Chapter 3
Back To The Burrow

"How'd it go Harry?" Ginny asked as Harry entered the room.

"Pretty good, they went out to buy food, saying that unlike us, they can't magic food out of thin air, except they couldn't say the word 'magic,'" Harry replied.

"Are you sure all of them said that?" asked Ginny.

"Well, it's really just Uncle Vernon really, Aunt Petunia didn't really say anything, and all Dudley talked about was how I was allowed to stay," admitted Harry.

"I thought as much, and besides, Dudley should stick up for you. I mean, you risked getting your wand snapped and almost got expelled just for saving him. And haven't you ever told them that food summoning and transfiguration isn't possible? Food can only be summoned away from something, you can't just make it appear out of thin air," said Ginny.

"Well, at any rate, you're supposed to stay in my bedroom. And guess what, Ginny?" asked Harry excitedly.

"What?"

"Your status got upgraded from 'nonexistent' to my 'girlfriend,' or at least that's what Uncle Vernon called you, unless he's talking about some other 'girlfriend,' which I'm pretty sure I don't have," said Harry with a smirk.

The two of them burst out laughing.

"Tomorrow is time for me to go off on the Hogwarts Express," said Ginny lazily a while later as the pair flipped through one of her new books.

"Yep, I know. We still have to go to the burrow after this, Mrs. Weasley wants us there, remember? Then we can pack up and everything together and by tomorrow, you can go, I'll come too, if you want," offered Harry.

"Yeah, mum does want us to go the the burrow after this, that's right, I almost forget. And yes, I want you to come, of course I do, why wouldn't I? I just can't believe how stupid I am, I completely forgot that I still have to finish my seventh year and you're already moving on to the specialized Auror school! Which one accepted you, when do you leave?" asked Ginny.

"I'll come. And yeah, but at least you don't have Professor Snape as headmaster. And I know, I know, I told you he was innocent, but imagine trying to win the house cup with him deducting so many points from Gryffindor," Harry added as he saw Ginny open her mouth to say that Snape hadn't turned out to be that bad after all. "I got accepted into 'N.E.X.T. School,' can't remember what it stands for though... I leave on the third now, so I'll have to wait to extra two days before leaving for school."

Just then, a small owl the size of a tennis ball flew right in through the open window (Harry had opened it a few minutes earlier to let in the cool air) and hit Ginny on the head. After a few moments, it picked itself up from the floor and began to circle the room in a frenzy, hooting wildly. With a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, Harry was suddenly reminded of his old snowy white owl Hedwig who had died the year before.

Ginny noticed the sadness in his eyes but remained quiet and snatched Pigwidgeon out of the air. She untied the letter and small box from his leg before handing the two to Harry. With haste, Harry opened the letter first.

Hey Harry,

How are you doing? Ron has been sulking all day now since I haven't let him write the letter, but I felt it'd be better if I wrote it.

Well, us two have been doing fine over here, won't tell you exactly what we've been doing though, Ron made me say I wouldn't, so I'm not. We've finally decided our career choices, Ron's decided he wants to do something neither of his brothers are doing (that rules out the Ministry, dragons, Gringotts, and who knows what else, he won't tell me) so I was trying to help him along to whatever he secretly wanted to do. He's decided he doesn't want to go teach either, because that'd be embarrassing having to teach his own children, he says, but he's been putting off his decision forever. Ron finally decided yesterday and sent off his application, he says he's keeping it a secret until you get here. I've decided to become a Healer at St. Mungo's, it seems very interesting. I've removed the memory charm from my parents, they aren't exactly pleased, but it's funny how much they keep making sure that I'll do my best with teeth.

For St. Mungo's, I'll have to go to it's special training school, but I know us two will keep in touch at the least. St. Mungo's special training is also done in N.E.X.T, so I'll probably see you almost everyday if not completely everyday. Ron still refuses to tell me what he'll be, even as I right this letter, but oh well, I guess. See you at the burrow in a couple of hours.

Sincerely yours,

Hermione

P.S. Ron and I have gotten together a special gift for you, took a long time. Hope you like it.

Ginny laughed as she read over the letter. "Typical of Hermione to not tell you what's going on just because Ron made her promise, they are so in love now. I wonder how far along they are in their relationship..."

Harry too laughed at that and said, "Same."

"Well then, go on, open the package," Ginny urged.

Harry complied and opened the small package while Ginny once more snatched Pigwidgeon out of the air and this time, kept him held firmly in her hand.

The first thing that fell out of the small package was a flash drive. Harry immediately inserted the flash drive into Dudley's computer and watched a video of the Weasley family at dinnertime pop up into the frame.

"Guess what happened at work today?" asked Percy while helping himself to a large slice of beef with mashed potatoes on top.

"Can't have been anything more important or interesting than thin-bottomed cauldrons, now can it?" asked Fred and George, feigning surprise.

Percy shot a glare at them over the rim of his glasses and said, "No, I finished that report a long time ago. If you must know, I haven't got a report due yet, I'll get my new one tomorrow. But it's something even more interesting."

"Thick-bottomed cauldrons?" chortled George. Harry could tell that it was George because he was missing his left ear.

"No, wrong again. Mad-Eye turned up midway through my conference meeting with the other members of my department, walked up the stairs missing his magical eye," huffed Percy in an air of utmost importance.

"NO WAY!" every single Weasley around the table yelled, right before the clip ended.

"It this true?" Harry asked the moment the clip was done airing.

"Yep, Mad-Eye turned out to be alive, landed on a bush or something and managed to survive. His eye popped out though, and he made a run for it since he knew that the Death Eaters would come looking for him, is what he said. He stopped by later and told us how he'd found this person and they healed him and he hid. He just now managed to find his way back into the wizarding world, apparently," explained Ginny.

Harry opened his mouth to say more, but a slam of the door downstairs told him that Uncle Vernon was home.

"Should we stay for dinner?" asked Ginny uncertainly.

"No," said Harry immediately. "We should go say goodbye soon, do you have your pouch of floo powder?"

"Yeah, let's go then," responded Ginny and the two headed downstairs.

After much talking and a bit of arguing with the Dursleys, Harry and Ginny bid them goodbye and turned to their fireplace. With a slight wave of his wand (under Ginny's strict guidance as Harry did not know the exact spell) the fire in the fireplace was briefly turned from electrical to real and they each took a handful of the green floo powder.

"The burrow!" Ginny said very clearly and stepped into the fire. Harry soon followed her after saying one lasting goodbye to the Dursleys.

"You better not come again next summer without prior arrangements!" roared Uncle Vernon as Harry stepped into the fire and began to spin around and around with his elbows tucked in.

A few seconds later, he had arrived back into the burrow.