Disclaimer: Any characters you recognize from the first 6 books in the Harry Potter series by J K Rowling belong to the aforementioned J K Rowling. I am simply playing with them for my amusement, and to see what kind of reaction I can get.
Hugs and kisses to Sharday, my wonderful Beta. She has managed to push through another chapter while taking time away from her holiday cheer to slug through my dilapidated grammar and make some excellent suggestions.
(6) The Burrow
It was about ten by the time Harry showered and dressed. He had used a silencing charm on the bathroom so as not to disturb anyone and he tried a wandless freshening charm on his clothes that he wore for a few hours yesterday, but it didn't seem to work. He thought he'd ask Hermione to do it when he saw her. He went down to the kitchen, which confirmed that no one else was yet up. As quietly as he could, he searched through the kitchen and started making bacon, eggs and toast.
Hermione's bedroom was over the kitchen and the smells rose up through the ventilation system and reached her nose first. The breakfast smells woke her and she absent-mindedly threw her school robes on over her nightdress before going down stairs. Expecting her Mum to be in the kitchen, she stopped at the door in stunned disbelief when she saw only Harry, cooking breakfast.
Harry had heard someone coming down the stairs and put some more bacon and eggs on the stove. "Hungry?" he said as he buttered some toast, slid it all onto a plate, "Here you go, dig in; mine will be ready in a minute."
Hermione slid an egg onto a piece of toast as she said "How did you find everything? I even have a tough time. Well, Mum normally doesn't let me cook anything anymore. I used to keep starting fires where they weren't supposed to be." She giggled and smiled. "You see all the fire extinguishers in here? Now, you know why."
"No wonder you were so good at those portable waterproof fires in first year."
Emma had noticed the aroma of breakfast and snuck down to the kitchen unheard. She was listening to this exchange from behind the door. She had been hoping her daughter wasn't trying to cook and was relieved and surprised to find Harry doing the cooking. She remembered that Harry said he cooked at the Dursleys; she just wasn't sure what all that included. She crept back to the stairs before saying 'you'd better not be anywhere near the stove', and Emma returned to the kitchen so the kids wouldn't know she had heard them.
"No, Mum. The kitchen is safe, Harry's cooking." Hermione replied as he put some more eggs and bacon on. Harry filled up another plate and put it down in front of Emma as she took her seat.
Emma looked at Hermione's plate, then at Harry flipping the bacon and finally at her plate before saying "Thank you Harry, this is a complete surprise" and to her daughter, "Does it taste as good as it looks dear?"
"Better" she said as another forkful of egg and toast entered her mouth.
"Dig in, it's getting cold, should I put some more on for Dan?"
"He'll probably sleep for a while yet," said Emma.
"Not likely," came a low voice from the stairs, "smells too good. Who actually got energetic enough to do more than put milk to cereal?"
Harry put the last of the eggs and bacon on the stove, buttered some toast for Emma and said, "Yours will be a couple of minutes Dan.", and then he started more toast.
Dan walked up to the table between his wife and daughter, and then reached down with both hands to steal a strip of bacon from each plate before wandering over to his normal seat. "Mmmm, nummy, if he keeps this up he'll have steady summer employment."
"Daddy!"
"Dan!"
"Oops, I'm in trouble now."
Harry laughed as he passed Dan a loaded plate, "This is a lot more fun when people aren't nit-picking at every little detail they can find to complain about." Harry finished loading his plate and sat down opposite Hermione, gave her a wink and started eating.
As they ate, the days activities were organized, the Grangers were going out in the afternoon to visit relatives; Hermione would normally have gone with them if not for Harry. Harry and Hermione were going to the Burrow after a late lunch, and then they would floo to the twins' shop in Diagon Alley, then Gringotts, before winding up at the Dursleys and returning to the Grangers by Monday. And on Wednesday, they would go to Luna's for tea.
When breakfast was done, the three Grangers, went back to their rooms and got dressed for the day, while Harry sent a note to Mrs. Weasley announcing that he and Hermione would arrive in the mid-afternoon for a short talk with her, Ron and Ginny.
Hermione met Harry on the way to the living room where they sat together on the sofa to finish their plans. They would apparate to the orchard. Harry said he needed to talk to Ginny and Hermione would talk to Ron and Molly about the apparition testing and try to set that up for early Wednesday afternoon.
Hermione thought she'd check out Harry's response and said, "Harry, I don't want to lie to Ron … exactly … what I'd like to tell him is that I promised McGonagall to keep you company for the summer. Is that okay with you?"
"You did make that promise, but don't shut him out completely, we'll need his help. I think if we suggest that because of the breakup with Ginny, that I don't stay with them, at least until after the wedding when it will be less hectic there, it will make sense to him and Mrs. Weasley. We'll probably be over there fairly regularly anyway or have Ron with us."
"What are you going to talk to Ginny about? You did break up at the funeral … didn't you?"
"Yes." said Harry, in a tone that was unquestionable. Hitchhiker
"Okay," replied Hermione, "just checking."
They sat there, mostly quiet, for several hours until Harry said, "Sounds like lunch time, I hear someone in the kitchen. I'll see if I can help your Mum." Giving her a squeeze, he left for the kitchen.
"Hello Harry," said Emma, "I didn't expect to see you in here; I thought you two were glued to the sofa."
"I heard you in here and I thought I might help you with lunch if that's what you're up to?" Together they made lunch and Harry called Dan and Hermione to eat.
After lunch, the Grangers left to go visiting. Harry went upstairs to collect his bag and wand, Hermione picked up her wand, money and overnight bag and they slipped on their school robes before meeting downstairs.
"I'll lock up the front and meet you in the back yard", said Hermione, and a minute later she was beside him on the back step. "Now let's see you lock the back door wandlessly."
"Oh," he said as he scrunched up his face in concentration, pointed his finger and gave it a twist like he was turning a key. They both heard a soft thunk as the bolt fell in place. "It seemed easier today … I wonder why?"
They walked clear off the house, behind a tall hedge then Hermione side-along apparated Harry and her to the Weasley's orchard, out of sight of the house. They walked towards the Burrow slowly, discussing the details of what they were going to tell Ron and Ginny.
Moments after they came into sight from the kitchen, Ginny came running out to meet them.
"Go on ahead, I'll slow down and keep Ginny out here." said Harry as he slowed his pace noticeably. Hermione sped up to a fast walk and the difference in speed made it appear that she was running to the house. Harry spotted a bench under a tree and angled off towards it. Ginny, seeing where he was heading changed direction too. As Hermione approached the kitchen she slowed. Ron and Molly came outside to greet her, and then they went back in and all sat at the kitchen table.
"Hedwig only just arrived with Harry's note saying you were both coming over. Hedwig's still here I think, resting."
"Yea, he's up in my room with Pig right now." Ron said.
"Oh, good", said Hermione.
"Now dear, what's this about you and Harry not being on the train?" said Molly
"The Headmistress wanted to talk to Harry and I asked if I could wait for him. Professor McGonagall said that Ron, Ginny and I could come along if we wanted. Ginny and Ron chose the train and we were too late to catch it."
"What did Professor McGonagall want, dear?" asked Molly.
"There were several things, I'll start out with apparition testing, Professor McGonagall talked to Wilkie Twycross about doing Harry's apparition testing early, he wouldn't actually get his license until his birthday, just do the test earlyarryhh
. She suggested we arrange to do it here at The Burrow in case Scrimgeour found out and wanted to make an issue of it, then it would look like Wilkie is doing Mr. Weasley a favor by finishing Ron's testing and Harry just happened to be here. Harry and I were thinking early Wednesday afternoon."
"Brilliant," said Ron, "and we'll all go over to Luna's after, for tea."
"I'll talk to Arthur tonight." Said Molly, "He can set up something with Wilkie for Wednesday afternoon. You and Harry come over for lunch then and it will be all set. If there are any problems, I'll owl you."
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Ginny ran up to Harry shouting his name and jumped the last few feet. Harry's seeker reflexes kept him upright when Ginny attached herself by wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist while planting her lips on his. Harry only returned a brotherly kiss and wouldn't let it go any farther. He brought his hands up to take her weight as she unwrapped herself and said, "Harry, what's wrong?" as she was put down on the ground.
"Ginny, I've got to talk to you and you're not going to like what I have to say."
"Considering I didn't really like what I heard yesterday, are you telling me this is going to be worse?"
"From your point of view, yes … this is worse."
"No … I love you Harry … we're meant to be together." her eyes began to glisten, "Harry and Ginny forever", and she began to cry though seeing the look on his face she knew it was no use. Ginny wrapped her arms around him, planting her face in his chest and sobbed, muttering in a ragged voice "no … no … no" over and over again.
Harry wasn't quite sure what to do so he let her sob away until she started to go limp. Then he held her up, sat her on the bench and sat beside her.
"I've been thinking about us for most of the last week. Yesterday, I thought I was doing the right thing … then … I realized that … when I'm with you … I'm not myself. This year, I've been trying desperately to be a normal teenager and you were part of that package. The problem is … I'm not part of that package … I'm not a normal teenager … I'm not even a normal person. You're a bright, beautiful and passionate girl that any normal guy would be happy with … you're just not right for me."
"I still want to be able to come here." Harry said, "And I'd like us to remain friends … although I guess that will be a bit awkward for a while." They just sat there together, Harry waiting patiently to see if Ginny could pull herself together.
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"Dumbledore left Harry a trunk full of stuff and a letter that I don't think he's read yet. His will is not to be read until his portrait awakens. That should be around Harry's birthday." Hermione told Molly and Ron.
"Are you two staying the night here?" asked Molly.
"Oh no, but thanks for asking. Harry has to stay at Privet Drive some of the time and I was going to stay with him … keep him company. I expect we'll be leaving shortly, can we use your floo to go to Fred and George's shop?"
"Certainly, dear. If that's all you need me for, I've got a few things to do, I won't be far away."
"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley."
"I could come over there too, when I'm not needed here." said Ron.
"You certainly could, Ron; you could help us do some studying for our project. You won't be able to do any magic there in case Harry gets blamed for it, we'll have to live like the Muggles. McGonagall wants us to be very careful to keep Harry out of trouble. The only magic you can use is wandless magic. "
"Wandless magic? That's supposed to be really hard to do. I was hoping that keeping Harry company would be more fun; can't we spend more time here? We can do all kinds of things here that we can't do around Muggles."
"It's going to make things awkward for Ginny if Harry's around here regularly, Ron."
"I tried to get Neville to keep her company on the train, he likes her, and I think it worked, they were getting along alright."
"That's good news … maybe that will make the news Harry is breaking to her a little easier to manage."
"She thinks there's still hope for her and Harry much like I'm wishing there was still hope for us." Ron said looking down at the table and blushing slightly. I suppose Harry's killing Ginny's hopes."
"Yes, he is." Hermione said as she hesitantly reached for Ron's hand, "I hope Ginny doesn't take it too hard, she's had a crush on him forever."
"She's been in love with Harry Potter 'The Boy who Lived', since she was five." Ron responded as he looked up and found Hermione's sad eyes.
"Ron." Hermione whispered, looking him in the eyes as she reached towards him with her other hand. "All we ever did was argue, we never really resolved any of the issues we argued about … I think we're best friends and it should stay that way otherwise we'll kill each other."
Ron paused, then sat up straight and proud before bringing all of their hands together in a clump. "You're probably right," he sighed, a tear running down one cheek. "I suppose I've known for a while that you and Harry …" Ron paused for a moment, then continued in a little more upbeat tone, "Anyway, I think Luna is interested in me. We were talking and she walked with me on my patrols up and down the train."
"Really, and you didn't brush her off as crazy?"
"I still think she's a few cards short of a full deck, but I'm beginning to think it might be in a nice way. I'd like to see where it leads. It can't help but be interesting." Ron said with a grin. Ron paused for a moment, his grin straightening out, not sure if he could handle the answer to his next question. "Is there anything I should know about you and Harry? Harry was looking unusually happy at Kings Cross and you were looking great yourself."
"Well … no, I wish there was." Hermione said in a flat tone, the normal brightness leaving her face. She looked away from Ron before continuing, "Something happened in McGonagall's office, and later I tried to get us talking about our feelings for each other, but Harry changed the subject."
"Don't give up on him; I know he likes you more than he's letting on. He might be more scared of losing you than anything. I couldn't figure out why you two didn't get together after second year. I still remember you coming back from the hospital wing, after being petrified, into the banquet and you gave Harry a big hug while I only got a handshake."
"I'm sorry", Hermione said sheepishly.
"Well, it was only second year after all. The end of last year when you were hit by Dolohov's curse, everyone thought that Harry was upset about Sirius' death, and he was, but only after he knew that you were going to be alright. I guess it's all explained now, the Hero always gets the girl … and no, I'm not really mad, maybe a little disappointed that I didn't end up with you. I can't erhh
begrudge Harry's happiness … not with all the stuff he's had to put up with for his whole life."
"I'm impressed with your reaction; I expected to have to dodge a few hexes. Harry doesn't have to spend all his time at the Dursleys and McGonagall gave us permission to use the castle this summer. She also gave Harry and me our Headboy and Headgirl badges. I think that was more of a bribe to get us to come back next year after we told her we might not be back. We have to tell her by the end of this week if we're coming back or not."
"Here comes Harry and Ginny." said Ron as he glanced up and saw them through the kitchen window.
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Ginny was starting to pull herself together. "Harry … how long are you staying here? Today? Tomorrow? All week? All summer?"
"Hermione should be done talking to Ron and your Mum soon and when they're done, she and I will leave. I expected you wouldn't want me around for a while and I have to return to the Dursleys anyway."
"Hermione? … Hermione! … Have you two! Are you?" screamed Ginny.
"Hermione is just following Professor Dumbledore's instructions to keep me company so I don't go off the deep end with guilt and sorrow." Harry said, in a calm voice.
"But …"
"It was Dumbledore's request; Hermione and I are just following it. Besides, you or Ron would just go nuts living in a Muggle house and not be able to use the slightest bit of magic."
"It can't be that hard to go without magic?"
"Alright, what's the first thing you do in the morning if it's still dark?"
"Light a candle."
"With your wand?"
"Uh … yes."
"That's all it would take for the Ministry to expel me, snap my wand and have us both up in front of the Wizengamot for underage magic and using magic in front of Muggles. Hermione knows how to live like a Muggle, she was one, and she's seventeen, so she can legally use magic if it becomes necessary."
"But …"
"It's over, Ginny." sighed Harry, "Come on, I'll walk you back. I think I should find Hermione, we need to be going."
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Ginny walked in first, and ignoring Hermione, went straight through the kitchen and upstairs. Harry followed her in and said, "Hello, Ron. Hermione, I think we should go. Are you done here?"
"Hi, Harry," said Ron, "We'll get together Wednesday for lunch; I want to talk to you both before we go to Luna's. Good luck with the Muggles."