Disclaimer: I do not, thought regrettably, own Harry Potter.

Chapter 2: The Unexpected Dip

"Oh thank goodness you've arrived safely!" Cried a very relieved-looking Mrs. Weasley upon seeing them apparate into the Burrow's kitchen. "Aurther, come down, the kids are here!" Mr. Weasley came down the stairs slowly, dragging his feet all the way. He had clearly been woken up by Mrs. Weasley's yells.

"'Ello Harry, good to see you again." He shook Harry's hand, as his eye-lids drooped down over his eyes. "Oops!" He started, waking himself up again. "Alright Molly, they're clearly safe now so can I please go back to sleep. I have to get up early tomorrow for work."

Mrs. Weasley rolled her eyes at him before kissing him on the cheek. "Ok dear, goodnight then, I'll take care of this lot," she indicated to Harry, Ron and Hermione with a jerk of her head.

Shortly after Mr. Weasley departed to his bedroom and after a quick bowl of potato soup, the three made their way up the creaky stairs of the Burrow, being extra quite so as not to wake any of its sleeping members, especially the ghoul in the attic. Harry glanced at several of the doors they passed on their way up to Ron's room. Right before Ron's room, he noticed a door with pink flowers on it. He tensed, knowing who's room this must be for there was only one girl in the Weasley house besides Mrs. Weasley, and this was not Mrs. Weasley's room. "This could get very awkward," thought Harry, half nervous and half excited that he would be sleeping in such close proximity to the beautiful girl he dumped.

When he arrived in Ron's room, Harry set his trunk down at the foot of his bed and started to change. He instantly heard the obnoxiously loud sounds being emitted from the other bed. Unbelievable, Ron had just laid down, fully clothed, and managed to instantaneously fall asleep. Harry silently wished sleep would come to him so easily, but with the knowledge that a full night of terrible dreams awaited you, who would look forward to sleep?

Harry tossed and turned for what seemed like hours, when sleep finally claimed him. He was walking through a forest. No, not a forest, just bushes. A maze of bushes in fact. He was staring at the shining glory that was the Triwizard cup, Cedric by his side. He heard himself say, "We'll take it together," and with that they both reached for the cup, grasping it at the same time. A tug at his navel indicated he had portkeyed to the graveyard. Harry knows what will happen, he's lived this moment millions of times in his dreams before. But still, he plays along every time.

A sudden blinding pain in his forehead and he collapses to his knees. "Kill the spare," he hears the ugly voice of Wormtail say. Cedric falls to the ground beside him, dead. A fresh wave of grief rushes over Harry, but he knows the worst is still yet to come. Wormtail ties him to the headstone. He puts the hideous bundle of robes in the cauldron and takes blood from an enemy, blood from a servant, and bone from a father unwillingly given. Wait, thought Harry, bones from the father...bones from the father unwillingly taken...bones...Oh my God! Why haven't I thought of this before? Bones of the father, Voldemort hated his father, and killed him. He killed his father, a pretty important murder in Voldemort's life...Could this really be? I think I've just found another–

"Breakfast!"

Downstairs at breakfast

Harry entered the kitchen with a contemplative look on his face. Hermione and Ron were already seated at the table, sitting next to each other. Harry though something seemed strange between the two, and it was then he realized that they were not arguing. Quite the contrary, they were sitting quietly next to each other, looking very peaceful.

"Are you alright Harry?" Asked Hermione, noticing the odd expression on his face. Harry glanced at Mrs. Weasley, washing the dishes, and gave Hermione a look that clearly said, "Not now." While Harry had confided in Hermione and Ron about the horcruxes, the prophecy, and the mission to stop Voldemort, they were the only ones who knew anything, besides Dumbledore and Lupin. Dumbledore had decided to treat Lupin as a current guardian of Harry and therefore chose to divulge all the secrets Harry and Dumbledore had discussed all last year. Harry was grateful that he still had one marauder left to talk to. With that thought, Harry went over to the table and started digging in to his bacon, eggs, and toast.

Just at that moment, Ginny chose to come into the kitchen. She stopped suddenly at the bottom step when her eyes met Harry's. Harry choked on his half-eaten bacon at the sight of her. Ron clapped him on the back.

"Easy there, mate. We can't have the great Harry Potter meet his downfall in bacon and eggs. What would the wizard community think?" Ron snorted, along with giggles from Hermione and Mrs. Weasley. Harry rolled his eyes, and then they found Ginny again. She had a slight smile on her face, but when she noticed Harry looking at her, she turned away. Harry sighed.

Breakfast was an awkward occasion. Everyone was practically silent after Harry's choking fit, and the only conversation was Mrs. Weasley asking them if they needed anything at Diagon Alley, which they all replied that they didn't. Harry kept trying to catch Ginny's eyes, but every time he did, he'd look back down into his plate.

About ten minutes later, Ginny announced that she was going out by the lake to practice some flying. When she closed the door behind her, Harry let out a long held breath of relief. Everyone looked at him.

"What?" He asked, suddenly aware that he had attracted the stares of all in the kitchen. Hermione looked at him pointedly, as if to say "why are you still sitting here?"

Harry looked at them all, rolled his eyes. He obviously wasn't going to win this argument, and realizing it was the best choice, he followed Ginny outside, calling his broom from upstairs with a quick "Accio Firebolt."

When Harry left the burrow, he was blinded by the blazing sun shining overhead. He squinted, look around for signs of Ginny. He spotted a streak of red fly across his line of vision, and knew he had found her. Taking a deep breath, he made his way over to the lake.

As he got closer, he could better make out Ginny's appearance on the broom. She really was beautiful. She had grown a lot over the last few years, and Harry had been so ignorant that he hadn't even noticed her until earlier the previous year. He wondered how he could ever have looked past such a strong, vibrant person like her everyday for five years, not giving her a second thought.

Ginny seemed to finally notice Harry standing there, looking at her, because she stopped mid-flight on her broom and stared at him for a moment, apparently surprised to see him. It must have been only a brief shock, for in a split second, she was off again, zooming around the lake, pretending she hadn't seen him there.

Harry yelled to her, "Ginny! Hey, Ginny!" He sighed, and took a different approach. "Ginny! I know you can see me and hear me, so would you stop acting like a child and acknowledge me?" She kept flying, determined to ignore him. Well, Harry Potter was not one to give up that easily. He quickly mounted his Firebolt and shot up into the bright summer sky, loving the rush he always got when taking flight.

Ginny was zooming around the sky, apparently chasing something invisible. Harry realized she must be practicing with the snitch. Man, Harry thought, Beautiful, smart, and good at quidditch. How did I ever let her go? He raced toward her, easily catching up to her speed with his Firebolt since she was only on a cleansweep twenty-two. He snuck up behind her and startled her, causing her to shriek and almost fall off her broom.

When she recovered, she looked up. Harry was about three feet to her left. She glared at him, and he gave her one of his famous weak-at-the-knee smiles that was always so charming. She tried not to let the grin escape from her lips. Just then she noticed Harry raiding his eyebrows at her, daring her to a challenge. With a brief nod and a determined look, she indicated that she was in.

Harry took off at top speed, darting every which way, looking for the small golden ball. Ginny did the same. After about three minutes, she spotted it. Barely a flicker of light ten feet away, she flew toward it at top speed. Harry must have noticed because he followed her, taking no time at all to catch up to her. He grazed her shoulder with his. She decided to play rough.

"Hey!" Harry shouted. Wow, she was playing rough. Ok, he thought, if that's the way she wants it. Harry pushed her back, making her fly a few feet to the right before coming back to meet him. The snitch was only a few feet away now, and they were quickly approaching the ground. He needed to take action now or never. He reached out his hand as far as he could, letting go completely of his broom. Ginny was right beside him, reaching too. Finally, he grasped the snitch and felt his moment of glory.

However, his moment of glory was cut short by the look on Ginny's face, fear. For a split second, he got a vision of the surface of the lake rushing toward him. He splashed head first into the cold water of the lake, Ginny at his heels. Taking a moment to recover, he quickly found his bearings and swum toward the surface. Taking a breath, he looked around for Ginny. She was nowhere in sight. Harry started to panic, calling her name the loudest he could yell.

"Worried about me?" Came the voice of Ginny from directly behind him. Harry whipped his head around to find Ginny swimming beside him, an amused expression on her face. "Thanks for the dip, although next time tell me we were going swimming, I would have worn my suit."

A brief mental flash of Ginny in a bikini came immediately to Harry's mind, pushing away his anger toward her for making him worry. He regrettable pushed the image to the back of his mind, directing his attention to the Ginny before him.

"That wasn't funny." He said to her, in the most serious voice he could find. Ginny looked ashamed.

"I know." She said, looking down at her nose. Feeling bad, Harry touched her gin and lifted her head back to meet his eyes. He was amazed at the fact that despite being in the cold water, Ginny was warm to the touch. Suddenly he wanted to hold her.

"Harry, I..." She started.

"No," interrupted Harry. "Listen Ginny, about last year," she blushed, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I made a spur-of-the-moment decision of what I thought was best for everyone."

Ginny looked up at him with a trace of anger in her eyes. "That's your problem, Harry Potter, you always have to play the hero and make the right decision for everyone, not even bothering what they think. You were just being a stupid, noble idiot as usual."

Harry grinned. "Well, can you forgive a stupid, noble idiot?" He asked, looking at her hopefully. Ginny just looked confused. She opened her mouth, about to voice her confusion when Harry placed his lips upon hers. She left her eyes open in shock for a moment, before closing them and surrendering to his kiss.

It was an innocent kiss, just a touch of the lips, but it held all the meaning in the world. Harry was kissing her, he clearly wanted her. This made Ginny the happiest person in the world. He broke the kiss, looking into her eyes with his penetrating gaze.

"Forgive me yet?" He asked playfully. Ginny couldn't help but grin. Following her instincts, she flung her arms around him and attacked his lips with hers. His and her combined weight was enough to push Harry underwater, Ginny on top of him. Harry came spluttering back to the surface, choking on water.

"Are you trying to kill me?" But Ginny ignored him. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek, making him blush, then started swimming to the shore.

Harry reached the ground first, climbing out of the water. He pulled Ginny after him, barely needed to use any muscle. He loved how she was so light, so fragile, yet so fierce and strong at the same time. As soon as she was out, they met at the lips again, giving way to their emotions. Maybe this summer won't be as bad as I thought, thought Harry, grinning against Ginny's kiss.

Thanks for the reviews! They give me incentive to write, which is always a good thing.

These first few chapters are a bit fluffy, but I need to set up the characters and plot for the coming events. So bare with me, and again, feedback is always appreciated.

Thanks for reading!