The Time of Destiny

Chapter 9 - Difficult Decisions

When Harry re-entered the room, he found Ginny crying in her mother's arms again. He glanced from Molly to Arthur, hoping for an explanation.

"They took her jewellery," Molly said quietly in response to his look.

"I noticed her necklace and ring were gone," Harry replied. He sat on the side of the bed and rubbed Ginny's back. "It's OK, sweetheart. I'll get you new ones."

"They threw them down somewhere in the woods," she said between sniffles. "They crushed them. They heard you calling me on my ring and Crabbe stamped on my hand and broke the ring so it fell off my finger when he couldn't just pull it off. I thought he'd broken my hand." She looked sadly at her hand. Harry had healed the bruises and cuts, but there were still faint scratches on her skin showing where the delicate filigree of her ring had been snapped in two.

"Your finger isn't broken, is it?" Harry said in concern, taking her hand in his. "Your hand didn't seem to be that painful when I worked on these cuts."

"No, it's fine. The ring cut my finger a bit, but you've already healed those, see?" She turned her hand to show the healing injuries.

"I'm sorry, baby," Harry said, kissing her hand gently.

"And what did they do with your wand?" Molly asked quietly.

"I lost it where they caught me," Ginny said miserably. "I don't know if they broke it or not."

"The twins and I will go and look for them," Ron offered, standing up and heading for the door. "We should be able to find them with Accio Charms, don't you think?" he asked Harry, who nodded. "We'll be back soon, Ginny," he promised his sister, waving as he left her room.

"Be careful, you lot!" Molly called after him. She looked at Harry and Arthur. "I expect you're hungry, aren't you? I'll just go make some dinner. And you're getting soup, young lady. What would you like?"

"Whatever you want to make, Mum," Ginny replied, sounding both weary and sad. "I'm not very hungry."

"We need to get fluids into you, so you will eat something!" Molly said with determination, then went downstairs to cook.

Some time later, Ron and the twins returned, their faces triumphant. "Found 'em!" Ron cried as the three of them entered Ginny's room. "They're a bit the worse for wear. . ." he said apologetically as he put the broken jewellery in Harry's outstretched hand.

"Oh, I'd say so, yeah," Harry said, frowning at the crumpled pieces of gold in his hand that had once been Ginny's promise ring and her Gryffindor lion pendant, both gifts to her from Harry. He glanced at Ginny and saw unshed tears in her eyes as she stared at the gleaming pile of rubble in his hand.

"Found your wand, too," Fred said, handing it to Ginny. "Good as new!"

"It wasn't damaged?" she said in surprise.

"Nope, we checked," Fred replied. He waved it grandly and several colourful small birds flew out of the end of it and twittered around the room before settling on the sill of the open window, where they sang cheerfully for a while before disappearing. Ginny rewarded him with a faint smile.

"We did try doing Reparo Charms on the jewellery, but we stopped before we made a right mess of it," George said apologetically. "I don't know why they didn't work."

"These pieces both have spells on them," Harry offered. "It's possible those spells interfered with the Reparo Charms." He turned the ruined ornaments over in his hand and sighed. "I imagine the jeweller in Hogsmeade can fix them. He made them himself."

"It's all right, Harry," Ginny protested feebly. "You don't have to. . ."

"It won't take long, sweetheart," he assured her. He looked at his watch. "He should be open for a while longer today. If you'll be OK for a while, I can pop up there now."

"Don't go alone!" she cried anxiously.

"I'll go with you," Ron offered.

A short time later, Harry and Ron Apparated in front of the jewellery shop in Hogsmeade.

"Mr. Potter! Mr. Weasley! How lovely to see you!" Mr. Joyero said cheerfully. "What can I do for you this afternoon?" He noticed the grim look on the boys' faces and sobered immediately. "What's wrong?"

"My girlfriend was attacked today, and they damaged her jewellery. She's quite upset about it," Harry said quietly.

"Is she all right?" Mr. Joyero asked, his brow furrowed in concern. "Who attacked her?"

"She'll be fine. She just needs time to heal," Harry assured him, hoping he was right. "She was attacked by some stupid gits trying to be Death Eaters," he said through clenched teeth. He took a moment to calm himself, then held out Ginny's ring and pendant. "Can you fix these? We've tried Reparo Charms, but they don't work."

"That's because of the spells on them," Mr. Joyero replied, looking at the crushed bits of gold in the young man's hand. "Oh, dear. Someone did quite a thorough job."

"Can they be repaired?" Harry asked anxiously. He didn't like the sceptical look on the jeweller's face.

"Hmmmm," the man mused. "Let me see." He took them from Harry, put his jeweller's loupe in his eye and turned them over in his hands, inspecting them closely. "Ah. Yes. Broken prongs. Lost the ruby from the ring, I see, and the peridot is cracked. The band is badly crushed, as well as being snapped in two there where it's thin. The pendant. . .oh, dear. Hmmm," he said, glancing up at Harry.

Harry and Ron looked at each other, sighing heavily at the same time.

"Are they completely ruined?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"Can you give me at least an hour?" Mr. Joyero said. "These will both require some quite delicate repair work. Even with magic, it will take some time. Or would you prefer to buy her something new, perhaps? It might be less expensive. . . ."

Harry's face fell. "I'd prefer to give these back to her, if possible. They mean a lot to her," he said earnestly.

"I'm sure they do. Well, if you gentlemen will give me an hour to an hour and a half, I'll know something by then."

"Might they be repaired by then?" Harry asked hopefully.

"I can't say, Mr. Potter. I'll have to start working on them and see how truly damaged they are, and how easily they go back into shape - if they will at all, without cracking. They might have to be completely remade. I just won't know until I work on them."

"All right. We'll come back later, then," Harry agreed. When they left the shop, he and Ron Apparated back to The Burrow.

"We're back," Ron called as the two of them entered the kitchen.

"Come and eat. I was just setting things out," Molly invited.

"How's Ginny?" Harry and Ron asked at the same time.

"She ate a bit of soup, and she's sleeping right now. You can go up and peep in at her if you want to," Molly replied.

Harry and Ron climbed up to her room and opened the door quietly. Ginny lay curled up on her side, her hand tucked under her cheek, her hair splayed across her pillow like a crimson shawl. She was fast asleep and looked very young, her lashes dark scarlet feathers against her pale skin. Arthur was sitting in a chair near her bed, reading the paper. He glanced up as the boys came in.

"Any luck with the jeweller?" Arthur asked softly.

"He's working on them," Harry said with a shrug. He wasn't going to say anything about the possibility that they couldn't be repaired unless Ginny asked him directly. He was grateful she was asleep so she couldn't ask him any questions.

After a meal both boys just picked at, Harry and Ron returned to the jewellery shop. As they opened the door, Harry called out, "Mr. Joyero? We're back."

The man came into the shop from the back room. "Hello, gentlemen! Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is, I can repair the pieces, and they're nearly done. The bad news is, I had to replace all the gems and add a bit of gold to strengthen various parts, and I had to replace the pendant's chain entirely, so the costs are higher than I'd hoped they'd be."

"But they're repaired? They look like new?" Harry said hopefully.

"They will when I've finished," Mr. Joyero assured him. "I need about ten more minutes. Can you wait, or do you want to come back?"

Harry looked at Ron. "She's asleep. Why don't we wait?"

"Sure," Ron replied easily.

The boys wandered around the shop looking at the various things on display there. Harry found a pretty little box and ran his finger gently over the top. It was oval in shape, with a lovely cloisonné horse enamelled on the top. The edges were golden-coloured filigree, with cloisonné on the sides showing a herd of horses running endlessly around the box in a meadow littered with flowers of all colours. Harry lifted the lid and looked inside. It was lined in rich, golden velvet, and played a lovely, haunting song when the lid was fully lifted. He smiled, not able to place the tune, but knowing he'd heard it somewhere. He could tell by the lyrical, yearning, passionate sound of it that it was a love song.

"What's that?" Ron asked, coming over to look over Harry's shoulder.

"It's a music box," Harry said. "Pretty, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Horses, huh? Ginny loves horses."

"I know." Harry closed the box and lifted it, looking for a price tag, or at least the name of the song.

"No tag. That means it's really expensive," Ron said with a teasing grin.

"Yeah. But she'd like it, wouldn't she?" Harry mused. "I like the song, too."

"That's an old Italian love song, Mr. Potter," the jeweller said, having overheard their conversation. "And that box isn't terribly expensive. I can look the price up for you in a few moments."

"OK," Harry said, carrying the box with him as he wandered around the shop. "What are these?" he asked as he turned a vertical rack with sparkly decorations on it.

"Oh, those are my wife's latest project," Mr. Joyero said cheerfully. "Jewelled hair clips. They're costume jewellery, not fine jewellery, so they are quite reasonably priced. We wanted to have some economical, fun items in the shop for the Hogwarts students."

"Those are pretty," Ron said wistfully, thinking about how one of the clips would look in a certain wild mass of unruly brown hair. He willed himself not to think about Hermione. He was going to get past his grief over her breaking up with him, or die trying.

"Yeah," Harry agreed. "Oh, look! This one's a Firebolt, isn't it?"

"Yes," Mr. Joyero agreed, coming to see what they were looking at. "My wife and I are great fans of Quidditch. She got permission from the company to make the Firebolt as a hair clip and a brooch. They're quite nice."

"How does this work?" Harry said, looking curiously at the mysterious fastening on the clip.

"The young lady pulls a section of hair back, or all her hair, however she wants to style it, and fastens this around it. It snaps into place like this," the jeweller said, demonstrating with the Firebolt hair clip.

"If I buy her this box, she won't have anything to keep in it," Harry mused quietly. "She never takes her jewellery off."

"So buy her that Firebolt clip and she'll have something to keep in the box," Ron said with a smile, knowing that was where Harry was going with his thoughts.

"Yeah," Harry replied, brightening visibly. "How are the repairs going?" he asked, looking up at the jeweller.

"Just finished. I think they look very good. I doubt anyone could tell they've been damaged," the jeweller said, holding the repaired ring and pendant out for their inspection.

"Wow. You did a brilliant job!" Harry said excitedly. "I'd never have believed you could mend them, they were so mangled. Thanks!" He turned shining eyes to the jeweller. "This will mean so much to her. You just don't know."

"I'm glad I could repair them, Mr. Potter. I like to keep my customers happy." He gave Harry the price of the box and the hair clip, as well as the repairs, all of which Harry paid with no complaint. Once his purchases were wrapped, he and Ron left the shop and Apparated back to The Burrow.

"We're back again," Ron called cheerily as they entered the house.

"How did it go?" Molly asked, looking up from her knitting.

"He managed to mend them. They look great! Is she awake?" Harry asked.

"She might be. I haven't given her any Dreamless Sleep potion yet. She's been sleeping on her own so far. No nightmares," she said, holding up crossed fingers.

"That's good," Harry replied, then started up the stairs. When he got to her room, Ginny was turning over and rubbing her eyes, just beginning to wake up.

"Hi, sweetheart!" he said, leaning down to kiss her forehead. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," she said, trying to sit up a bit. "Where were you? I woke up earlier and you were gone."

"I went to Hogsmeade," Harry replied, bending over her to arrange her pillows more comfortably. While he was so occupied, she slid her arms around his neck and pulled herself close to him, nestling her head in the crook of his shoulder and soaking up the comfort and warmth of his embrace. He sat on the edge of her bed and held her like that for several minutes as she relaxed, then finally began to wake up a bit more.

"Hogsmeade? What for?" she asked, pulling back to look at him.

Harry looked at her fondly as he sat on the edge of her bed. Her hair was rumpled up around her head in a frowsy halo and she was still so pale that her freckles stood out boldly on her face, but she did look better.

"I had some business to take care of," he said, grinning as he dangled a bag just out of her reach.

Her eyes opened wide at the sight of the bag from the jewellery shop. She was worried he'd spent a lot of money on new jewellery for her. She wanted her own things back, not something new. "What have you done?" she asked suspiciously.

"Simply taken care of my girl, that's all," he said cheekily.

"Huh?" She looked perplexed.

"I'm not going to tease you too much, you're just not up to it right now," Harry said, smiling as he pulled two small boxes out of the bag. "Which one do you want to see first?"

"That one," she said, pointing to the ring box.

"Here you go," he said, opening it and showing her the promise ring he'd given her not that many weeks before, with his name carved on one side of the two interlocked hearts, and hers on the other, with each of their birthstones in the hearts, ruby for him, peridot for her.

"Oh, Harry! It looks like new!" she cried in delight, but then she frowned. "It isn't new, is it?"

"No, this is your own ring, which Mr. Joyero went to a great deal of trouble to repair. He also improved the communication charm on it. Now if I call you, nobody else will be able to hear my voice. I had him put the same improvement on my ring, as well."

"Oh, that's wonderful! Put it on me, please?" she asked, holding out her left ring finger.

"Gladly," he said, taking the ring and sliding it onto her finger as he spoke the sizing incantation, then kissing her hand before releasing it.

Ginny's eyes were sparkling. She held her hand up to admire her ring, then looked up at Harry. "I was so worried that he wouldn't be able to repair it. Thank you!"

"You're completely welcome."

"What's in the other box?" she asked, an intrigued smile on her face.

"What, this old box? Nothing much," he teased, holding it out of her reach.

"You said you wouldn't tease me!" she protested.

"I said I wouldn't tease you much," he corrected. He handed her the box and she opened it with a cry of delight to see her pendant fully restored.

"Would you put it on me?" she said, holding the pendant by its delicate chain, obviously thrilled to have it back.

Harry leaned over and helped her sit up enough for him to fasten the pendant around her neck. She lay back on her pillow looking much happier than she had when he'd entered the room.

"Feel better now?" he said with a smile.

"Loads. I'm so used to wearing them, I really missed them," she told him seriously.

"Well, if you're so happy, I guess you don't need this, then," he said, lifting the bag and shaking it so it was evident that there was something else inside.

"What's that?"

"It's a get-well present, but if you're already fine, well, then, I suppose. . ."

"Harry!"

"OK, I'll stop teasing you now," he said, "but only for a little while. You're just too much fun to tease!" He handed her the bag and waited to see her reaction to his gift.

Ginny lifted a beautifully wrapped box from the bag. "What's this?"

"That's wrapping paper and ribbon," Harry said cheekily. "The gift's inside."

She chuckled and rewarded his impertinence with a bright smile.

"Made you laugh," he said with satisfaction.

"Yes, you did," she agreed, then opened the jeweller's box and found the cloisonné box inside. "Oh, it's beautiful! And it has horses on it!" She lifted shining eyes to her boyfriend. "Thank you, sweetheart!"

"Open it," he urged.

She opened it and beautiful music filled the room. A ghostly image of a beautiful night sky with a full moon and stars appeared above the open box, and small images of owls flew across the moon. The picture was the perfect accompaniment to the music, poignant, mystical, and lovely.

"Mr. Joyero added the image as a get-well present to you," Harry told her.

"It's beautiful! And what a gorgeous song! And is this. . .it's a Firebolt!" she cried, lifting the hair clip out of the box.

Molly, Arthur and Ron stood in the doorway watching Ginny enjoying her presents.

"Mum! Isn't this beautiful?" Ginny said, holding up the music box.

"The music drew me upstairs. It's an old love song we used to hear on the wireless years ago," Molly said, leaning against Arthur and swaying in time to the music. "What a wonderful gift!"

"The Firebolt is a hair clip," Harry explained. "It fastens this way," he added, showing her how the clip worked.

"I'll put it in my hair as soon as I'm up," Ginny promised. "Thank you, sweetheart. You're too good to me."

"The feeling's mutual," he said, leaning down to kiss her. "You need to rest, young lady. Healer's orders!"

"OK," she said, settling back down into her bed and smiling as Harry made quite a business of tucking her in. He put the music box on her bedside table, the clip inside it.

"Harry, why don't you stay with us tonight?" Molly urged. "You can have the twins' room if you like. They've gone back to London. I know you're tired."

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley. I'll take you up on that offer," he said, a yawn escaping before he could catch it. "Oh, sorry!"

"I'll sit up with Ginny," Arthur said. "You lot go on to bed."

Everyone said goodnight and soon the house was quiet except for Ron's snores and the occasional thumping of the ghoul in the attic.

* * * * *

Hours later, Harry silently descended the stairs from the twins' room and opened Ginny's door as quietly as possible. He stepped into the room and stood gazing down at her, his heart in his eyes. Arthur woke from a light doze and saw him standing there.

"All right, there, Harry?" Arthur murmured.

"Couldn't sleep," Harry replied, moving around Ginny's bed to take a seat beside Arthur. He sat gazing at her in silence for several minutes, then put his face in his hands, suddenly looking quite miserable.

"What's wrong, lad?" Arthur asked, reaching over to rub the boy's back comfortingly.

"Mr. Weasley. . .I, uh. . ."

"What is it?"

Harry turned and looked at the man, his eyes very serious. "Ginny's been attacked twice recently because she's my girlfriend. I mean, she wasn't actually attacked at the concert, but she would've been if we hadn't used that Glamour Charm," he said, tension in his face. "It's my fault."

"No, it isn't," Arthur assured him quickly. "You've done nothing wrong."

"No, but she's being attacked because she's with me." Harry looked over at the sleeping girl, his face twisted in pain. "I think. . ."

"What?"

Harry looked steadily into the older man's eyes, willing him to understand. "I love her, Mr. Weasley. I'd do anything to keep her safe."

"I know."

"I think. . .I think I'm going to have to break up with her." He wrung his hands, his body tense and miserable. "I don't see any other way to protect her."

"Ginny loves you, Harry, I'm sure of it. It would break her heart," Arthur said, his voice filled with concern.

"And mine, as well," the boy replied, pushing his glasses onto his forehead and rubbing his eyes hard. "And I should break off ties with the rest of you. I'm endangering all of you," he said desolately.

"I won't hear any of that, young man," Arthur said firmly. "You are part of this family, and were long before you and Ginny started seeing each other."

Harry looked at Arthur with heartbroken eyes. "I don't want to endanger you. Not any of you."

"And how do you think Ginny would take that? She'd hex everyone around her until we found wherever you were hiding and dragged you back to her," Arthur said with a chuckle. "And then she'd probably hex you, too! I made the mistake of trying to break up with Molly 'for her own good' when we were young. I thought she might want to have the freedom to go out with other chaps to be certain of her heart before we became too serious. Oh, the fury! And the hexes she threatened me with for even thinking of such a thing!" He chuckled at the memory. "Well, let me tell you this, young man," he said, leaning toward Harry confidentially, "that little witch sleeping so peacefully in that bed has twice the temper of her mother! You don't want to cross her - nor do I!"

Harry smiled and chuckled, amused by the picture the older man was painting, and knowing it wasn't much of an exaggeration. "I know you're right, but still. . .she'd be safer -"

"No, she wouldn't," Arthur interrupted. "She'd put herself in danger to go looking for you. You know she's done that before. If you don't care for her anymore and want to break up with her for that reason, I won't stand in your way at all. But if you want to sacrifice this relationship thinking it will keep her safer, well, that's a sweet and noble sentiment on your part, but completely unacceptable." Arthur's face was adamant. "Listen to me, Harry. Love doesn't come along all that often in life. If you've found it, don't throw it away lightly. And the Weasley family includes one black-haired young man as well as all these redheads. Don't you forget that." He ruffled Harry's hair lightly and smiled at the young man, hoping he'd set the boy's mind at rest.

"I want to do the right thing," Harry said hesitantly, "but I don't know what that is, if it isn't breaking up with her."

"The right thing is to follow your heart, lad. You have a good heart and you always do your best to look after those around you, especially the ones you care for. We trust you to take the best possible care of our daughter. And you've never let us down."

Harry was quiet for a while, then looked up at the older man. "Thanks. That means a lot to me."

"I meant every word," Arthur said fondly. "Sometimes, you're my favourite son, did you know that? When the others are up to all kinds of mischief, there you are, quietly doing your best at whatever you're doing." He grinned at Harry's blush. "I know you get into monkey business as well, but that's when Ron or Fred or George or one of the others are my favourite son. It all works out in the end." He patted the young man's back affectionately. "You're a good lad, you are, and don't you forget it."

"Thanks," Harry said, his face beginning to look a bit relieved.

"What Dad said," came a small voice from the bed. "You'd better listen."

"Oh, baby, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you," Harry said quickly.

"What's all this rubbish about breaking up with me?" she said imperiously. "If you think I'd ever let you go, you've got another think coming, mister!"

"What did I tell you?" Arthur told Harry with a chuckle. "She's her mother all over again."

"And that's a good thing," Harry assured her quickly, seeing her mouth already opened to protest. "How are you feeling?"

"Better, now that Dad has straightened you out," she quipped.

"You're acting a bit stroppy again. You must feel better," Harry said in amusement.

"I believe I'll go have a cup of tea," Arthur said, standing up. "Do either of you want something?"

"No, thanks," Harry said with a grin, knowing Arthur was giving him time to make up with Ginny for even thinking about ending their relationship.

"I'm fine, Dad, thanks," Ginny said, smiling and thinking exactly what Harry was.

"Right, then. I'm off to the kitchen for a bit," Arthur said, leaving the room and closing the door quietly behind him.

"What was all that about?" Ginny said as soon as they were alone. "You thought I'd be safer if you and I weren't together?"

"I was just trying to protect you, baby," Harry said, moving over to sit on the side of her bed.

"Bad idea, Mr. Potter," she told him firmly.

"How much did you hear?"

"Enough to know that you were trying to be noble and Dad set you straight," she said seriously. "Don't throw our love away."

"Never," Harry promised. "I'm sorry. I was just--"

"Trying to do the right thing. I know."

"Am I forgiven?"

"You could grovel a bit more," she teased, "I rather like that sometimes."

"Grovel, grovel," he said, leaning down to nuzzle her neck, making her giggle. He moved his lips to hers and kissed her softly, just barely brushing her lips with his, drinking in the scent of her breath and rejoicing that she was alive, safe, and loved him enough to risk her life to stay with him. Her tongue tickled his lips and he opened his mouth, welcoming her in, a sigh of pleasure escaping as he wound his tongue around hers. He pulled back slowly, kissing her lightly again before sitting up. "Was that enough grovelling?"

"Nowhere near enough," she purred, pulling on the front of his dressing gown to draw him down to her again.

"Your dad's coming back up," Harry warned, then gently caressed her breast as he kissed her and moved back to his seat.

Arthur came in to find both young people smiling tenderly at each other. "Ah, I see you've made up." He chuckled when he saw their bright blushes. "I suspect you'll sleep better now, Harry, since you've got that problem off your mind.

"Yes, I will," Harry agreed. "I have to go to work tomorrow, so I'd better try to get some sleep." He rose and kissed Ginny lightly before leaving. "Good night."

"Good night, Harry," Arthur said fondly.

"Night, sweetie," Ginny said.

Harry turned and smiled at them again before closing the door quietly and going back to bed.

* * * * *

Ten days later, the Weasleys were hurrying across the platform toward the Hogwarts Express.

"Do you have everything?" Molly called as Ginny and Ron dragged their trunks toward the waiting train.

"Yes, Mum, we're fine," Ginny called over her shoulder, looking around anxiously for Harry. She brightened considerably when she saw him, Remus and Tonks come through the barricade. "There's Harry!" she said as she lifted her hand high, waving for him to join them.

Harry waved back at her and stopped his rush across the platform long enough to get his annual send-off hug from Molly Weasley.

"You're all set then?" Molly asked Harry as she smoothed his sweater over his broad chest. "Let me know if you need anything!"

"I will," he promised. "I'm all set. Thanks."

"Do take good care of yourself," she said, suddenly quite serious.

"I will - and I'll take the best possible care of Ginny and Ron, as well," he said, equally serious.

"I can't ask for more than that," she said, pulling on his shoulders so he would bend down for a final kiss on the cheek. "Have a good term, dear!"

"Thanks! See you at Christmas!" With that, Harry turned and ran toward his waiting friends, glancing back to wave at Molly, Remus and Tonks. Remus was going to Apparate to Hogsmeade later in the day, after tying up some loose ends at home.

Ron led the way into an empty compartment.

"What's that?" Harry asked as he saw his friend lift a large cage onto the overhead storage.

Ron turned around and held the cage in front of him. Inside was a beautiful barn owl. "It's my present for being made Head Boy," he said proudly. "Mum bought him when we came to London today. His name's Barney."

"Barney for a barn owl?" Harry said in amusement.

"Yeah," Ron replied with a resigned shrug. "Ginny named this one too."

"Barney's a cute name for a barn owl," she said defensively.

"And now you have Pig?" Harry asked, helping her stow the tiny owl's cage.

"Yes! Thanks for letting us use Hedwig," Ginny said, reaching up to push an owl treat through the bars of the beautiful snowy owl's cage.

"I think she enjoyed living in the country," Harry said, lifting his trunk up to the shelf as well. Merlin flew up and settled next to Hedwig's cage, then began preening his feathers when Harry removed his scarlet macaw Glamour Charm.

"We've got a compartment full of birds," Ron said, gazing at Barney in great satisfaction.

"Yeah," Harry agreed, pleased to see Ron looking reasonably happy. Harry, Ron and Ginny had dreaded the trip back to Hogwarts for various reasons, all of which involved Hermione. Harry and Ginny were worried about how Ron was going to react to seeing her again, and Ron, who had barely smiled since he'd received her letter, was wondering if he'd ever feel cheerful again without the help of a Cheering Charm, which he put on himself nearly daily now just to survive.

"We've got to go to the Prefect's carriage for a little while," Ginny said apologetically.

"Go ahead. I'll be fine," Harry said. When they left, he sat in the corner of the compartment and leaned his head against the window. I can't believe this is the last time I'll take the train to start another term at Hogwarts, he mused. It doesn't seem possible. He watched the landscape pass by for a while, then dozed off, waking up when Ginny and Ron came back into the compartment. Ron was in an obvious fury, but said nothing.

"Sorry, sweetie, we didn't mean to wake you," Ginny said, sitting down next to him and choosing to ignore Ron's bad mood.

"No problem," he said, following Ginny's lead with regard to Ron. Harry knew they would have seen Hermione in the Prefects' Carriage. That must be why Ron was so grouchy. Harry cast around for something to do to get Ron's mind off of his lost love. Finally, it came to him. "Want to play Exploding Snap?" A rapid-fire game ensued that was such fun, even Ron smiled from time to time.

After a while, Harry excused himself, saying he was going to the loo. Ron leaned back into his corner and stared gloomily out of the window, Ginny gazing at him in concern. Harry squeezed her shoulder affectionately as he left. He wandered down the corridor, having no intention of going to the loo. He'd seen Hermione arrive after he and the Weasleys had boarded the train. She seemed to be avoiding them, but he wanted to talk to her and find out what was going on. Finally, two carriages forward, he found her sitting in a compartment by herself, her nose buried in a book, as usual, but her expression forlorn.

"May I come in?" he asked, poking his head in the door.

Her expression brightened immediately. "Hi! Yes, please, come in! How are you?"

"I'm fine. I missed hearing from you. Why'd you stop writing?" he asked, having already decided that beating around the bush would take too much time.

"I . . .I. . . ." She stopped, nonplussed. Finally, she sighed and said, "I just didn't know what to say."

"Why not? We're best friends. You can tell me anything, you know that," he said sincerely. "What's going on with you? Are you engaged to this bloke Lorenzo?"

"Engaged?" she said with a nervous titter. "Heavens, no."

"But you're serious about each other?" He had steeled himself before coming in here to ask her every tough question he could think of. It was taking all of his Gryffindor courage to manage this conversation, but there were too many friendships hanging in the balance to not give it his best effort.

Hermione hesitated. "Erm. . .no."

"You're not serious about him?"

"No, Harry, I'm not."

"Is he serious about you, then?" He was getting more and more confused. Her few letters had given every indication that she and Lorenzo were completely involved with each other.

"No. He never was."

Harry studied Hermione's face carefully. She seemed to be deflating before his eyes. "What's going on, then?"

She bridled. "Whatever do you mean?" she said stiffly.

"Hermione. . .why did you break up with Ron? Why did you lead both of us to think you were in love with Lorenzo? Why did you even go out with him? You've broken Ron's heart. He's been a mess ever since he got that letter from you." Normally, he wouldn't reveal such information about Ron, but he thought she should know the results of her actions.

"I. . .my. . .um," she said, at a loss for words.

"Spit it out," he urged her impatiently. "What happened?"

Her eyes filled with tears. "I'm such an idiot," she wailed, then was silent.

"Do you want to elaborate on that?" he said with half a smile. Hermione rarely thought of herself as being stupid in any way.

"I made a mistake. An absolutely huge mistake," she finally said after several moments of silence.

"Go on."

She sighed heavily. "When I got home for the holiday, my parents were in a right state. Apparently the things you and Ginny and Remus told them about my life at Hogwarts took some time to strike home, and when they did . . . well, they wanted to take me out of Hogwarts."

"I'm sorry, Hermione. We didn't mean to upset them, but at the time, it seemed important to answer their questions. They seemed all right at the party."

"Yes, they enjoyed that, but then they saw the Dementor attack and finally understood what they are and . . .well, everything got messed up. They wanted me to live like a Muggle again."

"I'm sorry. But what's that got to do with Ron?" Harry asked, thoroughly confused.

Hermione sighed again, wiping angrily at the tears spilling down her cheeks. "My parents and I have never fought. Never! We've always been close, but we fought non-stop from the time I got home until we arrived in Italy. I told them I'm old enough to make my own decisions, and I plan to finish my education at Hogwarts, and go on to further education after school, maybe even university. When we got to Italy, I was determined to go off on my own and not spend any more time with them than necessary. Our first stop was Florence - I told you they call it 'Firenze' like the Centaur's name, didn't I?" Harry nodded. "They'd been there for a dental convention a few months earlier and wanted to have detailed tours of the city and the rest of Tuscany during our holiday. They'd met Lorenzo when they were there for the convention, and they liked him very much, so they hired him to be a private tour guide for us over the holiday." She stopped talking. She was twisting her fingers together nervously, and refused to meet Harry's eye. "Lorenzo. . .well. . .when I met him. . .oh, I can't tell you this, Harry!" she said suddenly, stifling a sob.

"Why not?"

"It's. . .you wouldn't understand."

"Try me," he insisted.

She finally raised her eyes to his. "Have you ever seen someone who. . .who made your heart stop? A stranger? Or someone in a film, perhaps? But that person is so beautiful, it takes your breath away?"

"Ginny makes my heart stop and takes my breath away on a regular basis," he admitted with a blush.

"But a stranger, Harry? Has that ever happened with a stranger?"

Harry was silent a moment. "When I met Casey. . .yeah. I do understand. She was so beautiful, and I looked like a tramp in Dudley's clothes. I thought I had no chance with her. It was a shock when she started being so friendly to me."

"Yes, that's it exactly! All my life, I've read these love stories - don't laugh, you know I read everything! - where the hero was tall, dark and handsome, with a charming accent and laughing eyes." She looked at her best friend as if seeing him for the first time. "Well, that could be you, actually," she said, blushing madly, "but in my mind as I read, the man looked like Lorenzo. And he has that lovely Italian accent, and such a gentleman, such nice manners, so courtly. . . ."

Harry sighed. "It sounds as if you love him."

Hermione looked up at him suddenly. "I was swept off my feet! Here's this gorgeous man who's an adult - he's 23, did I tell you?" Harry nodded. "And he's attracted to me! We share so many similar interests, and he's so well-read, and such a student of art and architecture and history and so on. . .well, he was fascinating to talk to, and a pleasure to listen to. He asked my opinion about so many things, and he listened to me! We talked about everything. It was so wonderful. . .and he liked me, he really did. He treated me like such a lady. His manners were so courtly - he bows a bit when he meets people, he kissed my hand when we met, he always opened doors for me and held my chair for me - I was blown away by it. I thought I loved him. I was so uncomfortable when I got Ron's letters, because of the way I was feeling about Lorenzo, that I just couldn't write back to him. I couldn't lie to him, and I couldn't tell him the truth, either. And honestly? I've only dated Viktor and Ron, and Ron's serious - he wants to settle down, and I'm not ready for that! I thought I should have more experiences, go out with other men before settling down."

Harry was getting angry. "Or do you mean you didn't want to 'settle' for Ron?" he snapped.

"No, that's not it, not at all!" she said, clearly upset that he'd misunderstood her. She sat quietly for a few minutes, gathering her thoughts. "To be quite honest, I think you may be right, Harry. I was afraid I'd be 'settling' for Ron, making the wrong decision, if I didn't go out with some other men, and there was Lorenzo, wanting to spend time with me." She put her hand on Harry's arm. "Please don't be angry with me. I loved Ron - I still do. But I was afraid of what he wanted. I don't want to stay at home with a house full of babies. I want my own career, and I want an education and I want to travel and . . . ." She finally wound down, seeing the look in Harry's eyes.

"Ron wouldn't expect you to just stay home and have babies. He knows you want a career."

"I know, but. . ."

"You love Ron, but you want to experiment with other guys, is that it?" he said in a low, furious voice.

"I . . .yes, I guess that's right," she admitted uneasily. "At least, that was how I thought at the time."

"Did it ever occur to you to tell him you wanted to slow things down?" he snapped.

"No. When I was with Ron, I was happy. But my parents. . .and then Lorenzo. . . ."

A sudden idea hit Harry. "Your parents want you to go to a Muggle school, and now they want you to have a Muggle boyfriend, is that it?"

"Yes, exactly! I was so tired of fighting with them, and Lorenzo was so. . .so perfectly what they had in mind for me, and perfect for me in many ways, too. We had a lovely time together," she said sadly.

"I don't want to hear how lovely your time was with him," Harry growled. "This conversation is about Ron."

"I don't know what to do, Harry. I'm so miserable," she said, tears streaming down her face.

"If you think you're miserable, you should have seen Ron," Harry snarled, heartsick at the memory. "You broke his heart, Hermione. He loves you. He thought you loved him."

She cried quietly for a long time as she absorbed what he'd said and the pain she could hear in Harry's voice. Finally she sighed and said, "I saw him in the Prefects meeting, but he wouldn't look at me, wouldn't speak unless he had to, and never to me, not ever." She sniffled and Harry handed her his handkerchief. "Thanks."

"Don't girls ever carry tissues or hankies anymore?" he said irritably, watching her dab at her eyes.

She chuckled. "I should carry a box of tissues, I've been crying so much lately. I'm sorry. I'll wash it before I return it, all right?"

"Yeah, whatever," he grumbled, then sighed. "What do you want to do?"

"I really, truly love Ron and want to make up with him."

"Are you sure of your feelings now?"

"Oh, yes! I can't tell you how awful it was for him to not want to look at me or speak to me."

"You have no idea how he's grieved over you. You're seeing him under the influence of a massive Cheering Charm. For a long time, Cheering Charms had no effect on him, he was so miserable." Harry leaned his elbows on his knees, rubbing his hands together thoughtfully and staring at nothing. "So you want to try to get back together with him? You're over Lorenzo?"

"Yes," she said humbly. "And yes, I'm over Lorenzo."

"Do you have any idea how to do it?"

"No. Do you?"

He shook his head. "Nope." They sat in silence for several minutes. "Tell you what. Come to the compartment with me and talk to Ginny for a bit. Ron's there, and maybe that will be a way to break the ice."

"Do you think so?" she said hopefully. "Is Ginny angry with me too?"

"I don't have any other ideas at the moment. Let's try it and see what happens. Ginny's your best friend and she's been as hurt by all this as I have. She wants us all to get back together. I think if you and Ginny make it up, you'll have a better chance at getting through to Ron." With that, he stood up and opened the door, waiting for her to exit before him. He escorted her through the two carriages and down to the door to his compartment. He held Hermione back out of sight and looked into the compartment. Ginny and Ron were still sitting there alone and silent. Harry slid the door open, put his hand on the small of Hermione's back and pushed her through the opening, not roughly, but not as gently as he normally would, either.

"Look who I found," he said casually, guiding Hermione firmly to sit on Ron's bench, while making certain she would have no other options by lying down on Ginny's bench and putting his head in her lap, taking up the entire bench with his long form.

Ginny looked at Hermione coldly for a moment before a large head with messy black hair plopped in her lap. "Hi there, handsome," she said, a smile crossing her face as she looked down at him. "What are you up to?"

"Studying your nostrils at the moment," he said with a crooked grin. "They're quite lovely, you know."

"My nostrils?" she said, chuckling at his teasing. "What else would they be, after all?" She smiled at him and started playing with his hair, finger-combing it into various patterns and styles as she loved to do whenever she could get her hands into it.

Harry magically lengthened the bench so he could stretch out all the way. "Say hello to Hermione," he prompted.

"Hello, Hermione," Ginny said, still smiling from Harry's playfulness. "I didn't mean to ignore you, but I had this great lump deposited in my lap that seemed to need attention."

"A great lump, am I?" he protested mildly.

"Just your head, luv," she assured him, "and I love it, knots and all." She looked over at the other girl, who was trying to sit in as small a space as possible. "Good holiday?" she said, much more coolly now.

"Not really," Hermione replied. "My parents. . .well. . . ."

Just then, Neville and Luna opened the compartment door. "Hi!" Neville said cheerfully. "Good to see you lot!"

"Hi, Neville," Ginny and Harry said at the same time.

"Harry, are you feeling all right?" Neville said with concern, looking at his friend lying with his head in Ginny's lap. The last time he'd seen Harry had been on the train ride home from Hogwarts the previous term, when Harry had suffered a severe head injury.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Harry assured him with a grin. "Just taking advantage of Ginny's lap being such a good pillow."

"How was your holiday, Luna?" Ginny asked her friend as Luna and Neville sat down on the opposite bench, forcing Hermione to scoot closer to Ron. Ron cringed away, doing his best to avoid being touched by her.

"It was lovely," Luna said dreamily. "Dad and I went to the Amazon looking for Crumple-Horned Snorkacks. We'd heard there was a newly-discovered band of them there."

Harry stifled his laughter and sent a quelling look at Hermione at the same time. "Did you find any?"

"Oh, yes! They were wonderful!" Luna said excitedly.

Harry couldn't resist asking, "Did you bring one back with you, or get pictures of them?"

"Oh, no, we couldn't bring one back! That would be terrible! They're an endangered species, you know," Luna said seriously.

"No, I have to say I didn't know that," Harry replied. "But did you get pictures?"

"I drew some. Dad's photo equipment got wet and wouldn't work. We were in the Rain Forest, and it's very hard to keep things dry there."

"I'd like to see your drawings sometime, Luna," Ginny said kindly. "I'm sure Harry would, as well."

"They're packed away, but I'll show them to you soon," Luna promised. She leaned around Hermione and looked at Ron, who was staring fixedly out of the window. "Hello, Ronald."

"Hello," he said without turning his face toward her.

"How was your holiday, Ronald?" Luna said, oblivious to his attempts to be left alone.

"OK," he responded grumpily.

"It doesn't sound as if it was OK," she commented wisely. "What happened?"

"Nothing," he snapped.

"Ron and I worked in the twins shop making joke products," Harry offered, trying to get Ron off the hook and keep Luna's feelings from being hurt.

"That sounds like fun!" Neville enthused. "What did you make?"

"First, we made an assembly line to speed up production," Harry explained, "and then we helped them develop some new things, as well as producing the ones they've been making for a while."

"What kind of new things?" Neville persisted.

"One I liked quite well is the Butterfly Bon-Bons. If you eat one, you grow huge iridescent blue-green butterfly wings and antennae for a few minutes. It's a very pretty effect," Harry replied.

"Are you two fighting?" Luna asked, looking from Ron to Hermione, who was trying her best to look composed, but failing miserably.

"No," Hermione snapped at the same time as Ron.

"Oh," said Neville uncomfortably. "Well, we just wanted to say 'hi.'"

"Sorry, mate," Harry said quickly. "You just caught them at a bad spot."

"I hope you two make up soon," Luna said sincerely, taking Neville's hand and lacing her fingers through his. "True love is too rare to throw away lightly." Neville blushed royally.

"Are you two in love, then?" Ginny asked quickly. She looked from Luna to Neville and back again, and wondered why it didn't show on their faces if they actually were in love.

"Oh, no," Luna said, squeezing Neville's hand fondly. "We're in like, not in love."

"In 'like'?" Harry said with a crooked smile.

"Yes. It's wonderful! I highly recommend it. But you four," she said, indicating Harry and Ginny, Ron and Hermione, "have been in love for a long time now. You shouldn't be fighting, Ronald. What did she do to hurt you?" For some reason, Luna had always spoken only to Ron, never to Hermione, and she was talking around Hermione now as if she wasn't there at all.

"C'mon, Luna, we don't really need to pry," Neville said awkwardly, getting to his feet and pulling on her hand.

"Maybe we can help. We're very good at being in like." She turned her huge eyes from Neville to the other four in the compartment. "I've been watching the four of you to see what it's like to be in love instead of in like. I'd hate to think there was trouble in paradise," she said seriously. "Maybe we can help you solve your problem. What is it?"

"Um, thanks anyway, Luna," Hermione said, her body tense as she fought to control her tears. "Ron and I will have to work things out on our own."

Ron made a disgusted sound and stood up quickly, storming out of the compartment without even an "excuse me."

"Was it something you said?" Luna said, finally actually looking at Hermione. Hermione sighed and shook her head, not knowing what to do next.

"C'mon, Luna, we still have other people to visit," Neville said, trying to get her moving.

"Harry," Luna said, standing up and leaning over his face as he lay with his head still in Ginny's lap. Her long dirty-blond hair swung down and tickled his nose. Ginny pushed it away with a subtle movement so as not to offend Luna, but the other girl didn't even notice.

"What is it, Luna?" he replied uncomfortably.

"How's your head? Neville and I helped when you got hurt on the train last time, you know," she said proudly.

"Yes, I know. Thanks. It's fine now," Harry replied, trying to push his head deeper into Ginny's legs to get away from Luna with her huge, odd eyes. She was so close, he couldn't see her clearly.

"He's fine, but he's tired," Ginny said, leaping to his rescue. "He needs a nap. We'll chat with you later, all right?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Neville said as he opened the compartment door and pulled Luna toward it. "Sorry to bother you lot."

"Harry, if you still have headaches from that injury, I have some powdered Spazblatt Horn I'd be happy to share with you. It's supposed to have great restorative powers," Luna said seriously.

Ginny caught Hermione's eye and mouthed "Spazblatt Horn?" at her as Luna stared fixedly at Harry.

"Uh, no, that's all right. Thank you, though. I appreciate the offer," he said as kindly as he could.

"Let me know if you change your mind," she said serenely, then followed Neville out of the compartment.

"Whew!" Ginny said when they were gone. "That was awkward!"

"Yeah," Harry said, sitting up and chuckling. "Spazblatt Horn? What the heck is a Spazblatt?"

"Probably the double first cousin of the Crumple-Horned Snorkack," Ginny said, giggling. She finally sobered. "Well, it's too bad Ron's gone, but I would like to know what happened this summer, Hermione. You were starting to tell us something before Neville and Luna came in."

"OK, let me go and find Ron. You girls behave yourselves while I'm gone," Harry said, squeezing Ginny's shoulder and ruffling Hermione's hair affectionately as he left the compartment. He was determined to save all the friendships involved among the four of them if there was any way to manage it.

He found Ron sitting in Hermione's empty compartment. "What's up, mate?" he said companionably as he sat down opposite Ron.

Ron was actually holding Crookshanks and petting him, his face tormented and full of grief. "I hate this stupid cat, but . . . ."

"I know. He's hers and you wanted to touch something of hers, right?" Harry said compassionately.

"Yeah." Ron couldn't look much more miserable if he tried.

"She's ready to explain what happened. Come back and listen to her, all right?" Harry asked, reaching over to touch his friend on the arm.

"Why should I?"

"So you'll know. She told me what happened, and I think you should hear it from her, not from me. C'mon, let's go back."

"Are Neville and Looney still there?" Ron asked cautiously.

"No, they're gone," Harry assured him.

Ron put Crookshanks down and reluctantly followed him back into their compartment, sitting as far from Hermione as possible, since Harry had once again made sure that his and Ginny's bench was full of Harry.

Harry turned on his side, his head in Ginny's lap once more, and said, "To pick up where we left off, Hermione was telling us she didn't have a particularly good holiday. Her parents argued with her over the adventures she's had at Hogwarts, which you, my girl," he said, looking up fondly at Ginny, "Remus and I told them about when she was in hospital."

"Yes," Hermione said, glad he'd broken the ice. "We've never fought before. They were going to keep me from coming back to school. They wanted me to finish my education at a Muggle school, then a Muggle university, only go out with Muggle boys. . . ." She glanced guiltily at Ron.

"So they don't like wizards anymore, huh?" Ron snapped. "And me in particular?"

"No, sweetheart, it wasn't you," Hermione began.

"'Sweetheart'? Where do you get off calling me 'sweetheart'? You broke up with me, remember?" he snarled, getting to his feet and storming toward the door again.

"Ron, wait! Let her explain," Harry cried, sitting up and putting his hand on his friend's arm.

Ron snatched his arm out of Harry's grasp. "Why the bloody hell did you bring her in here anyway?"

"There are a lot of friendships at stake here. I thought - " Harry began.

"You thought? It bloody well doesn't seem like it!" Ron snarled, then threw the compartment door open so hard it shattered. He stormed off down the corridor, slamming the passageway door so hard that it bounced back open as he exited the carriage.

Harry stood in the doorway of their compartment, staring after his friend miserably. This is going to be even harder than I thought, he mused, sighing heavily before stepping back inside and doing a Reparo Charm on the door.

Hermione was in floods of tears, babbling incoherently. Ginny was torn between being livid at her and wanting to comfort her. Harry finally moved from the doorway and sat beside her, taking her in his arms and letting her cry on his shoulder.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Ginny snarled suddenly, her wand pointed steadily at Hermione. "Let go of him!"

Harry looked at his girlfriend in shock. "Ginny, what. . .?"

"The last time she got her hands on you, she nearly killed you, or don't you remember? Have you asked for her password? Do you honestly think you can trust her after all she's done?" Ginny snapped. "I mean it, Hermione. Move away from him, or I'll hex you so nobody will recognize you."

Harry and Hermione moved away from each other. Hermione looked as if she'd run away any second, her heartbroken eyes moving uneasily from Ginny to Harry and back. Harry sat there in astonishment at Ginny's behaviour, then finally began to speak.

"You're right, I didn't ask for a password," he admitted. "Hermione?"

"Norbert."

"Yes, that's it," he said, looking anxiously back at Ginny. "What else do you want to know, Gin?"

"Is she under Imperius, or possessed or wearing poison somewhere?" Ginny prompted.

"You're good at this, you know," he said with an admiring grin.

"Somebody needs to look after you," she snapped, "because you're simply too trusting!"

"Thank you, baby," he said sincerely, knowing she was quite serious and that she was being wiser than he'd been by trusting Hermione too soon. Not that many months ago, Hermione had been possessed by Bellatrix Lestrange and had attacked Harry, inserting poison capsules under his skin as she raked her nails over his body in a possession-induced passion. He would have died if not for Professor Snape being there with the proper antidote when one capsule broke as they were being removed from his body. Now he took Hermione's chin in his hand and turned her face so he could look at her eyes. No flickering, wavering oddities in their brown depths, so she wasn't possessed, and none of the vacant look of someone under Imperius. He rubbed his thumb over her lips. Dry. No poison lipstick, not that he would have kissed her anyway. He lifted her limp hands in his and inspected her nails, which were short, clean and poison capsule-free. "She seems to be OK, baby. Just upset."

"You come sit by me again anyway, Harry. You're not safe over there," Ginny insisted.

Harry moved over and sat next to her, putting his arm around her and kissing her temple. "Thank you for looking out for me when I don't remember to look out for myself," he said tenderly.

Hermione laughed shakily. "All we need to top all of this is an interruption from Malfoy," she mumbled.

Ginny stiffened. "What?" she said, staring in fright at the door.

Hermione had been talking to herself. She looked up at Ginny and saw the other girl's face was white as a ghost. "What's wrong?"

"You mentioned Malfoy," Harry said, pulling Ginny into his arms and comforting her.

"So what? He's in Azkaban, isn't he?" Hermione said, completely confused.

"Voldemort had some people broken out of Azkaban. Malfoy and his bunch were among them. They, um - " he glanced down at Ginny, uncertain how much to tell, "they attacked Ginny ten days ago. She's still shaky from it at times."

"They attacked you?" Hermione said, aghast. "I'm so sorry! What happened?" Seeing the other girl collapse into Harry's shoulder, her body trembling hard, Hermione backed off. "You don't have to tell me about it. I'm sorry I wasn't here to help you through it."

Ginny snapped upright and glared at the other girl. "You weren't here, but Ron was, and Harry and the twins and my parents," she shot back defiantly. "Friends and family are supposed to help each other through hard times. They were all there for me, and I appreciate that more than I can say. But Ron. . .we've all been trying to help Ron all summer, but he keeps pushing us away. You caused that, Hermione. You, not Malfoy."

Hermione burst into tears and got up to leave, but Harry held out his hand and magically pushed her back into her seat. "Stay, Hermione. We have to clear the air or we'll never be friends again, and I, for one, don't want that."

Ginny was trembling as much with rage as with reaction to being reminded of her ordeal at Malfoy's hands. "What are you going to do, Harry? Force us to be friendly?"

"Sounds like a plan to me," he said, and then did a Cheering Charm on each of them before they could protest. "Feeling better, ladies?" he asked as each girl relaxed. They nodded. "All right then. Ginny, I'm going to tell Hermione about what happened to you so she understands. No one else at school needs to know, but Hermione's your best friend. It might help you to talk with a girlfriend about what happened. Is that all right with you?"

The Cheering Charm was a light one, so the girls weren't giddy, but were over their anger and sadness for at least a short time. Ginny looked up at Harry trustingly and nodded in response to his question.

"All right, then. Hermione, Ginny had a horrible experience ten days ago. She's healed from it physically now, but I think it will take her a good while longer to get over it emotionally. It might be a help to her if you know what happened so she can talk to you about it. What I'm going to tell you doesn't leave this compartment - it's just between the three of us and the Weasley family, all right?" Hermione nodded, her eyes big and solemn. Harry sighed and launched into the story of Ginny's kidnapping and eventual rescue. Ginny buried her face in his shoulder as he talked. He rubbed her back comfortingly, but carried on relentlessly with the story. Hermione's eyes widened in shock as she heard the tale, and a look of horror grew on her face as the light Cheering Charm he'd put on her wore off.

"Oh, Ginny, how awful!" Hermione said when Harry finished the story. "I read about what happened at the concert, so I knew you'd had a scare then. I was so glad the second edition retracting the story in the Daily Prophet arrived just a few minutes after I'd read the first one! I was heartbroken! I didn't know what to do when I read you'd both been killed, but nearly as soon as I started reacting to the story, a second owl delivered the issue with the retraction of the story and Harry's interview with the press. That was awful enough, but this?" She couldn't think of anything else to say. Finally, she took a deep breath and said, "I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can do to help you?"

Ginny turned her face from the shelter of Harry's broad shoulder and looked at the other girl. "No," she said in a small voice. "I just have to get over it."

"If you ever want to talk or anything," Hermione offered, "I'm here for you."

Ginny nodded, still nestled in Harry's arms. "I wish. . ."

"What?" Hermione said quietly.

"I wish you'd been around when it happened. I could've used a girl talk then."

"What about now?" Hermione said kindly.

Ginny hesitated a long moment, then glanced up at Harry, who leaned down and kissed her forehead as she sat up. "OK," she said nervously, glancing from Hermione to Harry.

"I get the message. I'll go and find Ron while you two bond, how's that?" he said, glad they were willing to talk to each other again.

"Thanks, sweetie," Ginny said, squeezing his hand as he got up to leave.

"I'll be listening for any fireworks from in here," he warned as he opened the door. "Behave yourselves!"

"I think we're past the fireworks stage," Ginny said quietly. Her eyes were sad but resolved. She knew she needed to work through her feelings about the attack, and Hermione had always been her best friend. Who better to help her with things she couldn't bear to tell her boyfriend or her brothers or parents?

"OK, girls, I'll be back in a bit," he said, closing the door softly behind him. They started talking as soon as he closed the door. He watched for a moment, then started down the corridor, wondering where Ron had gotten to and how heavy a Cheering Charm it would take to get him to listen to Hermione.