The Sky on Fire

Ron felt Ginny's breathing level, and he knew that she had fallen into a peaceful sleep. Good, he thought, and lifting her into his arms, he carried her down the narrow and winding path to The Burrow. No one questioned him as he entered the house; his mother simply kissed his hair, and opened the door so that he could carry his sister upstairs.

As he laid her on the bed, she opened her pale brown eyes, and looked at Ron.

"Ginny, go back to sleep." Ron dragged the bedclothes over her, and was about to leave the room when she spoke.

"How long?" Ron turned to his sister, a look of confusion spreading over his face. How could she know? "Ron, you don't remember, do you?"

Ron shook his head quickly. He didn't remember, but now he wished he did. He walked back to her bedside, and perched on the side. Ginny smiled, and shuffled closer to the wall. Ron lay down beside her, and stared at the ceiling.

"When we were younger, remember, we found out that we had some sort of 'connection'? That was how we always won hide and seek against George and Fred," she swallowed forcefully at the memory of her brother. "Remember? We always told each other where they were, and they could never find us. And it's how you could always sneak out of the house to go flying in the middle of the night - remember how the door was always open when you got back?" Ron nodded solemnly, as the memories flooded back. "I always knew when you went out, and always unlocked the door so you could get back in, 'cause Mum always checked all the locks before she went to bed." Ginny looked over at her brother. "You remember now." She smiled, and leaned her head on her brother's shoulder.

"So...you could hear what I was thinking...when we were watching the sky. When I thought..." he trailed off, and Ginny squeezed his hand. "I think I have always known, Ron. There has always been something in the way you looked at him that suggested more than a simple friendship." She looked up at her brother, saw the regret in his face, and felt it in her heart. "You never told him, did you?" The silence that stretched after, and the tiny drop of moisture that fell onto her hair was all Ginny needed to know. She dragged the covers over Ron, and the pair lay in silence for a while. It wasn't uncommon, as Molly Weasley knew, for these two to fall asleep together, and she had always had made Ginny's bed with larger sheets, so when it did happen, no one got cold. Ron waited until he knew that Ginny was altogether asleep before he let himself drift into the dark as well.

From the other side of the room, Harry watched in the shadows. The folds of his Invisibility Cloak hung still around him, as he watched the pair sleep. I am so sorry, my friends. I will return, just not yet. I just need time...

Then he Disapparated, back into the night.