"Harry...please, let me come with you. I want to be with you, I want to help you! Didn't Dumbledore say the only thing that can defeat Voldemort is love?" Ginny cried, hugging Harry tightly, as Harry tried to console her.
"Ginny, you know I would love to be able to take you with me, but Voldemort has this knack for killing anyone that dares get close! I can't lose you, Ginny!" He said, softly rubbing her back as she cried into his shoulder.
"Ron and Hermione haven't been killed, yet, have they? You are taking them with you, so why not me?" Ginny cried, at a loss as to why Harry would choose Ron and Hermione and not herself.
"Well, for one, Ron and Hermione have had a lot more experience with Voldemort and the Dark Arts. Not to mention the fact that they refuse to let me go alone. And you know how Hermione is...would you really want to tell her 'no'?" Harry said, earning a slight chuckle from the redhead snuggled up close.
"I agree, I wouldn't want Hermione on my bad side...but Harry, don't you think I'm at a bigger risk staying here, unprotected, with only a grumpy little troll like Kreacher?" She said, looking into his eyes that were beginning to mist up.
"He is NOT a tr-" Hermione started, but was cut off by Ron's hand, which she quickly snipped at, earning a laugh from everyone except Ron.
"Hey! It's not funny! Look," Ron complained, as he held his hand out, "I'm bleeding!".
"Oh, get over it, Ron! That's payback for the day when Harry and Ginny were talking in the kitchen with Bill, and you tried to hit on Fleur! And at the wedding reception, no less!" She said, looking at him with a cold, stern look.
"Hey! It's not my fault that she has a magical magnetism!" He whined, giving Hermione his "puppy dog pout" that he had been perfecting over the last few months, ever since he started dating Hermione.
"I don't see Harry drooling over her!" She wailed, earning a grin from Ginny.
"Well, Ron can't help it. He has been starved of female attention for so long, he is trying to make up for it," she said, causing Ron to go a bit pink.
"Well, I guess I will just have to bring my affection level up a notch, then, won't I?" Hermione grinned, leaning into Ron and giving him a kiss that he eagerly returned, causing Harry and Ginny to groan.
"What? You do this all the time! And with my sister, no less!" Ron said, twisting his face into a grimace.
"Oh grow up, Ron. Would you rather have me with Harry, or with Dean?" She said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Why must you ALWAYS bring that into the conversation?" Ron whined, knowing he had lost.
"Because, it's what always wins the argument for me," She said, smiling.
Ron growled slightly, causing everyone to chuckle.
"Listen, we really need to get everything lined up. We need to travel light, and we need to have all the potions that we have been making secure, but nearby in case we need them quickly. " Harry said, returning to the original conversation.
"I think I've got all of them in my bag. Ron's got the spell book I made, and in your bag, is the invisibility cloak, and some random detection devices that I sneaked from the old D.A. Meeting place before we left" She said, making sure she had everything.
"Um, Hermione? You forgot something." Harry said, with a slight smile on his face.
"What?" she said, putting a very stern look upon her face.
"Well, don't we need the basics? Food, clothing, ex cetera? This isn't like the Sorcerer's Stone, or the Chamber...we won't be coming back for a long time, and I can't take much money with me, just enough for the food, since we don't need the weight." He said, looking curious.
"I've got that under control," Ginny said, smiling.
"But your not going." Harry said, in a tone most people wouldn't argue with.
"Actually, I am." She said, crossing her arms and saying it with the same tone Harry had used with her.
"They make a good pair, don't they?" Hermione said, studying the two's face off.
"Yea, they do." Ron said, kissing Hermione on the cheek and getting up to separate the two lovebirds.
After breaking the two apart, making Harry give in to Ginny's choice, and packing up everything else they needed, the foursome appearated to the edge of Hogwarts grounds, and took one last look at the place they had all called home.
"It seems so...weird...doesn't it?" Harry said, holding onto Ginny even tighter.
"Yea...at least it's open, though. But it's bound to be different, considering Dumbledore isn't headmaster anymore, and none of the old teachers remain." Hermione said, leaning into Ron.
"It's so sad..." Ginny sighed, sniffling a little bit.
"I can't believe we thought Quidditch, O.W.Ls, and detentions were the most important things...I mean...it was only a few months ago that I was worrying about missing the big game because of detention with Snape...It seems so silly, now..." Harry muttered quietly.
"Yea..and me with studying for tests...even though I still believe education to be imp-"
"Shut up!" Everyone cried at once, in annoyed tones.
"Do you think life will ever be that simple again?" Harry asked.
"Maybe...but only if Voldemort is killed, and all the Horcruxs are found and destroyed...plus, we have those damn Death Eaters to worry about." Hermione said, while Ron shuddered at the name of the evil Dark Lord, earning him a punch in the shoulder by Hermione.
"Yea..yay for us, huh? A bunch of teenagers who didn't even get the chance to graduate, are left with possibly the most important tasks in hundreds of years. I wonder why we were chosen?" Ginny said, looking quite downcast.
"I think I know what it was," Harry said, as they all prepared to apparate to their next adventure.
"What?" everyone said at once.
"Destiny."
Yes, I know. It sucks beyond belief. But, hey. Whatever.
No flames or I shall send Buckbeak after you. :)
Lol, j/k.
R&R?
I know there are bound to be grammar/spelling mistakes, so ignore them if you can :) The spell check doesn't work very well with Harry Potter terms...that and the fact that I type fast and I don't pay attention during spell check, much, lol!