A/N: I'd like to apologize for the delay. After reading some of the reviews I had to agree that Ginny would want to fix her relationship with Harry right away. I slightly altered Ch. 4 and rewrote what I had written for Ch. 5. The rewriting took awhile which is the reason for the delay.

I would again like to thank anyone who has reviewed/liked

In this chapter Harry and Ginny work on repairing their friendship and Harry has a run-in with a certain house elf.

Chapter 5: Repairing Friendships

Ginny sat in her favorite tree behind the Burrow. She had thought that she wouldn't be lonely anymore once Harry and Ron's first year was over, but she had been wrong. The first few weeks of summer had been ok. Harry and Ron were spending some time with her, but not nearly as much as they had the previous summer. She was also worried that once Hermione came to stay with them that they would ignore her completely.

Because she was having a lot more free time then she had planned she had recently started keeping a diary. She found that writing down her feelings helped her to not think about them too much.

Harry was also not having a great summer. He was having a good time with Ron and he was looking forward to Hermione coming over to visit, but there was one person he missed a lot: Ginny. They still talked, but nothing like they used to. It was like there was an invisible barrier between the two that he couldn't figure out how to get past. Whatever had caused her to stop replying to his letters was evidently still bugging her.

On top of his problems with Ginny, he still wasn't getting any mail. He had first noticed when Ron got letters from Hermione and he didn't. When Ron had asked her about it she had replied saying that she was sending Harry letters also and wondering why he wasn't responding. They eventually came to the conclusion that his mail was being intercepted. Hermione promised that once she got there she would help them figure out who was taking his mail.

When Mrs. Weasley had heard that Hermione would be staying the summer with them she had decided to put an extra bed in Ginny's room for her to stay in. There weren't any empty rooms for her and it wouldn't be appropriate to put her in Harry or Ron's room. Ginny was actually excited to find out about the arrangement. She hoped that she could ask her about Harry and maybe get some advice.

"Are you all packed?" Hermione's mum asked as Hermione came into the living room with her luggage.

"Yes mum, I think I've got everything. Thanks again for letting me stay the rest of the summer at Ron and Harry's!"

"Your welcome dear, I'm just glad that you were able to make some good friends at Hogwarts. I knew you were worried that you wouldn't be able to since you were new to the wizarding world. Harry and Ron sound like good kids. Your father and I really liked their parents when they came by to visit. Although Mr. Weasley seemed oddly interested in our electricity."

Hermione giggled. "Yes he did. Ron told me he's fascinated with muggles and their technology."

"Well you probably shouldn't keep your friends waiting. Be sure to write to us and have a good rest of the summer."

Hermione gave her a hug goodbye. "I'll write to you every week. I'm sure Harry will let me use his owl to send them."

Once they had broken apart Hermione collected her things and grabbed a small handful of floo powder. Mr. Weasley had been kind enough to connect their fireplace to the floo network. She threw the powder into the fire and said "The Burrow". She felt the now familiar but still odd sensation of traveling through the fireplace and then a few seconds later came out of the fireplace in the Burrow.

She looked around fascinated. She had never been inside a wizard family's house before. A broom swept the floor by itself and she could see a spoon stirring a pot of some sort of stew. She of course new a lot of household spells from a few books she had read on them and couldn't wait until she was old enough to start using them in her own house.

Mrs. Weasley walked into the kitchen and saw Hermione standing by the fireplace. "Oh hello Hermione! I didn't hear you floo in. Harry and Ron are outside tossing around a quaffle I believe if you want to go find them. You can just leave your things here and I'll bring them up to your room. You'll be staying in Ginny's room if that's fine with you."

Hermione nodded and smiled. "That sounds fine by me, it'll be nice to meet Ginny! Thanks again for letting me stay with you for the rest of the summer."

"It's quite alright dear, Ron and Harry have been excited for you to get here."

"Well if it isn't Hermione Granger, smartest witch at Hogwarts." Fred said as he and George came down the stairs.

"That she is Fred, I'm sorry to say that we don't have any library of sorts here at the Burrow." George added.

Hermione giggled. "I'm sure I'll be fine, I brought a few books of my own. I think I'll go find Harry and Ron now."

Harry and Ron were tossing an old, used quaffle back and forth when they noticed a familiar bushy haired witch come out from the Burrow.

"Hermione!" Ron said excitedly and quickly landed his broom.

Harry sighed as the quaffle he had just passed flew through the empty space that Ron had been occupying. He went and retrieved it before walking over to Ron and Hermione.

"Hey Hermione, How has your summer been?"

"It's been pretty good Harry. It's been nice seeing my parents again. How about you two?"

"It's been great! It's nice not having to worry about homework and people like Snape and Malfoy." Ron replied.

"Ya it's been ok." Harry added.

"Where's Ginny? I figured she would be with you two. Didn't you say you two were really good friends Harry?" Hermione asked looking around.

"She's probably in her room. We, er, haven't really been talking much this summer."

"Why not?"

Harry shrugged.

Hermione decided to drop it for the time being, but she planned to figure out just what was going on between Ginny and Harry.

Hermione didn't see Ginny until dinner that night. They were all sitting at the table for dinner when she came down the stairs and sat down on the opposite side of the table from Harry. Hermione thought she heard Harry sigh unhappily but when she looked at him he didn't show any sign that he had even noticed Ginny.

Wanting to break the awkward silence that had just been formed Hermione turned to Ginny. "Hi Ginny, it' s good to see you again! Mrs. Weasley told me that we're going to be roommates."

Ginny nodded and smiled. "It's good to see you again also Hermione. And ya mum brought all your stuff into my room a little bit ago. We set up another bed for you to sleep in."

"Well I can't wait to get to know you better."

"Ya me too." Ginny replied happily.

After that the meal went by normally. When they were finished Ginny went back up to her room. Ron challenged Harry to a few games of chess before they went to sleep. Hermione stayed up to watch them for a bit before deciding to go to sleep.

She headed up the stairs and opened the door to Ginny's room. She saw that Ginny was still up and decided that now was as good a time as ever to start befriending the younger redhead.

"Hey Ginny", she said as she climbed into her bed.

"Oh hey Hermione." Ginny replied as she put down the diary that she was writing in.

"So you're going to be starting school with us this year?"

Ginny nodded her head.

"I bet your excited, Hogwarts is a great place."

"That's what everyone says, I'm just worried that I won't make any friends."

"I was worried about the same thing. Both my parents are muggles so I thought that I wouldn't be able to make any friends because I didn't know hardly anything about the wizarding world."

"Ya but you're best friends with Harry and Ron now. So I guess you worried for nothing." Ginny replied somewhat dejectedly.

Hermione looked at Ginny for a few seconds thinking of what to say next. She was starting to realize what the problem was.

"You know, when I first met Harry I wasn't sure if we would ever be good friends. First off, he already had Ron as his best mate. But also he was constantly writing to and talking about a certain redheaded witch."

Ginny blushed slightly. "Ya me and Harry used to be pretty good friends."

"From the way Harry acted and from what Ron has told me, I would say that you two were more than just good friends."

Ginny looked at her. "What has Ron told you?"

Hermione smirked. "Oh not much, just that he had never seen anyone as close as you and Harry in his life. He said you've been close since the first day Harry moved into the Burrow."

"Ok ya we used to be best friends, but now we barely talk." Ginny replied looking down.

Hermione looked at her sadly. "You know he misses you as much as you miss him. At the end of our first year he was still talking about you to me. He misses how close you used to be."

Ginny's eyes brightened. "Really? He misses me?"

"A lot." Hermione replied.

"Well what should I do? I'm worried we won't ever be as close as we were."

"Start talking to him again. And hang out with us. We won't bite, I promise! I'd say by the end of the summer you two will be as close as ever."

"Alright, thanks Hermione. I needed to here that."

"No problem Ginny, it'll be nice to have another girl in our group."

A few hours later on that same night Harry woke up to the sound of rustling outside of his window. He quickly got out of bed and opened it to see Hedwig struggling with a creature that he recognized as a house elf. The elf appeared to be trying to take a letter off of Hedwig's leg, but Hedwig was putting up a fight.

Harry quickly reached forward and grabbed the housefly by the rags it was wearing and pulled it off of Hedwig. The elf stood quivering in front of Harry with large, pitiful eyes.

"Well I bet I'd be right in assuming that you're the one who's been taking my mail." Harry said.

The elf silently nodded, still quivering.

"Why did you do it? Did your masters send you to do it?"

The elf shook it's head. "No masters did not tell Dobby to do it. Dobby did it without telling masters. Dobby has been a bad elf." After saying this Dobby starting banging his head against one of the legs on Harry's bed.

Harry quickly grabbed him. "What are you doing?"

"Dobby is punishing himself. Dobby is a bad house elf."

"Don't punish yourself. Just tell me, if your masters didn't tell you to take my mail, then why did you do it?

"Harry Potter is a great wizard. You stopped the Dark Lord when you were just a baby. All house elves are grateful to Harry Potter and Dobby was just trying to protect you."

"How is stealing my mail protecting me Dobby?"

"There is a plot, a terrible plot that would put Harry Potter in great danger. Dobby was hoping that if Harry didn't receive mail from his friends, he wouldn't return." Dobby pulled out a stack of letters from his rags as he said this.

Harry grabbed for them. "Give me those, they're mine."

"Harry Potter must promise to never return to Hogwarts."

"I'm going bak to Hogwarts Dobby. Now what is this great danger you talked about."

Dobby's eyes went wide and he covered his mouth. "Dobby cannot say."

While Dobby was distracted Harry managed to grab his letters. "Listen Dobby, I'm going back to Hogwarts. Nothing will change that. Now please stop intercepting my mail."

"Harry Potter is making a grave mistake." Dobby said before snapping his fingers and disappearing.

"Harry what was all that noise? Is everything ok?" Ron asked from outside his door.

Harry put all his mail on his desk to read later and opened the door. "I'm fine. I just discovered who's been taking my mail."

That morning Harry told Mr. Weasley what had happened.

"So you're saying a house elf named Dobby is the one who's been taking all your mail?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Ya, I caught him trying to take a letter off of Hedwig's leg. I grabbed him and asked him why he was doing it. He told me that there was going to be a great danger at Hogwarts and that he was trying to keep me from going."

Mr. Weasley sat in thought for a few minutes. "This sounds just like a prank Probably just someone trying to scare you into not going to Hogwarts. Do you know anybody rich enough to own a house elf who would do this?"

"Malfoy" Harry, Ron, and Hermione all said at the same time.

"Yes that does sound like something Lucius' son would do. Now that you caught Dobby though, hopefully he'll leave you alone.

"Ya hopefully." Harry replied.

Later that day Harry and Ron came down the stairs from their rooms wearing swim trunks.

"Hey Hermione, we want to show you our pond, did you bring a swimsuit like we told you to?" Ron asked.

Hermione nodded. "I did, just give me a few minutes to change. Have you already told Ginny or should I ask her?"

"Er… No we haven't told her yet. You can I invite her I guess." Harry replied.

Hermione hurried up the stairs and opened the door to Ginny's room. Ginny was laying on her bed reading a book. She looked up when Hermione walked in. "Hi Hermione, what's up?"

"Harry, Ron, and I are going down to the pond. You should come with us." Hermione answered as she pulled out her blue one-piece swimsuit.

"Did they ask me to come along?"

"Well… I may have suggested it. But if you want to start repairing your friendship with Harry then now is as good a time as ever." Hermione replied.

"Alright I'll come along then. Give me a second."

While the girls were changing, Harry and Ron decided to play a quick game of chess in the living room.

"Why do you suppose Hermione was so eager to bring Ginny? They barely even know each other." Ron asked as his knight knocked one of Harry's pawns off the board.

"I'm not sure. It can't hurt to have her along though. We really should have thought to invite her." Harry replied.

"Ya I guess… but she's not really part of our group."

"That doesn't mean she can't join us. We haven't really spent much time with her this summer and I think we should try to change that."

"I guess you right. Checkmate."

Harry groaned as Ron's queen took his king. It had been one of his quickest games against Ron yet.

"I don't know why you even bother anymore Harry, you know he's just going to beat you." Ginny giggled as she and Hermione came down the stairs.

Harry shrugged. "I figure eventually I might get lucky."

Ron snorted. "Ya good luck with that mate. Now if you two are ready, then let's get going."

The four headed out of the house and down the path. The pond was just a little ways past their makeshift quidditch field hidden behind some trees. When the got there, Ginny and Hermione laid out their towels as Harry and Ron jumped in. They spent the rest of the day at the pond just relaxing and enjoying each other's company. Harry, Ron, and Hermione spent the majority of the time telling Ginny about all of their adventures. Harry had told her about most of them through his letters, but only the major events. She enjoyed hearing all of the minor details that Harry had left out of his letters. Most of all she just enjoyed spending time with the three. She could see why Harry and Ron liked Hermione so much. If you got past her bossy side she was fun, caring, and really funny.

That night Ginny gave Hermione a hug before they went to bed. "Thank you Hermione."

Hermione looked confused for a second. "For what?"

"I know that it was you who asked Ron and Harry if I could come along. I really enjoyed myself."

Hermione smiled. "No problem Ginny, I'll make sure that you're included for now on."

The rest of the summer went by quickly. Hermione made sure that Ginny was always with the group. She only had to remind Ron and Harry one other time. After that Harry personally went to her room and told her what they were doing. Hermione also tried to get Harry and Ron to finish their summer assignments which the refused to do. "We have all summer to do it." Ron would always say.

Finally the day came for them to go to Diagon Ally to get their school supplies. They picked a day that Mr. Weasley didn't have to go in for work and all gathered in the kitchen in the morning after breakfast.

"So are you all ready to go? You all need to get your books and Ginny needs all her first year supplies." They all nodded and one by one went through the fireplace.

"Let's get our books first and then you all can split up and get the rest of the things you'll need." Mr. Weasley said leading the way.

They all headed over to Flourish and Blotts, but when they got there they noticed a long line.

"I wonder why there's such a long line…" Suddenly Hermione squeaked. "Ohh Gilderoy Lockhart is here. Maybe I can get him to sign my books." She rushed in and everyone followed her in.

A little it later a very disgruntled Weasley left the shop led by Hagrid. Mrs. Weasley was reprimanding Mr. Weasley for fighting in front of the kids while Fred and George were giving a play-by-play recount of the fight between Mr. Weasley and Lucius Malfoy.

"I can't believe that idiot is going to be our defense professor." Ron complained.

"He's not an idiot Ron, if you read his books you'll find that he did a lot of brave things."

Ron snorted. "I think you just fancy him."

Hermione went slightly pink. "D-Don't be ridiculous Ron I don't fancy him! What do you think Harry."

Harry smirked. "I don't know Hermione I do think you kinda fancy him."

Ginny giggled and Hermione sighed. "Not about that. What do you think about him being our professor?"

Harry shrugged. "Anyone who doesn't have Voldemort on the back of their head is fine by me."

Everyone flinched when he said Voldemort, but laughed afterwards.

"Alright everyone can split up now and get the rest of your supplies. Your father and I will save everyone a table at the Leaky Cauldron for lunch. Mrs. Weasley said.

"Come on Harry, Let's go to the Quidditch Supplies Shop!" Ron said excitedly.

"You and Hermione go ahead. I'll meet you there." he replied while walking over to Ginny. "Hey Ginny, follow me. I've got a surprise for you."

"What is it Harry?" She asked eagerly as she followed him.

"You'll find out, just follow me."

Harry led Ginny through Diagon Ally and stopped in front of Ollivander's Shop.

"Harry, I don't need a wand, mum's giving me my grandma's old one."

"Professor Flitwick told us that using someone else's wand wasn't as effective as using your own. I think Ron could have done much better in class last year if he wasn't using a the used wand he has now. Consider this your birthday present from me." Harry replied.

"Oh alright." Ginny said as she followed Harry into the shop.

Mr. Ollivander looked up as they entered the shop. "Ah hello again Harry Potter, how has your wand been suiting you?"

"It's worked perfectly for me sir." Harry replied. "We're here today to get Ginny a wand."

"Of course, if you would follow me Ginny, we'll get started."

After trying out dozens of wands Ginny finally picked up one that caused a warmth to spread throughout her body.

"9 inches, maple, with a unicorn hair. A crafty wand for a crafty witch." Ollivander said as he put the wand in a box.

Harry handed him a stack of galleons.

"I have to say it again, with each year you two remind me more of your parents Harry."

Harry had a brief flashback to the older image of Ginny and him in the mirror. "Er.. Thank you sir." He replied before leaving the shop. He once again missed Ginny's blush.

As soon as they left the shop Ginny gave him a hug. "Oh thank you Harry. I can't believe I have my own wand!"

Harry laughed. "No problem Gin, I knew you would need one."

"Well I'm done with my shopping, do you want to go to the leaky cauldron with me?"

"I told Ron that I would meet him at the Quidditch Shop."

"Oh, alright then." Ginny said slightly dejectedly.

"You're coming with me right? I'm sure Hermione will want to see your new wand."

Ginny perked up immediately. "Alright!" She said.

Late that night when everyone was asleep Harry woke up suddenly. He had just had another nightmare. He had been having them off and on ever since he had faced Voldemort. In this one he had woken up in the hospital wing, but instead of seeing Ginny, Professor Quirrell was standing over him holding the sorcerers stone. Harry had woken up as soon as Quirrell had started laughing maniacally. He knew from experience that he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep so he headed downstairs.

The Weasleys were getting used to Harry getting up in the early hours of the morning every once and awhile. They knew to just ignore it if they heard the stairs creaking. That night however, Ginny was waiting.

When she heard the stairs creak she got out of bed, put on her robe, crept past Hermione, and silently stepped out of her room. When she got to the bottom of the stairs she saw Harry curled up on the couch with a mug of hot chocolate. He didn't notice her until she had sat down next to him. He jumped slightly but relaxed when he saw who it was.

"Oh hey Ginny. Sorry I didn't notice you."

Ginny giggled. "Sorry for startling you. Who did you think I was?"

"I was worried you were mum, I know she's been wanting to talk to me about what happened ever since I got back this summer."

"She's just worried about you Harry, we all are. I nearly had a heart attack when Hedwig gave me your message that night."

"Sorry about that, I just wanted to make sure someone knew where we were just in case things went poorly. I nearly didn't send it since you didn't respond to my previous letter."

Ginny looked at him. "You do know why I didn't respond, right?"

Harry shook his head causing Ginny to sigh. "I didn't think it mattered. You had already stopped sending me letters, except to tell me about you, Ron, and Hermione's great adventures. I figured you didn't need me anymore."

"Ginny I'll always need you. Ron and Hermione are great, but they don't understand me like you do. I'm sorry that I stopped writing to you. I guess I just got distracted with the whole Sorcerers Stone thing. I won't ever let you feel like you've been replaced again. I promise."

Ginny smiled and gave him a hug. "Thank-you Harry. I'm glad that we can let things go back to the way they used to be between us. I've missed my best friend."

Harry hugged her back. "Me too."

Hermione smiled from the staircase. She was glad that she had been able to help the two make-up. They were obviously extremely close. After all, she had never seen Harry hug anyone else besides Mrs. Weasley.

On the last night of the summer Ginny was in her tree again writing in her diary. Now that she was spending most of her time with Harry, Ron, and Hermione she didn't write in it very often, but she still tried to find the time to do it every once and awhile. That night she realized that she had used the last page in the book. She sighed in frustration. It was just her luck that she would run out of room in her diary the night before school started. She wouldn't have time to get a new one before she left for Hogwarts.

Suddenly she remembered something. The book from Diagon Ally! She quickly climbed from the tree to her window and went to her trunk. She pulled out the book. It was completely blank and had the initials T.M.R on figured her dad must have known that she was keeping a diary and decided to get her a new one.

After grabbing some more inks climbed out of her window and back onto her favorite tree. She opened the book and wrote on the top. "My name is Ginny Weasley."

She gasped as it disappeared and nearly out of the tree when it replied. "Hell Ginny, my name is Tom Riddle, how did you come across my Diary?"

Ginny gasped. "A diary that can talk back? Interesting…"