Chapter 4:

The Weasleys all gathered at the Burrow to have dinner together; everyone but George. The Burrow was extremely crowded with everyone moving around all at once. Even Percy had returned to enjoy his mother's cooking.

"Where's George?" Charlie asked his father.

"He's not coming. He's really busy with work," Mr. Weasley replied solemnly.

"Okay, let's eat," Mrs. Weasley said as she put the final platter of food on the table. It was obvious that she desperately wanted to change the subject. Everyone shuffled around the kitchen to try and find a seat. Harry sat near the head of the table with Ginny on his right and Percy on his left. People began to serve themselves food and passed the platters around the table.

During dinner, conversation at the far end of the table turned to the mess Gringotts was still trying to sort out from Harry, Ron and Hermione's escapade.

"What I don't get is why," Bill commented. The three avoided eye contact with him; especially Hermione, who seemed entirely too uncomfortable with the subject.

"It's a long story," Ron replied before taking a sip of his Butterbeer.

"But Bellatrix Lestrange? There had to be an easier way."

"Not really."

"Excuse me," she said quietly before fleeing the room. Ron sat frozen in his seat for a few seconds.

"Go see eef she eez alright," Fleur hissed to her brother-in-law. He also excused himself from the table and rushed after Hermione.

Ron found Hermione in his old bedroom staring out the window. She looked pretty upset about something as if she were going to burst out into tears at any given second for no apparent reason. He leaned against the doorframe with his hands jammed deep into the pockets of his robes.

"Are you okay?" he asked. She nearly jumped out of her skin before spinning around.

"Yeah, it was just, uh, really…stuffy down there," she replied quickly. It was obvious that she was lying through her teeth to him about something, but he decided not to make a scene.

"Are you better now?"

"A little." He wrapped his arms around her and tried his best to comfort her.

"Say we go home? You look pretty pale." Hermione shook her head into his chest and allowed herself to be held like a small child.

"I'm fine; I just needed to take a break." Ron wasn't convinced at all.

"Come on babe, let me take you home." Instead of risking getting into an argument, she finally relented.

"Okay, let's go."

"I'll tell my mum and be right back." He pecked her on the lips before going back downstairs.

In the kitchen, everyone had gone back to what they had been doing and talking about before Hermione's outburst.

"Mum," Ron said as he entered the overcrowded room. "Hermione and I are going to head home."

"Oh, let me get you guys some food to take," Mrs. Weasley said as she got to her feet and began to bustle around the room the best she could with all the chairs and people.

"No, it's fine. We're just going to leave."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, Hermione doesn't feel well."

"Oh Ron, can you take Teddy with you?" Harry asked. Teddy was beginning to nod off in his godfather's lap.

"Sure." Harry handed him over to Ron before sitting back down. Teddy was too tired to even notice what was going on.

"Thanks, we'll see you guys at home." Ron said goodbye to the rest of his family and went back up to his room to get Hermione.

By the time Harry and Ginny got home later that night, both Hermione and Teddy were fast asleep while Ron was up reading a book in the kitchen.

"Wow, you're actually reading a book voluntarily?" Ginny joked as she flopped down in the chair next to her brother. He shot her a dirty look. "Whatcha reading anyway?" Without warning, she took the book from him.

"Hey, give it back!"

"Quidditch, big surprise." Ron took the book back and hit her with it playfully. "Hey!"

"Okay, okay children, cut it out!" Harry exclaimed as he wrapped his arms around Ginny from behind. "I'm going to go to bed," he whispered in her ear. "Night baby." He gave her a goodnight kiss. "Goodnight Ron." Ron nodded goodnight as he went back to his book. Harry gave Ginny one last lingering kiss before retreating upstairs.

After Harry was gone, Ginny got up to get her and Ron some Butterbeer. She could tell that he had a lot on his mind.

"Do we have anything stronger?" he complained when he saw what she had put in front of him.

"Just drink it," she snapped as she sat back down. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he replied quickly. Ginny drank her Butterbeer in silence. After a few minutes, he asked her, "Could you see yourself with Harry in a few years?" She gave her brother an extremely confused look.

"Where is this coming from?" He simply shrugged.

"I dunno, Harry's my best friend, and you're my kid sister."

"So talk to Harry, not me," she reasoned as she stood up to put her empty Butterbeer bottle in the sink.

"Why can't you tell me?"
"Because one second you're giving me and Harry dirty looks for acting like a normal couple, and the next you're asking me questions like this."

"It's an honest question!"

"Well here's an honest answer, shove off!" With that said, Ginny stormed out of the kitchen. Sighing, Ron got up to see if there was any Firewhiskey left. After dealing with Ginny's attitude and Hermione's sudden personality changes, he was in desperate need of something much stronger.