"For the hundredth time, Harry!" sighed Hermione in irritation, "I don't know who R.A.B. is! And to be quite honest I think you're being a little obsessive about it!"

Harry frowned. Obsessive was a light term for Harry's new-found hobby of brooding for hours about the Horcruxes. The fact that it had already been a week since Dumbledore's departure and Harry still hadn't had any luck with a Horcrux was eating him alive. Every second that didn't have to do with finding Voldemort and destroying him was a second wasted, in Harry's opinion. Now things like food, sleep, and even friendly conversation were pointless. The past two days he'd spent in the Burrow had done little to lift his spirits, as he had hoped. Instead, seeing his friends happy made him all the more determined to fight to keep them that way, though the fact that they were now able to do magic out of school definitely made a difference.

Harry had expected life to suddenly become a lot easier once he'd turned seventeen. He imagined never having to lift a finger again, because he could simply do whatever he needed with his wand. That didn't necessarily work out all the time, though. For instance, being able to summon things across the room was convenient, but by the time he had hit Ron, Hermione, and Ginny with a few objects as they zoomed towards him, he realized that it was really much easier to just get up and get it himself.

Realizing that Hermione had been waiting for a response, he brought his gaze away from the morning sunlight streaming through an open window to her anxious face.

"Listen, Hermione, it's the only way I can destroy Voldemort," he said resolutely, slowly bringing his thoughts back to their earlier conversation.

"Well, sometimes when I'm working on an essay, I find it necessary to take a break, otherwise I get stressed and it shows in the essay. Maybe if you take a step back, the answers will come to you," she said lightly before going back to her book.

"Somehow I don't think writing an essay and saving the world are quite the same thing," Ginny said, who was currently sitting on Ron's bed playing with Arnold, the Pygmy Puff. Hermione shrugged.

"I think Hermione's got a point," Ron said, uncharacteristically defending her. She blushed crimson at this realization. Ron blushed too, though gave a grin. Harry and Ginny shared a look they found themselves sharing more and more over the past two days. It was a look of amusement, mixed with a slight bit of jealousy.

It had finally happened, Harry decided. Though he had known it for quite sometime, Hermione and Ron had finally realized that they were meant for each other. His fears that things would be different around him were somewhat right, though not to an unbearable extent. In fact, it could hardly be called a change. The only difference was the occasional awkward silence, like this one, and every now and then they could be caught holding hands or some other absurd gesture of affection.

Each time Harry saw something like that, his eyes always seemed to twist the scene around so that instead of Ron and Hermione holding hands, or sharing an affectionate glance, it was Ginny and himself. His heart clenched at the unfairness of it all. But he knew in his heart that distancing himself from Ginny as much as possible was necessary to keep her safe.

"Harry?" Hermione interjected. Harry looked up quickly, but not before catching Ginny's gaze again. She was looking forlorn, as though she knew what he was thinking.

"Yeah, I agree," he said automatically. He stood up.

"Harry, what…"

"I'm going to go and have some breakfast," and without looking again at Ginny, he stormed from the room, breathing hard. Living in the same universe without her was bad enough, but in the same house? He massaged his scar, as it twinged slightly. He ignored it, as always, and went down the steps into the kitchen two at a time.

"Harry dear!" said a beaming Mrs. Weasley. She bustled over to him, having lost more weight than ever. One could almost call her skinny. Her cheeks were pink from the heat of the stove she had previously been hovering over. "I trust you slept well?"

"Yeah, yeah fine, thanks," he said, noticing that they weren't the only ones in the room. Remus Lupin was sitting at the wooden kitchen table looking gaunt and destitute. His ragged clothes were made even more so by the worn look on his world-weary face. He pasted a grin on his lips and gave Harry a nod.

"Morning, Harry," he said sleepily. Harry sat down across from him. "How've you been handling everything?" Harry knew what he was really asking about and gave a shrug. He didn't want to think about Dumbledore, as cruel as it sounded.

"Nothing I haven't been through before," he said rather harshly. The kitchen grew silent, and Harry regretted those words. "I'm doing fine," he amended quickly, "you?"

"Oh, you know…" Lupin said, taking a large swig of coffee instead of answering. The truth was that Harry didn't know, though he dared not ask. "I hear you're more than just a student at Hogwarts, this year," he said, his eyes twinkling somewhat.

"Yeah," Harry said, as Mrs. Weasley sent a plate and fork zooming out of the cupboard and onto the table in front of him.

"If you ever need any pointers on teaching, let me know," he said comfortingly. "Though I'm sure you've been through much more than I have…. Most likely still more to come, too. McGonagall says you won't be able to teach there full time. She says you'll be busy."

"Yeah. Yeah that's true," Harry muttered, a slight blush creeping up his face. He had never felt more isolated. He hadn't told Mrs. Weasley or Lupin about the Horcruxes, yet he was reminded of that fact every time they looked curiously at him. They never asked the question out loud, but there could be no doubting their wanting to know. "Where's Mr. Weasley?" Harry asked Mrs. Weasley, trying to stave off Lupin's suspicious stare.

"Oh, here and there," she said lightly, flouncing over and pouring bits of bacon and eggs onto his plate. Harry took that to mean he was doing something for the Order, and didn't question her further. "But don't worry. He'll be here in time for the wedding tomorrow."

"About that, Molly," Lupin said nervously. "I don't think-"

"You're coming, Remus," Mrs. Weasley said sternly, before he could finish. She was now gazing at him with a pointed stare, and Harry found himself unsure of what it was all about. Why didn't Lupin want to go to the wedding?

"She won't want to come with me…" he said, shaking his head. Mrs. Weasley rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips in exasperation.

"She's told you a hundred times, Remus! She loves you for who you are!" she said impatiently, brandishing a spatula at him. When Lupin still looked unsure, she gave a sigh. "You don't have to go with her as a date, but at least come. Bill would be crushed if you didn't!"

Lupin seemed to be thinking this over, but finally gave a resigned nod. "Of course…. Of course I'll be there," he said, almost sounding ashamed of himself. Then he became aware of Harry staring intensely at the pair of them, trying to understand their cryptic conversation. His cheeks reddened, and he took another large gulp of coffee, and began to choke on it. "Alright, Molly. I'll be off now. See you…at the wedding," he coughed, standing up abruptly. "Harry," he said in a rushed farewell, and before Harry could reply, he was out the door.

"What was all that about?" Harry asked, nonplussed. Mrs. Weasley gave a small smile.

"Tonks," she explained. Harry gave a sound of realization.

"She won't go with him, as his date?" he asked.

"Just the opposite!" Mrs. Weasley said shaking her head. "Eat up," she added, noticing Harry still hadn't touched his food. He quickly stuffed an entire sausage into his mouth.

"Why?" he asked through a mouthful of food. Mrs. Weasley smiled fondly, and then tilted her head to the side, beginning to consider. "Remus really doesn't believe himself worthy of her. Because he's a werewolf. He thinks she would be miserable with him."

"But if she's already told him, shouldn't he understand?" Harry said confused. Mrs. Weasley shrugged and turned back to her cooking.

"That's what we've been telling him! He refuses to listen," she said simply. "Oh well, maybe the wedding tomorrow will bring him to his senses. I think everything will turn out quite well, don't you know. Bill's ecstatic." She seemed eager to be off the subject of Lupin and Tonks, and Harry decided not to push it.

"Uh, where will this wedding be?" he said, surprised he hadn't asked that the moment he'd seen Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh, well it's going to be outside of this lovely little cottage. I've only seen pictures mind you, as it's quite a distance away. But really lovely, yes. Fleur's parents are arranging everything, thank goodness," she said with a small laugh.

"Will my green dress-robes be appropriate, do you think?" Harry asked uncertainly having never been to a wedding, let alone a wizard one.

"Oh, they're fine. In fact, I've got them all ready to be ironed, with the other's," she said, but gave a screech and leapt back from the stove. Harry jumped up, his wand out, but found that his only threat was a large grey bird was now lying in the pan of sizzling bacon.

"Accio owl," Harry said, and the owl quickly flew from the pan into his outstretched hand. He gave a small laugh as the bird looked blearily up at him. He recognized it as the Weasley's old and nearly unreliable bird, Errol. There were four letters in his beak, and Harry relieved the creature of them quickly, and set the bird on the table.

"Poor thing," Mrs. Weasley said, shaking her head. "I wish we could get another one, but money is so tight these days…" she trailed off. "Those will be your Hogwarts Letters, I suppose?"

"Yeah," Harry muttered blandly, taken aback by the jerky, rigid handwriting of Professor McGonagall. He would never see Dumbledore's loopy, artistic letters again. He took the one addressed to him and shoved it in his pocket. "I'll just…I'll just give these to the others…" he said stiffly, and was quite aware of Mrs. Weasley's pitying glance on his retreating back as he hurried up the steps.

Passing down the hallways, he went into Ron's bedroom, where he had last seen them all, and without knocking, pushed open the door. His eyes widened at the sight that met his eyes. The room was not filled with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny's animated chatting, but complete and total silence except for a particular slurping noise that Harry crinkled his nose at.

Either Ron and Hermione had had their worst fight yet and had finally decided to settle the match by biting each other's faces off, or they were encompassed in a compassionate kiss. Harry was leaning towards the latter. They both looked over at the sound of the door hitting the opposite wall.

"Uhhh…er…well, I'll just be in the other room…then…" Harry said uncertainly. Then he gave a huge blink and shut the door as though against a heard of rhinos. He walked silently into Ginny's room, where she was sitting on her bed, staring blankly at the wall with the same horrified expression Harry wore. He sat beside her.

"I suppose you found them, too?" she asked without looking over.

"Yeah," Harry said with a nod.

"Unexpected?"

"Yeah."

"Wanna kiss me?"

"Yeah," Harry said the word without thinking. Then he looked over at her, and saw her staring intently at him. "Yeah…" he repeated, except this time with a longing in his voice. Slowly they were leaning towards each other, and it took all of Harry's self-control to pull away. "NO!"

"What?" Ginny said, surprised. Harry threw his head in his hands, breathing deeply.

"We can't! They'll find out…they'll hurt you because of me!" he whispered. Ginny took his hands away from his face.

"Nobody will know, Harry," she whispered. Harry closed his eyes, still shaking his head.

"There is only one person in the world I care about more than anything else," he whispered, looking around as though expecting to see a Death Eater with his ear pressed against the window. "That person is you, Ginny. You are the key to my destruction."

Ginny gave a sigh and sat back. "You really know how to charm a girl," she said. "I think that's the first time I've been called the key to somebody's destruction."

"Well, it's not a good thing, trust me," Harry said dryly. Ginny nodded, and they sat there in silence for a long time. Neither looked at the other, but was content to be in each other's presence.

"So I guess I should go now?" Ginny asked softly. Harry nodded.

"I guess you should," he said through gritted teeth. Ginny stood up slowly, but before she made it to the door, Harry's head shot up. He couldn't help it. He had to have her.

"I'm leaving now," Ginny said, even as she walked towards him. Harry stood up from the bed and met her in the middle. He wrapped his arms hungrily around her waist, pulling her closer. Ginny, meanwhile, made good use of her hands by trailing her fingers through his unruly black hair.

"You should definitely leave," Harry said, slightly out of breath, yet he pressed his mouth against hers once more.

"I couldn't agree more," Ginny answered, driving her lips and tongue a little too expertly. Hours must have passed before finally Harry had the sense to pull away. Breathing deeply, he shared a grin with Ginny. He couldn't help it; he leaned in for one more, chaste kiss, though he shook his head.

"That was a mistake," he whispered looking down into her shining face. "That should never happen again…."

"Never?" Ginny asked with a small smile. Harry couldn't help but return it.

"Are you quite finished?" said Ron's voice from the door. Both Ginny and Harry spun around. Ron and Hermione had pushed the door open in a reenactment of Harry's earlier mistake. They all looked around uncomfortably, until finally they all burst into gales of laughter. Before long the room was filled with eye rolling, blushes, and electricity.

"Here, I've got our Hogwarts letters," Harry said, handing them out. As he did so, he noticed that his and Ron's were slightly larger than Hermione's or Ginny's. He opened it and read:

Dear Mr. Potter,

You have been accepted into the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Your ability to teach and maintain classes will determine the scores of both O.W.L.'s and N.E.W.T.'s. The job of a teacher therefore must not be taken lightly, which is why it has been placed in your worthy hands. Your teaching days will include Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Since there is a shortage of students this year, you will be teaching many double-classes, in which same-year students of different houses will attend the same lessons. An exact schedule of these classes can be found on a separate piece of paper. I look forward to our next meeting at the beginning of September. Sincerely

Minerva McGonagall,

Headmistress

Harry searched through the envelope, and pulled out another piece of parchment. Just like the previous letter had said, it was his teaching schedule. His stomach tightened up slightly at the thought of teaching, not only Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs, but Slytherins. After disregarding this parchment, he noticed that there was still something left in the envelope. Pulling it out, he began to read again:

Dear Harry Potter,

It has come to our attention that you have recently come of age in our wizarding world. You, therefore, will be required to take an Apparition skills test at 2:00, on the 23rd of August. You will need no equipment, only a parent/guardian and a certificate of birth. To find a location nearest you, please contact our friendly staff members at fireplace 220 of the "In a Snap" Apparition License Bureau. We will receive your owl no later than the 13th. Best Wishes

Hester Johanson,

Head of Apparition Testing

Harry had barely finished reading it, than an excited squeal met his ears. He looked up quickly at Hermione, who was holding a large badge in her head with the inscription, "Head Girl," written on it in gold.

"Big surprise," Ron muttered, though he was smiling.

"Oh, I can't believe it! This is so wonderful!" Hermione cooed. Then her eyes snapped to Harry. "Harry…did you get…are you…"

"I'm not Head Boy, if that's what you mean. Ernie MacMillan is, though," he informed a crestfallen Hermione. Both Ron and Ginny looked affronted.

"McGonagall didn't make you Head Boy!" Ginny said in outrage. "After all that stuff you've done!"

"She offered it," Harry said quickly. "I declined!"

"You…declined?" Hermione gasped, as though she couldn't understand how it was humanly possible for him to do this. Harry shrugged.

"Hermione, not only do I have to find those Horcruxes, but I'm a teacher now too!" he said exasperatedly. Her eyes brightened as she remembered he was a teacher.

"I suppose it would be a little overwhelming," she admitted. "Still, nice to know you could have been had you wanted, isn't it?" she asked comfortingly. Harry nodded.

"I suppose so," he said. "Hey, did you get your Apparition notice?" he asked Ron, who he remembered had failed his last test. Ron turned pink and nodded. Harry noticed Ginny hiding a smile.

"Ginny!" Hermione gasped suddenly, looking at the envelope Ginny had set aside. Ginny raised her eyebrows.

"What is it?" she asked, taking the envelope and looking at it. Hermione snatched it from her and emptied its contents. A Prefect's badge fell into her hands. They all looked at Ginny. "What?" she said defensively.

"Way to go, Ginny!" Harry said warmly. Ginny frowned.

"Not really," she said grouchily, taking the badge from Hermione's hands and stuffing it in her pocket. "Now not only do I have to deal with O.W.L.s, but I have to be Prefect along with it!" she huffed. Hermione looked as though she couldn't believe her ears, and that made Harry smile.

"Well, I'm going to go and owl my parents. They'll be so happy for me!" Hermione said before dashing out of the room. Ginny gave Harry a meaningful look and smiled.

"I'd best go show mum. It'll make her day," she said with a resigned voice, and followed Hermione out. Ron and Harry were left alone, and for a few seconds they sat in silence.

"So…" Ron said uncomfortably, and they were both thinking the same thing. "How much did you…see?" he asked. Harry looked over at him, and knew he meant his walking in on him and Hermione's interlude.

"Enough," Harry said with a rueful grin. Then he looked slowly at Ron. "And…how much did you see?"

Ron chewed his lip for a second, and stood up. Just when Harry thought Ron was going to ignore the question, he turned and gave a chuckle.

"Enough," he assured.