"Promise me this:

That you'll stand by me forever,

But if God forbid, fate should step in

And force us into a goodbye

If you have children somebody

When they point to the pictures

Please, tell them my name"

-Long Live

Chapter 7: To The Place He Once Belonged

Disclaimer: I own the plotline, nothing else.

After finally agreeing to move in with his godfather, Harry and Sirius made their way down the rather large tree and into the Burrow.

"Are you alright, Harry?" Hermione asked as she got up from her spot on the couch beside her parents and walked quickly over to him.

Harry nodded his head, "Yeah," he smiled, "I am now."

Hermione smiled back just as Sirius decided to announce, "Harry's decided to move into Grimmauld Place!"

The teen couldn't hide his embarrassment as everybody in the room began to clap and congratulate the two. Noticing this, Hermione rubbed his back as a small means of comfort. Although it was unexpected, Harry was quite grateful for it. The small contact soothed him. He genuinely hated being the center of attention, and apparently, she knew that.

"Hello, Harry," said Luna once the cheering had died down. Harry had momentarily forgotten about Luna and Neville also being there so her appearance slightly surprised him.

"Oh, hey Luna," he greeted the short blonde, "How've you been?"

"Quite honestly? I've been better," she admitted.

Harry immediately felt guilty again after that. It wasn't like Luna to be so blunt about her feelings and he couldn't help but to feel that he was to blame for her sadness.

"I was just recently bitten by Ginny's pygmy puff, you see," Luna pointed at the small bite mark on her hand, "It wasn't very pleasant."

"Oh, Luna," Harry thought as he lamely tried to hide his smile. That wasn't exactly what he had been getting at when he asked her about how she felt. Still, her answer amused him and took away the guilt that was originally thrust upon him.

He cleared his throat, "I'm sorry to hear that," Harry told her with the most sympathized tone he could muster.

Fortunately, Luna took his apology seriously, "Oh, it's alright. Arnold is just a bit feisty, that's all."

Harry nodded his head before noticing Neville come up from behind the younger Ravenclaw.

"Hey guys," Neville gave them a lopsided smile. It was evident that the other boy was a bit nervous. The lot of them hadn't talked since the loss of their dear friend.

"Are you alright, Neville?" asked a concerned Hermione who still stood at Harry's side.

He looked down, "I'm really not the one you should be asking," Neville gestured over to where Ginny sat in between the twins on the floor in front of the fireplace. It had been bewitched to provide no heat being that it was currently the middle of summer. The orange flames were merely lit for decoration.

"I tried speaking with her earlier," Luna spoke up, "But all I got was a bite from Arnold…"

Harry didn't feel like laughing when the blonde brought that up again. The look on his friend's face was all too depressing. Fred and George seemed to be trying to talk Ginny out of her sad state of mind, but didn't appear to be having much luck.

"Should I go talk to her?" Harry asked hoarsely. He really didn't want to face any more Weasleys. He felt incredibly grateful that the first two he encountered didn't blame him, but he didn't feel like the other three at the Burrow wouldn't. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were adults, afterall. Their maturity probably had most to do with their polite attitudes towards the raven-haired boy. With that said, he definitely wanted to avoid the other red-heads. Underage magic restriction or not, Harry didn't want to take the risk of being hit with one of Ginny's infamous bat-bogey hexes.

"Harry, calm down," Hermione ordered. "She isn't angry with you, nor does she blame you for what happened."

"Always the voice of reason," Harry thought to himself before replying, "I don't-"

"Harry," she said, with more force than before, "Nobody blames you. When are you going to get it into your head?" The brunette looked like she was going to slap her friend any second now.

"Do you really think that, mate?" asked Neville, stepping forward a bit.

Instead of answering his friend, Harry backed away. The last person to call him, "mate," was…before he could think any further, the smaller boy bolted, once again, from the room.

Hermione sighed at the disappointed look on Neville's face. "Don't worry," she told him, "I'll be right back. Why don't you talk with Luna for bit?" she suggested before taking off after her best friend.

Still feeling guilty, Neville did as he was told and turned to face the other girl. "So," he began, but Luna cut him off.

"I missed you, Neville," she said while looking at him most sincerely. She had a genuine smile strewn across her face while all Neville had managed was a look of utter surprise.

"Um, I um…" he began stuttering. The Gryffindor always did that when he became unsure of himself. Well, that and his face usually turned an unnatural shade of red; which it had.

"You don't have to say anything," Luna stopped him, "Besides, I best be off. I believe I heard father calling for me just moments ago," she squeezed his hand and gave him one of her dreamy smiles before merrily skipping away.

And again, poor Neville was left stunned.

"Harry, are you in here?" Hermione asked as she entered a darkened room. This had been the last door she tried searching, and it was for a good reason. It was the last place she wanted to be. This place held far too many memories of her late friend's…and that only made sense being that the small bedroom she walked into was once Ron's.

"Harry?" she asked again, turning on the lights to better take in her surroundings. Upon doing so, she caught her friend staring at Ron's nightstand. On it, she noticed, was a picture of the two males that had been taken just several months ago. The moving photo showed the two former best friends partaking in a round of wizard's chess. They were both laughing as Ron took out Harry's knight, causing a rather loud noise that pulled Hermione away from her studies. It was how the picture came to be. Because her two best friends refused to keep it down while playing their game, Hermione had decided to snag a few shots of them. It wasn't like she could concentrate on anything else at the time. Besides, it was such a happy moment that Harry and Ron shared, she couldn't possibly allow it to be forgotten.

"I don't think I ever managed to beat him," Harry quietly replied while still gazing at the small picture.

Hermione merely shook her head and walked over to him. "I wouldn't doubt he ever expected you to," she managed a small smile.

Harry let out a small laugh and picked up the frame. "Do you think Mrs. Weasley would mind me taking this?" he asked her. "I never got a copy and seeing as he…" He stopped himself before stating the obvious. It was much too difficult to say aloud.

"I wouldn't mind at all, sweetie." Both Harry and Hermione turned to see the eldest Weasley woman standing in the doorway.

"Mrs. Weasley," Harry abruptly set the picture down, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come here. I just-" he started rambling only to be engulfed by one of Molly's motherly embraces moments later.

"You listen to me," she said sternly. Molly took the young boy's face into her hands, forcing him to look at her, "This is your room too. Every night you visited us was spent sleeping in here. Just because things have…changed, doesn't mean you aren't allowed to come in."

Harry sighed as Mrs. Weasley released him. Despite what she told him, he knew that reentering this room would not be happening again. He felt the same as Hermione did. Ron's old bedroom just held too many memories. Harry hadn't been thinking clearly when he came up there in the first place.

"Now," Mrs. Weasley snapped Harry out of his thoughts, "Why don't you pocket that picture and head back downstairs," she said as more of an order than a request. "Ginny, Fred, George, Luna, and Neville are all waiting for you to join them in the backyard. Arthur and I want you kids to talk for a bit while we adults prepare supper and discuss important things of another matter, alright?" she asked as Hermione led Harry out and onto the small staircase. He just nodded his head and allowed his friend to drag him away. The last thing he wanted to do was join the rest of them to talk about their 'feelings'. Harry had a sinking sensation that it would not end well.

A/N:So, what did you think?

Please, keep me updated on your thoughts!

Next: Harry has a long and heated discussion with Ginny

Until then…