Still don't own anything but the plot and what I create.
Warning: Fluff alert!
Harry tumbled out of the fireplace with a smile on his face. As far as he was concerned, he was with family now. He stood up and brushed off his clothes. He really hated traveling by floo. He desperately wished that there was another way for underage wizards to travel, but there wasn't as far as he knew. Good question to ask Hermione, she'd probably know and if she didn't she could help him find out. Harry looked around, trying to see if Ron was about. However, he didn't see him waiting for him.
The twins came out of the fireplace next, shortly followed by Mr. Weasley.
"Come on, Harry. Let's get your trunk up in Ron's room," said Mr. Weasley. "You'll be staying with him." Mr. Weasley levitated Harry's trunk with a flick of his wand and led it to the stairs.
Harry walked down the stairs after unpacking his trunk. He found Mr. Weasley reading the Daily Prophet.
"Mr. Weasley, where are the others?" he asked curiously.
"Oh, they're out playing Quidditch in the field," said Mr. Weasley without putting down the paper.
Harry gave his thanks and headed out to where the others were. When he got there, he stopped under a tree and just watched them all play. The twins had gone ahead of him and were teamed up against Ron and Ginny. Harry felt really weird as he looked at Ginny. It was similar to what he felt when he saw Cho, but it was different, deeper. He stood there, leaning against the tree, mesmerized by his best-friend's sister. That thought cause him to come out of his daze. He shook his head to rid it of the traitorous thoughts.
"Idiot! She's Ron's sister!" he thought to himself. "I can't think about her like that!"
He walked out from under the tree and was immediately surrounded by red-heads.
"Harry, mate, you made it!" said Ron as he clapped his hand on Harry's back. It would have been a stinging blow last year, but Harry barely felt it now.
"When did you get in?" asked Ginny, her face a little flushed from playing around.
Harry got an idea. "Didn't Fred and George tell you that I was here?" he asked innocently. "They went with your dad to go get me."
Fred and George glared at him as Ron and Ginny rounded on them.
"You gits! Why didn't you tell us he was here?" shouted Ginny.
"Blimey, you should have said something!" added Ron.
"Good thing Ginny doesn't have her wand, she'd probably hex them right now if she did," Harry thought with a smirk.
The twins decided that discretion was the better part of valor and ran for it. Ron and Ginny left Harry laughing his butt off as they took off after the twins.
Harry sighed as he climbed into bed. He had shocked everyone at dinner by eating more than Ron, a lot more. When asked about it, he had shrugged and said that he was just really hungry. Now he was more than ready for a good night's sleep. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
(Dreamscape)
"Have fun, Harry?" asked Rannock with a smile.
"Yep, but I don't think that is why you are here," Harry replied.
"You are right, Harry. I came to continue our discussion from before," said Rannock. "The most important thing for you to know is that you should never, ever look at the full-moon. If you don't have your tail, then it doesn't matter, but if you do, you will turn into an Oozaru."
"A what?" Harry said curiously as he sat down on the white ground, which was surprisingly soft.
"An Oozaru," replied Rannock. "It's what we call our giant ape form. When we look at the full-moon, our bodies change and we loose our minds in the process. It lasts for as long the moon is out or someone cuts off our tail. Only the royal class knows how to control their Oozaru form."
"Okay, no looking at the full-moon. Got it," said Harry.
"Okay, next you should know that you will find that you need to eat more. Your metabolism has increased, speeding up your natural healing ability. The side effect being that you need more food. Also, you will have far more energy, your connection with your ki becoming stronger."
"What's ki? Is it like magic?" asked Harry, getting even more interested.
"Sort of. It is your internal energy, governed by your emotions. When you are angry, your ki reacts by becoming more powerful," Rannock said as he summoned a ball of ki. He reabsorbed it while clinching his fist. "However, you must be careful. Anger can lead you down a path you do not want to go. Many have lost themselves to the seductive power anger brings, using their anger and hatred to cause others pain and suffering. You know of one such person, Voldemort."
Rannock then stood up and motioned for Harry to do so as well.
"Tonight, I will teach you how to find your ki. If there is enough time afterwards, you will learn how to use it to boost your body," said Rannock as he led Harry to a training ground that suddenly appeared.
(End Dreamscape)
As the sunlight filtered through the window in Ron's bedroom, Harry started to stir. He had learned much that night, having figured out how to access his ki fairly quickly. He was now confident of his ability to focus his ki, but he still had a long way to go before his grandfather taught him how to use it to attack. Rannock had told him to call him grandpa after he grew tired of Harry calling him great-great-great-grandfather all the time. Rannock had shown Harry a simple ki blast, but that alone spurred Harry to learn as much as he could as soon as possible. Rannock had instructed him to meditate for half-an-hour before bed every night and every morning. Harry immediately got into position and began to meditate.
About a week later, Mr. Weasley announced that he had gotten tickets to the Quidditch World Cup. Harry couldn't wait for the event, which sadly didn't happen for another week. In the meanwhile, the four of them spent a lot of time playing Quidditch and doing chores. Mrs. Weasley had told him that he didn't have to, and Harry still remember the little disagreement they had on that.
"Harry, dear, you don't need to do any chores," Mrs. Weasley had told him when he had asked for something after she had listed out the chores for the day.
"Mrs. Weasley, please, if I am going to stay here, let me help," Harry had asked.
"No, Harry, you are a guest here," she replied gently.
"Dumbledore said that you invited me to stay indefinitely," Harry told her. "If that is true, then I want to do my fair share of the work."
Mrs. Weasley had tried to dissuade him, but he remained stubborn. She had relented and had him degnome the garden with the twins. He had used the opportunity to practice controlling his strength, especially after sending a gnome clear over the hill.
"No way!" said Fred in shock, yelping after the gnome he had been about to throw had bit him.
"That's a new record," said George in awe.
"Oops," said Harry, hoping that they didn't ask any questions.
Time passes quickly when you are having fun. Harry found this out quickly when it was suddenly the night before the Quidditch World Cup. Hermione was due to arrive that night and they would leave at first light. Harry was fine with that because Rannock had him waking up at dawn lately anyway. Harry had been focusing on his chores and training especially hard because his thoughts would turn to Ginny when he wasn't paying attention. He was very disturbed by this, even more so after the talk he had with Rannock.
(Flashback)
"Hey, Grandpa, why is it that I'm having…thoughts about Ginny lately?" asked Harry as he practiced the martial arts Rannock was teaching him. It combined his natural affinity for speed with his new strength.
"Hmm, well your mind is becoming clearer and your body is changing. It's a natural process," Rannock told him with a smirk.
"I know that," Harry said with a blush, having been through that with Sirius. He had written to him after some…interesting dreams. "I mean, I have never seen her as anything more than Ron's little sister. So why has that changed all of a sudden?"
"Oh, well I can only speculate, but I imagine that your mind is changing to the point that you are subconsciously reassessing your position with your friends and people you know," Rannock told him seriously. "I can only guess that your subconscious thinks of her as much more than just a friend. Have you ever felt this way before?"
"Yeah, for a girl at school, Cho Chang," Harry admitted, his blush deepening. He wasn't used to talking about his emotions with anyone. "She's the Seeker for the Ravenclaw team."
"Hmm, and do you feel the same for Ginny as you do for her?" asked Rannock seriously; the glint in his eye showing how much he was enjoying this conversation.
"I…umm…that is, my feelings for Ginny are stronger than my feelings for Cho," Harry told Rannock softly.
"Are you ashamed of this?" asked Rannock curiously. He would never understand humans.
"Well, yeah! She's my best-friend's sister!" Harry exclaimed loudly. "I shouldn't be thinking about her like that! It's just wrong!"
"Why? Why is it wrong to like a girl?" asked Rannock, stopping Harry's rant. "A very pretty girl that likes you, ever since she was ten if I am correct."
"Huh?" Harry said numbly. "She likes me? I thought that she was just nervous around me because of my legend." Harry said the word 'legend' like it was a vile word.
"No, Harry," Rannock said while shaking his head at his grandson's naivety. "I have seen much in both my time alive and afterwards. She likes you for you, but you need to work you the courage to admit your own feelings. If you don't snag her while she still likes you, someone else will win her heart."
Harry was surprised, and quite frankly terrified, at the feelings that last sentence brought him. When he thought about her going with someone else, it felt as if someone had clenched his heart and made it stop beating. Harry's face paled as he came to terms with his feelings for Ginny. Rannock didn't teach him anything else that night. He just let Harry think and talk.
(End Flashback)
He still hadn't completely come to terms with his feelings, but he figured that he would know what to do by the time they got back to Hogwarts.
Harry was distracted from his thoughts by Hermione's arrival. He was relived when no surge of emotion came when he saw her, he didn't have feelings beyond friendship for his bushy haired friend. He smiled at Ron's uncomfortable features, his recent introspection giving him a greater understanding of his friend's plight. He obviously liked her, but didn't want to admit it.
Ginny giggledwhile Harry laughed as she could tell that her brother liked Hermione as well. As she laughed, she snuck a look at Harry. She had trouble keeping her eyes off him these last couple of weeks. He had changed quite a bit from the scrawny little boy to the hunk across the room from her. She could see his six-pack through his shirt. He had taken Ron and her on a little shopping trip to Muggle London when they had gone to Diagon Alley to get their school supplies. He had coached them on all things Muggle, and had even bought them Muggle clothes of their own. They had tried to refuse, but he didn't listen and had someone help her find clothes that looked really good on her. She still blushed whenever she saw her reflection while she wore the clothes he got her.
"Oh wow, Ginny," said Hermione as she came over to Ginny. "You look fabulous!"
"Thanks, Hermione," said Ginny as she blushed.
Harry watched as Hermione talked excitedly to Ginny. He couldn't even look at her anymore without having to look away with a blush. He shouldn't have bought her those clothes, she looked too good. They really looked good on her, and those jeans of hers were so tight, he wondered how she even got them on. He was taken out of his thoughts by Mr. Weasley announcing that they should get to bed, seeing as they needed to get up early.
Harry woke up and looked at his watch. He sighed as he saw what time it was, 3:30am. He had asked Rannock to make sure he woke up early, but this was nuts! He sighed and rolled out of bed and slipped into the bathroom to take a shower. He had tried to make sure he was in there before anyone else as he still didn't know how to explain to them about his tail. He stood in front of the bathroom mirror and took a good look at the mirror. He had grown quite a bit in the last couple weeks, mainly due to the changes he went through on his birthday, but also in part to the amount of good food he has been eating. He had packed on a lot of muscle and those muscles were like steel cords. He had discovered early on that what happened during his 'dreams' carried over to his real body. He had pulled a muscle in his arm during a workout with his grandfather and when he woke up, the injury followed him. He smiled at the memory of Mrs. Weasley's mothering of him after he let out a grunt of pain when he bumped into the wall coming down the stairs. She had told him not to do anything for the rest of the day.
Harry shook hid head to rid it of the memory and got into the shower. A quick shower later and he was feeling much more awake. He got out of the shower and reached for his glasses, but realized that he could see perfectly without them. He shrugged and figured it was due to his Saiyajin heritage. He reached for his clothes and paled as he realized he had forgotten to grab his clothes. He wrapped a towel around his waist, making sure that his tail wasn't showing, and headed back to his room. The Weasleys had made a room for him in the attic. They had evicted the ghoul that had stayed there and it moved to the basement. It tended to make an even bigger racket than normal at times to show its displeasure at being moved.
Harry heard the floorboards creak behind him and turned quickly to see who it was. He blushed from his head to his toes when he saw that Ginny was standing there, looking at him. He saw her eyes roam over his body, taking a good look at the changes he had gone through. When her eyes reached his, she blushed to the roots of her hair and she rushed back into her room. If Rannock hadn't told him the she liked him, he would have figured that she didn't like him because she hardly looked at him lately.
With a shrug, Harry walked back to his room, completely missing the eyes that peeked out from Ginny's door, which opened slightly after Harry had turned back around.
Ginny sighed as she watched Harry walk back to his room. She realized that she had blown a perfect chance to be alone with Harry by getting embarrassed and running away. He sure looked good from the back. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she noticed something brown sticking out slightly from the bottom of his towel. It looked kind of like his weird belt that he refused to tell them anything about. She decided to ask him about it later as she needed to take a shower before Ron got up. There was never any hot water after he took a shower.
Harry sighed as they walked to where the portkey that would take them to the World Cup was located. Harry looked around once they got to the top of the hill and looked for the portkey. All he saw was an old boot that Mr. Weasley was happy to see. Harry tuned his new ki sense in on the boot and was shocked to feel energy trapped within it. Mr. Weasley took a look at his watch and pull them all around, including the Diggorys, who had joined up with them a little before. They all put a finger on the boot and then Harry felt a pull from behind his naval, as if he was being pulled through space by that one point. After it was over, Harry couldn't wait for the day that he would learn to fly. Rannock had told him that it was just a matter of control over one's ki, and that he'd be at that point soon enough. Harry climbed out of the dog-pile and then helped Mr. Weasley pay the campground attendant. They made it to their space and set up their tents, which took a while, though it probably would have been quicker if Mr. Weasley hadn't tried to help.
Harry went for a walk in the forest after they got everything set up, just to get rid of his nerves. He had been feeling tense all day, as if something bad was going to happen. He heard a twig snap behind him and he whirled around, grabbing the person who had snuck up on him by the neck. He immediately let go and stepped back when he saw who it was.
"Ginny!" he exclaimed. "Sorry about that. I didn't know that it was you."
"Its okay, Harry. I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that," she told him with a little smile. "I tried calling your name, but you didn't hear me."
Harry had the decency to look sheepish.
"I've…had a lot on my mind lately," he told her as he sat down next to a tree.
"Want to talk about it?" asked Ginny as she sat next to him.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he told her with a chuckle. He absently pet his tail a little.
"Try me," Ginny said stubbornly.
Harry took a look at her and realized that she wasn't going to let him go until he told her. So he started talking, first about Sirius, and then he moved on to the dream he had on his birthday. He told her everything, not meaning to, but the words wouldn't stop. After he finished, he looked down at his hands, not wanting to see her disgusted face. He was shocked when he felt a cool hand on his. He looked up at her in surprise, her face not showing revulsion or disgust, but understanding and care.
"Oh, Harry, I don't care that you aren't human. You are Harry, and that is good enough for me," she told him softly. She gave him a smile that melted his heart and lifted his spirit.
Harry leaned in and gave her a peck on the lips without thinking. He pulled away with a shocked expression; he didn't know what came over him. Ginny looked at him and then leaned in and kissed him back. They stayed like that for awhile, kissing gently before pulling away. Each of them had a smile from ear to ear. Ginny looked down at his tail.
"Can…can I touch it?" she asked.
Harry responded by uncurling his tail and stroking her arm with it. She let out a giggle as the hairs tickled her. She grabbed it gently, remembering what he had said about it being very sensitive. She began to pet it and Harry startled both of them by starting to purr slightly. It was not unlike a cat's purr, but it was deeper and rougher. She giggle softly at the look of contentment on his face, the tip of his tail flicking slightly. He let out a groan of protest when she stopped petting his tail.
"Come on, we have to get back before they send someone to find us," Ginny told him.
"I suppose you're right," he replied with a grumble. He stood up and offered his hand to her. When he pulled her up, he leaned down and captured her lips with his. They stayed like that for a couple of minutes until they heard Ron shouting their names in the distance.
"Come on," Ginny said as she held his hand and walked back towards the camp.
Harry smiled as they walked back hand in hand. This was going to be an interesting year.
Okay, don't flame me for being too sappy. I didn't mean for this to become a romance chapter, but I promise that I'll make up for it later on. I don't usually do the sappy romance stuff, but I couldn't seem to help it with this chapter.
Love it? Hate it? Please review. Flames will be used to light my incense. (Sandalwood, my favorite)
