AN: hey guys, thanks for reviewing even though it was a short chapter. Here is a longer chapter as promised.

Treck- I do hope Ginny can slap some sense into Harry. That's a very interesting theory. I wanted to pretend like it didn't happen either, but I decided I'd better stick with it anyway.. Thanks for being my first reviewer! hands you the biggest piece of cheesecake

Feltonsgirl90210- I'm glad you like it so far! hands you the biggest piece of a LEMON cheesecake that I made just for you. And I'm glad you like my style of writing. Thanks for reviewing!

Kiki- I know it was way short. I was just anxious to get it started but I didn't have much time at all. I'll also try to remember to email you when I post this. Thanks for reviewing! hands cheesecake

gfoyle- I agree- and if he pushes her away much longer- well, you'll see soon I guess. Thanks for reviewing and I am definitely planning on making it longer. hands large piece of cheesecake

Metamorphosis gurl- thanks im glad you like it! Thanks for reviewing. hands cheesecake

Evilator- 1) thanks very much 2) where can I sign up and 3) would you rather have some other type of baked good?

Ch 2-

Harry was laying in bed looking up at the ceiling. He hadn't been able to sleep well this summer because he was having horrible nightmares about Dumbledore's death, and also about what could happen to Ginny if he didn't keep her safe.

He had lost track of the days. He just remembered scribbling vague responses to his friends letters when they came. Ginny never sent any letters, and Harry though it was just as well. If he could forget about her, he could forget about his feelings for her, and she could be safe.

But he couldn't forget about her. Every day, he wondered what she was doing, if she was safe, if she had another boyfriend…

He was startled to see a flock of owls at his window. He opened it, and they all flew in, dropping packages, then flying out the window. Then it hit him. It was his birthday. He was 17.… he could do magic. Forgetting about the gifts, he packed his trunk with a swish of his wand, and got himself ready. He was leaving today; he was actually leaving the Dursleys forever.

After three hours sitting still on his bed, waiting, he could hear his aunt getting up out of bed. He scrambled out the door and rushed down the stairs.

"Good morning Aunt Petunia." he said. She acknowledged his presence by placing a plate in front of him, filled with bacon, sausage, eggs, and biscuits. He had never received this much food during one meal at the Dursleys.

"Why-" he began, but she cut him off. "Well it is your last day here today. Don't expect anything else though." she said shortly. "Thank you Aunt Petunia." he said quietly. They ate in silence, then both stopped in their tracks when they heard a soft knock at the door. Quietly, Aunt Petunia opened the door.

Remus Lupin came in, looking as ill as Harry had ever seen him, but he smiled and hugged him all the same. "Well you should go get your things, Harry." This was it. He would never be coming back here.

He levitated his things downstairs, then saw the look on his aunts face. "Oh- I'm of age now, I can do magic." She flinched slightly. "Well I guess it's better that you leave before Vernon wakes up.. He doesn't like that thing." she said, pointing to his wand.

"Well, lets get going Harry." He walked over to his Aunt and extended his hand, which she shook. But then, she did something Harry didn't expect. She pulled him into an awkward, one-armed hug. It wasn't the warmest gesture, but it brought tears to Harry's eyes all the same. He had never been hugged by an actual member of his family.

"Bye, Aunt Petunia." he said. She squeaked out a small "bye" and turned around to work on breakfast, wiping her eyes with her apron discreetly.

Remus put his arm around Harry and disapparated him away. His last view of the Dursleys was his Uncle coming down the stairs with a confused expression on his face.

Harry found himself at the ministry of Magic, in the apparation department. "I figured you should have your apparation license before school started again." Remus said.

After an hour of testing, Harry walked out with a smile on his face. "Shall we go to the burrow?" he asked Remus happily. He nodded and they both disappeared with a small 'pop'.

The arrived to a startled Mrs. Weasley. "Oh Harry dear, Happy birthday!" she caught him in a hug so tight that Remus had to convince her to loosen her grip so he could breathe.

"Well, you can bring your things up to Ron's room. Maybe that will wake him up." she said, while beginning breakfast. Harry said goodbye to Remus, then levitated his things upstairs. He set them down quietly in a corner and pointed his wand at Ron. He muttered a small spell and the covers went flying off of him. He just grunted and rolled over. He pointed his wand at him again and said 'aqua'. A jet of freezing cold water shot out and hit Ron in the face.

"What the-" Harry smiled. "Hey, mate." Ron said. "Couldn't you have woken me up a different way?" Harry shook his head. "Well now that I'm up and I smell breakfast, lets go downstairs." He sat up and Harry saw that he had the most horrible bed head he had ever seen. He burst into laughter. Ron caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and threw a pillow at Harry.

On their way down the stairs, Harry caught a glimpse of another Weasley with even worse bed head. She was petite and still wearing her pajamas. When she saw Harry, she turned redder than her hair and rushed back inside her room.

"Kind of reminds me of second year.." Harry said quietly.

After a second large breakfast, Harry was as full as he had ever been. Suddenly, the fire turned green and Hermione stepped out. "Harry!" she ran over to him and hugged him. "How are you?"

Ginny entered the kitchen, fully dressed this time, and sat down right across from Harry. "Good morning." she mumbled. Harry nodded, and suddenly, he didn't feel very hungry anymore.

"Err- I didn't get much sleep last night. Do you mind if I go take a nap?" Ron tried to say something with his mouth stuffed full of food ,without much success, that Harry took as a "go ahead".

When he got up to Ron's room, he instead decided to open his presents. From Remus, he got a book of pranks by Moony Wormtail Padfoot and Prongs. (He couldn't wait to use this.) From Hermione, he received a wizard's survival kit, complete with tent, and other things to use out in the middle of no where, From Ron he got a real snitch in a small case, and from the twins, a box that he decided he would rather not open at that moment, in fear of his ears turning into radishes, or something of that sort.

He looked through the rest of the presents, but there wasn't one from Ginny. He sunk back onto the bed. He didn't know if he could take this much longer.

The door creaked open, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw red hair. Assuming it was Ron, he said, "Ron, we need to talk. It's about-" Ginny was standing in the middle of the room, looking very confused.

Realizing that he had almost given himself away, he turned red and sat up. "Oh- err- I thought you were Ron. Sorry" he said, looking down. "Its alright." Ginny said confidently. "I just wanted to give you your present in person.." she said. Harry's heart lightened. He opened the package to see a watch.

Suddenly looking nervous, Ginny said "It's so we can communicate. I have the other one. You can either press the big button and talk into it, or communicate by pressing the other small buttons if you aren't able to talk… just incase you get into another dangerous situation." she said looking right at him. He felt like she could see through him.. Did she know he, Ron, and Hermione weren't planning on going back to Hogwarts?

"Ginny- I-.. thanks." Seeing her looking at him, he remembered how much he loved her.. He had to tell her- especially if he was leaving. He might never see her again.

She got up. "Wait!" Harry said. She turned around. He rushed to her and grabbed her hands. Her eyes lit up. "Ginny, I-" she looked so happy, "I-" he paused. What if she wanted to come along with him? Then she would be in danger. She could die…

"I- can't do this." he said, his eyes stinging. "I'm sorry, Ginny. If you got hurt- .." She looked down and shook her head. "I can't do this either Harry. I'll just keep getting hurt." Harry's heart sank…

She walked away, leaving Harry standing there looking dumbfounded in the middle of the room. He stayed like that until Hermione came in. "Oh Harry-" she said. She led him over to the bed, sat him down, and hugged him. He buried his head in her shoulder and cried; for Dumbledore, for Sirius, for his parents, and for Ginny. He could see Ron Pass by the door, but didn't care if he saw.

Hermione lifted his head up and kissed his cheek. "It'll all be ok, Harry." He wasn't so sure. "We can leave as soon as the summer's over, and end it all. Ron and I will be there to help."

"You'll do what?" Mrs. Weasley's surprised voice came from the hallway. Hermione gasped and Harry swore. "Mrs. Weasley-" Harry tried.

"You aren't going back to school, are you?" Harry looked down. He couldn't lie to her. "I wasn't planning on it." he said. She began crying. "Please, Harry. Finish your education. It would be better that way." Harry felt bad but was still going to go. "Mrs. Weasley, the most important thing in my life right now is defeating Voldemort."

She flinched. "Harry, wait until after Hogwarts. It's what Dumbledore wanted!" he looked up.. It was what Dumbledore would want… He couldn't argue that.

Reluctantly, he looked at Hermione and shook his head. "Alright then." he said simply. Mrs. Weasley's lip trembled and she gave him a gentle motherly hug. "Thank you Harry, dear."

Harry spent the rest of the day talking and hanging out with Ron and Hermione, but Ron was unusually cold toward them, and Ginny was no where to be seen.

He knew he had to talk to someone about her soon, and Ron wasn't the best person, he figured, so he asked Hermione to go on a walk with him.

"Listen, how much has Ginny told you about what happened with us?" he said as they strolled by the lake. "Well she said you broke up, but didn't give any details as to why or how." she said.

Harry told her everything from when he first developed feelings for her to earlier that day. When he was done, Hermione spoke. "Harry, she was your good friend before she was your girlfriend. She was in danger then, and she still is now, just like Ron and I. She would take the risk just to be with you. I know that for a fact. Just tell her."

Harry smiled at her. "Thanks, Hermione. I may. But what about you and Ron?" she blushed. "What do you mean? There's nothing going on between us." Harry laughed. "Well there isn't!" she insisted. "He just thinks of me as a friend and that's all I'll ever be."

"I'm not quite as thick as Ron in this department, Hermione. I know you like him. And I also know that he's crazy about you." she brightened up. "Do you really think so?" she said.

"I'm positive. You have to make the first move, though. He thinks that you deserve better than him, and he's afraid that you would say no." Hermione gasped.

"Oh my- well, Thanks Harry she said, giving him a quick hug. She rushed off, leaving an amused Harry behind.

Hermione was looking everywhere for Ron. She was going to tell him how she felt, and she felt confident after her talk with Harry.

She found him in the back yard, and went over to sit on the bench beside him. "Ron, listen. I've-"

Ron interrupted her. "Did you have a good walk with Harry?" he said in a cold voice. "oh uhh- yes," she answered, "but I need to talk to you."

"Well I'm sure that whatever it is, you can go to Harry to talk about it." he said, looking away from her. "Ron, what-"

"Well that's what you've been doing. Going off to spend some precious quality time with your beloved Harry." Hermione stared at him. "Ron, you've got it all wrong. It's not Harry I like."

"Oh- must be Vicky then. Maybe McClaggen…." Hermione felt her temper rising. "I didn't come out here to fight, Ron." she said through gritted teeth. "Why are you being like this? I came to tell you something important, but you're being a prat."

"I'm being a Prat am I?" Ron yelled. "Well you're off snogging my best friend behind my back, don't you think I have a right to be a bloody prat?"

"What are you talking about Ron?" Hermione yelled right back. "I'm not snogging Harry! I came to tell you-" she stopped and calmed herself down. "Ron, I came to tell you that I love you. But I can tell that you clearly don't feel the same way." she felt tears freely falling but she didn't care. She walked back inside the house, cursing Harry under her breath.

She felt a strong hand grab her arm. She turned around to see Ron standing there- looking as if his whole world had come crashing down. "Hermione- please.." he said in a shaky voice. "I love you too." 6 years of waiting for this moment was over. He leaned down to kiss her..

AN: ok I know- you guys probably want more H/G- that will be coming soon perhaps. I just hate it ( and I am sometimes guilty of this ) when Ron and Hermione just start snogging without any explanation -

Review and I will give you the baked good OF YOUR CHOICE…

Longer chapters will follow- believe me.. If you review that is.