"Is he coming today Mum?" an excited Ginny Weasley asked her mother Molly Weasley, who was trying to make breakfast. "For the last time Ginny, yes he is coming today and I hope that I don't need to remind you that you are not to bombard him as soon as he gets here. He is coming from a very abusive family and we do not want to frighten him as soon as he gets here." "Yes I know mum, I just can't wait for him to get here." Ginny happily replied.
"Aw is ickle Ginny still talking about Harry Potter?" Fred asked as he and George walked into the kitchen. "You know Fred, if I didn't know better, I would think that Ginny might be getting a crush on the poor boy." "You are right of course, my dear brother, she has been talking about him quite a bit, and she hasn't even met him!"
"That's enough from you two, now would you help me set the table?"
"Yes Mum." The twins responded.
Once the table had been set Mrs. Weasley called the rest of the family down for breakfast. Ron was the first one to sit down, much to Bill's amusement. "I swear Ron, nothing gets you moving faster than food." "What? I'm a growing boy." Ron replied indignantly as he shoveled eggs onto his plate.
Charlie walked in and sat down without saying a word, avoiding his mother's eyes. "Ah there you are Charlie, are you sure you don't want to go to the ministry today with your dad to see if you can apply for a job?" Molly asked hopefully. Charlie sighed with exasperation. "No mum, I already told you that I don't want to get a job with the ministry. I heard that they were looking for dragon caretakers in Romania and I was hoping to get a job there." "Don't be ridiculous, you can't go all the way to Romania, especially not to work with dragons, it's too dangerous." Charlie's face started turning red. "But Bill's working in Egypt for Gringotts. Why can't I leave also?" "Because your only 17!" Molly said outraged.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door, which caused Ginny to squeak, "He's here." Charlie continued to glare at his mother. "We'll continue this later Charlie, now let's give Harry a warm welcome" Arthur said walking towards the door.
"Alright Harry, if you would please grab my arm." Dumbledore said to an excited Harry. After a week of staying at Hogwarts, Harry was looking much better. All of the bruises were gone and there were only a few faint scars on his back and arms. Having three huge meals a day had also made him look quite a bit healthier.
Harry had been ecstatic when Dumbledore had told him that he would be living with a wizard family. Now that the day had finally come to go to the Burrow, Harry was a bit nervous. "What if they don't like me professor?" he asked. Dumbledore smiled at Harry seeing the nervousness in his eyes. "Don't worry Harry, they will love you like their own son." This seemed to reassure Harry who grabbed the headmaster's arm. Dumbledore chuckled at his eagerness and apparated to the Burrow.
They appeared in the front lawn and Harry stared around in amazement. It looked like a farm that he had seen on TV except nothing was organized. Chickens wandered around aimlessly and the garden was in disarray, covered in weeds as well as what looked like walking potatoes."
"Professor Dumbledore, what are those things?" Harry asked pointing at the "potatoes". "Those are garden gnomes, they are a magical creature that infests gardens." Dumbledore replied leading him towards the house. Harry took a close look at the house. It appeared to have originally been a single story house, with several stories added on haphazardly. The whole structure seemed to be held up by magic, which Harry assumed was the case.
They reached the door and Dumbledore turned to Harry. "Ready to meet your new family Harry?" He nodded and Dumbledore knocked on the door. It was opened shortly by a man with thinning red hair who appeared to be in his mid-thirties. "Ah hello Dumbledore, and you must be Harry Potter." Harry nodded his head shyly. "Well come on in, everyone is excited to meet you." Arthur said holding the door open for them. Harry nervously walked in, staying very close to Dumbledore.
As soon as he stepped into a house he was hit by a small red blur. He looked down to see a small redhead girl hugging him. "Ginny! I told you not to rush the poor dear as soon as he arrived." Molly scolded. Ginny let go of Harry and smiled at him. "Sorry mum, I just wanted to give him a warm welcome." She said still smiling at Harry. Harry smiled back. "Thanks err…" "My name's Ginny." Ginny told him. "Well thanks Ginny." Harry said smiling.
During their exchange Dumbledore noticed an extremely faint pink glow envelope the two, although no one else seemed to notice. "Interesting…" He thought.
Ginny grabbed Harry's hand and introduced Harry to the rest of the Weasley family, pulling him from Weasley to Weasley, much to everyone's amusement. "Well it would appear that Harry is in good hands, so I will be off." Dumbledore stated. "Are you sure you don't want to stay for breakfast professor, there's plenty." Molly said indicating the table heaping with food. "As much as I hate to turn down one of your meals Molly, I unfortunately have to decline. I'm meeting with the minister today and I'm already five minutes late." Dumbledore replied as he waved good-bye to Harry and the Weasley's and stepped out of the door.
As Dumbledore left the Burrow, Mrs. Weasley turned to Harry. "Harry dear, why don't you sit down with the rest of us and eat. You're much too thin, but don't worry, I'll have you looking nice and healthy in a few weeks." Harry sat down and smiled shyly at the rest of the Weasley family as Mrs. Weasley began shoveling food onto his plate. Harry was extremely hungry so he began eating ravenously, but by the time that Mrs. Weasley was putting thirds on his plate his stomach was becoming painfully full. Ginny noticed his uncomfortable look as he stared at the huge pile of food still left on his plate. "Mum, Harry can't eat all that, I'm sure he's full after all the food you've given him." Harry flashed her a grateful look and nodded his head. "Oh, I'm sorry Harry, I just want to make sure you have enough to eat. Ginny why don't you show Harry around the Burrow." "Ok mum!" She replied, eagerly grabbing Harry's hand.
She ran outside the front door, dragging Harry's hand behind her, and started pointing out various things. "Those are our chickens, and that's our garden. Ugh, looks like the garden gnomes came back, hopefully mum won't make us get rid of them today. Oh! I've got to show you my favorite swing!" Harry happily followed Ginny around the yard, feeling a warm glow inside of him. He had never had someone his age to talk to and be friends with. Dudley had made sure of that. Ginny seemed genuinely interested in spending time with him, and he could already feel a special bond forming between them as she happily answered his questions about garden gnomes.
"And this is my favorite swing! Bill made it for me when I turned four, wanna ride on it?" "Sure!" Harry laughed as he got on. "Could you give me a push?" He asked once he was seated. Ginny started pushing him and he laughed as he went up and down, higher and higher. After a few minutes Ginny yelled, "Alright Harry, can I have a turn?" "Ok!" Harry said jumping off. Once Ginny had gotten on Harry started pushing her. They took turns on the swing for the next hour and didn't notice Mr. and Mrs. Weasley standing a few yards away watching them with smiles on their face. "I'm so glad we were able to do this for him Arthur." Molly said with a happy tear in her eye. "Yes, I think he'll fit in the family perfectly." Arthur said raising the camera he had brought to his face and taking a picture of the two.
Finally Harry and Ginny got tired of swinging and sat underneath the tree. "Thanks Ginny, this has been the most fun I've ever had." Harry said truthfully. Ginny smiled warmly at him and gave him a hug. Harry hugged her back happily, marveling at having someone actually care about him for once. Once they broke the hug Harry nervously looked at Ginny. "So Ginny, a-are we friends now?" She laughed happily before replying, "The best."
A/N: Sorry for the short chapters, after this one they should start getting longer.