Harry and Ginny moved apart as the music changed. Harry walked Ginny off the dance floor. "Thank you," Ginny said, "for the dance."
"No," Harry told her, "thank you." It was an awkward moment before Neville turned up.
"Ginny, may I have a moment with you?"
"Sure," Ginny said.
"Excuse us Harry." Neville nodded to Harry as he and Ginny walked out of the reception.
"You shouldn't be mad at them," Hermione told Harry.
"What?"
"You let her go, maybe Neville isn't as willing to let go."
"I didn't let her go!"
"No, you pushed her away-"
"That's not fair I was tryin-"
"Which you did to protect yourself," Ron piped in from behind Harry.
Hermione nodded.
"Can we not do this now?"
Both nodded.
BR>
The rest of the day went off without a hitch. As the night progressed relatives and friends filtered out leaving the twins with their girlfriends, Lee Jordan, Ron, Ginny, Hermione, Charlie, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Lupin, and Tonks. Bill and Fleur had slipped out to go on their honeymoon when night fell.
As Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Charlie, Lupin, and Tonks talked at a table. The twins danced with Katie, and Alicia. Ron and Hermione danced and laughed. Harry had gone down to the lake and was tossing pebbles into it and watching the moon rising from behind the trees.
"Hiding?" said a voice behind him.
Harry looked up to see Ginny, "no, practicing for a battle with a troll."
"I thought you and Ron had figured that one out six years ago."
"We'll I'm rather attached to my wand," Harry said smiling.
"And you don't trust Ron to do such spells?"
"Exactly."
There was a moment before Ginny asked, "Do you hear that?"
"What?" Harry stood quickly. "All I can hear is the music and noise from the reception."
"I don't know," Ginny replied, "It sounds hollow, like the wind but not-"
"I hear it," Harry said. The sound sent shivers up Harry's spine and he gripped his wand from his pocket. Ginny leaned down and pulled her wand from the thigh of her green bridesmaid dress. The sound got louder and louder then stopped.
Harry and Ginny were back to back looking all around. Silence descended upon them. Everything seemed the same the moon was still slowly rising from the East. The lake looked untouched and the trees' branches swayed tot the gentle breeze.
Then Ginny heard it or rather didn't, "Harry, the music stopped."
Harry stood still listening with all his might. She was right the reception had come to a halt. "Come on Gin." Harry held out his hand and Ginny took it. They ran, around the lake, straight for the reception but halted at the top of the hill that looked down on the Burrow from the lake.
However there was no reception tent or Burrow, instead there was a half-healed patch of burnt Earth where the Burrow once stood.
Ginny stared down at the spot, "What happened?" she choked out.
"I don't know," Harry said tensing as his senses went into over time. "Come on Gin we have to get a closer look."
Ginny nodded. As they walked closer they found it harder and harder to breathe the devastation was unbelievable. The Burrow was gone, the Weasley's house; Ginny's childhood vanished.
"What happened?" Ginny cried falling to her knees on the edge of the scorched area.
Harry kneeled behind her, "I'm sure they all got away." He then looked at the grounds, no bodies were evident. The ground in front of Ginny looked to be healing. "It looks like this happened months ago."
Ginny looked at the ground, nodding. "We need to get to Grimmauld Place."
Harry tensed at the idea.
"If something happened it would be the one place they'd go besides Hogwarts." Ginny told him, unshed tears sparkling in her chocolate brown eyes.
Harry pulled her into the standing position and pulled her to him. As she started to cry he was able to choke out, "we'll find them Gin."
BR>
As they reached the road Harry had in mind to signal the Knight Bus. "We should disguise ourselves." He stated before reaching the road.
"How? We can't go into town that defeats the purpose. And we can't use Magic." Ginny said skeptically, "can we?"
"I don't see why not," Harry said thinking about the spells that he knew.
"I only know one that changes little things for a short amount of time, two hours at the most." Ginny informed Harry after a moment.
"That's more than I know," Harry said.
Ginny taught Harry the spell and changed her hair to a brown color and gave her eyes a green hue. Harry made his hair a brown color and longer covering his scar and added blue to his eyes. Ginny made her dress robe into a pair of pants and shirt. She then did the same for Harry.
"Better?" he asked when she was done.
"No," she told him without looking up from straightening her shirt. When she did look up she continued, "nothing beats the original one of a kind Harry Potter." She said cheekily. "Can we go now?"
"Yeah," he raised his wand to the road.
It was just a moment before the sputtering could be heard and the huge purple bus halted in front of Harry and Ginny.
"Where to?" a young man asked, his name-tag said Ben.
Harry responded quickly, "Grimmauld Place, London."
"Yes sir that will be nine Sickles and seven Knuts."
"How long?" Ginny asked.
"An hour or so," Ben responded.
Harry and Ginny sat down on one of the beds. They were quiet for a long time, watching the passing streets and theorizing as to what happened to the Burrow.
"They're okay," Ginny said to herself beside Harry.
"I'm sure they are," Harry said wrapping his arms around her, "we'll figure this out."
Ginny leaned back against Harry as she tried to relax. It was only a few moments before Ginny fell asleep in Harry's arms. Harry smiled as he watched her sleep. It was nearly one in the morning when the Knight Bus shuttled to a halt and Ben shouted, "Grimmauld Place, London. Next stop the Ministry of Magic, London."
Harry and Ginny watched the bus disappear before walking down Grimmauld Place they stopped between number eleven and number thirteen. Harry repeated in his mind the message Mad-Eye Moody had given him the first time he arrived at this spot.
Slowly the house appeared, "A year seems to have done it horribly," Ginny whispered. Harry nodded in agreement the walls seemed almost brown and the windows were impossible to see through. Ginny made for the door but Harry grabbed her hand and motioned to his wand. Ginny nodded and pulled her wand out.
Harry reached the door, which seemed to jump open in front of him. Harry had Ginny's hand held tightly in one hand and his wand in the other. When they had fully entered the house Ginny carefully closed the door. The place was dark except a strip of light that barely shined through from under the door of the kitchen.
Harry kept Ginny's hand locked behind him as he approached the door. When Harry cracked open the door he saw Mrs. Weasley, the twins and four others around the table.
Harry opened the door fully, the light from the candles flooded onto himself and Ginny next to him. They barely had time to take in the scene or say anything as within seconds both were pinned to the ground. Harry had a wand pushed to his temple by a dark haired boy and Ginny was being held down by a brown haired girl.
"How did you get in here?" the boy hissed.
"I own this house," Harry defended.
"The men who owned this property are all gone." The girl yelled, "now tell the truth or the girl gets it."
"Sirius died over a year ago," Harry told the rather largely built man on top of him, "I own it but allow the Order to use it, and Lupin to live in it."
"You lie, Sirius died years ago," the boy told Harry.
"I watched him die!" Harry yelled, "a year ago."
"No!" the boy roared back, "I watched him die! Sixteen years ago!" The lights in the room were turned up.
The boy who had Harry pinned looked more to be a man of forty. His face was scarred, his eyes cold and heartless.
"Neville?" Ginny asked, "Neville," then looking at the girl pinning her, "Katie."
Neville's eyes went wide, "it can't be." He slowly removed his wand from Harry's throat as Katie stood up.
"What's going on here?" Ginny demanded. Mrs. Weasley was leaning hard on the table.
"What happened to you?" Harry asked recognizing the other two people as the Creevey brothers.
"Harry?" Fred asked timidly
"Ginny?" George leaned in.
"Yes?" Harry asked the entire room staring at him like they hadn't done for as long as he had known them.
"It can't be," Neville repeated.
"What can't be?" Ginny asked angrily.
"You…here…" Katie replied.
"What about us?" Harry asked.
"You guys disappeared," Neville breathed, "exactly fifteen years ago…"