Two nights after Hagrid had encountered Harry in the forbidden forest, Ron and Hermione sat together in the Gryffindor common room trying to study for a big Charms test. Several times, Hermione nudged Ron to bring his attention back to his book, but Ron found it impossible to concentrate. He just had too much on his mind.

Ron slammed his Charms book and tossed it on to the table before he said, "It's no use 'mione. I just can't stop worrying about Ginny. I feel like I should do something for her."

"I think you've done enough already, Ron," Hermione said a bit more accusingly then she had meant to.

"You're not still on about that are you?" Ron asked. "I didn't know what else to do. It was the only thing I could think of, aside from chaining her up down in the dungeons, to stop her from running into the forest to look for him herself."

"Well, that it did," Hermione admitted, "but since you gave her that map she hasn't done a thing but sit in her room and stare at it in hopes that Harry is just going to walk out of the forest. She'll go mad if she doesn't find some way to get her mind off of it."

"I know," Ron said. "Harry could have made it to the other side of the forest and then taken off to anywhere in the world. He may never come back."

"Don't you dare say anything like that in front of Ginny," Hermione said as she closed her own book with a bit of force and glared at him. "Hope is the only thing she has left right now. It won't do anyone any good if you take that away from her."

"I'm not going to say anything to her about it," Ron said. "How long do you think it will take her to figure it out on her own though? She's a smart girl, Hermione. Somewhere deep down, she already knows that he may not come back. It's only a matter of time before she'll have to admit it. If I ever get my hands on him for what he's done to her…"

"You'll wrap your arms around him and cry like a baby, Ron," Hermione said. "I know that you miss him almost as much as she does. I feel the same way. We all love him, and we're all worried about him."

Ginny sat on her bed and wiped tear after tear from her face as she stared at the Marauder's map that lay open in front of her. Little footprints scurried here and there within the castle, but she took no notice of them. Her concentration was locked on the part of the map that showed the edge of the Forbidden Forest. She had sat staring at it almost continually since the previous evening when Ron had given it to her. It had momentarily given her hope that she would see Harry's name suddenly appear walking out of the forest, but a sleepless night and another day of watching had dulled that hope considerably.

Ginny took a moment to wipe away the wetness that had become a constant on her face of late, and was just about to give in to her need for food when she saw a single set of footprints suddenly emerge from the edge of the forest. Hagrid had returned. She watched intently for Harry to appear just behind him, but by the time Hagrid had made it half way to his cabin, she knew that he had returned alone.

Hagrid had either not found Harry, or he had found him only to have Harry refuse to come back. Ginny didn't know which, but, her need for food forgotten, she decided to go and find out for herself. She was just about to draw her wand to deactivate the map, when she noticed that Hagrid stopped for several seconds at the door to his cabin. A few seconds later her heart nearly burst as she saw another set of footprints.

"Maybe you should see if she wants to go down and get something to eat," Ron said.

"I guess I could try," Hermione said. "She'll probably just ask me to bring something up for her again though."

Hermione didn't even have a chance to stand up as she and Ron watched Ginny jump down the last few steps into the common room, and run straight trough the portrait hole holding the map in her hand.

"Oh no!" Ron exclaimed as he stood up. "She's trying to make a break for it. We have to stop her before she can get to the forest."

Ginny ran as fast as she could out of the castle and down to Hagrid's cabin. She was out of breath as she climbed the steps to his front door and knocked loudly. She could hear movement inside, and she could tell that there was a delay before Hagrid opened the door.

"Ginny…" Hagrid said as she squeezed past him into his cabin.

Ginny looked around wildly as she asked, "Where is he, Hagrid? I know he's here somewhere. I saw him on the map."

"Don' know wha yer talkin'…" Hagrid began to say.

"It's alright Hagrid," Harry said as he stepped into view.

Ginny caught sight of Harry and immediately ran to him and wrapped her arms around him tightly. They hugged in silence for several seconds, and were not even distracted by another knock on the door.

"Open the door, Hagrid," Ron said. "We saw Ginny run in there. Let us in."

"Keep it down," Hagrid said as he opened the door and let Ron and Hermione in before he closed it and locked it once more.

"Harry…" Ron whispered in surprise as he and Hermione stood and watched as Harry and Ginny continued to hug one another.

"Are you alright?" Ginny asked softly.

"I'm much better now," Harry answered just as softly. "Ginny, I'm…"

"It doesn't matter now, Harry," Ginny said, cutting him off. "Just please promise me that you'll never leave again without taking me with you."

"I promise," Harry said. "I was such a fool for leaving you behind. I thought it was the best thing to do, and I ended up hurting both of us more than I ever imagined possible. I might as well have cut out my own heart."

"I know what you mean," Ginny whispered. "I'm so glad you're back."

Another knock at the door made them all jump. Hagrid unlocked the door and peaked out before opening it wider and saying, "Sorry 'bout tha' Professor Dumbledore."

"No need to apologize, Hagrid," Dumbledore said as he stepped inside. "A measure of caution is always a good idea. I see that you have quite a bit of company, Hagrid."

"A fair bit," Hagrid responded as he looked over his guests.

"I'm glad to see that you made it back without running into anyone from the ministry, Harry," Dumbledore said.

"Actually, we did once, Professor," Harry said keeping an arm around Ginny's shoulder. "Salisis warned us that there was one of them ahead of us and I hid under the back of Hagrid's coat until we were well past him."

"Salisis?" Dumbledore asked.

"He's the black winged tree serpent that I met in my tutoring session with Hagrid," Harry said.

"I see," Dumbledore said. "It would seem that it is good to have friends in the forest."

"I would say so," Harry said. "Including those that come into the forest to make you see just how stupid you're being."

"Now don' say tha', Harry," Hagrid said. "Magorian 'ad more ta do with makin' ya come 'ome than I did."

"So, you ran into centaurs as well," Dumbledore said. "They are not a race that is easy to get along with, much less make friends with."

"I don't know that we're really what you would call friends," Harry said. "He wanted me out of the forest as much or more than he did Hagrid. I would say that all of my best friends are here with me now though. I'm sorry for what I put all of you through."

"We're just glad to have you back, mate," Ron said.

"Will the ministry let him stay once they find out he's back, Professor?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know that they have much choice," Dumbledore said. "Draco has flatly refused to press any complaint against Harry. The most they can really do in this case is give him a verbal reprimand."

"I can't believe that Malfoy didn't take his chance to get rid of Harry," Ron said. "He's hated him since our first year."

"Hate is a powerful emotion," Dumbledore said. "It is a very difficult thing to overcome it. Perhaps Mr. Malfoy isn't your enemy after all."

"I doubt that we'll be having lunches together," Harry said, "but I guess I should apologize for what I did to him."

"I believe Mr. Malfoy is in the Great Hall eating dinner now," Dumbledore said.

"Great," Ginny said. "I'm starving. I'm not about to let Harry out of my sight for a while anyway, so I'll make sure he gets there."

"I'm sure you will," Dumbledore said with a knowing grin.

When the four Gryffindors walked into the Great Hall, a glance down the Slytherin table told them that Malfoy was no longer among his house mates.

"I'm not surprised he's not here really," Hermione said.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"Cassidy is here," Hermione responded. "He's been avoiding her all week long. He even made Madam Pomfrey keep her out of the hospital wing when she went there to see if he was alright."

Harry walked over to Cassidy, and she looked up at him and said, "Welcome back, Harry. You had us all worried to death."

"Sorry about that," Harry responded. "I don't expect to be taking any more trips anytime soon. Listen, I know it's probably a bad thing to ask you, but do you know how long ago it was that Draco left?"

"Just a couple of minutes ago," Cassidy responded. "At least it wasn't me that made him run out of here this time anyway. He got a howler. I think he ran off to find somewhere to open it."

"Thanks," Harry said as he turned to leave the Great Hall.

"I told Professor Dumbledore I would be keeping an eye on you, Harry," Ginny said. "I'll just go along and help you find him."

"I promise I'm not going to run off again," Harry said. "I think it would be a better idea if you stayed here with Ron and Hermione."

"But, Harry," Ginny said, "you know what happened the last time you two talked to each other."

"I'm going to apologize for that when I see him," Harry said. "I'm not going to pick a fight with him. Now, run along. You said yourself that you were hungry. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Ginny didn't like it, but she stood still while Harry turned and walked away from the Great Hall. She waited until he had turned a corner before she quickly began to follow him. With any luck, he would never know that she was spying on him. It was for his own good after all.

Harry didn't have a clear destination in mind once he left the Great Hall. As he walked, he tried to reason out where Malfoy would have gone to open a howler. He would have gotten as far away from the Great Hall as possible. Harry briefly thought that he may have gone down to the dungeons, but realized he wouldn't have wanted to take the chance of running into any of his fellow Slytherin on the way. It would have to be somewhere out of the way where few people would be likely to end up after classes had ended for the day.

Harry could think of only one place that was fresh in his mind for such a thing. He had been there recently for his Potions test. There was always the chance that he was mistaken, and that Malfoy had not put as much thought into his escape from prying ears. As he got nearer to the hallway he was looking for, Harry could make out the sounds of a very angry woman yelling something he couldn't quite make out.

"…A DIGRACE TO THE FAMILY NAME!" the voice screamed. "I DON'T KNOW WHAT COULD HAVE POSSIBLY BEEN RUNNING THROUGH THAT LITTLE BRAIN OF YOURS! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO TELL YOUR FATHER THAT YOU REFUSED TO DEAL A BLOW TO A SWORN ENEMY TO THIS FAMILY? FIRST THE MUDBLOOD GIRLFRIEND AND NOW THIS! YOU ARE THE BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT THIS FAMILY HAS EVER KNOWN NEXT TO THE BLOOD TRAITOR BLACK! JUST WAIT UNTIL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, DRACO! YOU'LL WISH YOU HAD NEVER BEEN BORN!"

There was a short silence before Harry heard the unmistakable sound of paper ripping. He took another step and looked around the corner to find Draco standing there with is back partially to him. Harry walked closer, not sure if he was doing the right thing by invading Draco's privacy at that moment.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, Malfoy turned quickly to see through his tears that Harry was walking toward him, and asked, "What are you doing here, Potter? Did you come to gloat over the trouble you've caused for me?"

"I'm sorry, Draco," Harry said. "That isn't why I came at all. I was looking for you for another reason, and I couldn't help but overhear."

"What?" Draco asked. "Did you want to invade my mind and cause me more pain?"

"Actually," Harry said, "I came here to apologize for doing that the first time. I was so upset that I couldn't control myself then, but that was no excuse for me to do that to you. I'm really sorry."

"As well you should be," Malfoy said. "I have bigger things to worry about than you right now though, so just leave me alone."

"You could always make those problems disappear," Harry said. "All you had to do was file a complaint against me. You didn't though. I don't know why. You can still get back into your mum's good graces if you tell them you've had a change of heart."

"Why would you want me to do that?" Draco asked, confused.

"Because it would be the easiest thing for you to do," Harry said. "Besides, I would deserve whatever I got as a punishment. I wouldn't hold it against you."

"Forget it," Draco said. "I'm not going to do anything to ease your conscience for you."

"I thought it might ease yours," Harry said.

"As touching as that is," Draco said as he walked past Harry, "I have an essay to write for transfiguration."

"Draco," Harry said, making Malfoy stop at the corner. "Thanks."

Malfoy stared ahead of him in silence for several seconds before he said in a more gentle tone, "I never knew, Harry. I never knew."

"I know," Harry responded softly. "I never intended to show it to you."

"But you did," Draco said.

"Yes," Harry said.

Several more seconds passed, and as neither of them could think of anything else that needed to be said, Malfoy continued to walk away. As he rounded the corner, he caught sight of yet another person who was listening to his private business. He forced himself not to look at her as he continued on down the hallway and turned out of sight.

"Are you alright?" Ginny asked as she walked around the corner.

"I thought I told you to stay in the Great Hall," Harry said with a grin.

"It must be the red hair," Ginny said as she wrapped her arms around him. "It makes me very stubborn sometimes."

"I'll have the rest of my life to learn that lesson," Harry said. "I feels so good to be back home."