.

Harry picked himself out of bed, grabbed some clean boxers and trousers and went to the bathroom on the fourth floor to shower. He didn't bother to try and be quiet around the sleeping form of Ron – he would sleep through an apocalypse. No surprise there though, Harry thought. He had to put up with the ghoul in the attic, which had woke Harry up on several occasions, as well as living with Fred and George for nearly 16 years.

When Harry had finished in the bathroom, he made his way downstairs to find a t-shirt to wear, the few shirts he owned being in the wash basket. He entered the kitchen to find Ginny sitting at the table alone, eating a bowl of porridge and reading the Daily Prophet. Or rather, lazily poking the cold porridge in her bowl, and gazing absently through the paper, as though it harboured a muggle television set.

"Morning Gin" Harry said, completely forgetting he was only half dressed. Ginny looked up at him and immediately blushed furiously. Her gaze remained on his bare chess for a split second before she quickly looked back at the paper before her.

"Morning" she replied, studying the paper rather too intently. Harry noticed her gaze and quickly remembered that he had no shirt on, and, blushing madly himself, went to the pantry to retrieve a fresh one, and also took the time to allow his face drain all excess blood to the rest of his body. When he returned, Ron had joined Ginny at the table.

"We thought we'd have a game of Quidditch today, what do you think?" Ron asked Harry. Ginny was still avoiding eye contact with Harry at all costs.

"Sounds good" Harry returned, taking a seat opposite Ron and Ginny.

"Great!" said Ron, as he stood up. "I'm just gonna take a quick shower, back in a bit" he said, and left the kitchen.

After a minutes silence, Harry said "So..."

"Yeah?" Ginny said.

"Take a good look at my chest did you?" Harry asked, without truly thinking of what he was saying… until he mulled it over in his mind, lost his nerve, and intently examined his finger nails.

"I've seen better…" came Ginny's wit-filled reply. Harry was not expecting this, and hastily returned to the imaginary speck of dirt on his thumb.

"Oh OK Harry, seen as though you can't take a joke...well it was...it was very nice." She said. Harry was also not expecting this, and he proceeded to choke on his own saliva.

"Thanks" he mumbled, and went to the stove to take some porridge from the large steaming pot that was there. When he returned to the table, he took the seat next to Ginny, who had finished 'reading' the paper and was now quietly singing a song that Harry didn't recognize, while she gazed out of the window. Harry stopped eating for a moment, admiring the softness of Ginny's voice as she sang. But then she had stopped singing, and was examining Harry examining herself, until after a few seconds, Harry realised he was staring, and returned to his porridge, although not before the pair's eye's briefly met again. Ginny continued to watch him for a second before speaking.

"Looking forward to tomorrow then?" she asked. It took Harry a moment to register what she meant, and he remembered that Hermione would be arriving the next day for the remainder of the summer.

"Yeah, I can't wait to catch up with Hermione" he said. It was true, he hadn't seen his second best friend since the end of last term, and back then he wasn't the best person to hold a conversation with. Or be in the company of, for that matter. But being at the Burrow with the people that cared about him so much, particularly Ron, Ginny and Mrs Weasley, had caused Harry's mood a remarkable change in Harry's personality.

"Me too" Ginny said. "It's about time I had another girl around here. I always have to fend off all these boys alone, and with Hermione here it always makes it so much better. And easier" she finished with a mischievous grin.

"What's that about Hermione?" Ron called from the stairs.

Ginny rolled her eyes and shot Harry a knowing look. "She just sent an owl." she said, her grin turning into a full blown smile. "She can't make it tomorrow, something about meeting up with Viktor instead," Ginny continued, barley able to keep her voice from breaking at the strain of wanting to laugh. Harry quickly clicked on to what Ginny was playing at, and joined in.

"Yeah" he said. "She says she'll be here in a few weeks though, after she and Viktor get back from their romantic break alone with each other" Harry finished, incredibly managing to keep his voice straight.

The sound of Ron thundering down the stairs followed Harry's words, and Ron entered the kitchen, red in the face with a look of complete disgust and anger on his face. "She's going where? With WHO?" he yelled, marching over to Ginny. "Let's see this letter then" he said, holding his hand out. "Wait until she hears what I've got to say about this!"

"I'm sure you'll give her a mouth full" Ginny sniggered, and Harry finally felt his face crack into a huge grin at the rather inappropriate joke that Ron probably never noticed.

"Where's this letter then" Ron asked, now turning to Harry, who quickly shoved the remains of his breakfast into his mouth.

When Ron didn't take his eyes off of Harry, he was forced to respond.

"Well...umm (Harry glanced at Ginny, who was grinning freely behind Ron's back) ...you could have it...only a Gnome just umm...ran into the house, lifted the letter and the owl, and ran out again. We...you know... tried to stop it, but it was just too...fast. Yeah, fast." Harry finished, and one glance at Ron's confused face, where he could see the gears working overtime trying to figure out what Harry meant, and Harry couldn't take it any more. He burst out laughing, with Ginny quickly following suit. All Ron could do was glance between the two, trying to work out what was so funny. Harry pointed at him and tried to say something, but could only manage a feeble squeak, which only proved to make the situation seem ten times funnier to Harry, who was now finding it difficult to breathe.

"How loved up can you get?" Ginny managed to spit out in between laughing fits..

"Huh?" Was all Ron could think of to say, while still trying to comprehend what was going on.

Harry, who by now had stopped laughing, knew it was time to put Ron out of his misery. He knew how he'd feel if he found out Ginny had gone to stay with Michael Corner. Not that he would be bothered, he reminded himself a little too confidently...

"It was a joke Ron, Hermione is still coming tomorrow and she isn't seeing Viktor."

"She might be, we just haven't heard about it" Ginny said, obviously not wanting to stop winding up her brother.

"Right" Ron said, his face turning an even more impressive shade of red. "You two are the biggest gits I know. And that's coming from someone who knows Malfoy!" and with that, he stormed out of the kitchen and thumped his way back up the stairs. A few seconds later, the whole house trembled slightly as Ron slammed his bedroom door shut.

"That didn't go so well" Harry commented, even though Ginny was still smiling broadly.

"He'll come round soon enough… He should be used to it by now, any way. Fred and George have been teasing him about Hermione for years. It is pretty obvious you know"

"Yeah I have noticed" Harry said with a smile. "I think everyone has, apart from maybe the two that actually need to."

"Anyway, still up for Quidditch? We can leave Ron to sulk and go and have a mess about on the orchid. Unless you're scared of loosing to sweet little me..." Ginny said, fluttering her eyelids innocently.

"In your dreams, Weasley" Harry replied.

"Hey, how did you know...?"

"Know what?" Harry asked, although he was sure he knew what the answer would be; this was typical Ginny. Or it was when she was around Harry, at least.

"That you're in my dreams" she grinned, and ran upstairs to get ready for Quidditch. Harry followed her with his eyes as she ran from him, catching even himself off guard. 'Whoa Harry' he thought. But he had given in telling himself that what he was feeling wasn't true – it looked like he was falling in love with Ginny.

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"I am sorry about earlier you know Ron, it was only a joke" Harry said later that night. Ron had just entered his bedroom, and Harry was sat on his own bed, reading one of Ron's Chudley Cannons magazines. Ron had been avoiding Harry all day, and he had only seen him at dinner where he sat as far away as possible and left as soon as he was finished. He didn't even stay for seconds, which showed just how angry Ron must have been with Harry.

"I can expect that sort of crap from Ginny and the rest of them" Ron said, lying down on his bed.

"Well... I just got carried away with the moment; don't tell me you've never done that before."

"You mean you got carried away with Ginny's moment" Ron said, looking at Harry and trying to detect a reaction from him. Of course this made Harry blush, and he turned to read the magazine again. "Look Harry" Ron continued, "I know you have a thing for her."

"I do not!" Harry said, a little too loudly. The ghoul in the attic made a very loud 'clang' on a pipe overhead, which seemed to echo around the house as all the pipes joined in. "If it's anyone who likes anyone, then it's you liking Hermione!" Harry had wanted to say something like that for months and months, but now that he had, he almost regretted it. What if it pushed Ron's anger with him even further?

"Your right" Ron said simply.

Harry couldn't believe what he had just heard. When had Ron grown up so much? A few months ago, if Harry had suggested to him that he fancied their other best mate, he would have flat out denied it and probably punched him. So what had changed?

Ron seemed to sense what Harry was thinking, as he answered the question that was in Harry's head. "I just figured that it's about time I did something about it. I've liked her for so long that I think I'd burst if I didn't tell her. Even if she just wants to stay friends, at least I'd know and would be able to move on." He said with an air of maturity that Harry didn't think was possible.

"Go for it mate. When are you going to tell her?" Harry asked.

"Tomorrow night I think. That's why I got so mad earlier. If she was with Krum...I don't know how I'd handle being around her. Anyway, do u like my sister or not?"

The question came out so suddenly that Harry wasn't expecting it. He looked at Ron, who was still looking purposefully at Harry. What should he do? Should he take a leaf out of Ron's newly written book and just tell him? What's the worst that could happen? But, Harry thought, what if Ron hated the idea of his best friend liking his little sister as more than a friend, let alone the two going out with each other. Then again, Harry hated keeping secrets from Ron. He was already keeping perhaps the biggest secret in the wizarding world from him, so maybe it was time to share this one secret about his feelings for Ginny.

"OK Ron, just don't loose it with me. Yes I do like your sister, there's nothing I can do about it, it's just the way I feel and you or nobody else can change that."

"Harry" Ron said, still looking at him hard, but his face relaxing into a small smile, "You know I don't like to see Ginny with any boy, and that's simply because I know what they're like and it would just end up going wrong and upsetting her." Harry's heart sank – he wasn't going to accept the idea of him wanting to go out with Ginny.

"But..." Ron continued, "You are an exception to that rule. I know you and I know you'd never hurt her. But if you are going to ask her out, please hurry up about it. I don't want her going out with Dean!"

For the second time that night, Harry couldn't believe the words coming from Ron's mouth. Not only had he admitted fancying Hermione, but he had also said it was OK for Harry to like his sister, and he even wanted him to ask her out!

"Thanks Ron" was all Harry could think to say. What more could he say?

"Us boys have got to stick together, right?" Ron said, getting up off the bed and making for the door.

"One final thing," Harry said before Ron left. "Ginny doesn't go out with Dean. Actually, she never did." Ron thought about this for a second, before grinning at Harry and closing the door behind him.

"Secrets out..." Harry said to himself in a bemused sort of way, staring up at the ceiling, deep in thought.

End of Chapter 4

A/N – PLEASE review and let em know what you think, thank you...!