Harry and Ginny: A Love Story
Chapter 5: Are We Having Fun Yet?
Harry and Ginny awoke slowly, both glowing with the feeling of contentment they felt, waking up in the others arms. Harry found himself staring into Ginny's luscious deep chocolate eyes and couldn't help but smile.
Ginny was feeling the same things Harry was, she couldn't remember ever feeling so wonderful upon waking. There was just something special about waking up being held by Harry.
Without even thinking about it, both found themselves leaning towards the other until their lips met, in another soft kiss. It was actually quite chaste but to the two who were sharing it, they found it quite overwhelming.
Harry felt Ginny shiver a little as their lips parted and he asked "Are you OK?"
"I'm fine Harry. I just found that a bit much. I mean I never thought I'd be kissing a boy until I was older, but with you it just seems right," Ginny said bashfully, as a light blush crept up her neck and into her face.
Harry swallowed visibly, "Yeah, I know what you mean, it feels so right doing it with you but I can't see me doing something like that with anyone else, ever."
Ginny hugged Harry tightly, "Me neither," she replied, her smile lighting up her face with her feelings.
Harry looked at the clock, they had been napping for a relatively short time, a little over an hour. He grinned sheepishly at Ginny, "We were supposed to get your clothes from your trunk and get them to your Mum too."
With one last quick squeeze, Ginny crawled over Harry, much to his delight, "Hey, what do you think you're doing?" he asked playfully.
"I'm getting up," she replied with a smile.
"Did you have to go over me?"
Ginny giggled, "It was the shortest route."
Harry rolled his eyes and with a grin sent "You could have asked me to get up first."
"That wouldn't have been as much fun," Ginny said with another giggle. She then extended her hands to Harry and helped pull him to his feet.
As they went to leave the room it dawned on them that the door was now closed when before the fell asleep, it had been open.
Harry looked at Ginny questioningly, his face showing his worried feelings clearly.
"Don't worry Harry," Ginny said. "Only Mum would have done that and if she would've had a problem with it she would have let us know immediately."
She saw Harry relax somewhat, but she knew he wouldn't feel totally at ease till he saw her Mum in person. Keeping a hold of his one hand she led him to the door and then over into her room so that they could sort out her trunk too.
Harry stopped just inside the door and looked around at Ginny's room, it was decorated differently that he would have thought for a young girls. There was no pink and there were several posters of Quidditch Players and when Harry looked at them closer he saw they were for the all female team, the Holyhead Harpies.
Harry found himself smiling at the posters, he liked the fact that Ginny wasn't what he expected a "normal" girl to be. She was so much more and he thought she was just about perfect.
Ginny looked at him with a questioning smile, "What is it Harry?" she asked, getting his feelings of approval and the joy that somehow generated.
Harry blushed as he met her eyes, "I was looking at your Quidditch Posters and was thinking how different you are to what I have been brought up to think a girl would be."
Because of his feeling of approval, Ginny knew he considered it a good thing. She smiled at him and said "Well I have grown up with six brothers."
"Yeah, but I'm surprised because of that your Mum didn't try to make you a girly-girl, ya know?
Ginny patted the floor next to her as she opened her trunk, "I think she tried for a little bit after I was born because I've seen some pictures of me as a baby where I am in pink, but with seven kids, I think she found it impossible to keep up with that. I wore a lot of hand-me-downs when I was younger."
Ginny felt Harry's mood change and a sense of melancholy come over him as he knelt down next to her. She gently placed her hand on Harry's arm, "What is it Harry?" she asked, her thoughts full of her concern.
Harry fleeting thought of trying to brush off her question but realized right away that he couldn't bring himself to lie to Ginny. "That's all I've ever had. I was forced to wear my fat cousin's old clothes. Everything was always ten sizes too big. I've never had anything new till Hagrid took me to Diagon Alley to get my school stuff," Harry said, his thoughts filled with his sadness.
Ginny took Harry into a big hug, "Well I can't promise you that you'll get a lot of brand new clothes, but I'm sure any of the hand-me-downs you get here will fit allot better."
Harry couldn't help but smile as he felt Ginny's positive feelings fill him and he knew that he'd be happy to wear anything that he got handed down to him here.
Feeling Harry's improved attitude, Ginny turned to her trunk and opened it up. Harry was shocked to see how neatly it was packed, never figuring Ginny to be as organized as Hermione seemed to be. Especially after seeing Ron's trunk the past two years.
Ginny could sense Harry's amazement and could figure out why he was feeling the way he was, knowing her brother the way she did. She couldn't help but laugh, "Not all of us Weasley's are like Ron. Believe it or not the Twins' trunks look like mine, they may have chaotic minds but to do the things they do, they need to be organized."
Harry could see where that would be the case, he'd seen the Twins pull off some elaborate pranks that took some really complex planning, not something that could be done by someone who was disorganized.
"Well enough of that, let's get back to my trunk," Ginny said with a smile. Because her trunk was so organized Harry was surprised by the amount of stuff she had in it. He was sure that she had half again as much in hers than he had managed to cram into his.
The pile of clothes was pretty large and when Ginny tried to carry them all she could barely hold it all and she couldn't see where she was going. Harry had to laugh, "Here, let me help you with that," he said with a smile.
Ginny's first inclination was to refuse the help because growing up her brothers had teased her mercilessly about being so small, but she felt Harry's genuine concern and willingness to help so she dropped the pile back on the bed and they divided it into two equal piles.
As Harry picked up his pile, a pair of Ginny's knickers fell out and as he looked at them, he felt Ginny's embarrassment and he saw her blush. She quickly snatched them up from the floor and stuck them inside her pile. As her eyes met his, he found himself blushing just as much as she was.
After a couple of embarrassed glances back and forth, they both carried their piles down to the kitchen and into the laundry room.
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After Molly had talked to her sons, she went back to the laundry. As she began to sort out the things that Harry had brought down she became quite confused. Everything was way to big to fit him. She held up a tee-shirt and was boggled by the size.
While looking at it, Fred and George came up behind her, "Hey Mum, whose circus tent do you have?" George asked with a smile.
"Yeah Mum, I didn't know we had a whale staying with us?" Fred added.
Molly shot them a disproving look as she pick up and looked at several more of Harry's things. Everything was way oversized for him and most were in very poor shape. She could see where Harry had rolled up pant legs and sleeves to be able to wear the monstrously too large pieces of clothing.
"Really Mum, where did this stuff come from?" asked George.
"They're Harry's" Molly said darkly, knowing full well what it meant. Harry had been wearing the hand-me-down cast-offs from his exceeding large cousin. She felt her blood boiling and the Twins noticed the signs of an pending explosion from her and they knew that they didn't want to be in the vicinity when it happened because once she got started anyone close by was fair game.
"Right," said George.
"We'll just get back to cleaning the chicken coop," Fred added as they both hurriedly made their retreat.
Molly took several deep calming breaths, knowing that getting mad would help no one and she certainly didn't want to make Harry feel that he was in any way responsible for the state of his current wardrobe. She had just gotten a load of wash started when Ginny and Harry arrived with Ginny's laundry.
Once they had added her things to the piles in the laundry room, Molly had them join her in the kitchen. Knowing she probably needed to act carefully, she looked at Harry kindly and said, "Harry, I'd like to talk to you about your wardrobe."
When she saw his stiffen and looked embarrassed she smiled and said, "It looks like it's rather limited and I thought you might like to add some things to it. That is if you don't mind wearing some of the older boys things that they've out grown."
Ginny felt Harry relax and she silently thanked her Mum for her delicate handling of the subject of Harry's clothes.
"That would be fine, Mrs. Weasley," Harry said softly, his face colouring slightly.
Paying his reaction no mind, she smiled and said, "You know you don't need to be so formal with me any more Harry, you are going to be living here when you're not at school."
"What should I call you?" Harry asked, his mind in turmoil.
"Well you can call me Molly and Mr. Weasley, Arthur. Would that be OK with you?" she asked.
Harry glanced at Ginny and she smiled in return, "I think that would work for now, don't you?" she asked.
"Yeah, I think that I can do that. I'm not sure I'm ready to call them Mum and Dad yet and I don't know if ever will," he sent back.
Harry then looked at Molly, "OK, Molly, I'll try it for a while."
"Good, now let's go and see about some decent clothes for you," she said with a smile.
She led Harry out of the laundry and headed up the stairs, Ginny followed behind, if for nothing more than to lend Harry morale support.
They ended up in the attic, where Molly went through several piles of boxes, picking out several that she had Harry and Ginny help her carry back down to Harry's room.
They spent the next hour going through the boxes and picking out things that Harry could wear. Most things fit very well and a few pairs of jeans would work out once they were shortened.
Harry couldn't believe the amount of things he was given and everything fit so much better than anything he had ever had before.
Ginny could feel Harry's emotions as he looked at all the clothes that he was being given, she saw the tears start to build up in his eyes so she went to him quickly and wrapped her arms around him.
"It's OK, Harry," she sent to him.
"I know Ginny, it's just that I've never been given so many things like this. No one has ever cared for me like this before," he sent to her as the happiness filled him.
Harry let go of Ginny and turned to Molly, and he once again threw himself at her, wrapping his arms around her tightly as his tears started to fall, he whispered emotionally, "Thanks Molly."
Molly patted him on his back gently, "You're very welcome Harry. Anything we have, we share. It's part of being a member of the family."
Harry squeezed her tighter and then suddenly ran out of the room and up to the loo, shutting the door wanting to try to get his emotions under control.
Molly's initial reaction was to go after him to find out what was happening but Ginny stopped her, "It's OK Mum, he just needs some time to get himself back together," she said softly.
Molly saw a quizzical look come on Ginny's face, "What is it?" she asked.
Ginny smiled sadly, "He just said he guesses he never really had a family before, at least since his Mum and Dad died."
Molly felt her heart squeezed tight, feeling that she was glad that he had come to them so he could learn what a loving family was, but sad because of the life he had lived up to now.
As she dabbed her eyes with her handkerchief, Ginny came over and hugged her tight. "We'll just have to take good care of him, won't we?" Ginny said.
"Yes we will," Molly replied.
Shortly afterwards Harry came back into the room, looking rather sheepish about his leaving. Molly acted like nothing had happened and Ginny smiled at him, saying "Everything is fine Harry, there is no need to feel embarrassed."
"Thanks Ginny," he sent back, giving her a wan smile.
She went over to him and gave him another hug, holding him tightly for several moments. She heard him breath in and she knew he was taking in the fragrance of her hair, learning that was one of the things that seemed to calm him the fastest.
Molly waited for them to separate, keeping herself busy by sorting through the clothes they had picked out. She pulled her wand and banished the boxes back to the attic, drawing a questioning look from Harry.
"How come you didn't use magic to call them down?" he asked, curious about how things were done magically.
"Well, it's much easier to just send the boxes back to a specific place than call the right boxes. It's been so long since I've gone through most of them I didn't know exactly which ones we'd need and I certainly didn't want all of them down here," Molly explained patiently.
"That makes sense," Harry replied nodding his head thoughtfully.
Molly looked at Harry and said, "Well we've made a good start on your wardrobe but we'll still need to get you some underthings, socks and tee shirts." Then more to herself she added "I'll have to talk with Arthur about where we'll have to save on something else to afford it."
Harry looked shocked, never once thinking about how much staying there was going to cost the Weasley's. "Excuse me Molly," Harry said hesitantly. "I have money to cover that."
"Harry, it isn't up to you to have to pay your way around here. Arthur, Minerva and I are responsible for your upbringing," Molly said kindly.
"But I have loads of money in Gringott's," Harry said, a little testily.
Molly looked at him and asked, "Then why are you stuck with your cousins old things?"
"Well I never knew about the money till Hagrid took me to buy my things for Hogwarts and my Aunt and Uncle would have never allowed me to have anything better than Dudley," Harry replied, looking down at the floor.
Molly took a deep breath, thinking hard. "Well let me talk to Minerva and Arthur, OK?"
"OK, but I won't be a burden," Harry stated uncatagorically.
Molly nodded and could see how adamant Harry was and she knew she'd have to take care in the future with handling things.
"Alright, lets get these things down to the laundry and then have some lunch," Molly said brightly.
They each picked up a pile of clothing and they carried it down to add to the laundry. Molly sent Harry to get the Twins while Ginny was sent to get Ron from the back garden.
As they all entered the kitchen, Percy came walking in from up the lane. "Hello Mother," he said rather formally. "I'm pretty sure I got the summer internship at the Ministry," he added kind of smugly.
Harry saw Molly take a breath as if to calm herself, "That's nice, Percy," she said, though to Harry it seemed a bit forced.
"Ginny, what's up with Percy and his internship?" he asked.
"Well he pointedly informed Mum and Dad that he didn't want to work in Dad's department, saying it wasn't a good place to be if one expected to get a good position once he graduated," Ginny sent a little hotly. "I think he's being a great big prat!" she added.
Harry had to stifle a chuckle at Ginny's assessment of her older brother.
Molly served them a wonderful lunch, far exceeding Hogwarts in Harry's opinion, though Ron looked a little disgruntled that he could only have seconds.
"Hey Mum, what about playing Quidditch like we asked earlier?" Fred asked.
"How's the chicken coop?" she asked pointedly.
"Any chicken would be proud to call it theirs," added George, smiling widely.
"We'll see," said Molly.
"Can I play too?" asked Ron.
"That depends on how well you did in the garden," Molly said sternly.
By Ron's reaction, Harry knew right away he'd been slacking off and probably had done little or nothing to de-gome the garden. Shaking his head, he couldn't understand his attitude. By now at his relatives he would have been required to do six or seven things if he expected to have even the meagrest of lunches.
Once the table was cleared Molly trooped outside with her sons to inspect their work. Harry and Ginny followed just to get outside for a while.
Molly went right to the chicken coop and eying the Twins with arched brow, she opened the door to the coop. She looked around and the Twins were happy when they saw a smile form on her face.
"Well done boys, I knew you had it in you. I guess all it takes is the proper motivation," she said, quite pleased with the job they had done.
As Fred and George went to get their brooms, Molly led Ron towards the back garden. Harry and Ginny could see Ron tailing further and further behind, obviously not wanting to be too close to his Mum when they got there.
Molly took on quick glance around and you could see the anger rising on her face. "Ronald Weasley, just what have you been doing out here all morning?" she asked, her anger making her voice rise in volume.
Everywhere you looked Gnomes were peeking out of bushes and from behind the bunches of flowers.
"You're to stay here until you do a good job, and I mean it. If I catch you slacking off, you'll really be in for it!" Molly said forcefully.
Fred and George looked on in disgust. "Well one short for Quidditch," Fred muttered.
"Hey Percy,"George called out. "Want to play some Quidditch?"
Percy frowned at his brother. "I'm past that, I think it's much more important that I get ready to start my internship. After all I was up and out before any of you lay-abouts were even up"
"But you don't even know if you got it yet!" Fred said incredulously.
"One can not be too prepared," Percy replied, raising his nose and stalking off into the house.
"Great!" moaned Fred, "Now who can we get?"
"Well if it's OK with Molly, I'll play," said Harry, looking expectantly at her.
Molly smiled, "Of course it's OK Harry. Go ahead and have some fun."
Harry noticed Ron giving him an evil look as he grabbed a gnome and tossed it over the wall.
"That still leaves us one short," complained George.
"They never ask me to play," Ginny said hotly.
"Why don't we ask Ginny to play?" Harry asked, puzzled by the Twins exclusion of their sister.
"She's never even flown before," said Fred.
"Ha! That's what they know," Ginny sent, once again letting her displeasure come through. "I've been sneaking out and flying their brooms since I was six!"
Harry smiled, "Leave it to me Ginny," he sent with a smirk.
"Maybe she's a natural like I was," Harry said, acting innocently.
Fred and George looked at each other for a moment and then just shrugged. "Well we guess it can't hurt to give her a try," they said.
Ginny's face lit up, they were actually going to let her play. "Thanks Harry," she sent ecstatically.
Harry went and got his Nimbus 2000 while Ginny went and got Charlie's old broom. The Twins led the way to the paddock where the Weasleys played Quidditch while at home.
"OK, let's see what you can do?" George said rather patronizingly.
Ginny's eyes narrowed and she glared at her brother. "Just watch this Harry!" she sent as she pushed off hard.
Harry couldn't help but smile, Ginny flew superbly, doing a couple of rolls and loops before her awe struck brothers.
""Yup, a natural," Harry said with a smirk.
"What are you waiting for?" Ginny shouted as she swooped down and flashed across just above their heads.
Harry smiled and jumped on his Nimbus and took off after Ginny. She was laughing as she looked back over her shoulder watching Harry come after her.
"Think you can catch me?" she sent playfully.
"You just wait Weasley," Harry sent back.
The Twins stood there with open mouths as Harry and Ginny did an aerial ballet that was breath taking in it's excitement and complexity.
Ginny really was a superb flyer, but then again so was Harry and his superior broom slowly made the difference. He reeled her in and was finally able to tap her on the head.
Ginny laughed, her elation shining out of her. "Oh Godric Harry, that was so much fun! I never dreamed that flying could be like that."
"You are a natural, and I've never flown against anyone better," Harry replied as they slowed down. Harry came along side of Ginny and took her into a hug.
She blushed sheepishly as she glanced at her brothers who were still earthbound staring at them.
Harry let his eyes follow hers and with a huge grin shouted "Are we going to play Quidditch or what?"
Fred and George were finally broken out of their stupor and both mounted their brooms and came up to the pair of youngsters.
"Ginny, that was fabulous!" George cried.
"I guess the Weasley blood must carry a Quidditch gene," said Fred.
"What do you want the teams to be?" George asked.
Harry winked at Ginny, "How about Ginny and I against you two?" he asked slyly.
The Twins smiled predatorially, thinking their experience and Twin sense would give them an unchallenged advantage.
"If that's what you want?" George said condescendingly.
"OK, but we get the Quaffle first," said Ginny, smiling at Harry as she did so.
"Fine," said Fred, "but don't come crying to us when we beat you."
Harry just smiled back, "OK, but that goes both ways."
Fred eyed Harry worriedly, wondering how Harry and Ginny could seem so confident.
Harry and Ginny retreated to their end of the makeshift pitch. "They aren't going to know what hit them," Harry said to Ginny.
They started playing and the superiority of Harry and Ginny's Bond was apparent from the outset. The Twins instinctual connection being no match for Harry's and Ginny's ability to speak to each other without being overheard and the Bonds ability to let them know precisely where the other was at all times.
Though the Twins fought valiantly, in the end it was no contest. As the afternoon waned and the Twins began to tire they finally called a halt.
They all landed, Harry and Ginny exuberant with their performance. They immediately hugged and then turned and grinned at the Twins.
George looked at Fred, "I think we've been had."
Fred couldn't help but smile at his brother, "I think you're right oh brother of mine." And then turning to Harry and Ginny said "Do you two want to explain what happened this afternoon?"
Harry looked at Ginny "Do you want to?"
Ginny gave him a grin, "Yeah, why not. Of all my brothers I think the Twins would understand the best."
As Harry and Ginny discussed it mind to mind, the Twins watched them carefully. They could tell something was up but they had no idea just what.
"Go ahead and tell them," Harry sent to Ginny.
Ginny turned to her brothers, "Well you see, Harry and I have some kind of Bond."
"Yeah Mum told us something about it," George said.
"The thing is we can talk to each other without actually speaking out loud," Ginny said with an impish grin.
Fred and George stared at each other for a moment, their faces alight with surprise and then suddenly they both began to grin from ear to ear.
"Think of the possibilities," said Fred.
"Think of the pranks," said George.
"Fantastic!" they both cried, looking at Harry and Ginny.
"How would you two like to help us with pulling pranks next year?" asked George.
"We'd teach you everything we know," said Fred.
They both stared at Harry and Ginny eagerly.
"What do you say?" Ginny asked.
"Sounds like fun," Harry replied.
They looked at the Twins, "Deal!" they both said.
"Great,"George said.
"We can begin by practicing on Percy all summer," said Fred with an devilish gleam in his eye.
They all began to head back to the Burrow, laughing and joking about the game, the pranks they'd pull and just having a great time being together.
Ginny felt Harry's joy at being included in with some other members of the Weasley family.
Harry instinctively wrapped an arm around Ginny's shoulders and she slipped her arm around his waist. They both grinned at each other feeling the other's happiness through their Bond.
Unseen by the Quidditch players, Ron was eying Harry and Ginny. He was seething at being stuck working while they had played Quidditch with the twins. First Harry had stolen his sister, then his Mother and now his brothers were falling under his sway.
Ron felt like he would explode and with an effort spawned by his anger, he sent a gnome farther than he had ever done before.
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Nymphadora Tonks arrived for her shift to keep eye on Harry Potter and relieve the person who had been keeping tabs that morning.
Hestia Jones smiled at her and told her that it had been very quiet and there had been no sign of Harry. She had only seen the Uncle when he left for work and the Aunt when she came out to retrieve the milk that had been delivered that morning.
Tonks nodded that she had heard, but she was frowning because something didn't seem right. She settled in for her watch, wondering why Harry hadn't been see at all.
As the day wore on she saw plenty of activity in the neighbourhood. The lady next door came out and walked her dog. Another woman came down the pavement, pushing a pram. Several kids came down the street, looking like they were headed to the little park further down the street.
All in all, rather mundane events and nothing out of the ordinary for the area. Tonks was getting rather bored but she still had the feeling that everything wasn't as it seemed.
She was just about to go stir crazy when there was the first signs of activity at number 4 Privet Drive. She heard someone shouting around the side of the house and then the Aunt appeared with Harry's whale of a cousin.
The kid, Dumbly, or something like that, was complaining loudly about having to mow the lawn but what really got her attention was when he said he didn't understand why they had gotten rid of Harry.
Nymphadora's heart froze in her chest, hoping that it didn't mean anything nefarious had happened to him. She did calm a bit when the Aunt yelled at her son that they were well rid of him and the freaks who took him deserved him and all the trouble that he was.
Tonks knew that her instincts had been correct and Harry was no longer at Privet Drive. With no reason to remain, she Apparated away. She had to get to Hogwarts and let it be known that Harry was missing.
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Minerva McGonagall was just leaving the Great Hall where she had been in a meeting with the elves that were in charge of the kitchen. As Deputy Headmistress one of her duties was to make sure that everything was running smoothly and she had just had the end of year meeting.
She was surprised when Nymphadora Tonks arrived, hurrying in with a very concerned look on her face.
"What is the matter Auror Tonks," Minerva asked.
"Where is Albus?" she asked, her voice full of concern.
"I'm sorry but he's away from the school at the moment," Minerva said. "Is there something I can help you with?"
Tonks was torn about what to do. She assumed that Minerva would be included with keeping track of Harry, "Well it has to do with Harry Potter," she said lowly.
Minerva raised an eyebrow, and looked around to see if anyone had overheard. Making a quick decision she said "Come with me," and led Tonks up to her office.
Ushering the young Auror into her office, she shut the door. "Please be seated," she said with her usual stoic manner.
She looked at Tonks appraisingly, wondering how much the young woman really knew. Steeling herself, she asked, "Now what is this about Harry?"
Tonks took note of Minerva's use of Harry's first name, but didn't think it totally odd as she was his head of house. "I'm fairly certain that Harry is no longer at his relatives in Surrey," she said bluntly.
Minerva took the news stoically, her reputation for being unflappable was well earned. "What leads you to that conclusion?" she asked succinctly.
"I overheard the Aunt and his cousin talking and the boy wanted to know why they had gotten rid of Harry. The Aunt implied that someone magical had taken him away," Tonks explained.
"You're sure of this information?" Minerva asked.
"Yes Professor," Tonks answered.
"Please, you're no longer my student. You can call me Minerva," McGonagall said pleasantly.
Tonks blushed slightly, She had only been out of Hogwarts for several years and still had a hard time treating her old teachers as equals. "OK, Minerva," she said uncomfortably.
Minerva chuckled at the young woman's unease. She remembered back to when she had first been told the same thing many years ago and suffered the same effects.
Bringing her mind back to the issue at hand she came to a uneasy conclusion. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention, I'll take care of it, you have my word on it," she said with a touch of sadness.
Tonks felt her unease but didn't attach any significance to it.
Minerva rose and went to the door, opening it to allow Tonks to exit. As Tonks stepped by she heard Minerva whisper, "Forgive me Nymphadora."
As she turned with a questioning look on her face, she was surprised to see Minerva's wand right in front of her eyes. "Wha. . . " she got out before she heard the elderly witch say "Obliviate."
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A/N: Poor Tonks, Lucky Minerva. At least Harry is having some fun.
As always please review.