Hi all,

Don't worry, this story is not quite over. Sometimes life gets in the way and I can't update as quickly as I'd like.

Thank you so much for the awesome reviews, you guys rock!

Enjoy,

Failte

Ginny watched from her seat at a deserted table as Bill and Fleur spoke with Fleur's aunt and uncle. The reception had been going on for over three hours. A few couples were still dancing while most were partaking in slices of the cake Molly had baked for the wedding, a delicious vanilla cake with layers of strawberries and cream in between. Ginny was part of the latter group as she licked icing off her fork.

"What is that, your third piece?"

She looked up to see Harry standing beside the table, "Second."

He pulled out the chair beside her and lowered himself down, setting his piece of cake in front of him, "I take it its good?"

"Sinfully so."

"Where are Ron and Hermione?"

"Last I saw, they went for a walk down by the pond, holding hands and making googly-eyes at each other."

Harry snorted, almost choking on a bite of cake, "Googly-eyes?"

"Yeah, you know, staring at each other in that sickening, lovey-dovey kinda way that makes other people want to vomit."

"Great. You know, I'm starting to think I'll miss their fighting."

Ginny shook her head, "No you won't. If they hadn't hooked up, they would have eventually exploded from the pent up sexual tension and as much of a prat as he can be, I would miss Ron."

"Did you have to mention sexual tension?" Harry asked, shuddering. "I didn't need that image in my mind."

"Well, I don't think they're down at the pond skipping stones right now."

"Stop it."

"You think they're still both fully clothed?"

Harry gagged on cake and had to push the plate away, "Okay, now I will be sick."

Ginny giggled, "I was wondering how far I would have to go."

"To do what? Make me throw up?"

"Well, maybe not that far, not when you're all dressed up."

"I guess I should thank you for thinking of my dress robes, they weren't cheap."

"Always flaunting your money, aren't you?" She teased.

He blanched at her accusation, "What? No, that's not what I meant."

"I know," Ginny laid a hand on his arm. "I was kidding. You would never do that."

Harry felt the heat from her hand burn through his robe into his arm. He licked his lips nervously and tried to nonchalantly move out of her reach. If she kept touching him, he was very quickly going to lose his resolve and go against what his brain was telling him in order to follow his heart.

Ginny tried not show the insult she felt as he pulled away from her, "So, are you looking forward to your last year at Hogwarts?"

"No."

"Why?"

He fought the urge to tell her everything, to tell her that he, Ron, and Hermione were not going back to Hogwarts. But she would either want to go along or tell her parents. It killed him to think that he couldn't trust her enough with this, at least not yet. The truth was that the three of them hadn't figured out how they were going to tell everyone they were going.

"Harry?"

He snapped out of his thoughts and looked at her, "What?"

"You were a million miles away," she longed to reach out and touch him again, to offer comfort. But she knew he would only pull away again. "What is it?"

"What isn't it?" He asked bitterly. "What is Hogwarts going to be like without Dumbledore? We are at war, no one is safe. I can't exactly go on learning about the History of Magic while people are dying."

"What are you saying?" Ginny asked, tentatively.

Harry flashed her an unconvincing smile, "Nothing, don't worry about it."

"I hate it when you lie to me in order to protect me. You don't have to protect me from anything, Harry."

"I know."

"I can take care of myself."

"I know."

"What is it?"

"Nothing, really. I just…I've been thinking about Dumbledore which…that gets me thinking about Sirius and…" He trailed off.

She knew he was still hiding something from her, but she also knew that pushing him for information would only anger him. Ginny had to try and come up with another way to wheedle the information out of him. Smiling sweetly, she stood and collected their now empty cake plates, "I'm going to run these inside."

"I can do that," he offered, jumping to his feet.

"No, I think you should go find Ron and Hermione before my parents do, or, worse yet, Fred and George." She turned toward the house and hurried inside before she snapped at him. Why won't he talk to me? She thought angrily, setting the plates in the sink where Molly had bewitched two sponges to scrub and two towels to dry before the plates stacked themselves beside the sink.

It was getting late and most of the non-family guests had already left, including Mad-Eye Moody and Kingsley and his wife. Ginny stretched her arms above her head and sighed as she reveled in a moment of silent solitude. It had been a long day, not a difficult one, but a long one.

The present!

Ginny suddenly realized she had left the present she had gotten for Bill and Fleur in her room. Gathering her skirts in her hands, she jogged up the stairs. The carefully wrapped package that held an engraved photo album sat on top of her desk and she let out a sigh of relief. After checking it over to make sure the twins hadn't booby-trapped it or anything, she tucked it under her arm and made her way back down the steps.

"I just don't understand why."

Ginny stopped in the hallway at the sound of a distressed woman.

"Because I have to do something."

She looked around and realized Tonks and Lupin had slipped into the parlor of a private conversation. Ginny knew she shouldn't stand there and she definitely shouldn't be listening, but curiosity overtook proper etiquette and she peered around the doorframe.

Tonks and Lupin stood in front of the empty fireplace. She had her hands resting on his chest, glaring at him pleadingly while Lupin gently cupped her elbows with his hands.

"You have done so much, Kingsley had no right to ask this of you," Tonks said tearfully. "You have gone to the werewolves, you endangered your life…"

"It's my life to endanger," he quipped sharply.

A tear slid from her eye, "Like hell it is! Your life is as important to me as my own. The werewolves aren't going to join us, give up on that. Minerva asked you to come back to Hogwarts to help out there."

"Dora," he reached up and brushed her hair behind her ear before cupping her cheek. "Dumbledore did so much for me, he gave me reason to go on. And where would I be if it hadn't been for Sirius and James? I owe them all so much. As much as I care for you, and I do care for you more than you could know, I have to do this for them."

"What about us?" Her voice was barely a trembling whisper.

"I am doing this for us as well. If I can convince just a couple to join our side, and I believe I am getting close, they can help me recruit more. We need all the help we can get. I…" Lupin hesitated as his voice faltered. "I need to be needed."

"You are," Tonks pleaded, urgently clutching the front of his robes in her hands. "I need you."

"Oh, Dora," he leaned forward and rested his forehead against hers as she sobbed quietly. "I need you too. I need you to be strong for us. I need you to understand that I have to do this. When it is all over, you can yell at and curse me all you want. Just know, my Dora, that now that I have you I have even more reason to fight, more reason to return."

She tilted her head up and searched his face with her wide, wet eyes, "And when this is over, we'll marry?"

Lupin smiled sadly, "Let's see what comes."

"Damnit, Remus, why won't you marry me?"

"Because I don't think you fully comprehend what it would mean to be married to a…a Dark Creature."

Tonks released his robes and slid her hands up to frame his face, "There is nothing dark about you, love, please don't think like that. You are a wonderful, amazing man who has had a spot of bad luck in his life. I love you, Remus, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

The words sat on the tip of his tongue, he wanted to return her words of endearment, but he couldn't. He did love her, with all his heart, but he couldn't give her the words, he couldn't bind his heart to hers when she didn't fully understand what it meant to be completely connected to a man, a creature, like him.

She could read his emotions on his face as clearly as if he spoke the words and she rose on her toes to press her lips to his in a kiss so passionate, so openly full of love that Ginny clasped a hand over her mouth to muffle her gasp.

Ginny jumped back and stood with her back pressed to the wall, tears on her cheeks and her body shaking. Why is all this happening? Why can't they just be together? Why can't two people who are so much in love just be together? Damn Voldemort! Damn him for what he is doing and what he has taken from all of us!

Brimming with newfound strength and determination, Ginny took a deep breath and wiped her cheeks dry with a towel in the kitchen before returning to the dwindling party outside. She walked over to where Bill and Fleur were standing with Fleur's parents and held the package out to them.

"I got this for you and then I left it upstairs by accident," she explained. "I want you to know that I love you Bill and, Fleur, any woman who my brother loves as much as he loves you will forever be a sister to me. I hope you both have all the happiness you deserve."

Bill stood, dumbstruck, holding the present in his hands. He thought he was used to his younger sister's outbursts, they were sometimes angry, sometimes sweet, but always heartfelt.

"Oh, Ginny," Fleur gasped, tears rushing to her eyes. "You are so sweet! I 'ope we can be friends, truly friends!"

The two of them embraced and Bill watched, feeling something wonderful swell up inside him. It meant the world to him to know that his mother and sister, two of the three most important women in his life, accepted Fleur into the family. Without a word, he threw his arm around Ginny's shoulders and pulled her against him in a tight hug.

"I love you, you little brat," he whispered into her hair.

"I love you too, you big git," Ginny replied, a hopeful tremor in her voice.

Harry slipped from the lit area of the reception and into the twilight of the evening. It was beautiful, without a cloud in the sky and a warm breeze danced in and around the trees and bushes. He found comfort in the gentle rustling sound and the peace he always had when visiting the Burrow. He was home.

He was near Ginny.

At that thought, Harry's feet stopped moving and he ran a hand through his tousled hair. For the first time since he had arrived earlier in the day, he felt as though he could really breathe. His heart wasn't racing at the sight of her, his breath wasn't caught by the nearness of her, and his hands weren't shaking with the need to touch her. And as good as it felt to calm down a bit, the loss of not being with her caused a bit of pain to his soul. It was a confusing, somewhat scary, place to be caught.

I wonder if she will still be here if I come back, he thought as he continued his stroll toward the lake. I wonder if she would still want me. I broke up with her, I know she understood, but will she continue to understand? And when it is all over, if I come back, what will I have to offer her?

So lost in his thoughts, Harry didn't even realize he had stumbled upon Ron and Hermione's private tête-à-tête until he was right beside them. Much to his relief, the two of them were not reenacting Ron and Lavender's behavior from earlier in the year. Instead, they were leaning against a tree trunk, sitting so close their bodies touched, holding hands, and talking quietly.

"Oy, Harry, you okay?" Ron called out cheerfully.

"What? Oh, uh, yeah. How're you guys doing?" He mumbled, walking toward them.

Hermione smiled softly, "We're great."

Ron's cheeks turned pink and he smiled down at her.

Harry felt like he was invading on a very personal moment. This had been a long time coming and over the past two years, he had been tempted to lock them both in a broom closet until they finally admitted their feelings for each other, and now that it had finally happened, he was thrilled for them, but at the same time he felt like a third wheel.

Am I being selfish if I'm worried about how their new relationship is going to affect our friendship? He wondered as he shifted his eyes over to watch the setting sun reflect in the water of the pond. Or worse yet, how will it affect our mission?

"Harry?"

He shook himself from his reverie at the sound of Hermione calling his name, "Yeah?"

"Have you decided how we're going to tell everyone we're leaving?"

He shrugged, "Not really. I was hoping we could just slip out, maybe leave a note."

Ron jumped to his feet, "We can't do that! It would kill my Mum, we have to sit them all down and explain to them that we're leaving."

"It's not often Ron is the voice of reason," Hermione teased as she stood.

"Hey, you have to be nice to me now," he chided her.

"Why?"

"Because you're my girlfriend," his face darkened as he said that out loud for the first time.

She smiled, pleased with his declaration, "But if I was nice to you all the time, you would get bored with me pretty quickly."

"True. Okay, you just have to be nicer to me."

"Hm, okay, I guess I can do that."

Harry cleared his throat, once again starting to feel like the odd one out. "I don't want them to try and talk us out of it."

"I'm sure they won't try and talk you out of it," Ron assured him. "You have to do this."

"But you guys don't."

Hermione laid a hand on his arm, "Harry, we're going with you, you are not going alone and no one is going to talk us out of it. I promise."

Ron nodded, "And if they do try, then we'll sneak out and leave them a note."

Harry smirked.

"Have you talked to Ginny about it yet?" She asked him gently.

He shook his head, "I figured we would tell her when we told the others."

"No, Harry, Ginny still cares a great deal for you, I think this is something you have to tell her personally."

"She'll want to go with us."

"She can't," Ron said sternly. "And if you can't tell her, I will."

Harry nodded slowly, "I guess you're right."

"When're you thinking we should go?" Ron asked.

Harry shrugged, "I don't know, the sooner the better I guess."

"I don't think we should tell them tonight," Hermione advised. "Today has been such a wonderful day for the family, let's not spring this on them now. Let Bill and Fleur enjoy their wedding night without any worries."

"We'll tell them tomorrow then, after supper," Harry decided. "Then we'll decide when to head out."

Hermione slipped her hand into Ron's, thrilling when his fingers tightened around hers. "We should head back, I'm sure Bill and Fleur want to head out and we should say goodbye to them."

"Where are they going?" Harry asked.

"Their apperating tonight to an inn just outside London, they'll be back tomorrow. Bill said they'll go for a real honeymoon later, after…" Ron trailed off.

The other two nodded in understanding.

They walked back up the yard in silence. Ron and Hermione enjoying their new found love and Harry wondering just where his place was now.

The crowd had greatly diminished. Molly and Arthur sat at one the tables with Fleur's parents, Charlie, Gabrielle, and Odette. Fred was flirting with Adrienne while George was no where to be seen. Bill and Fleur were sitting at another table talking to Molly's parents.

"Where have you guys been?" Ginny asked, appearing beside them.

"Why is it any of your business?" Ron snapped as only a brother can snap at a sister.

She scowled at him, "Bill and Fleur want to go, but they wanted to say good bye to everyone and Mum keeps putting it off, hoping Percy will still show up."

"I hope he doesn't, the great prat," Ron mumbled.

Ginny sighed and crossed her arms, "Just about everyone else has left. Miranda wanted to say goodbye to you but when I told her you had sneaked off with your girlfriend, she got really upset."

Hermione giggled.

Ron tugged sharply at her hand to try and shut her up. "It's still early, why did everyone go?"

"No one likes to be far from home these days," Ginny explained. "And a lot of people, like Moody and Kingsley and Tonks, have to work in the morning."

"All right, come on 'Mione, let's go say good bye to Bill and Fleur."

"'Mione?" Harry whispered when the two of them were out of earshot.

Ginny giggled, "I guess it could be worse."

"I swear, the first time he says something like Pookie or Sweetiepie, I am going to knock him out."

"I only hope I'm there to see it," she said.

"If not, I'll make sure Hermione takes a picture of it."

"Thanks."

An uncomfortable silence hung heavy around them as Harry looked everywhere but at her and Ginny studied him with great curiosity.

"Harry?" She whispered.

He looked down at her, "What?"

"We need to talk."