Chapter Five

Telling a Secret

It took a few moments for Harry and Ginny to recover from the shock.

"Fred…" said Ginny, "George… what are you doing here?"

"You first," said George.

"You answer our question and we answer yours," added Fred,

"George gestured around the room. "What," he said, "exactly did you do?"

Harry and Ginny looked at each other. "Accident," Harry said.

"An accident?" asked Fred in disbelief.

"Did you accidentally" explode a bomb in here?" continued George.

"Not too far from the truth, actually," said Ginny.

"Uncle Vernon and Aunt Marge started yelling at us," said Harry, "and I got angry. We both did. And suddenly they became balloons."

"But that wasn't until after the snitch trashed the place," added Ginny.

"Okay, hold up," said George. "Tell us what happened."

"From the beginning if you don't mind," added Fred.

Harry and Ginny told the twins everything about the pranks they had played the day before and how no one had known it was them. In fact, they hadn't even noticed yet that the clock in the kitchen was ahead an hour, which the twins found disappointing, but they still praised them on their ingenuity in pranking. However, when Harry got to the end of the story and started describing the snitch wrecking the kitchen and the fight that had broken out because of it, the twins went quiet.

"We're sorry," they said in unison when the story was finished.

"We take the blame," said Fred, standing up.

"It was all our fault," continued George, doing the same.

"We released the snitch," said Fred.

"You!" said Ginny. "You let my snitch get away! And you ruined the end of a perfect day!"

"She sounds a bit like mum when she's angry, doesn't she?" asked Fred.

"She does," agreed George. "And we apologise for ruining your day little sister."

"I'll accept the apology when I've calmed down," said Ginny. "And you still owe me a snitch."

"Fair enough," said Fred. "But do you really expect that we would just let it go?"

George put a hand in his pocket. "We watched everything from the bushes outside the kitchen window. As soon as it went through the window we set out after it." He pulled out a little ball from his pocket and held it out to his sister.

"Here you are, Ginny," he said, grinning at the disbelief on Ginny's face.

"Thanks," she muttered.

Fred and George pulled Harry and Ginny in for a group hug.

"We've really missed you two," they said. "Now how about we take you to the Burrow?"

• • •

It didn't take long for them to get ready. The twins helped Harry and Ginny to get their few things together and they collected everything in the backyard. It was cold outside by now and Harry shivered a little. He could see Ginny doing the same, hugging herself to keep warm, as they were only wearing worn old jackets that Harry had inherited from Dudley.

The twins shrunk all of their belongings and put them in a bag which they had put a featherlight charm on.

"Okay then, everyone ready?" asked Fred.

"Yeah," said Harry, and he and Ginny climbed aboard Harry's Nimbus 2000. Ginny wrapped her arms around Harry's waist and Harry kicked off, hovering in mid-air.

"I'm going to put a disillusionment charm on you," said Fred. "We've been trying to learn it. You can imagine the obvious pranking benefits of going invisible for a little while, but we haven't perfected it yet, so you won't be completely invisible, but the evening light should make us harder to spot. Nonetheless, you'll have to be careful not to let the Muggles see you."

Fred gave them both a light tap on the top of their heads. It felt kind of like someone cracking an egg on it, but as the cool sensation of something liquid started spreading over him, he noticed that he started to fade. It seemed like his skin and clothes were doing their best to take on the colour of that was directly behind it, but it wasn't perfect. It seemed to Harry that it was all slightly more blue than it should be. It also had a small delay when he moved, giving him the impression of being a marginally out-of-sync blue shadow. He looked behind him at Ginny, and saw that she was shifting toward yellow.

"I think that's the best I can do right now," said Fred, looking slightly disappointed with his spell work. He performed the spell on himself and George too, who turned green and a violent shade of pink respectively and then, with the twins in the lead, they shot into the dark sky.

• • •

It was the middle of the night when they arrived at the Burrow. Harry was shivering in the cold and seriously regretting that he hadn't learned any kind of charm to keep warm in cold weather, because one of those must surely exist, and by the way Ginny's arms were shaking around him, she was probably thinking something similar.

They touched down softly on the grass outside the house and Harry had a flashback to the previous year, when he had arrived in a similar manner, though this time they weren't greeted by Mrs Weasley running out and yelling at them.

The four of them walked in silence toward the house, and when they entered into the kitchen, they were met, not surprisingly, by Mrs Weasley sitting at the table, her hands cradling a cup of tea. She had obviously been waiting up for them.

"Really," she said looking at the twins. "The next time you two decide to go on a rescue mission to get Harry, I would appreciate it if you at least left me a note. This is the second time in two years!" She didn't sound angry this time, which Harry had worried that she might be. "I realized what you had done as soon as you were gone, and I know that you only meant well, but I would really rather you let me know. Now off to bed with all of you," she said, and before they could get away, she shouted, "I want to talk to you two tomorrow!" to the Fred and George.

The twins left so fast that if Harry hadn't known better, he might have thought they'd disapparated, but Harry and Ginny stayed behind.

"Yes, dears?" Mrs Weasley said, looking up at them.

"We just wanted to say that we want you to call a family meeting," said Ginny. "We think it's best if everyone in the family knew about our… little situation."

She glanced at Harry, who nodded and said "she's right. We know that Dumbledore told us not to tell anyone, but it doesn't feel right to keep this from your family. They deserve to know what is going on. They're not stupid and will realize sooner or later that something is going on. Better they hear it now and from us."

Mrs Weasley looked at them with a strange expression, like a mix of disbelief and admiration. "Yes," she said finally. "Yes, of course I'll call a family meeting."

"How about tomorrow? After breakfast?" said Ginny. "We want to do it as soon as possible."

"I'll send the messages out tonight," said Mrs Weasley. "Now to bed with you. Harry, you can sleep in Ron's room as usual."

Harry felt a sudden sadness, and it must have shown, because Mrs Weasley gave him a look. He realised that he would miss sleeping next to Ginny. It had been like being back at Hogwarts in a way, having someone to talk to as you fell asleep; only unlike Ron, Ginny hadn't been sleeping in the next bed.

"Anything wrong, dear?"

"No, nothing," said Harry. "Come on, Ginny, let's go."

They walked in silence up the stairs to the third landing and stopped outside the door to Ginny's room.

"I guess… goodnight then," Harry said awkwardly.

"Yeah," Ginny said. "Goodnight."

Harry started raising his arms to hug her but thought better of it. You never knew which Weasley might be watching. He would bet his broomstick that the twins were hanging about somewhere in the shadows.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said, feeling incredibly awkward, his arms hanging uselessly by his sides. He needed to make at least some kind of gesture, he felt ridiculous standing there. He didn't know why he felt so weird in front of her all of a sudden. He thought they had gotten past that awkward phase.

"Yeah, see you," Ginny said.

Harry turned and walked away, waving a goodbye to her and she responded in kind. He silently hoped that it wouldn't keep being this awkward between them for the rest of the summer.

When he walked into Ron's room, he found his best friend already awake.

"Hey, mate," Ron said sleepily from his bed. "Imagine my surprise," he continued, "when the twins woke me up ten minutes ago telling me that Harry Potter had arrived."

"I can imagine," said Harry grinning.

"But seriously though," said Ron. "You're early! We didn't expect you for another week! Of course that didn't stop Mum from setting up that thing in here already!" He added, gesturing at the camp bed standing in a corner of the room.

"Yeah," said Harry. "Things got a little out of hand toward the end, one might say."

"So what's been going on?" asked Ron when Harry had gotten into bed. "I mean, why did Ginny suddenly have to live with you for a while? And I heard Dumbledore was involved…"

"You'll find out tomorrow," said Harry. "You all will." Harry was about to say that Mrs Weasley had called a family meeting, but he feared that might just lead to more questions from Ron. "How's Hermione doing?" he asked instead, hoping to change the subject. "Have you been writing to her?"

Unfortunately, Harry hadn't had time to write to his other best friend with all that had been going on, but he hoped that Ron had been writing to her.

"She's good," Ron said, and Harry was relieved. He felt a little guilty about neglecting her. "Said in her last letter a few days ago that they'd be heading home from France soon. I actually think they might be home by now," he continued.

"That's good," said Harry. "We should ask her when she's going to Diagon Alley," said Harry absentmindedly. He was hoping to take her aside then and tell her about the bond. It wasn't something he wanted to put in a letter, but he wanted to tell her before they got on the train, give her some time to let it sink in.

"Diagon Alley?" said Ron, "We haven't even gotten our Hogwarts letters yet!"

That was true, thought Harry. "Yeah, you're right," he said. "Probably a little early to think about that yet."

Feeling a little embarrassed about the turn in the conversation, Harry announced that he was going to turn over and go to sleep.

"Good night," he told Ron as he closed his eyes.

However, despite his exhaustion, he couldn't seem to fall asleep. Eventually he heard Ron's breaths deepen and he started to snore, but Harry was still awake. He felt like he somehow couldn't get comfortable, like there was something missing, and he realized that he had probably gotten more used to sleeping next to Ginny than he should have.

And with these thoughts, he drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

• • •

Harry found himself at a party in the Gryffindor common room. He had just announced his and Ginny's bond to the school and everyone was partying in their honour. There was plenty of drinks and snacks available thanks to the twins and over the portrait hole someone had put a banner reading 'Harry and Ginny Forever'.

"Congratulations, mate," said Ron cheerfully coming up from behind him and putting a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Guess you're screwed for life now, right?" he continued, "Locked to my sister forever!" he laughed a little. "Where is she anyway?" he asked. "Haven't seen her all night."

Harry realized that Ron was right. Ginny wasn't there and Harry didn't think he had seen her since… actually he couldn't remember when he had last seen her.

"I'll go and find her," he told Ron.

Harry went through the portrait hole and out into the corridor beyond. He started yelling her name, but his voice only echoed between the walls of the empty corridor. Harry started checking classrooms, but they were all empty. Ginny was nowhere to be found.

When he opened the door to the bathroom, there was a violent whoosh of air that sucked him through the doorway, but there was nothing behind the door. Harry tried to stop the inevitable, but he fell, arms flailing helplessly, down into the empty void beyond.

As he fell, Harry thought that the trap should have been obvious. There wasn't, and had never been a bathroom in the corridor outside Gryffindor Tower, but no longer did he have time to feel sorry for himself for his apparent lack of common sense before he saw a dim green light beneath him. He was obviously approaching the bottom of this pit, and he was doing it fast.

He hit the stone floor with a loud crash. He had landed on his stomach and his impact had obviously broken the ground because there were bits of stone floor scattered all around him.

Harry started getting up from the hole in the ground. He found his joints were a little stiff, as if he had spent a lot of time in a very awkward position and his muscles and jaw felt like they had just endured an hour of non-stop workout, but he guessed that that was what smashing into floors at high speed did to people.

He stepped back and looked at the spot where he had landed. The shape kind of reminded him of a snow angel, but with more stone and not at all as gracious.

"Harry!"

He knew that voice.

"Ginny?" he called back, looking around. He spotted her standing at the foot of a tall statue at one of the short ends of the room they were standing in. The Chamber of Secrets Harry realized.

Ginny was clutching Tom Riddle's diary in her shaking hands. Harry ran toward her and threw his arms around her. "You're safe now," he said. "I won't let him harm you."

"He isn't here yet," said Ginny, clutching Harry tightly, "But it's not long now."

Harry released Ginny and took the book from her. He didn't like that she was holding it. He didn't like what that book represented.

Harry opened the book and started tearing out pages from it. The ground became littered with sheets of yellowed paper, but the book didn't seem to get any thinner. It was as if the book was growing more pages as fast as he was ripping them out.

"You can't destroy it, you know," said a soft voice that seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. Harry looked around but couldn't see anyone.

"You won't find me," said Tom Riddle, "For I have no physical form yet. I exist only in the mind of those who remember me. I am inside your heads." "No," whimpered Ginny, clutching Harry with one hand and grabbing her hair, tugging at it with the other. "Get him out," she said weakly, "Get him out."

Harry threw the diary on the floor and started stepping on it, but he knew it would be no use. He wouldn't be able to destroy this thing without a weapon of some sort. Something to stab it with. Last time he had used a basilisk fang, but the basilisk wasn't here now, and Harry had nothing he could use to protect Ginny from what was happening.

Then Harry saw the hole in the ground where he had impacted. It was surrounded by sharp rocks.

Harry grabbed the book and ran over to the crater. He picked up the sharpest bit of rock he could find and started stabbing the book with it. At first, Harry thought that his assault was doing nothing, but after a few seconds, small tendrils of ink started trickling from the scratches he was making in the front cover.

"What are you doing?" yelled the voice of Riddle.

"Destroying you!" Harry shouted back, "Just like last time!"

Just as Harry finished the sentence, there was a loud whoosh of air, and materialising in front of him was Tom Riddle. Harry reached for his wand, but it wasn't in his pocket.

"Looking for this?" said Riddle smugly, producing Harry's wand. Tom waved it in a wide arc around the room and it was as if all the light in the room was sucked away into nothingness, leaving them in complete darkness.

Ginny called out to Harry and Harry turned, running toward where it sounded like her voice was coming from.

Harry lost his balance when he ran into something soft that yelped and fell backward. Harry inwardly hoped that he hadn't hurt Ginny too much as he landed on top of her in a tangle of limbs.

Ginny yelped a second time when, completely unable to see where she was, Harry accidentally compressed her wrist under his hand when he pushed himself up.

When they had gotten into sitting positions, Harry fumbled for Ginny's hand and gripped it tight. Across the room, green sparks started to fly from the tip of Harry's wand, currently in possession of Tom Riddle. The sparks, flashing like miniature lightning strikes, bathed the room in an ethereal green glow.

"You have nowhere to go now," said Tom Riddle, walking slowly toward them. "I have you exactly where I want you." The sparks from the wand intensified and Riddle pointed the end of it straight at Harry and Ginny, who were cowering close together at the foot of the statue. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

• • •

Harry woke up dripping with cold sweat. He instinctively reached for Ginny, but there was no one beside him.

He looked around the room and reality started coming back to him. Orange, Chudley Cannons, Ron, the Burrow.

"Ginny," he whispered silently to himself, remembering the dream. He needed to speak to her. She needed him right now.

"Are you all right, Harry?" asked Ron from his bed as he noticed Harry getting up.

"Yeah," lied Harry. "I just need to… to get a glass of water."

Harry hurried down the stairs to Ginny's room, doing his best to make as little noise as possible. When he arrived at Ginny's door, he knocked softly and said, "Ginny, it's Harry."

"The door is open, Harry," she replied.

Harry opened the door and stepped inside. Ginny was sitting up on the bed and Harry didn't hesitate to walk over to her and wrap his arms around her.

"How are you doing?" he whispered softly, but Ginny didn't answer. He could feel soft tears landing on his shoulder and just held her for a moment.

"Thank you, Harry," she said about a minute later. "I don't know how you could have been there, but thank you. I don't know what happened this time. I'm usually able to handle myself, but this time I just…"

"It wasn't your fault, Ginny," said Harry. "And I don't know why I was in your dream. Usually we have to touch, but this time we were in completely different rooms on different floors of the house. We haven't been that far apart at night since this all started."

"Unless you count Egypt," said Ginny, attempting to lighten up the atmosphere.

"Yeah," said Harry. "Unless you count that."

Just then, someone cleared their throat by the door, the surprise of which made Harry and Ginny break apart instantly.

"What's going on?" asked Ron, half curious and half suspicious.

"I heard her having a nightmare when I passed the door," said Harry, looking at Ginny, who nodded.

Ron furrowed his brow. "I know you're up to something, Harry," he said. "I've known you long enough. I can tell. I don't know what you two are up to, but if it has anything to do with Ginny, I deserve to know, Harry."

Harry looked down at his feet before he looked up and met Ron's accusatory stare.

"Okay, you're right," said Harry. "There's something going on, and it concerns both Ginny and me, but I can't tell you now. You'll have to wait till we tell the whole family after breakfast."

Ron looked between Harry and Ginny thoughtfully, as if he could figure it out simply by looking at them, but soon seemed to give up. "Thanks Harry," he said sincerely, but his voice still carried a suspicious note. Then he turned and left.

"Will you stay with me for a little while?" asked Ginny.

"Of course," replied Harry.

• • •

Harry and Ginny were woken by Mrs Weasley whispering furiously at them. She was clearly trying to keep her voice down, but it took obvious effort.

"I don't know what you two think you're doing. I know that your situation is unique but this is completely inappropriate! I don't know what Harry's relatives have been letting you get away with but under this roof everyone sleeps in their own beds!"

She continued like this while Harry slowly got out of Ginny's bed. Apparently he had fallen asleep while comforting her.

"I will let it slide this time, but if I see it again…" She didn't need to finish that sentence. The stare she gave them was enough to make sure that they knew she meant business.

"I'll see you downstairs for breakfast in ten minutes," she finished before she went out the door.

When Harry walked into the kitchen he found that he was the last one to arrive. Ron had saved a seat for Harry, so Harry went and sat down beside his best friend. Harry noticed that the seat Ron had chosen for him placed him on the spot furthest from Ginny at the table. For some reason, Harry didn't think that this was a coincidence.

The atmosphere at the table was tense. Ron kept asking Harry where he had been that morning, but Harry didn't want to talk about that. He didn't want to make his friend more suspicious toward himself and Ginny than necessary before they could explain everything to him and the rest of the family.

Occasionally, Harry glanced over at Ginny. She looked nervous too, and Harry would have been surprised if she hadn't been. They were about to reveal their bond to the entire Weasley family.

Breakfast seemed to last forever, and Harry wished it would last even longer, but eventually Mrs Weasley announced that it was time for everyone to gather in the living room.

Harry followed the rest of them and sat down on a sofa next to Ginny. Ron sat on Harry's other side.

When they had all taken a seat, they were told by Mrs Weasley that now they were only waiting for Bill and Charlie. Harry wondered how they would attend this meeting, since Charlie worked with dragons in Romania and Bill was, as far as Harry knew, still in Egypt.

As they waited, Harry took Ginny's hand. It was an almost unconscious gesture. He simply reached his hand out, without looking, and there it was.

As he expected, Harry felt new emotions growing in him, but not as strong as before. Or maybe it was because they were both feeling the same thing right now, it was hard to tell. He couldn't clearly distinguish his own feelings from Ginny's right now.

They sat there for maybe ten minutes, holding hands discreetly, silently reassuring each other, before the first whoosh came from the fireplace.

To Harry's surprise, Bill's head appeared in the fire, and only his head. It was floating in mid-air, as if he had somehow gotten stuck on his way through the fire. The rest of them didn't seem to think this was strange at all though, so Harry assumed that everything was as it should be.

The head of Bill smiled and looked around the room.

"I'm the first to be here then?" he asked cheerfully.

It took another five minutes for Charlie's head to pop into the fire.

"I'm sorry everyone," he said, sounding out of breath. "We had some problems with a Swedish Shortsnout this morning. Poor thing lost all her eggs when a Hungarian Horntail got loose and broke into her enclosure last week. He stepped all over her nest, it was a massacre. She hasn't been herself since."

"I'm sorry to hear about that," said Mrs Weasley, getting up, "but now I would like to tell you why I called this meeting today. "I'm sure you have been wondering about Ginny, about why she became so sick and why she has been spending so much time with Harry. And in a moment, they will tell you, but first I would like you all to know that what you are about to hear is very sensitive information. Dumbledore says, and Arthur and I agree, that the less who know about this the better, but Ginny and Harry didn't want to keep this a secret from you, and I think it's the right thing that you should all know. I just want you to know that you can't tell anyone about this. Thank you."

Mrs Weasley beckoned Harry and Ginny forward and then sat back down again.

Harry and Ginny let go of each other's hands, got up and stood in front of the gathered Weasley family.

"I would like to begin with apologising for cutting your Egypt trip short," said Harry, at which Ginny elbowed him softly in the side and muttered, "you know that wasn't your fault."

"Even though it wasn't my fault," Harry added.

"But you could say that it was the beginning of this story," he continued. "You see, just as Ginny was getting sick in Egypt, I was getting sick too."

Here Harry paused. He hadn't prepared anything to say and he didn't really know how to continue, but Ginny stepped in for him.

"We had a meeting with Dumbledore the night we returned," she said. "And he explained everything. Or most things at least…"! Ginny paused a little before adding, "Well he gave us a starting point."

"What we are about to tell you may be hard to believe," said Harry. "We have certainly had a hard time coming to terms with it, and we're still working on that, but I hope that you will all be understanding.

"You know the story of how Harry saved me in the Chamber of Secrets," said Ginny, and Harry could tell by her restless hands and flickering eyes that this was it.

"Well," she continued, "something else happened that night. For some reason, Harry and I share a bond… a soul bond."

She paused to let that sink in.

"Harry's and my soul have… kind of connected, and therefore we had to stay close to each other. To keep from getting sick again. That's why I stayed with him at the Dursleys'."

"The bond is still just forming," injected Harry. "We don't know what this will mean for our future exactly, but we do know that when our skin touch, we can feel what the other is feeling, and we know that this will only get more powerful over time. We also know that it is irreversible."

Harry consciously refrained from telling them exactly how connected they would eventually be. He wasn't sure that they were ready to know that much yet, and Ginny didn't seem to want to mention that little detail either.

"Any questions?" Ginny asked.

So far, the Weasleys had been listening in a sort of stunned silence.

"Surely, you must be joking," said Percy. "There must be some other explanation!" he looked around at the assembled Weasleys as if one of them had any suggestions. "Soul bonds don't exist, I have never seen any kind of evidence for it," he continued.

"You are saying that Dumbledore told you that you were experiencing this… bond?" asked Bill, interrupting Percy.

"Yes," said Harry.

"Well, I don't see why he would be lying about this," Bill said.

"Molly and I were there," said Mr Weasley. "And we can assure you that this is the truth."

"So you're all just going to blindly trust Dumbledore?" asked Percy. "You're not even going to TRY to find a way to reverse it? Because Dumbledore told you that it can't be, you're just going to sit and do nothing?"

"I trust Harry and Ginny", said Bill, looking at Percy. "If it's a soul bond, I don't know, but from what I know from studying spells and curses, it might exist. Similar magicks have been mentioned in Egyptian scrolls, and the symptoms they are describing does seem to fit, unfortunately, so I wouldn't say it's an impossibility. I don't think Harry and Ginny would make this up.

"Are you sure about that?" asked Fred, "Ginny's fancied Harry for ages, you sure she doesn't just want an excuse to hang around him?"

"Fred!" Mrs Weasley exclaimed in indignation.

"Everyone knows it," said George, grinning broadly at Ginny and Harry, making Ginny blush until her face got as red as her hair. She looked down at her feet.

"How about we all just assume that what Harry and Ginny are saying is the truth and go from there," said Charlie. "There are a lot of things that need to be discussed if what they say is true."

"Why must we just assume that it's true," asked Percy, "there must be a way to at least confirm their claim of sharing feelings!"

"I think you're in denial, Perce," said George, looking at his brother." You just don't want to accept that Ginny is old enough to fancy someone."

Beside him, Ginny looked like she wanted to disappear on the spot, and Harry didn't feel too comfortable either. He had expected that not all of them would take it well, but he felt really exposed standing there while Percy essentially accused them of lying.

"This isn't about whether Ginny fancies Harry or not," said Mr Weasley firmly to George. "Nor is it about whether they're telling the truth," he continued, looking at Percy. Harry felt gratitude toward the Weasley patriarch then, but he wanted Percy to see that they weren't lying. He didn't want any of the Weasleys not to trust them, so he grabbed Ginny's hand.

Ginny jerked in surprise, and then he felt all her mortification flooding into him. But he also suddenly became angry at Percy for not believing them, a feeling he did not expect.

"You're making her angry," Harry said to Percy, unable to keep Ginny's anger out of his voice. Then then he looked at Ginny. He squeezed her hand in support and asked her, in a quieter voice, but still loud enough to make sure everyone could hear the question, "Why is he making you angry?"

"Because I want him to believe us, said Ginny. "Because we just exposed ourselves and he calls us liars." She looked up now, angry tears forming in her eyes, "If you don't believe Dumbledore, that's fine, I don't care, but don't assume that we know nothing just because we are younger than you are."

"I never said that," argued Percy, but he had the decency to look a little ashamed.

"You didn't have to," said Ginny.

Harry felt her anger recede a little as she finished expressing her thoughts, and her embarrassment died down a little as well. He felt her become more confident and her grip on his hand became firmer.

Harry noticed that everyone seemed to have an opinion on him and Ginny's bond, apart from Ron, who looked like he was in deep thought, but when Harry's eyes met Ron's and Ron gave a little nod, Harry felt a weight lift off him that he hadn't known was there.

"So does this make you our soul brother then?" asked Fred, breaking the silence. "You've always been more or less family from the start, of course," he continued, "but is it official now?"

Harry smiled a little to himself, though he was sure that everyone could see it too, and Ginny blushed a little more, but she was much calmer now.

"So how about we discuss some of the more obvious complications here?" suggested Charlie.

• • •

"I want you to know that I support you two," Ron said ten minutes later. The three of them had slipped out of the room into the kitchen when the others had started discussing details such as what to do if they indeed could not break the bond, how things might be handled at Hogwarts and, thanks to Mrs Weasley bringing it up, Harry and Ginny's sleeping arrangements.

"Thanks," said Harry and Ginny. "It means a lot."

"Just don't do anything I wouldn't do," Ron said, looking pointedly at Harry, who felt his cheeks heat up again.

They could hear the others still talking lively in the living room. Percy was still trying to find other ways to explain what had happened to Harry and Ginny.

"This morning…" Ron said slowly, "was that about…"

"Yeah," said Harry, "Ginny was having a nightmare." He looked at Ginny, trying to gauge how much he should tell Ron.

"We share dreams sometimes," said Ginny, taking over from Harry. "I was having a nightmare and he helped me. He just wanted to comfort me," she said.

"I see," said Rom, looking down at the table.

"We know this must be strange for you," said Harry, "but believe us, it's strange for us too."

"We didn't ask for this to happen," said Ginny. "It's strange and a lot of the time we don't know what's going on ourselves, or how to handle it," she said. "So please try not to treat us any differently. Yes, it's true we will probably be closer now, and I will probably end up hanging around you guys, and Hermione too, a lot more than I have, but if you can get over having your little sister around more… I think this would be easier for all of us."

"Well it's not like I don't like you," said Ron, looking up at her. "Remember when we used to play before I went to Hogwarts?" He smiled as if remembering something amusing. "It's just… me, Harry and Hermione were already so close and you, well, you were usually with other first years, you know?"

Ginny smiled then. "So you think you could handle your trio becoming a quartet?"

"I think I could manage," said Ron, smiling back at them. "It may be strange at first but I think I'll get used to it."

"I think we all need some time to get used to this," said Harry. "Thanks for being understanding."

"Hey, no problem," Ron said, then he looked at Harry, "you wanna go flying? I think they might be a while in there."

• • •

It took some persuasion to make Ron agree to let Ginny come and fly with them, but once he relented, she quickly proved that she could stand her own against both of them on the Quidditch pitch.

Harry, Ginny and Ron came back inside a few hours later. They had tossed apples to each other to catch and then tried to throw them through the gap between two branches of a tree, taking turns to act as the keeper, trying to stop it.

When it was time for lunch though, they made it back to the house. They found Mr Weasley sitting outside with a Muggle magazine and once inside, they were greeted by Mrs Weasley and a plate of sandwiches.

"There you are," she said. "Sit down." It sounded more like an order than an invitation, so they didn't question her as they each took a seat and grabbed a sandwich.

"Now," Mrs Weasley began, "We have decided that we're going to talk to Dumbledore about how this bond will be handled at school. We don't know how fast your… abilities… will develop, so we think that we need to formulate a plan."

Ron looked at Harry and Ginny, like he wanted to ask something, but he kept quiet.

"Further, I will not tolerate that you sleep in the same bed," said Mrs Weasley firmly, and both Harry and Ginny blushed.

"It wasn't like that," said Ginny silently.

"You should sleep in your own beds," she continued, obviously not hearing Ginny. "There is no reason for you to share a bed, even if you share… other things. It's simply not appropriate!"

Harry simply nibbled on his sandwich, too embarrassed to say anything. If Mrs Weasley thought they were… no, that was ridiculous. He had simply comforted her after having a nightmare, that was all.

"Finally," said Mrs Weasley, "Percy has volunteered to research this bond. He wants to see if there's a way to stop it from developing. Oh, he still believes you," she said, seeing the looks on Harry and Ginny's faces; "He just… he simply wants what's best for you, you know. And Bill and Charlie wish you both good luck," she finished.

"Tell them that we are thankful for their support," said Harry to Mrs Weasley, who smiled a little and promised them that she would.

When Mrs Weasley had left, Ron spoke up.

"What did she mean when she mentioned your abilities developing? Do you mean that it will go beyond this… sharing feelings thing?"

Harry and Ginny looked at each other. Harry still wasn't sure how much to tell him. He knew that they would have to tell him everything eventually, but Ron was still coming to terms with the soul bond even existing. Harry had to give him something though.

"Yes, there is more," Harry said finally. "We know that we will share other things eventually, though we don't know how long it will take. But according to Dumbledore, we will be able to read each other's minds too."

"Wow," said Ron, looking disturbed at the thought. "I can't imagine how it would be like to have someone else's thoughts in my head." He shuddered.

"Neither can I," said Ginny, and Harry felt her worry and fear creep into him, or maybe it was his own feelings that he felt. He couldn't be sure, but it felt like at least part of those feelings were disconnected from him somehow, like it wasn't his own, so it must be Ginny's feelings too. A cocktail of his own and Ginny's feelings mixed together inside him. Their future was uncertain. What if they wouldn't be able to handle this bond? Dumbledore had mentioned that there was a way to dampen the connection temporarily, but what if that wasn't enough? What if they ended up hating each other?

It took Harry a few minutes before he noticed that he and Ginny weren't even touching, and he was pretty sure that he could still feel a bit of what she felt, and it only took one look at Ginny to know that she had noticed it too.

"Are you guys okay?" Ron asked then, looking between them worriedly.

"I think it's starting already," said Ginny slowly.

"You mean… you can hear his thoughts now?" asked Ron, looking at Ginny in shock.

"No, no," she said, "but… I can feel his feelings… and we're not touching right now." She held up her hands in the air as if to prove the point. "Not as clearly I think, it's kind of… less."

Ginny got out of her chair and walked to the other side of the kitchen and Harry felt Ginny's feelings slowly fade. They didn't go away completely, but they were more muted.

"And now it's even less," she said, confirming it.

Ron seemed to be at a loss for words, and Harry couldn't blame him. Harry hadn't expected this to happen so soon. It had only been a couple of days, Harry had expected it to be a few weeks at least.

He suddenly remembered his promise to Ginny that they would have to talk about this bond, this whole situation and even though he dreaded it, he felt like they couldn't ignore it any longer.