Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
A/N: Heh… heh… *grins* after an extremely long wait… chapter 9 is here! I hope you lot haven't forgotten about me… although, if you have I certainly wouldn't blame you lol. I'm really, really sorry guys… writing blocks can be a bitch. I've planned a little of the story out, and I'm having my girlfriend help me plan it out even more (hun, if I haven't told you about this, well, you're helping me now =P).
I hope you like this chapter… it's a small one, but it's my "return", so to speak - no pun intended ;) many thanks to the patience of my lovely beta reader, StarAngel613. Please remember to review!
The Return
Chapter Nine: Ginny
"Hermione!"
"Sleeping," Hermione muttered, snuggling closer into Harry, grinning as she felt him pull her closer.
"No you're not."
Hermione frowned slightly as she felt some sort of soft object hit her in the face, "Harry don't hit me."
"I'm not Harry."
Hermione's eyes flew wide open and she turned to look behind her, to find Ginny Longbottom standing over her, her mouth and brow set into a firm straight line.
"Ginny!"
"Nice to see you two are comfortable," Ginny said irritably, brandishing a copy of the Daily Prophet. "Look at this."
Hermione frowned again and sat up, noticing Harry was still asleep, and picked the newspaper up. "The Boy-Who-Lived; Returned? Oh God…"
"It would have been nice if you told me before I found out from the papers," Ginny said, sighing slightly as she sat down on the edge of the bed. "You weren't the only one who lost him, Hermione."
"I know, but we only saw Molly yesterday, and then when we came back we found a reporter in here -"
"- Mark," Ginny cut across her.
"- Yes - who then called in Aurors on Harry with the silly idea that he's dangerous. We then had to go down to Auror Headquarters to make a statement. People saw Harry out on the balcony, and I suppose that's how the story got out," Hermione said, sighing heavily as she gazed down at the newspaper.
Ginny glanced at Harry's half naked form and couldn't help but smirk slightly, "You two picked up right where you left off?"
Hermione grinned uncertainly, feeling as though she was in school again, "No, we've not done anything."
"Yet."
"Oh hush."
"Why has he got a giant scar on his chest?" Ginny asked, frowning as she looked at him more closely.
"Let me get out of bed and make some tea for you, and coffee for me, and I'll tell you as much as I can," Hermione said, carefully moving away from Harry without waking him.
"How long has he been back?" Ginny asked as Hermione stood out of the bed and began to lead her towards the kitchen.
"Several days," Hermione said, yawning widely and closing her door behind her as they left the room.
Ginny nodded and they entered the kitchen, Hermione going straight to the kettle. She filled it with water and then picked her wand up from the counter, waving it at the kettle.
"What happened to him?" Ginny asked softly, frowning slightly and glancing over her shoulder.
Hermione sighed as she pulled the tea and coffee out of the overhanging cupboards, "I'll let him tell you that."
Ginny nodded, "Well, what happened when he came back? How did he come back?" she asked confusedly, frowning slightly.
Hermione glanced in the direction of her bedroom before beginning to tell Ginny what happened from when Harry appeared in her living room.
---
"He's alright now, though?" Ginny asked her eyes still wide with surprise at Hermione's story.
"Yes, he's doing much better. He can almost walk on his own," Hermione said, smiling slightly. She took a sip of her coffee and said, "I just hope that he doesn't relapse or something."
"Why would you think he'd relapse?"
Hermione sighed, "That scar on his chest. I don't know what kind of effect it's had on his internal organs, or his mental state."
"Will you be able to find out?"
"I don't really know. I can take him to St Mungo's to perform certain tests but I doubt those tests would show anything out of the ordinary. We've never seen an injury like this before… there isn't any sort of spell or potion to determine the effects of it, and if there are negative effects we wouldn't know how to cure them." Hermione looked sideways back in the direction of her room, "I think he'll be okay."
"I hope so," Ginny said softly, sighing slightly. "We can't have the saviour of the world dying just after he's come back, can we?"
Hermione smiled weakly, "Certainly not."
"Do you think he'd be awake yet?" Ginny asked, gazing off in the direction of Hermione's bedroom.
Hermione shrugged, "We can go wake him up if you want. That reminds me, I have to get angry at him because he told me we wouldn't sleep in," she muttered, standing up and heading for her bedroom. "Harry," she said, as she entered her bedroom to sit next to him on the bed. "Wake up Harry."
He sighed and turned away from Hermione, trying to pull the covers up to hide himself.
"Come on Harry," Hermione said sternly, pulling the sheets down, "Ginny's here."
"If you're just saying that to make me wake up, I'm going to be quite irritated with you," Harry murmured grumpily, opening one eye to look up at Hermione.
"Hi Harry," Ginny said quietly from the doorway.
Harry opened his other eye and sat up quickly, staring at her with his eyebrows raised. "Hi Ginny," he replied, not sure what he was supposed to say or do.
The redhead made her way across the room to climb onto the bed and hug Harry very tightly, tears starting to roll down her cheeks. "It's you," she whispered, pulling back to wipe away her tears.
"Of course it's me," Harry said, reaching over to hold one of her hands, "Are you alright?"
Ginny gave him a watery smile, "I'm ok. Hearing you talk again just set me off."
"Do you want me to stop talking?" Harry asked tentatively.
Ginny's smile grew and she shook her head, "No. How are you feeling?"
"Sleepy," he said, smiling back at her. "You?"
"Overwhelmed," she replied, squeezing his hand, "Neville will be so glad to know you're truly back."
"Why don't we go into the living room and I'll make myself and Harry some breakfast?" Hermione suggested quietly.
"Good idea," Harry said, beginning to try to get out of bed.
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To be continued…