Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.

If You Can Help Her – Chapter 43 – Phase Three

'Single quotes' means thoughts while "Double quotes" means spoken dialogue.

-IYCHH-

"What?" exclaimed both Molly and Hermione at the same time while Ron's eyes were widening.

"What do you mean, 'Did you think that?' How could you know what the other thinks?" asked Ron, confused.

Harry and Ginny looked at each other. They had let go of each other after they'd read each other's mind. "I can't read your thoughts, now," he commented. Ron was simply staring at them.

"Maybe if you're touching," suggested Hermione, excitedly. "The third phase said you could merge your minds while you share magic. The sharing of magic required that you be touching."

Molly nodded while her face turned pale. She was just trying to get used to them having a bond. Now, they could share thoughts.

As Harry took Ginny's hand, Ron demanded, "Phase three of what?"

'Can you hear me now, Ginny?' thought Harry.

"Will someone please answer me!" shouted a red-faced Ron.

'Yes, Harry. I can hear you. It's amazing!'

'I think Ron's trying to turn every color of the rainbow,' thought Harry as Ginny giggled. 'He's been red and violet, and now he's turning blue.'

'But he skipped orange, yellow, and green.'

Harry laughed at Ginny's observation as Ron got more frustrated. They heard Hermione say, "It's their secret to tell, Ron."

"Then why don't they?"

'I guess we've got to,' admitted Harry.

Ginny took a deep breath. 'Okay, Harry.' She then turned to her brother. "Harry and I have a special magical bond that started when he saved my life in the Chamber of Secrets. It went into the second phase last Christmas, and now it's reached phase three, which is supposed to be the final phase." 'Your turn, Harry,' she thought.

'You took the easy part!' Harry complained, and then focused back on Ron. "Er, with phase one we felt a strong connection, and also couldn't stand kissing anyone else. For phase two we could sense each other's emotions and even share them. The first time we noticed it was when Lucius Malfoy tried to get custody of me. From your house, Ginny calmed me down so I didn't throw a tantrum in the courtroom…"

"At the same time, I was throwing a tantrum at home for no apparent reason." She took a breath. "The worst time was when Harry was captured at the end of the tournament."

Ron, who was silently listening as his face turned more and more pale, remarked, "You were in a right state, then."

'I think he's yellow now and is about to turn green,' thought Ginny, causing Harry to laugh.

"What?"

Harry cleared his throat. "Now, Ginny and I can hear each other's thoughts when we're touching."

"What were you thinking that's so bloody funny?" Ron's face was now turning pink as he considered the implications of their bond.

"Nothing!" both Ginny and Harry replied simultaneously.

"I see. Let's make fun of Ron. He's probably the only one in the bloody family that doesn't know about it. That's the big secret you could share with Hermione but not me!"

"Yes! We think it might be the power he doesn't know!" shouted Ginny.

He glared to Harry. "So my sister is some sort of weapon you're gonna throw at He-who-must-not-be-named!"

"No! It's not like that! I…"

"I thought you cared about her!" Ron started to get up.

"He does love me, you idiot!" shouted Ginny. "Haven't you been paying any attention? I can sense his feelings and read his thoughts! I can feel his love for me! He couldn't deceive me if he wanted to! This is why we didn't tell you!"

"So, with these 'shared feelings' does she feel when you're, y'know?"

Molly's face now turned red. "That is none of your business, Ronald Bilius Weasley! They told your father and me about the bond, and we're dealing with those issues! I forbid you to ask any personal questions like that to embarrass them!"

Harry, tuning that conversation out, thought, 'Now we can have a private conversation in front of everybody.'

Ginny smiled at him, keeping her mouth closed. 'I guess so.'

'We should probably start trying to become a dragon as soon as we can actually get alone.'

'Yeah.'

"You're doing it right now, aren't you?" accused Ron. "Talking to each other, and ignoring everyone else!"

"Really, Ronald," scolded Hermione, "They've just reached a new phase of their bond and probably want to enjoy it. I, for one, think that we've intruded upon their privacy enough! Happy birthday, Ginny. Congratulations, both of you. Good night." She got up and walked out of the room.

Ron left right after her, still mad about both the bond and being kept in the dark about the bond, not realizing that he was demonstrating the reason why they hadn't told him about it.

Molly said, "Goodnight, dears. Don't stay up too late. Happy birthday, Ginny." She walked out of the room, but not so far away that she wouldn't hear if they did anything inappropriate.

'This is the best birthday gift I could ever ask for, Harry.'

'Then you don't want the present I gave you?'

'Of course I do!'

'We'd better get to bed. I love you.'

'I love you too, Harry.' She kissed him thoroughly before leaving. "Goodnight, Harry."

"Night. Have a good dream, and enjoy the rest of your birthday."

-IYCHH-

The next morning Harry read an interesting article on the front page of the Daily Prophet.

"Minister Bones to Encourage Communication between Hogwarts and the Ministry

By Anna Jesse

Today, Minister Bones created a new position within the ministry. It is called 'Hogwarts Liaison.' The basic job description is relay information between the ministry and Hogwarts. One of the functions is giving the students a way to express their concerns about the war and anything else to a representative of the Ministry. That person in return can help assure our children that the Ministry is doing everything possible to protect them and their families.

The person who has been appointed to this position has been working at the ministry for some time, and was originally appointed as under-secretary by former Minister Fudge. 'Ms. Umbridge proposed the idea to me a week ago, and it sounded like a good suggestion to have an open line of communication between the students and the Ministry,' explained Madam Bones.

Madam Dolores Umbridge has a long history of…"

The rest of the article praised Umbridge's accomplishments, saying what an upstanding person she was. Ginny walked up behind Harry and took a look at the picture. "Why is there a picture of a toad on the front page?"

They both shared a laugh before she kissed him good morning and then grabbed his hand. After he informed her silently about Dolores' appointment, Ginny thought, 'I wonder what Dumbledore thinks of this.'

'I don't know, but I do know it's time to exercise.'

"Er, good morning, guys," came Ron's voice from the doorway. They turned to see that Hermione was behind him.

"Morning, Ron," replied Ginny coldly while thinking, 'He has a lot of nerve…'

'Come on, Ginny. Let's at least give him a chance.'

Ron looked at them nervously, and then looked at the floor. "I, um, guess I sort of overreacted last night."

"You could say that," agreed Harry.

"Er, Hermione explained it more to me."

"You mean she threatened you," corrected Ginny.

"Look, I'm sorry, all right! She explained how this is a rare occurrence and I should be happy for you two. At least I know that Harry can't cheat on you."

"He wouldn't have anyway," asserted Ginny.

"I know; I know. Er, are we okay, now?"

'What do you think, Harry?'

'Personally, I don't want to spend the last few weeks of the break fighting with Ron.'

Ginny took a deep breath. "Fine, we'll forgive you. Just don't ever get mad about our bond again or we'll try that magic sharing while we hex you!"

"Now that that's settled," announced Hermione happily, "I believe that it's time for us to exercise."

-IYCHH-

Over the next few days, Harry and Ginny did their best to sneak in a few minutes per day to work on their transformation, with little success. After Sirius found out about them reaching phase three and wanting to work on the dragon, he let them practice in front of him for an hour per day (to keep Molly happy that they weren't alone together). It was still going slowly, but the day before they returned to Hogwarts the hands they were holding merged into one scaly arm for a few seconds. They were encouraged by that result, but still realized that they'd have to work on it for a while at Hogwarts.

-IYCHH-

Chapter end