Hey y'all! Here's the long awaited chapter 3!

Disclaimer: You know, these really get boring…you all know what I am going to say, so I'll spare you my sarcasm.

When Ron and Hermione arrived back in the Great Hall, it was to find the crowd milling about as usual. They melted back into the throng and mingled with old friends for several minutes. Suddenly, Dumbledore, who had been standing behind the snack counter, sipping a glass of mead, set it down and tapped it lightly with a nearby fork. After several seconds, a hush fell over the crowd.

Dumbledore smiled, then opened his mouth and spoke. When he did, his deep, wise voice reverberated around the hall.

"I am very glad to see you all here," he began, smiling around at the assembled crowd. "I'm sure it has been very exciting for you to see all of your old classmates again. However, I would like…"—at this point he waved his wand and a platform appeared under his feet—"…to have the people who, I'm sure, everybody has been curious about, to tell us of the past five year's…happenings."

A ripple of muttering ran through the group. They all knew whom Dumbledore was referring to.

"I do not want any of them to be mobbed by curious former classmates, and the Daily Prophet is rather poor at telling the truth," Dumbledore continued. "So, I would like to invite up the three people that gave us the freedom we have today, and the one who was there for him whether they liked it or not…I think you all know to whom I am referring, so would Harry and Ginny Potter and Ron and Hermione Weasley please approach this podium of sorts…"

The four made their way up to the platform amidst thunderous applause. Harry helped Ginny onto the platform with Ron and Hermione, then turned to face the crowd and cleared his throat.

"Well, I think we should begin at the end of seventh year…"

Flashback

Harry stared out of the compartment window, trying to see through the thick raindrops trailing down the other side. Ron and Hermione sat across from him, neither daring to speak. Silence hung thick around them.

Suddenly the compartment door slid open, and Ginny came in. Ron and Hermione turned, but Harry merely concentrated harder on the rain-washed window.

"How's he doing?" Ginny asked Hermione quietly, sitting down next to Harry.

"He hasn't talked to anybody yet…" Hermione trailed off and looked at Harry anxiously as if he might drop down dead any second.

Ron made a shushing motion to both girls and they fell silent again. Harry focused hard on the little bits of greenery that he could see flashing by and contemplated the last two year's events…

Voldemort had been gaining more power over the last year. Harry knew that he would have to face him once he left Hogwarts. Actually, Dumbledore was the only reason he was still there—the Headmaster had convinced him that he should stay and complete his NEWTs. Harry was almost certain that Dumbledore had had another reason for doing this, but he had not questioned further into the matter. Harry trusted Dumbledore's judgment, especially since Snape had almost killed him last year. Harry knew he would have to face Voldemort, and he wanted it to happen sooner rather than later. That was why he was almost feeling upset over the fact that he was going to the Burrow first. Arrangements had already been made for Harry and Hermione to go home with Ron and Ginny—Fleur and Bill were holding a baby shower party, as Fleur was two months' pregnant. Harry had a feeling that they had planned this so that Harry, Ron and Hermione would have one last chance to see everybody before they left.

Meanwhile, there was the strain of Harry's personal and social life. Over the past year, girls had stalked Harry wherever he went. And though Ron found this incredibly funny, some did not leave him alone either. Thus, Hermione spent a lot of time with Ginny. Both seemed to have major issues with Harry and Ron's popularity. Harry had assured himself that Ginny was only angry in her brother's case—after all, the two boys did not enjoy their growing popularity amongst the girls at all. Hermione and Ginny were fast friends, and they could often be seen walking together whenever they could. When Ron once asked Hermione why she was spending more time with his sister than her supposed best friends, her simple response was:

"One, because girls can't seem to leave you alone, and two, because Ginny and I have a lot in common."

With this she had turned on her heel and stalked off. Ron had stared after her for a good two minutes before Harry managed to break him out of his trance.

Harry was growing increasingly frustrated with Ron and Hermione. He had been dropping increasingly obvious "hints" to Ron—"Boy, I sure hate being followed around by all these mad girls, don't you?" "You could never like any of them…any of our friends that you might consider…?" Often after Harry said things like these, Ron just nodded distractedly. It was obvious, by looking into his glazed-over blue eyes that he was thinking of the very person that had always been there for him. Why couldn't he just admit to his feelings for Hermione? It was apparent that she felt the same way—more than apparent, actually. So why didn't Ron just tell her?

Yet, at the same time, Harry knew that he had a similar problem. He knew that Hermione confided in Ginny about Ron. He had caught small snippets of their conversations—"Ginny, do you think he'll ever feel the same way?" Ginny's responses ran something like this—"He's my brother, he's really thick…" They never allowed Ron to hear these things, and whenever they caught Harry listening in, they shot him identical "don't-you-tell-anybody-about-this-or-we'll-rip-your-head-off" looks. Still, Harry sometimes caught a twinkle in Ginny's eye as she looked at him…before Harry was forced to run for it, for fear that Hermione might attempt to jinx him.

He also knew that Ginny and Hermione did seem to have a lot in common. So if Hermione confided in Ginny, might Ginny be feeling the same way about somebody? All Harry really knew was that if he, Harry, ever found out who it was, he would jinx the bloke into a jelly. Harry had no explanation as to why he felt this way—surely he felt protective of Ginny, after all they had been through together. But whenever he found himself wishing that there was something more between them, he shook them away and tried to ignore them when they attempted to push their way back into his memory again. Right now, however, he ignored the little, sensible voice in his head that was screaming, She's Ron's sister, prat! His SISTER! and allowed his mind to wander off to happy visions of him and Ginny, together…

"Harry."

Harry ignored the voice, staring dreamily out of the window.

"Harry."

He shrugged off the small, warm hand that had rested on his shoulder a second ago. However, it came back, and shook him gently.

"HARRY!"

Harry jumped at the sudden loudness of the voice and turned sharply. Instantly his green eyes met deep hazel and he jumped back again. Ginny's worried face was inches from his own.

She quickly removed her hand and backed away. "Sorry…"

Harry relaxed; he hadn't meant to startle her. "It's okay. Why'd you shake me, though?"

"Well, erm, the train's going to be arriving soon, and you seemed pretty distracted…" Ginny shifted uncomfortably and Harry was suddenly aware of the fact that they were alone in the compartment now.

"Where're Ron and Hermione?" Harry asked, to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Hermione's gone to tell off some first-years and Ron went to talk to Dean in another compartment…"

Harry flinched. Ever since Dean had started dating Ginny, in their sixth year, he had had an inexplicable hatred for the boy. He still did, even though Ginny and Dean were no longer together—he had hated to see Ginny hurt.

Ginny frowned at him. "Why do you—" she began, then trailed off in mutters, looking frustrated. "Never mind."

The train jolted and slowed, and Harry stood up. "Here," he said shortly, lifting Ginny's trunk off of the luggage rack and setting it down in front of her.

"Thank you," Ginny said quietly, bracing herself against the compartment door as the train rattled to a stop. When it finally did, she slid open the door and silently exited. Harry kept his back to her the whole time, while silently cursing himself for not saying anything more.

Whew! Another chapter done! And since I do have an opportunity to explain things, the four will skip right onto the battle…the following chapters are not part of their descriptions. Hope this doesn't confuse you!

Felix-hortensio-Thanks sooo much! Your comment helped, I do agree it does sound a little cheesy, I've made the changes.

Frankierocks19-What else can I say, thanks!

Featherfinger-In response to your chapter 2 review, well, Draco was really checking Hermione out, Ron is very possessive of her and I wanted to bring that out. Also he knows that Draco has a bit of a dirty mind, so he just got really mad. For your chapter 3 review, thanks so much for your idea! As you can see, I've used it. Please send me your character name and personality and I'll work them into the next chapter somehow!

Mrs.Ginny Weasley-Potter-Draco doesn't really know why he was there, it was mainly because he kind of likes Hermione now (but you know how Draco is lol) but he came just to see what was happening. Draco is really lonely now, you know, so he had little else to do…