Chapter 2 – Arrival
Glimpses of family rooms through nearly a hundred fires told Harry he was on his way to the Burrow. The spinning sensation was a welcome feeling over the seclusion of Privet Drive. He was so happy to be jumping the gap between the two worlds he occupied that he could hardly contain his joy.
As the spinning began to slow, so did the speed of the fires zooming by. Eventually he found himself standing in the grate of the fireplace in the Weasley's humble abode. He lifted his trunk onto the hardwood floor and took a step out into the one place where he always felt he was with family, his only home, other than Hogwarts. As he took his bearings and allowed the dizziness of the floo ride to wear off, he was immediately attacked by a swarm of fiery red hair.
"HARRY!" yelled a gaggle of people in various pitches and tones.
Mrs. Weasley was the first to reach him, grabbing him into a bone crunching hug.
"I guess Mr. Weasley told you all I was coming?" Harry said as Mr. Weasley looked away guiltily.
"Yes, Harry. I'm so glad you're here. I was so worried about you, all alone in that dreadful place," she said.
"Don't worry Mrs. Weasley. I put them in their place," Harry said, instantly regretful of revealing so much about what he'd done during his week at Privet Drive.
"What do you mean?" said Mrs. Weasley, eyeing him skeptically. "You haven't been using magic, have you? You'll get yourself expelled! It's only three weeks until your birthday!" she added with force.
"Well, no worries there, because it's happened already..." he trailed off, unhappy at having to reveal that fact so early in their meeting.
"WHAT?" squealed Mrs. Weasley as Harry braced for impact. Better to get this over with now and not put it off for later. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WENT AND GOT YOUSELF EXPELLED, HARRY!" came Mrs. Weasley's roar. "HOW COULD YOU WHEN YOUR EDUCATION IS SO CLOSE T—" but Harry cut her off.
"It doesn't matter, Mrs. Weasley," Harry interjected. "Even if Hogwarts reopens for next year, I'm not going back."
Mrs. Weasley sighed. "I thought you might do something like this." She paused. "Harry, you must realize that you don't have to do this. You don't have to get yourself killed trying to seek revenge on You-Know-Who."
"Yes... I do... I wish I could tell you why, and maybe I will, but not now. I just want to relax and be with my friends for a while; savor what little time I have with you all," he replied.
Everyone was staring at him. He knew they were all wondering what he was talking about. He knew they all wanted to bombard him with questions about his last statement, but wouldn't because they cared for him too much. Only Ron and Hermione had any idea of the weight he was carrying on his shoulders.
"Um... how about we all sit down," came the forgiving voice of Mr. Weasley.
"I like that idea," Harry replied, walking over to the extremely cushy sofa. "I'm really glad to see you all."
"And it's about bloody time too," said Ron, "'took you a whole week to get here! It's not like you have an obligation to stay at that Vernon prat's house."
"Ron!" Mrs. Weasley fumed. "Harry had to go there! D-D-Dumbledore told him tostay for at least a little while," she sputtered. Clearly Dumbledore's death was still having a terrible impact on her.
"Tactless," came a whisper from Ginny, who quickly added, "Well he is!" when she noticed everyone had heard her.
"She's right Ron," Harry said, not specifying who he was talking about.
"Oh fine, but you're here now so what's the difference?" said Ron.
SP
They continued talking about random things, from Quidditch to the pesky gnomes in the backyard, catching up on all that had happened over their week apart. It was several hours later when Mrs. Weasley got up deciding to go prepare dinner.
"Well, now that we've all skipped lunch, I think I'll prepare an early dinner," she said. "Arthur, care to help me in the kitchen?"
"Sure sweetums. Just let Harry explain this fascinating laptop thing to m—"
"NOW!" roared Mrs. Weasley.
"Okay dear," Mr. Weasley replied. Then turning to Harry said, "You'll just have to tell me later."
Finally alone with Harry, the rest of the Weasley family was quick to start asking questions about his stay at Privet Drive.
"How was it there Harry?" asked Bill. "I can go over there and give them the good old fashioned 'poof you're a toad' if they mistreated you."
"Nah, I think we should burn their house down, fix it, and modify the neighbor's memories. They'd never mess with him again," chuckled Charlie.
"What are you two on about?" said Fred. "I think we should plant some thing for big ol' Duddykins."
"Like the explosive bowel bonbon?" asked George.
"Exactly," replied Fred.
"Guys, it really isn't necessary," Harry tried to interject but was completely ignored.
"I think we should get his uncle." This time it was Ron. "He's the one who barred him up in his r—"
"HEY!" Harry screamed. "It's really not necessary, guys. They hardly said a word to me all summer, and when they did, 'silencio' did the trick," he added with a smirk.
"Alright, fine," said Bill. "I guess you never have to see them again anyway. Maybe it's best not to provoke them."
"Yeah. Bill's right for once," added Charlie. "Better leave them alone."
"Well we had better be off," announced Fred. "Tell mum we're sorry we couldn't stay for dinner, there's just too much to do back at the shop."
"Yes there is," declared George. "It would be detrimental to business if Hogwarts closed. And we were so close to taking over Zonko's."
"Looks like we should be looking for locations near Beauxbatons," said Fred.
George grunted in agreement and with a whirl of their robes and a loud crack they had both disappeared.
"Well, me and Charlie had better go help mum in the kitchen. She'll be expecting us," said Bill. "C'mon Charlie."
They both walked away toward the kitchen.
"I guess it's only us three now," Ron announced.
"Yep," said Harry. "Let's go upstairs."
Ginny nodded her approval and followed the boys up to Ron's room where they all sat down to talk about more pressing matters, such as Hogwarts.
"What do you think Harry? Would they really close Hogwarts?" asked Ron as soon as they were settled in.
"I'm not sure, Ron. McGonagall seemed pretty sure that Dumbledore would have if something like this happened," replied Harry.
"So the heads of house aren't making the decision?" queried Ron.
"No, they decided to leave it to the Board of Governors," Harry answered.
"It's insane, you know. Leaving a decision like that to people who aren't even at the school," said Ron as he turned to look out the window.
"I know Ron, but McGonagall knows that most students won't be returning. Not to mention that now Dumbledore's gone and the Ministry won't hesitate to jump in McGonagall's way if Hogwarts does reopen."
Harry looked to his left and asked, "What do you think Ginny?" She hadn't spoken at all since her 'tactless' comment several hours ago, and now that Harry noticed he was beginning to worry.
"I don't know," she said with a finality in her voice. It was then Harry knew something was wrong.
"Erm... Ron? Can you do me a favor and go help your mum in the kitchen for a bit? I really need to talk to Ginny for a few minutes. Alone," he said.
"But mate, you just got here, can't it wait?" Ron replied.
"No. It has to be now. I'm sorry... we'll have time to talk after dinner," Harry asserted.
"Fine. Quidditch in the paddock after dinner. No interruptions," ventured Ron.
"Deal," said Harry, happy to have gotten the perfect deal. He watched as Ron left the room and rounded on Ginny. "What's going on, Gin?" asserted Harry. He instantly regretted being harsh like this on her. He could see the surprise on her face as he was speaking and knew it was a mistake.
"What do you mean?" Ginny retorted. "What are you getting at, Potter?" she was on her feet.
Harry knew he had done something terribly wrong for Ginny to use his last name. He was afraid she was angry, and from the look she had she certainly was.
Harry faltered as he said, "I... I... Ginny there is something wrong here. You haven't spoken a word all day! I got here at ten in the morning and now it's almost four o'clock!"
"If you don't know what you've done then you don't deserve my forgiveness," she said.
"Well if you don't tell me what I've done how will I know if I should even ask for your forgiveness, huh?" he retaliated.
"I already told you!" she cried.
"But you haven't even—" then it hit him. Of course that's it! She's still angry from her letter! "Okay, now that I've figured out what you mad about... I guess I really do owe you an explanation. But don't count on an apology Ginny, okay?"
She silently sat down.
"Okay Ginny, this is how it is. I've got a lot of work to do. I'm not going back to school because if I do it will be another year wasted where Voldemort will be killing innocent people and looking for a way to kill me. Nowhere is safe right now, Ginny, but the most dangerous place is anywhere I am. The only reason I'm even here is because your dad agreed to the risks and told me that he would keep it quiet for the sake of everyone here, but when we go back to Hogwarts I'll be right where he expects me to be, and I can't let anyone there get hurt because of me. That's why I can't go back next year."
"Fine. I understand, I never even argued otherwise. What I'm so peeved about is that you plan on letting Ron and Hermione come with you," her voice was completely level, like she had practiced this scenario in her head several times.
"I was just getting to that," Harry said. "Now listen, Ginny, I know you don't want to hear this, but you've got to. I can't let you come. I didn't even want them to come, but they promised me a long time ago that they would make their own decision on this part. I told them they could turn back whenever they wanted to, and they know the consequences."
"SO DO I!" Ginny shrieked as she jumped to her feet, obviously unable to control herself anymore. "I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT CAN HAPPEN! I'VE FACED HIM, HARRY! HE'S BEEN INSIDE MY HEAD!"
"Ginny, listen to me."
"NO!" she screamed. "No..." her voice was getting soft as she broke under the pressure. Harry could tell she wasn't going to last any longer. She fell into his arms, her head resting on his shoulder, and she cried.
"Ginny, it's not what you think. What you faced was only a piece of him," Harry explained, choosing his words carefully as to not give away too much. "You didn't see his worst side. You've never fought him face to face. You've never seen they way he can duel. Yes, you've fought his Death Eaters, but you had so many people with you then, and a confusing arena. Yes, you did fight them at Hogwarts, but there were teachers there to help. Ginny, if we got caught we'd be outnumbered ten to one. Maybe even a hundred to one. The inferi are terrible, Gin. I can't put you through that."
Ron's voice came from downstairs. "Oi! Harry! Ginny! Dinner's ready! Get your bums down here!" but they both ignored it.
She was still sobbing as she said, "Harry, I know all the things he uses. I know the horrible things he's done. That's why I can't stay behind and worry about you."
"Worry about me?" asked Harry. He was confused now. He had thought she just wanted to help, to help save the world, help Harry through his hardships, not to protect him or make sure he was okay. "No." he stated firmly, "I can't let you come, I can't put you in danger like that. I care about you Ginny, I'd always have my eye on you, you'd be a distraction."
"What about the benefits, huh?" she said. "You need people who care about you help you when the road gets bumpy. You need—"
"What I need is to know that the people I care about are safe," he said.
"Harry, you said it yourself, nowhere is safe," Ginny said as she pulled back from him.
"But Ginny, he'll use you against me. He doesn't know that he could yet and I'd prefer to keep it that way," Harry said.
"He can use Ron or Hermione too you know! What's the difference?" Ginny's anger was mounting.
"THE DIFFERENCE IS THAT I LOVE YOU!" Harry yelled, surprised by his outburst.
Ginny was stunned. "You... you what?" she stuttered.
"No... I didn't mean that... I mean... I—"
"No... you did mean that Harry. You really did," she was smiling through the tears that were streaming down her face. "And I guess it's my turn now. You remember my letter? Well now's the time to tell you. I love you too."
She pulled him into a tight embrace and all he could do was melt into her arms. He had been hoping with all his might while he was at Privet Drive that this wouldn't happen, but at the same time desired it with all his heart. How could he be so stupid? He let his feelings get the better of him and all that he could see now was pain. She would be taken from him. He knew it. It was clearer than the morning dew. She would be taken from him.
"Ginny, I know I'm going to regret this, but I don't see I have any other choice," she looked at him with an expectant face. He'd just been about to say You've got to stay home, but her face made his stomach lurch and instead he said, "You can come," she smiled her radiant smile and Harry almost fell over, "but there is one condition," he added.
"What's that?" she asked eyeing him from the embrace she still held.
"You follow any and every order I give you. If I say go back, you have to go back. If I say hide, you have to hide. If I say run, you have to run," she nodded as he huffed and added one last example, "If I say leave me and save yourself, you've got to do it."
She hesitated and nodded again.
There was a thick silence when they heard a creak outside the door that they attributed to the poltergeist leaving the attic for a roam around the top landing.
Harry looked at Ginny, "I've got a lot to explain to you before we do this," he said. "Oh, and one more thing, let me tell Ron and Hermione that you are coming. I'd rather not get a beating if you tell him first."
Ginny gave him a steely stare, "Fine, but on one condition."
"What's that?" Harry asked, but then she pulled him into a deep and passionate kiss. The world melted around them and Harry was forgot where he was, but as quickly as it started it ended.
"And that's only part one," Ginny said as she walked out the door to Ron's room leaving Harry alone to ponder what had just happened.
"I think I'm going to enjoy these conditions," Harry said to himself as he followed her out the door and down to dinner.
SP
When Harry arrived at dinner the table was already set and Bill had already dug into his steak. Harry took one look around the table and his jaw dropped. The table was covered in all sorts or food. Everyone had a full size filet mignon and a lobster tail. To go along with that were roasted red bell peppers and pearl onions. Baked potatoes slathered in cheddar cheese and bacon and to his surprise a very American dish, hot wings. He sat down and eagerly took a potato and some peppers. He asked Bill to pass the onions, but he was too occupied by his steak, so he turned to Ron.
"Ron can you pass the onions?" he said.
"F'ure ma'fe," came from Ron's full mouth.
Harry dug in. It was too long since he had had a good hearty meal. After he had finished his steak and most of his peppers he ventured to taste a hot wing.
"Oi! Those things really are hot!" taking a mouthful of his potato, thinking he should thank Mrs. Weasley that there was a good supply of sour cream on hand.
He continued eating with hardly a breath until he had finished his potato, onions, and lobster tail, taking in at least two dinner rolls in the process. When he was finished he slouched back into his chair and took a deep breath.
"Wow, Mrs. Weasley, that was amazing," Harry announced.
"Thank you dear. I thought you should have at least one feast this year seeing as you aren't going back to school," said Mrs. Weasley, a look of disappointment on her face.
Harry blushed. "Mrs. Weasley, please don't try to pull that on me now," he pleaded. "I just want to relax with the only family I've ever had and try to be happy. Nothing you say is going to change my mind, so let's at least try to forget about all that."
Before he knew it Harry was caught in his third surprise hug of the day. It was Mrs. Weasley again, "Oh, Harry! You know you are welcome here, as long as you feel like a part of the family you are a part of the family!"
Harry smiled, not knowing what else to do, when he realized something. "Hey... where's Fleur gone off to?" he instantly knew it was a bad question to ask.
Bill was the one to reply seeing as everyone else was frozen. "She's gone off to visit her mum for a while. Erm... she left in a huff after I told her to bug off while she was asking me about color schemes for the wedding. She was kind of angry, but mum reckons she was also having second thought about marrying someone as mutilated as me..." Bill trailed off.
Harry thought Bill was looking much better than he was back at the hospital wing in Hogwarts. He certainly wasn't the same old Bill anymore though. He guessed that the moment Mrs. Weasley and Fleur had that night after the attack was not a lasting connection.
Harry had been so distracted by his thought that he didn't realize Bill was still talking. "But she'll be back. We've been keeping in contact via owl and she seems to have cooled off. I apologized and so did she. We've both been a bit stressed out lately seeing as marriage is right around the corner."
"Mmm," grunted Harry in agreement.
Mrs. Weasley then pulled out the puddings, which Harry declined on account that he already felt like he was going to explode. He watched as everyone else ate their bread and rice puddings. Bill on the other hand had a meat pudding. Harry thought it might have been lamb, but wasn't exactly sure.
After Ron had finished his pudding Harry grabbed his broom from upstairs and they walked out to the broom shed to get the quaffle and Ron's Cleansweep. Harry jumped on his broom and took off. The sensation was amazing. He missed flying even though he had been only last week. But it had been different then. He was flying to Dumbledore's doom.
He shook the thought from his head and sped up over the paddock. He and Ron took turns keeping the makeshift goals that Bill and Charlie had built back in their Hogwarts years. Harry was no great cracks at keeping or chasing, but he did have a knack for faking Ron out. Ron had known him for so long and knew him to be a straightforward guy and never expected a trick from him. They continued on with that for about two hours and returned to the Burrow at about nine o'clock.
"Phew. I'm bushed," said Ron, his voice telling Harry how tired he was. "It's never good to fly on a full stomach. Ten pounds heavier, I am."
Harry laughed, "Yeah, the way you eat it probably is ten pounds."
"Hey! I resent that!" his friend answered, and after a slight pause said, "Well,be that as it may, I need some sleep, but it's only nine and I think everyone still wants to talk with you."
"Well, they will have to wait until tomorrow, I can hardly move right now," Harry answered.
"Yeah, but we can go upstairs and talk a bit just between us. I want to ask you a few things, and maybe show you a letter or two..." Ron said as they dropped off their things in the broom shed.
When they reached the door they had to push through everyone claiming absolute exhaustion in order to get up to Ron's room without being forced into a conversation that could last several hours. Harry regretted telling Ginny that they would have to talk tomorrow, but he knew he had to. He hadn't had much time with his best friend since he had arrived and decided it was best to give Ron the rest of the night, no matter if it was one hour or five.
"Hey mate," Ron said, "I've got a question for you."
"Hit me," Harry replied.
"If you were just entering a relationship with someone, would you be having conversations about colors you both like that could work for a wedding?"
Harry gave Ron a hard stare. "What are you getting at Ron?"
"Well, it's Hermione. She's kind of... erm... forward about it all. Well like I said in my letter, she's insane."
"I believe your exact words were 'bonkers' and I think you were certainly right about that," said Harry with a smirk.
"Oi, mate, that's my girl you're talking about!" said Ron through a happy smile. "They are good though, aren't they?"
"Ron, I don't think you asked me to talk to you because you wanted to discuss how well endowed Hermione is."
"Yeah, you're right, mate. What I wanted to talk about is how insane she is. Here, read this letter she sent."
Harry picked up the letter and gave it a read.
Dear Ron,
How are you doing tonight? I'm all fine and well, but I've been wondering a few things. One was, what's your favorite color? I sure hope it isn't maroon because I could never get that to work in a wedding scheme and I hope it isn't pink either, but that's not just for the wedding color reason. Oh, goodness I hope it isn't pink. I was also wondering how often you think about me? I wish I could be at the Burrow right now. I sometimes sit by the window and pick a star and wonder if you are looking at the same one. But that's all silly rubbish isn't it? I should be thinking about more pressing matters.
I've always wanted a big family, being an only child and all, but I worry that you might want a small family, being as you come from a large family. I don't think I'd be able to have one as big as yours, but four would be a good round number. Ooh, I do hope they get your hair with my color. What do you think is good in the name department? I'm much more open when it comes to boys' names, but I am not willing to compromise much on girls' names. I know I could always just insist on one and not give you a say, but I do want you to have a hand in the naming of our children. Oh, goodness, I'm rambling. I should be talking about what's going on now, shouldn't I?
I wonder when Harry will be arriving at the Burrow? Do send me a letter when he arrives. I have to have a good conversation with him about a few things. He did some terrible things before we left Hogwarts. He told Ginny that he had to go save the world by himself and then told us to come along. Well, in reality, he more or less grudgingly agreed not to hex us for following him, but either way it's the same to her. He hurt her badly by that.
I also need to talk to him about where we will be looking for those Horcruxes. We will also need some training in dueling spells. I've found a few good hexes and curses, but they won't be so great if we can't use them properly. After I talk to him about that I think we should set up a practice ring in the paddock. We can practice there all we want during the day and learn the theory at night. I've got a few books I ordered from Flourish and Blott's, but they are only light reading. We need to get a proper set of defense books for this kind of undertaking. I know Dumbledore could have taught us some good spells, but all we can do is hope we can find a few that are even close to his power.
Well that's enough for now. Please make sure you think about those colors and names okay?
All my love,
Hermione
"Well," Harry said, "ones thing's for sure. She's completely off her rocker."
"I know mate she's tot—"
"But, she's bloody brilliant too. I was kind of hoping she would put some sort of practice sessions together for us. It will be perfect to keep us up and ready to fight. I've seen Voldemort fight and we aren't ready for that. Not even close."
"I know mate, but—"
"We've got to prepare so much before we can even think about taking on his better Death Eaters let alone Voldemort himself. It's going to be a long bumpy ride," Harry continued completely oblivious to Ron's attempts to interject.
"I know, but listen ma—"
"Not to mention the curses and enchantments we're going to have to break through in order to get to the horcr—"
"HARRY!"
"Huh? What is it Ron?"
"I thought we were talking about my situation with Hermione?"
"Oh yeah... she's totally nutters."
"I know that much," Ron said, slightly annoyed. "The question is, what am I going to do?"
Harry thought for a minute, letting ideas mull over his mind. He was drawing a blank until the obvious choice came to the surface.
"How about you answer her questions?" said Harry.
"What?" Ron asked, slightly taken aback.
"Well, you obviously feel very strongly for her. You aren't the best at showing your feelings, but hell even I can tell you're head over heels for her. You've known Hermione for six years, you've been in love with her for how many of them?"
"In love? Harry, are you insane? We've only been official for a week! We haven't even had a proper date!"
"Oh. Come. On. It's not like you've never kissed her before! Wait, you have kissed her haven't you?"
"Yes, of course I have... sort of."
"Oh goodness, you haven't even had a proper kiss. This is worse than I thought, Ron," Harry was enjoying the sweat that was beading up on Ron's face, he knew he'd hit a nerve.
"I knew it! I'm doomed! She's a psycho! I'm dating a psycho!" Ron was pleading with himself in shambles on his bed. Harry knew he couldn't keep it up.
"Ron! Get a hold of yourself!" he said. "I was only joking with you. Do you remember back in fourth year when Hermione was having that little... erm... 'thing' with Krum?" Ron's face contorted at the mention of the quidditch player.
"Yeah I do," Ron answered.
"Do you remember how annoyed you were?"
"Yeah."
"Then don't worry about it man," Harry said. "You've been in love with her since fourth year! You know her better than anyone. And people have fallen in love faster, and they turned out fine! You've got a good thing going. She's probably just afraid of what's out there right now. She's scared because she's about to go on a quest to eradicate the most powerful dark wizard the world has seen for centuries, not to mention the most immortal man ever. You had better just talk to her. I think you'd eventually get to those subjects anyway, eh?"
"Yeah, I guess you right," Ron said, not entirely convinced. "I'm just a little bit freaked by it all, you know? It's a bit... scary, thinking about it all. Me a father? It's just not right."
"I think your right about that. We don't need any little Rons running around with Hermione's brain now do we?" Harry chuckled.
"Yeah, I think the twins would have some competition!" Ron laughed.
"Yeah, well now that that is settled, how about a little bit of exploding snap before bed?" Harry suggested.
"Sure, sounds good to me," Ron replied.
They had a short and sweet game of exploding snap, both entirely too tired to play properly. After about ten minutes of constant explosions they decided to retire to bed and talk a bit about some random things. The conversation seemed to center around girls, but that was expected for boys their age. What else could they talk about? They told jokes and stories and reminisced about Harry's fiasco with Cho Chang. Then Harry insisted on talking about Ron's very public, very disastrous relationship with Lavender. They both laughed and continued in light-hearted conversation until sleep overtook them. All in all, Harry thought, as his eyes uncontrollably closed, it was quite a good day.
A/N -
Important hints on whats coming in this chapter, both for Chapter 3 which is in the making, and for the eventual end. Have fun checking for them, and feel free to ask in your reviews, but no answers will be given ;) br />
Everyone be sure to give a shout out to my beta readers, Emily and Jimmy, without them my grammar would suck and my story would be missing a few details that add to the glamor.
BTW PLEASE REVIEW! I LOVE TO HEAR YOUR FEEDBACK!