A/N: Yay! Chapter three! Hope you like it. Oh yes, and in the last chapter, I kind of forgot what Harry did with his trunk at the Ministry…so now it's back again. Hedwig is as well. And oh-dear-lord, has it really been over a month? Apologies. I couldn't find the disk this was saved on…

"Oh, Harry, are you alright, dear?" gushed Mrs. Weasley as Harry was ushered into the living room and seated on a couch. "They didn't hurt you, did they?" She glared at her three youngest sons.

"Of course not," Harry grinned. "I'm perfectly fine."

"How was your summer so far? Did you get our letters?" asked Hermione eagerly.

"I wrote back, didn't I?" replied Harry.

"Well, it could've been an imposter…"

Ron snorted. "Honestly, Hermione, you're paranoid."

"You can never be too sure," Hermione said, crossing her arms.

"How were the Dursleys?" asked Ron. "Horrible towards the end as we've heard, but-"

"What? What did they do?" interrupted Ginny.

"Nothing," said Harry hurriedly. "They basically ignored me all summer long." He changed the subject rapidly. "Where's Mr. Weasley?"

"He had to work over time at work, the poor thing," said Mrs. Weasley sympathetically. "Things are crazy right now at the Ministry."

"I know," Harry said, "I was just there. My picture'll probably be all over the papers tomorrow."

"What happened?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Some man recognized me and shouted out who I was. The next thing I knew, reporters were everywhere."

"That's a shame," said Ginny. He opened his mouth to say, Tell me about it, but changed his mind.

"Come on," said Ron, "you can put your stuff up in my room just like always." Harry nodded, grateful for the excuse to not have to speak to Ginny face to face.

As soon as they had climbed the rickety staircase to Ron's room, Harry set his trunk at the foot of his bed. Ron shut the door behind him. "So," he said quietly, "you broke up with Ginny?"

Harry immediately began stammering excuses, but Ron cut him off. "I'm not angry with you, mate," he said, "but why?"

"I didn't want her to get hurt," Harry explained. "Voldemort used her as bait before I fell in love with her. I don't want it to happen again." Ron winced, but Harry wasn't sure whether it was at Voldemort's name, the thought of Ginny being tortured, or Harry being in love with his younger sister.

"You did the right thing," Ron said, "but I wish it didn't have to be that way."

"Believe me," sighed Harry, "so do I." He lay down on the bed and said to the ceiling, "She's not going to make it easy for me, is she?"

Ron shook his head sympathetically. "There's no way."

Harry groaned. "Here we go…heaven and torture rolled into one."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The next day, Bill and Fleur arrived for wedding planning. The date was set for two days ahead – August 3. He could see why Fleur had been driving Ginny crazy. She ordered the household around like it was nothing, not to mention was stopping every ten minutes to check her reflection. Bill just smiled and shook his head, but Mrs. Weasley, Ginny and Hermione seemed unusually crabby that day.

Harry levitated a table over to the backyard where refreshments would be set. "Where do you want it?" he asked Fleur resignedly.

"Over zere," she said imperiously, pointing to the edge of the backyard. Harry set it down in the commanded spot. "No, no, not there, there." Harry lifted the table to a new spot. "No, no, no! There!"

"MAKE UP YOUR MIND!" Harry finally shouted. "Where do you want it already?"

"Right zere," she said, glaring at him. Harry set it down. "I'm not moving it again!" he declared, and went off to find Ron.

He rounded the corner of the house and ran into something very solid. "Oh! Harry, I'm sorry!" said the object. It was Ginny. She sat up from the ground and shook her head to rid it of grass. Her hair glinted in the sunlight and Harry squeezed his eyes shut tight for a moment to resist stroking it.

"Don't be," he muttered, "It was my fault."

Ginny glanced behind him to where Fleur was directing everyone to do her bidding. "You too?" she asked, indicating Fleur with her head. Harry nodded. Ginny rolled her eyes. "I can not believe she's going to be a part of the Weasley family in just two days! It's surreal. Out of all the people to choose to be my sister in law, she's the last on my list." Harry grinned at Ginny's obvious aggravation.

Then she sighed. "Oh, well. She's really not too bad. But I'd much rather have someone such as…oh, Hermione, for instance." She gave a playful grin.

Harry lowered his voice. "Ron and Hermione really need to get it together. I mean, it's so obvious!"

"Maybe they will at the wedding," Ginny speculated. "Maybe some other people will, too." Harry blinked. Just who exactly was she indicating? The two of them?

"Angelina's coming!" Ginny continued. "Fred'll be ecstatic."

"Oh, right," said Harry, his stomach sinking for some reason.

Ginny's brown eyes sparkled merrily. "Who did you think I meant?" she asked, smiling.

"Oh….I dunno."

"Ginny! Ginny? Where are you?" It was Fleur.

Ginny shook her head. "I better go…" she brushed dangerously close to Harry and whispered in his ear, "See you."

As soon as she was out of sight, Harry banged his head against the house. Why was she making this so dang hard? It just wasn't fair.

Ron's voice suddenly was behind him. "Harry? Er…why are you banging your head against my house?"

"Two words: your sister."

Ron shook his head sympathetically. "I told you, mate. Sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry for," said Harry through gritted teeth.

"I was sent to look for you – Bill's being thrown a late bachelor party, we're all supposed to go tonight. It's going to be in the meadow, tonight at ten o'clock if we can all sneak out. Mum and Dad don't know, though, and neither do any of the girls, so don't let on, alright?" Ron whispered.

Harry nodded. "Got it." Perfect. He needed to take his mind off of Ginny before he did anything stupid.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

At nine fifty that night, after Mrs. Weasley had shooed everyone off to bed, a soft knock came on Harry and Ron's door. Harry and Ron sat up, fully dressed. "It's time," whispered Fred. They could hear his soft footfalls as he walked almost silently back down the steps to the ground floor.

"Let's go," muttered Ron. Harry slipped into his trainers and crept out of the doorway. He slid down the banisters to avoid stepping on the stairs and waking Mrs. Weasley, a reportedly light sleeper. Ron followed him, a finger to his lips and a warning look on his freckled face.

As soon as they were out under the stars and a safe distance away from the house, Ron deemed it safe to speak again. "Fred, George and Charlie planned this whole thing out," he told Harry as they walked toward the meadow. "Fred says that Bill will need one last good party before he's stuck with Fleur." Harry snickered. Then he realized something.

"Charlie's not here, though!"

"He probably just got here," replied Ron, smiling. "He's going to show up tomorrow morning and tell Mum he got here early for the wedding."

"Stop!" called a slightly hushed voice as they neared a hill. "Password?"

"Nobody told me there was a stupid password!" Ron called back angrily.

"Very good, Ronnikins, that's the password. Alrighty then, you can come forward." George's head popped up over the hill. "Party's back here, we've got a Silencing Charm over all this so Mum can't hear."

"Smart," said Harry appreciatively.

"Tell me about it. We planned this for ages!" said George over his shoulder as he led them down the hill.

Lights and people could be seen at the bottom. The people were obviously having a good time, but they could hear nothing. As soon as they stepped over some invisible line, however, their ears were suddenly filled with a cacophony of sound.

"Harry! Ron! You're just in time!" called Fred over the music that was playing. "The party just started! Have a whiskey!" He handed them a bottle of firewhiskey each. "You're of age now, don't be shy!" He grinned widely.

Harry shrugged and took it. Ron followed Harry's example. Harry found that after four or five, it was quite easy to forget all of his troubles with Ginny. In fact, it was easy to forget everything in the whirling lights and music….

"Drinking away your troubles, Harry? You've had a bit," Charlie said in his ear. Harry jumped. He hadn't even noticed him there.

"No," he slurred. "Not really."

Charlie looked at him skeptically. "A girl?"

Maybe it was the whiskey, but Harry told him. "Yeah…your sister."

"You're going out with Ginny?"

"You didn't know? Yeah, but not anymore. I don't want her to get hurt…Voldemort, and all…" Charlie left him alone. He seemed to understand.

Harry took another whiskey. He liked this stuff.