Chapter 8

Ginny woke up the next morning with her head pounding. She sat up slowly and groaned, scrubbing her hands across her face. Deciding a hot shower was what she needed to help clear her head, she got out of bed and padded down the hallway and into the bathroom. She knew that at some point that day, she was going to have to face her mother. She could only hope that the Weasley matriarch would be understanding. When Dean had first proposed to her, Molly had been so excited with the prospect of planning a wedding. But now there would be no wedding.

Ginny turned the taps off after scrubbing every possible inch of her body. Wrapping a towel around herself she quickly made her way back down the hall and into her bedroom. Having a large family had taught her that privacy was something to be treasured, and normally something that didn't last long. She quickly dressed and used her wand to charm her hair dry before taking a deep breath and heading downstairs to face her family.

"Ginny, what time did you get in last night?" asked Molly when Ginny entered the kitchen and took her seat. Ginny reached in the middle of the table and grabbed a piece of toast and began to spread strawberry jam onto it.

"Late," said Ginny, taking a bite of her toast. "Listen mum, I have something that I wanted to tell you."

"Well, I actually wanted to go over some of the details of the wedding with you. I was thinking we could have it here at the Burrow like we did Bill's," said Molly. She poured two cups of tea and slid one of them across the table to Ginny.

"There's not going to be a wedding," said Ginny, staring down into her teacup.

"What do you mean there's not going to be a wedding?"asked Molly, her brow furrowed in confusion. "I just talked to Dean yesterday about everything."

"I broke it off with Dean last night," said Ginny. "It wasn't going to work out. We're too different."

"Oh," said Molly. She stood from the table and started to busy herself in finishing breakfast. "This wouldn't have anything to do with Harry, would it?"

Ginny groaned and let her head fall to the table. "Is it that obvious?" she asked.

Molly sat down next to her youngest child and only daughter. "I know you two both have feelings for each other. I just hope you didn't break things off with Dean because Harry came back."

"No. It wouldn't have worked out. I think it just took Harry coming back for me to realize it. It was almost like I agreed to marry Dean because I was so desperate to try to forget about Harry," said Ginny. "I just don't know what to do now."

"Do what makes you happy," said Molly, smoothing Ginny's hair away from her face.

"That's what Harry said," said Ginny.

"He's a smart boy," said Molly with a grin. "You should listen to him."

* * * * *

"So, what happened last night with the redhead?" asked Paul over his bowl of cereal. Harry rubbed his eyes sleepily as he poured himself a rather strong cup of coffee.

"We just talked," said Harry. He sat down heavily at the kitchen table.

"Just talked?" asked Paul.

"Yeah, just talked. She's getting married," said Harry dejectedly.

"Wow mate. I'm sorry," said Paul. Harry shrugged and pulled out his wand, levitating a bowl to the table. He looked up from pouring his cereal to Paul's wide-eyed expression.

"What?" he asked, furrowing his brow in confusion.

"Nothing," said Paul, shaking his head. "That's just really cool."

"What's cool? Oh . . . magic," said Harry, realizing what he'd done.

"So, can you do anything you want with that thing?" asked Paul, nodding towards Harry's wand which now lay on the table.

"Not everything," said Harry with a shrug. He reached across the table for the milk and poured some into his bowl.

"Sorry," said Paul. "I don't mean to ask so many questions. It's just going to take some getting used to."

"I understand. It took me a bit to get used to it too," said Harry around a mouthful of his breakfast.

"Really? I would have thought you would have grown up knowing you were a wizard," said Paul in astonishment.

"I would have, but my parents were killed. I was raised by my aunt and uncle. They didn't like magic so they never told me. I always knew there was something different about me, but I didn't know I was a wizard until I was eleven," said Harry. It felt strange to be sitting around the kitchen table talking to Paul about his life and about magic but it also felt oddly relieving to get it all out in the open. When Anthony finally woke up, Harry spent the remainder of the morning recounting his days at Hogwarts to them both before he had to leave for his shift at the coffee shop.

When he finally left the flat, he felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his chest. No more secrets. Breathing a sigh of relief, he strode down the street and to the underground to catch the train that would take him to work. He knew that all he really would have to do was apparate to work, but riding around on the underground was always something that helped him think. It was his substitute to flying while in the muggle world.

When he finally stepped into the brightly lit shop, he scanned the crowds until he found his boss standing behind the counter.

"Hey, Joe. Can I have a word?" said Harry. He had came to the realization on his way into work, that he didn't have to work at the coffee shop any longer. Now that he was returning to the wizarding world, he would be able to access his Gringotts vault again. Between what was left to him by his parents and Sirius, he would have more then enough to live off of for the rest of his life, or at least until he figured out what he wanted to do.

"You're late, Potter. Can't this wait?" said Joe.

Harry shook his head and handed his apron to his superior. "I'm sorry Joe. I quit," said Harry. He turned on his heel and marched back out of the coffee shop the way he came without another word. A smiled formed on his face when he stepped out in the warm afternoon sun. He had never particularly enjoyed working in the coffee shop in the first place. Walking down the street now, he felt as if this was the first day of the rest of his life. Now if only he knew what to do about Ginny.

She's getting married, he thought to himself. She's getting married to Dean, not you. There it was, a solid fact. Ginny had moved on with her life. No matter what she said about her feelings for him, Harry was determined not to get in the way of her engagement. Hermione had said that she needed to fight for her. But how did he do that?

* * * * *

"You did what?" said Hermione in disbelief.

"I broke off my engagement to Dean," said Ginny. She and Hermione were sitting in the living room of the flat she shared with Ron having a cup of tea. After her talk with her mum, she needed to get Hermione's opinion on what she should do next.

"Well, I can't say that I'm all that surprised," said Hermione.

"Really?"

"Really," said Hermione. "I figured it was only a matter of time now that Harry's back."

Ginny sat her tea cup down and gave her friend an appraising look. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"I know how you feel about him. And besides, Dean wasn't right for you. He wasn't in school and he wasn't now. I don't even know why you started dating him again in the first place."

Ginny sighed. "The only problem is, I don't know what I should do now."

They both looked up at the sound of someone knocking on the door. "Who could that be?" mumbled Hermione as she stood to answer it. When the door swung open, Ginny felt her heart skip a beat. Harry stood uncertainly on the other side of the door. "Harry!" she heard Hermione exclaim in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Can I talk to you for a bit. I don't know what to do," came Harry's voice. Hermione glanced back at Ginny uncertainly and Ginny nodded, conveying that it was all right for her to let him in.

"Hi Harry," said Ginny when he walked into the room. "I guess Hermione is the go-to person when one needs advice."

"Yeah, I guess so," said Harry, chuckling nervously and rubbing the back of his neck. "Actually Ginny, you're who I really needed to talk to," he added quickly.

"I actually have to go run a few errands," said Hermione, winking at Ginny who knew that Hermione had absolutely nothing to do that day. "You two can stay here and talk. I'll be back in a few hours. Just lock up if you leave before I get back." Before either of them could object, Hermione threw a handful of floo powder in the fireplace and disappeared in a whirl of emerald green flames.

Harry and Ginny both looked at each other nervously, neither one know what to say to the other.

"Would you like some tea?" asked Ginny, breaking the silence.

"What? Oh, sure," said Harry distractedly. Ginny led him into the kitchen and he sat down at the Hermione and Ron's small kitchen table. Ginny busied herself making tea to give her a minute to gather herself.

Sitting down across from him, she handed him his cup.

"You're not wearing your ring," observed Harry, looking down at her left hand.

"What?"

"Your engagement ring. You were wearing it last night, but not now."

Ginny felt her face heat and she quickly slid her hand under the table. She hadn't intended in telling Harry about her broken engagement until she figured out a few things. She forgot how observant he could be.

"Oh, yeah. I . . . uh . . . forgot to put it on this morning," she said.

Harry looked at her over the top of his teacup. "You're lying," he said.

"Excuse me?"

"You're lying. You were always like Ron. Your face gets all red when you're lying," said Harry.

Ginny didn't know what to say. Of course, he was right. She was lying. She took a deep, steadying breath. "I am lying," she said after a long moment. "I broke my engagement off with Dean last night."

"You what?" said Harry.

Ginny sighed. "Why does everyone keep saying that?" she said.

"Why?"

"Do you really even have to ask?" said Ginny. "Because of you. Because I still have feelings for you and I couldn't marry someone else not knowing . . ."

"Not knowing what?"

"Not knowing if there could be something between us again," she said softly, looking down at her lap. Harry stood from the table and abruptly pulled her to her feet and against his chest. Taking his index finger, he gently lifted her chin until her eyes met his before pressing his lips against hers. The moment their lips met, Ginny's head began to spin and she allowed herself to melt into his embrace.

When the kiss finally ended, Harry looked deep into her chocolate brown eyes. "There's always been something between us."

* * * * *

A/N: Once again, thank you to all my great reviewers and as always, let me know what you think!