Disclaimer: I own only the plot.

In the days that passed after Dumbledore's funeral, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger had appeared, emotionally, to have aged years. They had already spent almost two weeks at Harry's aunt and uncle's house, much to his relatives' disappointment and fury, and were quickly becoming impatient to leave.

"Bringing more of your kind into MY HOME! I shan't tolerate it! Do I look like a bloody lunatic to you?" Uncle Vernon had yelled, moustache quivering and coffee slopping all over his shirt. The three of them simply stared. It had then only taken a small white lie from Ron to get him to shut up whilst they lugged their cases upstairs.

"Listen, my father works for the Ministry of Magic and if I were to perform a little, er, spell on you, my name could easily be cleared."

Uncle Vernon had turned pink and then purple, and Aunt Petunia had grabbed his fat arm delicately.

"Besides," Hermione had added as they picked up their cases. "We're no longer Hogwarts students. We don't have to worry about being expelled. We can - and will - perform all the magic we find, um, necessary."

Harry had smirked in spite of himself as Uncle Vernon spluttered and blubbered, large fingers clenching his dinner fork and brandishing it like a sword.

Almost two weeks had since passed, and, amidst plans for the near future and discussions over how to best go about these plans, the three had impatiently awaited the day they would receive the owl from Mrs. Weasley notifying them that their transportation would soon arrive to bring them to The Burrow for Bill and Fleur's wedding. The wedding was only about two days away, so an owl was expected sometime that day.

"Rather stuffy in here," Ron muttered for the umpteenth time.

Hermione tutted impatiently. She glanced at Harry - his face was, again, blank and void of emotion. She need not ask to know he was thinking about Dumbledore and about the Horcruxes, or that the object his hand was clenching in his pocket was the fake locket. She sighed. So much had happened so soon.

"And when is that blasted owl going to arrive?" Ron piped up again.

Harry snapped out of his reverie. "Looks like it's arrived," he indicated towards the window where a tawny own had just come to rest, raising a clawed foot to tap on the pane.

Ron scrambled over and opened the window, letting the owl in. It dropped a scroll on the floor, which Ron picked up and read aloud.

"Dearest Harry, Hermione and Ron,

Hope you are all doing well. We at The Burrow have been very busy with plans and preparations for Bill and Fleur's wedding, and so far everything is coming along nicely. Arthur will come for you tomorrow morning, so I suggest you finish packing tonight. We are all looking forward to seeing you soon - Ginny has been rather quiet lately and I don't doubt your arrival will cheer her up.

All my love,

Molly Weasley."

At the mention of Ginny, Harry shuffled slightly and turned a faint pink.

"Alright then!" Ron said happily. "We'll finally be out of here by tomorrow morning."

"I wonder how we'll travel?" Hermione wondered aloud.

"By floo, perhaps," suggested Ron. "Or maybe we'll apparate!"

"Don't be silly Ron, we haven't all passed the test yet."

"There's Side-Along-Apparation," Harry spoke up. "I did it with Dum-" he stopped short, an almost guilty look on his face. "Dumbledore," he finished quietly.

Ron and Hermione exchanged uncomfortable glances and cast down their eyes.

After a moment's pause, Harry heaved a sigh and stood up. "Well I suppose we should pack then, no point in wasting any time."

The other two nodded their agreement and they began to clear up the cluttered mess of books (mostly Hermione's) and clothes scattered about.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

A short, cracking noise interrupted Hermione's dream and she sleepily sat up in bed to find a figure looming by the window as the early morning sun lit up the room.

"Mr. Weasley?" she croaked, squinting.

"Hello, dear!" he beamed at her as he strode over to Harry's bed, where he lay, mouth wide open in comfortable slumber. A simple tap on the shoulder and Harry was sitting upright, dark hair sticking up in all directions, and blinking foggily.

Ron was harder to wake. After a few nudges and "Ron!"'s, Mr. Weasley gave him a particularly hearty shove and Ron rolled off the bed and scrambled up, grumbling about the "early hours of the morning" and "couldn't you have come later?".

It was as Harry had predicted; one by one Mr. Weasley assisted them to the Burrow by means of Side-Along-Apparition. Hermione was first; the uncomfortable sensation of being squeezed through a narrow tube was over just before it became unbearable.

The Burrow was a frenzy of noise and excitement. Mrs. Weasley was bustling about as various bangs and shouts of laughter sounded from Fred and George's room every now and then; Tonks and Lupin were meanwhile helping with the preparations as Ginny ate breakfast.

"Hermione!" Ginny stood up to hug her when she saw her. "How are you? How is...?"

"We're all fine," Hermione reassured her with a warm smile.

"I'm glad you're here. I've been so bored and a little lonely, to be honest."

A cracking noise sounded as Hermione opened her mouth to reply, but Ginny's eyes werefixed on the person behind her.

Harry stared back at her for a moment before stepping forward. They embraced in a tight hug, and Ginny stepped back, grinning.

"Have you guys had breakfast yet?"

"No," came Ron's voice from behind. "But breakfast sounds good." He hugged his sisterbriefly and sat himself down at the table.

Soon after, Mrs. Weasley bustled over, fussing over the three of them and placing plates of sausages, bacon and eggs on the table.

Hermione smiled to herself. It felt good to be there, where everything was lively, happy and high-spirited. It was just what they needed.