As always, Platform Nine and Three Quarters was bustling with parents as they waited for The Hogwarts Express to arrive from Scotland, bringing their children home for the summer. Among the parents waiting for their children, was Molly Weasley. As always she'd arrived in plenty of time and as such she'd had time to greet Hermione's parents, before collaring Harry's godfather, Sirius Black, and checking that he was coping with being a parent.

It was only over the course of the last few years that Sirius had taken on the role as guardian for Harry. In Harry's youth, he'd been detained in Azkaban for a crime he hadn't committed, and his name had only been cleared following Voldemort's unexpected demise at the end of Harry's fifth year. But now he was a free man, and he'd taken on the role of guardian he knew Harry's parents would have wanted him to be to their son.

"Really Molly, we're perfectly fine," Sirius assured the fussing witch.

He knew how close Harry was to the Weasley family, and he knew how much they all loved Harry, but sometimes Molly could be a little bit too much for his liking. While he appreciated the help she gave him, and the love she gave Harry, he sometimes had to stop himself from snapping at her and reminding her that she wasn't actually Harry's mother. On those occasions he tried to remind himself that she meant well, and she couldn't help it if she was a bit overbearing at times.

"And you're sure you don't want to join us for dinner this evening?" Molly double checked, having already asked Sirius about dinner and receiving a polite refusal.

"Not tonight," Sirius replied. "Tonight, I just want it to be Harry and myself. But I'm sure we can arrange something for next week."

"I'd like that," Molly said with a nod of her head, mentally reminding herself that she needed to fix a date for dinner pronto. "Oh, here comes the train," she cried, hearing the toot of the train's horn as it slowly began its arrival into the station.

Silently thanking the train for it's perfect timing, Sirius waited patiently as the train rolled to a stop and all along the red engine, doors began to open. As it often was, the younger children seemed to rush off the train first, whereas the older children lingered a bit, well aware that the train wouldn't depart the station until the train had been checked and was completely empty.

"There's Ron and Ginny," Molly cried after a few minutes and Sirius easily spotted the tall, lanky figure of Ron, accompanied by his smaller sister.

"Where's Harry?" Sirius asked with a frown, suddenly realising that neither Harry nor Hermione were with the Weasleys.

As the Weasley children approached Molly, Sirius scanned the crowds for his godson, but he saw no sign of him. Wondering if something had happened, he pressed forward and asked Ron about his best friend.

"He's likely with his new friends, the Slytherins," Ron spat.

"What?" Molly queried in confusion just as Sirius caught sight of his godson.

And rather oddly, Ron seemed to be right about him being accompanied by Slytherins. While Hermione was also with him, he was arm in arm with a stunning blonde witch. However, Sirius also spotted the recognisable figure of Draco Malfoy in the group.

"I don't understand," Molly muttered, having also spotted Harry and Hermione.

"Harry is dating Daphne Greengrass," Ron muttered grumpily.

"But why are you not with him?" Molly asked her son, not quite understanding why they weren't together. "And what about Hermione?"

"She left me," Ron confessed.

"You've been dumped?" Instantly Molly ran a soothing hand through Ron's hair, although he darted out of her reach and shot her a warning look.

"It's a long story, but the short version is, Harry picked Greengrass over Ginny, and when I objected, he ended our friendship and Hermione sided with him," Ron explained.

"Where do you come into all this?" Molly asked, turning to her daughter.

"I thought Harry was going to take me to the party," Ginny admitted in a quiet voice. "But he dumped me for Greengrass?"

"He asked you and then changed his mind?" Sirius questioned, aware that Harry, Hermione and the Slytherins had nearly reached them.

"Not exactly," Ginny confessed. "I assumed he was going to ask me, so I bought a new outfit."

"And then Harry refused to take her," Ron added. "Can you blame me for being mad at him?"

"I'm still confused," Molly remarked with a shake of her head. "Why did you assume Harry was going to take you to the party, Ginny?"

"Because I thought he liked me," Ginny replied, just as Harry and the others reached them.

"Hi," Harry said to Sirius.

"Maybe you can shed some light on this, Harry," Molly said, turning to the wizard she'd long since adopted into the family. "Has there been some sort of falling out?"

"You could say that," Harry admitted with a shrug. "I'm sorry Ginny got hurt, but I never encouraged her. I didn't realise you all expected me to end up with her."

"What?" Molly frowned. "Who expected that?"

"Ron said it was what your whole family thought," Harry said, turning to give Ron a questioning look. "He said it was why you considered me part of the family, because one day you thought I would be married to Ginny."

"What utter poppycock," Molly snorted. "You don't have to be with Ginny to be part of the family. I won't deny that it would have been nice for you to be with Ginny, but your inclusion in the family isn't reliant on it. I have to admit, I was aware Ginny had feelings for you, but I'd never gotten the impression you returned them, and I certainly never saw you encourage them."

"I didn't," Harry assured the older witch. "And thank you for your kindness. It's nice to know the whole family won't be abandoning me."

"Who has abandoned you?" Molly asked sharply, glaring at her two youngest children.

"He's dating a Slytherin, Mum," Ron said nastily, jerking his thumb in Daphne's direction as both her and Draco had stopped to say goodbye to Harry while the other Slytherins had moved onto their families.

"And that's a reason to end your friendship?" Molly questioned with a frown. "Don't be so stupid, Ronald. Apologise and make things right with your best friend."

"He's no friend of mine," Ron spat. "Not as long as he's with her."

"Ronald," Molly scolded as her son stalked away to lean on a nearby pillar, pointedly turning his back on everyone. "I'm so sorry, Harry," she said with a shake of her head, before turning to Hermione. "And what happened with you and Ron? He said you left him?"

"He asked me to choose between him and Harry, and I couldn't abandon Harry for doing nothing wrong," Hermione explained.

"Quite right," Molly said, giving Hermione a reassuring smile. "And don't you worry either, Hermione. You and Harry are both always welcome at our house. And you, young lady," she uttered, swinging around to face Ginny. "What trouble have you been causing?"

"Nothing," Ginny pouted. "I was the one who had my heart broken. I was the one who was hexed."

"Hexed?" Molly squealed in concern. "Who hexed you?"

"Her," Ginny spat, turning to glare at Daphne.

"I hexed you to get you to let go of me," Daphne explained calmly. "You had me by my hair."

"You attacked her?" Molly demanded of her daughter.

"She deserved it," Ginny sneered. "She stole Harry from me."

"Enough," Molly hissed in a low voice. "I can't believe what I am hearing. I'm taking you and your brother home this instant. I'm so sorry Harry," she apologised, turning away from her children as Ginny stalked over to where Ron was still sulking. "And Miss Greengrass, I can't apologise enough for Ginny's actions. I can assure you, she won't do anything like that again."

With her face turning a deep shade of red, Molly turned back to her two children and she hustled them away before they could cause more of a scene. With the Weasleys gone, Hermione also said her goodbyes and hurried over to her parents, who had been standing nearby watching the drama with concerned frowns on their faces.

"Sirius, this is Daphne," Harry said, making the introductions between his girlfriend and godfather.

"Nice to meet you, Daphne," Sirius said with a smile. "It seems the pair of you have caused quite a stir."

"You could say that," Harry replied with a chuckle.

"It was nice to meet you, Mr Black," Daphne said politely. "But if you excuse me, I need to get going. My parents will be wanting to go home."

"I'll send you an owl later," Harry said, giving his girlfriend a quick kiss, well aware of Sirius smirking at his shoulder.

"I'll let you know about the party, Potter," Draco said as he and Daphne prepared to head over to where their parents were waiting. "And remind Granger, will you. I know she said she wasn't sure about coming, but make her. She needs to forget about that red-headed loser."

"She'll be there," Harry vowed, waving goodbye to his girlfriend and new friend.

"What party?" Sirius asked as he picked up Harry's trunk and the pair prepared to head home.

"Malfoy is throwing a graduation party next week," Harry explained. "It's just for the Slytherins, but as Daphne's boyfriend I'm invited, and he also asked Hermione."

"Why did he ask Hermione?" Sirius questioned, after a brief pause to apparate him and Harry back to Grimmauld Place, which they were slowly turning into a family home.

"Since Ron dumped her for not backing him up, she's been spending a lot of time with me and since I've been spending time with Daphne, we've been around the Slytherins," Harry answered. "But her and Malfoy became friends over the course of the year when they were head students."

"Is that all?" Sirius asked, sending Harry's trunk upstairs using magic before heading into the kitchen to make some tea.

"Nah, he fancies her," Harry laughed. "Was it that obvious?"

"He did seem rather keen to have her there," Sirius remarked. "But enough about Draco. I want to hear about you. I want to know all about Daphne, and I want to know what exactly went on with Ron and Ginny."

"I wish I knew what had gone on," Harry snorted as he sat down at the kitchen table while Sirius made a pot of tea. "The whole thing still makes no sense to me."

Over a cup of tea, Harry explained to his godfather everything that had happened, and like Harry, Sirius was baffled as to Ron's extreme reaction. He was also baffled as to why he and Ginny seemed so convinced that Harry belonged with Ginny when no-one else seemed to think so. It seemed rather crazy to just assume that they were going to be together just because Ginny harboured a crush on Harry.

"And what about Hermione?" Sirius asked.

"She was caught in the middle," Harry replied with a sigh. "Since I'd done nothing wrong, she refused to end her friendship with me. But Ron was insistent that they could only stay together if she fully supported him."

"It sounds to me like she's better off without him," Sirius remarked. "In fact, I think you're both better off without him. With friends like him, who needs enemies."

"It still hurts though," Harry said softly. "We were friends for seven years. We've been through so much together. But I wasn't going to let him dictate who I can date. I wasn't going to give up Daphne for him."

"I can't blame you there," Sirius said with a smirk. "That is quite an attractive girl you've got there, Harry."

"Yeah, she lovely," Harry agreed, unable to stop himself from smiling at the thought of his girlfriend.

"You're serious about her?" Sirius asked.

"It's early days, but yeah, I think I am," Harry admitted. "I really hope we have a future together."

"In that case, I think we need to have a man to man talk," Sirius said seriously, his usual joking manner sliding away to reveal a more serious aspect to his personality.

"Do we have to?" Harry asked with an embarrassed grimace.

"Yes, we do," Sirius insisted. "And if you are not grown up to have this talk, then you're not grown up enough to have an adult relationship. I'm not trying to embarrass you Harry. I'm merely being a responsible parent."

"Yeah, I get that," Harry conceded as he took a deep breath and prepared himself for the embarrassment of his godfather's talk.

Although as it turned out, the talk wasn't that embarrassing and Sirius provided him with some good advice. As well as ensuing that Harry could practice the contraceptive charm, he made sure his godson knew he could talk to him about anything, no matter how embarrassing it was. He also reminded Harry that even though it was imperative they took precautions as their relationship developed, it was equally important that they had fun and enjoyed themselves. After all, they were only young once and as Sirius said, there was nothing quite the same as a first love.