Hi. This one is quite long. Hope you like it. The title doesn't quite fit as the Christmas is at the very end. Oh well.

Please enjoy.

Walking Free

Christmas

'No need to worry, Mr. Potter; everything looks to be in order.' Madam Pomfrey said as she packed away her thermometer and wand. 'Just a slight fever which should settle down within a day or two. Make sure to get plenty of rest, dear, you don't want to be sick on Christmas day.'

Harry smiled back, though not as widely, glad that the examination was over. The elderly woman had prodded and poked at his chest and leg for the best part of half an hour and he had felt rather uncomfortable, especially when she asked him to remove his pajama bottoms to get a better look at where the wounds had been. It hadn't helped that Hermione insisted on standing by the door the whole time, watching the examination with caring yet still curious eyes. As soon as there was something new she could learn, no matter what it was, she would be there, absorbing as much as possible. Harry had to admire her for her studiousness and patience. She really was an amazing witch.

'Thank you.' he mumbled, wishing she would leave him to sleep. Hermione led her down to the hall, thanking her on her way out. Only trouble was, as soon as she had gone, Tonks and Remus flooded back in. Thankfully the older man noticed Harry's ire at their presence and managed to drag his chatty wife and hyperactive child out of the house, promising to visit again in the next few days.

Gently shutting the door to Harry's room behind her, Hermione went in search of her boyfriend whom she found in the bedroom they had stayed in the night before, lying on the bed. Climbing onto the plump mattress she crawled over to the redhead. He smiled down at her, uncurling his arms from behind his head to scoop her up into a hug. She buried her head into his arm, loving her warm smell of his jumper.

'You okay?' he asked, stroking her hair.

She nodded, too tired to talk. She hadn't slept well the night before, too worried about Harry and had spent half the time drifting in and out of his room, making sure he wasn't bleeding again. Ron had tried to stop her, reassure her that he would be fine but he had slept through most of the night, lying on his stomach, snoring into his pillow.

'Did you speak to Harry?' he asked.

'About what?' she mutter into his arm. 'Christmas?'

'Yeah, Mum said she really wants him there and I know Ginny does. She's desperate to see him.'

'No, I forgot to mention it but I think they've been getting along well recently. You never know, maybe sparks will fly.' Hermione giggled, running her hand up and down Ron's firm chest.

'Not sure if I should be happy or anxious about that.' he frowned with a smile. 'He's a mate and I know he'd never hurt her, but what if they broke up? It would be…awkward.'

Hermione hummed to herself in thought, drumming her fingers. 'Not necessarily and anyway, we don't even know if they'll get together so it's silly to worry about that now.'

'I suppose. Well, I better talk to him about it later.'

The two lay still together on the bed, softly caressing each other, enjoying the peace of the mid morning.

'There was something I wanted to ask you about Mione.' Ron spoke up, causing Hermione to sit up in interest at the unsure tone of his voice. 'I was talking with Malfoy last night and he said something odd about Harry. He said that Harry owed him because Malfoy saved his life. I couldn't really understand hat he was going on about- not sure if that's because he's a sly git or because he was pissed as a newt.'

'Did you ask him what he meant?' Hermione questioned, her head tilted to the side.

'Yeah, but he told me to ask Harry.'

'Well, why are you telling me about this then?' she scolded. 'Just talk to Harry.'

Ron shrugged, his nose scrunched.

'What?'

'Nothing…Harry's just…kind of grumpy whenever I try to ask him stuff these days. He doesn't want to tell me anything anymore.'

'Hey, don't fret,' Hermione hugged her boyfriend's head to her chest, 'you just need to regain his trust. He's still feeling betrayed and doesn't feel safe with us yet. Just give it time.'

Ron breathed deeply through his nose, and grudgingly agreed with her. 'Harry better tell me what that git did for him 'cause I've been thinking about it none stop since he mentioned it.'

Harry slept almost solidly for a whole day, constantly being seen to by Ron and Hermione, but not once stirring from his slumber. The bags that had begun to form under his eyes over the past few days slowly started to fade as the colour returned to his cheeks. His fever cooled with aid of the tender care from his friends, Malfoy even helped on occasion, and when he finally did wake the only thing he was interested in doing was making himself some breakfast and having a hot cup of tea. When Hermione tried to insist on doing it for him, he all but locked her out of the kitchen. He didn't need her help and although he appreciated her concern, he didn't want to be mollycoddled when he was perfectly healthy and could look after himself.

'Harry, are you sure you're feeling okay?' Ron asked, handing him a glass of water. 'You were splinched really badly so we just want to make sure you're alright.'

'Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better. I just wasn't concentrating; I'd…I'd had a bad day but I don't really want to talk about that.'

'Sure.' Ron nodded, tucking into his fried eggs. 'But there is something I wanted to talk to you about.'

'Hmm.' Harry sighed around his forkful or beans.

'Malfoy and I were talking the other night, when you splinched yourself, and he some…stuff.'

'What stuff?' Harry asked a little too quickly, chipping away at his cool façade.

Ron glanced at the younger man briefly before deciding to continue with care. 'I was telling Malfoy that he shouldn't be hanging around you, causing you trouble. I said that we' he indicated to Hermione with a bob of the head, 'thought that he was causing you stress and that he should leave.'

'That's for me to decide, not you. This is my house remember.' Harry cut in, in annoyance.

'We know, Harry. Let him speak.' Hermione said softly. Harry frowned, remaining quiet.

'Right, so um…where was I…yeah, we told him to leave but it was then that he said that you owed him something, that he had done something for you and in return, you were keeping him safe. Hermione and I were wondering…what did he do?'

'Why does it matter?'

'Malfoy said it was 'life saving' or something. It sounded pretty big.' Ron began to sound desperate. Getting anything out of Harry was like getting blood from a stone. He was extremely stubborn and proud and even when they were close friends getting Harry to talk to him was almost impossible. He would never accept help from anyone so it was a wonder to Ron why he would take it from Malfoy of all people.

Sighing Harry finished his breakfast and left the table, taking his plate to the sink. 'Not that it's any of your business, but yes, he did help me.'

'And?'

'And what? That's it.' Harry turned away as he cleaned the plates and cutlery in the sink with a few simple flicks of his wand.

'You could at least tell what he did for you.' Ron argued, frustrated at not getting anywhere with him.

'Why should I? It has nothing to do with you. What happens in my life has nothing to do with you.'

Harry felt rather than saw Ron's face turn bright red. The sense of irritation in the air quickly turned to that of a fierce anger as the redhead bellowed across the room.

'How dare you stand there and say that to us! How dare you brush us off to the side, speak down to us as if we have no idea what you're going through because you're making it rather difficult for us not to know. You really have no idea how hard we've been working to look out for you recently, Harry. Hermione worked herself ragged over the last few nights, constantly checking over you, healing your wounds when you came home injured and you haven't even thanked us yet. You owe Hermione your life and all you can do is ignore us, shove us away when all we want to do is help and fix our relationship. When did you become such a selfish git? Okay, so you've had a bad life, we get that, we know but what did we do to deserve this treatment? I can see why you'd be mad at me, I should have known better as your best friend but Hermione? She has done nothing but care for you all this time and you repay her with a cold shoulder and act as if she's a stranger. Do you really not give a damn about us, 'cause it certainly feels that way?'

'That's not fair!' Harry shot back, still surprised by Ron's outburst. 'I do care, and I know you've done a lot for me recently, the past few days especially. And Hermione, thank you, I should have said it before, I know but you,' her looked back to Ron. 'how can you say that I don't care? Do you not think that I want to be friends again too? That I want it all to be like it was before? 'Cause I do. I want it, a lot, but I know that it's not just going to happen, it can't. We've all changed, it can't be like it was, it's too late. I'm sorry, there are just some things that you need to accept and that's one of them. We're not close like we once were-'

'But that doesn't mean that what goes on in your life doesn't affect us or isn't our business because you've made it our business-'

'More like you have.' Harry laughed bitterly. 'You two really have forced yourselves onto me. I don't need all this help from you.'

'Oh really?' Hermione shot in, speaking up after remaining silent as she had watched the two men argue between themselves. 'And what would've happened if we hadn't been here the other day? I doubt Draco could have helped you all by himself.'

'That was a one off. I'd had a long day.' Harry huffed feeling a little embarrassed. 'I still don't know what you two were doing here anyway.'

'We came to check on you.'

'That's what I'm talking about!' Harry cried out in frustration. 'You two can't seem to stay away. I'm fine; really, I don't need you watching over me.'

'Okay, we understand that.' Hermione said calmly. 'But Ron's right. We're still apart of your life whether you like it or not. We have a right to know about what's happening in your life because it affects us too.' She caught Harry's eyes with hers, holding them with a pleading stare.

'Please Harry.'

Harry crumpled into a chair, his shoulders heavy. Ron and Hermione sat opposite him but Ron was still red in the face, frustrated. 'I guess I'm just scared.' Harry said quietly.

'Scared of what?' Hermione asked when he didn't explain.

'Of being let down, abandoned. I can't let myself trust you or anyone because I keep thinking that you're going to betray me. I know it's stupid. In some ways I want to punish you because I was punished for no reason but I know that's wrong. You couldn't have known the truth. For some reason I just keep pushing you away and I guess that it's because I don't want to be let down again. I feel that by telling you about how I feel or what I think, that I'm giving away too much, that you'll use it against me someday and I won't have anyone to turn to.'

'Harry, you know that we'd never do that to you. We love you.' Hermione whispered. Her eyes sparkled with tears as her friend finally opened up, pealed back the covers of his mind and let them in. She was heart warmed and heart broken at the same time.

'She's right, we'd never do anything like that, mate.' Ron added, his skin having returned to its normal colouring. 'We're friends, or at least I'd like to hope so.'

Harry nodded, although he knew they still had a long way to go before their lives and friendship could be anything like it was.

'So, you going tell us now?' Ron asked with a smile.

Harry chuckled. 'You're really are persistent aren't you?'

'Yeah, well it's just that I've been thinking about what Malfoy said for a while and it's bugging me. I hate it when he knows something I don't; he always rubs it in my face.' Ron grumbled, crossing his arms.

'Well, for starters, what he said was basically true but not quite. He said that he was doing it for what his father did to me…you know…' Harry trailed off, feeling a little uncomfortable as he remembered what happened to him before he went to Azkaban. Hermione patter his hand, letting him know she understood. 'while in reality,' he said in a breathy voice, 'he was doing it because he felt guilty for his own participation. So, in order alleviate his guilty conscience he…he helped me to escape prison.'

The silence that met his declaration pounded against him, making the neck of his shirt tighten and his hands sweat. Ron's mouth was dropped like that of a fish, his eyes round and bulging. Hermione's lips were held in a slightly more controlled 'o', her eyebrows raised.

'…He…really?' Ron spluttered, his voice jumping up an octave. 'Malfoy? You sure it wasn't someone else, like, I don't know…not him!'

Harry's lips twitched up into a grin at Ron's disbelief. It reminded him of his school days, when he and Ron would talk for hours, joking, laughing, irritating Hermione with their endless banter and foolish behavior. When he was younger he never thought about moments like that because he didn't have to; it was his life. He didn't think about those times because they were nothing out of the ordinary but now, he wanted those times back more than anything.

'I have to admit, I'm a little surprised. I know that he's not as bad as some think but he doesn't seem to be type to care about having a guilty conscience or not. Then again, I can't imagine him ever feeling culpable.' Hermione said, her chin resting in her palm.

'I just can't get my head around it. Malfoy?' Ron's eyes crossed with thought. 'How'd he do it? I mean, it's Azkaban! How'd he get you out?'

'I know it sounds totally unlike him but trust me, it was Malfoy. He came to 'visit' me with a letter from the Ministry about taking some money out of my vault and he left it behind along with a pebble. At first I thought he was crazy but then I realised that the pebble was a portkey and that he never intended to use the letter to take my money for the ministry, he left it so I could go into Gringotts as some ministry worker, collect the money and use it to get myself going.'

'But surely The Minister would have noticed that the money was never brought into the ministry. He must have questioned Malfoy about where the money was or if had managed to get you to even signed the letter. If Malfoy had said you didn't sign the letter, he would have asked for it back or at least would have wanted to make sure he still had it.' Hermione thought aloud, her expression one of perplexity.

'I thought the same.' Harry continued.

'Oh, yeah…me too.' Ron piped up.

Harry and Hermione gave him a knowing look, both aware that he had no idea what they were talking about.

'Malfoy told me later on that he had been sent to collect money from more than just me that day. Scrimgeour had a number of letter made and signed each of them without checking who they were concerned. He had only just become Minister and apparently wasn't quite up to scratch. He must have not thought it important to check who it was that they were hopefully collecting money from. He would have suspected something otherwise.'

The three sat quietly, each mulling over their thoughts. Ron and Hermione were still trying to get round the idea that the blonde would do something so honorable. Although, Ron was more intrigued as to how Malfoy was smart enough to pull it off.

'So technically, you don't owe Malfoy anything.' Ron stated with a smug look.

'Yeah, but it's not as if he chose to torture me; he was forced to. And he did help me in a big way so the least I can do is watch out for him.'

'I guess, but don't feel like you have to. He can look after himself.'

'Mate, this is Draco Malfoy we're talking about.' Harry said with a laugh.

The two men chatted for a while, enjoying the moment of peace. Hermione nudged Ron after a while, remembering that they still had to ask him about Christmas day.

'Huh?' Ron turned to his girlfriend and understood when she nodded towards Harry. 'Oh, yeah, Harry, Mum was wondering if you would like to come over for Christmas day. She would love it if you came.'

Harry felt a tug in his stomach; partly worry at being back at the Burrow, seeing the family he once considered to be his - he wasn't sure he would be comfortable seeing them all again – but it was mainly a flip of excitement, of which he could only guess was about seeing Ginny. The thought of having some time with her again caused his fingertips to tingle.

'We asked Remus and Tonks to come as well. They'll be there so you don't have to worry about it just being you and the Weasleys.' Hermione said in a comforting tone.

'Wait why would that be a problem?' Ron asked, a little hurt.

Hermione nudged him tenderly. 'I just meant that it could still be awkward. Harry hasn't had time to repair things with everyone yet. I just thought with Remus and Tonks there, it might dilute the situation.'

After some thought, Harry decided that going to the Burrow really would be better than spending Christmas at Grimmauld place alone. 'I'd love to.'

Hermione clapped her hands once, a big smile gracing her lips. Ron leant over the table and slapped Harry on the back, glad things had turned out so well. Their joyful moment was broken when a certain blonde stumbled into the kitchen, his eyes still filled with sleep.

'Are you two still here? You really out stayed your welcome. And another thing, you should really be more considerate about keeping your voices down in someone else's house. The ginger woke me with his yodeling earlier which I did not appreciate at such an early hour.'

Harry, Ron and Hermione stared at him, finding the situation somewhat comical and also surprised at his behavior. 'Malfoy,' Harry began, 'it's eleven o'clock in the morning.'

'Well it wasn't half an hour ago when he rudely woke me from my slumber.'

'Ron, about Christmas, there's just one problem.' Ron raised an eyebrow in question. 'What are we going to do about Malfoy.'

'I don't want to be here.' Draco growled as he stood in front of the Weasley residence. It was Christmas day and he couldn't think of anywhere he would less like to be. Potter had spent almost a week trying to convince him to join him at the Burrow for the day. Draco had refused time and time again but had finally given in when he realised that being all by himself in the large, cold house reminded him too much of being home and it made him think of his mother which caused his chest to constrict painfully. He desperately wanted to see her, make sure she was well, but he couldn't return home because Voldemort was there. He would be killed as soon as he entered the vicinity so he knew that seeing his mother was not an option this Christmas. He couldn't imagine that he would have any fun whatsoever in this hovel on a day where one was supposed to be merry and joyful, kind to all, etcetera, when he couldn't think of a time when he felt more alone and depressed. Draco had to admit that he was curious as to why Potter was so adamant that he come along; he was sure Potter would be glad to be rid of him if only for the day.

'No need to be so glum.' Harry sighed next to him. 'At least you don't have to pretend to be happy to see everyone; they all hate you anyway.'

Draco grumbled as Harry knocked on the door lightly. Almost as soon as his had touched the wood the door flung open causing Harry to fly into the room, straight into Molly's arms.

'Harry dear, you came! It's so good to see you. Come, come, you'll freeze out there.' She pulled Harry close, rubbing his back. Harry smile, only a little forced, somewhat taken aback by her enthusiasm.

Draco followed, looking around the entrance of the home, his nose turned up with displeasure. Molly had known he would be joining them and while she hadn't been too pleased, she was never one to turn a witch or wizard away from her home, especially at Christmas. She beckoned the two men inside, by which time most of the family had come to welcome Harry. Ron clapped him into a hug which Harry gladly returned, followed by Hermione. Then the twins bounded up, each taking an arm and dragging him off to the living room. The other brothers followed each wanting to greet Harry with a handshake.

'Good to see you again, Harry.' Arthur called to which Harry replied with a smile over his shoulder. 'Malfoy.' he greeted with a nod.

Draco nodded in return, not quite sure what to do with himself as the entrance was deserted once again in only seconds. Spotting the coat stand to his right he shrugged off his jacket and hung it up along with his scarf. Then with nothing left to do he followed the sound of voices into the living room where all the Weasleys brothers were sat around the room, Harry in an armchair with Hermione sat on the arm. Clearing his throat he caught their attention.

'Ginger, would you be ever so kind as to direct me to your bathroom?' When a number of Weasleys gave him questioning looks he realised his error. 'Oh, I beg your pardon; I forgot I was among the Weasley clan. Does ginger hair run in the family?' he joked but as expected didn't receive a positive response.

'It's under the stairs.' Ron huffed, not amused. He then rolled his eyes when Malfoy left muttering 'How barbaric'.

'He's such a prick.' Fred and George said in unison.

'Why's he even here?' Charlie asked uncorking a bottle of Firewhisky and filling some glasses.

'He's Harry's problem.' Ron mumbled into his drink.

All the other brothers turned to Harry in question. Harry sunk into his seat, feeling a prickle of heat over his back. 'He's staying with me currently. He needed a place to stay and he has nowhere else to go and I didn't like to leave him home alone.'

'You're too nice, mate.' George said his twin agreeing. 'Malfoy's a git and if it were me I would have kicked him out before he could even get through the front door.'

'Well, he was actually staying with me at Remus' but we left and moved into Grimmauld place. Speaking of Remus, where is he?' Harry asked, desperate to change the subject, removing himself from the centre of attention.

'He'll be along in a bit.' Bill answered. 'Mum said he firecalled earlier saying Tonks was having trouble getting Teddy out of a box or something. I think he's having more fun with the wrapping paper and parcels than the actual presents they got him.'

The morning went by surprisingly quickly and soon enough Molly had called them all into the dinning room for lunch. The long table was fully laden with large bowls of vegetables and potatoes, plates piled high with various meats and two large jugs of gravy. Harry let himself be juggled around the table as Molly sorted the seating arrangements to make sure that everyone could fit. Harry was half hoping to be sat next to Malfoy so he could at least try to keep him in order but he was sat with Ron and Hermione with a space to his left to which he guessed was for Ginny. The blonde on the other hand was sat in between the twins who spent the entirety of the meal poking him in the ribs, nicking food from his plate and mocking him.

Remus and Tonks had finally arrived just before they moved into the dinning room. Tonks' face had been flushed while Remus simply looked apologetic. He had put an arm around Harry's shoulders when he passed, wishing him a merry Christmas and making sure he was feeling okay. Meanwhile Tonks was busy trying to stop Teddy from crawling under the table but a hour later he was still there, occasionally having food passed down to him by his father.

Just before the meal began Harry began to wonder where Ginny had got to. She had made an appearance shortly after he had arrived but had soon hurried off again and hadn't emerged since. Harry was about to ask Ron where she was when Ginny came bounding down the stairs, her red hair tied back in a long plat. Once she saw that the only seat available was next to Harry she slowed to a walk and gently placed herself on the bench. Harry smiled down at her warmly which caused Ginny's cheeks to flush. He wasn't certain but he was pretty sure that she had been wearing something different earlier. When he had seen her that morning she had worn jeans but now she was wearing a dark blue dress with matching pumps. Her cheeks were adorned in blusher and she had put on little silver earrings.

'Hello, Harry.' she said quietly.

'Hi.' he whispered back, his voice jolting a little when she took his hand in hers.

When the meal was over Molly cleared away the table and brought out the presents for her family. As expected Molly had knitted every present herself which was something Harry had always found rather amusing as the looks on their faces as they opened them was rather entertaining. This year, instead of the usual jumper, Ron received a zip up cardigan with his initials on either shoulder. Hermione was surprised to find she too had a cardigan, one matching Ron's but with her own initials. Percy and Bill both received gloves while Charlie was given a woolen hat that was far too big and kept slipping over his eyes. Fred and George were the most pleased with their presents as they had matching scarves which were really too long so instead of using one each, they stretched one between the two of them, wrapping it around themselves getting Malfoy tangled up with them. Tonks and Remus were very thankful when Molly presented them with a little present for Teddy; a pair of little red mittens to which Teddy took to instantly.

Harry looked to Ginny as he opened his own present to see that she already had her earmuffs on her head. He grinned as he pulled a traditional, green jumper out of the paper. As he had thought, on the front was the letter 'H' in golden thread.

'I wasn't sure if you had a thick jumper for the winter Harry, so I made you one, just in case.' Molly said as she watched Harry, hoping he would like it.

'Thank you, it's lovely.'

Later that afternoon everyone was situated in the living room, sat around the fire, all enjoying a hot cup of tea and a mince pie. Even Malfoy, who had spent the majority of the day frowning in the corner, sulking, seemed to be having a good time, chatting with Mr. Weasley with quite an animated tone. Despite being from such different families that supposedly hated each other, they seemed to get on rather well.

While Harry had enjoyed the day he still couldn't relax and enjoy the comforts of being among friends. He knew that he could trust the people around him; they were, he supposed, his family but he couldn't shrug off the fear that one day, they would turn against him. The only other problem Harry had was that he couldn't seem to get some time alone with Ginny. He had hoped that after lunch they could slip outside to talk but Molly had asked her to help make dessert. Then, when they went to sit by the fire he had tried to catch her alone in the hallway but she had been dragged off by the twins who wanted her to try out some of their new inventions. He had been sitting across the room from her for almost two hours now and he still hadn't had a chance to speak to her. They had chatted to each other along with everyone else but they hadn't had a moment to themselves.

Harry's thoughts were disrupted by Tonks as she shoveled another mince pie into her mouth.

'Ese ies sar wery ood.' she mouthed around the pie, cream dribbling down her cheek. Remus handed her a napkin, sighing with a small grin. She had consumed five of the little pies in the past half an hour and looked as if she wasn't quite done yet.

'Nora,' Remus said gently, 'you'll make yourself sick if you eat another one of those.'

'But Remus, the baby is hungry.' she whined playfully, a hand on her belly. 'Be nice.'

'Okay, well make this your last one,' he said as he peered at his watch. 'because we better go soon.' When Tonks looked up at him with a look of childish annoyance he indicated to Teddy who had fallen asleep on his chest over an hour ago and had his thumb lodged in his mouth. In sleep his hair faded back into its natural, golden brown of which Tonks tucked a few strands of behind his ear.

'Let's go.' she said softly, gathering the tired toddler into her arms. 'We're off guys. Thanks for inviting us.'

'That's alright, dear.' Molly smiled as she stood to show them out. 'It was lovely to see you.'

'Thank you for coming, Remus.' Arthur shook the man's hand. 'Good to see you.'

'You too. The meal was wonderful, Molly.'

Harry slid from his seat to say goodbye, catching Remus just as he left the house. 'Remus, I just wanted to say thanks for coming to see me the other day. I should have let you known where I was staying before.'

'Don't worry about it now Harry. You better get back inside, it's cold out here.' Remus patted him on the back before catching up with his wife. 'Merry Christmas.'

'You too!'

He waited until they had disapperated before turning back to the house. As he turned he was surprised to see Ginny sanding just a few feet away from him. She tilted her head to the side, a big grin on her face.

'We're finally alone.'

'Yeah.' Harry bit his lip. 'I guess we are.'

They stood staring at each other for a while, neither speaking. Ginny had let her hair down earlier and the gently breeze was billowing her locks, twirling it around her face.

'You look beautiful.'

'You're looking pretty good yourself.'

Harry laughed; glad the slightly awkward tension was quickly fading. 'I've wanted to talk to you all day. I tried earlier but you kept being dragged off.'

'I know,' Ginny sighed as she joined Harry's side. 'I've been looking forward to seeing you for a while. I'm happy you're here.' She raised a hand and placed it against Harry's cheek, loving the warmth that radiated off his skin. Lowering her hand she wrapped it around Harry's waist, bringing her other arm around his broad shoulders. Hugging him tight she waited for him to respond. To her delight he pulled her closer almost instantly. 'I love you, Harry.'

'I…I love you too.' he whispered hesitantly into her ear.

Ginny then began to pull away, turning her face to his. Her eyes were large and round, the pupils wide as they strained to see in the dark. She smiled up at him, her eyes seeming to lift with happiness. Leaning closer she touched her lips to his, bringing her hand up to either side of his face.

Harry kissed back, feeling her move against him. He closed his eyes, tilting his head to one side as Ginny wrapped her arms around his neck. But almost as soon as it had begun Harry ended it, carefully pushing her away. As their lips parted her head snapped up, her eyes wide and confused.

'Not now, Gin; not yet.'

Her face crumpled slightly with hurt. 'Why? When?'

'I don't want you to get hurt. I can't let myself get distracted.' He took her hand in his and brought them up to his chest. 'When this is all over, I'll be back.'

'But how long?' she asked, her voice breaking as the wind picked up and whipped at her hair.

'Soon, I promise.'

I hope you all liked it. This one took me a while to write because it's a lot longer.

Alexzander95- Don't worry, there shouldn't be anymore sad Harry. He was just having a bad day. Things are better now so he's feeling better. He's become more comfortable with Ron and Hermione so hopefully he'll be alright. I'm glad you like Draco, he's stupid but I love him really. Thank you.

Michael4HPGW- Thanks. A lot of people wanted more Ginny so I thought it was about time we saw some more of her but it was only a little. She is very important to Harry but not as important in the story as she was before but don't worry, there will be plenty more of them together. Thank you. Please review.

Awesomeperson17- Thanks. There will be a lot more drama soon. The next chapter should be quite dramatic. Please review.

xTheBlondex- Thanks, glad you like it.

HeartsGlow- He really should have. Welsh was a dick but I guess Harry just didn't want any fuss. He doesn't want anything to do with the ministry at the moment so he didn't bother to do anything about it. Maybe Harry doesn't snap, but he does have mood swings. Then again, I always imagine Tonks to be the type to over react and exaggerate about things. Thanks for the reviews. I hope you're enjoying it.

BubbleWrap08- Aww, thank you. I am so happy that my writing actually makes sense as I sometimes wonder if the story actually makes sense and flows correctly. Thank you! Also, I'm really glad that you like Teddy too. I've been trying really hard to make him seem cute and no one seemed to notice before. About Dumbledore and the ring, he was going to put it on but was distracted by something. I mentioned it somewhere in the story but I didn't say what it was he was distracted by. You might find out later but it might not be relevant, I'll have to see. Please review.

Phoenixx Rising- Thank you for reviewing. I'm happy that you're enjoying it so far. I'll try not to keep you all waiting for more.