Chapter 2: Anxious Awaiting
Ron Weasley came hurtling out of the upstairs hallway in a rage of fury. Clenched in his fist was a crumpled up piece of parchment. Harry turned abruptly at the kitchen table to see him.
"Harry!" Ron shouted, running frantically down the stairs, his mood taking a sharp turn. Harry was beginning to think everyone in the family was going to have the same reaction upon seeing him. "What the hell are you doing here, mate!"
"Excuse me?" alarmed Mrs. Weasley.
"Oh right, sorry mum. Harry, what are you doing here? Finally decide you've had enough of the Dursleys?" Ron slowly sat down in the chair aside Harry, all the while staring at him like a hawk to its prey.
"Yeah, Ron. I just took up and left this morning. I still have a ton of my stuff there, though. What were you in such a fit over? What's in your hand there?"
Ron quickly stuffed the bit of parchment in his trouser pocket and turned a shade of undeniable red.
"Oh, nothing really. I just overreacted, really. It's a letter from Hermione." At those last words, Ron looked suddenly to the left of his feet, and as much as Harry didn't want to admit it, a glimmer of sadness was forming in his great blue eyes.
"Oh? And what did she have to say? How's Germany treating her?" asked Mrs. Weasley casually, obviously unaware of the sullen state her son was in. She was flipping nonchalantly through various copies of Bi-Witch Weekly.
"Of course she's having a good time mum, she's on a beach with young German blokes," came a tantalizing voice just audible from the next room.
"Fred Weasley, don't torment your brother like that! Now come in here and apologize and say hello to Harry".
"Harry!" Fred questioned, walking into the kitchen. "Harry, mate! Long time, no see. What's it been, ten years?" At this Mrs. Weasley made a tutting noise and rolled her eyes. "You have no idea how long I've wanted another person in the house. George and I have needed someone else to gang up on. We're running out of guinea pigs to try our shops newest creations on," he continued, taking a seat next to Harry.
Harry could only laugh at this. He didn't think it possible for there to be anything to pull Fred and George away from their pranks.
"Fred, stop that! We haven't had Harry stay with us for almost a year. We've hardly even seen him this past year and all you can think about is pulling jokes on him?" Mrs. Weasley's tone wasn't exactly threatening, yet Fred got the idea and settled down a bit.
"So, yeah, Harry. How is everything? Anything happen at the Dursley's I need to know about? They obviously aren't hearing the sound of the quill from your homework anymore. Any new sounds you need to keep secretive?" Fred stole a glance at his mother at this to make sure she didn't comprehend. Unfortunately, Harry didn't understand either, and seeing the perplexed look Ron gave to him, he knew he wasn't the only one.
"What do you mean?" asked Harry.
"You know..." his voice became lower still "...the sound of girls in your room?"
"FRED WEASLEY!" Mrs. Weasley gave her son a look of craze, her face looking so red it could burst into flames. "You keep a civil tongue in this house! That is absolutely none of your business!"
"Mum! Mum. Calm down. I'm sorry."
Harry was feeling slightly embarrassed by the situation. Even though he shouldn't, as it was Fred who brought the subject up. Yet he was glad he didn't have to answer, as he had absolutely no girls over his stay back at the Dursleys. There was only a few girls he had ever been smitten with, and all the Weasley household (well except those of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley of course) knew about it. First was Cho Chang back in his fifth year, and then his brief yet entirely memorable moments he spent with Ginny his sixth year. Then there wasthat littlefling with Savannah Marston his seventh yearwith whom he lost his virginity to. It ended disastrous when he broke up with her; she told half the school he didn't quite live up to his name. The only sexual encountershe'd had latelywere personal ones by himself while daydreaming about Ginny Weasley, and that certainly wasn't something he was going to admit to a houseful of her brothers who were all taller and bigger than he was; let alone her parents who trusted him and cared for him immensely.
Later that evening, after dinner was over and everyone was sitting around in the living room, Harry began to wonder where Ginny was. She hadn't been home at all and he'd been there for nearly eight hours. He didn't exactly want to pursue the topic, too scared to bring up the obvious and have everyone become suspicious, but he did wonder and couldn't fully relax until her whereabouts were finally mentioned. Luckily for him, Mr. Weasley decided to do just that.
"Ron, where's your sister?" asked Mr. Weasley. He was sitting comfortably in a reclined chair, catching up on his morning newspaper he probably didn't have time to read that morning.
"Oh, she's at Joey's house Dad. I think Mum told her to be home before nine, so she should be back anytime." Ron moved one of his pawns to obstruct the straight path of Harry's queen. Ron was heavily engrossed in a game of chess that Harry wasn't even remotely interested in.
"Joey?" Mr. Weasley barked. "What's she doing with Joey? That girl has done nothing but be a bad influence on her. I thought your mum and I discussed this and decided that-"
Mrs. Weasley came into the room, bearing a dish towel in her hand, and cut him off.
"Arthur, dear, we've been over this. She's seventeen now and I thought we agreed that seventeen was old enough for our children to make their own decisions. We can't baby her forever."
Mr. Weasley huffed heavily into his paper, and then sighed. "I guess you're right. But why can't she hang around more civil people?"
"I don't know, dear." And with that, Mrs. Weasley walked out of the room, and back into the kitchen to finish the dishes.
Forty-five minutes later, the chess game was still in progress. Harry tried to focus on winning to keep his mind off of Ginny for a bit, but knew he wouldn't have a chance of winning Ron anyway. Harry knew something was wrong with Ron, he could see it in his face. He sensed it all afternoon and he had a gut suspicion it had something to do with that letter Hermione had written him. Hermione was currently dating Chester Kivin, a "nice young man" according to Mrs. Weaskey, she met early Summer in her parents neighborhood. Ever since Hermione had first mentioned Chester's name, Ron has despised the boy. 'He's not good enough for her', he would say, or, 'he doesn't know her as well as I do'. Harry knew Ron fancied Hermione. He even admitted it in a round about way once during last year. Hermione, however, was oblivious to it and that only made matters worse for Ron. Harry could understand how Ron felt. He probably didn't want to ruin anything in fear of destroying their friendship. Harry's situation with Ginny was somewhat similar.
Right after Ron's knight crumbled Harry's pawn to bits, Harry heard the squeaking of the Burrow's front door opening and an instant flutter of nervousness began to rise in his stomach. This was it; Ginny was home. He hadn't seen her for months, and now was his chance. Would she be surprised to see him? Excited? Disappointed? Before Harry could think much further, he heard the cry of the all too familiar voice he had heard in his dreams one too many times.
"Harry!" Ginny squealed. Yep, I think that's just how they greet people.
"Ginny!" Harry sputtered, trying to remain calm.
Ginny ran over, bent down and gave Harry the biggest hug he'd everreceived in his life. It even put Mrs. Weasley's infamous bear hugs to shame. "Oh Harry, when did you get in? I wish I would have known you were here, I would have come home sooner."
This feels so right, Harry thought. Her hair smelled of daisies. Her skin of faint perfume. Her hair was even longer and curlier than he remembered and she had that radiant Weasley charm echoing off of her wildly. Harry closed his eyes to take in this feeling of completeness. She was even more beautiful than he remembered. He could sit like this and hug her forever...
"Ginny, the poor boy has survived the most evil wizard from the depths of hell. Everyone will hate you if you smother him to death."
And yet, there was always one of those Weasley's who just couldn't let a sappy, corny moment last too long. Only this time it was George. Ginny ignored her brother's sarcastic comment and sat down next to Harry on his chair. A bit squished, Harry thought. Not that I mind.
"So tell me Harry. How's everything? It's been so long. I've missed you so much. I can't believe your actually here. It's been months!" Harry tried to take in everything Ginny was saying as she rushed everything out in a fit of excitement.
"Oh Harry, I couldn't sleep at night. I even named my teddy bear after you," mocked Fred, having to throw in his remarks as well.
"Oh, shut it Fred" scowled Ron. "Let her get her two cents in so Harry and I can finish our game."
"Ron, you know you've won anyway," reminded Harry, stating the obvious truth, but also wanting an excuse to talk to Ginny.
"I know, I know. Listen I'm heading to bed, Harry. Dad opened the cot up in there for you to sleep on. I'll throw some blankets on it. I'm beat. Have work in the morning-"
"You work?" asked Harry, surprised.
"Yeah. Got a job down at a pub called JoHansen's'. You'll have to come in sometime. I can get you a good deal-"
"Why, Mr. Ronald Weasley, are you stating that our dear friend Harry would be interested in getting pissed?" cut in George.
"George, he's an eighteen year old boy. I'd be worried sick if he wasn't interested in getting pissed. Anyway, good night Harry. Glad your back."
"Good night, Ron. Thanks," replied Harry with a smile. Wow, he thought. Ron has a job. He was proud of his friend.
After the twins finished trying to think of comical interludes during anyone's conversations and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley got tired of reading and cleaning, the only two left in the dining room were Harry and Ginny. Ginny was sitting over on the sofa now, painting her toenails with an unusually smug smile on her face and Harry was looking through a Quidditch magazine, every so often taking half glances over the top to get a glimpse of the beauty that was Ginny Weasley sitting directly across from him.
"So", said Ginny, twisting the lid back on the red nail polish, having just finished her last toe. She looked down at them admiringly and wiggled her toes in a fashion which only made Harry smile. "Still interested in Quidditch, are you?"
Harry shrugged. "Kind of. Just a hobby, you know. I don't really have the time and space to actually practice anymore or get a good game going."
Ginny lifted her legs up on the sofa, brought her knees up under her chin, and smiled. "Fred and George practice quite a bit. You could probably talk them into a game tomorrow or something."
"Yeah", was Harry's only response. He flipped over the last page of the magazine and set it back down on the coffee table. He then settled down into his chair and lifted his head to find himself looking directly into Ginny's eyes. She was staring right back, her brown eyes penetrating deep into his heart. This was awkward.
"Uhh, so umm", Harry broke in, breaking their stare and looking down at his hands in his lap. "It's great to be back here and see all of you. I've really missed –" Harry stopped here, unable to speak anymore, afraid of what he might say.
"We've missed you too Harry." said Ginny softly. Her voice was so sweet, so innocent... so, so ...Ginny. My god, what's wrong with me, he asked himself.
"Well, you look good, Harry. You've grown", she said with a shy smile.
Harry smiled back, looking deep into those great brown eyes again. "Thanks, so do you. Look good, I mean."
Ginny stared for a second, then said, "Yes, well, I best be going to bed. I have to meet my boyfriend, Evan, at seven in the morning."
Boyfriend!
Ginny stood up and crossed her arms in front of her. "You going to be alright? You must be tired after such a long day."
"Yes...yes, I'll be fine. Thanks Ginny. I'm heading to bed soon. I'm just going to think a while. I'll see you tomorrow." Harry hoped Ginny couldn't sense the disappointment in his voice.
"Yes, well, g'nite Harry. Welcome back." And with that, Ginny disappeared up the staircase to her room, leaving Harry in a state of complete disappointment and emptiness.