"Well, that went well. She just said to be careful and keep her updated with owls."

Ron threw himself on his bed and Hermione rested herself against the door. Harry looked up from his magazine and looked at his friends quizzically. Having looked at the obvious confusion on his face, Hermione quickly explained, "We were just telling Mrs. Weasley that we want to leave for Australia in a couple of days. I have spoken to Kingsley, he has arranged 3 international portkeys for us to take. It'll be such a long jump that we have to do it in parts."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, so when are you planning on going then?"

"On Friday," Ron said, munching on a pumpkin pasty. "I think we should start packing though, so we don't end up leaving anything important behind."

"You mean, you will lie about while I pack for you?" Hermione looked at Ron with an annoyed look but also something resembling affection to Harry. She moved Ron's feet off one corner of his bed and sat down.

"Harry and I aren't good at this sort of stuff, Hermione!" Ron protested but quickly shuffled up to plant a quick kiss on Hermione's cheek to placate her. It worked - Hermione gave Ron a shy but pleased smile and looked at Harry's bed, where his few belongings were pushed to one corner in a small but tidy pile. "Harry, we want you to come with us."

Harry sat up a bit straighter and looked at Hermione. He was afraid of this. He knew that Ron and Hermione would want him to come along with them. And while he knew that he probably owed Hermione his help - she had Obliviated her parents to accompany him, after all - he didn't want to be tagging along with them, especially now that they were a couple. Harry shuddered at the thought of having to spend lonely moments around them while they were wrapped up in each other.

There was also the matter of Ginny. He was finally free of the horror that had haunted him most of his life. For the first time, he felt unburdened. He wanted to spend as much time with Ginny, who was the only person he wanted to see these days, as possible. But he hadn't had the chance to tell Ron and Hermione yet that he and Ginny were back together. Hell, he hadn't even really talked about this stuff properly with Ginny either. And he knew that Ron had had problems with them being together in the past, so he had kept his quiet afternoons spent with Ginny to himself. And Ron had been conveniently too distracted, thanks to Hermione, to notice.

"Erm, I was thinking…uh, that I would, maybe this time, stay here." Harry didn't want to hurt Hermione's feelings. But he also thought that staying back was better. "I mean, I would love to help you, Hermione. But maybe I thought you guys might want this chance to be together, you know."

Hermione sat back a bit. She looked a bit confused and also a tiny bit hurt. Ron was looking back and forth between Hermione and Harry, unsure of what to do.

"But mate, what are you going to here, all alone? That's ridiculous." Ron pointed out. "You should come with us."

"I was just thinking of spending the summer here, at the Burrow. And also going to Grimmauld Place at some point and just fixing it up a bit, I'm sure that Kreacher would help me. I'll need a place to live in, after all. Once the summer is over."

Ron and Hermione shared a dark look. Harry knew that neither of them were convinced. He hadn't ever stayed in the Burrow without Ron, of course. Why would he want to stay alone? Harry sighed and continued.

"I want to stay back and spend time with Ginny." He looked down in embarrassment. He hadn't ever really talked about his relationship with either Hermione or Ron. He didn't think that Ron could ever be mature enough to offer him advice about his little sister and with Hermione, he knew that she would be too smug or too pushy to ever truly understand how he felt about Ginny.

When he confessed his reason for wanting to stay behind, Ron put down the pumpkin pasty and opened and closed his mouth several times, as if his brain was still making sense of what Harry had said.

"But you, she and you, aren't you…?"

"I broke up with her so that she would stay safe. It's not because I didn't care about her, Ron. I wasn't messing her about then and I'm not messing her about now. Voldemort is dead and we're safe. I guess, as safe as we can ever be. And I want to be with her now. And she wants to be with me." Harry glanced at Hermione with a pleading look. She was still sitting and soaking his words in, without so much as a reaction yet. "I've wasted too much time already. I don't want to be away from her anymore."

Slowly, Hermione's lips moved upwards. She looked happy and as Harry could have predicted, a bit smug. She turned towards Ron and punched him in the arm. "See, I told you! I told you that Harry is sneaking out to spend time with Ginny. I told you that they are back together. You're so thick, Ron!"

Ron massaged the spot on his arm where Hermione's punch had landed and still looked a bit sour. He looked back at Harry and jerked his head in a weird but firm way. Hermione, on the other hand, thought it was necessary to jump towards Harry and embrace him in a hug. Like always, Harry gave her an awkward pat on the back.

"I'm so glad you're back together, Harry." Hermione pulled back and Harry noticed that her eyes were glistening. These days, Hermione all but cried every day. "Ginny doesn't say it but she was heartbroken when you broke up with her. And I know you didn't ask her to wait, but she waited for you to come back." Harry swallowed painfully. He knew this, of course, but it felt painful to hear his suspicions being confirmed by Hermione. He hadn't ever been a good boyfriend (is that what he was now?) to Ginny. Like Ginny had said the morning after the battle, he would have to make up for all of it.

"I know, Hermione. I hated being away from her too. I just…"

Hermione looked satisfied now and sat back.

"I guess I'll just pack our stuff then, Ron." Hermione and Ron (who still looked a bit dazed) started discussing their travel plans now. Harry quickly got up and decided to leave the room. He still felt the slight tinge of awkwardness in the air. And after talking about her, Harry realised that he had started missing Ginny - he hadn't seen her since breakfast after all.

Three days later, on Friday morning, Ron and Hermione were saying their quick farewells to the Weasleys. Mrs. Weasley was hugging Ron and crying into his shoulder while Mr. Weasley held his wife and son, whispering so that only the two of them could hear him.

Hermione gave Harry a quick hug and smiled.

"I hope you have a good summer, Harry. You deserve it." She glanced at Ginny, who was now being pulled into a Weasley family hug along with a protesting George, who Harry noticed, was laughing after a long time. "She does too. She doesn't talk about it much, but I know she had a very hard time at Hogwarts last year. I know she has nightmares. I can feel her waking up at odds hours of the night. I guess, we weren't the only ones who weren't safe last year."

A lump formed in Harry's throat. He hadn't even paid enough attention to Ginny to know that she was hurting. She had kept up a facade of happiness and laughter, and Harry, desperate to feel her comfort, had bought into it without a question.

"Tell her about last year, Harry." Hermione squeezed his hand. "She won't ask or push you, but she wants to know. Tell her everything, even the parts you haven't told us. And then maybe she will tell you about herself."

Harry simply nodded. He felt a bit annoyed at Hermione for pushing him into opening up to Ginny but he also knew that she was right. He had wanted to talk to Ginny and tell her everything before, but since they had come back to the Burrow, it had been easier to ignore the talk of Horcruxes and Hallows, instead focusing on the mundane rhythm of the Burrow.

"Take care, Hermione."

Hermione moved towards Ginny to give her and Mrs. Weasley a farewell hug so Harry found himself face to face with Ron. He didn't think that a hug was called for, so he simply patted Ron on his arm and jerked his chin in a swift goodbye.

"Don't get into too much trouble without me."

Ron laughed. "Trouble finds you, mate, not me." He looked back at his girlfriend and sister, who were now embracing. "You better not break up with her again. Not that I need to protect her honour. She will probably hex you herself."

Harry snorted.

"I'm happy for you and her, mate. Seriously."

Harry felt warm. One of his biggest concerns about being with Ginny had always been isolating Ron, even though Ginny had always insisted that Ron had no business interfering. Harry agreed with her but also knew that he couldn't risk his friendship with Ron. Ron was, after all, responsible for the family Harry had found.

"Thanks, mate."

That evening, Harry found Ginny lounging in a sofa chair in the sitting room. She was reading a Potions textbook and Harry fit himself into the same chair, pulling her half into his lap. Harry nuzzled his nose into her neck and sniffed. He could never get enough of Ginny's flowery scent. She was his home, in a lot of ways.

Ginny planted a kiss on the side of his face and leaned back, continuing her reading.

"I'm looking up a recipe for the Dreamless Sleep Potion. I don't think mum and dad are sleeping very well. This might help." Harry nodded absently but then realised that Ginny couldn't see him nodding. He agreed with her. "That's a good idea."

Harry began to massage Ginny's shoulder with one of his hands, using his thumbs to dig into her taut muscles, from hours of chores done by hand, even though he offered his magical services to her. He felt her relax into his touch.

"You know, Ron and Hermione know about us now."

Ginny didn't look up from her book. "Yes, I know. Hermione told me how happy she was for us. And also gave me a lot of unsolicited advice about our relationship."

Harry chuckled against Ginny's ear. "I thought I was the only one getting relationship advice from Hermione."

"So are we in a relationship?" Ginny looked up from her book now and looked into Harry's eyes. Harry could never get over the intensity of Ginny's brown eyes - they were beautiful, understanding, inquisitive, scary, and affectionate - all at the same time. And he was a slave to them.

"I would hope so. Otherwise, your brothers might come after me and I don't know if I can survive any more Killing Curses."

Ginny barked out a laugh and smacked a kiss on his lips.

"Oh, Bill wouldn't use a Killing Curse. He knows a lot of curses that will probably be a lot more uncomfortable and painful." She pursed her lips. "But also, I would never let my brothers have you. You're mine, to do with as I please."

Harry trailed kissed along her shoulder and Ginny sighed happily.

"And what do you wish to do with me?"

"For now, sneak you into my room for a snog. But let's not keep curses off the table just yet."