A/N: Ok, this is my first fanfic that I've ever done so please be gentle but opinionated with your reviews. After getting a couple e-mails, I'm now going to try and update this every Monday and Thursday instead of just once a week, but I stillmake no guarantees about my timeliness.

Disclaimer: All the characters, places, objects, etc. from books 1-6 (and maybe some stuff before them) belong solely to J.K. Rowling.

The rest of the stuff in this story is out of my own mind and any resemblance to anything in book 7 when it comes out is purely coincidental.

Summery: With what lies ahead of Harry, he gathers as much help as he can to aide in his quest to defeat Voldemort. Will Harry succeed? Will love come into his life?

Chapter 7

"Oh Harry, it's so nice to see you again," said Mrs. Weasley as the group got off the bus. She then pulled Harry into one of her bone crushing hugs.

"Mum," said Ginny, "let the poor guy breathe."

"Alright, alright. Come on inside you lot, I just put out lunch before you arrived."

As Mrs. Weasley lead the way in, Harry pulled Ginny aside, "Is she ok with us?" he asked her.

"What do you mean?" she replied.

"Well she did seem rather shocked when we kissed in King's Cross last month."

"Oh that. It's fine. Ron and I talked to her about it after we got back here. She just wasn't expecting her two youngest to grow-up so fast."

Harry smiled at her and she smiled back, "Now come on, I'm starving," she said pulling Harry into the kitchen. The two of them took seats next to each other at the far end of the table near Fred and George.

"So," began George, "other than the slight breeze that you and our brother felt on your backsides a moment ago," Ginny sniggered and Harry sheepishly grinned, "how has your summer been Harry?"

"Not too bad, surprisingly," he replied.

"The muggles treated you alright?" implored Fred.

"Of course. Although for my cousin and uncle it seemed to be out of fear of what they thought I might do when I became of age."

"What about your aunt? You said you'd give more detail on that," said Ginny.

"Oh yeah," said Harry as he remembered his promise, "It was kind of weird at first…" he went on as everyone in the room paid attention as Harry described everything that his aunt had told him just two days ago. "And then this morning she handed me this," he said, showing the parcel he had been holding to the room, "and said that I should consider it to be seventeen years of birthday presents."

"Well why not open it mate," said Ron, "along with the rest of them?" At this Ron tossed Harry a small rectangular gift, wrapped in a silver paper, "That one's from Hermione and me."

"Here you go Harry," said the twins in unison, "our latest line."

"And here you are my dear," Mrs. Weasley handed him a couple more packages, "oh, and this one is from Reamus," she added as she gave him another gift.

I know this has already been in you possession before," said Charlie Weasley, "but I thought you might like to recall some better times," he set in front of Harry a large, golden egg. The egg that three years prior had held the clue to the second task of the Triwizard Tournament.

"Don't worry," said Charlie as he saw the on Harry's face, "I had the clue disabled, it's ok if you open it."

Harry laughed, "Thanks Charlie."

"And don't forget us," came a voice from behind Harry. He turned to see Bill and Fleur walking into the room. Bill's face still bore the marks from his battle with Fenrir Greyback at Hogwarts. "Believe me, it's just cosmetic," Bill said as Harry looked at him, "there aren't any real lasting effects from Greyback's attack."

"We vent out and got you theese Harry," said Fleur as she handed Harry another gift. There was a tap on his shoulder.

"I'll give you my present later," Ginny whispered in his ear with a slightly evil grin on her face.

"Well let's not take all day mate," said Ron anxiously to Harry. And Harry than began to open the mound of presents in front of him. Ron and Hermione had gotten him a couple of books. One was "The Ultimate Guide To Quidditch" which contained information on every team in the world as well as various unique moves from throughout the sport's history, and the second was a book that Harry had heard about a multitude of times over the past six years, "Hogwarts: A History".

"Thought you should finally have your own copy," Hermione said, "at least you won't have to always ask me."

"Thanks," Harry replied.

Next came a box of French sweets and a couple of books on defense against the dark arts from Bill and Fleur. Fred and George gave Harry portable swamp as well as their latest invention, "It's our latest line of fireworks," said George.

"Our 'Celebrations Pack'," added Fred.

"Made for birthdays…"

"Anniversaries…"

"Weddings…"

"Birth of a son…"

"Or daughter…"

"Or twins," they concluded together.

"This particular one," continued Fred, "we designed for you to use when you three finish up with your N.E.W.T.s at the end of the year."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione eyed each other and shifted slightly in their seats. This apparently went unnoticed by the others in the room, since no one questioned it.

"Um… thanks guys," Harry said while trying to avoid eye contact.

"Just be sure to use them outside," said George, "you don't want to start a chaotic scene in the school."

"Why don't you open Reamus's next Harry," said Mrs. Weasley as she shot a look at the twins.

He opened the package from Lupin and found a note saying, 'Harry, these are possessions from your parents that they entrusted to me before their deaths. Now that you are of age, I feel that it is time that these were passed on to you.'

After reading the letter through, Harry began to go through the contents of the box. Inside he came across several pictures of his parents, a book that showed Harry's family tree from his father's side, and a couple of robes. But there was something else wrapped separately at the bottom of the box with a note from Lupin attached, 'Sirius managed to find these the night your parents died. He left them with me that same night for safe keeping.' He then unwrapped what was at the bottom of the box and his jaw dropped at what he saw. There, in his hand was an eleven inch mahogany wand and a ten and a quarter inch willow wand.

"Oh my God," said Ginny as she looked at the wands, "are those…"

"My parents' wands," Harry said, finishing her sentence.

A flood of emotions came over Harry. It was if he was standing in front of the Mirror of Erised all over again. He felt an urge to get up and leave, to be alone. But he resisted this impulse and stowed the wands back into the box.

"Harry," came Mrs. Weasley's motherly voice, "if you want, we could hold off on the festivities."

"No… no, it's ok," he said, "I was just a little taken aback to see something that had been so close to my parents. No, I'll be fine."

He then picked up the gifts from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Inside there were some mince pies, a scrapbook full of new clippings and pictures of Harry (including his original interview from The Quibbler), and a book that appeared to be full of real estate listings. "Just in case you need any help now that you've left your aunt and uncle's," said Mr. Weasley, "the realtor is a good friend of mine."

"Thanks," he said, but it now occurred to Harry that he had never given any thought about a place of his own to live. The Dursleys', Weasleys', and Hogwarts were all he had known as homes. The only other time he had thought about a new home was when his godfather, Sirius, had suggested to Harry to come and live with him.

"If you would like," chimed in Mrs. Weasley, "you can stay here as long as you like Harry. You too Hermione."

"Thanks Mrs. Weasley," replied both Harry and Hermione.

"Well that appears to be everything," said Mrs. Weasley cheerfully, "who wants some cake?"

After indulging in some cake and having nearly everyone bombarding Ron and Harry with tips for their apparition test the next day, Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione retreated upstairs to Ron's bedroom.

"Ugh! If I have to hear one more suggestion on apparating, I'm going to end up leaving behind more than just an eyebrow tomorrow," growled Ron.

"Oh calm down," said Hermione as she put her right arm around him in a partial embrace, "you'll do fine. Both of you."

"Harry," said Ginny, "were you going to open that, or just hold it for the rest of your life?"

"Oh, yeah," said Harry, remembering Petunia's parcel that he still held in his hand. As he began to open it, Ron and Hermione joined Ginny, next to Harry to see what was inside the wrapping. The look of shock on Harry's face when he had seen his parents' wands was nothing compared to the look he had now as he saw what lay before him in his hands. Inside, there was a slightly tarnished silver frame. And within that frame was a picture of a man, a women, and two little girls. Beneath the picture, attached to the frame, was a nameplate with 'The Evans Family' engraved on it. A small drop of water fell onto the glass of the frame. Ginny looked up to see tears starting to fall from Harry's eyes.

"Are you ok Harry?" she asked softly while placing a hand on his shoulder.

"This… this," he said as his voice cracked, "this is the first time I-I've even seen either of my parents as children, let alone my grandparents." He wiped the tears with his sleeve. Everyone in the room stood in silence, not sure of what, if anything, to say.

"If you just want some time alone Harry," began Hermione.

"No," he sniffled, "no, it's alright. It's just that I've been a little overwhelmed this week. And seeing this has brought all those emotions to the surface."

"We're here if you ever want to talk Harry," said Ginny as she hugged him.

"Thanks Gin," Harry replied, "thanks to you two also, Ron and Hermione. I don't know what I'd do without any of you." The next thing any of them knew, they were all embracing each other in one big group hug. As the rest of the day finished up, the four friends kept what had happened amongst themselves. That night, Harry and Ron bade good night to Ginny and Hermione as they went off to Ginny's room leaving the boys in Ron's room. As he fell asleep, Harry could think of nothing else but his parents and family. These thoughts, once again, brought tears to Harry's eyes as he silently cried himself to sleep.

Please let me know what you think and leave me a little review. And I will try to update this Thursday.