Chapter 5

Harry

With his stomach full of the roast pork and veggies that Andromeda had made, Harry finally sat down to sort through his letters. He reached first for Ginny's. It was not a long letter, but it made the guilty knot in his stomach tighten.

"Dear Harry,

Aberforth told dad you were staying in The Hogs Head, but leaving soon to go somewhere else. Tell him I say hello before you leave.

Mum's still not sleeping well on her own. Everyone except for George has gone back to work full time now. Of course, Dad went back to work weeks ago to help Kingsley.

Ron's been cooking dinner (his first attempts were quite lousy, but he's actually getting better). Hermione was here yesterday and it's great to hear that her parents are doing better. Her mum even remembered Hermione's fifth birthday party the other day.

Ron wants you to come over for dinner. I think he's a bit lonely.

Come for dinner soon,

Ginny"

Harry stared at her valediction for a few moments. Dragging a piece of parchment towards himself, Harry prepared to write an apology. Yet, all of his attempts sounded quite lame, particularly after having seen her that day and been such a moron. He felt even more idiotic because her letter was so kindly written. He wanted to see her, but was also nervous to see her.

Harry decided to shift though some of the other mail instead by searching for writing that he recognised in the exhaustive pile. He found a letter from Ron. It said:

"Hey mate,

Come for dinner one night.

Ron"

Maybe he should go for dinner. Harry thought that this might be best. Maybe he would know what to say if he spoke to Ginny in person.

Ginny

The following morning, Ginny woke up slightly later than usual. They had stayed at the store for a long time yesterday and she had not been able to get to sleep until fairly late.

She got up and opened her curtains to look outside. It was rather foggy this morning, and there were low, grey clouds in the sky. Ginny changed into a blue knit sweater and loose, blue denim overalls. The overalls had little embroidered flowers hear and there/ He mum had sewn them to repair holes that had formed in the denim. They had been Molly's in her youth. Ginny loved wearing them, and they were perfectly comfy for a day at home. Ginny stepped into her slippers and walked downstairs.

In the kitchen, Ginny found Ron and her mother. "Good morning mum," Ginny said to Molly as she hugged her.

"Good morning, deary. Have a seat, have a seat. I'll get you some breakfast."

Ron was sitting down as well, looking through a large old book. "Morning," he said as Ginny sat down. Ron met Ginny's eyes and smiled with a small head gesture towards their mum. Ginny smiled too.

"Okay," Ron said, then he picked up his wand from the table and pointed it at the sink basin. "Conversus," He said, and the tap turned on.

"Nice," said Ginny nodding her head, impressed. She had been very surprised by the amount of interest Ron had shown in household magic recently.

"You'll need to plug the sink too, Ron," Molly added kindly as she pointed her wand at the sink and said, "obstructum." The sound of the water running changed as the basin began to fill rather than circle down the drain.

"Oh right," said Ron. "Okay," he consulted his notes, pointed his wand at the dirty pots next to the sink and commanded, "mundus aqua." They pots and pans lifted up, then crashed into the sink sending water flying out from underneath it, splashing the whole kitchen with cold water. Ginny wiped her eyes and saw that the kitchen bench, the table, the chairs, even the ceiling, was dripping with water. Her mother and her looked at Ron who had been the closest to the basin. He spat out a mouthful of water like a fountain, then looked at them both and said, "I forgot to make the water warm as well. That's bloody freezing." Ginny and her mother looked at each other, then burst out laughing. Ron joined them and they all laughed until Ginnys had tears in her eyes. Molly splashed across the floor to Ron and kissed him on the head as she hugged him. She straightened up and with a wave of her wand the water disappeared. Ron, meanwhile, pointed his wand at his mothers clothes and they steamed dry. He did the same to Ginny and himself.

Still smiling, Molly said, "you need to be calm and relaxed with most household spells. You don't need to say them like you're hexing the pots." She showed Ron how to do it properly, and also showed him how to add suds to the water.

Half an hour later they were all sitting at the table eating porridge with apple and cinnamon, drinking tea, and listening to the pots clatter lightly as they cleaned themselves in the warm, soapy water.

As they were finishing their food, George came downstairs. He hugged his mum and greeted her good morning. After ladling some of the steaming porridge into a bowl he looked at the dining table for a moment, considering it, then said, "I'll be in the yard." Ginny saw her mothers concerned eyes following George as he walked out of the room.

At that moment, a large barn owl hooted and flew through the kitchen window. There were two scrolls of parchment tied to its leg. Molly reached out and untied the notes, "ah yes, ones for me," she untied the second and, sounding surprised, said "oh, and the other one is for you, Ron dear."

Ron read the note, "is it all right if Harry comes over for dinner tomorrow night, mum?" He asked.

"Yes, of course. What a shame, I wont be here," she said as she read her letter, "Andromeda just invited me for dinner at her house and I can't say no to seeing little Teddy, poor darling." She left the room.

Ginny sat thinking for a moment. Surely it would have been just as easy to write a response to her letter if Harry had been sending one to Ron anyway. It was rather rude, Ginny decided, and she was a little drained by this situation.