AN: Hey there, sorry about the wait between updates. The plot will pick up in this chapter and the summery will come into play. Enjoy.

Recap

"I think I want to send a letter," said Harry.

"To whom?"

"Ginny."

"My sister? Why? I thought we were solo," said Ron.

"We are, but nothing says she can't help us brew. She won't know about the training or the books or anything else, but you have to admit, she isn't half bad in potions. She can brew while we research. Besides, she's the only one I trust that isn't busy," said Harry, entering Borgin and Burke's shop.

"Good afternoon Sirs. And what may I do for you today?" asked the proprietor of the shop, sweeping down one of the aisles towards them.

"We'll just look around. We heard there might be some things in here that would be of interest to us."

"Oh, such as?"

"We'll let you know if we don't find it," said Ron, dismissing the man as he and Harry started to browse.

A quick search of the establishment reveled nothing they could use. There were plenty of booby trapped items to get intruders, but nothing that they wanted. They turned to leave, but Harry stopped and said to Borgin, "Our employer would be interested in items that belonged to the founders of Hogwarts. I can assure you that he will pay dearly for such items, should you come across them." He handed the man their business card and they left.

Stopping by the nearest pub they grabbed some dinner and apparated back to their house to await the return of Ginny's owl, contact from Dung, and to do some research. The rest of the night passed uneventfully. The next morning however was a completely different story.

Ginny had returned their owl first thing, and on its heels was Ginny flying in the window behind it on her broom. Her hair was blowing around like crazy and she was mad as hell. She was also carrying a Howler from her mum. The first thing she did was to bat bogey them before she even landed. Throwing the Howler at them, she marched over to the couch to wait. Soon the boys had did the counter curse and were standing there glaring daggers at her. The Howler on the rug was starting to smolder and some of the carpet was turning black.

"How could you? How could you just leave us like that? We were worried sick about you and here you are playing house when everyone was terrified that you were being tortured with the Dark Lord! But why would you bloody care. You selfish bastards! You could have been dead. But why would you care? You and your damned ego. Thinking you have to do this all on your bloody own! Fuck you Harry! Fuck you. Maybe if you can manage to pull your head out of your ass for five seconds you'd see that people care about you and it isn't all about fucking you! Did you ever stop to think what it would do to the rest of us?" ranted Ginny.

"Yeah, I DID! I'm tired of my friends dying. I'm sick of my family disappearing before I even have a fraction of time with them that you do. I'm tired of everyone being hurt because of me! I'm 17 and I can damn well do what I want. If I choose to leave, it's none of your damn business. None of you even bother to think about what this whole damn war has done to me! I'm fucking dying inside and I'm sick of it all. You have no right, no right, to say such things about me. You're not me, you don't know what it's like, and you never will. You don't hear the screams of innocents inside your head. You don't feel the aftereffects of Voldermort's wrath. You don't see what he does to people, what he does to his "playmates", how his own followers fear him, how he tortures people, kills them, fucks with their heads. You aren't there, trapped inside your head with his eyes, on the receiving end of his wand, as people die just because he feels like it. How you wish you could reach out and snap the kid's neck just to end it all for him. You don't know. You won't ever know what I go through, what I do every fucking day of my bloody fucking life!" screamed Harry, starting to have his magic whip around him and lashing out at the closest objects. One of which happened to be the flaming Howler. Harry glared at it and incinerated it.

It died silently while Ron just stood there stunned and Ginny burst into tears. He had known it was bad for his friend, but he never knew it was this bad, that Harry felt those things, that Voldermort tortured him every time he did someone else. And Harry couldn't even die to escape it like his other victims. Shaking his head, Ron walked over to Harry and held out his hand in a silent gesture of support. He was shocked when Harry turned around and walked out of the room.

"If that's all you came here for Ginny," said Harry, his voice like ice, "then leave. Get out of my house. Forget I ever asked for your help." With that he turned and left. The soft click of his bedroom door shutting echoing throughout the silent house. Ron was left standing in the middle of the room while his little sister sat crying on the couch. Soon however, he was enraged. How dare his so called "best mate" hurt his little sister like that? He purposely ripped her a new one and he even knew that she only cared about him because she was madly in love with him. Handing his baby sister a calming draught, he went in search of his latest target. Storming up the stairs and blasting Harry's door open, he started in on the guy.

"How dare you hurt Ginny like that! She only cares about you, you arse. She loves you and you just go and tear her apart like she's just a piece of trash that got under your nails," growled Ron, advancing menacingly on Harry.

Harry just looked up from his chair in mild amusement. He had been wondering how long it would take the redhead to storm up here in one of his famous rages. Three minutes, it beat out his guess by 2 minutes and 54 whole seconds. "She's the one who barged in here, uninvited, and started in on me. Has it never occurred to her that the whole wizarding world places themselves on my shoulders and that I have more to deal with than what to wear or who to go out with? I am not a child anymore Ron. I have seen things no one should ever have to, done things no adult would willingly do. I am forced into this every day and when I finally decide to do something about it, everyone jumps on my back. A little respect would be nice. As for her loving me, I love her back, but only as my friend's little sister. I'm gay Ron, and she knows it. I told her there could never be anything between us, and it's more than time she outgrows this school girl crush. I don't love her, I am not a sniveling first year, I can make my own decisions without her or anyone else forcing me," said Harry, calmly.

Ron just looked at his feet, his anger receding. He knew Harry was right, and that Ginny wasn't wrong, but she wasn't right either. He raised his head and told Harry so. They agreed that tonight they would go to the Burrow and explain everything to them there, and then they would leave. It was time. It was past time for them to stand on their own. Harry had a point, they weren't kids, and they could make their own decisions. No one knew better what Harry needed than Harry himself did. Resigned, Ron went back downstairs and told Ginny the news.