Disclaimer: 0+0 the number of things I own the rights to.

Chapter Six: Packing Up

"Lupin!" Harry shouted as he stalked into the kitchen.

Lupin had been drinking some tea with Molly, and he jumped at Harry's angry voice.

"Hello there, Harry. What seems to be the problem?" He asked pleasantly.

"Tell everyone to pack up their belongings. We have to leave," Harry said in a dull voice that was a result of trying not to show his panic.

Molly looked shocked. "Why?"

"Death Eaters are coming here. They may-may not leave it unharmed so...take everything you need or love..." Harry finished in soft voice.

Molly paled, but began busying her self collecting things she loved and reducing them in size to pack away.

Lupin asked, "How do you know this?"

"In a dream." Harry said softly. "And I wasn't supposed to see it, I know. It must have gotten in somehow. Voldemort knew that Dumbledore was Secret-Keeper for the Burrow, and that a new one hadn't been appointed yet. Voldemort doesn't know I saw it yet, so the Death Eaters should be coming soon. We need to leave, preferably within the hour."

Molly looked up. "To where?"

Harry met her eyes. "Grimmauld Place, I was thinking. Lupin, you're the new Secret-Keeper, right?" He nodded.

Molly's face solemned and she nodded.

"Okay...I'll just...tell the others and we'll all meet in the living room in 40 minutes at the most." Molly bustled out of the room.

Harry saw Lupin trying to catch his eye, but Harry thought he saw the ground do something interesting, so he kept his eyes to the ground and walked into the hall.

Ginny bumped into Harry in the hallway outside her bedroom, clutching a pair of shoes. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek while she whispered,

"What's going on, Harry?"

He silently led her into her bedroom, where Ron and Hermione were. Hermione was packing up the clothes she had brought, while Ron talked to her. He fell silent when Harry and Ginny walked in.

"You guys..." Harry started. "We're leaving for Grimmauld Place in 40 minutes. You better hurry up."

"Why do we have to leave?" Hermione asked gently.

Harry's eyes were filling with tears. This was like his home. These people were like his family. They were his family. And he had never done anything but cause them pain and trouble. And now, he was bringing more.

"Death Eaters are on their way to the Burrow. We might not...be able to come back anytime soon. Or...ever." He finished.

Hermione's forehead creased, and Ron shut his eyes, and seemed to go a little white. Ginny, who was facing the other direction reducing all of her shoes to fit in a bag, grabbed a photo album and reduced it too.

A couple of minutes passed in silence, with Hermione half-heartedly folding some clothes, and Ron just staring at Harry. Ginny was steadily packing.

Ron looked over at her, "What? Aren't you sad at all? We grew up here! Does that mean NOTHING to you?" Frustration was evident in his face.

"Of course I'm sad Ron!" Ginny snapped. "Of course I remember all the memories and fun times. But this has to be done. We have to leave. The memories will still be there, Ron. But as for now...Get off your ass and pack unless you want to be killed!"

Ron's stony face stared back at her, then he left the room. Hermione quickly busied herself with packing. Ginny looked like she was about to cry. Harry moved to hug her, but she quickly said,

"Don't worry about me. It's just... silly."

"It's not silly." Harry whispered.

Tears were falling heavily from Ginny's eyes, grazing her cheeks and falling on her shirt. She wiped angrily at her eyes. Harry knew that she felt like she always had to be strong. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. She didn't resist this time. She took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds before stating evenly, "I'm fine. You need to pack. I need to pack. Go on."

Harry quickly kissed Ginny's forehead and left the room.

Oh boy. Ginny thought. Hermione was looking at her as if she were fragile.

"So, Hermione." Ginny chirped. "What exactly did I burst in on this morning?" Maybe that'll convince her I'm not about to break.

"I don't think now is the time for this Ginny." Hermione said shakily.

"Now is the perfect time." said Ginny stubbornly.

"Wouldn't you rather talk about--"

"NO!"

"O-kay!" Hermione stuttered. She still wasn't used to the wrath of Ginny. "Well, we slept together, I suppose."

Ginny was staring.

"Oh get your mind out of the gutter, we just slept. You seemed a bit busy with Harry and I needed somewhere to sleep so Ron let me in."

"He loves you."

"Anyway, I--what?"

"I always knew he liked you, Hermione, but now I know he loves you. He never lets anyone in his room," Ginny crowed.

"Preposterous!" Hermione scoffed.

"And I seem to recall you were looking a little friendly, no?"

"I--well--we were sleeping!" Hermione stuttered.

Ginny folded her arms and leaned against her dresser, looking smug.

"Look, Hermione. It's quite obvious that he loves you. He was cuddling with you in his sleep! It's also obvious you love Ron." As Ginny said this, Hermione's eyes widened. "Don't worry, Ron's too much of an idiot to see it. So why don't you just admit it to him already?"

Hermione was silent. She looked at the ground.

"O..kay...why not admit it to ME then, out loud?" Ginny tried.

Hermione looked up and whispered, "I love Ron."

She cleared her throat and said in a business-like tone, " Now. We really should get packing."

Ginny nodded and busied herself with clothes.

Ron was walking down the hallway, looking at the pictures hanging up, occasionally tracing a finger over them. It would have been a sentimental moment...except he touched a picture of Fred and George in Egypt, and it fell, bringing down 4 more around it.

Oh bugger.

Ron knew he had to pack. But this was his home. It meant so much to him. It was a second home for his friend and his...other...friend. How could he leave it?

How does Ginny manage to be so strong?

Cuz she has to be.

So do I...Ron realized.

Well, thats that. No more pointless reminiscing. It's just a house. Move on.

He walked slowly to his room, taking pictures as he went along.

A/N: Awww...poor Ron... Once again, sorry for the short chapter yesterday, and I'm sure many of you would have liked this to be longer, but I post a chapter about every 24 hours, so I don't think thats too bad. Its not like you waited a month and you got a 2 paragraph chapter.

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