Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me.
Harry Apparated to the Burrow at eleven a.m. sharp, lemonade in one hand, and wand in the other. He had not wanted to turn up empty handed, and had settled for bringing the sour drink. He was wearing swimming trunks instead of shorts, and had Imperviused his glasses. He walked up the path to the Burrow, enjoying the last day of sun already.
"Hello, Harry!" The door flew open before Harry had even lifted his hand to knock; Mrs. Weasley was clearly glad to see him.
"Er- hi," he said, as she hugged him for three seconds too long.
"Come on in, dear, come on in." She ushered him inside, and he set the lemonade down on the table next to a large picnic basket. "How have you been? I've hardly seen you for the past month!"
"Mum, he came for my birthday last week!" said Ginny, looking extremely mortified. She was wearing a yellow summery dress, under which was presumably a swimsuit, and standing on the bottom-most stair.
"Yes, but that wasn't nearly long enough! Ron says you've just wrapped up the D.A!"
"Yeah, we have. Ron, Hermione, and I just have one more thing to do this afternoon."
"How lovely!" At this point, Harry had managed to get past Mrs. Weasley, and was heading for Ginny.
"Where are Hermione and Ron?" he asked.
"Hermione's not here yet, and Ron's still upstairs." Ginny glanced toward her mother, as though trying to determine if she was in earshot. But Mrs. Weasley had bustled off to the kitchen, so she began talking straightaway.
"Ron said Hermione made new D.A. coins."
"She did. They're pretty cool, actually. I think I have it in my pocket-"
"I don't care how 'cool' they are." Her tight voice, which had been sweet just seconds before, took Harry by surprise. "Sorry," she said. "I was just… wondering if I could have one, I mean, I'm of age and everything, so…"
"Hermione probably made extras, so you could ask her. I don't have anymore than mine, though."
"Oh." Ginny sounded somewhat disappointed, and it seemed to Harry that this was the only idea for a conversation she had.
"So… we're back together, then?" he asked, regretting the words as they left his mouth.
"Well, yes," said Ginny. "At least, that's what I thought. If you didn't mean - if you don't want to - then, uh…"
"It's fine," said Harry. "I meant it, it's just…"
"Awkward? Yes, very much so. Let's just get that part over with now, and enjoy the rest of the day."
"Fair enough. Did you hear Hermione was trying to set us up?"
"That's what she was up to!"
The pair stood there, at the bottom of the stairs for a moment, laughing. Ron swore loudly from upstairs just then, and both stopped laughing.
"Are you okay?" Ginny called.
"What the ruddy- He's put - what is that?" Ginny and Harry exchanged a look, then dashed off to find Ron.
He was in the middle of his room, wearing just his swim trunks, and holding up a shirt covered in odd white powder. Ginny reached forward and swiped at the powder with her finger, and sniffed the residue.
"It doesn't smell like anything."
"I've never seen that before," said Harry.
"Well, neither have I," said Ron. "And I'm not too keen on wearing it."
Voices floated up from the sitting room, but Hermione's wasn't one of them.
"Where's Harry?" one voice asked.
"He's just gone upstairs," said Mrs. Weasley. "Ron seemed quite upset."
"They'll just have found it, then."
Footsteps pounded up the stairs, and George soon appeared in the doorway.
"Is it working?" he asked, eager anticipation all over his face.
"What in the name of Merlin is this stuff?" Ron demanded.
"Color-changing powder. It's working, is it? I've just got back from the shop, first time I've been able to take a break. Already hired a few D.A. members."
"Why is this on my shirt?"
"Well, I had to test it out on something, didn't I? Would you rather it be your hair?" Ron made an indistinct noise and pulled a Chudley Cannons shirt out of his dresser. He slipped the shirt over his head as Ginny stared at George in disbelief.
"Test it out?" Ginny repeated. "You've just made it? You're inventing?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" George asked, ruffling Ginny's hair. "I opened the shop."
"Hermione's here!" called Mrs. Weasley, and Ron, Ginny, and Harry rushed down to greet her, George entering his bedroom to change out of his WWW outfit.
Ginny and Harry both greeted Hermione with a hug, and Ron gave her a peck on the cheek. Hermione seemed to be taking advantage of the warm weather as well; she had worn white shorts and a red top that left her arms bare. She'd tied back her hair with a scarlet and gold bow, which she motioned at with her hand.
"Couldn't find this thing for a while. It was at the bottom of my trunk."
"It looks nice," Ginny said. "Hey, where'd you get that purse?" She pointed to the small brown bag hanging from Hermione's shoulder.
"Oh, it's from a Muggle place, a really good, too…"
Harry and Ron tuned out, and walked over to the couch.
"Chess?" Ron suggested, gesturing at the board.
"I think we're leaving soon." They fell silent, each staring off into space.
George appeared next to them with a crack, and sat down.
"Alright, let's go," said Mrs. Weasley. "Hermione and Harry, you two should side Apparate. The rest of us have been to the place before."
Ginny grabbed hold of Harry (once again with a tight grip), and Hermione took Ron's hand. A second later, they had all Apparated to a sunny patch of beach on a lake. The beach itself didn't go far up the land, and quickly turned to grass. The sand was shielded from outside view by bushes that grew on either side. Mrs. Weasley sat down on a log, and Hermione sat down in a chair, which she produced from her bag, and took out a book.
"Aren't you coming in?" Ron asked.
"I'm almost to the climax in my book," Hermione said, as the book sprang open in her hands.
"Just come in for a little bit?" Ginny asked.
"Maybe."
Harry, Ron, and George took off their shirts, and Ginny, to Harry's amazement, Transfigured her dress into a one-piece bathing suit. The others rushed in, splashing and laughing in the water, but Harry stayed behind. The water looked so dark and cold… who knew how deep it was. Harry certainly didn't want to find out.
"Come on!" Ron called, and Harry had no choice but to wade in.
Harry realized that his heart was hammering as he stepped in, but there was no need for that. He could touch the bottom, after all, and wouldn't go any deeper than he could. But there can be drop-offs, whispered a voice in the back of his head. Or worse, Infe- Harry screamed. There was something slimy and wet wrapped around his ankle, and it felt all too similar to a hand, trying to drag him down.
And then he was back in that moment, Dumbledore was on a tiny island, sure to die of poisoning, the locket would be lost forever, and he would drown. He couldn't do anything to fight them off, and the utter fear that encased him only grew. He was going down, down, down, under the water, a lake so deep there was no end. He would never get to the surface again, never see Ron, Hermione, or Ginny ever again…
"Harry? Are you okay?" Ginny stood a little ways off, looking mildly concerned.
"I'm fine," he said, pulling himself back to reality. There was no island, no poison, no locket, and no Inferi. "I got stuck on a water plant, and it surprised me. That's all."
He waded in the rest of the way, and while Ron and George accepted his excuse immediately, he could tell that Ginny hadn't. But she didn't say anything about it, and soon they were splashing each other happily.
"I think I'm gonna go talk to Hermione," Ginny said, when she had called a break. She walked back onto the land, dried herself, and turned her bathing suit back into a dress.
Within minutes the two were talking and laughing, and Mrs. Weasley even joined in for a while. Harry watched Ginny as she giggled over something Hermione had said, and though he couldn't quite see it from this distance, he knew her deep brown eyes would be lit up and sparkling with joy.
"Oi! Harry!" Ron splashed him heartily. "What are you- Are you staring at my sister?"
"We should probably eat lunch now," he said in response.
"Nice try. I expect an answer sooner or later."
"Let's go eat. C'mon, George!" The three made their way to the shore, dried themselves off, and had the picnic set up quickly.
As they all sat around the blanket, Harry noticed that Ginny had sat down closer to him than she would have last week. The lemonade he had brought was greatly enjoyed, in addition to butterbeer that Hermione had brought. Mrs. Weasley had packed an abundance of sandwiches, fruit, and cookies, so that by the time they were done eating, everyone was stuffed.
"We should probably leave now," Hermione said, glancing at her watch.
"Let's stay just a while longer," suggested Ron. "It won't take us long to do, anyways."
Hermione sighed as a way of giving in, and picked up her book.
"Where's your bookmark?" Ron asked her, pointing to where it should have been.
"I don't need one. See?" Hermione tapped the cover with her fingers, and the book sprang open to the page she was last on.
"Brilliant!" said Ron. "How do you do that?"
"I don't really know, I've been doing that since I was six."
"Since you were six? That's a crazy amount of control for a six-year-old."
"Not the first time I did it."
Hermione and Ron continued with their conversation, which gave Harry plenty of time to talk to Ginny.
"What was your fight with Ron about?" he asked her.
"I'd had a nightmare, and he was being insensitive," she said simply, not quite meeting his eye. "I haven't had that nightmare since second year," she added quietly. "But now it keeps coming back. At least now I don't have any flashbacks." She smiled at Harry. "You probably have no idea what I'm talking about."
"Try lucid dreaming," he said. "For the nightmares. It helps."
"You've had nightmares too?"
"Just a few."
"And when you were caught on the water plant?"
"I had a flashback. Stupid Inferi."
"Harry, we really need to leave now!"
He turned to Ginny. "Well, bye, I'll see you on Friday."
"Good-bye," she said, and gave him a kiss on the cheek before he turned away.
Thank you for reading! This chapter has now taken the place as longest chapter, with a word count 1831. ragsweas, house-elves next chapter, and Teddy's visiting on Friday. Cassandra30, thank you for reviewing. I hope this chapter wasn't too quickly paced, but I had a lot of ideas. I'm looking to the books as a judge of how much romance to include in this story, please let me know if you think it gets to too much. Please review, as always.