Chapter Sixteen; The Unfinished Message

Thanks Scrappy! Here's the next chapter! I hope you enjoy it and we're getting closer to the end now before Harry's final year at Hogwarts and yes you heard me right, this time he will have a seventh year at Hogwarts when he finally becomes an adult!

The next morning Harry woke up to find Ginny sound asleep inside his arms. He smiled down at her warmly and kissed her forehead before coming under the sudden realization that they weren't tiny anymore. "Ginny, Ginny wake up!" he whispered while starting to gently shake her awake.

"Huh?" she questioned him sleepily while slowly starting to open her eyes and then let out a humongous yawn.

"We're back to normal." He whispered while she stretched her arms out wide before turning over to look at Ron and Hermione. Sure enough they barely fit inside the bush anymore.

"But that's impossible, Hermione said that we wouldn't be until a few more days." She said when suddenly Ron started to yawn while he opened his eyes and started to wake up.

"I've got news for you sis, just because I love Hermione doesn't mean that she's always right." He said while he started to sit up and rub his eyes. "What time is it?" he wondered.

"I'm not sure, but my parents and brothers and sisters must be worried sick about me." Harry said before he ducked his head while quickly leaping to his feet and scrambling out of the bush.

"Harry wait up!" Ginny cried as she raced after him.

….

"Oh Harry!" Lily cried once he had made it back to the castle while throwing her arms around her son and hugging him tightly. "Thank Heaven you're safe." She told him while continuing to embrace him and then placed a kiss on his cheek before letting go of him and taking ahold of his hands inside hers. "Cowboy will be glad to see you then, he was really worried about you. Actually, he was probably as worried about you as the rest of us were." She told him as his father appeared behind him along with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny.

"Alright Snape tell us what's going on, how are we suddenly big again?" Ron asked him as Snape just simply turned to look at him.

"I honestly have no idea." He told him.

"If you please sir, I think I do." Hermione began as he quickly glanced over at her. "As soon as Ron Ginny and I all forgave each other that big step caused us to become big again." She said with a proud grin.

"Well, I guess that makes sense. The important thing is that you four are alright." He told her when suddenly Ginny heard a meow and felt a warm and fuzzy little body rubbing up against her leg. Ron quickly looked down at the ground as he saw her cat looking back up at him and meowing. He let out a loud and petrified scream before racing out of the room as Ginny bent down to pick her up.

"Oh come here my little princess." She told her as Snape looked over at Harry.

"Did I miss something? Why is Weasley afraid of a cat?" he questioned him as Harry laughed.

"It's a long story." He told him as he started tickling Princess under the chin while she closed her eyes and started to purr.

…

Later that evening Dumbledore had called Harry, Ron, and Hermione back up to his office. The Dragons were finally able to put on their performance, and they, like everyone else were very relieved to know that they were alright. "Now I called you all here tonight because I have a very particular memory that I want you to see. This memory belongs to Professor Horace Slughorn." He explained before he released the vile of the clear liquid substance into the pensive and all three of the teenagers stuck their heads inside of it.

…

Tom Riddle walked down the stairs and came into the Slytherin common room. Horace Slughorn stood in front of the fireplace. He quickly turned his head and looked at him as he entered the room. "Professor, I was wondering if you could help me. I was in the library the other day researching a very rare piece of magic. It was called a hufflehmmhmm." Harry had no idea what he was saying but it sounded as though he was trying to talk with peanut butter stuck to his lips.

"Get out of here! I don't know anything! Go away!" Horace yelled before the memory ended and Harry, Ron, and Hermione withdrew their heads out of the pensive.

"Confused? I wouldn't blame you in the slightest bit if you were." Dumbledore told them.

"That was it!?" Ron exclaimed. "What the bloody hell was that about!? It was like somebody wrote a message or something and tore the ending off!" he cried as Dumbledore nodded.

"You're absolutely right Ron. You see this particular memory has been tampered with." He explained.

"But why would Slughorn tamper with his own memory?" Hermione asked him.

"Well you see, I think it's because that he's rather ashamed of it. That's why I need you three to go and talk to him about it after your potions class with him tomorrow. You see it is very essential that you do this." He told them.

"Then why didn't you just go and talk to him yourself?" Ron asked him.

"I have already tried, and to be quite frank with you, I think that Professor Slughorn would listen to the concerns of three of his students before he listened to an old man like me. Now, off to bed with you then. It is getting late." He told them before he bid them goodnight and they left his classroom.

Once they returned to the Gryffindor common room, Ginny, Cowboy, and Princess was already there waiting for them. "Cowboy!" Harry exclaimed excitedly as the tiny dog barked happily and darted over to him wagging his tail before leaping up into his arms.

"Keep that thing away from me!" Ron cried while pointing at the cat down by Ginny's side. Ginny giggled as the cat began to purr and rub up against her before she bent down and hoisted her up inside her arms.

"Oh Ron, she's not going to hurt you, she's perfectly harmless." She told him.

"Harmless!?" he squeaked. "Have you forgotten that that animal tried to eat us!?" he hollered.

"That's when we were smaller than her. She's very friendly towards people. Besides, how's it going to look if you're afraid of a little kitty cat?" she questioned him while Harry adjusted his grip on Cowboy.

"Well, I better get to bed. Goodnight." He told her as he gave her a peck on the lips and then headed upstairs to bed.