MetaFic

It seemed strange to be back in school after his long absence. He moved in a dream-like state from class to class. Ron and Neville did an admirable job of running interference for him, not allowing the others to question him too closely. He noted that Hermione, and especially Luna, were doing the same for Ginny, who was uncharacteristically withdrawn.

Harry understood Ginny's sudden silences. He knew that she was seeing the same thing in her dreams as he did in his. He knew that she saw the still, lifeless face of a dark haired child who they had failed to save.

Dumbledore never questioned him about their time away; he only nodded at Harry when he showed up in his office to continue their private lessons. Harry was grateful for the lack of prying.

The only thing that brought any life to either Harry or Ginny's eyes was the D.A. and flying. Ginny threw herself into tutoring other D.A. members with a manic vengeance, driving her charges to learn, and learn quickly. Harry started training the group on offensive spells, while simultaneously working with Professor Vance to try to gain more control over his own abilities. He hadn't meant to kill Nott, or destroy Karkaroff's arm. He needed to gain mastery of his magic. During Quidditch practice, Ron worried they would hurt themselves as they pushed their brooms and themselves to the limits of performance.

At night Harry and Ginny would sit together and do their homework, usually lightly touching knees under the table. They would both smile and laugh softly at the proper places in Ron or Hermione's conversations, but rarely offered to carry a conversation themselves. Most nights Harry would sleep in the common room, usually with Ginny curled up near him. On occasions, Ron would wake to find Ginny, in her cat form, sleeping at the foot of Harry's bed. Ron would wake them, and then quietly keep his peace about the matter.

On the day of the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw Quidditch match, Harry and Ginny sat through Ron's first nervous pre-game speech as team Captain. Harry clasped his friend on the shoulder and wished him luck as they strode out to the pitch. Harry walked out and looked at the stands full of screaming students.

It all seemed so normal, so ordinary. Harry realized that this was what he was fighting for, what they were all fighting for. He was fighting so that days like today – ordinary, normal days where happy people gathered to watch a Quidditch match – would always happen. He felt Ginny touch his arm and he looked down at his girlfriend. She smiled up at him. He smiled back. She understood. He felt a weight lift from his shoulders as he pushed off the ground. He pushed the Nimbus 2004 around the pitch at its top speed, Ginny close on his tail and laughing aloud. Harry Potter felt alive again.

He looked at the Ravenclaw team and almost felt sorry for them. They were a good bunch, but Harry already knew what was going to happen.

Trelawney would have been proud of Harry's inner eye. When he caught the snitch, the score ended up 360 to 20 in favor of Gryffindor.

***

"I still can't believe Dumbledore's letting us leave Hogwarts for Christmas," Ron said at the breakfast table.

"He knows we all need a break," Harry said. Harry didn't voice the other thought in his head. He suspected that Dumbledore wanted the entire Weasley family, and by Weasley family, Harry knew Dumbledore included Harry and Hermione, together over the holidays to try to patch up any lingering differences. Harry vowed to work at helping unify the Weasleys.

Even if it meant knocking heads together.

"What are your plans, Luna?" Ginny asked across the table.

"Neville's grandmother invited father and me to come to Christmas dinner. I'll be staying with Neville again of course." Luna smiled at Neville, who blushed lightly and touched her hand.

"What about you, Susan?" Harry asked the Hufflepuff girl. Susan Bones was Hermione's study partner in any classes they had together, and she had quickly become one of the unofficial leaders of the D.A., so she sometimes took meals with Hermione.

"Aunt Amelia is having a large gathering at her manor," Susan spoke softly. She looked at Ginny and Ron. "I want you to thank your brothers for me when you see them."

Ginny reached out and touched Susan's hand in a reassuring manner. It was common knowledge that on the night of the Halloween Offensive, as the papers were calling it, Percy and Bill Weasley had helped battle dozens of Death Eaters in the narrow confines of the Ministry hallways to protect Minister Bones.

"Of course," Ginny said.

The teens finished breakfast, then gathered up their belongings for the journey down to Hogsmeade and the trip on the Hogwarts Express back to London. Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys would be staying at Grimmauld Place again, which was simply more secure than Tintagel. Harry wasn't particularly thrilled at the prospect of staying in Sirius' old home, but letters from Mrs. Weasley promised him that they had done a lot to cleanse to the old manor.

Once on the train, Harry tried to relax. He knew that the train would be a tempting target, but was also heavily guarded by dozens of members of the Magical Law Enforcement division, and almost the entire remaining roster of the Order of the Phoenix. He played chess with Ron, gobstones with Luna, then leaned against the side of the compartment and dozed off. When he felt the train start to decelerate, he woke to find Ginny snuggled up against him. Ron and Hermione were talking in low voices, and Neville was lying on a blanket on the floor, snoring softly, Crookshanks sleeping on his chest. Harry noticed Luna watching him and Ginny with her too large eyes. He wondered if she was related to Ollivander. Ginny stirred and, after nuzzling him, sat up and yawned.

"It all makes perfect sense now," Luna said to no one in particular.

"What's that Luna?" Hermione asked, a slightly put upon note in her voice.

Luna smiled in her dreamy way and fiddled with the necklace made of miniature wooden spoons Ginny had given her for Christmas. "If I told you, it might change the outcome."

Hermione rolled her eyes, and Harry smiled indulgently at Luna.

"Well, we certainly wouldn't want the outcome to change, would we?" Harry said.

Luna nodded gravely. "You and Ginny least of all."

For a moment, Harry felt a cold chill run down his spine. He wondered just what it was that Luna saw in her dream states. Then the brakes on the train made a loud hiss, and the train let off a burst of steam. Harry looked out the window. He could see Mr. and Mrs. Weasley standing on the platform, along with several other parents.

Luna woke up Neville and they piled off the train. Mr. Weasley had a large Ministry car waiting, with Remus Lupin sitting behind the wheel. They rode to Grimmauld Place in relative silence once greetings were exchanged, with Ginny again curling up against Harry and closing her eyes. Harry had noticed that she seemed to be in the habit of taking several little naps a day since Halloween.

Harry walked into the entryway of Twelve Grimmauld and gasped. It was like a completely different house. He had a quick explore while Ginny greeted Fred and George. There were no more elf heads, no more Mrs. Black. The place was cheerfully lit, and decorated for Christmas, with a large tinsel banner that read Merry Christmas, Weasleys in large green letters.

"Place looks a bit more cheery, don't you think?" Ron asked.

"Its just brilliant," Harry smiled. "Remind me to thank your mother and father."

Ron nodded. "Mostly mum. This is her way of apologizing for being such a wank lately."

"Ronald, you did not just call your mother a wank?" Hermione asked.
"
Well," he said, "you have to admit she was being pretty unreasonable."

"Nutters, actually," Ginny said, walking up. "But it doesn't matter anymore."

Ginny and Molly had talked out their differences in the days after Halloween. Everyone knew that Mrs. Weasley still did not want her youngest children so deeply involved in the war, but she seemed to have finally accepted that it was inevitable.

"What happened to Mrs. Black?" Harry asked.

"Hermione!" Ron said.

Harry turned and looked curiously at the brown haired young woman. "Well?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Hermione mumbled.

Ron gave Harry a look that said he would explain later. The four dashed up the stairs to their rooms, with Ron and Harry sharing a room across from the women.

Ron turned to Harry. "Okay, so when we came back to Grimmauld at the end of last term, the wretched portrait started in screaming at us as soon as we came in the door. I still don't know what curse Hermione used, but all of a sudden the entire portrait shredded. Little tiny pieces just fell to the floor. Eventually mum came and swept them up." Ron paused, and then gave Harry a nervous look. "When Kreacher came up from the basement the next day and saw what had happened, he fell over dead as could be, and just faded away."

"Two for the price of one, huh?" Harry said steadily.

"Yeah, well, Hermione was pretty upset. You know how she is about house elves." Ron said. "She wouldn't talk for two whole days."

"She has a gentle heart, Ron. It hurts her to hurt others."

"I know," Ron murmured.

The door to the room burst open and Ginny stuck her head inside.

"Hey," Ron yelled, "you could have knocked. What if we'd been starkers or something?"

Ginny gave a wicked smile. "Like you've ever knocked on my door before barging in, and I've seen both of you naked, so it doesn't matter anyway."

"Argh, don't remind me." Ron waved his hands in front of his body in supplication.

"What?" Harry asked, laughing.

"Don't you dare, Ginny," Ron barked.

"Let's just say it involved a twin's invention and a shower." Ginny laughed. "Anyway, mum says to get downstairs for dinner."

"Wow, I think that's the fastest mum's ever put together a meal," Ron said.

Ginny laughed again. "She didn't make dinner. Bill and Fleur did!"

"We're doomed," Ron muttered as they started down the stairs. "It will be a bunch of fancy French food with silly names."

"Ron, it doesn't matter if you can pronounce it, as long as you can eat it," Harry laughed.

The three turned into the long dining room to find the bulk of the Weasley clan present. Fred and George were sitting on opposite sides of a young girl of about ten years old, who Harry recognized as Gabrielle Delacour. She was laughing hysterically as each of the twins took turns leaning over and whispering into her ears. Bill stood near the far end of the table, wearing a plain blue apron over his jumper and khakis. Fleur Delacour passed him a platter of roasted game hens and gave him a long-suffering look, which Bill chuckled at good naturally. Harry noticed that the couple kept up a running banter that could have been mistaken for an argument, except it seemed more ritualized than heated. Harry also caught the flash of a rather large diamond on Fleur's left hand. Hermione sat opposite of the twins, with Percy next to her. Their heads were close together and they were pouring over a rather official looking stack of papers. Ron sat next to Hermione and gave her a tap on the shoulder. She looked at him and gave him a small kiss on the lips before picking up a copy of whatever it was Percy was working on and showing it to him. Ron did an admirable job of faking interest. Molly and Arthur Weasley sat at the head of the table, holding hands and watching their children with fond smiles. Harry felt Ginny give his hand a small squeeze. He held on to it and they walked to their seats, down where Bill and Fleur were sitting with Remus Lupin.

Dinner was a grand affair, a veritable mish-mash of Fleur's skills with French cuisine and Bill abilities at solid, homely family fare. Everyone talked over each other and at one point George whispered something into Gabrielle's ear that made her snort pumpkin juice through her nose. With a sigh Ginny stood and moved to rescue the young girl from her deranged brothers. Ginny brought the French girl across the table and planted her firmly between herself and Harry while giving the twins her best glare. With a sudden gleam in her eyes, Ginny leaned over to Gabrielle.

"Let me tell you something about George..." Ginny whispered into the girl's ear, and Gabrielle hiccupped in laughter and toppled off her chair, clutching her stomach.

Harry reached down and picked the girl up off the floor.

Gabrielle settled back into her chair and looked at her older sister, who was trying to remain dignified and not burst out in amused laughter, "I 'ove zese people, Fleur. You simply must marry 'im!"

Fleur smiled fondly at her sister, wondering not for the first time what kind of influence the twins would be on Gabrielle. She decided to get Ginny alone later. "That is ze intent," Fleur said.

Molly Weasley bustled off to the kitchen, returning moments later floating three still warm pies behind her, which she placed on the table and cut, sending small pie plates drifting around the table. It was during dessert that the topic of the missing Weasley came up.

"So have you heard anymore about Norbert?" Bill asked his father across the table.

"No. I suppose they'll have to take him back to Romania if Charlie can't get him calmed down." Arthur said.

"What's wrong with Norbert?" Ron asked.

Percy looked up from his pie. "Dumbledore wanted to send Charlie and Norbert on a scouting mission, but when Charlie started to approach him, Norbert reared up and snorted flames. He acted like he didn't even know who Charlie was. Lucky thing that Hagrid was handy. He got the beast calmed down. Charlie's still trying to figure out what's going on."

"Well, I've never been comfortable with Charlie riding that monster," Molly said.

"I guess you just can't domesticate them, can you?" Bill said wistfully.

"No, I suppose not," Percy replied, standing. "Dinner was lovely as always, but I'm afraid I must run. Meeting Penelope tonight and all." Percy smiled around at everyone, even Harry, then left the room.

Ginny turned to Bill. "Percy and Penelope are back together?"

Bill chuckled. "Yeah, right after he stopped being a spy for Dumbledore. They've been spending lots of evenings together," Bill said, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

Ginny giggled. "Percy? Stick-in-the-mud Percy? My brain rebels against the idea."

As the dinner wound down, Hermione volunteered to do the dishes, then promptly volunteered Ron to help her. The twins bid everyone goodnight and Apparated back to the apartment they shared above their store. Molly and Arthur told the younger people that they would be visiting friends for the evening, and Lupin excused himself also, saying he had reading to catch up on. Gabrielle kept trying to entice Crookshanks to play with her, though the bandy-legged feline mostly hid under furniture and peered at her with suspicion in his eyes.

"I would 'ave a word with you Ginny, if you please?" Fleur approached the youngest Weasley. Ginny looked at Bill to see if there was something going on, but Bill seemed just as surprised as she was.

"Um, sure, what about?" Ginny said, suddenly remembering her little talk with Tonks.

"I t'ought we could discuss things of import to young women."

Bill Weasley laughed. "I'm sure Ginny's already had that talk with mum."

"Ah, I am zure she 'as, but zere are things young women of elegance and grace mus' discuss amongst 'emselves," Fleur said in a tone that brooked no argument.

Bill nodded in a knowing fashion. "Very well then, off with you lovely ladies!"

Fleur took Ginny's hand and led her away, ignoring the pleading looks for rescue Ginny was giving Harry.

Bill and Harry looked at each other. An uncomfortable silence started to stretch out between them. They both cleared their throats.

"Look, Harry–"

"Bill, we should–"

They looked at each other and grinned.

Harry waved his hand. "Go ahead."

Bill cleared his throat and nodded to the dining table chairs. They sat down next to each other.

"Look, Harry, I want to apologize about what happened this summer. We Weasley boys have always been a bit overprotective of Ginny, and we just got carried away. I said some things to you that I regret."

"You hurt both our feeling pretty badly, Bill," Harry said.

"I know." Bill licked his lips and looked around the room. "It's just that after her first year, we all felt like we'd let her down."

"We did let her down, Bill, all of us. We left her in the hands of a madman for an entire school year," Harry whispered.

"I know, and it's a miracle she survived at all. So the six of us got together that summer and promised to protect her anyway we could."

Harry nodded. "I understand."

"Well, we've never objected to you and Ron being friends, in spite of the fact that Ron comes home every year with tales of a new adventure and a new injury. But when you and Ginny started getting close, we all remembered her first year, and how we almost lost her. After the Burrow was destroyed I vowed, along with Percy, and Charlie to keep an even closer watch on her. We just didn't believe Ron and the twins when they tried to tell us that Ginny was perfectly capable of handling herself. Then you two got in that duel in Diagon Alley with the Malfoys and Notts, and, well..."

"It scared you."

Bill Weasley was silent for a moment. He took a deep breath, then continued. "Yes, it scared me, but probably not for the reason you'd think. It scared me because when the fighting happened, she acted like such a natural. Like it was the most normal thing in the world to be dueling dark wizards. It was the scariest thing I'd ever seen."

Harry thought about what Bill said. "Then why the change of heart?"

Bill smiled at him. "Well, I've been talking with Ron a lot about you and Ginny.

"I see."

"That's a good thing, Harry. Ron's the most protective of us all when it comes to those he cares about. He's happy for you and Ginny. Worried that things are going a little fast between you two, but happy for you."

"Ginny and I haven't–"

Bill held up his hands. "I don't need or want to know what you and Ginny have or haven't done."

Harry nodded. "So are we good?"

"Yeah. And you’re good with Percy also, so you might want to talk to him, if you can get him away from Penny or his job for ten minutes. Charlie still needs some more work."

"Well, I've the whole Christmas break to work on him," Harry said.

Bill nodded agreement. "I’ll help where I can. Speaking of which, should we go rescue your girlfriend from my fiancée?"

Harry laughed. "We should go break them up before they managed to conspire against us."

Bill smirked. "I think it's a bit late for that."