Harry Potter and the Sokoke Diamond

Chapter Two

~Of Red-Haired Sirens & Serious Misinterpretations~

Harry was lost in his emotion, and soon drifted off into a fitful sleep. His nightmares became steadily more violent, usually ending in the death of someone close to him. When the dream that saw Ginny's demise came to the forefront, Harry was unceremoniously jolted out of his slumber. But this time the tears really did fall. Harry didn't know where the emotions he connected with Ginny came from. All he knew was that Ron would have a few words (and possibly punches) to aim in Harry's general direction if he ever found out.

Still tired from his restless sleep, Harry drifted off once more, thinking about a certain redhead with flaming red hair and eyes of the purest soft brown. His dreams were uninterrupted, and for once Harry Potter seemed like a normal fifteen year-old boy, dreaming about the beautiful girl he had a crush on, a wide smile gracing his usually sullen and depressed features.

* * *

Harry awoke the next morning feeling refreshed, having enjoyed his sleep for the first time in as long as he could remember. His mood soon took a turn for the worse, however, as memories of Sirius came flooding back. How Sirius would never see him with his first girlfriend, how Sirius wouldn't be there to give him advice and make him laugh. He felt himself slipping into his own mental prison, drowning in negative emotion. His dreams about that fateful night in the Department of Mysteries were becoming less frequent, but more disturbing the longer he pondered over them.

Harry silently vowed to himself that he would never again keep things from his friends, no matter what the cost. The prophecy came to the forefront of his mind, and he made a mental note to tell Ron and Hermione the next time he saw them. Ginny too, Harry thought with a smile, and I'll let her know how I feel about her. I'll tell her the whole story. Another thought came to his mind, something that Ginny had said to Ron on the train ride back from Hogwarts. Something about choosing Dean. Harry felt a rush of jealousy towards Dean, and promptly clutched his stomach in self-disgust. Well, I'll let her know how I feel, and then she can do whatever she likes. It's not like I'm not used to being unwanted, so I'll deal with it, he thought dejectedly.

Harry felt so forlorn after remembering this particular detail; he felt he was in danger of slipping into one of his moods. He lay back down on his bed, staring listlessly back at the ceiling, when a tapping at the window drew his attention. An unfamiliar owl stood on the window ledge, a letter tied to its leg. He carefully opened the window and allowed the owl in, relieving it of its load. He eyed the letter carefully, before recognising Remus Lupin's handwriting on the front of the envelope. He quickly opened the note, hoping nothing else had happened, and was surprised to see only two words on the parchment. Look Down, it read. Harry peered out of the window, and received the shock of his life when two heads appeared out of thin air, one brown streaked with grey, and the other was quite obviously Tonks, sporting an alternating pattern of fluorescent green and scarlet stripes. Harry rushed down to the front door to greet his visitors.

'Professor Lupin! Tonks! It's great to see you!' His voice was soon overcome with worry as he wondered why they were there. 'Nothing's happened to Ron or Hermione? Or Ginny?' At this Lupin and Tonks exchanged wry smiles before Lupin spoke.

'It's good to see you too Harry. But please, call me Remus. I haven't been your professor for a very long time, so I think it would be easier this way. And no, nothing's happened to any of your friends, especially not Ginny,' he said, his mysterious smile once again gracing his distinguished features.

'We just have a few things to talk to you about, and then we're going to get you out of here,' continued Tonks matter-of-factly.

'I'm leaving? Already? What about the blood protection Dumbledore was talking about before. And where are we going?'

'First things first Harry, can we come in and talk to you?'

'Oh, I'm sorry, err, Remus, come on in.'

He sat them down in the Durselys' perfect living room, and proceeded to take a seat nearby, watching them with interest and waiting for the to start speaking. Lupin's face had taken a nervous edge to it, and his features seemed to be paling under Harry's inquisitive look.

'I don't really know how to say this Harry, but Sirius left me as your legal guardian in his will. If you'd rather not, it would be...'

'YES!' was all Harry could say, before he sat back down in shock. Lupin and Tonks then went on into detail about how Dumbledore wanted to keep Harry in close proximity to the Order, so as to keep him in the loop, as well as being able to take better care of him. Harry was very shocked at these revelations, realising that he had only spent a few weeks under the care of his relatives, and was going to have a fair bit of time to spend with his friends, relaxing, for once.

Soon, he had finished packing, under the watchful eye of Tonks, while Remus arranged the transportation. Tonks commented on Harry's physique with a lascivious twinkle in her eye, something that Harry saw but refrained to comment on. Tonks also suggested a trip to Diagon Alley to get some clothes. 'We can have the man who's going to beat Voldemort dressed in that,' she said, eyeing Harry's clothes with disdain.

Not long after, Harry, Lupin and Tonks were seated in the Knight Bus, thundering along towards London. Harry was soon drifting off to sleep once more, the awkward jerks of the Knight Bus rocking him to sleep. The next thing he felt was a warm embrace, and the distinctively feminine smell of vanilla assaulted his nostrils. His dreary eyes cracked open slightly, immediately hit by a sea of colour. He blinked a few times, stretched languidly, and was surprised to see that he was already in his and Ron's room at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, and that Ginny was currently engrossed in trying to squeeze the life out of him, while punctuating her attempts with high-pitched squeaks of welcome. Harry's mood soared, and he reached around Ginny with his arms and began to squeeze her back. It was a testament to how much Ginny had changed that she didn't immediately blush and run screaming from the room. When Harry finally got a chance to see her face again, he believed that she was even more beautiful than the last time he had seen her. Lost in his musings, he didn't see Ron stalk up behind him to give him a playful clip around the ears, which soon broke him out of his staring.

'Harry,' Ron murmured by Harry's ear, 'that's my sister you're gawking at mate. You might want to stop that, but then again, she does deserve some happiness. Break her heart, and I won't be a happy little boy, and I'll know just who to take my aggression out on.' He continued in a much louder and cheerier voice, 'So how's the holiday been so far, Harry?'

Harry's face still bore a blush from Ron's little speech, but he managed to stammer out a reply, vainly attempting to mask her nervousness with yawns. Another few seconds lapsed in silence, before Ron got up to leave, no doubt to feed his vicious appetite. Harry felt like he was a five year-old child at that moment, left alone with Ginny, rather than the almost sixteen year-old saviour of the world he was meant to be. He said the first thing that came to mind.

'So, how's Dean doing?'

'Dean? Oh, Dean,' Ginny replied, a look of comprehension gracing her angelic face. 'I never did explain that to you, did I? Well, I just said that to annoy Ron. You know how he can be, and to be honest it quite grates on my nerves. And the worst thing is, when he's through, there are another five brothers waiting in line when he's done.'

Harry smiled in nervous understanding, not knowing why his stomach was doing acrobatics inside his body. However, he understood the need to say something to Ginny at that moment, and steeling his resolve, he plunged right in.

'Er, Ginny, there's something I have to tell you.' She looked at him inquisitively, and was enraptured in her eyes for a brief second before she turned away. 'Well, it's like this, umm, there's well, you, and there's me, and then there's things and...' Harry wondered where it began to deteriorate so badly, but he forged on nonetheless. 'OK, what I was trying to say is this. I know that you used to have a crush on me back in second year, and maybe even after that, and I'd really hate for you to think that I was ignoring you because of that. But to be honest, I didn't have a clue what to do or say, and that meant I thought it was safer to see you as Ron's little sister.' Her face grew slightly hard at these last words; something that Harry immediately did his utmost to remedy. 'But I don't anymore. Last year, at, at the Ministry, I saw what an amazing person you are yourself, and I thought that it wouldn't be fair on you anymore to be labelled as Ron's little sister, not after what you've done.

The ghost of a blush worked its way up her lovely cheeks, and not for the first time in his life, he wondered what the girl in front of him was thinking. Not knowing what else to do, he continued. 'I wanted to say a few things to you, but I'm not really sure how to get them out. But here it goes: I like you, I really do, and I mean like like, not just, you know, like.' The tension in the air was palpable as Harry waited for a sign, anything to show that she had heard him. The blush was present in full force now, covering her face in Weasley red.

Neither of them saw Ron steal away, his face breaking into a wide grin.