A/N: Okay, thank you so much reviewers. I love you all! Please, please, please keep them coming! Hope you like this… Mr Unanimous – I had already thought about Hermione going to get her parents but didn't know where to work it into previous chapters – so it's in this one! Thanks v. much for reminding me! Enjoy everyone :)

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Mr Weasley had suggested they go on a camping trip. He had arrived home from work one late August evening, and recommended they all spend a long weekend together; "at one with nature, like the muggles do." A 'bonding trip', he called it. A chance for them to celebrate their final week before the new term began. Unfortunately for his scandalised audience, this trip was not intended to be spent inside a magical tent, complete with luxuries such as bathroom and kitchen, but a traditional muggle tent, where they would feel jagged rocks through the floor as they rolled around in their fruitless attempts to find a comfortable spot. Mrs Weasley had automatically put her foot down and refused point-blank, and after so many years married to her Mr Weasley quickly accepted that resistance was futile. Bill and Fleur were still well out of the way at Shell Cottage, Percy was 'much too busy at work', and Charlie had recently returned to work in Romania. This left the fateful party of Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione and George to accompany the ecstatic Mr Weasley on his expedition. Harry and Ginny had struck up immediate panic stricken conversation;

"Can we evacuate ourselves to Bill and Fleur's?" Harry said in an urgent whisper, while Mr Weasley busied himself with the evening paper.

"I don't know…" Ginny said grimly, "what if we walked in on something we don't want to see?"

Harry just barely suppressed a shudder, and replied; "Come on Gin, they're not animals…"

She simply raised her eyebrows sceptically. "Harry, they went home for some 'alone time'." He opened his mouth to respond further, but--

"Hah!" Mr Weasley said in apparent jubilation. "Skeeter's been sacked!"

Harry temporarily forgot the proposed nightmare camping trip, and whipped his head around in surprise. "Really?" he asked hopefully.

"Let's see…yes," Mr Weasley cleared his throat, "says here that 'Skeeter's continued criticism of the hero, Harry Potter," Mr Weasley stressed the name for emphasis, shooting a meaningful glance at Harry across the table, "…'is very unpopular with the Wizengamot and the Minister for Magic, and so consequentially she has been made redundant. It is said by the ministry's most highly acclaimed Aurors that in early August, Potter single-handedly headed a search team in collaboration with the Ministry, for the capture of former Death Eater, Macnair…."

Harry felt his cheeks glow hot as Mr Weasley beamed and finished up, passing the paper to Mrs Weasley for her perusal.

"I suppose now that Kingsley's in charge no one's manipulating the Prophet anymore?" Hermione said casually, taking a sip of her hot chocolate.

"Yeah, and now that Skeeter's out of the picture…" Ron said slowly.

"Everything might go back to normal," Ginny finished off with a weak smile.

Hermione made to take another sip of her drink, but hesitated suddenly beforehand, as though struck by a sudden idea.

"I'm going to Australia," she announced, apparently voicing her thoughts aloud and lowering her mug to the table once more. "You know…to find my parents…"

Harry gazed at her curiously. He had been wondering when she would decide to go; and why she had not done so immediately. Judging by his expression, similar thoughts were crossing Ron's mind, though he seemed rather reluctant to share. Hermione was now chewing on her bottom lip and staring at the tabletop, apparently lost in thought. Ron eventually spoke;

"When are you going?"

"—yeah, don't think you're getting out of the trip--" Ginny said in an undertone.

"You can't miss the camping trip!" Mr Weasley said enthusiastically over his daughter, entirely ignorant of her predicament.

Hermione took one look at Mr Weasley's hopeful expression, sighed softly, and said; "Of course I won't go until after the trip, Mr Weasley."

He beamed madly, and replied; "Fantastic!"

"Will you want some company Hermione?" Ron said tentatively. "When you go to Australia?"

"Oh—yes," she smiled, "thanks, Ron…" She leaned in to give him a kiss, and the rest of the room promptly averted their eyes. When the couple eventually broke away for air, she went on; "It might take a lot of explaining…"

"And that's why you've been putting it off?" Ron blurted out.

Hermione bowed her head, her expression reading guilt. "It might be a lot for them to take in. Sometimes it feels like this wall has come between us…with me being a witch…"

Ron paused a moment before saying thoughtfully; "What if…what if we were to bring them back and then take them for a day out in Diagon Alley? They can see it all for themselves…? Then they might understand better…"

"And we'd be delighted to have them round for tea, Hermione," Mrs Weasley chimed in as she settled herself next to her husband, carefully pushing aside the Prophet and whipping out the latest edition of Witch Weekly instead. "We'd love to get to know them properly! And perhaps it would help them adjust?" she added kindly, just as Mr Weasley nodded in agreement. Hermione looked around and conveyed her gratitude to Ron and his parents with a mere look; her eyes glistening. Ron smiled fondly at her, and reached out to wipe away a few fallen tears gently with his thumb. She placed her hand over his where he left it cupping her face, and they both appeared to quite forget that they were in the company of others for several moments, holding each other's gaze lovingly before suddenly collecting themselves and clearing their throats awkwardly.

"So, anyway, Ginny," Harry quickly said, taking pity on Hermione and Ron's uncomfortable moment. "That thing I was saying to you earlier, about…er--"

"The camping trip?" Ginny supplied miserably. Apparently she could not think about anything else.

"Right," Harry nodded gratefully. "Mr Weasley, where exactly are we going?"

"Well now, I'm glad you ask that Harry!" Mr Weasley said cheerily. "I rather thought that we would go camping on the south coast. Catch a bit of sunshine, perhaps sleep under the stars on the beach?"

The foursome exchanged mellow shrugs and raised eyebrows at his words; perhaps the weekend wouldn't be so terrible after all.

--

The following day, Harry was sprawled out across the sofa with Ginny nestled into his arms. Her legs were carefully entwined with his, and he didn't seem to have much room for any further thoughts than that; except perhaps for how her kisses seemed to make his lips tingle pleasurably each time they were delivered. But a second later, and Harry was pulled out of his Ginny world with an abrupt shout from the next room;

"Harry! Ginny! Get in here!"

He could guess by the diction that it was Ron calling them. Ginny groaned irritably and detached herself from him reluctantly; wishing very much that she did not have to leave the warmth of his embrace. They trudged hand in hand into the hallway, where Ron was untying several envelopes from the leg of a very official-looking owl, which was standing-by impatiently on the window sill. The letters unmistakably bore the Hogwarts crest, and Harry felt his stomach turn over with excitement; he was going back.

"Hogwarts letters," Ron stated unnecessarily.

Harry extended an arm to take his, and after staring slightly transfixed at the emblem for a second longer, he hastened to tear it open. Inside was the usual letter containing the reminders for term dates, and his new booklist…but Harry noticed there was an added weight…peering into the corner of the envelope he noticed something small, round and shiny…

"Ginny…" he choked out in a constricted voice, tipping out the Head Boy badge onto the palm of his hand. As he stared at it in shock, Ron and Hermione responded with gasps, whereas Ginny remained quite inert. The reason for this was shortly explained when she spoke in tones remarkably similar to Harry's, "Oh my God…", and reached into her own envelope to produce a glistening Head Girl badge. Ron beamed and clapped Harry on the back;

"Well done, mate!"

"Well done both of you!" Hermione cried, hugging each of them in turn. Ginny and Harry then turned to one another, and after several seconds of silence, burst into laughter at precisely the same moment.

"But--" Ginny spluttered, collecting herself, "Hermione, I thought it'd be you!"

At just that moment Percy meandered down the staircase before them, looking bleary eyed and agitated, coming to a halt on the bottom step. "What's all this noise?" he asked testily. "I've got a very important report to write on Broomstick regulation, so if you don't mind--" His eyes had landed on the badges Ginny and Harry clutched, and it seemed words had temporarily failed him. But before he could congratulate them, George was descending the stairs behind him, Mrs Weasley bringing up the rear, carrying a basket load of dirty laundry.

"What's everyone doing standing here?" she asked, sounding slightly harassed.

"Mother," Percy turned to address her. "It seems our Ginny has been made Head Girl…and Harry Head Boy…"

Ginny winced at his patronising tone, and Harry winked at her subtly before they both gritted their teeth in preparation for the outburst.

"Head—Head Girl? My little Ginny? Harry—Head Boy?" Her eyes found the evidence at last, and she let out a shriek of delight before pushing aside her sons and launching herself at Ginny first, and then moving onto Harry. "Oh—my--a Head Boy and Girl in the family! How wonderful!" She planted a sloppy kiss on Harry's cheek after she released him from her bone-cracking hug, and Harry felt inexpressible happiness at her reaction, but nothing pleased him more than hearing George's response;

"Watch yourself, Harry," he said in a tone of mock concern. "If you're not careful you might go the same way as Percy."

"Excuse me?"

--

There had been another celebration that night. They were all delighted when Hagrid had come by to congratulate them;

"Always knew it'd be yeh Harry, o'course. And Ginny, never seen anyone so gifted at a Bat-Bogey Curse I'll tell yer that…"

Harry's immediate worry was that it could all cause Ron to feel resentful towards him once again; after such a long friendship, and after everything that they'd been through, he didn't feel that he would've been able to take any tension or arguments between them. But much to his intense relief, Ron seemed to have overcome his old aspirations to fill his older brothers' shoes. It seemed he had finally become happy in himself; and Harry could guess that, even with the fact that he had aided Harry on his quest for the Horcruxes, the majority of this new found satisfaction could be put down to Hermione. Asides from the fact that they jumped down each other's throats night and day, Harry would have to admit that Ron and Hermione seemed perfect for one another. When he mentioned this off-hand to Ginny one night, however, she seemed thoroughly irritated by his comment.

"Oh…" she mumbled, "So Ron and Hermione are perfect together and we're not?"

Harry looked down at her to see her scoot away from him where they had been lying together on her bed. He suddenly felt rather hot and uncomfortable; he had never enjoyed talking about his feelings.

"No…that's not what I meant…" he raised an eyebrow. "We're—great--"

"Great?" Ginny echoed hollowly. "Brilliant! Let's try it once more with even less feeling."

Harry's eyebrows shot up so far they became lost in the mess of his tangled fringe. "Vicious sarcasm," he smirked, in attempts to recover the situation. "Always know something's bothering you when you resort to that--"

"Oh, so you think this is a joke?!" she screeched, jumping to her feet and towering over him. His eyebrows furrowed. Harry had become very accustomed to Ginny being distinctly uncomplicated. This kind of behaviour was exactly what had jeopardised his feelings for Cho.

"What's the matter with you?" he asked, sounding utterly perplexed.

Ginny threw her hands up in frustration; "You just—you never--"

"Never what?" he pressed, eager to discover what he had managed to do wrong.

"You're just—so--" she spluttered.

"Come on," Harry rallied her, "spit it out!"

She let her arms fall by her sides, emitting a sigh of resignation, and then said in a tone of finality; "If you don't know, I can't help you."

Harry watched as she turned on her heel and stalked out of the room, slamming the door as she went. He waited for several moments for her to realise she had just walked out of her own bedroom, until suddenly she came back in, held the door open for his exit, and pointed him out into the hallway. Still completely at a loss for how to handle the situation, he left without another word, his mind whirring as he struggled to understand the eternal mystery that was the female mind.

--

Over the few days prior to Mr Weasley's trip, Harry and Ginny shared a kind of mutual desire to avoid each other at all costs. Harry whiled away the hours in the bedroom he shared with Ron, only leaving his sanctuary when promised earnestly that Ginny had gone up to bed. This being his first ever disagreement with his girlfriend, he did not have any idea how to go about fixing it, and did not know how she expected him to even contemplate doing so when she refused to tell him what he had done wrong to begin with. Hermione, it seemed, knew exactly what was irking Ginny, but had been sworn to secrecy under serious threats of being subjected to her friend's Bat-Bogey Hex if she told. Occasionally, during the brief moments when Hermione would visit Ron in their bedroom, Harry would question her repetitively, but he may as well have interrogated a brick wall for all the answers he received;

"Harry," she said bossily, "This is your problem, not mine, so you sort it out."

He would then give Ron a pleading look, to which he would simply shrug and reply;

"I'd tell you if I knew mate, honestly. Hermione always tells me outright what's bothering her see…never had to deal with all this cryptic stuff…"

And then Hermione would come out with her advice, which she had been giving on a loop every day since their argument, and which Harry had immediately decided he would never, ever, act on.

"Stop being so stubborn, go downstairs, and talk to her. Now."

But Harry did not do any of these things; he remained adamant he would not be the one to back down, and became increasingly moody and temperamental as the days went by. When the very morning of the camping trip finally arrived, when Harry had just about resigned himself to the worst, there was a soft knock on the door and he felt his heart leap into his throat. Relief came crashing over him and he felt as though a weight he had been unconsciously carting around suddenly evaporated into thin air, she was here, they would talk, he would apologise, and then they'd kiss, and they'd collapse in a heap onto Harry's bed, he would start to carefully unbutton her blouse--

"Harry?"

It was not Ginny's voice calling. It was Hermione.

"Come in," he called glumly, falling back onto his mattress with a gentle thud, letting the misery wash over him once more. He did not avert his eyes from the carpet as Hermione walked quietly over and took a seat beside him, but started slightly when she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Look," she said gently. "If I tell you what's bothering her will you please do something about it?"

He turned to her with an ecstatic expression and replied eagerly; "I promise."

"Don't tell her I told you either," she added sternly. "I'm guessing she might assume I did anyway, it would've been a miracle for you to work this out all by yourself - you're completely clueless--"

"I won't tell. Get to the point, Hermione," Harry said irritably.

She took in a deep breath, and then said; "I suppose…she thinks that…you're not really, romantic enough with her?"

It felt as though a lead weight had dropped into the pit of his stomach; his worst fears had been realised. She wanted him to be romantic with her. Visual memories of the fiasco of going to Madam Puddifoot's with Cho cascaded his mind, and for a moment he felt faintly sick.

"But, Hermione," he pleaded. "She must know I'm not that sort of person…I mean, I'm just not good at being all…you know…"

Hermione nodded firmly, "I think he does know. She's not expecting you to serenade her or provide her with bouquets of red roses every day of the year…just, maybe, appreciate her a little more?"

Harry simply stared at her blankly. Hermione rolled her eyes and continued;

"Well, now don't take this the wrong way, Harry! But…Ginny's liked you since she was eleven, and then one day you just kiss her, without any explanations…then you leave her for a year, come back and expect to fall right back into place--"

"It's not like I had a choice there, Hermione," Harry pointed out. He then heaved a sigh and went on; "Okay…maybe I can see what you mean..."

"Harry, she's completely mad about you."

He felt his stomach flip over before saying quietly; "yeah, me too."

"So," she said matter-of-factly, "what are you going to do?"

--

The sun was setting as Harry ambled slowly down the path to the sandy beach, hearing the sound of the gentle waves wash up on the shore before retreating once again to their beautiful depths. He had never been to the seaside growing up; the Dursleys had been out of their way to make him miserable, they'd have sooner taken him on holiday than given him a brand new play station set to match Dudley's. And now, after long arduous hours of pitching the tents "the muggle way" and trying to light a fire by rubbing wood together until Mr Weasley eventually gave in and used his wand, Harry fully intended to lie on the sand in peace for as long as possible, before having to return to their camp. He had thus far managed to avoid a moment alone with Ginny, but fully intended to talk to her the next day, once he was rejuvenated from their tiresome afternoon. Just then, he emerged through a tree thicket to step onto the sand, but came to an abrupt halt when he saw Ginny a few feet before him, her red hair flying in the evening breeze as she stood facing the open sea. He tried to turn straight back in cowardice, but his footsteps had betrayed him and she spun around to meet him eye to eye. He struggled to conceal a wince, and said;

"Hi."

She gave a weak smile and replied; "Hey," before turning her back on him once again and settling herself on the soft sand, hugging her knees to her chest. Though she was facing away from him now, he could sense somehow that she was inviting him to join her. Taking up a spot next to her, he said quietly;

"Ginny…" It seemed now was the time to show her how he felt. He cleared his throat, wondering how he could begin. He had had a whole speech planned out with Hermione, but for some reason all his thoughts seemed to have wandered off the moment he set eyes on her. But when he caught the scent of flowers on the wind, he took things in a different direction. "Do you know when I first realised I liked you?"

She remained silent, and Harry simply swallowed and went on.

"At the start of sixth year, Slughorn brewed some Amortentia…and well, I smelt broomstick handle," he grinned, "treacle tart, and, err...you."

She glanced sideways at him, and he saw the faintest trace of a smile start to turn the corners of her mouth.

"I didn't know what it was at the time," he smirked. "And then later that day you came to talk to me, and I realised what it was. And then I saw you with Dean…and I just knew."

Her smile spread itself fully over her face at this, and she replied innocently;

"Knew what?"

Harry grinned still wider, and made an impulsive brave decision to continue the re-enactment one of the happiest moments of his life; "I knew you were the one, of course."

She gave a small laugh and then leaned in to kiss him. It had been four days since they had last kissed and she had entirely forgotten how wonderful it was. It seemed incredible to her that she had survived months without this when Harry had been away hunting Horcruxes. She ran her tongue over his bottom lip, begging entrance, to which he happily complied, and for one perfect moment she tasted him…but then she pulled away teasingly, leaving him hanging, and he whispered;

"I love you. Don't ever think I don't know what I have when I have you…"

She closed her eyes for a brief moment, and then gave him a very alluding smile as she murmured;

"You're one smooth talker, Harry Potter."

--

A/N: Thanks for reading. Please review!