CHAPTER FOUR

Harry woke up the next morning at five, having only an hour to get ready to depart on his journey. He sighed and lay in the extra cot in Ron's room for an extra five or ten minutes, staring at the ceiling. He didn't want to get up, but he knew he had to.

He rolled over and looked at Ron. He saw that Hermione had snuck into his bed late the night before, and was cuddling with Ron under the blankets. He smiled slightly to himself, but at the same time felt as if he was watching his brother and sister cuddling with each other. It was an odd sight.

Harry sighed and got out of bed, straightening up his things and throwing his belongings into a trunk. He went to the bathroom to get dressed, just in case Hermione might wake up. But he found himself heading not for the bathroom, but for the room just down the stairs. Ginny's room.

He opened the door and stared in, seeing that she was still asleep. He walked over to her bed and sat next to her on it, smoothing her hair and giving her a kiss on the cheek. He hoped they would all wake up before he left.

He had almost finished breakfast by the time his three best friends came racing down the stairs. Ron let out a deep breath, seeming relieved.

"We thought we had missed you, mate." He said, sitting at the table next to Harry.

"Yeah, we thought you had already left." Said Hermione, sitting on Ron's lap. Harry refrained from making a retching noise. He just smiled at them and took one last bite of the toast Mrs. Weasley had made for him. The clock read 5:45. He had fifteen minutes. He sighed and looked around at them.

"Don't try and write me." He said, meaning it. "I don't want any of you getting in trouble…I don't want you to get involved."

"We understand." Said Hermione, nodding her head. Ginny was being awfully quiet.

"I may write every once in a while, but it will never be much. You know, just in case it gets intercepted or something." The others nodded and Ginny played with the string on her finger. Harry took her hand and smiled up at her.

Mrs. Weasley then entered the room, her mouth open slightly as if she was about to say something about all the public displays of affection flying around. But she decided against it and just beamed around at them.

"Harry," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You know how to get a hold of us if you ever need any help." Harry nodded and got up. Ten minutes.

"I should go get my things." He said, exiting the kitchen. Once he got to Ron's room he shrunk his trunk and slipped it into his pocket, wiping his eyes. He could not let himself cry again. There was a soft knock on the door and Harry turned to see Ginny. She looked as if she was going to start crying again too. He gave her a weak smile and held his arms open to her as she ran to him. He held her in his arms as they said their goodbyes.

"I'm going to miss you so much." She said, burying her face in his chest.

"You know I'll miss you too." He said, smoothing her hair again.

"I want to come with you."

"You know you can't."

"I know… You'll write though?"

"As much as I can."

"That's good enough, I suppose."

"I love you, Ginny."

"I love you too. You know that."

"I'll be looking forward to coming home."

"Yeah." And she began to cry. He kissed her gently and wiped away the tears, aware that his own eyes were burning. Don't you dare cry. He thought to himself. They headed down the stairs hand in hand. He looked at his watch – 5:57. Three minutes.

Harry stood at the back door and looked at them all. The rest of the Weasleys (plus a few members of the Order) had woken up to bid him farewell.

"Call on us whenever you need us, Potter." Said Mad-Eye Moody, his magical eye zooming in a hundred different directions. Harry shook his hand. Almost all at once, everyone in the room gave Harry a hug, or a kiss on the cheek, or a handshake. Every female was crying and every male was trying to keep an unreadable expression.

"So where are you going first?" asked Tonks as she hugged him.

"Uh…can't tell you that, sorry Tonks." He said, giving a sideways glance at Ginny. Tonks nodded in understanding and passed him along to the next person. It was 6:01 by the time he got around to Ginny, the last one.

Harry took her hands in his and gave them a gentle squeeze. He gave her a brief but sweet kiss and pulled away. "Good-bye." He said with a weak lopsided grin. Ginny attempted a smile, but couldn't do it. She shook her head and gave him a fierce hug, saying "Love you." quietly and bolting up the stairs before he even had a chance to say it back. He looked at his watch. 6:03.

"Well," he said, looking around the room one last time. "I had better get going. I'll see you all when I get back…" he trailed off. What if he didn't come back? Forcing the thought from his mind, he gave a small wave, Apparated with a pop, and was gone.