The Boy Who Lived

Chapter 8: Love and Cookies

Since Hermione wasn't at the Burrow when Percy visited he was forced to owl the letter to her. Harry and Ron had discussed with each other why it was so important to Percy to see her personally, but neither could really figure that puzzle out.

Hermione had sent the duo a few letters now since Percy's letter, but none had even given the letter in question any mention. She was having a great time she told them and kept on begging Ron to visit her.

They had gotten in a fight when she left. Ron had not understood why she wanted to go home to visit her parents before she was confined to the Ministry for the year. There would be holidays, he told her. Hermione had equally been frustrated with Ron, telling him that if it bothered him he could just come along with her.

Ever since the N.E.W.T. exams Hermione could be found reading more then in Ron's presence. Harry didn't want to pry in his friends' relationship, but even he could tell something was wrong.

"Why don't you just go visit her?" Harry questioned when Ron was exceptionally grumpy one morning. Ginny had come in to give Harry a quick peck on the cheek before going to Andromeda's and Ron had turned from quiet to surly.

"Be-CAUSE," Ron huffed. "She doesn't really want to see me."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, he stared at his friend as if he were crazy. "She asks you to visit every letter she sends you and she sends you quite a few more than she sends me!"

"If she really wanted to see me she would have stayed here," Ron said, obstinate. "It's like that whole girly code of language Hermione was trying to explain to us. She's leaving me a message in it: I don't want to see your lousy face ever again you git."

"How in Merlin's Beard is she saying that?" Harry asked, torn between being amused and frustrated.

"She left!" Ron practically screamed. "She went and left and has been avoiding me like the plague ever since…since…"

"Did you say something to her?" Harry asked, his amusement quickly fading. "Something to make her…ya'know…distant?"

"No!" Ron said vehemently. "I know I didn't say anything weird! I just asked her if she wanted to go out!"

"And what did she say?" Harry asked though he was more then a little uncomfortable. It was like the kind of horror that you felt with something that both revolted and drew you to it.

"Yes!" Ron said and then wilted into a chair. "I mean, I think it was a yes. She nodded and she hugged me and then we were silent the entire way back."

"You held hands into the exam," Harry pointed out, trying to be helpful.

"Only because she was so nervous though," Ron muttered. "And after that nothing! I don't understand girls!"

"Did you ask Ginny?" Harry asked tentatively. "Hermione's probably talked to her…"

"No," Ron said glumly. "I mean, you guys are a couple. You're happy together—any fool can see that. I just don't understand. I really like her Harry, I do… I've always liked her I think. Even when we were little and I hated her. Or maybe I'm just tricking myself, because I can't think of a time when I didn't like her anymore. I mean, it's embarrassing… but I really like her. She just must not like me and doesn't have the heart to tell me or something."

"I can tell she feels the same way as you," Harry told him sincerely. Ron stared at him as if he were crazy. "Believe me—anyone can tell."

Ron sighed and covered his face. "I don't know what to think."

"She's just scared," Harry told him, though he wasn't entirely confident that this was what Hermione was really feeling. It seemed weird to think of Hermione as scared at all ever... Ron made an unhappy sound and Harry couldn't even coax him to play a game of Wizarding chess after that. In the end Harry was forced to give up on any attempts to cheer up his friend and went to find Ginny since she had been due back from Andromeda's half an hour ago.

He found her talking to her mother in the kitchen. They were in the process of making cookies when Ginny looked up and grinned at Harry.

"How's Teddy and Andromeda?" Harry asked her as she ran towards him with doughy hands and gave him a quick hug. Mrs. Weasley smiled at Harry and her daughter. They had never really made an announcement to Ginny's parents that they were together, but Harry reflected that it must be obvious enough from the way they acted together. Besides, they must have heard about the last time they had dated at SOME point.

"They're both fine," Ginny said as Harry tried desperately to keep her hands off of his clean clothes. She giggled and went back to the cookies and then batted Harry's hand away when he attempted to steal some dough. "Not until they're done Harry!" She said sternly. "You can have the spoon!"

Mrs. Weasley's eyes twinkled at their antics and her smile seemed to say: "Ahh, young love." Harry pulled back a little embarrassed.

"Is there something I can do?" He asked.

"Not one bit!" Mrs. Weasley told him sternly. "This is Ginerva's and my time. You can just sit down right there and you can taste test the first batch."

"You should come with me tomorrow," Ginny told Harry as she finished her cookie sheet and peered into the oven as if trying to tell if it would be alright to put an additional sheet in there. "We can take Teddy for a walk again and go to that park."

"Okay," Harry said easily.

"How's Ron doing?" Surprisingly is was Mrs. Weasley who asked this. Both Ginny and Harry stared at her in surprise. Harry was the first to recover.

"Not too good," he admitted. "He's still pretty upset Hermione left."

"She had to go back home sometime though," Ginny tutted. "I mean you're like part of the family Harry and so is she, but it's different."

"She had to go visit her parents after fixing those memory charms on them sometime," Harry agreed, trying hard to ignore the fact that Ginny had been so close to bringing up his dead parents. It was still hard for him: especially when thinking about all of those people important to him that he had lost.

"Memory charms?" Mrs. Weasley questioned, and then her eyes widened. "She put a memory charm on her parents!"

"Just so they couldn't be found by Voldemort mother," Ginny said. "I thought she told you that when she and Ron were explaining how they were taking measures to go out on that crazy mission with Harry."

"Yes, but," Mrs. Weasley shook her head. "It seems a little extreme and didn't she only stay there for a night before returning to Hogwarts? I would be furious if I were her parents."

"Well she would have stayed longer, but Ron's a git," Ginny said.

"That's not true," Harry said calmly. "I mean, he's the reason why she stayed here so long I think, but there were funerals and a lot of things going on right after everything that happened."

Ginny softened at Harry's words. "I know," she said. Harry saw Mrs. Weasley hide another smile by putting more dough on her pan. Out of no where an alarm seemed to chime.

"Hurry, hurry! Get those cookies! They're going to burn!" A shrill voice said. Harry didn't even bother looking around, knowing that it was from the oven. Ginny had reached it before her mother and was now taking out two batches of steaming hot cookies and placing them on potholders on the counter. Mrs. Weasley had finished her pan of cookies and now was holding both those and Ginny's with her wand and floated them into the oven. The oven door snapped closed and the dial for the time was turning to the appropriate 14 and a half minutes.

"You have this down to a science," Harry said, wondering why he was so surprised. Ginny was taking the cookies off the pan with a spatula now, transferring them to a cooling rack.

"Ginerva!" Mrs. Weasley admonished, batting her daughter away from the cookies. "Those need to cool down before you do that and you know it!"

Sulking, Ginny grabbed one of the cookies despite the fact that it was falling apart and went over to wear Harry sat. She broke it in half and gave half of it to Harry before resting her head on his shoulder and staring at her mother innocently.

"If you think hiding behind Harry is going to help you!" Mrs. Weasley huffed.

Harry, meanwhile, had taken a bite out of the floppy cookie and couldn't stop himself from saying: "These are so good Mrs. Weasley, Gin!"

"Are they?" Ginny asked innocently, smiling at her mother.

"I don't think I've never had better! Even Kreature's are good, but not THIS good!" Harry ate the last of the cookie to Mrs. Weasley's beaming smile.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Ginny asked later when they had shooed her mother out of the kitchen and were cleaning up after the mess. There were a plateful of still steaming cookies on the counter and they were in the middle of sharing yet another one.

"We need to get Hermione and Ron together," Harry told her. "I'm not sure what's going on, but they're both miserable."

Ginny smiled at him. "You have a little chocolate on your face," She said and pressed her finger to his lip to wipe it off. "Right there." She licked the chocolate off her finger while staring at her boyfriend through amused eyes.

"You have a little chocolate on your face too," he told her.

"Oh yeah?" Ginny asked, grinning at him. "Where?"

"Right here," Harry said wiping it off her cheek and then kissing her on the lips.

"And there too?" Ginny asked when they had finally disentangled, her green eyes amused.

"A little," Harry said, chuckling as he kissed her again.

It was sometime later before Ginny pulled away. "We need to finish cleaning," she told him "Otherwise the cookie batter will get hard and gross and it will take forever to scrub. But to answer your earlier question: yes, I do think we should get them together, but how do you propose to do that?"

"Oh, you know," Harry said evasively. Ginny raised her eyebrows, but let the subject drop.

Ugh, sorry this is so late... I had such trouble writing this chapter and I'm not really sure why... It seems way too fast paced for me now, but I'm so done with it ...

I found that internet interview from Jk Rowling and I think that I might just end up doing something different for professions and stuff. I'm sorry if that upsets anyone. I still might work it out, but I'm not quite sure yet... I generally know where I want this to go, but there are still a few details I want to figure out...

I'll try to update tonight or early tomorrow. It should be a lot sooner this time, because I know what I want to do with this next chapter and the one after and life isn't quite as crazy for me in the next few days I believe.

Thanks everyone for the reviews. I will be quicker with the next chapter this time ;p I promise.