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SIYE Time:18:30 on 28th March 2024
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Ginny Returns
By _kb_

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Category: Alternate Universe
Characters:Albus Dumbledore, Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Severus Snape, Sirius Black
Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama
Warnings: None
Story is Complete
Rating: PG-13
Reviews: 212
Summary: What if the war was over, but the only ones left were Ginny and a paralyzed friend? When Ginny finds a ritual that will send her back to an earlier point in the timeline, how will she change things to come out for the better?
Hitcount: Story Total: 84296; Chapter Total: 5774







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((A/N: Another longer chapter for you. I just couldn’t leave anything out. :-))




Chapter 9 - Escape

On the train back to Hogwarts, Ginny had time to think, as Hermione was reading a new book she had received for Christmas, while Ron and Harry were each leaning against the wall, asleep.

This next term should not be too hard, she thought. All she really had to do was to not make any mistakes such as showing off her advanced abilities, as she had in front of Harry. There were no tasks that had to be done before this summer, and she was glad of that.

In fact, she supposed all that really mattered was being a friend to Ron and rebuilding that relationship. As things were now, he was ignoring her. In a way, it was rather ironic. She was having to play the role that Ron should have been playing for her: the comforting older sibling.

The bright spot was that Harry was still her friend; they were getting along well, and now they would be in classes together.

Another small positive was that Hermione was happy for her “promotion”. The brunette did not have a close friendship with Lavender or Parvati, while she and Ginny got along reasonably well. From her experience in the other timeline, Ginny knew they could become very good friends, so Ginny's move to the second-year dorm room should not be a problem.

She had just come to all of these conclusions when the door to their compartment opened. She saw Hermione look up and her eyes widen, so Ginny quickly looked up. There stood Draco Malfoy. Ginny quickly drew her wand, and before Malfoy could say anything, she calmly asked, “Did you forget our agreement, Malfoy?” From his expression, it was obvious Malfoy had either forgotten or did not care. “You know,” she went on before he could insult anyone, “you leave me and my friends alone, and you get to live a normal life?”

“Really, Weasley,” he drawled, “that’s not a threat. You can’t do anything to me.”

“No, it was a reminder of a threat, but if you’d like a threat, how about this? If you don’t leave in the next three seconds, I’ll let you find out that my Bat-Bogey hex can be applied to other openings than your nose.” Ginny let her wand slowly move downward until it was pointed at his waist. The boy gulped. “Quietly close the door and leave,” she told him in a soft but firm tone. Malfoy obeyed and the four Gryffindors were alone again. Harry and Ron had slept through the intrusion.

Hermione stared at her friend. “Ginny,” she whispered, still trying to let the boys sleep. “You can’t threaten people like that. It’s not right.”

Ginny let out a deep sigh as she put her wand up. Apparently, her friend still did not understand and Ginny was not sure she could get her friend to understand any time soon. Despite their encounter with Malfoy and his goons in the corridor a couple of months ago, Hermione had not had enough conflicts with Death Eaters or Death Eater wanna-bes. “Hermione, let me ask you a question. Given what you know about Malfoy’s personality, what would it take for him to act civil and be polite to us? He doesn't have to friendly, just civil.”

“I don’t know, but threatening him is not the answer. It didn’t work last time.”

“My last threat kept him civil towards us for a couple of months, which had never happened before … but back to my question. I challenge you to come up with an answer to my question, with the restriction that the answer may not contain the idea of going to an adult for help.”

“But that is the most obvious way to solve it, Ginny.”

A quote from a Muggle author popped into Ginny’s head and she could not resist. “I believe that is a usage of the word ‘solve’ with which I was previously unfamiliar.”

“Huh?” Hermione looked confused.

“No, Hermione, getting an adult is not the best way to solve the problem of Malfoy. No adult will do a thing about it. Malfoy’s parents won’t, as that’s where he learned the behavior from. Our Professors won’t, as otherwise they would have already done so. Our parents won’t, because he’s not their child. Therefore, no adult will correct Malfoy and get him to act the way he should. So I ask you again, how does one get Malfoy to act civilly and politely?”

Hermione stared back, slowly biting at her lower lip. Ginny let her think about it, hoping her friend would understand. She was surprised by what she heard next.

“Why do you think you know the answer?”

Ginny had to be careful, lest she give away her secret. “I’m not absolutely certain I do, but I’ve grown up with six older brothers, so I’ve seen almost every behavior there is at one time or another. If that’s not enough, I’ve met other bullies before, and that’s what Malfoy is -- a bully.”

Hermione slowly nodded. “I’ve met them too when I went to my Muggle primary school, and I never could figure out what to do.” She paused, deep in thought, probably reliving a memory, Ginny thought. “So, what is the answer, Ginny?”

“My best answer is that you have to use negative reinforcement and speak to him in a language he will understand. I think there is a phrase that says ‘might makes right’; that’s what they understand.”

“So you have to act like them? I’m sorry, I won’t do that,” Hermione said adamantly.

“Then you’ll never be rid of bullies.”

“But that makes you just like them.”

Ginny quietly chuckled. “You sound just like our Headmaster.” Hermione seemed to preen, sitting up a little straighter. “A person who is quite smart, but will not do the right thing in this area.”

“How can you say that about him, Ginny?”

“Because, as I said, a bully only understands his own language, and don’t get all huffy with me,” Ginny said as her friend took a deep breath to refute her. “If Dumbledore did know the right thing to do and did it, then Malfoy would be cured instead of being a bully at school.” Hermione seemed to deflate in the face of that logic. “Also, Hermione, just because I ‘speak’ Malfoy’s language does not mean I’m just like him or act like him. He enjoys pushing people around for his own advantage. I only push him back to where he belongs to keep him in check and I don’t like doing it. What makes us different is our intent. If you want to think of it if this way, I’m the ruler slapping the back of his hand to show him he’s doing the wrong thing. If he’ll do the right thing, I’ll happily stop slapping his hand.”

Hermione looked at her calculatingly, but said nothing. Ginny hoped her friend would eventually come to the right conclusion. She let her friend stew over that while she thought about what must happen during the coming summer, and how she could minimize any damage.

---

The news that Ginny had changed years spread like wildfire through the Gryffindor Tower that evening. Most people were pretty understanding, even her “old” first-year dorm mates. They had seen first-hand how easy classes were for her. The few that were not happy for her just ignored her, which suited her just fine. The only person actively against her was Ron, but she was going to try to work on that.

Ginny was pleasantly surprised at how welcoming Lavender and Parvati were. After a few minutes of talking to them, she started to understand that they saw Ginny as another person to gossip with. While that activity was not Ginny’s favorite hobby, it was fun at times. Perhaps she could bridge the gap between those two and Hermione.

Her classes went well, with her teachers understanding that she might be a little behind as she had missed the first term, but she kept up and had no problems. Even Snape did not give her problems, although he did not cut her any slack, expecting her to know everything a second year should at this point. His snarkiness had really mellowed over the last few months and Potions was going better for everyone.

When she could, Ginny partnered with Harry in class, although that did not always happen. Sometimes he actively sought out Ron and she let him, partnering with Hermione in those classes. He needed that relationship, at least as long as Ron would be normal around him.

The bright side of it all was that Ron was slowly allowing Ginny to be around him without acting like a jealous prat. It seemed that his seeing her in class and doing well helped to ease the tension, since he could see that her promotion was actually justified. Ginny thought that maybe, just maybe, they would be like normal brother and sister again by the end of the school year.




January turned into February and everything continued to go well for Ginny overall. Two minor problems had cropped up, but she had yet to figure out exactly what she wanted to do about them.

The most obvious was that Malfoy was starting to ignore her threat again and he had started insulting people again. The hard part in dealing with him was figure out how to “slap him” hard enough as negative reinforcement without going overboard and just sending him out on a wild goose chase that ended up at the Acromantula lair in the Forbidden Forest.

The other minor problem that irked her was Lockhart. He still was not really teaching Defense. She was stuck on what to do with him, too.

On the one hand, she could just challenge him to a duel, and her beating the professor should open some eyes about his non-ability. The obvious drawback to that was the attention that would bring to her and her “too advanced” abilities.

On the other hand, she could go talk to McGonagall and clue her in, but she had a feeling that would not help any. After all, there was no guarantee that McGonagall could do anything to make the class better, and who would replace him? Surely McGonagall and Dumbledore already knew how bad Lockhart was.

On the third hand, she paused and smiled as she realized the absurdity of that expression, she could take a page from Hermione’s book and convince Harry to start the DA this year as a study group for the second years. The older students would not be interested, as Harry was not old enough yet, nor had he gone through all the trials to prove himself as he had in the other timeline by his fifth year. At the moment, ignoring Lockhart and starting the study group seemed like the best option.

Fortunately for Ginny, Lockhart provided her with a way to “slap” Malfoy and get away with it. On the morning of Valentine’s Day, Lockhart made his announcement about the singing Valentines. She suddenly realized the singing Valentines could be put to a good use for her, in contrast to their more normal use.

Grabbing a quill and some parchment, Ginny madly worked on her “Valentine”. Another devious idea came to her, and she started working on a second. She knew her “victim” would understand, and it would be better than in the other timeline. After a few minutes, she took her two folded parchments with names on the outside and two Sickles up to Lockhart. As luck would have it, they had Potions today, so she could watch both of her victims.

Ginny went through Potions with a smile on her face, anticipating the event. Harry had asked her what was going on, but she just smiled at him and whispered to be patient. Nothing was going to stop her from enjoying this.

When class let out, she made sure she was not too far away from Malfoy. Down the corridor from the Potions classroom, she saw a dwarf dressed like a scruffy Cupid come running down the hall. Harry moved to the side of the hallway in fear, and to his relief, the dwarf raced past him. Ginny could not help but laugh at that, much to Harry obvious displeasure.

Harry’s attention, and that of everyone else, quickly moved to Draco Malfoy. The strong dwarf had rushed up to him and pinned him against the wall with one hand so he could not get away. Opening the parchment in his other hand, the “singing dwarf” started to chant:

Your hair is so light,
It gives me a fright,
To think that you might,
Not be very bright.

If your common sense does not abound,
And you turn your ideals all around,
You sadly will be found,
Six feet under the ground.

The dwarf stepped back. “Happy Valentine’s Day,” his bass voice said as Malfoy crumpled to the floor.

Malfoy looked around from his sitting position. Ginny caught his eye and nodded slightly. His eyes widened and he paled. She was sure her message had been received.

Looking pleased with himself, the dwarf put that parchment away and pulled out another. He calmly walked her way until he was standing directly in front of Harry. Now the boy paled, although he did not run, knowing it would be futile. The dwarf cleared his throat and actually tried to sing, but it came out as a croaky warble.

You’re eyes are so green,
They make me to dream,
Of your love so divine,
I can’t wait ‘til it’s mine.

With a smile and a deep voice, the dwarf told Harry, “Happy Valentine’s Day,” before he left.

Ginny saw that Harry looked relieved. She figured he was happy it was not any worse. Unable to help herself, she pulled out her Valentine card and handed it to him. “For you,” she simply said.

Harry took it and opened it. It said the same thing the dwarf had just “sung”. “Ginny?!” he said in an unbelieving tone.

She could not help the devilish grin that split her face. “Sorry,” she said, even though she clearly was not. “The opportunity for the prank was just too much for me to resist.”

He looked at her for a moment and she wondered what he was thinking. Suddenly, he started chuckling. “That was good, although not very subtle.” She shrugged. “At least I didn’t get a death threat,” he said with a smile.

“No, Harry you’re not in that category of friend.” She glanced around and saw that most everyone had started moving away. Most importantly, Ron and Hermione had left for their next class, so she took a chance. Standing up on her tiptoes, she gave Harry a quick kiss on the cheek. “You’re in a category all of your own.”

She started walking away and had taken half a dozen steps before she realized Harry was not following. Stopping, she turned around and saw that Harry had not moved and he had a gobsmacked look on his face. “Are you coming Potter, or are you just going to stand there and be late to class?”

Harry looked at her, as if seeing her for the first time. A smile slowly came over him as he started to walk. “Coming, Weasley.”

Ginny was not sure, but she suspected that she had officially just changed from being “Ron’s sister” to “a girl”, or so she hoped. Her heart did a jig as they walked to their next class together.

---

Ginny had a little more fun with Harry that evening after dinner. She got his attention and waved him over to a secluded spot in the common room. Since it just happened to be Valentine’s Day, he blushed a brilliant red, which stayed strong when she put up a privacy spell.

“Hey, Harry?” she said quietly, “I need a favor.”

He was still red, but managed to maintain eye contact now. “What?”

“Since Lockhart is doing such a poor job at teaching anything worthwhile, I think you need to start a study group to teach Defense,” she suggested.

His reaction was the expected one. He looked surprised and sputtered for a moment. “W-what? M-me? Why would you think I could do that? You’d be a much better choice.”

Ginny sighed; she was going to have to explain it all. “Look Harry, there are three very important reasons for you to do this. First, and most importantly to both of us, I can’t do it. I can’t be in the spotlight and draw attention to myself. We can’t risk me getting caught so our mission is not completed. Also, no one should believe that I can do this, because I’m really a first year who jumped a grade, so I shouldn’t know enough to do this.”

“But I don’t know enough either,” he shot back.

“That leads me to the second reason. You’re good at Defense, Harry. I’ve seen the way you do spells in your other classes and I know from the other timeline that you have the ability. Look at what you did in your first year.”

Harry shook his head in denial. “No, I was lucky, that’s all.”

“Some people say that luck is made. You, as a first year, stood up to a full-grown wizard with Voldemort in attendance too.” This was laying it on a little thick, but she thought he needed to hear it. “You understood what to do and did it, and you also knew when to let others help. That’s important, Harry.”

“But I can’t teach…”

“Maybe not this second, but I think you can do it when you want to. Also, I’m not asking you to lead a big class,” not yet, she told herself. “Just lead a small study group. You know, we look at the normal second year DADA book and work through it, not the trash Lockhart has forced us to buy so he becomes richer.”

“I don’t know, Ginny,” he said without confidence, suddenly finding his hands interesting.

“Lastly, you need this, Harry.” He looked up at her, staring intently. “You need this, Harry, because you don’t know what the future will bring. I’m helping you with the Voldemort problem for now, but you may have to do part of it and you need to be prepared. Also, Voldemort has helpers, Death Eaters and sympathizers; you don’t know if you’ll run into them. What will you do if you basically skip a year of Defense? I’ll help you as much as I can, but what if you’re attacked when I’m not around? You know you need this.” She was not sure why he was so hesitant; this was not like her Harry.

Harry seemed to alternate in looking at her face and his hands, as if flip-flopping in his mind. “It would be stupid of me to be caught unaware,” he finally said. He sighed. “Look, I agree that I need to know this. I’m just not sure about leading it. Wouldn’t Hermione do a better job?”

Ginny purposefully kept still, instead of hitting her head on the wall or else hitting him, hoping to slap some sense into him. “Hermione is very smart, but you’re smart too and a better teacher, Harry. Trust me, I’ve seen both of you teach and you are better. You also don’t have to lecture or anything like that. Just read the book, explain what the spell is, how it can be useful, and then demonstrate it for us so we can learn it too.”

“That doesn’t sound too hard, I guess,” he said tentatively. “But, uh, where would we do this? Maybe in that ‘Come and Go’ room you told me about?”

Yes, she mentally shouted in celebration and smiled at him. “While that would work, I think it might be better to keep that a secret for ourselves, at least for the time being. There are plenty of unused classrooms.”

He nodded. “One of those would work.” He thought for a moment more and the uncertain look returned. “Who all are you suggesting for this? There’s not going to be a, a big crowd for this, is there?”

Ginny gave him a reassuring smile. “No, I was thinking of just the second year Gryffindors for now. Once we get the hang of it, we can expand it to second years in Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Maybe Millicent and Tracey in Slytherin would work, but I think they should be approached last. Definintely not Malfoy and his gang.”

“No,” he said with a smile, relaxing again. “Definitely not Malfoy and those like him.” His smile turned into a big grin. “Millicent has been pretty good about bringing her snake to dinner, hasn’t she?”

“Yes she has,” Ginny grinned back. The Slytherin girl was still bringing out her slowly-growing green snake at random times, making sure Draco would suddenly see it, usually up close. Ginny suspected it was one of the reasons Draco had kept a little more to himself in the month before Christmas.

Harry’s face became a little more neutral. “So, you really think I can do this teaching thing?”

“Yes,” she answered confidently. “I know you can do this leading thing where you teach us Defense. Start slowly with the study group, but you will be good at it, Harry, because you’re already a leader. Trust me.”

He nodded, looking more confident now.

She pulled out a book. “Here. I checked this out from the library for you.”

Harry took it and flipped through it. “I guess we can do a one or two spells a week,” he said as he looked through the first chapter again. “Can you find us a place to meet?” She nodded. “All right, we can do this. How about the first meeting is in a week?”

“You’ll be brilliant, Harry,” she told him with a smile. She took down her privacy spell and stood. When he did too, she stepped forward and gave him a hug. “Thanks, Harry.”

He slowly patted her on the back. “Er, sure.”

When they let go and started going back to their usual table, she saw Ron looking at them with a disapproving look. Ginny ignored him. She was amused to see Hermione giving them a calculating smile. That caused Ginny to blush slightly and Hermione to smile a little more. As long as romance was all Hermione thought Ginny was after, then she was fine with that.

---

A week later, all nine Gryffindor second-years met in the nearest unused classroom to their Tower. Harry discussed why they were meeting and that he hoped they would learn what Lockhart should be teaching them but was not. Even though Hermione frowned a bit at that statement, she was very attentive to Harry when he started teaching them about the Disarming spell. By the end of the evening, all of them were able to do a basic Disarming spell, although some of them only had it work if their opponent was holding their wand very loosely.

The look on Harry’s face showed he considered the class a success, and she noticed that he started paying less attention in Lockhart’s class and more attention to the book she gave him. Hermione disapproved of that, but Harry ignored her. Hermione stopped nagging Harry when Ron asked the brunette who was helping them protect themselves more: Harry or Lockhart? Ginny gave Ron a hug for that, and he smiled at her -- the first time since Christmas.




For the rest of the year, Malfoy did ignore them, Ginny was pleased to see. The Slytherin was still nasty at times to firsties in the other houses, but when she caught him doing it, she just glared at him and he suddenly found something else he needed to go do.

She was also pleased when she realized that Harry was more at ease around her. It had taken several weeks after Valentine’s Day for her to notice, but the signs were there. He seemed to treat her a little better than he did Hermione. It was a good start.

Harry had also worked harder on his studies and was now solidly in third place in the Gryffindor academic standings for the second-years, right behind Hermione and herself. Ginny let Hermione have first place, but made sure she was a very close second.

One of the other highlights of the term was that Ron was now speaking to her again and even acting friendly. She would probably never know, but she thought that the final impetus for him changing had been when she was helping him with his homework. She thought it had forced him to see that she really deserved her promotion. The fact that she had not been all uppity like Percy had probably helped.

The most interesting highlight of the term had been the day after exams were over. That was when the Chamber of Secrets was officially opened. The seventh years had been abuzz about it as they worked on it, but now, everyone else was allowed in to see it. Ginny was glad it clean now, or at least most of it was. Part of it was still natural, including an area that was walled off. That was where the rest of the basilisk parts were, but she and Harry were the only students who knew that.

At the moment, they were all getting on the train to head home for the summer. Everyone was upbeat and looking forward to the break from school, except for Harry. He was looking depressed. After they got settled into a compartment, with her sitting next to Harry, and Ron and Hermione sitting on the other side, she waited until Ron and Hermione were arguing about what extra classes to take next year before she tackled this problem.

“Harry? What’s wrong?” she softly asked.

He did not say anything for a moment. “What’s always wrong at the end of the year,” he murmured.

That puzzled her for a second, until a memory came flooding back to her. “Oh bloody hell, I forgot. I’m so sorry, Harry.”

“Ginny!” Hermione exclaimed. “It’s bad enough with Ron doing it, but not you too? What would your mother say?”

She almost said that she did not “effing” care what her mother would say, but held it back at the last moment as she felt that her friend would not take the joke the way it was meant. “Hermione, they’re just words and in this case, very appropriate.”

“Why? What’s going on?”

Ginny was not sure what to say, and a glance at Harry seemed to indicate that he really did not want it known. “I made a promise to think about something and I’d forgotten to do so, which is really quite wrong of me. If you’ll excuse me, I need to do some thinking.”

“About what, Ginny? If you tell us, maybe we can help,” Hermione offered.

Ginny did her best to smile at her friend. Her heart was in the right place, but she really was just too nosy sometimes. “Thanks, Hermione, but it’s kinda personal. I just need some quiet time.”

Hermione seemed to understand enough to stop questioning her. Ron gave her a strange look, but said nothing. Harry’s look was the most interesting, as he looked grateful. That gave her hope that she had not messed up too badly with him.

Ginny leaned back and closed her eyes to think. She racked her brain for over half the trip on ways to get Dumbledore to let Harry stay with them, or anywhere else for that matter. Every idea she had, she also shot down, easily guessing what Dumbledore’s reply would be. However, focusing on the “why” part of Harry’s reason to be at the Dursleys started to yield results. Half an hour before they arrived in King’s Cross, Ginny felt like she had it all worked out. Even better was that the needed action required magic no second year should know, so there was no way they could place the blame on her.

As their train trip neared the end, they all took turns using the loo, so as not to have a problem during the trip home. Ginny managed to get Harry alone for a minute.

“Harry, I know what to do, but you’re going to have to trust me, OK?”

He gazed into deeply into her eyes, as if judging her. “I do.”

Those simple words warmed her heart. “All right, here’s the plan. Go home with the Dursleys, do whatever you have to to stay out of trouble with them. Don’t unpack either. You’ll go to bed there, but I predict you will not finish the night there, as Dumbledore will come get you to take you away. If I’m wrong in my guesses, you’ll have to spend a few days there, but it will be less than a week -- and I think you will never need to go back.”

He raised an eyebrow. “How do you know?”

Ginny was saved from answering by Hermione returning. She quickly reached down and grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. “Trust me.” Letting go, she left for the loo. When she returned, all was normal, except that Harry was watching her a little more carefully.

At the train station, she watched him leave with his uncle and aunt. She really wanted to Apparate to their house and set it on fire, as it would accomplish the same purpose, but she could be suspected of that, as there was an easy spell to start a fire. Maybe if she used matches and petrol, she mused. She shook her head; no, the first plan was the better one. Twelve hours, Harry could survive twelve hours there this summer. Knowing that he had done so in the last timeline gave her comfort as she left the station with her family.

---

The alarm went off at one in the morning, causing Ginny to shoot out of bed as if she had been pranked. She was glad she had put all of the silencing charms on her bedroom. Shutting the alarm off, she quickly got dressed. A little charms work had turned a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved blouse black. Looking in the mirror, she decided to turn her hair black, as well as pull it up into a bun on the back of her head. If she was seen, and the plan was not to be, she needed to make sure she was not immediately recognized. Drawing her custom wand, she Apparated to number 6 Privet Drive.

Ginny was thankful the war had not restarted yet, so there were no guards to deal with. With a silencing charm on her feet, she walked next door, easily walking through the wards on the house. They let her in as she did not have intent to harm Harry. On the contrary, she had immense intention to help him, even if it was going to be in a destructive manner.

It only took a few minutes, but with careful searching, she found the main ward stone that the protective wards used. It was pretty much as she expected to find it. There were wards to look for intent to harm, along with some hiding wards, alarm wards, a power amplification ward, and identification wards that were based on Harry. These last ones were the famous “blood wards” she assumed. She had never seen anything like them before. There was nothing protecting the main ward stone, as bad guys should not have been able to get in this far. That was poor planning on Dumbledore’s part, Ginny thought.

Digging into her memory of wards from the other timeline, Ginny aimed her wand at the ward stone, built her power up, and attacked. She quickly and systematically overloaded and took down every ward, except for the alarm ward, in less than half a minute. She needed the alarm ward to stay up.

The alarm ward was probably going off, but it was hard to tell from here. Just to be sure, she hit the ward with a burst of magic before she quickly made her way back to number 6. Hiding behind a rock wall, so any revealing spells cast from number 4 would not find her, she waited.

After ten minutes of nothing, she was starting to get concerned. Maybe those were not the right wards, or else, maybe the Headmaster was out and so had not heard them. She decided she would wait for up to an hour before she gave up and left, to start implementing “Plan B” tomorrow.

Five minutes later, she heard a single Apparation crack. Finally, she thought, took him long enough. If this had been a real attack, Harry would already be dead. She shook her head at the Headmaster’s setup. Of course, she had inside information from the other timeline, and that had been invaluable in accomplishing this task.

Despite her desire to poke her head up and see what was happening, she stayed down. She did not want a “magic revealing spell” to find her or her wand. The wait was maddening, but she endured it. Several minutes went by before she heard a knock on a door. She smiled as she thought of the upcoming conversation, a conversation she was going to try to listen to. A long moment later, she heard a door open and some heated whispers, but the words, “Get in,” were plainly audible. When the door closed again, she came out of her hiding place and ran for the windows of the living room. Hiding in the bushes, she quickly did a listening spell on the window above her. It was the same spell her brothers “Extendable Ears” would eventually be based on.

“No, I don’t know what’s happening!” she heard shouted, her spell hardly necessary to hear Harry’s uncle.

“But something must have happened,” Dumbledore said very calmly. “The magic that protects your family and Harry is gone.”

“Why should I know about your freaky things? You come wake me in the middle of the night and demand to know about freaky things I have no knowledge of. You are clearly insane! I’ve had enough! Since the your main reason for making the boy stay here is gone, take the boy and yourself and be gone. I’m tired of all of his freakishness, your freakishness, and we just want to be quit of the lot of you.” There was a pause and then Vernon Dursley yelled, “Boy! Get down here right now and bring all of your freakish things with you.”

“Mr Dursley, I assure you…” But Ginny never got to hear what Dumbledore was so certain of.

“Boy! That’s right, bring your trunk too. And that owl, where’s the ruddy owl?” Dursley demanded.

“She gone, I sent her away earlier,” Harry meekly answered.

“Good! Now take your freakish things and leave this instant, and take the old man with you before I call the authorities. I can’t believe you so-called people, waking us honest normal citizens up in the middle of the night because some little bell went off.” Dursley ended his tirade with a bellow. “Go on! Leave and never come back you freaks!”

“Come Harry,” Dumbledore said. “Let’s return to Hogwarts for the rest of the evening. I shall have to find a place for you in the morning.”

Taking that as her cue to leave, Ginny Apparated back to her bedroom as quietly as she could. A few spells later, her hair was her normal color, as were all of her clothes. She settled into bed with a sense of satisfaction of a job well done, not to mention with the soft giggle of a prank well pulled.

---

While Ginny ate breakfast, her mind was whirring with ideas of what might have to be done next for Harry. That was rather harder than it normally was, as her body was tired from its interrupted sleep. But for Harry, a little discomfort was something to be pushed aside. Life was unfair enough for him as things were.

Ron was quiet, but then that was normal for him, as he was shoveling food into his mouth at his usual high rate. The twins were in some secret discussion, their conversation in whispers. They were, no doubt, working on a prank. She wondered if they might even be working on the first version of their Canary Crème.

That reminded her that she would need to prompt Harry to give them an investment in a couple of years, since he would not have the Triwizard Tournament winnings. He would not be in that bloody event if she could help it.

A knock on the back door startled her. She started to get up and get it, but her mother was already on her way. Ginny hoped she knew who it was. The greeting told her everything she needed to know.

“Oh, good morning, Professor. What brings you here this morning?” her mother asked.

“Good morning, Molly. May we come in?”

“We? Oh, Harry, dear! Yes, please, do come in.” Her mother moved back and Ginny saw the two visitors come in; the smaller one was dragging a trunk. Her mother also engulfed Harry in a hug. When she released him, she turned back to the Headmaster. “Albus, I thought you said it would be at least a month before he came over.” She looked down at the boy. “Not that I’m not glad to see you, Harry dear, and you’re always welcome, but I am surprised.” Her mother was rambling; she must have really been caught by surprise, Ginny thought.

“Yes, well, I was quite surprised to be woken by my alarms going off last night, telling me that the wards around Harry’s house had fallen.”

“Oh dear,” her mother exclaimed. “Was there trouble?”

“Fortunately, Molly, when I arrived, everything was peaceful and nothing was amiss, except for the fallen wards which I am unable to reestablish due to the lack of a certain item. After I woke the Dursleys to find out what had happened, they summarily threw Harry out of the house and I was unable to talk them out of it.”

“That’s easy to fix, Albus. Harry can stay here,” Molly said, as if that should settle everything. “I’m sure Ron would like his friend to stay and it would be no trouble at all,” her mother offered.

“Splendid, Molly, that would be a relief. I can add to your existing wards as well.”

“Of course, I’m sure Arthur would appreciate that.” She stopped for a second looking at Harry. “Oh heavens, where are my manners. Harry, would you like to stay with us? I really don’t mean to assume…”

“No, it’s all right, Mrs Weasley. I’d like to stay here if you don’t mind,” Harry told her.

“Of course not, Harry dear. You just take your stuff up to…”

Ginny was sure she was about to say “Ron’s room”, so she jumped in and interrupted her mother. “I’ll help him take his stuff up to Bill’s old room again, just like last time.” She jumped up and went over to Harry’s trunk and grabbed one end. “Ready Harry?” she asked innocently.

“Er, yeah, sure.” He grabbed the other end of his trunk and the two of them walked towards the stairs.

There was no reason, that Ginny could think of, for her mother to put Harry into Ron’s room. As she had told her mother last year, Harry had a room of his own at the Dursleys, and Ron’s room was not big, so she was unsure as to why her mother wanted the two boys to share. Surely her mother realized that Harry needed some alone time away from Ron. The suspicious part of Ginny thought that maybe her mother wanted them to share so Ron could be sort of a chaperone, so she could not go sneaking into Harry’s room, and he could not go sneaking into her room without Ron noticing. She doubted her mother really thought that way, but Ginny did wonder at times.

She guided them into Bill’s room, down the hall from her room. “There ya go, Harry, all safe and sound.” She put her end of the trunk down and turned around to find him staring at her.

“You…” he started.

“Ssh,” she put her finger up to his lips. “I’m glad you’re here, Harry and away from them,” she said quietly.

Harry gave her the heart melting smile as he walked over to her, and for the first time, initiated a hug. “Thank you, Ginny,” he whispered into her ear. “I don’t know how you did it, but thank you.”

While she returned the hug, old emotions from the other timeline flooded her. She mentally cursed the fates for them not being at least two years older. Once she thought that through, she quickly apologized to the fates, because at least she was back with Harry again. Waiting two or three years to really be with him again was possible, and was better than never being with him.

As he let go, she reluctantly did too. “We’ll talk later, Harry,” she quietly told him and he nodded. “Let’s go back downstairs. I bet you didn’t get breakfast yet.”

He grinned. “I got a little something from the elves, but it’s nowhere near as good as what your mum makes.”

She smiled and led him back down. Dumbledore was still there.

“All settled in?” Mrs Weasley asked.

“I’m in. I’ll settle this evening.”

“Well, sit down and have some breakfast. I’m sure a growing boy like you needs more.” Mrs Weasley shooed him towards the table, where Harry took a seat and served himself with only the slightest of hesitations.

Dumbledore chuckled. “Enjoy your summer, Harry. I’m sorry that things did not work out at your aunt’s house. I’m sure that if you write her a letter, she will have cooled off by then, and you can work things out with her and move back in next summer.”

When Harry did not say anything, Ginny did. “Why would he want to stay with people who hate our kind?”

“Ginny!” Her mothered chastised her, but the girl did not break eye contact with Headmaster.

“Headmaster, I think you are under the mistaken impression that Harry’s aunt and uncle view him as you view your family. However, nothing could be further from the truth.” A glance at Harry, with him staring down at his plate, told her she needed to stop right there.

“Ginny, you apologize to the Professor for your disrespect, right now young lady,” her mother ordered her.

She had really stepped in it, Ginny thought. Well, in for a Knut, in for a Galleon -- especially if she could fix a problem. “I’m sorry, Mum, but it’s the truth and I don’t think I should have to apologize for speaking the truth. I’m not trying to be mean or rude; my motivation is to help correct an error. I can safely share no more, but if you want to really know, go talk to Harry’s relatives and casually say that you’re a witch. While I don’t know everything that was said last night,” although she did, “I would think that the Headmaster can guess at their reaction based upon his conversation last night.” Hoping she was not called on her lie, “Harry told me they were not very pleasant.” To her relief, Harry did not give any indication that he had not told her anything about last night.

“Alas, I’m sure they were not at their best, being wakened as they were,” Dumbledore said congenially.

“If I may be bold, Headmaster, having watched you for the last year, I’ve noticed that one of your many good traits is that you trust people to do the right thing because it is the right thing.”

“Thank you, Miss Weasley,” he kindly said.

“But,” Ginny continued, “that is also one of your weaknesses; you trust too much. Some people do not deserve your trust, because they have done nothing to earn it. Therefore, you ignore real problems and let people take advantage of you and others.” She calmly watched him listen to her as she waited for the explosion she knew was coming.

“Ginevra Molly Weasley! You will apologize this instant and then go to your room until I come let you out!” Her mother was livid.

“I can list three examples without even trying hard,” she said, ignoring her mother. That would increase the punishment, but she really did not care. If she could “fix” Dumbledore even a little, that would be worth it. To her amusement, Dumbledore smiled and pulled out a chair from the table and sat down. That silenced her mother.

“Please, Miss Weasley. I don’t think I will agree with you, but it would be rude of me to ignore advice that was given in earnest, even from someone such as yourself,” he told her with his usual calmness and grandfatherly smile. The implied “you’re too young” message came through loud and clear, but that did not stop Ginny.

“The people under question are a good first example. As I understand it, you dropped Harry off with them twelve years ago without ever meeting them, and yet you assumed they would be good people and want to take care of Harry. Is that correct?”

Dumbledore tilted his head slightly, almost shrugging. “Close enough. You are correct that I had not met them before.”

“Then how did you know what they thought of Lily Potter? You thought the best of them, that they accepted her and her magical identity like you did, and that they liked her well enough to care for her child sight unseen. Is that also correct?”

“It is,” Dumbledore admitted.

She was ready for the kill now. “However, Headmaster, I challenge your assumptions, and because they are flawed, the end result is flawed. They not only did not accept Lily Potter’s magical heritage, but they hated it. Because of that, they hated Harry. Your conversation with them last night was not unusual. People do not throw children out on the street like they did last night because they love them.” Her mother gasped. “You trusted the Dursleys to do the right thing, but they did not because they hate our world and everything to do with it.”

Dumbledore looked at her for a moment. “So you think that I do not understand Muggles.”

“No sir, I wouldn’t presume to guess on that. I’m saying that you don’t understand the Dursleys and how they view us, which means that you will usually do the wrong thing in regards with them. In this case, you trusted them to do the right thing for Harry out of the goodness of their hearts and they never will. They would only do the right thing if you could convince them that an action, which is good for Harry, is in their best interest. Trying to make Harry go back there as things are now is the wrong thing to do, both for him and for the Dursleys. Their descriptions of Harry, his things, his owl, his parents, his friends and mentors, are all indications of how they feel. While getting them up in the middle of the night did not help the situation, the foundation of hate was already there. In summary, the Dursleys can not be trusted to do the right thing.”

Dumbledore stroked his beard. “I’m still not sure I agree, but you do raise some interesting points to consider. You said you had other examples?”

“Yes sir. Professor Snape would be the next obvious one,” she said.

“Oh?” Dumbledore asked with an amused smile.

“While he has changed for the better recently, before then, you trusted him to do the right thing in regards to teaching at school. Yet, he betrayed your trust. The stories about him are legendary, legendarily bad, that is. You trusted him to be a good teacher, but he was not. If you had treated him according to school polices, you should have sacked him long ago.”

“You’re referring to his famous bias for Slytherin and against everyone else, I assume?” he asked kindly.

“That would be one area of concern. Until recently, he also did not actually teach Potions. He taught brewing. Ron could have taught Potions as well as Professor Snape did. Anyone can put a Potion recipe on the board and shout at students for making mistakes. Surely you’ve heard the stories, sir.” To her surprise, Ron and her mother both said nothing. A glance showed them to be gaping at her.

“I have, but I have my reasons for trusting, Professor Snape, Miss Weasley, although I can not share them with you,” he said as if that should explain everything.

“I’m glad you personally trust him, Headmaster, but I’m not really addressing personal trust. I’m addressing trusting him as a teacher around children. Before he changed at the end of last term, he abused your trust. If you don’t want to discuss his non-professional behavior in the classroom, then look at how he treated Harry. I was told, and not by Harry, that Professor Snape singled him out in the very first class, asking him Potion questions from the fourth-year and taking points off when he did not know. Professor Snape had an active dislike for all things Harry Potter and actively took those feelings out on Harry. That is also an abuse of trust in his teacher and mentor roles that all Professors are to have. Fortunately, Professor Snape realized the error of his ways and apologized for his behavior, which shows that he was in the wrong. My question to you, Headmaster, is how long would you have let that go? What if Professor Snape never had stopped hating Harry? Would you have corrected this abuse of trust, and if so, when?”

Dumbledore looked pensive for a moment. “Professor Snape is a very complicated person, Miss Weasley. I can not force him to do anything. You said you had a third example?”

“So you choose to ignore your responsibilities as a Headmaster with Professor Snape?” Ginny was not about to let him change the topic for her.

“I can not answer why he did it.”

“I’m not asking why he did it, Headmaster, I already know that as he said so in his apology. I’m asking why you let him abuse your trust? See, there is a pattern. As for the third example, I submit Draco Malfoy.”

Dumbledore chuckled. “I assume you will say that I let Mr Malfoy have his way too often?”

“One might put it that way,” Ginny replied with a slight smile of her own, “but I think I’d say that you assume he will follow the spirit of the school rules, and when he does not, you do not show him his error and help correct him, and so he abuses your trust and more rules.”

“It is not my place to teach him right from wrong, Miss Weasley,” Dumbledore countered.

Ginny wanted to bang her head on the table. He was so slippery about avoiding the real problem, she was starting to wonder if he had been in Slytherin house as a student. “No, Headmaster, you are correct. It is his parents’ responsibility, but that is not what I’m trying to point out. The school has policies to show right and wrong, and we have laws to also help show right and wrong. You assume people will always follow them, or at least the most important ones. Malfoy abuses your trust by not acting civilly and also by acting criminally, and yet you do nothing. Therefore, he has no one to help him do the right thing, and many of us suffer for that.”

“Criminally? Please explain.” Dumbledore was much more serious.

“Headmaster, I had to rescue two first-years from Malfoy and his two friends last year. I heard him threaten them, and he was one step from the assault he was threatening them with,” she explained.

The Professor relaxed. “Since nothing physically happened, there was no harm done; and with no harm, nothing can be proved.”

Ginny closed her eyes for a second in frustration. Perhaps this man was why the Wizarding world was in such sad shape. “Headmaster, don’t you see? He was trying to hurt them, and those two situations were the ones I stopped him from. He would have hurt them had I not happened upon the scene. How many others did I not see to prevent? How many accidents did students have that could not be explained from class exercises? There’s a good chance at least some of those came from Malfoy, or others like him.”

“But nothing can be proved, therefore my hands are tied.”

“I’m sure you’ve seen or heard him insult people. That’s against school rules as well. Why are those not enforced?” she asked.

“Miss Weasley, I must allow some stress to bleed off or things would be worse, although I don’t expect you to understand that,” he condescendingly explained.

“But it starts with the small stuff and works up. Today it’s insults and attempted assault,” she told her, her voice starting to rise in frustration, “tomorrow it’s full blown assault and rape of Muggleborns because he thinks he’s superior to everyone else,” she finished in a firm and rather loud voice.

“Ginny!” her mother cried.

She closed her eyes, realizing she had crossed a line. “My apologies, Headmaster, I did not mean to shout or be rude, that was merely my frustration coming out.”

Dumbledore nodded, accepting the apology. “You feel very strongly about this, don’t you, Miss Weasley?” He was also giving her appraising looks.

“Yes, sir. I’ve been thinking about our world for most of the year,” she said, hoping to cover at least some of her adult insights. She realized she had just given him more ammunition for watching her. “I’ve actually read history books in the library and I could not help but see how some of the things in there were happening in our school. Because the wizards felt superior to the Muggles in the early Middle-Ages, we did some very inhumane things to them, starting with insults, assault, and stealing. I know we’ve gotten a little smarter over time, but I do not think we’ve become any wiser. We make the same mistakes, only the victims have changed. When someone like Malfoy goes out of his way to hurt someone, whether by insult, fist, or spell, that will have consequences. At the very least, we will not have unity in the school, something the Sorting Hat has sung about. At worst, we’ll have a mini-Civil War as the Death Eater children try to act like their parents while the rest of us fight back or cower. It all starts with abuse of trust and the abuse not being corrected.” Ginny was tired now, if he did not accept her argument, then she could say she tried.

“You paint a rather dire picture of the school and your fellow students, Miss Weasley,” Dumbledore commented.

She shrugged. “The end result I described won’t happen next year, Headmaster, but if nothing changes, it will happen far sooner than later, maybe even before I finish Hogwarts. However, I would predict that if things get that bad, then Fate will either provide a correction, or else ‘the good people’ will leave and let Hogwarts die from internal rot.” At his raised a bushy eyebrow, Ginny added, “There are too many examples in history, Professor, including some in the British Isles.”

“I do not deny examples in history, I am merely surprised you would apply them to Hogwarts.”

Ginny smiled. “I believe they say that those who do not pay attention to history are doomed to repeat it, or something like that.”

Dumbledore chuckled. “Yes, something like that. Well, Miss Weasley, this has been a very stimulating conversation. I’m not sure I agree with what you’ve said, but your point was well argued and I shall consider it.” He looked at her mother. “Molly, please do not be hard on her. I can tell that she meant no disrespect, and it is so rare for me to find someone who is willing to say that I have flaws I need to correct. I can only guess as to why that is, but it is refreshing to know that not everyone puts me on a pedestal. Where we in school, I’d give you twenty points for bravery and for paying attention to your History lessons, Miss Weasley.”

The Headmaster stood. “Since everything seems to be in order now, I believe I shall continue on with my duties. I hope everyone has a good summer and that I shall see you on the first of September.” He gave her a last look, a very contemplative one -- a look that internally filled her with dread of him discovering her secret. Damn! She had said far too much, her and her big mouth that wanted to fix everything. Harry got into trouble for trying to “save everyone”; she got into trouble for trying to “fix everyone”.

As the Headmaster made his way to the door, her mother went after him profusely apologizing for her. She was so dead, but it had felt so liberating to tell the old coot all of that. She could only hope that he would change for the better.

“I don’t believe it.”

“Yeah, she dressed Dumbledore down and lived,” her twin brothers started in on her.

“So far, but what will Mum do?”

The other twin gave a false shake of his body. “I shudder to think.” They both snickered.

Ron was just staring at her, but Harry was the one who mattered to her. Looking over at him, she saw him looking at her very intently, as if evaluating her. After a few seconds, he gave her a smile.

“He’s right,” Harry said quietly. “That was well argued, but do you think he’ll do anything about Malfoy, because the other two problems have already been fixed. I guess that shows that Fate will correct mistakes.” The others laughed and Ginny had to join in, at least until her mother returned a few seconds later, with a very disapproving look.

“Ginevra Weasley, I’ve never been so embarrassed in all my life. I can’t believe you said those things to him. The audacity to think that you know better than Albus Dumbledore -- a man more than ten times your age. Disgraceful!”

Ginny had to stop the tirade before she really got going. “Mum, he said he appreciated my honesty, and really, no one is perfect. He doesn’t have to agree with my opinion, but I did tell him the truth as I see it. The facts in each of those three examples are completely true and he did not contest them. The only question was my opinion of what the facts mean. And as Harry said,” (his name was always a good way to stop their mother from going too far) “Fate has already corrected two of my examples. Professor Snape is now acting like a normal teacher, and Harry does not have to live with people who hate him. If I’m right on two of them, why can’t I be right on the third one too?”

“But to suggest that the Headmaster is responsible? Outrageous!”

“Mum, you knew last summer that Harry’s relatives were not feeding him properly, along with putting bars on his windows and locks on his doors. What did you do?”

She sputtered for a moment. “I, well, I, I fed him. It was the right thing to do.”

“Yes it was, Mum.” Ginny skipped the question about why her mother did not do more about making sure Harry did not go back, as it would have only made things worse. “Professor Dumbledore knew what it was like at Harry’s relative’s house at the end of his first year, and yet he sent Harry back. He did not send him food or anything else to make Harry’s life better. That proves my point that he trusted the Dursleys to do the right thing when they never would, and he had the facts to know they would not. That’s all I was trying to say, and I said it calmly and rationally. You’ve always said we could tell you anything as long as we were truthful and respectful about it. That’s all I did with the Headmaster. Are you saying that rule no longer applies now that we’re older?” It was a trap she hoped her mother fell for.

“Of course not, Ginny. We want you to always be able to talk to us about anything, but that was Albus Dumbledore,” she protested.

“Mum, is there such a thing as a perfect person?”

Her mother exhaled sharply. “Ginny, I know what you’re trying to say, but one does not correct Albus Dumbledore. He’s the wisest person on our side. He’s our leader, for goodness sake.”

Ginny wanted to scream at the idea and that her mother was a ‘sheep’. “But Mum, you just admitted that no one is perfect, so therefore, Professor Dumbledore can’t be perfect either. And if people always treat him as if he’s always right, then how will he know when he’s making a mistake, just because everyone is too afraid to speak up?” She would have like to have said ‘too much of a suck-up’, but her point would have been lost as her mother went off the deep-end over her choice of words.

“That is not your problem, young lady,” her mother firmly told her, apparently tired of the conversation. “Now, go de-gnome the garden for the morning, and be glad that is all the punishment you’re getting. I would give you more, but the person you’re putting down asked me not to,” the matron said sternly.

“Mum, I did not put him down and I did nothing out of disrespect.” When her mother glared at her, she gave in. “OK, I’m going, I’m going.” She hurriedly left the table and went outside. She loved her mother, but the woman could be so stubborn and unable to think about anything new. Sort of like a gnome, she thought with a chuckle -- always doing the same thing in its own small little world.

Since her mother could not see her at the moment, Ginny pulled out her wand and pointed it a gnome. She levitated it up and in front of her, and then she banished it as hard as she could. She was amazed to see the gnome fly what appeared to be over fifty yards. Now that was some power, she thought with amazement. With the idea to permanently get rid of the gnomes, she did the same spell on each of the others she saw. It was not as satisfying as physically flinging the little creatures, but she would bet this would take care of the gnomes for a long while.

As she banished her eighth one away, she heard, “That’s impressive.” Turning, she saw three brothers and Harry.

“Not nearly as impressive as not getting a warning from the Ministry,” the other twin added.

“One has to understand how the instruments work,” Ginny cryptically answered as she put her wand up, not seeing any more of the little creatures.

“So, how do they work, little sister?” Fred asked.

“Go do your own research, big brother,” she told him with an impish smile. She looked at her friend. “Harry, are you mad at me for what I said? I really tried not to betray your secrets, but Dumbledore had to know you couldn’t stay there anymore.”

Harry looked down for a moment, using the toe of his shoe to move dirt into a gnome hole for a moment. “No, Ginny, I’m not upset. I wish no one knew, but if him knowing would get him to change so no one else has to go through it, then I’m OK with that. Do you…” he paused and looked up at her. “Do you really think he’ll change and try and fix things?”

Ginny leaned against a tree as she thought about the question. “I don’t know. He is smart, and I can hope; but I really don’t know.”

“It would be nice though,” Ron said. Everyone looked at him. “What? It would. I mean if Malfoy was civil all the time, we’d hardly ever fight. But he can’t ever seem to keep his ‘superior nose’ out of every else’s business.”

Ginny chuckled. “That an interesting thing to say, Ron. If Malfoy was to act like the superior person he says he is, shouldn’t he be ignoring us all as he’s above us and too good for us? But he doesn’t do that. Instead, he wades ‘down here’ with us, trying to tell us how bad we are. He’s really not acting like he says he should.”

“Ah, Ginny, I have a burning question now…”

“Yeah, how did you not get sorted into Ravenclaw?”

She looked at her twin brothers. “I guess because I’m so brave to say what I think and damn the consequences.” They all laughed at that.

“Hey, let’s go play Quidditch for a while,” Ron suggested. The twins agreed. “Harry?” Ron asked. Harry looked at Ginny.

“Sounds good,” she agreed, “but I better stay here. I shouldn’t look like I’m having fun for a while.”

“Why are you asking her for?” Ron asked his friend.

“Because I thought it was the nice thing to do, and because if she’s not going flying, then I thought I’d sit here and keep her company,” Harry explained as if it should have been obvious.

Ron gave him a strange look. “Do you fancy Ginny or something?”

Ginny wanted to kill Ron at that moment. If that stopped Harry’s progress with her, she would hex her brother into the next century.

“Don’t be stupid,” Harry said a little hotly. “She’s my friend and she just stood up for me. I can be a friend and keep her company. Besides, I want to talk to about something she said.”

She was not sure how to take the first part of his statement, but given the last part, she chose to think that Harry meant that Ron was stupid for not being able to figure his motives out, which she did agree with. However she did wonder what he wanted to talk about. “It’s OK, Harry. In fact, it’s probably for the best that you go on,” she said more bravely than she felt. “Mum would wonder what’s happening if those three are playing but she couldn’t see you.”

“You sure?”

Ginny was touched. He did seem to really care. “Yeah, I’m sure. We can talk later.”

Harry finally nodded and left with her brothers, although it did seem a bit reluctantly. She appreciated him sticking up for her. She also appreciated the twins not acting like prats as Ron had. Of course, she could not tell the twins that, or they would start giving her a hard time.

Ginny sat under the tree and watched them fly, especially Harry. He had not yet had a chance to develop all of his moves yet, as he had later in the other timeline, but she knew he eventually would. That made her think about the conversation they were going to have to have this summer. She was not sure when the best time would be, but her intuition said that sooner rather than later was better. There were two sticky points that she was not sure how he was going to take, but life rarely gave you everything you needed. That thought made her laugh, she, who was given a chance to do part of her life over. Well, she did not have everything she needed, but she was working on it.

By the time she went to bed that night, she still had not talked to Harry alone. Something or another had come up every time they were alone for a minute. If she had not known better, she would have said people were trying to keep them apart, but she knew better. It was just life with eight people in a house -- busy.




((A/N: Well, what are the odds that Dumbledore will be keeping a closer eye on Ginny now? :-))

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