Nobody Understands

Ch. 3: AT THE BURROW continued

(From the last chapter: Hermione had just said, '"Well, it kind of depends on what you, uh, say. I wanted to tell you that I..."

Suddenly a shrill, piercing, feminine scream broke the air.')

"Merlin's beard! GINNY!!!!" Ron yelled and jumped up, racing for the door. What could have happened to Ginny? My heart was pounding as I raced after Ron.

We ran down the stairs and almost crashed into Bill who was just returning from his friend's and heard the scream. It came from the bathroom! We rushed in, and there was Percy with his hand stuck in the toilet.

"Percy, what happened to you?" Ron gasped out.

"I, er, dropped my glasses in the toilet, and, er, was reaching in to get them out and, er..."

"You're hand got stuck and you screamed," Bill finished for him, just as the whole rest of the family came in.

"I didn't scream," Percy said defiantly, "it was, uh, it was..."

"It was a scream, Perce," said Charlie.

It took awhile until everything was sorted out, and Mrs. Weasley had freed Percy's hand with magic and then magically healed it. Charlie fixed Percy's glasses with a wave of his wand and everything was alright again. We walked downstairs, chattering loudly about what had happened. Poor Percy was very embarrassed about the whole thing.

"You know," I said to Ginny, "Ron thought that it was you who screamed and was coming to your rescue."

"Yes, well, my brothers are a bit overprotective. They really don't think I can take care of myself."

"I guess that's probably pretty hard sometimes, but at least you know they care about you."

"I suppose."

I didn't have another chance to talk with Ron that day. All of the Weasleys trooped outside to have a picnic-dinner. The twins (I wonder if they ever get tired of always being put together like that, "the twins") set off some Filibuster Fireworks. We had a Frisbee game in the dark using a Fanged Frisbee and played until I got bit and we went back inside.

It was time for bed and I was unhappy because I never told Ron, but then again, maybe it was for the best. It's probably better if we're "just" friends. I don't think friends are just anything but...I fell asleep before I could complete my thoughts on the day.

I awoke to the sound of a car honking. I got up quickly wondering what was going on. Ginny was peering out the window.

"He's here! Harry's here!"

"Oh, good." I wonder why and how he got a car. We changed quickly and ran outside where the rest of the Weasley's were. Ron hadn't even bothered to get dressed.

"Harry!" Ginny and I yelled at the exact same moment. We ran towards him and I got there first being slightly bigger. I threw my arms around him. Oh good God! He looked terrible.

"Harry, you look terrible! What happened?"

"Hey Hermione! Hey Ginny!" Harry said, "Nothings wrong, everything's fine. I'm just really glad to be here."

"The Dursleys weren't really starving you, were they?" Ron questioned anxiously. Ginny stood to the said just glowing in the presence of her "love".

I soon found out that the car was from the Ministry and then Dumbledore had convinced Fudge that it was necessary.

"Although," Harry explained, "I'm afraid the excuse he had to use was that Sirius is still 'loose'." He looked positively depressed. The Weasleys knew about Sirius so there was no problem with him saying that in front of Ginny.

"But he's safe at Lupin's, right?" I asked.

"Yes, well," Harry muttered, "I'll talk with you about it later, but he is safe as of the moment."

Just then the two Ministry wizards, Bill, and Mr. Weasley came around the house.

"Alright then, Harry, you can go inside now, the wards are up. Have a good year," one of the Ministry wizards said. Both of them tipped their hats and got into the car and drove off.

"Come along, dear," Mrs. Weasley, bustled over, "You need to eat and then get cleaned up and take a good rest. You look like you haven't had a good meal for a month and good a sleep for a week." She guided him inside, the rest of the Weasleys close behind.

We had a bang up breakfast and everyone was loud and the twins didn't even try any of their tricks, well, at least not on Harry. Percy got some of the wrong bacon and got a burned tongue. He and Mr. Weasley were both late for work that day. The first time ever for Percy.

Harry did go take a shower and change into fresh clothes. The three of us went up to Ron's room because he said he wouldn't be able to sleep.

"How much sleep do you get, Harry?" I asked worriedly; he's so skinny and has huge bags under his eyes and looks, well, just weak.

"Each night? I dunno...not much...three or four hours." He blushed.

"Three or four hours?" I asked incredulously. He should be getting ten! He's a growing teenager!

"Yes," he said shamefacedly, "I just can't sleep. I'm well, part of it is, just that, well, I'm scared." He finished unhappily.

"You're scared?" Ron couldn't believe it, "Of what? You-Know-Who? I mean you can say his bloody name! And you've fought him several times, and stuff! You can do it again! You'll be fine! Really..." He finished lamely.

"Ron! Of course Harry is afraid; I'm scared half to death myself! Just because he's a hero doesn't mean he's not afraid. Be a bit more compassionate, Ron. Is there anything we can do, Harry? Is there something else keeping you awake as well?" Ron was looking properly shame faced, but it made me mad at myself for being mean about it to him. He hadn't meant to make Harry feel bad, and how I reacted was just as bad as what he had said.

"Well, yes," Harry admitted, "You know me too well, Hermione!" I blushed, that was sweet of him to say.

"Well, we've all been friends for more than four years now." I replied, including Ron. "But sometimes it's still hard to know what to do and say." That sounded like a mature way of being compassionate with how Ron had been acting.

"Yes," Harry said, "sometimes I'm still not sure how to say things to you guys. But, well, I mean, I'm just afraid that more people will die because of me, like Cedric."

"CEDRIC WASN'T YOUR FAULT, HARRY!" Ron yelled out, "He really wasn't!! You need to listen to us stop blaming yourself. You're slowly killing yourself, look at yourself! None of this was your fault! It's You-Know-Who's fault, all the terrible things that have happened were his fault! You saved a lot of people's lives in the past! Really, Harry, really!" Ron was trying to figure out a way to complete his great speech.

Once I got over my shock of hearing Ron understand Harry better than me, I added, "You brought back Cedric's body at great risk to yourself and you've stopped You-Know-Who several times. Ron is right, Harry, you are not to blame at all. You need to forgive yourself. Feel sad that Cedric died, mourn the others who probably will, but know that it was the Evil that did it, not you. Know that without you we would still be living in the constant fear of him, perhaps all our families would be dead by now, almost definitely Hogwarts would not exist. Harry, you are one of the best people I know, and not because you are The-Boy-Who-Lived or a great Quidditch player, but because you are a wonderful friend, and you are kind, brave, and smart. You such a great person and friend." I competed, tired from my long speech.

"I agree with what Hermione said," Ron spoke clearly, "I wanted to add that you don't need to be tough all the time, that people expect you to be great." He blushed because of what he had said before, "I'm sorry for what I said before. You really should be scared because any sane person would be. You have been through a lot. But, Harry," urgency in his voice, "Harry, I don't think I've ever seen you cry." His voice was soft, and compassionate, "Harry, you need to cry, you shouldn't hold all your feelings back. Crying doesn't make you less brave. In this society as a male, it makes you even braver. Don't think it's un-manly. I was taught long ago that crying makes you stronger. Harry, you need to cry..." And amazingly those wonderfully spoken words worked. Harry was suddenly in a wash of tears. He was sobbing, huge, awful sobs, full of pain, hurt, and anger. We sat on either side of him and held him as he cried.

The two weeks went by faster than I could have imagined. We went hiking and they got me on to a broomstick several other times, we went shopping for school things at Diagon Alley, went camping in the woods, mixed wizard and muggle games together, and had an overall fabulous time. I read a lot of books and lost a lot of chess games. Harry got more sleep and had a decent weight when we left for school. Ron and I had made a deal that he would make sure Harry slept and I would make sure Harry ate. I was happy that school was starting but sad that the fabulous time at the Burrow was over.

When we finally had everything ready on the morning of September 1^st we were taken by ministry cars to King's Cross Station. We made it safely through the barrier and boarded the train right on time. We were safely, or safely as you can get being wizards on a magic train, on our way to start out fifth year. I wonder what adventures we will have this year...