CHAPTER 3 – THIS IS A HAPPY REUNION?

The Burrow looked amazing. There was a white, waist high fence placed around the back yard with garland hanging on it. There was a white archway over the stage where the ceremony was to take place, with chairs set up in the grass in front of it. On the other side of the yard there were tables, a bar, a buffet, and what looked like a portable dance floor. There was no telling how much of it was done by magic, but it looked like it was too much for just one person to decorate.

Bill and Fleur looked very nice as they were married. It was a wonderful ceremony with what looked like most of the family from each side in attendance. Also present were some of the members of the Order of the Phoenix, including Tonks, Lupin, Moody, and Shacklebolt. Everyone looked happy for the couple and also happy to take their minds off of current events.

Harry had seen all this from under the invisibility cloak, arriving just as the ceremony started. He had woken up several hours after Snape's attack with, for lack of a better diagnosis, a broken face. Apparently Snape's curse had sent him flying into a tree and, from what Harry could piece together, his face hit an exposed root at the base of the tree. He knew that his nose was broken and probably a handful of cheek bones as well. His left eye was almost swollen shut, and he figured there were some cracked, if not broken, ribs. Along with his swollen lip, and many cuts, he figured that this was the best way to not ruin Bill and Fleur's day.

It had taken him three days to get from where he was to the Burrow. He had traveled mostly by Muggle route to avoid detection. He spent most of the time wondering why Snape had left him there after the attack, multiple possibilities playing out in his mind.

Of course Moody had seen him walking up to the fence, his magical eye moving all around. Harry gave a little wave to let him know that it would not be wise to announce his presence. After the ceremony was over Harry was careful to slide inside the house. He sat down at the kitchen table and it wasn't long before Moody and Lupin came bursting in. He took off the cloak seeing the concerned look on their faces.

"Harry what happened?" asked Lupin as he sat down beside him.

Harry recounted most of the story to them, watching their faces go through different emotions. Then Moody walk out of the house back to the party, Harry assumed to get someone who could help him. Lupin sat and asked more questions, mostly the ones Harry had already asked himself. They were in the middle of the session when Mrs. Weasley burst through the door.

"HARRY!" she exclaimed, going quite pale at the sight of him. "Oh my god, what had happened to you? You drop this note off and we don't hear anything from you and then you show up like this, not telling anyone!" She continued with her rant as she ran some water and got some supplies to help heal him. "When did this happen?" she asked, growing more concerned the more she saw the damage.

"Three days or so," Harry answered. He wished it didn't hurt to close his eyes because he knew that he was going to get it then.

"THREE DAYS! YOU'VE BEEN LIKE THIS FOR THREE DAYS HARRY! YOU SHOULD'VE COME STRAIGHT HERE! YOU SHOULD'VE CAME STRAIGHT HERE ON YOUR BIRTHDAY!" Tears started falling down her face and she was so agitated that she could barely hold herself steady enough to work on him.

By now Harry was sure that everyone knew he was here and sure enough, Ron came bursting through the door. When he saw Harry he was so shocked that he stopped, which was a very bad idea as the people behind him did not. Hermione ran into the back of Ron, making him lose his balance. Then Fred and George came and it became a pile on the floor.

"WOULD YOU KIDS BEHAVE YOURSELVES!" cried Mrs. Weasley.

"Bloody hell Harry, what happened to your face?" Ron said as he helped Hermione get to her feet. Ron was smiling, Fred and George were laughing and Hermione was almost in tears at the sight of him.

Harry waited for the rest of them to gather themselves before he started telling them the story. I hope this is the last time he thought. They hung on every word asking questions at different places. Harry had to stop every once and a while as Mrs. Weasley prodded his face. When he had finished everyone was quiet while they digested the story. He had noticed that Lupin was looking disappointed but he didn't know why.

Ron was first to speak. "So you took out two Death Eaters? That's brilliant!"

"Yeah, up until the point when I got blind sided by Snape." Harry replied. "If you guys don't mind, can we talk about this later? I would rather just go out and enjoy the party." His request was met with a bunch of affirmatives and the crowd left the room leaving only him and Mrs. Weasley.

"Dear, we've all been worried sick about you," said Mrs. Weasley with a bit of a sniffle as she finished up. Harry moved his face around feeling much better. He took a mirror and noticed that his eye was still swollen a little. The rest of it looked brand new and he was very pleased.

"Thanks Mrs. Weasley," he said as she nodded solemnly. She wiped her eyes and smiled at him. She started to walk out but stopped as he addressed her.

"Mrs. Weasley how is Ginny?" he asked in a quiet voice.

Mrs. Weasley seemed to think on this before she answered. "She'll survive," she replied as she walked out the door.

Harry was taken aback by this answer as it was not what he expected. Ginny had obviously discussed the situation with her mother and it doesn't look like it was good. He resolved to talk to her about it while he was here, although he didn't know how long he would stay.

He walked outside to a party that was in full swing. People were dancing and laughing. It seemed strange to Harry that people would be having a good time considering what has happened, but it was a nice surprise for him to feel joy again. Ignoring the gasps of surprise from everyone at the party, Harry walked right up to the newlyweds.

"Hey Harry," Bill said, "right state you're in, eh?"

"Nothing your mum couldn't fix," Harry said with a smile, wringing Bill's hand. "Congratulations Bill,… and you too Fleur."

"Zank you 'arry. I'm very glad you could make eet."

"Yeah, I tried to not make a scene but I guess that went right out the window, huh?" Everyone laughed a little uneasy at the joke, but they laughed none the less.

"I heard," Bill said, "that you interrupted a string of adventures to be here today." He picked up his hand and flicked a thumb under Harry's eye. "It's a shame I missed it. To what do we owe the honor?"

"Well the honor is mine, Bill. With what you've done for the Order, what you've sacrificed,… it's the least I could do. I'm happy for the both of you and I wanted to be here to wish you congratulations." Harry smiled as he pushed Bill's hand away from his face.

Bill looked him in the eye before he answered. "Everyone's been worried about you. Warranted, by the looks of it. But its better you're here, I mean, you're as good as family. It wouldn't have been the same without you."

"I appreciate it Bill," Harry said, as he realized that it was just the two of them. He turned his head and notice Fleur had moseyed over towards the dance floor. Harry smiled and turned back to Bill. "I think your wife is waiting for you."

"Anyway, glad you're back Harry," Bill said as walked to meet Fleur.

Back, I'm not back Harry thought. Is that what people thought? That he was back? Back for good?

"Have a nice vacation then, did ya?" said a quiet voice at his side. He did not have to look to know who it was.

"I wasn't on vacation, Ginny. I had stuff I had to do."

"Yeah, so I heard. Glad you could let everyone know." Harry turned to her and looked at her for the first time. She looked beautiful in her bridesmaid dress. He wanted to say something but no words came to him. She left him speechless.

"Well if you're not gonna talk to me why don't you just leave again!" Ginny walked away towards the house. She didn't run, but she was walking quickly. Harry looked around the party and caught Mr. Weasley's eye. He nodded to the house signaling that Harry should go after her. And he did.

He ran past everyone at the party. As he got to the door he thought he heard one of the twins say, "Never a dull moment with that one."

He caught up to Ginny as she was starting up the stairs and grabbed her hand. "Ginny wait, I have to talk to you." She ripped her hand away when she turned. There were tears in her eyes but she wasn't crying.

"Don't touch me!" she shouted, backing slowly away from him up the stairs. "You have no right to touch me." She turned her back and ran.

Harry caught up with her on the landing. "Ginny don't turn away from me."

"Why not Potter," she spit rather than said his name. "You turned your back on us. You told Ron and Hermione they could go with you and you left them." She lowered her voice and turned on him to look him in the eyes. Harry was surprised with the amount of venom in her voice. "At least you talked to them. You walked away from me and never said a word."

"Ginny, I don't know what to say."

"So your communication skills haven't improved since then." She turned and walked away.

"Ginny I couldn't let you come, or them. I was trying to -"

"PROTECT ME!" Ginny shouted. They were at her door now and there was a look of disgust on her face. "You never needed to protect me." She shook her head and went into her room. Harry heard a click meaning that the door was locked.

"Ginny." There was no answer.

"GINNY." Harry's temper was now rising. He wasn't angry at her, he was angry that he couldn't find the words to explain what was in his head. He gave up. He turned around and leaned against the door. His voice was almost a whisper.

"Gin." He slid to the floor and put his elbows on his knees. "I don't know what you want me to say. Obviously nothing. But I can't do that. I can't walk out of here without talking to you."

"Ginny, you say that I turned my back on you but I never did. Not really. I was always thinking of you. Whether you believe me or not you were the reason I was doing this. I couldn't live in a world that I didn't think was safe for you.

"Look, I've never met anyone like you before. The way you make me feel, I can't help but want to be with you. But I couldn't risk losing that. I couldn't risk losing you. Like I said, Voldemort would use you to get to me and I can't have that on my shoulders."

"But I also realized that I don't deserve you. Things are going to happen soon and what if something happens to me. It's not fair, to you I mean, for me to be with you for a short time and have that taken away from you." He grimaced as he realized the ridiculousness of the last statement but continued. "And I realize now as I'm talking that that's exactly what I did to you and I'm sorry. You're right. I've never needed to protect you. I might have been doing it to protect myself but… Ginny I'm sorry." Harry hung his head in his hands. He didn't know how long he was going to have to wait there but it didn't matter. He would wait as long as necessary.

There was another click and the door opened. Harry fell back and his head landed on her shoes. He got up quickly and turned to look at her. There was a long moment of silence before he spoke.

"Ginny, I'm sorry," he repeated, hoping to get some sort of response. She just looked back at him for a while. He didn't know what to expect when she opened her mouth to talk.

"Harry… just go back to the party. Everyone will want to spend time with you. Before you leave again." And with that she walked past him and down the stairs. He looked out the window, finally seeing her emerge from the house. She walked over to Mrs. Weasley, who hugged her, and they exchanged words.

Ginny's face went blank for a handful of seconds before she broke into a huge smile. She walked on through the party talking and laughing with her family.

Harry had no idea what happened. He was so confused at her reaction. He expected her to scream and cry but never thought she would carry on as if nothing happened. He was so confused.

Maybe it's for the best he thought. It might make it easier in the end. He sighed as he stepped away from the window to head out of the house. Dumbledore's voice echoed in his head.

"… a force that is at once more wonderful and more terrible than death, than human intelligence, than forces of nature… It was your heart that saved you…"