Chapter 3: Preparing

I got so many alerts saying that people have added my story to their alert list! Thank you! You flowers are great.

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter I wouldn't be writing this. Obviously. All of the characters belong to Queen Jo (aka J.K. Rowling). I've only written the plot of this particular story. Anyway, my name isn't Joanne, it's Nyla. So… er, yeah. Or maybe… J.K. Rowling wrote fanfiction under a different name to let us know what happened before Harry was born (Marauders Era), after the war, and the next gen. Ya never know, mate. (Please don't sue. I'm not worth the time and effort.)

"Everywhere." Everywhere? That couldn't be good. No, it couldn't. Poppy could help…but no… she was busy with healing everyone else's injuries. So she couldn't help, thought Molly Weasley.

"What do you mean 'everywhere', dear," she asked uneasily.

"All of my muscles hurt."

"From what, Harry, dear," Molly asked gently.

"Well, Mrs. Weas-"

"Please, call me Molly."

"Well, Molly, it hurts from running, jumping, ducking, flying, falling, and the Cruciatus," he provided simply.

"The Cruciatus?" Molly and Ginny gasped at the same time."

"Shh!" Harry whispered.

"Sorry, sorry," Ginny mumbled. "What the fuck do you mean Cruciatus?" Ginny whispered angrily.

"Ginny! Language!" Molly berated.

"Mum, this is serious!" she whispered back. "Now what do you mean Cruciatus, Harry?"

"It's a story for another time," he whispered back wearily.

"Fine," she said indignantly.

"Ginny, I swear I'll tell you later but right now is just not the right time." Ginny nodded in understanding. Molly watched their interaction in amazement. They sounded like an old married couple! Just like her and Arthur! Now, she knew they were dating. Molly was the only lady—other than Aunt Muriel—she could talk to. They talked about Harry and wondered where he, Ron, and Hermione were and whether or not they were alright.

"What, Mum?"

"Wha- oh nothing," she responded shaking her head. She didn't realize she was staring at them. "Anyway, it'd be best to wake up everyone and head on over to Burrow," she stated as she walked over towards her and Arthur's bed. "C'mon sweetie, it's time to wake up," she whispered in his while gently shaking him.

Harry and Ginny made eye contact and decided who would wake who. Harry would get Ron, Hermione, Neville, Seamus, and Dean. While Ginny would wake all of her brothers except Ron—and Fred, she thought sadly. Harry shot her a sympathetic look, as if he could read her mind. (A/N: Their eye-conversation-thing consisted of a lot of nodding and gesturing towards who would wake up whom. They don't have a soul-bond where they can read each other's minds.)

Apparently, there was going to be a memorial service for everyone who lost their lives in this war against Voldemort. The First and Second Wizarding World Wars. That included everyone from Lily and James Potter to Colin Creevy. It was going to be a long ceremony. And the best part was… Harry would be giving a speech! Wonderful. It was at Hogwarts, a week from now. They had to go shopping for dress robes.

A huge group of wizards and witches disappeared from Gryffindor Tower with many loud cracks. They then appeared beyond the Apparation ward of the Burrow, Harry's second favorite building. Molly, Arthur, Bill, Fleur, Charlie, Percy, George, Ron, and Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Nyla Springer, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Seamus Finnagan, and Dean Thomas all marched towards the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley promised all of them she would make them breakfast. She called on Ginny to help her but Hermione and Harry came along.

"Harry! Why was scavenging for mushrooms and cooking fish when you can cook this amazingly?" Hermione yelled.

"Well…er.. at the Dursleys I would cook…but I always had what I needed." Hermione huffed in frustration but continued helping Molly cook for sixteen people—and extra, people would of course get seconds, or thirds, or fourths.

Meanwhile, Arthur was waving his wand in complicated motions to enlarge the Burrow dining room. He also enlarged the table and added more chairs.

When breakfast was ready everyone sat down and piled food onto their plates except Harry, Hermione, Nyla, and Ginny. They were all prodding their food with forks occasionally taking small bites.

"Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Nyla… why aren't you eating," Molly asked. She looked really concerned.

"I'm not hungry," they all replied in unison.

"Sure you aren't. You lot have to eat. You're all so skinny. It's my job as a mother to make sure you are healthy and at the very least eating well."

"But Mrs. Weasley-"

"-Molly-"

"-Molly, I'm not very hungry and I don't feel like eating," Nyla offered. The three of them nodded in agreement.

"Fine," Molly sighed in defeat. "You're off the hook this time but I will make sure you're fattened up even if it's the last thing I do." They all nodded in response.

Hermione Granger wasn't eating because she wasn't hungry. Plus, she knew that if she ate a lot she would be sick. Hermione didn't know how or why she knew.

She just knew.

Nyla Springer wasn't eating because she really just wasn't hungry. Usually, she's starving all the time (much like Ron). She didn't know the explanation to why she wasn't eating.

She just wasn't very hungry.

Ginny Weasley wasn't eating because she felt sick to her stomach. She hadn't gotten a full night's sleep since that day in the Chamber. Even less sleep during the previous year at Hogwarts. She used up most of her energy during the battle at Hogwarts. And when she saw Hagrid carrying Harry's lifeless body it felt like a piece of her just… left. Even though Harry was alive and well—he didn't look very well—the piece just hadn't come back yet. Plus, she had a nightmare last night and she couldn't stop thinking about it. Her mind was all over the place.

She couldn't think straight enough to eat.

Harry Potter wasn't eating for various reasons. One of them was very silly. One, he hurt too much. Now, he was no stranger to pain. But he physically and emotionally and he just couldn't force himself to eat. Albeit, he knew he needed to. Two, his mind was off in some dark, twisted place that he couldn't escape from. It was like daydreaming but day-nightmaring. Three, the silly reason: he felt it was disrespectful to eat because that's what everyone who lost their lives did. He knew they—most of them—would want him to eat but he just couldn't bring himself to. Four, he felt sick to his stomach. If he ate he would hurl on someone.

It just wouldn't work out.

Seamus, Dean, Luna, and Neville went home to their guardians. All of the Weasley siblings slept in their original rooms. Harry slept in Ron's room and Hermione slept in Ginny's room. Nyla volunteered to sleep on the couch but Mrs. Weasley wouldn't allow it. She Transfigured a quill in Ginny's room into a bed and conjured and empty ink bottle in a duvet.

Okay, so, my character is nothing like me (only in some aspects) I'm just using the name 'Nyla'. I was going to continue on but it was a good place to end. The next chapter will include what happened while they were sleeping (because I'm a creepo, no I'm kidding, it's significant)

Please tell me whether or not you liked it.

Scrappy8: Thank you!

Guest: My character is not a Mary Sue. She's just one of Ginny's friends. And bye! Hope you have a great life!

JeanAndBilius: Thank you, I try.

Reviews are Hershey's chocolate bars.