Return of the Phoenix

Chapter 2

Harry and Ginny stepped out of the fireplace at The Burrow and started to brush each other off. Harry has yet been able to travel by floo without getting any soot on him. As Harry finished brushing Ginny off, the door to the kitchen opened and Molly Weasley stepped through the door. Just as Molly was opening her mouth to tell Ginny how irresponsible she was to travel without supervision, she spotted Harry and lost her thought.

"Oh Harry dear. It is so nice to see you again. I trust that there was no problem this morning?" Molly shot a look to her daughter to send her a silent message. If Ginny had noticed her mother and the way that she was looking at her, she gave no outward sign of it.

"Oh no ma'am, there was no problem at all." Harry gave Molly a genuine smile as he looked around at how the house had changed since he was last there. It wasn't so much that there was anything new in the house, it was the fact that there was so much more room. As Harry looked, he noticed that the den was at least three times its normal size with a few more couches and chairs scattered around the room. Harry reasoned that the change was to accommodate all of the guests that would be visiting the house for Bill and Fleur's wedding. Harry looked back to Molly to see that she was still looking at Ginny through narrowed eyes. Harry figured he should say something to help calm Molly down a little bit. "Mrs. Weasley, I do not think that things could have gone any better had there been the normal welcoming committee of at least six armed Order members. Trust me when I say that there was not even a verbal confrontation between Ginny and my so-called family. I am just happy to finally be away from there."

Molly looked back at Harry and slowly let out a light sigh. Although she was still upset with Ginny for leaving with nothing more than a note, she understood her reason for going like she did. Had Ginny actually asked if she could go get Harry, the answer would have been no. Molly looked back at Harry and smiled. "Well, as long as the two of you are ok, that is all that I care about. Why don't you go on upstairs and put your things away. Harry, Ron will probably still be asleep since it is early, but I am sure that he will wake up quick when you get up there." Molly made a small waving gesture with her hand as she walked back into the kitchen. Ginny turned to look at Harry and breathed a small sigh of relief.

"Well that went a lot better than I thought that it would. I was expecting her to be furious and start yelling about carelessness and how dangerous it could have been." Harry cracked a small grin and started to slowly shake his head.

"If I must be honest, I think that your mom was fairly upset with the fact that you just left like that. But I am happy that you did come like you said you would. I don't know how much longer I could have stayed there."

"Harry, there is one thing that is bothering me about your aunt. When I came out of the fireplace, she had a shocked look on her face and then started to stutter something about your mom. What was that all about?" Ginny turned her head slightly to the side with a questioning look on her face.

"There is something that you need to see before I explain what actually happened. Let me get my things upstairs and check on Ron and get him out of bed. I'll talk more about it after we eat breakfast." Harry simply smiled as Ginny raised a questioning eyebrow. Slowly, Ginny nodded her head in agreement as she started up the stairs with Hedwig's cage and Harry's broom. Harry grabbed his trunk and started up the stairs behind Ginny.

--------------------

After Harry thanked Ginny for helping with his things, she turned and walked back down the stairs to where her mom was working. Harry slowly opened the bedroom door to hear Ron softly snoring in his sleep. Harry quietly entered the room and placed his trunk next to Ron's and set Hedwig's cage next to the window on the dresser.

"Harry?" Harry was putting his broom in the corner of the room when he heard Ron's voice. Harry turned to see that his friend was staring bleary-eyed at him. Harry smiled and walked over to the bed and sat at the foot.

"Morning Ron. It's about time you woke up." Harry started to laugh as Ron's eyes grew to the size of saucers.

"Harry! I can't believe that you're here! When did you get in? How did you get here?"

"I just got in about five minutes ago. Ginny flooed to The Dursley's and rescued me." Harry watched as Ron's expression went from excitement to almost anger.

"What do you mean rescue you? Where they beating you or something?" Harry got a little nervous at his friend's sudden change of mood. Harry figured that he would need to act quickly to keep Ron from getting any madder.

"No, it was nothing like that. I just meant that she came and brought me away from them. For the most part, my aunt and uncle just ignored me as usual." Harry held his breath to wait and see if Ron would calm down. Eventually, Ron was back to his normal self with a smile on his face.

"Well that's good then, and it's good to see you. How was Ginny able to just leave like that? Did mom know that she had gone?" Harry couldn't help but chuckle at that thought.

"Actually no. Ginny wrote to tell me that the floo would be open today and tomorrow for me to come here for the wedding. After some thought, I figured that I would just come today as soon as The Dursleys were connected so that I could get away with them. I wrote Ginny to see if she would come and pick me up and she told me that she would be there first thing. From what I have found out, Ginny just left a note saying what she was going to do and left."

"I bet mom had a fit when the two of you turned up this morning." Ron started to laugh at the thought of his mom getting mad like that first thing in the morning.

"Well, she wasn't too happy about it. However, I explained that there was nothing to worry about and the Dursleys barely said a word when she was there. But enough about that. It's time for you to get up. From the way things smelt downstairs, your mom has breakfast ready and I know how you hate to miss a meal." As if on cue, Ron's stomach made a grumbling sound. Harry just laughed as Ron rolled out of bed and made his way toward the door. Within minutes, Harry, Ron, and Ginny were sitting around the kitchen table while Molly brought plates full of food and placed them in front of the three teens.

--------------------

As Ron finished eating, he stood up and started to make his way over toward the fireplace. Harry and Ginny looked at him funny for a second before Ron spoke up to tell them what he was going to do.

"I am on my way to The Granger's to meet Hermione's parents and then bring her back here. I figured that now was as good a time as any before we all got too busy in setting everything up." Harry and Ginny started to nod their heads in agreement as Ron stepped into the grate before disappearing in a flash of green flames. Harry and Ginny were finally left alone in the kitchen as Molly had already left to start setting things up.

"So Harry, would you mind explaining what exactly happened this morning when I got to your aunt and uncle's house?" Ginny was looking at Harry with questioning eyes. Harry merely smiled as he led her out of the kitchen and up the stairs to his and Ron's room. Once they were in the room, Harry walked over to his trunk and retrieved a photo album while Ginny went and sat on the bed. Harry walked back to the bed and sat down beside Ginny while handing her the album. "What's this?"

"Just open it. I think that you may be surprised at what you may see." Harry looked over Ginny's shoulder as she opened the book to see that none of the pictures were moving. Ginny tilted her head to the side a little as if trying to figure out what kind of pictures these were.

"Harry, what kind of album is this? None of the pictures are moving." Ginny continued to turn through the pages that contained pictures of young girls.

"This is what a muggle photo album looks like. None of the pictures are moving because they were not taken with a magical camera." Ginny nodded her head as she continued to look through the pages. She grew more and more interested as the pictures continued to show what appeared to be two sisters growing up together. What interested her more was that one of the girls had auburn hair that fell just past her shoulders. Slowly, Ginny started to understand who these girls were that were in the pictures.

"Harry, you said that your mom grew up in a muggle home right?" Harry just smiled at her while slowly nodding his head.

"Yes. What you are looking at are pictures of my mom and her sister when they were little girls." Ginny was almost through the end of the album when she let out a slight gasp of surprise.

"Harry, is this why your aunt was so surprised when I appeared in the fireplace?" Ginny was looking at a picture of Lily when she was about twelve years old. Lily had bright red hair tied up in a ponytail with a big smile on her face. Ginny looked back at Harry to see that his eyes had started to mist over.

"I guess by now you can see how closely you resemble my mom when she was your age. I guess by you coming to the house, you might have triggered some memories that my aunt may have had regarding my mother. That is why she was so shocked to see you. For a minute, she thought that you were her dead sister...my mother." Harry now had a silent tear falling from his eye.

"How did you get this album? Surely you would have shown us if you had it earlier." Ginny looked back at Harry to see him wiping a tear from his eye.

"The last night that I was there, my aunt came into my room and we talked for a little while. She managed some sort of apology for the way I was treated all those years while I lived there. She said something about family and that was when I showed her the photo album of all of us at school. After she looked through it, she left and returned with this album. She said that it was about time that I had it. That night was the first time I had seen a picture of my mom in that house." Ginny looked up to Harry and saw that another tear was forming in his eye as he thought of those painful years he was at the Dursleys. She slowly reached up and gently wiped the tear from his eye. Harry looked over to Ginny and slowly lost himself in her brown eyes. After what seemed like an eternity, a soft tapping noise could be heard coming from the door. Harry looked over to see Hermione standing there with a slightly raised eyebrow and Ron behind her with a smile playing across his face.

"Well I was going to wonder if you two were going to notice us here." Ginny looked over to Hermione to see that she had started to smile.

"Come on you two. Mom is looking to put us to work and help with the final preparations. I suggest that we do not keep her waiting." With a slight groan, Harry stood up and he and Ginny made their way to the door to follow Ron and Hermione.

--------------------

Molly looked up from the den to see the four teens making there way down the stairs. Before they had even reached the bottom, Molly rounded on them and immediately assigned tasks that they would need to have done.

"Now that the four of you are here, I have a list of things that need to be done before tomorrow. Ron, you and Harry need to go outside and help Charlie and the twins set up the tables and chairs for everyone that will be here tomorrow. Ginny, you and Hermione can help me in here setting up our dining room with plates and glasses for dinner tonight and tomorrow. A lot of the guests will start to arrive tonight and we have to set up some spare rooms for them throughout the day. I will let you know when all of that will take place. Well, let's get to it then. We don't have too much time to waste." Harry and Ron walked out the back door while Ginny and Hermione followed Molly into the newly transfigured dining room.

--------------------

As Harry entered the backyard, his mouth opened slightly at the sight of how much has been done in preparation for the wedding. Sitting under the shade of a large oak tree, a gazebo was set up with white roses flowing throughout the rails. There were also about a hundred or so chairs set up in two even groups that were divided by a large white carpet that made up the center aisle. A raised platform was set up off to the side where a small band would be set up to play during the wedding. In the back where Harry was currently standing, several tables were arranged in long rows that would hold the various assortment of food that would be brought for the reception.

"Well, it's about time you decided to show up Harry. I was beginning to think that you were not going to come." A tall redhead that had walked up beside him snapped Harry out of his thoughts.

"Hey Fred! It looks as if you guys have been busy out here. It doesn't look as if there's too much more that needs to be done." Harry gave Fred a small smile as he started to shake his head a little.

"Good try Harry. But with mom running around cracking her whip, there is always something that needs to be done. Right now we're setting up some tables that we're going to eat around tonight. Bill and Fleur are coming in later on with some of Fleur's family and mom thought that it would be nice if we ate outside tonight. You two are here just in time to help us with the chairs." Harry and Ron gave a slight chuckle as they followed Fred off to the side where the tables were being setup.

"Hey Harry! Ron."

"Hey George." Harry and Ron both responded at the same time as they started to carry chairs to place around the table.

"Oh, George, I've been meaning to ask you, how's the joke shop coming around? I've been out of the loop for a little while and haven't heard anything." Both Fred and George looked at Harry with equally large smiles.

"The shop is great! You wouldn't believe the amount of business we're receiving. Every now and then, we get requests from different stores across the country asking if they can stock some of our inventions in their stores. Since we could never disappoint future customers, we sent each of them samples of our newest stock and update them each month with different things. Business couldn't be any better." Harry just laughed in amazement at what George had just told him. He had never thought that in just two years time, the twins would have expanded so far with their store.

"That's good to hear George. I couldn't be any happier for the two of you." The guys continued to set the chairs up as the sun reached its noonday height.

--------------------

That night, a large group of people sat outside The Burrow to enjoy a quite meal together. Ron sat beside Hermione, Harry next to Ginny, and the various other Weasleys were seated around the table. At the Head, Bill sat next to Fleur and next to her sat Gabrielle. Molly and Arthur sat at the other end of the table. The conversations were light and about things ranging from Charlie and the newest dragon that he was working with to Gabrielle and how she was doing at school. Harry and Ginny, as well as Ron and Hermione, were quietly talking to each other about different things, but none were talking about the attacks or their futures at Hogwarts. It was still too soon to talk about, and painful for others to have to relive that night just yet. Slowly, Arthur got to his feet and lightly tapped his glass with a fork.

"Quiet down everyone. I have something that I would like to say." As everyone stopped talking and looked at the eldest Weasley, Arthur started to speak again. "I just want to take the time now to thank everyone for being here tonight to honor my son and his beautiful soon to be wife. These are not good times that we are living in right now, but as we have seen, love can take you a long way. Bill, Fleur, for whatever the future may bring to the two of you, always know that you have a family and a home here that will always love you. We wish you the best of luck in whatever you may chose to do. To Bill and Fleur!" As one group, everyone raised their glasses in honor of the couple sitting at the head of the table.

As Arthur sat back down and hugged his wife, the conversations picked back up again. Slowly, Ginny turned to Harry to talk to him.

"Harry, what is going to happen between the two of us?" Harry looked into Ginny's eyes to see her pleading for the answer the he wasn't sure he could give her.

"I'm not sure Gin. You know my feelings for you, and that is what is scaring me right now. I don't want our love for each other to be used against us as a weapon for Voldemort. The last thing that I want is to see you hurt." Harry looked at Ginny again to see a tear forming in her eye.

"I understand that. But you also have to understand that I am willing to risk that if you are. You heard what my dad said just a minute ago. He knows that these are dark times. But if Bill and Fleur can find a way to be together, why can't we?" Harry knew that answer to that, but he didn't want to hurt Ginny any more that what he had already.

"I'm just scared Ginny. I don't know what I would do if something ever happened to you because of my feelings for you. How could I live with myself being the cause of your harm?" Harry lowered his eyes. He didn't want her to see the pain that he was putting himself through. Slowly, Ginny reached over and lifted his head so that his eyes once more met hers. She then lowered her hand to rest on his arm.

"Harry, I've been in danger simply because I am Ron's sister and he is your best friend. At least this way you will always be near me in case I do come into trouble. I know that you would always be there to protect me." Harry reached over and took Ginny's hand into his.

"I know. And you're right. I would die before I let anything happen to you. I just need a little time to figure everything out. Just know that I will never be far from you. You will always be in my heart. Things will get better over time, it's just too hard right now." Ginny slowly nodded her head knowing that that was the best she was going to get from Harry right now. Although Harry never said it out loud, Ginny knew that he loved her and would never leave her. When all the smoke clears, she knows that the two of them will be together.

--------------------

The following day started early for everyone. Once they had eaten breakfast, the teens went back upstairs to get cleaned up and dressed for the day's ceremony. The night before, Harry and Ron had each laid out their best set of dress robes so that they would be flat for the wedding. Once everyone was showered and dressed, the teens walked back downstairs and into the backyard where the ceremony was to take place. As expected, there were well over fifty people there now with more arriving by the minute by either apparation or port key.

There were several people there that had caught Harry and Ron's eye. There was one group of people who were dressed in dress robes, but had their long hair tied back in ponytails much like Charlie's was done. They also wore either a necklace or an earring with some sort of tooth hanging from it. Harry figured that they worked with Charlie in Romania studying dragons.

Ron looked over the rest of the crowd and noticed a group of women who were wearing pale blue dress robes with long flowing blonde hair. Ron immediately started to make his way over there just as Harry realized what was going on. Harry quickly grabbed Ron's arm before he had a chance to embarrass himself.

"Ron, you need to snap out of it." Ron gave a quick shake of his head and gave Harry a confused look.

"Sorry mate, I don't know what came over me." Ron gave another quick glance at the group of women and started to fall back into a trance like state before turning away.

"It's ok Ron. I have a feeling that they are some of Fleur's family, and they are at least part veela. Just don't do anything stupid." Just as Harry said that, Hermione walked over and slipped her arm into Ron's. When Ron felt Hermione's arm, he slowly looked down trying not to look embarrassed.

"What's wrong with you Ron?" Hermione looked at Ron then shot Harry a quick glance.

"I just told Ron to be careful around Fleur's family. I think they are part veela and you know how they can affect people." Hermione gave Ron a knowing look and led him away from the gathering people. As Hermione and Ron walked away, Ginny walked up and placed her hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry turned to look at Ginny and his breath caught in his throat. Ginny was wearing light yellow dress robes with her hair flowing freely across her shoulders.

"Ginny, you look amazing." Ginny blushed at Harry compliment and lightly kissed his cheek.

"Come on, the ceremony is about to start." Ginny placed her arm in Harry's and led him to where Hermione and Ron had sat down. As the crowd took their seats, and light song started from the band and everyone turned to see that the wedding was getting ready to start. As if on cue, the audience rose to their feet as Fleur started to make her way down the aisle being led by her sister who was gently dropping rose petals at her feet. Once Fleur reached the gazebo where Bill was waiting, the crowd took their seats as the ceremony started.

After what seemed like minutes, Bill and Fleur kissed each other, which caused the entire crowd to erupt into cheers. Harry glanced over at Ginny to notice that she had a tear falling from her eye. Harry reached over and took her hand just as Bill and Fleur passed them heading back up the aisle toward the back of the crowd. Slowly, everyone left their seats and made their way to where all the tables were set up overflowing with various foods and drinks. The day could not have been any more perfect for such and occasion.

Harry left Ginny for a second to go and speak to Remus. There was something that he needed to take care of and Remus was the only person that he could talk to. As Harry walked by a group of people, he spotted Remus talking with Tonks. Harry slowly approached him and tapped him on his shoulder.

"Remus, I was wondering if I could talk to you for a second?"

--------------------

In a dark dungeon, six people dressed in black robes knelt in front of a man seated in what could only be described as a throne. This man was also dressed in black, the only things visible being the blood red eyes. The man seated in his chair slowly looked over those knelt in front of him before slowly speaking to them.

"My faithful Death Eaters. As you know, we have dealt the side of light a mighty blow following the attack at Hogwarts. I have confirmed reports that the muggle-loving old man has finally been brought down by one of you here in this room. I cannot tell you how much that pleases me. Attacks have been on the rise and the world is once more within my grasp. I ask you now to go out and increase the size of our membership. This war can only be won through sheer terror. If they will not join, then they do not deserve to live. Do what you must to ensure success." As one, the kneeling Death Eaters lowered their heads even further before rising to their feet and leaving. "Severus, I must speak with you." One of the wizards cloaked in black returned to Voldemort and knelt back down in front of him.

"How might I be of service my master?"

"Severus, one of my most faithful Death Eaters. You have had to risk yourself in my service to spy on those who considered you a friend. I have one final request of you before you leave."

"As you wish my lord."

"I have discovered a means to make our enemy his weakest and eventually bring about his downfall. I do not know why I haven't thought of this sooner, but it makes the most sense. Are you interested in this task."

"As always my lord, I live to serve only you." An evil smile played across Voldemort's face as he started to tell Severus his plan.

"Tell me what you know about the Dursleys."

----------**********----------

AN: Well, there's two down. I hope you like it so far! As I said earlier, none of the characters are mine. RR!