Harry Potter and the Final Horcrux

Chapter Two

Morning Wake-Up Call

The first two things Harry noticed when he began to wake was that one, the mattress was shifted at an angle signalling that someone was laying on it next to him and that two, and there was a steady rapping at the door and voices calling through it.

“Harry! Harry! Wake up already!” called the voice belonging to the person pounding on the door.

“Wake up, Harry, your friends are here it seems. I believe that‘s Ronald trying to bash the door down,” whispered a nearby voice and a hand gently brushed through his hair.

Immediately Harry opened his eyes and found himself looking up into the serene face of Luna, she was currently laying next to him on the bed with a hand brushing his hair from his forehead. This caused him to temporarily panic and he quickly scrambled into a sitting position, looking back at Luna while forgetting about the determined pounding at the door.

“Good morning, Harry,” greeted Luna quietly, her large blue eyes fixed on Harry’s, fingers still tickling through his hair.

“Uh, Luna, what are you doing on my bed?” asked Harry while squinting to try and focus his vision, since he was without his glasses at the moment.

“I watched over you as you slept, like I told you last night,” explained Luna, sounding as if she were merely answering a question put to her in class. “Once I turned off the lights I couldn’t see you from across the room so I came over here.”

Again Luna left Harry speechless and he merely gazed back at her in silence. Then without saying a word Luna moved her hand that was stroking his hair to caress his cheek, the tender touch was surprising and a little alarming, but he didn’t move to pull her fingers away.

Slowly she leaned her face forward and brushed her lips against his, causing him even more shock and to his amazement, it was rather pleasant.

Harry had only two girls kiss him before this in his life, Ginny Weasley and Cho Chang. Ginny’s kisses were electric and sent shivers from the crown of his head down to the tips his toes. When Cho kissed him that time in the Room of Requirement, it was rather wet (since she was crying) and awkward. Luna’s kiss was warm and strange, almost eerie, and there was a hint of strawberry to the taste.

Carefully Harry broke the kiss, trying not to be too abrupt since he didn’t feel right about what was happening, and stared at Luna, wide-eyed with shock.

He opening his mouth to ask her why she did that, but just as quickly as it began. The quiet exchange was violently interrupted.

“Alohamora!”

The door roughly swung open and a blur of red hair and travelling robes charged into the room. Harry immediately jerked his hand away from Luna’s cheek, his lips from hers and began to frantically search for his glasses.

“Luna? Harry!?” shouted Ron Weasley as he stopped his charge into the room and gaped at the pair on the bed.

“Good morning, Ronald,” said Luna, her voice taking on that familiar sing-song quality she generally had. “Do you always wake people up by charging into their rooms?”

Finally Harry found his glasses and slipped them on so he could look over at his best friend, the sight made him want to laugh. Ron’s freckled, pale face was twisted into a look somewhere between surprise and horror, his shoulders were heaving from the exertion of his charge and his wand was gripped white knuckled in his right hand.

“Morning, Ron,” grinned Harry as he moved to get off the bed.

“Harry? Luna?!” gasped Ron again, his eyes moving between the pair as he tried to comprehend the situation.

“Luna?” queried another familiar voice from behind Ron. “Luna Lovegood? What’s she doing here?”

Harry’s good humour was quickly replaced with dread as Ginny Weasley inched around her brother only to stop as if she were pushed back and join in the stare at Harry and Luna. Though unlike her brother‘s surprised look, Ginny’s brown eyes hardened to ice and her lips twisted into a soft scowl.

“Ginny, um, I wasn’t expecting you,” stammered Harry as he immediately stood and stepped away from Luna as if she had just burst into flames, the Ravenclaw remained lying on the bed looking at the three serenely.

“No, it certainly doesn’t look that way!” snapped Ginny before spinning on her heel and marched out of the room.

“Ginny!” Harry called after her and began to follow but stopped himself and his shoulders slumped; he then glanced over at Ron who was still staring at him. “When did you two get here?”

Ron quickly shook his head and his open mouth curled into a slight smile. “About twenty minutes ago. When did you get here?”

“Last night,” replied Harry as he turned his gaze to the open door that Ginny just left through. “How did you know which room I was in?”

“Well, you told me that you were going to be staying over and I just asked Tom if anyone checked in last night and he said that you were up here. I was worried when you didn’t answer the door right away. It’s why I - you know - charged in, didn’t know that you were - you know - busy,” replied Ron as he glanced over at Luna and his smile twisted into a sly smirk.

“We weren’t doing anything,” snapped Harry.

“Indeed we weren’t,” added Luna, her voice taking on that icy edge again and she stood quickly. “I was merely watching over Harry as he slept and I assure you he was a complete gentleman. I needed lodging for the night and Harry was nice enough to put me up.”

Ron seemed caught off guard by this new defensive Luna and he raised his hands. “Okay, I’m sorry. I was just poking some fun.”

“Well it wasn’t very funny,” said Luna crisply before pushing past the two boys and glided out of the room.

“Bloody hell, what’s got into her?” asked Ron, more surprised than angry as he watched the Ravenclaw depart.

“Got me,” said Harry while shaking his head and ran a hand through his hair. “I just met her on the Knight Bus last night and she needed a place to stay for some reason. She’s been acting odd since then.”

“She’s always been mental, Harry, it was just a matter of time before she cracked,” said Ron, smirking once again and looking back at his friend. “We’ll just have to call her Loonier Luna now.”

“Sod off!” snapped Harry angrily before he realized what he said, again he sighed and shook his head, not understanding why he got so upset at Ron’s remark. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that. I’m just... stressed about leaving the Dursleys last night and still groggy from just waking up.”

Ron just grinned that lopsided grin of his and slapped a friendly hand on Harry’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, Harry. We’ll go down and have something to eat then we’ll talk. I always feel better after a good meal.”

Harry looked up at his best friend and gave him a thankful smile. Yes, it was nice to have Ron here at his side again. “You feel better after any meal.”

“Damn right!” exclaimed Ron with a laugh, giving Harry's shoulder a firm shake before moving to the door. “Come on then, Hermione should have everything ready and I’m starving. I haven’t eaten since breakfast!”

“Erm, what time is it anyways?” asked Harry as he followed his friend out of the room and closed the door.

“Close to lunch time, it’s one of the reasons I was worried when you didn’t answer the door. Never knew you to sleep so late,” replied Ron striding down the corridor for the stairs.

“Like I said I had a late night,” said Harry, doing his best to keep up with Ron’s longer pace. “Hermione’s here? Did she come with you?”

“She arrived just after we did,” explained Ron as he thumped down the stairs while looking at Harry and giving him an apologetic grimace. “Uh, sorry about Ginny. Mom made me bring her when I said I was coming to visit Fred and George, it was the only way she‘d let me leave the Burrow. I told her that we were going to be staying over for a couple nights. I hope Ginny’s not too angry with you.”

Harry winced at the image of Ginny’s glare just a few minutes ago. “I’ll just tell her that nothing happened, though I do wish she didn’t see Luna and me like that.”

“She’ll get over it,” assured Ron casually as he basically leapt off the bottom step and began a brisk pace across the tavern main room.

“I hope so,” muttered Harry under his breath as he followed Ron to a table on the far side of the common hall.

There he spied Hermione and Ginny seated across from each other at a corner booth and surprisingly Luna had join them, sitting next to a nervous looking Hermione. Though the apprehensive look on Harry’s other best friends face was quickly replaced with a wide grin as she spotted the two boys walking towards them.

“Harry!” squealed Hermione, almost sending Luna sprawling to the floor as she squeezed past the Ravenclaw and ran over to throw her arms around Harry’s neck. “How are you feeling?”

Harry quickly returned the hug and stepped out of his friend’s arms to smile down at her. “It’s nice to see you too, Hermione and I feel alright.”

“Good, good,” replied Hermione quickly and stepped back as well, giving Harry a searching look as if she wasn‘t quite sure he was telling her the truth about how he felt. “I’m glad that you’re doing well. Luna told me that you had a late night and seemed rather flustered at leaving your Aunt and Uncle’s.”

“Flustered?” repeated Harry while sending a questioning look to the blonde girl at the table.

“A mere observation,” explained Luna, gazing about the tavern before looking back at Harry. “You’ve seemed... upset since end of last term, though considering what occurred it‘s quite understandable.”

A loud snort erupted from Ginny and the young girl folded her arms across her chest and threw herself further back into the bench seat of the booth.

Hermione quickly nervously looked between Harry, Luna and Ginny and clapped her hands together once crisply. “Well! Lunch should almost be ready -- Ah! Here it comes now!”

Harry glanced over his shoulder and saw that indeed one of the waitresses was approaching their table carrying a large tray of food. Ron seized Harry’s sleeve and shoved him into the booth next to Ginny before sitting beside him. Hermione also rejoined Luna on the other side of the table as the waitress stepped up and began setting down bowls, a plate of bread and a large crock of stew.

The five ate the lunch in silence with Harry throwing side-long glances at Ginny next to him. She seemed to be rather determinedly avoiding looking at Harry and Luna, attacking her stew as if it were a Slytherin she wanted to hex.

Once everyone had their fill of the lunch - with Ron devouring most of the stew himself - Harry pushed his empty bowl away from him and surveyed everyone else. He was wishing that he could some how send Ginny and Luna away, not really wanting to discuss what he called Ron and Hermione here for with the two girls present. Though with the acid glances that Ginny was now throwing at Luna it seemed doubtful they would go anywhere together in the near future.

As the five sat in silence Harry felt the tension emitting from the young red head beside him, he looked over at Ginny and saw that she was looking at him through narrowed, suspicious eyes.

“Why are you here, Harry?” demanded Ginny.

For a moment Harry found himself speechless, not quite sure how to answer her question. His first instinct was to lie, to tell her that he just fancied a trip to London and had sent letters to Ron and Hermione to join him, but the thought of lying to her was repulsive to say the least.

So, he took a deep breath and told the truth. “Ginny, as I said I wasn’t expecting you to be here, nor was I expecting to meet Luna last night. It would’ve been easier to do this without having to be reminded what I had to let go so I could do it.”

“Yeah, you told me at Dumbledore’s funeral you had to go off and do something alone and we couldn‘t be together anymore,” replied Ginny bitterly, obviously she had been hurt more at Harry breaking up with her than she had let on at the time.

“Well, that... thing I mentioned having to do, I’m leaving tomorrow to do it. I left the Dursley’s last night and I’m not ever going back. I probably won’t be going back to school in the fall, even if Hogwarts does reopen,” explained Harry slowly.

Ginny’s brow furrowed in confusion, leaving behind that angry appearance she held all through lunch. “What’s so important that you can’t go back to Hogwarts? I mean, I can understand why you left your Aunt and Uncle’s, it always sounded so horrid there for you.” Then her confused look gave way to one of shock and horror.

Harry internally winced as he watched her put the pieces together; both Ron and Hermione flinched as well in preparation for what was to come next.

“NO! Harry, you can’t! You’re not ready to face You-Know-Who yet! I know that you’re the most skilled wizard I’ve ever met, but no! Not yet!” pleaded Ginny, full of emotion as she grabbed Harry’s wrist.

"Shut up, Ginny!" hissed Ron through clenched teeth while quickly looking around the nearby tables to see if anyone had heard her. "We can’t mention any of that here."

"I will not shut up, Ronald Weasley!" snapped back Ginny, appearing to be near tears now as she glared over at her brother and released Harry‘s arm. "And you! You’re just letting your friend go off like this? Don’t you know he could be killed?"

"We know, Ginny," said Hermione quietly as she reached over to place a sympathetic hand over Ginny’s, "that’s why Ron and I are going with Harry. He won’t be alone in this, he never was."

Harry blushed at Hermione’s words but quickly covered it over with a soft clearing of the throat. "We won’t be facing -- him right away, there’s some things we need to take care of first, but it has to be done eventually, Ginny. I hope you’ll understand."

"Then I’m coming with you!" declared Ginny, lifting a defiant but tear stained gaze at Harry.

"You are definitely not!" spat back Ron, his voice rising to the same level as his sister’s and his face turning the same shade of red. "Mum’ll be hacked off at me enough for leaving with Harry like this, but she’ll skin me alive if I bring you along."

"Bullocks on Mum!" replied Ginny hastily as she pulled her hand out of Hermione’s, everyone at the table (save for Luna) gasped in surprise at Ginny‘s unusual harsh use of language. "I don’t care! I’m going with you three. I’m tired of being left behind and treated like a child, remember I went to the Ministry with you and was able to help."

"I just remember you went and got your ankle broke!" sneered Ron, still bristling at Ginny’s defiance.

"And I remember you being attacked by disembodied brains!" shot back Ginny.

"Enough!" barked Harry, causing everyone at the table (again, save for Luna) to flinch. He then looked around the tavern and noticed that the sibling’s argument was bringing their table a lot of unwanted attention from the few people about. "Ron’s right, we can’t talk about this here. If we’re going to discuss anything else we should find somewhere more private. Let’s go up to my room."

The others nodded in silent agreement with Harry and they all rose to make their way to the stairs after Hermione, Ron and Ginny retrieved their respective backpacks they had stowed under the table (Hermione actually had her school bag as well, packed full of books).

Harry led the way with Ron behind him, Ginny followed as Hermione put a comforting arm around the younger girls now slightly trembling shoulders. Luna mutely trailed behind the four at a discreet distance.

Once they were all in Harry and Luna’s room Hermione led Ginny over to Luna’s bed and they both sat down, Hermione still quietly comforting her. Harry and Ron seated themselves on Harry’s bed with Luna merely taking a place in front of the closed door and leaned back against it. Though Harry swore he heard the Ravenclaw put a silencing charm on the door before doing so.

Ginny slowly pulled away from Hermione’s arms and tucked a strand of fiery red hair behind her ear in an attempt to further compose herself. She then looked up at Harry, Ron and Hermione with moist eyes. "So, what’s this other thing you need to do before Harry faces You-Know-Who?"

"We’re not quite sure ourselves," replied Hermione slowly, and then looked over at Harry with eyes equally as moist at Ginny’s. Apparently the youngest Weasley’s current emotional state was contagious.

"That’s why we were meeting with Harry and needed to talk in private," added Ron, that hard tone returning to his voice.

Before the two siblings could start their argument anew Harry put a hand up to silence them and began to talk. All four of Harry’s friends sat in silence as Harry explained to them about Horcruxes (something Hermione and Ron knew about, but Ginny looked absolutely beside herself in awe and shock that Harry almost began regretting talking about this with her present), then he began to lay down his preliminary plan on how to deal with these Horcruxes.

Of course his first instinct had been to return Godric's Hollow, visit his parent's grave and his old childhood home (what's left of it) but recently inspiration to go to the old Gaunt residence in Little Hangleton overcame him.

There would always be time for him to make a stop at his parents' former home and their graves later. Right now finding Voldemort's Horcruxes were of the utmost importance.

"Why there, Harry?" asked Ron once Harry finished speaking at long last.

Harry shrugged, to him it just seemed like the right place to start, but before he could respond Hermione explained it for him.

"Think about it, Ron," said Hermione, her voice taking on the tone she generally assumed when quoting from Hogwarts: A History. "The cave Dumbledore took Harry to find that one Horcrux was someplace of importance to Voldemort in his childhood. Dumbledore also found another Horcrux at the Gaunt house, the ring, remember? And perhaps there may be some clue as to where we could find the others.”

"But what Harry and Dumbledore found in the cave wasn’t a Horcrux though, it was a fake," replied Ron, starting to sound annoyed at Hermione’s typical mental snootiness, as he always did in discussions such as this.

"That’s because someone had already found the Horcrux and replaced it with a fake while destroying the real one, as stated in the note they left for Voldemort," said Hermione testily. "Really, Ron, haven’t you been paying any attention?"

"I’ve been paying attention! I just want to make sure we have all the facts before we go running out into the wild blue yonder!" snapped Ron hotly, his ears and face reddening.

"I was always under the impression that that was Hermione’s job in your group. I‘d be careful, Ronald, that she doesn‘t get too upset at your usurpation of her position as resident sober second thought," quipped Luna quietly from her spot in front of the door before she began to hum ‘Weasley’s our King’ as she had all during Harry’s long tale.

Luna’s comment caught everyone off guard and Harry found that he couldn’t do anything but put an arm over his stomach and fall back onto the bed while letting out loud bursts of laughter. Ron just stared at Luna for a moment then followed Harry’s suit and began laughing as well, so did Ginny, apparently forgetting that she was angry with Luna for the moment. Hermione just folded her arms across her chest and looked scandalized, though a hint of a smile did curl the corners of her lips.

As Harry recovered from his laughing fit it occurred to him that he hadn’t laughed like this since Dumbledore’s funeral. He was glad Luna was able to interject a bit of humour into the tense atmosphere of the room, even though that may not have been her intention. Slowly he sat back up and readjusted his glasses that had become askew during his fit to look over his friends, smiling at his good fortune to have found them.

"Anyhow, Harry," began Hermione once the laughter had finally died down. "I think you’re right about going to the Gaunt House. We may not find anything but at least it‘s a start."

"That may be all fine and well, Hermione, but we don’t exactly have a way to get to Little Hangleton, now do we?" said Ron as he wiped away an errand tear of laughter from the corner of his eye. "You’re the only one who can Apparate. I can’t take my test again until next month and Harry isn’t of age until the thirty first."

"I’m not of age either and neither is Luna," added Ginny hastily, threatening to restart the argument that she was coming with them.

But before Ron could begin again with his sister, Luna spoke up suddenly once more. "Oh, I can Apparate quite easily, I just don’t like to. It feels as if I’m being squeezed through a straw and it makes my ears pop quite uncomfortably."

Again everyone turned to stare at Luna, though this time no one laughed. Hermione shifted awkwardly and cleared her throat before speaking.

"I thought you were in the same year as Ginny, how are you old enough to Apparate?"

"Any witch or wizard can Apparate, Hermione, it’s just like casting a spell. You just have to know how to do it," replied Luna matter-of-factly while turning her blue eyes to the Gryffindor. "The Ministry just has these silly rules allowing only those who are of age to Apparate. As if there are some special connotations to simply turning seventeen."

"It happens to be the law, not just some silly rule," said Hermione briskly. "The Ministry must have good reasons for having such restrictions."

"Oh, they must!" snapped Luna quite sharply, sounding as icy as Harry heard her when she was talking to Ron earlier. "Just like they have restrictions on telling me where my father is and what they’re doing to find him."

Once more Luna’s words stunned everyone into silence and a lump began to form in the pit of Harry’s stomach.

"What do you mean, Luna? Your father’s missing?" asked Harry quietly, that lump in his stomach now twisting with fear. Was Luna’s father another casualty in this war with Voldemort?

"He disappeared four days before I returned home from school and I wasn’t told until then,” explained Luna, her tone now going neutral. “The deputy chief editor at the Quibbler, Donald Ewing, reported him missing to the Ministry and didn’t want me to worry. Daddy always wandered off without telling anyone while in pursuit of a story, but he didn’t take his favourite quill or travelling cloak with him.

"I immediately contacted the people at the Ministry who were tasked with finding him, but they just assured me that their ‘best men’ were on the case and they’d tell me if they found anything. Everyone knows that Daddy was never popular with the Ministry, especially after what he did for you, Harry, and so I decided to look for him myself since I didn‘t trust them to find him. I went every place I could think of that Daddy would go to, I searched for days, and days turned to weeks."

Luna’s now cold eyes turned to Harry, he noticed that they held an almost pleading look in them. "I was walking through Liverpool since I heard that Daddy had been running down a story about a thought-eating vampire named Rufus. It turned out no one had heard from him for months and I found myself at my wit’s end, actually."

Harry couldn’t help at smiling while listening to Luna, despite her current dilemma and he did do a good job at hiding it. He never thought that Luna Lovegood could have an end to her wit, if that’s what she called it. Quickly he sobered himself and listened as she continued her tale in that hushed, neutral tone she was now using.

"I was walking down that dark street last night and found myself wishing to the Higher-Powers-That-Be for some kind, any kind of help. Then I got inspiration to call for the Knight Bus, that I would find my saving angel and he would help me find my Daddy," Luna’s voice lowered to a whisper, her misty gaze boring into Harry. "And who should I find on board? You."

The silence grew to an intolerable level as Luna finished her story and Harry squirmed under the Ravenclaw’s unwavering gaze. He then pulled his eyes away from Luna’s and glanced over at Ron who looked as unnerved about this revelation as he was. The stillness of the situation was interrupted when Ginny slowly rose from her seat on the bed and walked over to the still standing Luna pulling her into a tentative but firm hug.

A solitary tear now ran down Luna’s pale cheek and she returned Ginny’s hug tightly while still looking at Harry. "See, that’s why I had to watch over you and will continue to do so. You will help me find my Daddy; the Higher-Powers-That-Be told me so. You are my angel, Harry Potter."

With his face turning several shades of red, Harry quickly looked down at his feet and felt yet another weight fall onto his already laden shoulders. Unlike the other loads he felt compelled to carry though, this one didn’t seem as daunting. It wasn’t to save the world or keep the innocents from a gruesome and painful death. This was just to help his friend find her father. She didn’t seem to want him to go out of his way for her or do anything different. The fates just led her to him and that was that.

"I think Harry has enough to worry about without also having to search for your father," said Hermione with a stern look at Luna who was still clinging very tightly to Ginny.

"Harry will find him," said Luna as she kept her eyes on Harry. "He’ll know where to look, everyone knows angels work that way."

"Brother," muttered Hermione while turning to look at Harry pointedly, arms crossing sternly. "We can‘t be out looking for Horcruxes and search for a missing man while at the same time most likely avoiding Death Eaters. I am very sorry at Luna’s plight --”

"What would it hurt?" asked Harry, returning Hermione’s stern look with one of his own. "If her father was captured by Death Eaters it might be possible that we’d find him in our searches."

"It’s most likely that he’s not being held at all," replied Hermione, leaving her assumptions about the true fate of Luna’s father unspoken.

"We’re doing it," announced Ron, the statement sounding resolute and final. "I don’t know about you, Hermione, but if my Dad had gone missing I’d do everything I could to find him and I know that Harry and you would do the same. Luna’s our friend and we can’t leave her just not knowing."

"I agree," added Harry, nodding firmly.

Hermione sighed quietly and bobbed her head once in conceded agreement, then turned to Luna and gave her a sympathetic look. "I didn’t mean to sound cruel, I really didn’t, I just -- I mean -- I don’t want this mission to become more complicated than it already is."

"I understand," replied Luna after rubbing Ginny’s shoulder thankfully and gently stepping out of the hug. "There’s nothing for Harry to do really but just find him and he’ll do it by continuing to do what he was already planning to do. I really doubt there is much Harry can‘t accomplish when he puts his mind to it."

Ginny let out a tear filled giggle and gave Luna another firm hug. Apparently she couldn’t stay mad at the Ravenclaw for very long, Harry doubted anyone could. Luna seemed amused by this and returned the embrace while kissing Ginny on the cheek softly.

After watching Luna and Ginny for a long moment several questions began to form in Harry’s mind. “Luna, why did you tell me that you were staying with your cousins, and that you didn’t have any money to rent a room for the night?”

“Oh, yes,” replied Luna, actually looking abashed at the fib she told Harry the previous night. “My uncle and cousins do live in Liverpool and I did find them rather boring, so I did once tell my Uncle Reginald I was going for a walk and never returned. That was about two years ago and Daddy was very stern with me for leaving like that. But what I said about not having any money, that was correct. I spent my last sickle four days ago to buy some dinner. I was able to get onto the Knight Bus by talking Earl into allowing me onboard after telling him part of my plight. I didn‘t tell you any of my problems because I didn‘t want to cause you any undue stress.”

“You mean you haven’t had anything to eat for four days before that lunch we had?” asked Ginny incredulously, gazing up at the taller girl.

“Oh, it would be an exaggeration to say that I haven’t eaten anything for the past four days, I just haven’t eaten well,” replied Luna cheerfully while smiling down at Ginny.

“To get back on track, though,” said Ron after clearing his throat and looked at Hermione. “How are we going to get to Little Hangleton? Even though you and Luna can Apparate that still leaves Harry and me out in the cold.”

“And me!” exclaimed Ginny, spinning around to look at her brother angrily.

“Fine! And you!” growled Ron, apparently giving up on leaving his sister behind for the time being. “Though you’ll have to deal with Mum about this, not me.”

Ginny beamed at her little victory and walked back over to the bed she was sitting on earlier to rejoin Hermione on it.

Harry didn’t like the idea of involving Ginny in this but there didn’t seem to be any other choice, she wasn’t going to be left behind and that was all there was to it. There was always the idea of stunning her and leaving her with Fred and George in Diagon Alley, but she would never forgive him for doing that, and the thought of Ginny not ever forgiving him was more unbearable than having her along. At least this way he’d know she was safe for the time being and he could always convince her to leave if it got too dangerous.

Hermione didn’t seem to like the idea of Ginny coming with them anymore than Ron or Harry did but didn’t press the issue. Her face just took on that twisted appearance of concentration it did whenever she thought deeply.

“Brooms are out of the question since I don’t have one and unless one of you knows how to get to Little Hangleton from the air we’d probably get lost. We‘d also run the risk of being spotted by Muggles.”

“The Knight Bus?” offered Ginny hesitantly.

“No, Harry’s too well known to travel in public like that. It’s possible he’d be recognized going to Little Hangleton and we could be followed,” said Hermione while shaking her head.

“We’re not walking, are we?” grumbled Ron irritably.

“No! Of course not; don’t be ridiculous, Ron!” snapped Hermione then her face brightened as an idea came to her. “The train!”

“The train?” asked Ginny uncertainly. “Like the Hogwarts Express?”

“No, no, I mean the Muggle train. I’m sure there must be a train that travels near to Little Hangleton and maybe even stops there, or more likely in Great Hangleton,” explained Hermione excitedly.

“I thought you said we shouldn’t travel in public. That I‘d be instantly recognized,” said Harry.

“Well, I meant publicly in the Magical world,” replied Hermione, beaming at Harry, obviously very pleased with herself at coming up with such a fool-proof plan. “No one would be the wiser if we took the Muggle route. I doubt any Death Eater would even think of us doing such a thing.”

“Do we know if there’s a train that goes even remotely close to Little Hangleton?” asked Harry.

Again Hermione fell into a thoughtful revelry then jumped as inspiration struck her. She hastily dived for her school bag and began rummaging through it before pulling out a pamphlet.

“Here! I didn’t think I kept it,” she announced while opening the thrice folded pamphlet and began scanning its contents.

“What is it?” asked Ginny, leaning to read over Hermione’s shoulder.

“It’s a train schedule from King’s Cross,” replied Hermione, her lips pursed as she continue to search the pamphlet. “I took one when we got back from school at the end of term.”

“Why did you grab a Muggle train schedule?” asked Ron before standing to walk over and join Hermione and Ginny in reading the schedule.

“I simply felt like taking one, I thought it might come in handy,” explained Hermione, glancing at Ron before turning her attention back to her current task. “They were free and I just grabbed one before leaving the station with my parents.”

“Here! Look!” said Ginny excitedly, pointing at something on the third fold of the pamphlet. “Great Hangleton!”

Finally Harry’s curiosity got the better of him and he moved to join the others as Hermione quickly summarized the item Ginny pointed at.

“The eight a.m. connection to Edinburgh via London makes five stops, one of which is Great Hangleton. It arrives there at six p.m. and stops for half an hour before proceeding straight to Edinburgh.”

“Why so late?” asked Harry while sitting down next to Ginny and when he did the sensation of her warm closeness sent quick jolts of electricity through him. He really hoped she wasn’t angry with him anymore, but he pushed his feelings down reluctantly and continued with the topic at hand. “It only takes seven hours to get to Hogwarts from here, which is further north than Edinburgh.”

“Like the schedule says, the train makes five half an hour, to hour long stops on its route to Edinburgh. The last stop is in Great Hangleton and that’s why the trip takes so long,” explained Hermione before handing the pamphlet over to Harry so he could read it himself.

“Okay, so we take the Muggle train,” said Ron, still sounding unconvinced that this plan would work. “I doubt it’s free.”

“No, it’s not,” said Harry as he scanned the schedule, his gaze perusing the fare rates. “The fare for the train Hermione’s suggesting is sixty pounds per passenger for a one way trip.”

“Whoa, sixty pounds,” said Ron quietly. “Is that a lot?”

“Well, I did bring that much in Muggle money with me just in case,” said Hermione, “but yes, it’s quite a sum if all five of us are to take the train.”

“Well, I don’t have near that kind of money,” complained Ron while he reached into the pocket of the trousers he wore under his travelling robes to pull out a handful of coins. “All I have is fifteen sickles and some knuts, it’s all I could save up in the two weeks I‘ve been home.”

“I didn’t even bring that much because I wasn’t told anything about this,” added Ginny, shooting a pointed glare at her brother.

To Harry’s amazement Ron didn’t take the bait Ginny had put out to restart their previous argument, he merely looked at him and blushed. “Umm... Harry, I hate to do this but what if...”

“I think I should have more than enough money in my vault to pay for the tickets,” said Harry, smiling at his friend, the idea that he pay for the ticket had already occurred to him. “Don’t worry about it, Ron.”

“Good,” replied Ron, looking relieved before giving Harry a determined glance with narrowed eyes. “I’ll be paying you back, you know that, right?”

“And so will I,” added Ginny quickly.

“Excellent!” beamed Hermione as she slipped the schedule back into her book bag. “Now that we’ve got that all sorted out, I suppose we just need to occupy ourselves until tomorrow morning. I think we should leave for King’s Cross at six-thirty, giving us plenty of time to purchase the tickets and board the train.”

“How are we getting to King’s Cross?” asked Ron, looking stricken as this problem arose in his mind.

“We’ll simply hire a taxi,” replied Hermione, easily sweeping aside this small problem before changing topics completely. “I think I’d like to visit Flourish and Blotts, there are some new volumes out about Arithmancy that I’d like to browse. Harry, you should go to Gringotts and see about exchanging some Galleons for Muggle pounds.”

“I’ll go with Harry!” offered Ginny, almost leaping off the bed as she did so.

Harry gave Ginny a small smile before he turned to the others. “Alright then, how about we all meet at Fred and George’s in, say, two hours? I’m sure it will take me that long just to get money out and have it converted.”

“Sounds good,” said Hermione brightly as she stood and seized Ron’s arm to pull him up with her, “let’s go, Ron. Maybe there’s a book we can find for you about Apparating so you can brush up on the fundamentals before you re-take your test.”

“What?” replied Ron, blinking in surprise and stumbled to his feet as Hermione tugged him off the bed. “I hate going to Flourish and Blotts!”

Hermione just rolled her eyes and dragged Ron to the door which Luna had opened for them. She then seemed to give Ginny a sly wink before hauling Ron out of the room with her. “Oh, Ron, you hate every bookstore. Come along now, it won’t be that terrible.”

“I think I’ll go with them,” announced Luna, stepping into the open doorway. “I could introduce Hermione to the Encyclopaedia of Strange and Rare Creatures or even Spangler‘s Weird Guide to our Odd World. Goodness knows she needs an introduction to the universe and the way it truly operates.”

“I’m sure she’ll appreciate it,” said Harry, grinning at the Ravenclaw and watched as she glided out of the room, closing the door behind her.

As soon as the door clicked shut Ginny threw her arms around Harry’s neck and pressed her lips firmly to his. At first Harry was caught off guard and he almost pushed her away, but he quickly fell under her spell and returned the kiss with zeal. His arms slipped around her slender waist and he held her body close to his.

Time seemed to hold no meaning to Harry as he held Ginny’s small frame in his arms tightly, feeling her lips against his, their tongues entwining passionately. After what seemed like hours Harry pulled back from Ginny and looked down at her face which was full of passion and need.

“You have no idea how much I’ve been wanting that since I saw you this morning,” whispered Harry, his hand coming up to brush an errant lock of red hair behind Ginny’s ear.

“I’ve wanted to do that since we left Hogwarts,” replied Ginny, just as softly. “Since we broke up at Dumbledore’s funeral.”

Harry pursed his lips when Ginny mentioned both events that he wanted to simply forget. Slowly he disentangled himself from her embrace and walked over to his bed to sit down on it while running both his hands through his hair. Yes, it was nice to have Ginny at his side again and yes, it was wonderful that they could share intimate moments like the one they just had. But he just couldn’t let go of the fact that she could be used by Voldemort to get at him, just like he was used to get at Dumbledore that night in the Ministry.

“You do understand why we had to break up, right?” asked Harry, eyes fixed on his knees as he rested his forehead on his hands.

“I understand that you did it to protect me and that you felt it would be better if I were far away from you,” replied Ginny quietly as she moved across the room to join Harry on the bed, her hand rubbing his back affectionately. “But I think you need to understand that I love you, Harry, and it kills me to be pushed away all the time or left behind.”

Love you? The two words that Harry heard most intently hit him like a stinging hex and he sat up straight, eyes instantly on Ginny. “I didn’t know, Ginny. Why didn’t you say this before?”

“Because you had enough to worry about,” replied Ginny, the hand on Harry’s back moving up to stroke some hair from his forehead. Her voice broke and seemed like she was going to break down. “You were still grieving over Sirius, and then there was what happened between Dumbledore and Snape. I didn’t want to add to your burdens.”

Slowly Harry brought a hand up to caress Ginny’s cheek tenderly, he felt his own voice begin to break but he quickly strengthened it. “I never considered you a burden. I just wanted you to be safe, to be far away from all this craziness.”

Ginny smiled and tilted her head in Harry’s touch to press a kiss to his wrist. “I know, Harry, but I can’t think of anywhere safer than in your arms.”

A sly grin came across Harry’s lips and he leaned forward to brush a kiss across her warm cheek. “You feel that way even after you caught me in bed with Luna?”

She let out a small giggle at that comment and lightly slapped his arm. “Oh please, Harry! I was angry at first but I just reminded myself that it was Luna Lovegood and she knows how I feel about you.”

He smiled and pulled her into another tight hug, kissing her forehead. “I’m just glad you’re not angry with me, I couldn’t bear that thought.”

“Could you promise me something though, Harry?” asked Ginny as she pillowed her head on his chest. “Don’t push me away again?”

“I won’t, if you promise me something in return,” retorted Harry as he ran his fingers through her long red hair, relishing the closeness they were able to share again. “During our search, if I ask you to do something that you do it without question.”

“What do you mean?” asked Ginny, lifting her gaze to Harry’s face with a questioning look.

“If I ask you to run away or leave that you do it without questioning me. Please, Ginny, this is very important that you make this promise.”

For a moment Harry wasn’t sure whether Ginny was going to make that promise, since that familiar defiant look which made her appear much like Fred and George came over her fair features. Though after a few moments she reluctantly nodded once and laid her head back down against his chest and wrapped her arms around him very tightly.

“I promise.” Her voice was very quiet and distant.

Harry closed his eyes and rested his cheek on the top of her head, hoping beyond hope that he would never have to force Ginny to keep that promise.

* * *