As they emmerged, spluttering and in pain (they'd found out the hard way that the Floo network was not meant for two people to travel simultaneously within it) Harry quickly, yet reluctantly, let go of her hand. He'd ended it. He'd had to, for her safety. He couldn't just pretend that he hadn't. Ginny squeezed his arm slightly,and with a grim smile turned, flecks of ash still fixed in her hair, and strode up the stairs without another word. He watched her miserably, before jumping as he realised someone was next to him.
"Er... hello, Harry dear-" Mrs.Weasley wore the same warm smile fixed upon her face as usual, but it was mingled with a look of confusion he'd never seen before. Her eye's flickered to where his had been- watching Ginny dissapear. She gazed sharply back at the look that was still (guiltily) on Harry's face and her eyebrows shot up in suprise. To his relief however, whatever she had realised, she kept her mouth firmly shut on the matter- and within seconds was forcing soup down his throat with several alarmed observations on how thin he was looking.
"Ofcourse, I was somewhat... suprised when Ginny came to me at four in the morning and insisted she collected you- she was quite-ah, insistant- on the matter-" she glanced at Harry as she spoke, who briefly met her eyes then fixed them upon his soup, cheeks blazing. This seemed to confirm her ideas, and she swelled in emotion, a combination of happy yet anxious tears floated momentarily in the lids of her eyes before she croakily asked:
"well, ham pie for lunch?" He was about to nod when a stampede of soft clunks on the stairs meant someone was about to join them. Ron settled into a chair nearby, grinning- "only just found out you'd got here mate. Honestly, Ginny waited til she'd had a shower before she told m-"
He stopped abruptly and stared tentively at Harry. Apparently he'd heard about the breakup. Harry shifted uncomfortably in his seat, coughed slightly and said in a too-cheerful-to-be-genuine voice, "you've been busy then I supose, preparing for the wedding?"
Thankfully, this small question resulted in a fifteen-minute rant from Mrs.Weasley on how much there was to be done, and by the time she'd finished Ron had obviously forgotten about Ginny and offered to heaveHarry's trunk upstairs. He'd reached perhaps the third step when he stopped, staring up the creaking stairs. The trunk slipped, burst open and a strange orange liquid in Harry's potions kit made his old transfiguration book explode. Harry gazed disparingly up at Ron as his tranfigurations book curled in the flames, but Ron only gave a small apologetic laugh, and moved quickly to allow Hermione to walk past. Her eyessoon settled on the mess beneath her.
"Oh Ron, honestly!" and with a quick flick of her wand Harry's socks wizzed past him and firmly settled back into his trunk, closely followed by his other items until it was more tidily packed than when he'd done it himself.
"Must have tripped, I guess-" Ron muttered, forgot about Harry's trunk entirely and began to stroll casually up the stairs, glancing back once at Hermione as she shut the latch on Harry's trunk with a slightly smug look on her face. Sighing, Harry pulled his things up on his own shoulder and began, puffing and panting, to haul them up himself. With Hermione's help they managed to reach thesecond floor before they collapsed, exhausted.
"You know," she said thoughtfully, once she'd caught her breath. "He's been so odd since I've arrived. Ron, I mean. Maybe it's just stress about the wedding, don't you think?" Although she gave him a strange look, as if she wanted him to provide a completely different reason. He shrugged, and with a slight frown she continued, "Well, Ginny seemed to think so anyway, she said-"
Another abrupt pause followed, as Hermione unvoluntarily clamped her hands around her mouth and looked sympathetically at Harry. There was silence for a good many moments.
"Suppose we should have another go atgetting thetrunk up?" Harry finally said, his voice strangelyhigh-pitched and casual. With a hasty nod,shepulled at it once more, looking unenthusiastically at the two other flights of stairs they had yet to conquer.
Ok, I wasn't planning ending this here, because (yet again!) it's really short and isn't exactly a good place to end- but I just wanted to say a huge thanks for the reviews I've received so far!
Rogue Leader, you're completely right- I've always been useless at spelling, but I'll look out for it- thanks!