Aftermath

Ginny hummed a merry tune as she busied herself in the kitchen. She had awakened early that morning, in a wonderful mood. She kept thinking back to the previous night, when she and Harry had sat together out by the pond, and he had held her and actually sung a love song to her. They had stayed a bit too long, as her mother had pointed out, but she wasn't going to let her mother's lecture spoil her memories. To smooth things over with her mother, Ginny had gotten up early to fix breakfast for the family. Her mother deserved a respite from this daily task, anyway. Ginny was surprised that she was not the first one up that morning. When she had passed by the open doors of her brother's rooms that morning, it was plain to see that Harry, Ron and Fred were already up, and probably up to something. Oh well, she thought, they are entitled to have some secrets.

"All right, you've dragged me out here, almost before daylight, what's this all about?" asked a somewhat Grumpy Harry.

"We found something, Harry, something in a box, that was mixed in with Dudley's weights," answered Fred.

"Well, what is it?" groused Harry.

"That's just it, we don't know what it is," said Ron.

"We thought that if you felt it, you might have an idea of what it is," said Fred.

"All right, let's have it then," said Harry, now curious.

Fred walked over to Harry. He then removed the strange object from its box, and guided Harry's hand to it.

Harry ran his fingers over the object that Fred was still hanging on to. He could determine that it was at least partly, made of smooth metal. It seemed to have a handle, covered with some type of wood. He moved his fingers back to the left, and felt a looping piece of metal that ran from the edge of the handle, back up to the metal piece that he had first touched. Inside this loop of metal, he felt another, curved, piece of metal that pointed away from the handle. He knew what it was.

"Don't move!" commanded Harry, in a loud voice.

"What is it, what's the matter?" asked Ron, anxiously.

"It's a weapon. A Muggle weapon. It's called a pistol," said Harry, gravely.

"A pistol... a weapon.... a Muggle weapon," repeated Fred, in a strange, interested voice.

"Yes, It belonged to my Uncle Vernon. I saw him and Dudley, fiddling with it many times," Harry continued.

"What'll we do with it?" asked Ron.

"We have to make sure it's unloaded," answered Harry.

"What's unloaded?" questioned Fred.

"Make sure that you are pointing it toward the ground, away from us," cautioned Harry.

Fred did as he was told, and waited for more instructions.

"On the left side of the pistol, just above the handle, you should see a small button, press it," he instructed Fred.

Fred obeyed, and was surprised when a shiny, metal object, ejected itself from the pistol.

"What was that?" asked Ron.

"That's called a clip, it holds the bullets that the pistol shoots," said Harry.

"Bullets?" queried Fred, picking up the clip.

"Yes, bullets. Look at the top of the clip. You will see how the bullets fit into it. When the trigger; that's that curved piece, inside the loop, is pulled, explosive powder in the base of the bullet ignites and the lead part of the bullet shoots out of the barrel of the pistol," explained Harry.

"Bloody cool," said Ron.

"Is it safe now, Harry?" asked Fred.

"Not yet," cautioned Harry. "Now, you need to take the pistol in your right hand. Then take your left hand and grasp the top of the pistol; this is called the slide. Hold it firmly and pull back on it hard," said Harry.

With grim determination Fred followed Harry's instructions; he pulled back on the slide. He was rewarded, by a bullet being ejected from the chamber.

Harry heard the bullet hit the ground; he knew that the weapon was at last safe. George picked up the bullet and asked Harry what to do with it. Harry instructed Fred on how put the bullet back into the clip.

"You have to remember, just because you take the clip out of the pistol, that doesn't mean that it is safe. You always have to check to see if there is a round left in the chamber," said Harry, finally being able to relax.

"What are we going to do with the... pistol?" asked Ron. "I suppose we should tell Dad."

"Let's not do that just yet. I would like to study this thing a bit," said Fred.

"Study it? It's dangerous!" exclaimed Harry.

"I know, I know. I'll be careful. Come on Harry, let me take just a few days to give it a look over," pleaded Fred.

"It'll be okay, Harry," interjected Ron.

"Alright, but promise me that you will tell your Dad about it soon," demanded Harry.

"I promise," replied Fred.

Fred put the pistol back in the box and the boys headed back to the house for breakfast. Fred sneaked upstairs and hid the box in the top of his closet. He knew his mom would never find it there, she was half-afraid to look too closely through the things in his room.

Molly and Arthur were by now awake, and had joined the others at the breakfast table. Molly was so pleased that her daughter had fixed breakfast; Ginny really was a good cook, she just wasn't very interested in it.

"And mum, we boys will clean up after breakfast. Besides I want to have a talk with this lot," said Fred, indicating the young people.

"Talk about what?" asked Ron suspiciously.

"Business," replied Fred. "Now eat your breakfast".

"Well, you'll have to make it quick, I promised Hermione that I would visit today," Ron reminded him.

As the family enjoyed their hearty breakfast, Arthur announced that he was going to drive to the ministry, he had some more papers to pick up, papers that he had forgotten yesterday. He asked Molly to go with him, so that he would have an excuse not to stay too long. He offered Ron a ride to St. Mungos.

A pecking at the window got all of their attention. It was an owl. Ginny let it in, took the letter, and gave the bird a bit of biscuit. The letter was addressed to Ron; it was from Mr. Granger, care of St. Mungos. Ron read the letter, with a worried look on his face:

Dear Ron,

I'm afraid that Hermione has had a bit of a rough night. She is all right, so you don't need to worry. The medical wizards are still trying to get the dosage that they give her, correct. I'm afraid they mucked it up a bit when they gave the injection to her last night. Professor Snape is here now and he has soundly told off the staff and branded them all incompetents. The professor has outlined strict procedures for them, again, and will stay here until Hermione is stabilized. It is best, that for now, she does not receive any visitors. I hope you will understand, Ron. I know how much you wanted to see her today, and she was certainly looking forward to seeing you. I'm not sure, but I think my daughter is in love with you Ron. I hope you understand. I will let you know as soon as visits are permitted again.

Respectfully,

Gerald Granger

"Oh Ron, I'm so sorry," said Molly.

"He thinks she loves me," repeated Ron, smiling. "Harry, remember when you said you were going to have to do something, to thank professor Snape?"

"Yes, I remember," answered Harry.

"When the time comes, you'll have to help me to think of a way to thank him too," said Ron.

They finished their breakfast; everybody thanked Ginny for the wonderful job she had done. Arthur and Molly went upstairs to change for their trip to the ministry. Harry was named the official dishwasher, and Ron got him situated at the sink. The boys cleared the table, and would not let Ginny lift a finger to help, she having already done her part. After everything was spic and span, once again, they all sat down at the table to see what Fred had on his mind.

Molly and Arthur came back downstairs: ready for their trip.

"We should be back about noon. Don't blow the place up while we're gone, Fred," said Arthur, only half joking.

They got into Arthur's big, black limo, and headed for the ministry.

"We have to give some thought, as to what we need to do, to get the Combo Kits into production," said Fred.

Harry had almost forgotten about the Combo Kits, what with everything that had happened in the last two days.

"I have some suggestions about how we should proceed. These are suggestions only, we are all in this together," explained Fred.

"In what together?" asked Ginny.

"Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes, of course, you're all going to be a part of it," said Fred beaming.

"Me too?" asked Ginny, unbelievingly.

"Of course you too!" said Fred. "You didn't think I was just going to take your idea, and not let you have any of the benefits from it, did you?"

Ginny was smiling broadly now; her brother had pleased her so.

"We need to find a place to purchase the parts we need, to build the Combo Kits. We need to market or advertise the kits. We need to decide who is actually going to assemble the kits," said Fred.

"I could talk to Doby, to see if some of the house elves would be interested in working for us. We would pay them, wouldn't we, Fred?" asked Harry.

"Of course we would pay them, Harry, it will be up to you negotiate how much that will be. We will have to figure out how many we will need to start off, we will probably have to increase the number later on," said Fred.

"What about me, I want to help too!" interjected Ron.

"Ron, I see you, Ginny and I, working together on advertising and marketing. Ginny has always been a fair artist; you two can work together to come up with brochures, fliers, slogans; anything that would help to make the Combo Kits well known. Once we get things going, we can assemble a couple of combination brooms, and fly them around to different places to demonstrate them. You and Harry would be perfect for that," said Fred, now talking excitedly.

"We will also need someone to oversee everything; I thought that would be my main job", said Fred.

"So, you will big the big boss then?" asked Ginny.

"Well, I--I," started Fred.

"I'm just kidding, Freddy, I think your ideas are wonderful," she giggled.

"Thank you Ginny, and don't call me Freddy," he admonished her, he hated to be called Freddy.

"With school starting up in two months, it's going to be tough for us to get this started too," observed Harry.

"At least Fred won't be in school; but that's still a lot of things for one person to handle," said Ron.

"Sorry Ron, don't mean to burst your bubble, but with any luck, I will be back in school too. When I talked to Dumbledore, the other night, I applied for readmission to Hogwarts," announced Fred.

Harry, Ron and Ginny now cheered and pounded Fred on the back; this was wonderful news indeed!

"I just felt I needed to do it for Mum. It's not a sure thing yet, I can only try," said Fred, his eyes now a little teary.

"Running the business and going to school will be difficult, but we can do it, our family can do anything if we put our minds to it," said Ginny, taking Harry by the hand.

They spent the rest of the morning, talking about their plans for the Combo Kits. Ron rightly pointed out, that some people would be able to afford the all ready assembled Combo Broom, so they really should make plans to have the capability to build the complete broom at their store.

Suddenly, they were interrupted by still another owl at one of the windows. This time, a large, brown, owl flew in as Ginny opened the window; the bird dropped a packet of letters on the table. There was a letter for each of them.

"They're from Hogwarts," said Ron, excitedly.

Fred saw that one of the envelopes was addressed to him. He hesitated, then opened it slowly. Inside, he found two more envelopes, one marked in bold print,

Dear Mr. Weasley,

We wish to inform you, that your request for re-instatement, to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has been granted. Merlin help us all.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Minerva McGonagall,

Deputy Headmistress

"I'm back in, I'm back in," yelled Fred, jumping up and down.

They all gathered around him now, pounding him on the back, and yelling their congratulations.

"Mum will be so surprised," said Fred, excitedly.

"You mean she doesn't know you applied for reinstatement?" asked Ginny, incredulously.

"No, I wanted it to be a surprise, if I got back in. If I didn't get back in, I didn't want her crying about it," explained Fred.

They now all opened their remaining letter. Inside each one, was a short note from Dumbledore, it read:

Dear Hogwarts Studen

This is to advise you, that Hogwarts will be reopening on the first day of April, of this year. That gives you roughly two months to prepare for your return. The board of directors, has decided, that we will operate the school year round, in order to make up for the precious time that was lost due to the war with Voldemort. There will be a one-week holiday, during the Christmas season.

So much has happened that has hurt our school; I'm asking all of you for a new spirit of co-operation among the houses, so that the healing process can begin. I can't wait to have

Yours with love,

Albus Dumbledore

The accompanying letter

"Whew, we've all got a lot to do," said Ron.

"I'll send Hedwig to Doby tonight, to see about getting some house elves to work at the store," said Harry.

"And I'll start designing some brochures for the Combo Kit," chimed in Ginny.

"Harry, if it's alright with you, I'd like for us to practice some more on the combo broom. If part of my job is going to be demonstrating it to people, I want to be really good at handling it," said Ron.

"Sure, as soon as I send Hedwig on his way to Doby, I'll be ready to go," replied Harry.

"That sounds good, guys, I'll help Ginny. I want to discuss some more marketing ideas with her," said Fred.

Harry wrote a quick note to Doby, asking to see him at the elf's convenience. He then gave Hedwig a treat and sent him on his way.

Fred and Ginny sat down at the kitchen table; Ron and Harry headed to the work shed to get the Combo Broom.

Everybody had something to do, even the dark figure, watching from the trees. He watched as Harry and Ron took the strange looking broom down to the open field. He was amazed at how easily the broom seemed to handle, almost like a single broom on its own. He now drew his wand and pointed it at the boys flying overhead. No, he thought, that would be too easy. He wanted Potter to suffer. The best way to make him suffer, would be to do something horrible, to that little, red haired, Weasley girl. The girl that Potter liked to kiss, and yes--even sing to. He had something terrible in mind for that little girl, something terrible indeed.

"Harry, I think I saw something moving down there, let's take it lower," said Ron.

Harry nodded, and they dived the broom down towards the trees. The dark figure, below, slid under a partially downed tree, so that he could not be seen.

"I guess it was nothing, let's take her back higher," said Ron.

Again, Harry nodded, and they climbed the Combo Broom back to higher altitude.

"What was it?" asked Harry.

"Don't know for sure, looked like something crawling around down there!" yelled Ron.

"Probably nothing." yelled Harry.

"You're probably right," yelled Ron in agreement.

The dark figure chuckled, they are such fools, he thought.

After nearly an hour, Ron and Harry landed, and returned to the house, having convinced themselves that they were masters of the combination broom.

As the boys entered the kitchen, a table loaded with drawings met them. Ginny and Fred had been hard at work, creating ideas for brochures to be used to advertise the Combo Kits and Combo Brooms.

"Wow, you've really got some good ideas here," exclaimed Ron.

"Thanks to Ginny, she's really creative," said Fred.

"You helped too, Fred, you had some wonderful ideas," said Ginny, smiling broadly.

They all agreed that they had a good start on how they would advertise their products. They would of course, also advertise heavily, in the towns of Otterdung and Beaufort, these towns being closest to the other Wizarding schools of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes, was already selling its products in these towns, so advertising there would be no problem. Fred, just couldn't get the idea out of his head, that Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes, was about to grow beyond anything that he and George had first envisioned.

"Well, two days until Monday, I know how I am, if I don't go ahead and pack now, I'll be running around, packing at the last minute, on Monday morning," said Harry getting up from the table.

'I'll help you," said Ginny, jumping up from her chair.

"Ginny seems to be in a hurry to get you on your way," laughed Ron.

"Can't wait to have you out the door, it looks like to me," observed Fred.

"Both of you really need to grow up," she replied, taking Harry by the arm and leading him upstairs.

They entered Ron and Harry's room; Harry could hear her close, and lock the door. Next thing Harry knew, she had her arms around him and was holding him tightly. He put his arms around her, and held her just as tight.

"Harry, you know I don't want you to go away. Even if it's only for two months. Don't listen to what those two gits downstairs have to say," she pleaded.

Harry laughed and imagined the serious face on the little redhead staring up at him.

"You don't have to worry, Gin, I have learned to ignore ninety percent of what those clowns have to say," he assured her.

She led him over to the bed, and they sat down together; he took her hands in his.

"Gin, you remember that album that Hagrid gave me, at the end of my first year at school?" he asked.

"Sure Harry, I remember you showing it to me. Your mom and dad were such a handsome couple. Why do you ask?" said Ginny, curiously.

"I've just always thought, that when my mom was young, she must have looked a lot like you Gin," he replied.

"Oh Harry, I--," she started to say.

"Think about it Gin. Same beautiful, long, red, hair. Same fine features. Same beautiful smile," he said.

"Harry, that is so sweet, I can't think of any nicer compliment you could have given me," she said.

She now hugged his neck, and gave him a slow, loving kiss. She didn't know how she could stand him being gone for two months.

"Do you think they'll let me come visit you on the weekends?" she asked.

"If I have anything to say about it, they will," he assured her.

They decided to get on with packing, before they forgot what their original purpose, for being in the bedroom was. Since the school was in Muggle, London, there was no need to pack any of his robes. He had a good assortment of Muggle clothes now, and they would do nicely. He would, however, take his wand with him. He didn't want to be completely defenseless in the Muggle world.

It didn't really take them long to get Harry all packed and ready to go.

"Well, I guess we can go back downstairs now," Ginny said coyly.

"Not just yet Gin," he said.

He sat down on the bed and gently pulled her down beside him. As they kissed, they laid down upon the bed. They knew they couldn't stay there long. Arthur and Molly would be home soon, and, you never knew what Ron and Fred might do. But it felt so good; to lay there, and hold each other, kissing and stroking each other's hair.

The young couple's bliss was interrupted, as they heard Arthur's new car pull up outside the house. They jumped off the bed and headed back down the stairs as Arthur and Molly entered. Arthur was carrying a large box, filled with folders, containing reams of paper.

"What's all that dad?" asked Fred.

"Seems Mr. Fudge had let some things go, things that needed immediate attention. And now, I have to get this mess all straightened out. I thought I would get a little jump on it, before I report to work, Monday," explained Arthur.

"We got our Hogwarts' letters Mummy. All of us got one," said Ginny, smiling.

"That's wonderful dears, I--," Molly began.

"No Mummy, you don't understand, we all got one," repeated Ginny, looking at Fred.

Fred stepped forward, and handed his letter of reinstatement to his mother. Molly read the letter, and then she read it again. After reading it for the third time, she looked at Fred, as if she still didn't comprehend what she was reading.

"I felt that it was something I needed to do, something for you Mum," said Fred.

"Oh, Fred, I am so proud, I--," said Molly, words failing her.

Fred gave his mother a big hug, and she returned it, the tears beginning to flow from her eyes.

"Congratulations, son," said Arthur, the pride showing in his voice.

"It's all so wonderful, my children going back to school, I'm so happy," sobbed Molly.

Arthur held his wife, "there, there, dear. You are supposed to be happy, remember?"

Molly smiled at him and at each of the children in turn.

"Oh my goodness, I haven't done anything about lunch," Molly suddenly blurted out.

Everyone laughed at this, how like Molly, to think about feeding her family, no matter what might be going on at the moment. They decided to just make some sandwiches from a left over ham, and, Arthur produced some butterbeer, just brought from town, as an extra treat.

After lunch, Ginny showed her mom and dad, the brochures that she and Fred had created to advertise the Combo Kits and Combo Brooms. The senior Weasleys were very impressed, their children were showing great maturity in their approach to running their business.

"I had no idea that you had given this much thought to things. I thought it was just a lark, for you and George," said Arthur.

"I think that since Ginny came up with the idea for the Combo Broom, this whole thing has taken on a new life. I think it's going to be much more than George and I ever thought it could be," replied Fred.

The youngsters talked with their parents, long into the evening about their plans for the business and for returning to school. They wouldn't let Molly fix supper; they just had more sandwiches and some more butterbeer. It was dark outside now, and Ginny was starting to feel very tired. She had been thinking hard, trying to be creative for most of the day, and she was exhausted. She finally could stay awake no longer and excused herself from the group. She patted the back of Harry's head, as she walked past him, and headed up the stairs.

She stood in front of her full-length mirror, and slowly undressed. She wasn't sure why, but she had worn her best under things today. It was almost as if she was wearing them for Harry. I don't know why? She thought to herself. Even if Harry could see, it would be a long time before he would see her in her under things. She laughed out loud at what she was thinking. She took off the rest of her clothes and looked at herself in the mirror. She saw a pale, skinny little girl, with freckles everywhere. How could she really be appealing to Harry, or to any boy, for that matter? She sighed and gathered her things for her shower.

The boys finally grew tired and headed upstairs too. Harry asked Fred to join Ron and himself, in Ron's room.

"I didn't hear you tell your Dad about the pistol," said Harry, accusingly.

"I want more time to study it," replied Fred.

"What if your dad finds it in the mean time?" asked Harry.

"He won't find it, I'm carrying it in my front pocket. It feels kind of good there," bragged Fred.

"You can't carry it with you, what if it goes off?" asked Ron.

"I'm going to practice loading, and unloading it, and making it safe, like Harry showed us," replied Fred.

"Fred, you--," started Harry.

"Yes I can, Harry, I'm an adult now, with my own business, and I can make adult decisions," said Fred testily.

"Yeah, even if they are stupid decisions," interjected Ron.

"Well, I'm going to keep it, and that's all there is to it. And I don't want either one of you telling dad, behind my back," said Fred, storming out of the room.

"What should we do, Ron, I'm worried," said Harry.

"Let's give him a few days, we can bring up the subject again, when he is in a better mood," suggested Ron.

"I suppose you're right, I just don't want him to hurt himself," replied Harry.

They turned in for the night, but Harry didn't go straight to sleep. He was thinking about earlier in the day, when he had lain here, in this very bed, with Ginny. Things were happening fast between the two of them, and he knew that they had to be careful. He loved her so much, and he would never do anything to intentionally hurt her. He had heard stories, told by Aunt Marge to Uncle Vernon, about young teenagers, who had made that terrible mistake, as she called it, and the girl had become pregnant. He certainly didn't want to make that kind of mistake with Ginny, he wasn't even sure what you had to do to make that kind of mistake, he just knew that they had to be careful.

Everyone was up early the next morning. An owl from Dumbledore, for Harry, had arrived early. Harry had Ron read the note:

Dear Harry,

Just a reminder, that tomorrow, you start school at the learning center for your Braille classes. I'm sure you are all packed and ready to go. Please bring your Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook with you. The school will provide all other supplies that you will need. I may have confused you the other night, when we spoke of you staying at the school. You will of course, be allowed to return to the Weasleys on the weekend, should you so desire. I know you will do well Harry.

Albus Dumbledore

As Ron finished the letter, Ginny jumped and down, clapping her hands.

"Harry, that's wonderful, you'll be able to come home on the weekends," she cried.

"Well, I don't know for sure Gin," said Harry.

"What do you mean, you don't know for sure?" asked Ginny.

"Well...ER, I was just thinking, this is such an important thing for me to learn. I was wondering if maybe it might be best, if I stayed at the learning center on the weekends too, so that I might retain things better," said Harry, eyeing her carefully.

Harry immediately knew that he had said the wrong thing. He couldn't see the hurt in Ginny's eyes as she fled upstairs to her room, but he knew that he had hurt her, something that he had promised himself that he would never do.

"Mrs. Weasley, I'm sorry, I guess I was just thinking out loud. I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry", apologized Harry.

Molly took Harry by the hand and led him to the couch in front of the fireplace.

"You have to understand, Harry, the relationship between you and Ginny has changed. You are now a couple. When you are part of a couple, you have to be a little more careful about how you phrase things. You have to be more aware of how the other person, might construe what you are saying. Ginny is so in love with you, Harry. It probably was a bit of a blow to her, that you would want to spend two solid months away from her, even though it might be the best thing, as far as you learning Braille as quickly as possible, is concerned," Molly explained.

Harry sighed and shook his head. He never would be any good at understanding females. He loved Ginny more than anything else in the world, and he had hurt her just the same.

"I'll go have a talk with her, dear. Her old mum is a pretty good listener," said Molly, trying to comfort him.

Molly climbed the stairs to her daughters' room. She could hear Ginny sobbing softly. Molly knocked on the door and entered the room upon Ginny's acknowledgement.

Molly sat down on the bed and put her arm around her daughter's shoulder.

"Mummy, why would he say that. Why would he be so content to stay at that school, away from me?" Ginny asked.

"Learning Braille, and learning it quickly, is very important to Harry, right now. Learning Braille means that he can return to Hogwarts, that he can be with his friends again, that he can try to live a somewhat normal life again. It's important that he focus on his studies at the learning center," Molly told her.

"I know that, Mummy, it's just that I love him so much, I thought he felt the same," Ginny said, sadly.

"Now you stop that, Ginevra Weasley. You know that Harry loves you, he just didn't do a very good job of explaining things to you," said Molly, chiding her daughter.

Ginny knew that her mother was right. She knew that Harry did love her, and it was important for him to learn Braille as quickly as possible. She just would miss him so.

"I suppose I should go apologize to Harry now," said Ginny.

"Now I wouldn't be in a big hurry to do that," advised Molly.

"But Mummy, if I was wrong, shouldn't I tell him I'm sorry?" asked Ginny.

"Of course you should, dear, you just don't need to be in a hurry about. The secret with handling men is, even if you are on the wrong side of an argument, let them stew awhile. Most times, they will be so anxious to get back into your good graces, they will end up apologizing to you, even if they were right in the first place," advised Molly.

"I have a lot to learn about men and boys, don't I Mummy," said Ginny, looking at her mother with a new sense of respect.

"I'm afraid you do, Ginny, but just remember, once you get them properly trained, men and boys are rather nice to have around," said Molly, smiling.

"So what should I do then? How should I act towards Harry?" questioned Ginny.

"I think for now, you should try for aloof. Don't be mean to him, just let him know that you aren't entirely happy with him," suggested Molly.

"Is that how you handle Daddy?" Ginny asked.

"Your father is pretty well trained after all these years, but sometimes I have to play little games, just to keep him in line," said Molly smiling.

They both laughed now; Ginny felt better. She knew that she had been holding on to Harry too tightly. He had to have room to breathe, and so did she. They both had their own interests, it would be wrong for either one of them to stifle the other. They both headed back downstairs; poor Harry had no way of knowing that he was being double-teamed.

Still sitting on the couch, Harry heard someone enter the room.

"Hi Harry," said Ron.

"Hi Ron," he replied.

"I was looking for Fred, did he tell you where he was going," asked Ron.

"Said he was going out by the pond, I think he still has that pistol with him, he's going to get into so much trouble," said Harry.

"Aw... he's a big boy, I don't see him hurting himself with that pistol thing. You know how he likes to tinker with all sorts of gadgets," replied Ron.

"That's just what I mean, that thing is a weapon, it's not something to be tinkered with," said Harry, his voice raising.

Just then Ginny walked in and went to the closet to fetch a warm robe.

"Where you going Gin?" asked Ron.

"For a walk, it's a bit chilly out so I thought I'd better wear something warm," she said.

"I'll go with you Gin," said Harry eagerly.

"If you don't mind, Harry, I need some time to myself. You understand, don't you?" she said, doing the aloof thing very well.

"Well--I--I," Harry stammered.

"You're a dear, Harry, knew you would understand," she said, patting him on the head and heading out the door.

Ron was now laughing loudly.

"What just happened?" asked Harry, in amazement.

"I'd say you've just been put in your place, Molly Weasley style. Ginny has obviously been taking lessons from Mum," chortled Ron.

"But I didn't do anything wrong," pleaded Harry.

"Doesn't make any difference. I've seen dad go through this dozens of times. Even if you didn't do anything wrong, you'll be apologizing to Ginny before the nights out," laughed Ron.

Ginny was pleased with herself, as she walked along the path towards the pond. She had followed her mother's instructions, and now, Mr. Harry Potter, was definitely on the defensive. She giggled as she walked onward, toward the pond.

Ginny pulled her robe tighter; it was cooler out than she had originally thought. She would head to their favorite spot. The bench in front of the old maple tree. She was just positive that Harry would have Ron bring him down to their spot. She hoped that they would hurry though, she was starting to get cold.

Ginny's scream reverberated throughout the darkness.