I'd like to wish anyone who has been following this story a very happy Christmas and New Year. An extra chapter for you all to, hopefully, enjoy.

Chapter 12 : Towards Journey's End

"Sam, I don't know what to say. Thanks!"

"It's no big deal. Don't worry about it."

The two travelling companions were sitting eating quarterpounders with fries and a chocolate milk shake. Harry's thanks however were not only for the meal but also for the bags at his feet. Never in his whole life had he been shopping for clothes for himself – apart from getting his robes at Madam Malkins – and it was a nice feeling.

The reason for their impromptu shopping trip had been simple. Sam's washing line had broken and the sea had washed all of Harry's clothes away with the tide. When the line had snapped, Harry had been on deck wearing an old pair of Sam's swimming trunks and at the sudden 'SNAP' and release of tension on the line the two men had looked at each other and then laughed!

They laughed until they ached. It was a good feeling.

Now Harry had a new, for the first time in life, wardrobe of clothes. Knowing he was spending Sam's money (another debt to be repaid when and if he got the chance) Harry was careful to get serviceable but cheap clothes.

Sam had suggested shopping in the Argyle Shopping Centre when they had moored in Ramsgate's inner harbour, as it was nearby and had a good variety of shops but one glance at the prices and Harry (wearing borrowed jeans, sweatshirt and trainers) shook his head.

They left the shopping centre and went to the main High Street and found a selection of charity shops. Harry got a pair of good quality jeans for only £2, two shirts at £1 each and a sweatshirt for £2. A pair of brand new trainers that fitted to perfection topped the outfit off and at only £4.50 were an unbelievable bargain. At Sam's suggestion, Harry also picked up a second-hand rucksack to put all his new clothes in. The only clothes that Sam insisted be bought brand new was underwear, plain black boxers and sports socks. Sam had also given Harry a waterproof jacket that he could keep as it used to belong to his sister who no longer needed it.

They finished up their meal, Sam gathering all the debris together on the tray and carried it over to the bin. Harry, meanwhile had transferred all his purchases into his new rucksack; Harry stood up but as he swung the bag over his shoulder his scar burst with pain.

It was excruciating! Harry's body tensed up as he fought for control but he toppled into a couple of teenagers carrying their tray of food; the food and drinks went everywhere. The young man yelled in anger but his words were drowned out by the pain in Harry's head. One hand pressed tight to his scar his face screwed up in anguish, Harry looked for all the world like a drunk or a drug addict.

Sam however, had seen what had occurred and remembering the consequences of the previous episode, Sam looked around before rushing to Harry's aid. Neither of them had forgotten (how could they?) that the police were still looking for Harry but Sam had reasoned that going about as ordinary as possible was the best camouflage. Harry had been wearing his hat from Tank as he 'hid in plain sight' as Sam had put it. The plan had worked so far and would continue to do so as long as they didn't attract attention. But Harry was obviously struggling now.

"Sorry about your meal. Here's get a replacement on me." Sam thrust a couple of five-pound notes in the young man's hand knowing that his generosity would quell any questions about Harry's behaviour.

"Don't tell me your migraine's come back Joe?" Sam said in a loud voice as he went to Harry's aid. Harry nodded realising what Sam was doing and trying to draw as little attention to himself as he could. Sam supported Harry's weight, what little there was of it, put the rucksack over his own shoulder and slowly they made their way back to the Griselda.

With a great deal of difficulty Harry managed to get back aboard.

"What was all that about?" questioned Sam.

"Voldemort! He's really mad! He's put the Cruciatus on Dolohov because he didn't get me in Hastings. Then, to make things worse, Wormtail came in and told him that he'd not yet been able to get the essence for the potion. Voldemort was about to cast the Cruciatus on Wormtail when he suddenly changed his mood. Now's happy as he can change his plan and "improve matters". I don't have any idea what he means though. It was mainly his moods I was picking up though, I didn't get much in the way of detail."

"How're you feeling now though?"

"The pain's gone. I just feel tired, really tired!"

"Well we'll have to wait for the tide before we can leave and that's not for another two hours. You rest down here, I'm going to check the weather and probably catch 40 winks up on deck. If I'm not down at 15:00hrs then come and wake me up. OK?"

"OK!" replied Harry. Sam left the tiny cabin and returned topside. Before turning in though Harry retrieved the omnioculars from his old makeshift rucksack. Carefully Harry checked they were still in full working order and wrapped them back up then Harry stowed everything away in his new rucksack. It was only then that he put his head down.

A quick glance at his watch told Harry that it was 12:15hrs, he set the alarm for 14:30hrs (he had only just gotten used to using the traditional 24hour timing all sailors used) and closed his eyes.

His thoughts turned immediately to Ginny and Harry sighed to himself. If it were night time then he might be able to communicate with her again during their shared sleep but at 12:15hrs in the middle of the day Ginny was likely sitting down to one of Mrs. Weasley's delicious lunches in The Burrow.

Even Mrs. Weasley's sandwiches seemed to taste better than anyone else's. He thought of the sandwiches Mrs Weasley had Hermione, Ron and Ginny take up to him when he'd been hiding after the attack on Mr. Weasley last Christmas. Harry had believed he had somehow been transported from Hogwarts to London and transformed into a huge snake the fangs of which had almost caused Mr. Weasley's death.

Harry's face suddenly broke into a smile as he recalled how Ginny had laid into him. How could he have been so stupid to forget about Voldemort's possession of her, albeit as Tom Riddle and not Lord Voldemort, back in Ginny's first year?

--- zzzz ---

"That's what I wondered Harry!" The words were spoken by Ginny but this Ginny was sitting on the front steps of Hogwarts and Harry was sitting beside her.

"How …..?" stammered Harry.

"Well, I guess you needed 40 winks the same as me!" It was an expression of Ginny's forthright nature that she did not pretend not to understand Harry's question.

"We can talk again because we're both obviously asleep. I didn't expect you actually, because it's the middle of the day. I've not been sleeping too well so Mum suggested …."

"Suggested…. or insisted?" queried Harry knowing Ginny's mum's forceful insistence whenever she thought she knew best.

"Well, insisted really."

"Why? What's up?" Seeing her face and her evasive glancing away, Harry continued "Ginny, don't go losing sleep over me. I'm not worth it."

"Say's who?" she retorted angrily. "If it was any of us you'd be worrying and blaming yourself. So why not us? Anyway" she continued before Harry got a chance to protest "It wasn't you that kept me awake."

"What was it then? Harry added a quick "Sorry. I don't want to sound as though I'm interrogating you or anything. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"Oh Harry! It's awful!" quickly she added "but its NOT your fault."

At these words Harry's stomach knotted painfully. What had happened now? His earnest expression had worry, alarm and panic written all over it. His eyes were full of concern for his extended family.

"Tell me Gin! Please?" he added pleadingly.

"It's Ron!"

"What about him? He's not hurt or anything is he?"

"No. Well nothing new anyway."

Harry balked at the word 'new'. Only a few weeks before during their disastrous adventure in the Ministry of Magic Ron, while trying to recover from a Death Eaters curse, had summoned a brain from a huge tank in the Department of Mysteries. When it reached his outstretched hands the brain had not felt 'weird' as the confused Ron had hoped it would. Instead it wound it's jellyfish-like tentacles around his arms and upper torso.

Harry recalled all too clearly Ron screaming out "No! I don't like it!" before eventually passing out from the pain. Harry had been unable to stay to help him, as he needed to lead the Death Eaters away from his friends.

"So what's up with Ron? He's not ill or anything is he?" asked Harry, his very real concern all too evident in his voice.

"Well, not exactly. It's hard to explain. Since last June Ron's been having these really weird nightmares. He wakes up screaming two or three times a night and unfortunately, he ends up waking us too. Mum and Dad are really worried about him. Sometimes he talks about people and places he remembers but they're not his memories they same to be someone else's.

When Dumbledore came over to tell us what was going on with you and the search and all, Mum and Dad told him about Ron. At Dumbledore's suggestion Madam Pomfrey came to check on Ron's recovery. She said that the Dr. Ubley's Obliviate Unction was no longer working. Sure the physical scard were healing up as well as they are going to but it's the mental scarring."

Harry's brow was furrowed deep with anxiety at that news.

"Oh God! Ginny! It's all my fault! If I hadn't dragged you all to London then Ron would be fine and Sirius…" He left the sentence unfinished.

"Just stop that right now!" snapped Ginny. She was standing two steps down from Harry, hands on her hips and all hell glaring out of her eyes. She'd never looked more like her mother than she did right at that moment.

A sabre-toothed tiger kitten to be sure!

"Harry, do you really think you stood any chance of us letting you go to London alone?" She continued to rant before Harry had a chance to even open his mouth in protest.

"You stood as much chance of stopping us as …. Neville has of becoming Snape's pet pupil! In other words NO CHANCE AT ALL! You didn't force us to go with you nor did you force Sirius to come after you. Stop taking the blame for things you can't change."

"Can't help it." Harry mumbled to his shoelaces. "If I hadn't been so arrogant, so damn certain…."

"Don't think I don't understand why you do it. It's because of those horrible people you grew up with. They blamed you for everything, even things you accidentally did, just because of what you are. Did they ever praise you? Not blooming likely. Oh Harry! You are a truly wonderful caring human being but please, please stop taking the blame for everything! You don't deserve that!"

At the end of this long speech Ginny started to blush. Obvious telling Harry off came easier than praising him to his face.

Harry was now looking her in the eyes and her blush grew more pronounced. He couldn't help but stare with unbridled pleasure, as she got more and more nervous the more he scrutinised her.

Ginny's nervousness however was causing her to twist a strand of her hair between her fingers. Harry found the gesture enchanting and longed to reach out to touch her shining deep, deeper than any of the other Weasley's, red hair.

Harry stood up to reach out but Ginny turned her back on him and started to walk to the edge of the lake. She glanced coyly over her shoulder to encourage him to follow her. Harry fell in step beside her and thrust his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans. He started off walking with his head down staring at the grass beneath their feel but when he raised his head to look towards the lake he realised he could see Ginny out of the corner of his eye.

At first she too had walked with her head down, her curtain of shining auburn hair shielding the expression she wore. Thinking Harry couldn't see, she glanced over at him and blushed anew when she caught his eye.

"The best defence is offence" the old saying often used by the twins whenever she tried to get them back for their numerous pranks, suddenly came in to Ginny's mind. She prepared her attack in her mind. She would not take his silence nor the sly looks he was giving her.

She stopped.

She opened her mouth with another rebuke ready on her lips.

But suddenly she found something was there already.

Harry.

Whether it was because he believed this really was all just a dream, or whether the dream-like state allowed him to do something his normal, waking mind, would never have permitted, Harry never knew.

All he did know was that he had crossed the few feet that had separated them as soon as Ginny had stopped and turned toward him. Harry had moved and instinctively his hands had moved to cup each cheek and hold her still as his mouth made a first gentle contact with hers.

For Ginny's part it was all she could do to remember to keep on breathing! Her eyes wide and all her senses on overload.

Harry Potter was kissing her!

Ginny said the words in her mind and yet she couldn't believe it.

Just as suddenly as he moved toward her, Harry released her. He looked at the shock in Ginny's eyes; he stepped away, turned and ran!

Once more he ran as though his life depended on it. He seemed to do that a lot lately and he was getting rather good at it.

"HARRY! WAIT!" Ginny yelled with all her might.

Unfortunately for Ginny, Harry just kept going. She hared off after him. She knew she was a fast runner so she put her head down and rang like the wind. Her footsteps pounded the grass leading to the well-worn track around the lake.

"Stop Harry! Please wait!" She shouted breathlessly.

Still he continued running.

"Drastic action called for drastic measures!" Ginny decided. She caught up with Harry as they reached the water's edge but she didn't slow down, if anything she speeded up!

SPLASH!

Ginny had barrelled into Harry and rugby-tackled him. The end result was they both ended up in the lake.

The pebbles at the water's edge were smooth and very slippery, consequently the more Ginny tried to stand up the more she slipped and ended up sitting back down in the ankle-deep ice-cold water.

Harry couldn't help himself as he regained his footing; he just stood and looked at Ginny sitting there all bedraggled and laughed. The more he laughed, however, the more irate Ginny became.

"Instead of laughing you could give me a hand up IF you were a gentleman!" She glared up at him as she sat on the lake bottom.

At that point Harry took pity on her and held out a hand to help her to her feet, a soppy smile still plastered on his face.

Ginny, still glaring daggers at Harry, took the offered hand but instead of using it to regain her footing, pulled him with all her might.

The element of surprise was on Ginny's side and Harry found himself flying forwards and ended up sprawled between Ginny's jeans-clad legs, his chin coming to rest on her abdomen. His face therefore was between her breasts and he was staring at the white blouse that, he now realised, had become almost completely transparent.

Harry looked up into her beautiful deep brown eyes.

Ginny was gasping at his sudden, unplanned and intimate contact with her body; she moved her mouth slowly towards Harry as he reached one hand out to caress her face when ..

--- zzz ---

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

The alarm on Harry's watch sounded shrill and harsh in the confined space of the forwards cabin. 14:30hrs. Time to get the Griselda ready for the next let of their journey.

Harry had never hated muggle inventions as much as he did that watch!

If only he could have slept for a few more minutes, Harry mused, perhaps he would have been able to kiss Ginny again and Harry knew that he very much wanted to far more than he had ever wanted to kiss Cho last year. Yet again he was surprised at the depth of his feelings for 'The Littlest Weasley!' TLW!

Harry's thoughts were still on Ginny or his reactions might have been quicker when, on going the upper deck of the Griselda, he saw a rat run along the deck towards the sleeping form of Sam.

The sunlight glinted on the creature's silver paw and the sight snapped Harry's brain back into gear. He gave immediate chase but the rat could access places Harry could not.

In no time the rat, otherwise known as Peter Pettigrew, AKA Wormtail, the betrayer of Harry's parents and the reason Harry's godfather had spent 12 years in Azkaban, had disappeared down a drain hole into the sewers.

Cursing himself for focusing on his dream instead of reality, Harry returned to the Griselda where he expected Sam to be making ready for their departure.

Sam, however, was not on deck. In fact he was nowhere to be seen.

Puzzled, Harry went below decks calling out as he went but still there was no sign of him. Now Harry was starting to get worried. Whenever Sam had stepped ashore before he had always let Harry know. Surely Sam would have said something this time?

Standing back in the wheelhouse Harry picked up Sam's muggle binoculars and started to scan the shoreline for his friend; sure enough he spotted Sam about 150 yards away exiting the Harbour Master's Office.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Harry put the binoculars away and went to complete the preparations for departure. Sam walked back on board as though nothing was wrong.

"Everything's ready skipper!" said Harry trying not to let Sam know how worried he'd been. For some reason Harry kept his sighting of Wormtail to himself. Sam seemed to worry enough as it was, no need to add to it.

"Good work Harry. Cast off then." Sam smiled at Harry as the pair took the small craft back out to open water at the start of the last leg of their journey together.