BACK IN THE BURROW

After receiving the invitation to the wedding Harry got a letter from Ron, telling him that they would all be really happy to have him there a few days before the wedding, that Hermione was going to be there on the 15th and that if he wanted, Mr Weasley would come over to collect him and take him to The Burrow. Immediately Harry got pen and paper and answered back. Of course he would love to go! He felt that, before starting his journey across the country, a few days with his friends and what he had sometimes considered his family was the perfect thing to do.

Mr Weasley came on the 15th and after trying to get some conversation out of the Dursleys (and completely failing) he took Harry by the arm and they both disapparated, to apparate next to kitchen door in The Burrow.

-"Well, he you are at last!"- Mrs Weasley came running out of the kitchen. She kissed her husband and hugged Harry, so tight that he could hardly breathe-"Oh! Dear, you look so thin! But don't worry, I'll give you plenty of good food here and we'll see if you can put on a bit of weight."

-"Hello, Mrs Weasley. It's nice to be back here."

Mrs Weasley smiled and looked back to the kitchen door.

-"Honey, they must all be upstairs. Hermione arrived when you left, Arthur."

-"I'll go and see if I find them. Thanks for everything."

He left Mr and Mrs Weasley talking about the Dursleys and he walked into the kitchen. There was Charlie, sitting at the kitchen table, writing something. When he heard Harry come in he turned round.

-"Hey, Harry! What's up, mate?"

-"Hi, Charlie. Nice to see you again."

-"Yeah! Last time I saw you, you were fighting off a Hungarian Horntail."- he grinned. He was very fond of Harry, because he was such a good Quidditch player, and it made him think of his days as Gryffindor captain.

Harry laughed. He still remembered that day as if it had only been yesterday. On his way to Ron's room he passed the twins, who were being very loud in their room. Harry popped his head in to say hello to his favourite twins.

-"Hi, guys! What's that you're up to now?"

-"Harry!"

They both got up to stretch Harry's hand.

-"We're creating something nobody has ever dreamt of."-said George.

-"And what's that?"

-"Ohhh! You'll see. It's a big secret. We can't tell you."- answered Fred.

Harry proceeded his way to Ron's room. He was ready to set foot on the next flight of stairs when the door at his back opened. And out of it came Ginny.

Harry had been dreading this meeting the moment he had received the invitation to the wedding. All he had thought of had been Ginny, ever since he had felt they had to brake up and he had then broken up with her, next to the lake and to the white tomb. He then thought that he was being silly, that Ginny would totally understand his reasons and that when they met again they would both behave normally as if things hadn't changed a bit between them. But the moment he saw her he knew he was mistaken. That he had been mistaken all along, and that he still loved her.

-"Mom, can you please-"-she broke off when she looked up. Her face turned white and she stood still, as if she could not move a bit further because she had been glued to the floor.-"Harry, hi, I thought you… I thought you were… You were my mom."

-"Hi, Ginny."-Harry didn't want to think how his face looked like.

-"You… You just got here?"- it was perfectly clear she was making an effort to speak. What she didn't know was that he was making an effort too to look at her.

-"Yeah. Your father just brought me here."

-"Good"

They both fell silent for a bit.

-"Ginny, listen… I… I just wanted to tell you that… That I…"-but he found put that he wasn't able of finishing that sentence, it was just too hard.

-"Yes?"

-"I just wanted you to know that… That even though I said… I said all that stuff before, well… That I still-"-he was finding it very hard to say it.

-"Listen, Harry. Whatever it is you have to say, I really… I really don't want to hear. What you did, and what you said, is probably what you had to do, even though I still don't know why. So you don't have to apologise or say anything else."

He felt pain. Pain inside his chest because he knew that things would never be the same again between them. And that was one of the things he most feared in the world, even more than facing Voldemort.

-"Ginny. I'm not trying to be noble, you know? And I don't need you to understand-"

-"But I do, Harry. I do understand everything you told me at the funeral. What I'm saying is that I don't know why we can't work things out together, that's all. But I guess you have some good reasons."

She turned round to go back into her room. Harry called her.

-"Ginny!"

She turned round to face him and he saw that her eyes were red.

-"I'm sorry."

She smiled.

-"Yeah, well… You know? That's what happens when you fall for a hero."-and she went back into her room, closing the door behind her and leaving Harry all confused.

It took him a few minutes to realise that he was still standing in the stairs and that he had to get to Ron's room. He continued to climb the stairs and finally he got to the room's door. He opened it.

-"Harry!"

Hermione had come out of nowhere and was hugging him so hard that he thought his head might fall out. When she let go he saw Ron, grinning at him. There he was again, at The Burrow, with his friends and his people and in a few days there was going to be a wedding. It was like a dream and he couldn't believe it. While Ron told him about some Quidditch things and Hermione read a book she had found under Ron's bed, Harry thought about his little meeting downstairs with Ginny, and he felt that the pain in his chest was growing bigger.