When Harry arrived back at the Burrow both the living room and kitchen were deserted. He went up the stairs to Ron's room and found him packing.

"Dad wants us to move into Grimmauld Place for a while," Ron said. "After what happened at Bill's he's afraid they may try to attack here."

Harry said, "I know. He told me when we went to get the snacks at the hospital. He wanted to convince me to come along, too, instead of going back to my place."

From the doorway, he heard Ginny ask, "What did you decide?"

He turned to see both Hermione and Ginny watching him. "I'm going to Grimmauld Place with all of you."

They could tell by the tone in his voice that he was not happy with the idea.

"Good," Hermione said with relief. "You will be much safer there. Even Fred and George have agreed to go. But you'd better hurry up and pack because Mrs. Weasley said she wants us ready to leave within the hour."

Harry walked over to his bed and pulled out a duffle bag from underneath and starting stuffing his clothes into it.

Harry asked, "Did your father give you any idea as to why he thinks they may attack here?" He wanted to know how much Mr. Weasley had told everyone.

Ron replied, "He said it has to do with his work at the ministry and that he would explain more later because Mum didn't want him to take the time to tell us now. She wants us out of here as soon as possible. Did he say anything more to you?"

"He told me about the same thing," Harry said vaguely. "Since they seem to be getting through security wards and I'm in no condition to defend myself, he made a good case for me to come with you, too."

Ginny said to him, "Well, I'm glad you have decided to go. I know you don't really like Grimmauld Place, Harry, but you'll be surprised at the progress Tonks has made with it. It's not quite as gloomy as it used to be."

Harry refrained from commenting. His main objection to the house he had inherited from his godfather was the memory of the depressing and oppressive prison it had become for Sirius in the end.

He continued packing in silence; his mind was on the task ahead of him to convince both Ginny and Ron to go to Romania once they had learned all of what Mr. Weasley had told him. He thought about discussing it now since they were all there but then reconsidered. His chances of convincing them both to go might be better if he was able to speak to them one on one.

Sensing that he was not in the mood to talk further, Hermione and Ginny left to continue packing.

Ron placed the last bit of clothing he wanted to take into his bag and said, "I was thinking that maybe we shouldn't be heading off to Romania. Especially if Mum and Ginny are in danger here and they will have to stay at headquarters most of the time. I said as much to Dad, but he insisted that we keep to our plans."

"I agree with him," Harry said abruptly. "We should still go."

Ron looked at Harry in surprise. "You think I should just go off and leave when Dad is obviously afraid they are going to attack someone else in the family. Dad has even asked Moody to arrange for least one Order member who is an Auror to stay at Grimmauld Place most of the time." Ron paused for a moment then asked, "Is there something more to it?"

Harry gave Ron a brief rundown of what Mr. Weasley had told him.

When he had finished, Ron said, "It's weird, You-Know-Who going after Muggle stuff, isn't it? I thought he hated anything that had to do with Muggles. And I wonder who could have taken the rest of it from the Ministry. Still, I don't like the idea of going away when Death Eaters are threatening Dad. It's not right. Maybe it would be better if I stay here and you go on with Ginny and Hermione."

Harry said, "Ron, it's only for a few weeks and it will give your Dad some time to get to the bottom of all this. After what he told me, I really want Ginny away from here now, too. I think if you agree to go, I'll stand a better chance of getting her to agree as well."

Seeing that Ron remained unconvinced, Harry tried another tactic. "Suppose I do get Ginny to agree to go, do you think Hermione will come with us if you stayed here? I doubt it. Don't forget, some of them know she is Muggle-born and you know what she'd be up against if they did got hold of her some way."

Harry had been disgusted by the stories they had recently heard of what Death Eaters were doing to Muggle-born witches and wizards before they killed them. It almost made his last torturous experience at the hands Voldemort and Snape seem like an enjoyable time.

Fortunately, this argument seemed to persuade Ron and he slowly nodded his agreement. "I never thought about it like that. I don't know what I would do if they ever hurt Hermione. Do you think it would help if I talked to Ginny for you?"

"No," Harry replied. "I think it will be best if I do it. But not until after we get to Grimmauld Place."

Mr. Weasley had arranged for a portkey to transport them all to Grimmauld Place and much too soon, Harry found himself in the middle of the house's living room. When he took in his surroundings, his first thought was that the portkey had malfunctioned because he did not recognize where he was. Gone was the damp, dank odor that had always permeated the place as well as the dark, depressing walls and old curtains and furniture. The walls now had a fresh coat of bright paint and new, fashionable furniture was arranged to make the almost-cheery looking fireplace the focal point of the room.

Ginny noted Harry's surprise and asked, "Hasn't Tonks done a wonderful job?"

Before he could reply, Tonks and Remus entered the room hand in hand.

Remus said smiling at them, "We thought we heard your voices in here. Harry, how are you? I heard you had another visit to St. Mungo's. I'd have stopped by but I only just returned from a mission for the Order today."

"I'm feeling better now, sir, thanks," Harry replied.

"Good, good," Remus said and clapped him on the back. Harry was grateful Remus did not decide to give him a lecture about his too early use of magic.

Tonks saw Harry looking around the much-changed room and said hesitantly, "I hope you don't mind that I took the liberty to redecorate. This place was so gloomy before. I wanted to cheer it up a bit for Remus."

"Are you kidding?" Harry said. "It looks great! I told you all when I asked Remus to move in that you can do whatever you want with it."

Tonks smiled her relief and Remus said, "We were even able to remove Mrs. Black's portrait and the Black family tapestry. Hermione gave us an old Anti-Permanent Sticking charm she found somewhere during your travels and that did the trick. We removed all of the other portraits as well. Since everything in the house belongs to you, we stored it all up in the attic. We were not sure what you might want to keep."

Harry could not think of anything that he would possibly want to hang on to, especially since Sirius had hated pretty much anything that had reminded him of is family. Harry thanked them anyway.

"So far I have only gotten to the living room and hallway but I think it is coming along nicely," Tonks said, much encouraged by Harry's positive reaction.

Mrs. Weasley said, "Why don't you all go up and unpack while I set about seeing what there is to eat."

"I'll help!" Tonks said eagerly and turned to follow her toward the kitchen. Harry thought he saw a grimace appear briefly on Mrs. Weasley's face; Tonks was notoriously clumsy and her 'help' often required that Mrs. Weasley exercise a vast amount of patience.

They trudged up the stairs and Harry walked into the room he shared with Ron while they stayed in the house. While the décor of the room had remained untouched, Tonks had somehow been successful at removing the dank smell from all of the rooms upstairs as well.

They had been in the house for several days and Harry had not gotten the opportunity nor built up the courage to approach Ginny privately about going to Romania with them. The girls and Mrs. Weasley had spent much of their time during the day visiting Fleur and Faith in the hospital and too many people were always around in the evenings. Harry knew Ron had spoken to Hermione about what he planned to do because she had offered to talk to Ginny for him, too; but Harry still thought since he had been the one to convince her not to go in the first place, he should be the one to try to talk her into it now.

The opportunity finally arrived the following morning when he passed by the bedroom Ginny shared with Hermione on his way downstairs for breakfast.

Hermione had just shut the bedroom door behind her when she saw Harry and whispered to him, "Ginny is already dressed. Now is as good a time as any to talk to her."

After Hermione continued down the hall, Harry stood in front of the door for a few moments; finally, he took a deep breath and knocked softly.

He heard Ginny say, "Come in."

Harry opened the door, stepped in and saw she was brushing her hair in front of the mirror of the room's lone dresser.

"Hey, Gin."

"Good morning," Ginny replied and smiled at him.

She continued to brush her hair while she watched his reflection. Her curiosity was piqued when he closed the door behind him and halted in the center of the room. He watched the motion of the brush glide through her long hair for a few moments until their eyes met in the mirror and he looked down at the floor.

Ginny turned to face him and said, "Is something wrong?"

He replied, "No… I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute."

"Sure. What about?"

Harry continued to gaze at the floor, searching for the best way to begin. Finally looking back at her he said haltingly, "You know Hermione, Ron and I are going to be leaving for Nadia and Ivan's in a few days, so I was, er, thinking that maybe it actually might be a good idea for you to come with us after all…"

"Oh?" was all she said.

"Um, yeah. How about it?" he asked and inwardly cringed. So much for the eloquent appeal he had hoped he would come up with.

Ginny narrowed her eyes at him and asked, "Why? You were against it last week. What made you change your mind?"

"Well, for one thing, the attacks on Diagon Alley and at Bill and Fleur's. You were right when you said that no one is really safe anywhere anymore, so you probably won't be in that much more danger if you do come with us."

Ginny persisted "And…? You said the attacks were one thing."

"Your father," Harry answered. He proceeded to give her a brief account of what her father had discovered about the Muggle artifacts, and about the threats he had received.

Ginny listened to his explanation and when he was done she said, "So they are threatening Dad, they nearly killed two of my brothers, he thinks they will definitely try to attack one of us again and you all believe that I will be safer in Romania? It's so nice to hear everyone is still trying to run my life and see to it I'm tucked safely away somewhere."

Harry did not miss the sarcasm in her voice.

Harry said, "At first, Ron gave me a hard time when he found out about the threats to your family but he has agreed to go. Once you think about it, it does seem like the best thing for all of us to do. It will give your father and the Order some time to try to figure out what the Death Eaters are up to without having to worry about something possibly happening to you or Ron."

Ginny was quiet for a moment then asked, "Harry, if you weren't under Healers' orders to refrain from using magic would you still be going to Romania?"

Harry looked her in the eyes and said, "If you agreed to go and it meant ensuring your safety, then yes."

Ginny said, "Oh, right. How could I forget— you always need to know that I'm safe."

Harry looked away from her; he was unsure of how much he should reveal in his effort to convince her to go with them.

Ginny went to sit down on the edge of her bed and asked, "Is my safety the only reason you are asking me to go? Because to be honest, I'm not sure how much more of this I can handle."

Frowning, Harry looked down at her and asked, "How much more of what?"

"Seeing so much of you for a few days and knowing that you are ultimately going to leave again. I was just getting used to the idea of you leaving and I accepted it. Now you tell me you changed your mind and I have the chance to be with you for a while longer; but how soon will you be off with Ron and Hermione and insist that you stay away from me again because you need to know that I'm safe?"

She paused and looked up at him sadly. "I wish I knew how you so easily turn your feelings on and off because I'm finding when it comes to you, I sure can't seem to do it."

Harry sat down next to her and asked, "Is that what you think? That I just forget about you when I leave? Before your father spoke to me I was already regretting that I had asked you not to come with us."

Harry took her hand into his and continued, "Your safety is not the only reason I want you to go. I also want you to go because I realized I want the chance to be around you as much as I can; because…"

Ginny waited for Harry to finish his thoughts and when it seemed like he was not going to she pressed, "Because why?"

She was looking at him intently and he could see the care she felt for him reflecting in her eyes.

He said quietly, "Because I'm not sure that I'm the one who is going to win in the end."

Harry could tell by the look on her face this was not what she had expected him to say. He had been able to push his doubts to the back of his mind since he had awakened in St. Mungo's the first time but they had come back to the surface as he spoke to her.

Harry continued, "Even if we destroy the last Horcrux it will all have to come down to some sort of face-off between Voldemort and me. After what happened when he held me captive, I have a hard time seeing me being the one who will walk away from that. Don't get me wrong, Gin; I plan to do everything I can to take him with me. I'm honestly not afraid to die. I would prefer death to be a long time off, but I am not afraid of it. Dumbledore once said that death is just the next great adventure ..."

A hint of a sad smile played on his face at the memory before he continued, "So I suppose the other reason I want you to come to Romania with us is because I'm being selfish."

He looked away from her gaze and down to their clasped hands.

Ginny asked, "You're being selfish? I don't understand."

"Never mind, I shouldn't have said that—"

"No, Harry. What did you mean? Why do you think it's selfish to want me to come with you?"

Harry sighed heavily and said, "It's just that… well, if I don't have much time, I at least wanted to be able to spend some of it with you. But that's not very fair to you, is it?"

They were silent for a moment while Ginny thought about what he had just said.

Finally, she answered, "Harry, none of us knows how long we have and I have already told you what I think will help you to defeat him. What's not fair is telling me these things now just as a way to get me to go to Romania with you."

Harry felt the disappointment wash over him as he realized she was going to refuse to go.

He replied, "It wasn't my intent to guilt you into going and it was wrong of me to have said all that to you right now. I'm sorry."

He released her hand and started to stand up to leave but Ginny grabbed his arm and pulled him back down.

"No, wait. I'm glad you told me." She paused, looking intently at him before she continued, "I will go to Romania with you."

He looked at her in surprise and said, "You mean it? You'll come with us?"

"Yes. I know it's going to make it harder when you leave again, but I do want to go," she said and grinned slightly at him. "Actually, I had been hoping you would change your mind."

"You were?"

"Yes I was," Ginny replied. "I had been trying to figure out how mad you would get and what you would do if I decided to go with you anyway."

"You were, huh?" Harry asked looking into her eyes that were sparkling impishly.

"Yup."

Ginny continued to hold his gaze and all thoughts of continuing to force himself to deny how he felt about her fled his mind. Harry slowly moved toward her and his lips caressed hers, softly at first. Gradually he deepened the kiss to allow her tongue access to play with his. Ginny's arms came around him, she pulled him closer to her, and their kiss became more urgent and intense. Harry eased her backward until she was lying under him on the bed and they became so lost in the kiss that they did not hear the knock on her door.

Harry heard Ron's angry voice, "What do you two think you are doing? Mum sent me up to get you for breakfast and it looks like it's a good thing she did!"

Self-consciously Harry tried to move away from Ginny but she refused to let him go.

She smiled sweetly up at her brother and said, "Harry is trying to convince me to go to Romania with you. Would you please get out and shut the door so he can finish his rather persuasive argument? Tell everyone we will be down to breakfast in a few minutes. Oh, and I would be careful what you let slip to Mum or I may have to let her in on that little broom shed incident between you and Hermione."

Ron went several shades of red and looked like he wanted to yell something back at her. Instead, he turned and stalked out of the room, shutting the door loudly behind him.

Harry was surprised that Ron had reacted so strongly to finding them locked in a kiss considering he had grudgingly gotten used to it during the time he and Ginny went out at Hogwarts. However, it obviously seemed to bother him now.

Harry said, "You do realize that I still can't use magic so I won't be able to defend myself if Ron tries to kill me in my sleep tonight, right?"

Ginny huffed, "He's a hypocritical git that I have caught in much more compromising positions with Hermione."

Harry laughed and asked, "The broom shed incident?"

Ginny replied, "To name just one, yes."