Yet another chapter for everyone! whether you enjoy it it's up to you :P it's a little shorter than usual but I hope it will do.

Chapter 8: Feathers, Firewhiskey and Honey

The days began to topple one after another, with each helping Harry in his search for his past. Though he hadn't had any significant flashes of memory, he did feel that he was regaining quite a bit of his old self, feeling at least familiarity when either Ron or Hermione would tell him stories of his childhood. Even though they had gone back to their own house to prepare for the baby, Harry was still getting to see them for a couple of hours every day as to help educate Harry on his life, hoping the rattling off of small details about his past would prod several more memories. Though both voiced it and tried not to think so pessimistic, Ron and Hermione feared that this was to no avail, hoping beyond hope that their Harry would return to them and soon.

During the times that Ron and Hermione wasn't there though Harry felt alone as even though Ginny and he had reconciled and planned to start afresh, it was as though they were both strangers once more. Harry hardly saw her during the day as she choose to spend most of the day light wandering along the paddocks into Merlin knows where and then when she was around things were just civil. He often pondered her location, finding that his thoughts strayed to her quite often, no matter how much he tried not to. The thought of her lips upon his own had started to drive him insane with longing but it wasn't just that. He felt as though Ginny herself was the key to him discovering who he was, that she was part of him.

Stretching his arms out as she shook another thought of Ginny out of his hand one afternoon two weeks after the reconciliation, Harry tried to listen to Hermione as she began to recall Harry's fourth year of school. Smiling, Harry watched Hermione and Ron when Hermione had reached a touchy subject of Ron's.

"So, you went to that Yule Ball with this Krum bloke, and not Ron?" Harry commented with a smirk as he took in Ron's disgruntled features.

"Of course I did," she replied shortly, "Ron was only interested in getting a looker and Viktor seemed nice."

Ron let out a deep laugh, causing the other two to turn towards him, "Nice, right, yeah. Is that what the kids are calling it these days?"

Rolling her eyes in reply as she ignored his notable sarcasm, Hermione continued. "Since Ron hadn't shown interest, I said yes to Viktor. The only time he considered me was as a last resort."

"You weren't a last resort, just an afterthought." Ron replied defensively.

"And that would have made me feel so much better."

"Come off it, everything was messed up when we were kids. You were with Krum, I was infatuated with Fleur, which by the way I'm completely over; and Harry was stuck on Cho, who was with Cedric."

"The pretty boy from Hufflepuff that was the other Tri Wizard champion? Yeah I remember." Harry answered.

Frowning at Harry's comment, Hermione continued. "Yes, well when both of you were turned down I found you sulking in the common room, worried that you'd end up with trolls. That's when Ron finally realised I was a girl."

"I always knew you were a girl, it just didn't click that I could have gone with you and saved myself all that torment." Ron said in his defense.

"You were more interested in finding the perfect being. Someone symmetrical, with a good set of-"

"I was fourteen! Your head doesn't exactly think logically with all those hormones pumping through your body. Anyhow I thought you were a looker at the ball, amazing in fact. I was gob smacked and jealous to boot." Ron smiled.

"Of who, Viktor or myself?" Hermione teased.

Shrugging, Ron picked up a book that lay down on the table beside him and flicked it absentmindedly. "Both, I think."

Rolling her eyes at her husband, Hermione continued with a brisk tone, all the while trying to hide her smirk. "So, while sitting around the fire Ron had this brilliant idea. He had decided I was to go with him and you were to go with Ginny." Hermione nodded to Harry.

Straight away Harry's mind went into overdrive as he formulated a magnificent scene where he and Ginny were dancing close together on a nearly empty dance floor before sneaking off to go somewhere more private. Shaking himself mentally once more, Harry spoke up, trying not to give away anything thing in the tone of his voice. "So, did I? Go with her, to the ball I mean?"

"You really weren't that lucky." A voice came from behind Harry along with a sweet smell that he had came to associate with only one person. Turning around on his seat he found Ginny leaning against the wall with a mischievous grin plastered across her face.

"I know that look; it's the look of someone that's just performed a prank." Ron said, looking worried.

"Not a prank, just taking advantage of an opportune moment."

"Okay spill. I need to know if it's me who's the victim of this 'opportune moment'."

Smiling broader, Ginny shook her head. "It's not you, it was – "

"GINEVRA MOLLY WEASLEY! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" an irate Charlie yelled fiercely from the yard.

"Oops, that's my queue to go. Tootles!" And with that Ginny scampered up the stair case.

"Is anyone curious about what she did?"

Just as Ron asked the back door slammed open, followed by what seemed to be two human sized chickens.

"Charlie?" Ron asked as he desperately tried to conceal a smirk.

"No it's Morgan le Fay, who the bloody hell did you think it was?" Chicken barked back, his voice was breaking in anger. "So, where is she? I'm going to kill her!"

Trying her hardest to keep from laughing, Hermione looked from Ron to Harry then shrugged. "I'm not sure who you mean."

"The one who's name I was yelling, that's who!" Charlie replied frantically.

"Oh Ginny, well I'm not sure where she is. Do you, Harry?"

Not looking up at Charlie Harry shook his head. "Nope, haven't the foggiest. What about you, Ron?"

Looking up at Charlie nearly indifferently now, Ron just shrugged. "She's upstairs."

"Ron!" a voice cried indignantly from the floor above. Climbing down the stairs with her arms crossed, Ginny shot Ron a deathly glare.

"Well, it's better over and done with." Ron suggested.

"Turn us back now! I'm warning you, turn us back NOW!" Chicken Charlie yelled, his feathers ruffled as he flapped his wings.

Staring down Charlie as though he was one of her dragons and not an overgrown chicken, Ginny took another step towards Harry. "Couldn't get rid of it, then?" she asked casually.

"What do you bloody think?" Charlie asked again then swore, ignoring the clucking laughter that came from the other overgrown chicken.

"Language, Charlie. You really should keep your calm, especially while in present company." Ginny smiled at the other chicken.

"Don't bother me none. I think the whole thing's pretty funny actually. Gives me a break from patrolling." The other chicken replied, who sounded oddly like Briohny.

"Just get rid of it, Ginevra, and I'll make sure you have a fast death." Charlie spat through his beak.

"Cant. It's one of George's new inventions. Should wear off in an hour or so, that's if the two of you behave yourself and you calm down."

"If we behave ourselves? You've got –"

"Come on Charlie, let's go out." Briohny said as she started to pull at one of Charlie's wings. "I don't want to be the only gigantic chicken in your British summer heat. Maybe some breeze might blow our feathers off." Turning to Ginny she winked and said softly, "Tell George it was brilliant."

Charlie flapped his arms in protest before following Briohny. He had made it to the back door before turning round again. "I'll pay you back, Ginevra, mark my words. Just when you least expect it!"

Shrugging, Ginny took a seat upon one of the armchairs, picking at her nails as though nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. It took a minute of Harry, Ron and Hermione looking at each other for someone to speak up.

"Okay, what was that, what prompted it and when did you become the new family prankster?" Ron asked with amazement.

"Well, that was a little liquid cocktail George has been creating, it's prompted by unresolved sexual tension and I've always been a prankster, it's just mum used to blame it on the twins." Ginny answered casually without looking up.

"This is George's? How come he didn't tell me?"

"Wasn't sure it would work. I saw George a couple of days ago and he thought I'd like to have a bit of fun at Charlie's expense. I would have loved to of used this on you and Hermione when we were teenagers. There was always sexual tension flying between the two of you for years."

Frowning, Ron replied quickly without thinking. "What, not unlike you and –" He was stopped when Ginny threw him a fierce look that could burn through steel.

Hermione suddenly let out a squeak before trying to manoeuvre herself up. "Ron, do you realise what time it is?"

"Time for me to check the WWN for a score update on the Canons/Wasps games?"

Not even validating his reply with a sharp retort, Hermione walked towards the fireplace, picking up the pot plant that was filled with floo powder. "I have my check up in twenty minutes and I don't want to late."

Mentioning to pick up on where they finished on the Yule Ball story, Hermione said her goodbyes before flooing to St. Mungo's with Ron following after his wife. Harry found himself for the first time in nearly two weeks strictly alone with Ginny, which made him both excited and extremely nervous all of a sudden.

"Looks like that's my queue to go too." said Ginny as she made her way along the room. "You know people to do, places to be. I mean things to do, places to be." She added.

Frowning and sick of her odd, evasive behavior, Harry stood up. "Right, so what, you're going to leave me to my own devises then?"

"Pretty much, yeah." Ginny replied unfazed as she made her way to the door.

"Bored with me or you just can't stand being around me." Harry stated rather than asked. His frustration was evident as he couldn't understand her change. He had thought things would improve after their last talk but now, well being ignored was nearly worse than her anger.

"Yes and no." answered Ginny finally, confusing Harry further. She made her way to the doorway before turning around again. "So, do you need an invite or would you rather stay with mum and make some caramel slice?"

Ginny walked along her parent's property and through the large throng of trees that guarded their Quidditch pitch from unwanted eyes. Turning around to smile quickly at Harry, whose brow was furrowed in what seemed like a mixture a several emotions and thoughts, Ginny then turned quickly before crawling on all fours through a little gap in a cluster of several bushes. Standing up finally once they reached a small clearing, Ginny finally spoke up. "This, my dear Harry is my secret getaway. I used to come here a lot when I was young, mostly to get clear of my brothers."

Ginny gestured to Harry to sit down on one of the weathered mats that covered the ground. "I hope you realised that now you know my deepest secret I will have to kill you."

"Well, you know what they say about curiosity. It's on my head." Harry replied as he stretched out. He took in the features of the small area. It only had enough room to fit four people at most with worn carpets covering the bare earth. In the middle of the ground was a stone circle which Harry assumed its purpose was to house a fire or at least candles. Harry turned to his left and noticed several tightly sealed jars, two bottles of butterbeer and a quarter empty bottle of Firewhiskey. Looking up, Harry went to address Ginny who was sitting with her legs tucked to one side, pouring over a book. "So this is where you come when the stress of having me around becomes too much."

Placing her book down, Ginny shrugged while still looking down. "Pretty much yeah though I only realised that it was here a week ago."

"I'm glad you've got a place to mull things over then." Harry mumbled. He was feeling a little put out that his mere presence was causing so much grief to everyone around. Picking up the bottle of Firewhiskey, he rolled around as to do something with his hands.

"I had a bit to think about these last few weeks." Ginny stood up and made her way to Harry, taking the bottle from his hands before sitting back down again. Opening the bottle, Ginny ran her index finger along the neck of the bottle before taking a quick sip. Shuddering, Ginny then handed it to Harry.

"Would have been nice if you had talked to me about what you were thinking." Harry stated, taking a swig of the alcoholic beverage. It burned slightly as it ran down his throat, causing him to cough.

"Who says I was thinking about anything that concerned you?" Ginny asked, reaching out for the bottle again.

"I assumed you were thinking about what happened two weeks ago."

Ginny took another sip of the Firewhiskey, once again shuddering as the liquid ran down her throat. Already she felt the alcohol coursing through her body; giving her a little more courage "Assumption will get you nowhere, Harry." Passing the bottle back to Harry, Ginny leaned over him slightly to reach one of the jars beside him that contained a golden liquid. Opening the jar, Ginny dipped her two fingers into the golden substance before lifting them, her wrist twirling her fingers over and over again as to break the last strand of gold. Harry found himself watching Ginny's fingers as she placed them in her mouth, sucking the substance off. "Honey?"

Nearly waking from his concentration on her simple movement, Harry looked up to find that Ginny was also handing her the jar. "I – what?"

"I was wondering if you wanted any honey. It helps the Firewhiskey go down better."

Letting out a slight laugh, Harry stood up to take the jar. "You know, you're a strange girl, Ginny Weasley. Every time I see you it's like I'm meeting another side of you. I just can't keep up." Harry once again took a sip then did has Ginny had done, dipping his own finger into the honey.

"I have that effect on people." Ginny smiled, licking the excess honey from her fingers.

The two then sat in relative silence, passing both the Firewhiskey and honey every now and then. A little game had began were as Ginny would look up at Harry as he consumed his Firewhiskey and honey but never catching his eye as they passed the bottles. He would then watch her do the exact same thing.

Harry found that he was gaining more courage with every sip which made him speak up. "Tell me something that I don't already know about yet."

Searching his eyes with curiosity, Ginny then placed her jar down and sat up a bit with a futile grin on her face. "I don't know, what do you want to know?"

"Anything." replied Harry, adding "Something random."

"Random, okay well I went to the Yule Ball with Neville."

"Neville, right, the Herbology teacher. Good bloke. So, was he your boyfriend?" Harry asked, slightly irritated.

Smiling again, Ginny picked up a leaf that had fallen from one of the bushes and began to fold it in her fingers. "No, he wasn't. He became a good close friend but never a boyfriend. I did meet a future boyfriend there though."

"Right." Harry replied shortly. "Anything else?"

"Once I finished school I was offered a position with the Holyhead Harpies but turned it down." said Ginny in a casual tone.

"The Quidditch team? What made you turn that down?"

Sighing, Ginny looked above her as to watch the clouds passing by. "I needed to get away."

Harry wanted to ask her more as the questions buzzed inside his head but doubted she was going to tell him anything else and wasn't so keen to get on her bad side. Still he wondered what could have been so terrible that she needed to go away instead of doing what seemed like a dream job. "Tell me something from when you were at school, something I don't know."

Looking down at Harry, Ginny smiled and said the first thing that came into her head. "I once sent a singing valentine to a boy by a dwarf dressed as cupid."

Harry let out a little cough before splattering, "You – what – How old were you?"

"Eleven." Ginny stated with a shrug before taking another swig.

"So I guess the boy as around the same age?" Harry asked with an amused tone.

"He was twelve."

"Poor boy."

Laughing, Ginny shook her head at the situation. "Poor boy? I was more embarrassed than him. It was in front of all my class mates and another boy pointed out that it was my singing valentine."

"I still feel for the boy, I mean you were silly enough to send the valentine, you should have suffered." Harry smirked.

"I was eleven and I was silly!"

"Still, I feel for that poor boy." Harry laughed, not taking in the bemused look on Ginny's face. Again they sat in silence before Harry broke it.

"Can you sing it?" Harry asked innocently.

"Sing what?"

"The valentine poem thingy. I want to hear it."

Ginny stood up and turned around to tidy. "You're intent in embarrassing me again, aren't you?" she turned to face Harry again, taking both the honey and the Firewhiskey to replace their lids. "You're a cruel creature, Harry James Potter."

Once she had packed everything up, Ginny began to crawl through the hole without a further word, only to be stopped when she heard Harry's voice. "And you're intent at hiding everything from me."

"I can keep what I want from you, I hope you realise." Ginny argued, as she stood up and brushed herself off.

"I don't get you. First you thrash me then you're nice. That didn't last because you then became scared. We then started to have some fun but of course you became sulky. Nice came along again for a second before you turn vicious and overacting. You then avoid me but I guess you got bored and started to flirt again with the Firewhiskey and bloody honey. It seems like there are so many sides I've met but at the same time I've hardly gotten to the Ginny that I forgot. I thought I did but obviously I haven't."

Sighing, Ginny turned her back, "That Ginny left years ago."

Not even realizing what he was doing Harry grabbed her hand, turning to face him. "I don't think so. I think you're just a scared little girl worried that things would be different."

"Oh stop it. Stop trying to make out that you know me because you don't. You have no idea everything I've been through, everything I've lost and will never get again."

Ginny struggled against Harry but he pulled her closer. Talk to me properly, like you used to years ago."

"And how would that be then, Harry? What do you expect from me?" Ginny felt his grip slacken. Taking advantage Ginny slipped further away, feeling as though she was in two minds as to what to do next. Her mind which was indeed frightened was telling her to go back to her room and continue to avoid him to protect herself while her heart was betraying her mind and telling her to snog the life out of him with all her might.

A frightening idea popped into Harry's mind but he had to know. "Did something happen between the two of us, is that why?" Harry asked.

Shocked at his question, Ginny stared at him. "I – I'm going back to the house."

Turning, Ginny started to walk away, turning desperately not to be confronted with her fear of losing him again. She closed her eyes and fought back her thoughts, not even aware that at the moment she turned from him Harry fell to his knees, bent double with agony, holding his searing forehead.

Another chapter posted and there should be the next one up and ready in a few hours! :D