Chapter Twelve- The Shadow in the Night

The next week seemed to go slower than the time Harry had spent at the Dursley's. They had written back to Fred and George, telling them that everything was just peachy here, and asked if they had heard anything about Ginny. Harry couldn't get his mind off of her, and didn't seem hear anything that Ron or Hermione said to him. Ron and Hermione seemed to be spending more time alone, now, and it seemed hard for Harry to find time to spend with them. He started talking to James more, and every now and then, found himself in the library, trying to find books on anything he could do to find Ginny.

He found few books that looked interesting, but nothing that would help him. "So, you've finally seen things my way, have you?" Hermione asked when she caught him in the library one night.

"Er… no, just curious about Horcruxes," he lied.

"Right," Hermione said. "Okay then." Then she had gone off to find Ron.

So far, there had been no news about Horcruxes at all. Harry knew what they were, he just couldn't find them. The locket…the cup…the snake…and something of Gryffindor's or Ravenclaw's He understood the locket, and he remembered the snake from dreams, but he couldn't find anything of Gryffindor or Ravenclaw's.

"Life's like that, sometimes," James told him one night, noticing that Harry wasn't spending as much time with his friends. "It seems like everything is going great, then something happens to mess it all up. That seems to happen to me a lot." He laughed at himself.

Harry smiled. "Actually, things weren't going very good from the beginning."

"Oh, I see," James said. He handed Harry a butterbeer. "I pay for this one."

"Thanks," Harry, even though he didn't really feel like drinking it. Still, he forced it down his throat.

Ron and Hermione appeared at the stairs, apparently looking for him. He tried to slink into the shadows, but Hermione had already spotted him. "Harry," she said, racing over to him. "It seems like we haven't seem you in… forever!"

"Well, I guess I've been a bit busy, haven't I?" Harry answered her, trying to keep a smile on his face.

"What's wrong, mate?" Ron asked. "You seem a bit… odd lately."

"Yeah, right, I'm odd. Maybe if you actually looked at something other than Hermione's lips once and a while, you'd notice something was up." Harry barked at him. Ron's face turned a bright red color.

"Harry," Hermione hissed. "Don't say things like that."

"Oh, right, side with him," Harry yelled, a little louder than he had meant to. "I mean, you have been snogging him a lot lately."

"Right, fine," Ron snapped back at him. "I guess you don't need any friends, if you're going to act like this to them."

"Ok, I guess so."

"Harry…don't" Hermione sobbed. "Please…"

"See you later, then," Ron said, in a harsh tone. He turned around and swiftly went to the stairs.

Hermione glanced after Ron, then back at Harry, as though not sure which one to side with. "Er.. Harry," She said after a moment. "Don't fight with him. All we've got right now is each other. We…"

"Go with him, I don't care." Harry barked. He turned around, leaving his back to her. He heard her sob, then her footsteps leading away, meaning that she had left. He didn't need them anyway.

There was a bang on the front door, and it opened, someone stepping inside. Harry heard the recognizable voice of Tom saying, "Welcome to the Dragon's Nest. I'll get a room as soon as possible." He was obviously drunk…again.

"That's okay, we'll wait." said a voice that Harry recognized. He turned to see who it was, but only felt a jolt as someone knocked into him, hugging him.

"Harry, you're all right, then." He pulled away and saw Ginny's face beaming at him.

"Good to see you, Harry," said Neville, standing behind Ginny. "Have a nice summer?"

Sorry this chapter was so short, but I wanted to leave you in suspense again, and the fact that it's Turkey Day! Okay, don't forget, the more reviews I get, the faster I update.