((A/N: Sorry, but here’s another larger chapter. :-) It should answer some question that many have been asking.))

The last few weeks before school kept Ginny guessing as to what was going on with Harry. By nearly a week after their talk on her birthday, she decided this … distancing … was probably going to be the norm for a while. Harry was still being friendly to her, he would talk with her, he would fly with her, but she was no longer invited with him to visit Sirius on Saturdays nor did he tease her anymore. In many ways, Harry treated her just like he did Hermione. The sad part, when she finally thought about it, was that she would have been utterly thrilled to have had a relationship like this at this point in the old timeline. The thought that she could have had more but did not because of her own mistake hurt the worst. All she could really do was to enjoy the friendship she did have and hope things changed for the better.

Ginny found it interesting that they did not go shopping for school supplies in mid-August, as they normally had done in past years. Harry had all of his things, since he went to Diagon Alley every Saturday with Sirius, but her parents had not taken her and her brothers yet. When she asked her mother about it, her mother said they would be going to Diagon Alley on the morning of the thirty-first, shop, spend the night at the Leaky Cauldron, then leave from there to King’s Cross the next morning. When Ginny asked why, the answer was that she and her father had thought it would nice to do something different -- sort of like a mini-holiday. Ginny found it amusing how they ended up doing the same thing as in the other timeline, but for a different reason.

On the thirty-first, they took the Floo to the Leaky Cauldron and had a nice time. Sirius joined them, since he was still living at the pub and inn. Although they were tired from walking and shopping all day, it had been a pleasant time.

The only real excitement came when Ginny had to sneak away for a few minutes. While everyone was split up in different shops, Ginny took a couple of minutes to stop by the Diagon Alley Post Office. For a few Sickles, she mailed a letter she had worked hard on the night before. To the best of her knowledge, this really was the last task in dealing with Voldemort. From here on, she could be normal, or as normal as she would ever be.

The next morning, it was the first of September and the day to return to school. Since they all had packed their trunks to come to the Leaky Cauldron, there was no mad scramble to get everything together. They would only have a short taxi drive from the Leaky Cauldron to King’s Cross. Ginny thought they should do this every year.

As her family, Harry, and Sirius were all eating breakfast together in a private room, Sirius cleared his throat -- loudly. Everyone looked at him. “I have a family announcement, if I may.”

Ginny noticed that even Harry looked curious, so she wondered what Sirius knew that he had not even told his godson.

“As you all know, Harry is my godson and my present heir, at least until I find a more natural means to create one.” He grinned at everyone. Her mother gave him a small glare while everyone else either chuckled or at least grinned back. “I’ve also started taking steps to return the House of Black to its former glory, both the physical house and its family members. While I didn’t cause it, I am happy to remind everyone that our biggest embarrassment, my Cousin Bellatrix, has departed from this life.”

“Sirius!”

As calm as ever, the man turned to her mother. “Molly. I’m sure you see that as a lack of decorum, but considering what my cousin had done in her life, it is to everyone’s benefit that she is now gone.”

“Still…”

Ginny watched her father reach over and put his hand on her mother’s arm. “Molly, he is the head of his house.” Her mother pursed her lips in an unhappy expression, but did stop arguing.

Sirius nodded his thanks to her father. “On to happier news: I’ve reinstated Cousin Andromeda and her daughter into the family.” Her mother looked happy about that. “And,” his voice became almost mischievous, “Cousin Narcissa decided to end her marriage for breach of contract and has returned to the family. She will now be Narcissa Black, until she finds someone else with whom to join.”

Expressions of shock were on everyone’s face, Ginny’s included. “Why?” It was not until people started looking at her that Ginny realized she had spoken her thought.

“Why?” Sirius echoed. “Because she was basically forced into the marriage by her father and Lucius was never a very good husband. She’s actually quite happy to be rid of the Malfoy name. I’m sure she’ll find someone in time.”

“What about her son?” her mother asked. “You didn’t mention him as you did Andromeda’s daughter.”

“No I didn’t, did I?” Sirius grin seemed to grow, although Ginny was not sure how that was possible, and he looked at Harry. “Draco has decided to not only keep the Malfoy name, but he’s decided that it would be best for him to attend Durmstrang for the rest of his education.”

Harry looked very surprised. “You mean?”

“Yes, you won’t have to worry about him bothering you in school any more.”

“Yes!”

Everyone looked at Ron. “What? Harry was thinking it too.” They all laughed, including Ron. Harry gave his friend a high-five.

“Therefore, I want you have a good year, Harry. I’ll be at all of your games, which you had better win.” Sirius looked at his godson proudly and Harry leapt out of his seat to give the man a hug.

Ginny was really happy for Harry. She was happy for everyone there would be no Draco around, but she was happiest for Harry.

---

As they arrived on Platform 9 ¾, Ginny received a vivid reminder on some of the changes that had happened over the summer. The six students had already said goodbye to her parents and Sirius, and they were almost to the train when it seemed like everyone started staring at Harry.

Harry slowed his walking, saying “Hi!” to those who called out to him, but he was starting to look more and more paranoid. Finally, he turned to her and asked, “Ginny, is there dirt or something on my face? Everyone’s staring at me.”

Before she could answer, not that she had a good answer, Lavender came up to them. Her roommate Lavender, who looked a lot more thirteen than Ginny did.

“Hi, Harry!” she said excitedly. “I love your new look. I know we all think of glasses when we think of you, but I think no glasses works better for you. I’ve always like your green eyes.” She ended on a big smile that had Harry blushing.

Ginny was surprised the girl did not bat her eyes at him. Lavendar’s comment caused Ginny to recall her thoughts from when Harry had bought his contacts: every girl in Hogwarts would be enjoying his eyes.

Parvati came up next her friend. “Hello, Harry.” She looked him up and down with a smile on her face. “You’re looking nice today. Did you have a good summer?”

“Err, yeah, yeah I did.” Harry looked at them, but he was also glancing around, as if trying to figure out where to run to.

Ginny decided to save him. “Harry, we should board the train and find a compartment. It’ll be leaving soon.”

“Right, right,” he quickly said to her. Turning back to her roommates, he said, “We gotta get on board. I’ll see you later, all right?”

“Sure, Harry.”

“Later, Harry.” They both giggled slightly as they boarded, their trunks already on the train as they were empty handed.

“That was strange,” Ron said as he turned and boarded.

Harry grabbed her trunk and handed it to Ron to put on board and then he boarded too. Ginny smiled at his thoughtfulness and walked on, grabbing her lightened trunk pulling it behind her. “Thanks for the help, Harry,” she said.

“Yeah, no problem,” he told her over his shoulder as they looked for a place to sit.

A few minutes later, Ron smiled and opened a door. They found Neville and Hermione talking in the compartment.

“Harry?” Neville sounded very surprised.

“Harry!” Hermione shot up grabbed him in a tight hug, which he easily returned, although he did blush a little. She looked him up and down before she said, “You look really good. You’ve been taking care of yourself, haven’t you? I love your contacts too; they bring out the best part of your eyes. You’re not thin like you usually are and you look very happy. So what did you do this summer? Did you enjoy your time with Sirius? What’s he like?”

She sat down on a bench and Harry sat beside her before he started to chuckle.

“What?” She looked around and everyone else was looking at her with grins on their faces. “What?” she asked again.

“If you want me to answer questions, Hermione, you have to give me time to answer. I’m aware of at least three questions, but I think there were more.”

She blushed and looked down. “Sorry, but I’m just excited to see you, all of you. Being home was great, but I’m glad to be back at school too.”

“I know,” Harry told her as Neville, Ron, and Ginny took the other bench. Harry launched into the story of his summer for Hermione and Neville.

He told a lot about Sirius, although his adventures with the Horcruxes were never mentioned. Ginny was glad for that. She considered it their secret, especially as it would have called other secrets into question, the biggest of which was about her time traveling. The story of Draco being gone was applauded by both Neville and Hermione.

Ginny noticed that even after the summer stories were finished, Harry continued to talk primarily to Hermione. He did not ignore anyone else, but he seemed more focused on his bushy-haired friend, or so it seemed to her.

They were over halfway to school when a look of intense scrutiny came over Hermione. She slowly reached up and brushed Harry’s hair from his forehead. A second later, she gasped. “Your scar…”

Harry calmly brushed his hair back over his scar. Ginny wondered what he would say. She had asked him in an attempt to prep him for this question from both Hermione and eventually Dumbledore, but he had never given a clear answer before. Even to her mother, who had taken three days to see the difference, he had not given any kind of substantiative answer. Ginny was very impressed that Harry had withstood her mother’s pressure to find out. Of course, him saying that Sirius wanted him to keep it quiet for as long as possible helped him.

When he said nothing for a long moment, Hermione asked, “What happened? It’s almost gone.”

He looked down and shrugged. “I can’t really say, as I don’t really know much about my scar. One day it was like it used to be, then I had this incredible pain in my scar. The next morning, I saw that it had changed.”

Ginny almost applauded. There was not a bit of lie in the explanation at all, despite how much of the story was left out.

“But you must know more!” Hermione blurted. “This must mean something important. What did Dumbledore say when you told him?”

Harry smiled. “I haven’t told him. He’ll see it eventually, I’m sure.”

“Harry Potter! I can’t believe you didn’t tell the Headmaster immediately. He could help you figure it out.”

He looked at her and without a bit of emotion asked, “This would be the same Headmaster who, when I last asked a question like this, told me that I was too young to know -- even though it was about me?”

“But, but,” Hermione spluttered.

“Or the Headmaster who placed me with the Dursleys, knew I would be neglected there, and forced me to return there each summer?”

Hermione now just gaped.

“Or maybe it’s the Headmaster who knew about my family and my family vault, but thought I didn’t need to know about such things, and that I didn’t need to know anything about the Wizarding World before I went to Hogwarts?”

“I, I never knew…”

Harry shrugged as if it was a matter of indifference. “That’s OK, I didn’t know either until just recently. He wouldn’t want you to know about his mistakes because it might ruin his image of the greatest wizard of the age,” he growled bitterly.

“Oh Harry.” She threw her arms around him and gave him a long hug. “Everyone makes mistakes. You need to forgive him, as I’m sure he meant well.”

He snorted. “Sure, it’s all for the greater good, which doesn’t seem to include my good.”

When Hermione released him, Neville and Ron each put a hand on his shoulder and patted it. “We’re here for you,” Neville told him and Ron echoed him.

“Thanks, guys.”

Ginny gave him a light squeeze on the knee. He gave her a very thankful-looking smile, which warmed her heart.

While the Hogwarts Express steamed across England towards Scotland, Amelia Bones was handed a special looking envelope from her secretary. Her eyes narrowed as she glared at it. She was not sure if she wanted to open it or not, after what happened when she had received the last letter in this style of envelope. That letter had caused her to lose three prisoners -- permanently. She was not so trusting of this person now.

Deciding she could ignore the contents of this letter if it seemed advisable, she opened it, put on her monocle, and began to read.

Dear Minister Bones,

This is a very hard letter for me to write. As I’m sure you’re very displeased with me, I shall start off with an apology:

I’m very sorry for enticing you to play a role in a recent sequence of actions that you probably now regret. However, please understand that I needed access to the Lestranges for a short period of time and could think of no better way to accomplish that.

To explain why that was required, as well as why this will be my last letter to you, please allow me to share some historical facts with you that are known by very few individuals.

Tom Riddle, a Slytherin who finished Hogwarts in 1945 and who adopted the nom de guerre “Voldemort”, was obsessed with avoiding death. His obsession led him to perform a number of Dark rituals in pursuit of his goal. By the the thirty-first of October in 1981, he had made sufficient progress toward that goal that he did not completely die as a result of the events that he precipitated. Yes, that’s correct: despite appearances to the contrary, Riddle did not really die the night he killed James and Lily Potter and tried to kill young Harry Potter, too. Instead, he only lost his body, existing as a wraith when he was not possessing animals or some weak-willed person.

You can verify that information with Albus Dumbledore, who believed the above to be true and who was also aware of Riddle’s existence when the wraith possessed Professor Quirrell in 1991. I’m sure you’re asking if I mean that Dumbledore knew Riddle was in the school and possessing one of his teachers for the entire shcool year. To be honest, I don’t know if he did or not, as I did not find out about this incident until after Quirrell died and Riddle fled the school in June of 1992.

Back to the purpose of this letter and the previous letter: I have uncovered the rituals that Riddle undertook to prevent his death and undone them. However, there was one I was unable to complete because the Lestranges still lived. As they all had multiple life sentences to keep them in Azkaban and should not have left alive, I just hastened their inevitable ends and saved the government’s tax money that would otherwise have been spent keeping them alive only to die later. Their death allowed me to finally complete the undoing of the sole remaining Dark ritual that was holding Riddle to this earth.

I’m sure you’re asking yourself why you should believe me about this; in your position I’d be wary as well. However, there is a simple way of verifying. Check your records for the Death Eaters who are still alive in Azkaban. Please note what their left forearm looked like when they entered prison. Now send someone to Azkaban to check the same forearm now. If my mission is accomplished, there will be an obvious difference and if that difference is present, you can rest assured that Riddle will never return -- in any form.

It is possible that he was possessing someone when I destroyed his last link holding him to this earth. If so, he will not be dead yet, and there will be no change to the Death Eaters’ forearms for the moment. But as soon as Riddle leaves whoever he is possessing, he will die and the Death Eaters’ forearms will change. So you’ll want to check on them periodically in that case.

What you do with this information is up to you. You can either let the thought that he died in 1981 continue, or you can say that you’ve found a remnant of him and killed it; I don’t care either way.

In case you’re wondering: to the best of my knowledge, you have captured all known Death Eaters, although Voldemort sympathizers are still around. I leave them and any future Dark Wizards to you. The previous unbalance of evil has been corrected. My destiny is complete. I have seen justice served.

A concerned citizen…

Amelia laid the letter down and contemplated it -- carefully. Assuming everything it said was true, the letter had confirmed a fear of hers from years ago, and it also gave her some hope. But could she trust this person one last time? She thought about it for a few moments before she folded the letter, put it in her pocket, and left her office. She told her secretary she would be out for a couple of hours and headed for the DMLE.

Back in her old office, she found her replacement. “Kingsley? Get a squad and come with me. We’re going to Azkaban for an inspection.”

“What? Why?” he looked very surprised.

“Do you have anything to be concerned about?” she asked innocently.

“No, it’s all secure. Everything’s fine.” He sounded slightly nervous.

She almost smiled at the fun she was having, but years of being an Auror allowed her to keep her stern look. “Then let’s go see.”

Ten minutes later, she, Shacklebolt, and four other Aurors were at the dock to take the boat that would only work for Ministry employees … or at least that was how it was supposed to work. As they started the twenty minute ride, she pulled out the letter and handed it to him, watching him as he read it.

He handed it back with a very thoughtful look on his face. “Do you believe this one?”

“That is the important question. I suppose it doesn’t really matter, as we’re not being asked to do anything other than go look at a few prisoners. What’s your opinion?”

Kingsley Shacklebolt took a moment before he answered. “I’ve heard Dumbledore say that he expected Voldemort to come back one day, so I can corroborate that part.” He looked her in the eye. “It’s referring to the Dark Mark, isn’t it?”

She nodded. “I saw the photos of Lucius Malfoy’s arm. His Dark Mark was a light gray. I can still remember some of the ones we captured before Halloween of 1981. Those Death Eaters’ Mark was so dark it was black. I’m assuming that the lighter Mark indicated his existence without a body and that if the Mark is totally gone, then he’s really dead.”

It was his turn to nod. “That was the inference, but the letter did not really say, did it?”

“No, but it was plain enough. I suppose the real question is what we do with the information if it’s true.”

Shacklebolt smiled. “I’m glad it’s not me who has to decide.”

She snorted. “Coward,” but it was said in jest. “I’m very tempted to let everyone continue to think that he died in 1981. I don’t want to give anyone else any ideas that there are ways to cheat death, even if only for ten years.”

He nodded. “We’re almost there.” He pointed to the island prison that was just becoming visible.

Fifteen minutes later, they were standing in the maximum security area. Shacklebolt stunned Lucius Malfoy, just to be safe, before they entered his cell and pulled up his left sleeve. His forearm was completely normal looking.

“I think I want to see them all,” Bones said. Shacklebolt nodded his agreement and they went to the next cell to repeat the procedure. Twenty-one cells later, they had seen twenty-two forearms without the slightest hint of Dark Magic, even when they had tried several revealing spells.

A very hopeful and very pleased Amelia Bones returned to the Ministry. It was a shame she was not going to share this news with anyone else, but it was for the good of her world.

At the Sorting feast and throughout the first two days of classes, Harry was asked many times about his lack of glasses. He always told them a simple, “I got contacts.” No one asked about his scar until the third day of school. During dinner, McGonagall came over and asked him to go to the Headmaster’s office after dinner. His three friends watched him walk away after they had finished eating, each wondering why the Headmaster wanted to speak with him. Only Harry and Ginny had a good idea why.

Harry returned to the common room nearly forty-five minutes later. He joined the other three at a work table after he retrieved his book bag.

“What happened?” Hermione asked.

“Not much.” Harry did not seem too concerned, although he seemed to have a slight edge to his expressions. “He just asked me about my summer and if anyone unusual had taken any interest in me as I was walking around with Sirius. I told him no. Then he asked me about my scar.”

“What did you tell him,” Hermione quickly asked; her curiosity being very apparent, wanting more information than she had received on the train.

“Only what I told you.” Harry dug for a book in his bag, still not concerned about the topic.

Ginny noticed that Ron was paying attention, but did not seem too concerned. Only Hermione showed any real interest.

Hermione was not done with the matter. “Did he tell you anything useful? You know, like what it could mean or anything else about your scar?”

Harry shook his head as he pulled out some parchment, ink, and a quill. “No, I asked him several times about it and never got any useful answer.” He now looked at her. “He didn’t even have an answer as to why I have a scar when the Killing Curse is known not to leave scars.” He was frowning now, and Ginny understood, giving him a nod to say she had received his message.

“Well,” Hermione paused for a moment, “he can’t know everything.”

Harry looked Hermione right in the eyes and said, “What I’m trying to say is that I can tell that he knows the answer but he won’t tell me, not even when I called him on it. All he says it that it’s for the best that the answer wait.”

“You should trust him, Harry. He’s very wise.” There was a little doubt in Hermione’s voice, but it had not stopped her from saying it.

Ginny watched Harry look at her very intently and she suddenly realized what he was doing. He was using a form of Legilimency to determine if she was telling the truth. It was the first time she had seen this Harry do it; her Harry had been able to do so with ease, but that was when he was nineteen. He had never become a full-fledged Legilimens, but he could easily detect truth and falsehood. Here was another example of Harry developing a skill earlier in this timeline. She wondered why that was.

She also saw something in Harry’s demeanor subtly change; she decided it was his posture. Despite the fact that he had spent a lot of his extra time this week around Hermione, he seemed to lean away from her slightly. Ginny wondered about that too.

A little coolly, Harry said, “I think we’ll have to disagree on that. He’s very intelligent, but I doubt his wisdom in things concerning me.”

“But…”

“Don’t you remember our conversation about this on the train?” Harry innocently asked, causing Hermione to instantly close her mouth. With a smirk, Harry opened his Arithmancy book. The discussion over, everyone went back to their revising.

Ginny was pleased that Harry was working harder on his schoolwork. He would never be a Hermione, for which she was quite glad, but he was applying himself more, which she was happy to encourage. The same could not be said for her brother, who occasionally complained to Harry about studying so much. In fact, her brother started up again a few minutes later as he finished an essay with a flourish.

“There,” Ron exclaimed, “I’m finished with that Transfiguration essay. Hey Harry, you want to play a game of chess?”

Harry did not even glance up. “I can in a few minutes. I need to finish these Arithmancy exercises first. Perhaps you should work on your History essay while you wait?”

Ron snorted. “Bah, it’s just an essay for Binns, and it’s not even due for another week.”

Ginny resisted rolling her eyes at her brother, although she did chuckle quietly at the glare Hermione sent him. Harry kept on working for another ten minutes. Ron doodled while he waited.

When Harry finished his work, he put his things in his bag. “Let’s go put our stuff up and get your board,” he suggested. “We can play at that other table so we don’t disturb the girls.” Ron shrugged and the two left.

“I don’t know how he passes all of his classes,” Hermione muttered.

“That’s easy, we help him. If all three of us stopped, he’d have to work a lot harder.”

Hermione stopped working and looked very thoughtful for a moment. “Perhaps we should do that; it might be for his own good. I know I don’t have much extra time this year.”

Ginny considered Ron and his work, as she also thought about a few other things concerning Hermione. She wondered what she could say. “We could still help him, but not as much. You know, sort of wean him off of our help. Of course, Ron might seek help elsewhere.”

“We can’t help that, but lessening our help as a crutch for him is a good idea.” Hermione looked at her carefully. “Would you talk to Harry about it? I think he would be more willing to discuss it with you.”

“Me?” Ginny was surprised. “He’s spent a lot more time around you this week than he has me.”

“That may be true,” Hermione agreed, “but you saw how he just reacted to me. At least he doesn’t fight with me like Ron does.”

Ginny thought this was the perfect opportunity to keep her promise to old Hermione.

“Hermione, how do you see Ron?” she whispered to her friend.

The brunette blushed slightly. “He’s a friend. What about him?”

“I’m just trying to see if you’ve changed your mind about him. I really do think Ron is really nothing more than a normal friend for you. You’d be wasting your time dating him.” She watched her friend redden even more, much like she had in their conversation about Ron a few months ago. “You two are from different worlds. He doesn’t understand your childhood world and he doesn’t think anything like you.”

Hermione was silent for a long moment.

The boys came back down during this lull and sat at a table about ten feet away. They were oblivious to the conversation about them as they started their game.

“But there’s just something about him that I find intriguing,” Hermione finally whispered.

Ginny shrugged and whispered back. “To each her own, but I’m telling you that fighting is not a basis for a relationship. He puts things off until the last minute and you like to do things early. That’s a major personality difference that will drive both of you up the wall. Besides, he doesn’t even know you’re a girl, so you’ll be waiting a long time for him to come around.”

“So, you’re suggesting that I just go about my business and not wait for him?” Hermione looked like she did not care for that idea.

“Uh-huh. If someone decent asks you out, go out with him. It could be years before he figures anything out about girls, and it could be even longer before he looks at you that way. It’s just the way he is,” Ginny quietly explained.

“What about,” she mouthed Harry? “You don’t seem to be waiting for him?” Hermione asked with a touch of teasing.

“I don’t have to wait on him that way. He’s is a lot smarter and has already noticed me as a girl. I just have to wait on him to decide he wants to start dating. It helps that we have a good friendship to build on,” Ginny calmly whispered.

“One that you helped build,” Hermione pointed out.

“We have a natural attraction. You and,” Ginny nodded towards her brother, “don’t have that. Look, I’m not saying the two of you couldn’t work out, it’s just that you have so many obstacles to overcome I’m just trying to make sure you don’t set your sights on him as the only boy for you and ignore everyone else. You deserve better than that.” Ginny hoped that was not too strong, but she really did want the best for both Hermione and Ron, and she had to agree with old Hermione that she and Ron had not worked out so well in the other timeline.

Hermione said nothing for a moment, appearing to give the idea real thought. “Thanks, I’ll think about it.”

“Anytime,” Ginny replied and returned to her work. If she could finish this Transfiguration essay, she would have nothing due until next Wednesday. But it was not to be for a few minutes longer.

“Hey Oliver!” she heard Harry loudly call. The burly seventh year walked over. “We need to take a break, Ron. Oliver, remember me telling you that we should have some reserve players for backup and to practice with? Well, this is one of them. Ron wants to play Keeper after you leave. You should have him do a tryout.”

“Weasley,” Oliver Wood held out his hand to Ron. “So you want to be a Keeper one day?”

“Yeah,” Ron said almost dreamily.

Ginny almost giggled at her brother, at least until Harry stood and quickly walked her way. “And this is his sister, Ginny Weasley. She’d like to be a Chaser one day. They both received new brooms recently, too.”

“Really?” Wood looked a little more interested. “What do you have?” he asked her.

She gulped her sudden nervousness down. “Uh, a Shooting Star.”

“That would be a decent broom for a Chaser.” Wood turned around. “What do you have?”

“A Cleansweep 5,” Ron answered.

Wood nodded. “That would work for a Keeper.” He turned back to Harry. “I think that’s a good idea, Potter. Perhaps some tryouts are in order this year after all. It would certainly make things easier on Angelina next year.” He nodded to himself absent-mindedly. “Yeah, that’s really a good idea; it would make our practices more realistic.” He walked off with a smile on his face as new plans were obviously being made.

“Thanks, Harry,” Ginny told him, honestly appreciative for the chance to play and not have to wait until Angelina and Alicia left.

“Yeah, thanks, Harry,” Ron told him too, with a lot of gratitude in his expression.

“Sure, no problem, but don’t count your dragons before they hatch either. You still have to get picked at tryouts,” he said with a wide grin. “You’re on your own for that.” Ron turned green and Harry laughed. “Shall we finish our game?” Harry asked innocently.

Ron numbly nodded and they resumed playing. Ron also lost his first chess game to Harry.

It was with great mirth that both Hermione and Ginny watched Harry do a small victory dance to celebrate his first win over Ron.

The next day they had potions for the first time this year. Harry partnered with Ron for the class and thanks to Harry being careful, their potion came out almost perfect. Professor Snape continued to act as he had for the last half of last year. He still walked around the class during the lab portion, but he no longer hovered and he also gave tips and warnings. Snape would never be a great teacher, but he was now a reasonable teacher.

As class ended, Ginny pointedly looked at Harry and then glanced at Snape. He looked a little scared but nodded. She wanted to be there with him, but they had decided just before returning to school that it might look suspicious if she was there when he talked to Snape.

Just before Ginny walked outside with everyone else, she heard Harry tell Ron to go ahead to lunch, that he had a question for Snape. Ron looked at him strangely but left with her. Hermione looked curious but she left as well. Once outside in the hallway, Ginny stopped to wait for her friend and to her chagrin, Ron and Hermione waited with her.

“You two can go on if you want,” Ginny told them, “I’ll wait for Harry.”

“I’ll wait too,” Ron said.

“I might as well stay also,” Hermione added. “Do you know what Harry is asking Professor Snape?”

Ginny was not sure what to say as Harry might come out and contradict her. She would have to be vague. “Not really. I just know that he had a question for Snape.”

Ron accepted that, but Hermione looked at her a little more intently. Ginny did her best to remain as she was and hopefully remain above suspicion.

Harry came out a few minutes later. He might have had a smile on his face, but Ginny was not sure as he looked very surprised to see all of his friends waiting on him. “What?”

“That was our question, Harry,” Hermione said. “What did you need to see Professor Snape for?”

He looked a bit embarrassed and it was obvious to Ginny he was about to lie. “I, uh, I had a personal question for him.”

“For Snape?” Ron almost squeaked he was so surprised.

Harry nodded his head and started walking for the Great Hall. “Yes. I’m sure this will surprise you,” Harry said somewhat sarcastically, “but he and I do have a few things in common.”

“Like what?” Hermione asked, her quest for information was still in full force.

“We have worked together for business,” Harry said vaguely. When Hermione opened her mouth to ask something else, Harry stopped her. “I’m sorry, Hermione, but it’s personal.”

The brunette closed her mouth. She did not look happy that he was not sharing, but she did not say anything else.

Ginny continued to watch him closely hoping for a sign, but she was denied as well -- at least during their walk. She made sure she sat next to Harry in the Great Hall.

As they ate lunch, Ginny nudged him with her elbow and raised one eyebrow when he looked at her. With the barest of smiles, he nodded and whispered, “It’s gone.”

Yes! Ginny mentally shouted. It took all of her willpower just to sit there and act like nothing special was happening. She wanted to jump up and dance. A glance at Harry showed him to be smirking at her, as if he knew what she was thinking and was being denied. The prat, she thought. If it would not cause so much trouble, she would throw her arms around him and kiss him again. Then the memory of their last talk returned and deflated her celebratory mood. Kissing Harry right now would not be the wisest thing she could do. With a small smile of her own, she nodded back to him.

Harry leaned over and whispered to her, “He promised not to mention our conversation to Dumbledore when I asked him not to; but he did tell me that he’s already told Dumbledore that his Mark is gone. He also said they disagree on what it means.”

Ginny nodded. That Dumbledore knew was not unexpected. She also noticed that Hermione was looking at them with a disapproving look. She loved her friend like a sister, but the girl was just too nosy sometimes. Ginny returned to her lunch with a mental shrug. She had no fear of Harry giving up their secret as he could be more stubborn than Hermione, and that was saying something. Ginny smiled to herself as she again considered the news. Voldemort was definitely gone from this world.

At the end of September, Ginny was sitting in the Gryffindor common room by the fire, reading her runes book from Percy when Harry walked in just before curfew. She watched him walk in with his book bag and sit down at a table with Hermione and Ron.

Ron was having to put a little more time in on his studies, as she, Hermione, and Harry had all stopped letting Ron copy any of their work. The three still helped Ron in other ways, but they had started making Ron do more of his own work. Surprisingly to her, Ron had not sought help from others, such as Neville, Dean, or Seamus.

Her gaze returned to Harry and she thought about him for a moment. She always enjoyed watching him and thinking about him, but his actions for the last month had been puzzling to her.

It had not taken her long to notice that after spending much of his extra time with Hermione during his first week back, the next week had been similarly spent with Parvati Patil. The week after, his free time was used to hang out with Lavender Brown. Two weeks ago, he had started spending a lot more time in the library and in the study hall, and it was with Mandy Brocklehurst in Ravenclaw. Finally, yesterday, he had switched again and now seemed to be hanging out with Su Li, also of Ravenclaw.

It appeared as if Harry was trying to spend time with, and probably trying to get to know, every girl in their year. For the life of her, Ginny could not understand why. Harry had classes with them all. Sure, he could not get to know them very well only in class, but he did know them.

Harry had also restarted the Defense study group this year, and he had also opened it to all the Ravenclaws and all the Hufflepuffs. Even in the third year, other students were starting to notice that Harry had the best grasp of Defense-related spells according to all the rumors. Therefore, all of the Ravens had joined, as did most of the Badgers, despite the vastly improved classes now taught by Professor Lupin. Ginny was a little surprised Harry had not invited any Slytherins, but perhaps he simply had not figured out who he could trust yet. She really should ask him about including a few Snakes. There were three Slytherins she knew he could trust. This study group gave Harry another way to get to know people, but she supposed the size of the group prevented much sharing on the personal level.

Ginny sighed and continued to think about Harry and his actions. An hour later, when the three friends were getting up to go to bed, Ginny still had not arrived at any good conclusions and it was driving her crazy. In fact, she had been distracted by the question for over a week, which was when she had first noticed the pattern in his actions. Perhaps it was time to try to get an answer, she thought.

“Harry?” she called out to him.

He turned and smiled at her, so she waved him over. As he walked her way, she considered that he had remained his friendly self towards her, not changing at all as he spent time with other girls, other than he had a little less time to spend with her. His friendliness had restrained her jealousy.

“Hi Ginny.” He looked at her and it was obvious he saw what was in her lap. “Do you like the book?”

“Yeah, it’s interesting. How about yours? I haven’t seen you reading it lately. Did you finish it?” She really was curious and was not just making small talk.

“I did. I think it will be useful later. What’s up?” he asked, sitting down in a chair next to hers.

There was no one real nearby, but there were others in the room. Pulling her wand out, she cast Muffliato; others could still see them, but they would not be able to overhear the conversation.

Harry raised an eyebrow. “Oh? What’s so important?”

Ginny thought that easing into this would not help, so she bluntly asked, “Harry, I’ve notice that you seem to be spending your extra time with a lot of girls.” She blushed once she realized what that sounded like. “Sorry, I mean with various girls as if you were trying to spend some time with each girl on a list, not with a lot of girls at once.” When she saw a scowl come over him, she hastily added, “It’s not that I’m saying that’s bad or that I’m upset or that I even have a say in it at all, because I don’t; it’s all your choice. But the behaviour is such a contrast to what I had come to expect from you that I was curious why you’re doing it.” His scowl had eased when she had said it was his choice, and she found that interesting.

He looked at her intensely, as if judging her. “Why? Why do you care?”

She looked down for a moment as she considered how to answer him and not look petty. “I really am curious. If you’re looking for something special, you know, some skill you need taught to you, if I knew, I could help you find that person faster.” That sounded kind of lame even to her own ears, but she was not really sure how to explain what she was thinking, as she was not totally sure her own thoughts and motivations in this. She only knew that she wanted to know what he was thinking; this was not like her Harry.

“I’m not searching for anything like that,” he said in a vague way.

Ginny felt like she was getting nowhere with this line of questioning. She had another thought, one that worried her slightly and it came out in her voice. “Harry … have I not been a good enough friend?”

He looked surprised. “No … I mean yes,” he hastily corrected himself. “You continue to be a good friend.”

That made her feel a little better. She knew he was not “dating”. A few discreet questions to others, as well as a few careful observations, had helped her figure that out.

When she said nothing more for a moment, he asked, “Why? Are you jealous?”

Ginny quickly shook her head, although she said nothing.

He stared at her again. “Are you sure?” He was not letting up and this unnerved her slightly.

“I don’t think so,” she finally said. “Or if I am, it’s not much. Maybe you’re just surprising me, so I want to know this new you better,” she finished quietly, almost as if guessing at her motivation.

Harry looked down at his hands and then interlocked his fingers. As he stared at his hands, he said, “I told you I’d always be your friend as you asked, and I am trying. It’s not hard to do as you’re fun to be around, but I need to know some things.” The mood had shifted as Harry had seemed to come to some decision.

“What?” she asked as quietly as he had become.

He still would not look at her. “Have you considered how much you have me at a disadvantage? How much you know about me? How little I know about you?”

“But we’ve spent a lot of time together…”

“I suppose, but you still know a lot more about me than I do about you. You seem to be able to predict my actions, at least most of the time,” he said with a slight smile at the present situation, “but I can’t begin to do the same about you.”

“Time will fix that, Harry.”

He went on as if she had not spoken. “You know me and I wonder if you know me better than I know myself.”

When he had stopped talking, she prompted him. “And?”

Harry finally looked up at her. “I need to know who I am. I need to know what I like. I need to know what’s right for me. I’m very appreciative of what you’ve done for me, Ginny, I really am; but I have to know if the path that you’ve set me on is the right path for me.”

It was clear now. He was having an identity crisis. Well, crisis was probably too strong, but she understood his need to know who he was. She had had a similar time in her year after the diary in the other timeline. Everyone had tried to direct her and tell her how to be, especially her parents. His struggle was different, but there were enough similarities she understood and she knew that she could do nothing other than be a friend to him. This was yet another result of her changes to the timeline.

“I understand, Harry,” she said as she slowly nodded. “I had a time like that in the other timeline.” This next part hurt, but it was the right thing to do. “If you need someone to talk to about it, I’m available; otherwise, I hope your search goes quickly.”

He looked surprised as he smiled. “Thanks, Ginny. This is one of the reasons why you’re my friend.” He reached over covered her hand on the arm of her chair for a brief moment before he stood.

“Can I ask you one other thing I’m curious about?”

He looked at her and shrugged. “I guess…”

“I haven’t seen you and Professor Lupin talking. Has he not tried to contact you and, well, get to know you?” There were a number of things about Lupin that had always mystified her, but she had not known him well enough in the other timeline to find out the answers to her questions.

“No, not really. I asked Sirius about it and he said that he and Lupin were still coming to new terms with their friendship and that he had asked Lupin to hold off talking to me until they worked things out.” Harry did not seem pleased or displeased, just sort of resigned.

“And you’re OK with that?” she asked, genuinely curious.

Harry shrugged. “I’m a little mixed on it. I’d like to get to know more about my parents, and yet, Sirius has a good point that Lupin disappeared from my life for twelve years with no real excuse for doing so. He wasn’t in prison and could have dropped by to see me as an uncle or something. The biases against him in this world don’t exist in the Muggle world, so Sirius thinks he should have kept in contact with me.” Harry picked his bag up. “I’ll get to know him eventually, but I can wait a month or three for them to work things out.”

Ginny was surprised by the answer and his non-caring. Then again, as she thought back to the other timeline, Sirius was the more important of the two, and Lupin did not really become a factor in Harry’s life until his fifth year, two years after Lupin reappeared. With a nod, she said, “OK, thanks,” as she took the privacy charm down.

He gave her a small smile and said, “Good-night.”

She ignored the situation with Lupin and wondered how long it would take for Harry to answer his questions about himself and what their relationship would be like at the end. At least they were still good friends and they spent a lot of time together. As she considered it, she realized she was actually pretty happy with the way things were, except for him spending his extra time with the other girls. Originally, she had not expected any sort of dating until fourth year anyway.

Ginny also recognized that the way she thought about Harry was slowly changing too. Her feelings for him were not quite as idealistic as when she had first come back in time. She wondered if coming back in time and merging her eleven year-old thoughts with her older “normal” thoughts had de-aged her somewhat, at least emotionally. Perhaps she was more emotionally like a twelve year-old, while she was intellectually her older self. That might explain why she did not feel as much like a pervert for wanting to be with Harry as she had when she had first come back. Of course, he was getting older, which helped. But she was sure something had changed within her.

Without anyone else to really talk to, other than Harry (who was part of the problem) and Sirius (who would know less about this than she did), she was just going to have to be patient and work through this. She mentally groaned as she realized she was going to have to be an emotional teenager -- again!

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny found a compartment on the Hogwarts Express. It was a week before Christmas and they were all heading home for the holiday break. Hermione grabbed a book out of her bag and immediately started reading.

Ginny watched Harry put his bag on the overhead rack before he said, “I’ll be back later. I’m going to go sit with Tracey and Daphne for a while.”

Ron snorted. “I still don’t understand what you see in them, Harry. They’re Slytherins.”

Harry shook his head slightly. “Like the last time you argued with me, I’ll tell you that they’re actually nice and are fun to talk to, just like everyone else. They aren’t like Pansy, who’s on an ego trip, or Millicent, who so stand-offish she doesn’t really have any friends. The only difference between them and, say, Hermione and Ginny, are that they are in a difference house and approach situations a little differently.”

“I still think you’re barmy,” Ron said somewhat sullenly.

“That’s all right,” Harry said with an easy grin, “I still think you’re too close-minded.” With what appeared to be a wink at her, or so Ginny thought despite not being sure he really had done that, Harry left.

“Bah,” Ron growled.

Neville grinned, holding back a chuckle, while Hermione just shook her head.

“He has a point,” Ginny told her brother. “The fact that you won’t even consider the idea that a Slytherin could be a reasonable person is close-minded.”

Ron mulled that over for a minute. He finally came out of his thoughts and looked at her. “I don’t see you spending time with the Slytherins, so aren’t you in the same boat?”

Ginny saw Hermione grimace slightly at Ron’s attempt to make himself not look so bad. “Actually, Ron, I have partnered with Tracey and Daphne in Herbology class, and I’ve also spoken with them several times in the library. I may not be best friends with them, but we know each other and are friendly.”

Ron did not look pleased that his attempt to save face had failed.

“If you want to talk to someone decent in Slytherin, try making friends with Blaise Zabini,” Ginny told him. “He’s considered neutral and is the best of the bunch. I would agree that the rest of the third year boys aren’t worth the effort.”

Ron shook his head and looked at his roommate. “Neville, let’s go find Dean and Seamus. I bet they’ll have a more reasonable outlook on life.”

Neville shrugged but stood up with Ron. “I guess we’ll be back later,” he shyly said, as he followed her brother out the door. Ginny gave him a smile and a nod, understanding the need for male solidarity at times.

When the door closed, Hermione looked up from her book. “Perhaps you shouldn’t be so hard on him, Ginny. Ron is starting to grow up.”

Ginny gave a sigh. “I know, he is doing better. He’s starting to do more and more of his own work, and he’s finally learning to balance school work and Quidditch practice, unlike when we both started playing on the reserve team.”

Hermione smirked. “It was pretty funny how overboard he went.”

Ginny made a fake gagging sound. “You didn’t have to listen to him as much as I did. I swear, that’s all he would talk about the first week after Wood let him have a tryout and start attending practices.”

“You have a point,” Hermione agreed. She looked at Ginny and it looked like she was thinking deeply, so Ginny kept quiet. “I think you have a good point about me waiting on Ron,” Hermione softly said. “He’s growing up and becoming a nicer friend to be around, but it will be a long wait until he’s the sort of person with whom I want to spend a lot of one-on-one time.”

“I’m impressed,” Ginny seriously told her friend. “I thought you’d be a lot harder to convince.”

Hermione looked out the window for a moment. “There are things about him that I like, but there’s a big difference between watching and waiting. You’re right that I shouldn’t wait for him, but I will watch to see if he becomes someone I want to date one day.”

“And if someone good comes along in the meantime?” Ginny asked innocently.

Hermione grinned. “Then I’ll enjoy the moment. Who knows? I might find someone who I’ll like better than Ron.”

Ginny chuckled. “That’s the spirit!”

Hermione chuckled too.

Ginny wondered if this was a good time to bring something else up. She almost did not, until she again noticed the bags under her friend’s eyes, bags that had been present ever since Halloween. “Hermione? May I make one more suggestion for you to consider?”

“I suppose,” Hermione said tentatively, despite the closeness a moment ago.

Gathering her courage, Ginny went right for the heart of the matter. “Hermione, I’m really concerned about your health, and I think you need to give up Muggle Studies and Divination. They don’t serve any purpose for you and they’re only making you overly tired and putting too much strain on you.”

A determined look came over the brunette. “I want to take them and there’s no reason to drop them. I can handle the load.”

Ginny knew she was going to have to do the hard thing. “Hermione, I know you want to learn all you can about the Wizarding world, but you can’t physically handle them, at least not normally.”

“Sure I can…”

“No you can’t,” Ginny cut her off, “not without a Time-Turner,” Hermione looked shocked and scared, “and it’s beyond stupid for the Professors to have loaned you one just so you can take two classes that you really won’t learn anything useful in.”

Hermione stared at her for a moment before she quietly asked, “How did you know?”

Ginny wanted to roll her eyes, but she refrained. “Anyone could figure it out if they only used their brain. Arithmancy is at the same time that Divination is; and yet, you’re physically in both of those classes. There is only one way for a person to be physically present in two places at once and that’s with a Time-Turner.”

“But, but, Professor McGonagall said they’re really rare and most people don’t know about them,” her friend argued.

“And you’re forgetting that my father works in the Ministry and I spend a lot of time in the library too,” Ginny retorted. When Hermione looked down, Ginny went on. “Look, I’m not going to make you do anything and I’m not going to tell anyone either.” Hermione looked up with a grateful look. “But I will say that you’re burning yourself out and ruining your health for nothing as those two classes are worthless to you.”

“I am learning things in there,” Hermione weakly protested.

“Fine, go read how to interpret tea leaves and Tarot cards. Beyond that, there’s nothing for you, or me, to learn because we don’t have the magical gift of Seeing. Without the magical gift, it’s a useless class.”

Hermione slowly nodded. “I’ve come to the same conclusion, but I thought there might be more to learn later.”

Ginny shook her head. “There’s really not. Muggle Studies is also useless for you because you were raised Muggle. You probably already know more about the Muggle world than the professor does.”

Hermione surprised her with snort. “It’s sad really. The author of the text for the class apparently thinks Muggles are still in the late eighteen hundreds, and even that isn’t totally accurate as they do acknowledge older cars and electricity. They ignore large standing armies and what they can do, rifles, airplanes, not to mention everything to do with electronics.” She gave a sigh. “I tried to tell the professor that Muggles had even used a spaceship to travel to the moon and had walked on it, and I lost twenty points for trying to lie to her.”

“She’s a Pureblood, Hermione. Professor Burbage has probably never gone out the public door of the Leaky Cauldron, but instead uses the Floo or the public Apparation point to get to Diagon Alley. Most Purebloods are that way,” Ginny explained.

“But your family is not like that and you’re Purebloods.” Hermione looked determined to understand.

“I said most,” Ginny reminded her. “We’re one of the exceptions, but look at my dad. He’s probably the most knowledgeable about Muggles at the Ministry, and from what I hear from you and Harry, he’s also probably got a lot of things wrong.” Her old knowledge knew her dad had things wrong, but she could not say that.

“He’s really nice,” Hermione quickly pointed out, “but you’re right, he does mix a few things up.”

“So, if you know more than the expert at the Ministry, why are you taking Muggle Studies? Go talk to McGonagall about dropping those two courses and giving her back the Time-Turner. They’re really dangerous and should only be used in exceptional circumstances.” Ginny did her best to convince her friend and ignore the slight hypocricy of her stance against time manipulation. There had been no other way for Ginny to correct the imbalance in her old world.

Hermione nodded. “Professor McGonagall lectured me extensively on it.” She sighed. “I would like more sleep and my other classes are suffering.”

With a wry grin Ginny quipped, “Just think of how many Ravenclaws will get better grades than you because your other classes are suffering.”

Hermione did not look pleased to be reminded that. “If I’m not careful, you’ll pass me up too.” She looked even less pleased, although she tried to put a small smile on her face at the end. “I’ll think about it,” she finally said before looking carefully at her redheaded friend. “Are you handing out any more free advice?”

With a light chuckle, Ginny said, “That’s it for now, but I’m sure I can think of some more if you want me to.”

“That’s all right,” Hermione said as she opened her book back up. “I’ve got plenty to think about.”

Ginny was pleased with the conversation. She had no idea if Hermione would give up the two classes, but she felt her friend had learned a valuable lesson over this last term. She turned her thoughts from her studious friend to her missing best friend.

Harry was still doing well in his school work, but he was also still working his way through all the third-year girls, making friends and spending time with them. After Christmas, she expected him to spend time with Daphne Greengrass and then start spending time with each of the four Hufflepuff girls. Knowing Harry as she did, she had the most concern about the Hufflepuffs. Many in the school thought them weak, but Ginny knew different. Their friendliness and loyalty would be very appealing to Harry. If there was competition for Harry’s attention, it would be from the Hufflepuff girls.

About halfway through the trip, Ron and Neville came back. Harry did not return until the train was slowing down to enter King’s Cross station.

“Sorry, I lost track of time,” Harry said breathlessly, as if he had run back.

While he was pulling his bag of things down from the shelf, Ginny asked him, “Harry, are you still going to come visit us during Christmas?”

Harry looked taken aback when he looked at her. “You didn’t hear? Sirius invited your family over to our house for Christmas dinner.”

Ginny was surprised and a glance at Ron showed him to be as well. “No, I hadn’t heard.”

“Oh, well, I just heard yesterday in a letter from Sirius. I guess I assumed your mum had told you as well. Anyway, Sirius and I will be there, as will Sirius’s new girlfriend, whoever she is. He hasn’t even told me her name.” He grinned. “Makes me wonder if she’s ugly or something.”

Ron and Neville joined him in a chuckle while the two girls glared.

Harry cleared his throat as if that would excuse him. “Yeah, well, besides them, Professor Lupin will be there too.”

“Oh, why is that?” Hermione asked a little eagerly.

Harry paused for a second as if trying to figure out what to say. “He’s an old friend of my parents and Sirius.”

“I assume Lupin and Sirius worked things out?” Ginny asked. The others looked at her and she realized that she had just made it known that she knew more than they did.

“Yeah, but I don’t know the details. I guess I’ll find out what’s going on when I get home,” Harry told them.

Ginny was happy that he could use the word “home” so freely now, unlike when he had lived with the Durleys.

The train was stopped and many of the students had exited the train, so they could now walk down the aisle. “Come on,” Harry called and led the way out.

Out on the platform, Ginny saw Sirius standing next to her parents and they were talking. She assumed it was about their visit. Neville and Hermione saw their parents and left. Ginny, Ron, and Harry walked over to their parents.

“Hey, kiddo!” Sirius swept Harry into a hug, who energetically returned it. “Ready to go home and decorate the house for Christmas?”

“Yeah!” Harry said with a large smile.

“That’s good, because Dobby has been trying to start since the first of December. Tell your friends good-bye until next week.” Sirius took Harry’s bag from him and gave him a pat on the shoulder to send him forward.

Harry grabbed Ron’s hand in a shake and they slapped each other on the shoulder as if trying to knock the other over. Ginny almost giggled at their antics. She almost “eeped” when Harry stepped over and gave her a quick hug, touching his cheek to hers. “See you next week,” he told her family and waved.

Sirius waved as well and walked Harry over to the Apparation point for the platform before they disappeared.

“Let’s go home,” her father said as he waved the twins over from where they had been talking to Lee Jordan. He started herding them all towards the exit. “We’re going to take a taxi to the Leaky Cauldron and then use the Floo to go the rest of the way home.”

Ginny wondered what Christmas would be like as she followed her parents. This would be nothing like the Christmas of her second year in the other timeline.

((A/N: Based on my outline, it looks like there will be 3 more chapters.))