The alarm rudely interrupted Ron and Harry's sleep. Harry groaned and reached for his glasses, and was lying there for about ten minutes facing an inner battle.
'Just get out of bed, once you're in the shower you'll wake up and be just fine' the sensible part of him said.
'You don't need to get up right now, the bed's so warm…another five minutes can't hurt' said the rebellious part of him. The battle ceased quickly enough when Hermione came into the room.
"It's time to get up you two!" she whispered, "You only have an hour before we have to get to the bus stop" Harry got out of bed quickly and stumbled his way to the shower. He caught Hermione smirking at him, it was only then he realised his sleepwear of boxers was not appropriate around Hermione. He felt a bit embarrassed and stumbled faster to the shower.
"Five more minutes mum!" Ron grumbled, grabbing his pillow and putting it over his face. Hermione realised that Ron might be a bit more difficult to get up. She tried to nudge and whisper to Ron a few more times, but to no avail. Harry had finished showering and put on his muggle clothes. He walked into the bedroom to find Hermione still trying to wake up Ron.
"Don't worry" Harry whispered, "I know what to do" He concentrated on Ron and thought 'sonorous', then opened his mouth and shouted -
"GOOD MORNING ROONIL WAZLIB! WAKEY WAKEY RISE AND SHINE!"
Hermione rolled on the floor laughing as Ron literally leapt from his bed and flung himself against the wall, looking like a rabbit in headlights.
"What did you do that for? You could have just shaken me you know! I think we've discussed this before…" said Ron.
"We tried," said Harry, trying to get the vision of Ron leaping out of bed out of his head "But nothing we said or did would make you budge." Hermione's laughter was contagious and soon enough all three of them were laughing hysterically. After finally calming down Hermione managed to say -
"Now you have fifteen minutes to shower and get dressed before we have to get to the park. Chip chop" and left the room to get dressed too, still with a smile on her face.
Harry was sitting downstairs with Arthur, Molly and Ginny. Molly had made everyone a cup of tea after being unceremoniously woken up by Harry's wake up call for Ron. The tension was audible in the living room. Ron had finally spoken to his parents last night. Needless to say Molly was distraught at the idea of Ron leaving to fight Voldemort. Harry knew he had to say something to reassure her, but he had no idea where to begin, or if he would even be telling the truth. The silence in the room stretched on with nobody saying a word to each other. Harry just sipped his tea in silence. Finally Molly spoke -
"You will take care of him won't you dear? I know that this is something you have to do, but I couldn't bare it if anything happened to my boy…" She began sobbing on Harry's shoulder and he felt awful.
"Ginny," said Harry "Would you mind giving your parents and I a minute alone?" Ginny looked like she might refuse to leave, then turned around and stormed off.
"Mrs. Weasley," Harry continued, patting her shoulder in an attempt to be comforting "Ron and Hermione are helping me with, uh, something I have to do before I fight Voldemort. Once we've done what we need to do, we'll tell the Order, but we can't before then. Dumbledore made me promise, I hope you can understand that. When I go to fight Voldemort, they won't be with me. I make that promise to you. There's no way I'd put my friends in that kind of danger." Mrs. Weasley looked up at Harry and smiled a trembling smile. Arthur came over and put his hand on Harry's shoulder, blinking back unshed tears.
"You're a good lad Harry," said Mr. Weasley, "One of the Order members will let you know when the next meeting is. We hope you three can be there"
"Harry, you stay safe do you hear me?" said Mrs. Weasley, hugging him fiercely "I couldn't bare it if anything happened to you either."
"Everything will be fine Mrs. Weasley," said Harry, wishing that he could believe that. As he stepped into the hallway he was cornered by Ginny. This was what he had been dreading. He had changed so much just having this burden on his shoulders, and Ginny was the same as she'd always been. It was like they were from two different worlds.
"Were you planning on saying goodbye to me Harry?" asked Ginny, looking like she was about to cry.
"Ginny…" Harry began slowly "Of course I was going to say goodbye to you. I've just had so much to do…" Ginny looked like she was steeling herself for what she was about to say. Harry involuntarily held his breath.
"I need to know if after this is all over you still want to be with me. I need to know if you want me to wait for you, if this is worth waiting for. Can you give me that Harry?" said Ginny, her voice trembling and tears beginning to fall. Harry felt such pity towards her. How could he treat her this way? She loved him! Maybe his feelings were changing because he had to distance himself from her and concentrate on what he had to do. He just had no idea. God, he was a mess.
"Once this is all over I'll come back. But I can't promise you anything. We'll see what happens between us, but right now I need you to be there for me as a friend. If we're meant to be together Ginny then we will be together, and if we're not then it's better that we stay apart than be together if we're not right for each other. Lets just see what happens. Time will tell. Will that do?" He leaned over to Ginny and kissed her on the cheek in a friendly chaste way. Ginny's tears were coming fast now, and she wiped them frantically.
"What do you feel about Hermione Harry?" she asked him suddenly. Harry was taken back by this comment and found that he was speechless. What did he think about Hermione?
"What do you mean? What does she have to do with this?" he asked, searching her face for an answer. He felt his hand tingling again and tried to get the guilty feeling out of his mind. 'What on earth do I have to feel guilty about?' he thought to himself, but the unease continued.
"Nothing, Harry. Nothing at all" she said and then walked away to join her parents. Hermione was crouched on the stairs, listening. She felt awkward about sitting there, but she thought it would have been even more awkward had she interrupted them. She felt a tiny bud of hope in her chest as she listened to Harry's words. Maybe there was something she could do to get him after all. She realised how much he had grown over the summer, and wondered how much else had changed about him that she would have to rediscover.
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