Nothing to see up here today, enjoy the chapter folks!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Harry felt consciousness return with a dull ache spreading across his forehead. It felt like it was squeezing his brain in his head and he groaned under the unexpected onslaught of pain. He opened his eyes and was immediately assaulted by color. He recognized himself as being in the hospital wing at Hogwarts but the room had never struck him so vividly. The color palette of the room seemed saturated, it was far more vibrant than he could recall and the assault on his senses was too much for him.

He heard the feminine grunt as he pushed off the bed and collapsed over the side of it, his throat constricting painfully as his stomach emptied itself onto the floor.

"Harry?"

His head shot up at the voice, worry flooding through him. Ginny was sitting up on the bed, which he could now see was two beds pushed together. She'd practically bounded over hers and was leaning off the edge of his, staring down at him.

Her face sent a funny feeling through him, like his upset stomach decided to dance, before the feeling shot up to the back of his mouth and he bent down and puked again. He heard the shuffle of Ginny moving off the bed and he felt her hand land on his back, rubbing small circles in it as her face reappeared in his vision like his own personal sun. Her familiar red hue was a color that didn't seem to have changed and he turned into it fully, focusing on her to block out the rest of the room.

"Feeling a bit better?" she asked softly her gentle circles never stopping.

He shook his head. "No. My head is killing me. I... This room is so bright."

Ginny looked around the room before looking at him confusion clear on her face. "It's not that much brighter than the burrow when the windows are open." She leaned down, careful of where she put herself on the ground, "I'm going to go see if Mum or Dad is around. Hopefully the healer too. Are you going to be okay for a minute alone?"

He took a deep breath and nodded, shutting his eyes to block out the overwhelmingly vibrant room, "Please hurry." Color still showed through his eyelid, letting him watch Ginny walk away. Her fire was running across the room toward where he knew Pomfrey's office was. He couldn't see if Pomfrey was there, the walls of Hogwarts were too filled with magic for him to see through. He saw Ginny leave the office though, the billowing blue light of Madam Pomfrey following her.

Ginny's hand fell immediately onto his back again while Pomfrey knelt down in front of him, paying little mind to his sick. "Mr. Potter, how are you feeling right now, please describe it for me." She said immediately.

He cracked his eyes and saw her waving her wand over him, her eyes hard and focused. "My head hurts, it's tight. A tension headache, I'd guess, given the location. The room is too bright as well. Really bright. The sensory overload might be causing the headache but I can't be sure. I can't. . . I'm having a lot of trouble concentrating. Everything feels overwhelming." He said, trying to focus his thoughts and get them across as cleanly as he could.

"Is the room too bright or is it too colorful?" Pomfrey asked as her hand found his jaw, tilting his head up slightly as she inspected him.

"Too colorful." He answered immediately, the new position of his head forcing him to look at the stone wall, the color from the magic imbuing it overlaid with the color of the wall. It was even more disorienting then when he'd first gotten the eye.

Her lips quirked down and she nodded. She reached forward and slipped her hands under his armpits. "On three, Mr. Potter. Ready?" She asked. He nodded and she counted quickly before hefting him up. He helped to stand as she lifted. Her support helped far more than he expected though as he was on his feet. He felt wobbly and ready to drop back down. "Sit, sit." She said, gently pushing him back into the bed.

"Is he okay?" Ginny asked

"He appears fine, Ms. Weasley." She turned to the girl and looked her up and down, "are you well enough to watch him for a moment?"

"I'm fine. Better than."

Pomfrey's lips quirked again but not with the same dissatisfied look she'd had before. "Very well. Priddy." A familiar house elf popped into the room, "Please go inform the Headmaster and the Weasleys that the children are awake."

"Priddy be doing as the healy witch says." The elf said with a nod before popping out again.

"I'll be back in a moment, yell if anything happens, Ms. Weasley. Anything."

Ginny nodded quickly, and Pomfrey returned to her office. After the older witch was gone Ginny turned to him and put her hand on his shoulder. "Any better?"

He shook his head. "No. More important things though." They'd passed out cold in the middle of their talk in the burrow. Now they were in the hospital wing of Hogwarts and he felt awful. That was just a little too much coincidence for him to agree with. "Do you remember anything? The last thing I can remember is Fawkes singing. It's all blank after that"

She shook her head. "No, that's all I remember too. I don't feel anything wrong though. I feel pretty good actually." She said, chuckling a little at the end. Her expression sobered a bit as she looked away from him. "Do you think you're hurting because . . . well, because of what we. . ."

Harry shook his head. "I don't know. I can't think of any reason I'd get all blow-back and you wouldn't. I haven't changed at all, you have. If anything you'd be the one suffering because of it."

Ginny forced out a laugh as an unsteady smile settled on her face, "Well that's good to know I suppose."

He smiled at her and patted her thigh "So far as I can see you're a perfectly normal witch. Madam Pomfrey didn't even seem overly worried about what was happening."

"Well, you don't fall to the ground puking your guts out for no good reason," Ginny said. "That's generally a bad thing, Harry."

"Passing out suddenly for no obvious reason is also generally a bad thing, too." He countered. "One probably explains the other. I'm sure Madam Pomfrey would be in a far different mood if she thought something was truly wrong."

Ginny frowned but nodded nevertheless. She looked back toward the office and then to the door of the wing before looking back up to him. She hesitated a moment before leaning into him, resting her head on his shoulder. "Can you see through the door?" she asked in a quiet voice. He looked up to the large wooden door of the hospital wing and nodded. He could see the wood. "Good, let me know before anyone comes in."

"You mean before your Mum and Dad come in." He said, a small smile lighting his lips. His head was still throbbing and the room as still too bright, but the nausea wasn't so overwhelming any longer.

"Well, I put on a shit display when we were talking to them. You certainly didn't help, telling them that you thought I was fascinating. Both academically and . . . what was the other word you used? I can't seem to recall."

"Well, I can't really remember much of yesterday." He said the same heat that he'd felt yesterday coming back.

"I think it's coming back, actually." Ginny continued, nudging him a bit. "I could swear that you used the word otherwise. What might that mean, Mr. Potter? Are you otherwise fascinated by me?" Harry coughed low in his throat as his breath got stuck. He pursed his lips as he craned his neck sideways to look at her as she leaned against his shoulder. "I think," She said slowly, "I'm justified in being wary of my parents right now. Now heads up, keep a lookout with that magic eye of yours."

His eyes lingered on her for a moment, but the smile on her face was as natural as he'd seen and he returned to his forced duty. She was warm next to him, anyway, and he couldn't deny that her presence was soothing.

Albus had passed exhausted around the time he'd pulled out one of his tomes on familiar bonds to read over with the elder Weasleys. They were right to be worried, of course, but the more he thought about it, the more it fell in line that of all the people that might be able to do something as impossible as binding another human as their familiar, Harry was a valid candidate.

A power unknown to Voldemort would have to be something odd, even impossible. For all the flaws of Tom Riddle, studying had never been one. The man was learned, for all his darker inclinations, and there were few fields he likely hadn't studied in his many years.

Dumbledore had many more years, though, and even he'd never seen a human familiar, as the young Ginevra appeared to now be.

Tired as he was, he still trudged along behind the Weasleys as they rushed down the long halls toward the Hospital wing where their awakened ward and daughter waited. Arthur moved ahead of his wife to push open the door as they entered. Harry and Ginevra were sitting on the bed they'd been placed in.

His old eyes ran over the pair quickly. Harry looked worse for wear but he was still smiling as he spoke to Ginevra. His hand still rested on her thigh, and though the pair saw Ginevra's parents approaching, neither made an attempt to move it.

As Arthur and Molly reached the children, he moved past them to meet Poppy as she walked toward him. "Has anything changed?" He asked in a low voice.

She shook her head. "No. It's his first time experiencing real magical exhaustion, so his symptoms aren't uncommon, I'm more surprised that Ms. Weasley isn't experiencing any."

"And the bond?" he asked, looking back to the pair. Harry had moved his hand from Ginevra's thigh, but now their shoulders and hips were together as they sat side by side.

"Intact, just like you said. I don't know what those kids did but it's a fully realized bond. Have Arthur and Molly decided what they want to do about it?"

He nodded. "They have. Have you recorded the rate of transference between them?"

"I have. So long as they're careful we shouldn't need to make any extra accommodations for them." Her eyes flickered over to them. "They're already touching each other without realizing it. So long as they have that contact throughout the day they shouldn't have any issues. I would like to have them check in once a week, at the minimum, though. Make sure nothing is going wrong. There is risk here, Albus."

"I'm aware. So are Arthur and Molly."

"The children should be made aware. This kind of bond between children, Albus. They need to know the long-term complications. They're old enough to understand how severe the consequences are."

"How old should a child be before you lay burden on their shoulders?" he asked. "They're old enough to understand, I agree, but should we put that weight on them?"

"She'll be reliant on him for the rest of her life," Poppy said, outrage clear in her voice. "They're children now, Albus, but how long before other things are occupying their mind. The responsibility you'd be putting on that boy. He'd never be able to have a regular relationship. She'd be a leach on more than just his magic."

"And should they find each other in those thoughts?" He asked, "Arthur and Molly have noted that they're rather close."

"They're children. Children on the cusp of puberty at that. They have no idea what they're feeling and by the time they do the damage will likely already be done. School is about more than learning, as you well know. This can and will affect their social growth, and that's not even getting deeper into the completely one-sided dependency that Ms. Weasley will have."

"I've discussed this with her parents, thoroughly. They – "

"Two or three years from now, when they're feeling rebellious or are just going through normal teenage angst. One bad day, one bad fight," Poppy interrupted glaring at him, "could leave her, in the best case, bitter and scornful at having wasted her time studying magic that she'll never be able to do independently. In the worst case, she'd be dead." She spoke at a furious pace, her voice never breaking a whisper.

She was right too, he knew. He breathed deeply, looking at the quiet fury on his healer's face. "Arthur and Molly are taking to them about the risks, about the consequences. Harry is far more mature than I think you give him credit for."

"And I think you expect too much from him," Poppy responded immediately, not losing a step. "He may have grown up faster than some but that's just asking for him to break under the pressure he's put on himself. The more responsibility you put on that boy the harder it will be to put him back together when he finally does break." She turned then and began walking back to her office. She stopped, mid-step, and turned back to him "Medically, they're both healthy. Ethically, I don't condone this and I won't have a part in it beyond making sure they both stay healthy."

He nodded slowly and she continued her retreat. He watched her go, half trying to listen to the hushed whispers of the Weasley clan and Harry, half trying to reclaim his thoughts. Poppy was right, of course. Ginevra would be able to use magic, so far as they could tell, but she'd be completely dependent on Harry for the remainder of her life. Whatever relationships she'd have would be predicated on the fact that she would have to spend so much time in physical contact with Harry.

Where an animal might need a few minutes every few days, Ginevra was a witch and she'd be actively using her magic. The safest path forward was casual contact, the kind they were already exhibiting, every day. They would age, though, and with age, complications would arise. Even he had buckled under less responsibility at an even older age than Harry was, to a disastrous end. Could he rightfully expect Harry to be better?

More than thought, could he ignore the impossibility of the situation? If Harry was awakening powers unknown and he worked to squash them before they developed, what would happen? Would he be damning everyone to protect one girl? A frown marred his face as he turned to look at the two children again. They were separated now, staring at each other as Arthur spoke to them. Molly was standing behind him, her hand over her mouth and unshed tears in her eyes.

Harry reached out slowly, putting his hand onto Ginevra's and he smiled weakly. Albus watched the interaction as closely as he could, the charm on his glasses showing the slow trickle of magic connecting the two, and he nodded to himself. He wouldn't interfere with this.

"Do you two understand?" Arthur asked slowly, staring at the two of them.

Harry gripped Ginevra's hand tighter and she squeezed back. Arthur had been detailed. He'd explained everything far beyond what Harry knew his ability was, and Harry could hear some of Dumbledore's speech pattern bleed into Arthur's own, likely the man saying exactly what he'd been told.

It was a lot though. He looked at where he and Ginny's hands were linked and saw where their magic met. Whereas before, it had stopped and he'd had to coax her magic into movement, now his magic flowed freely into hers, the blackness of his aura vanishing into her red. She was his familiar. It didn't make sense to him. Then again, her being a familiar to begin with didn't' make sense to him. He'd read about it, in passing, but even the little understanding he had said it wasn't possible.

She'd been using magic before his began to trickle into hers though. Of course, her magic had been darkening. It was no longer the radiant fire that it had started. It was more akin to an ember now, beautiful in its own way but not what it had started as. Maybe it was simply acclimating to his before any true connection could be formed. Would it darken further then?

Ginny squeezed his hand again, breaking him from his thoughts. She looked lost, scared and without prompting he found himself scared. What happened when they started dating? She'd need to spend a lot of time with him and that'd be enough for most blokes to be jealous as it was. That was ignoring that he was Harry Potter.

What happened if he started dating?

The thought struck him harder than he thought it would. He'd never even considered it before. He'd wanted to kiss Ginny over the summer, he'd liked it when she kissed him, he'd never thought of it beyond that though. Would they start dating now? No, they were too young. Didn't the kids in secondary school have age restrictions from their parents? He remembered more than one of them saying that.

Did Ginny have the same restrictions?

"I understand this is a lot," Arthur said, yet again drawing his attention back to the moment. "I need you both to answer the question, though. Your mother and I need to know that you understand."

Molly reached forward and grabbed Arthur's shoulder and his hand rose across his chest to hold onto it as he looked back to her for a moment. "It's a lot to think about." She said, her voice tight as her eyes watered. "It's too much to think about." She said again, far quieter.

"I understand," Harry said, glancing back to Ginny. As if she felt his eyes on her she looked too before she nodded.

"I get it, too." She said. "I'm sorry we didn't say anything sooner. We didn't think –"

"You certainly didn't." Molly bit out before looking away. Harry saw Arthur squeeze her hand as she grimaced and looked back to them. She opened her mouth and closed it again before she spoke again. "This bond, you'll be able to do magic. That's why your father and I are willing to take a chance. We need the both of you to understand though. Especially you, Harry. We, really, really, need you to understand."

He nodded. "I do." A hundred thoughts raced through his mind, a hundred futures. He could see their fears and he did understand them. They stood out with such startling contrast that he was almost overwhelmed by them.

"Ginny," Arthur said. "Do you understand?"

She looked between her parents and then back to Harry. He felt her trepidation and he knew that she did understand. "She does." He said for her, seeing her hesitation.

"Harry, we need to hear it from Ginny, we have to –"

"She understands," Dumbledore said, appearing at the foot of their bed. "What you just witnessed was familiar empathy. Harry could feel an echo of Ginevra's emotions, an echo of her thoughts. It helps bridge the communication gap that naturally exists between animal and human."

"He can read her mind?" Molly asked in a strained voice.

"No," Harry said quickly. "I wasn't, it wasn't like that."

"And you are right, Harry. It's not Telepathy or anything of the sort." Dumbledore said, walking around the bed and placing a calming hand or Molly's forearm. "It's an echo. Not a real thought, not a real emotion, just the feeling of them. She likely projected them on unconsciously."

Molly frowned but nodded. "Still, Ginny." She looked at her daughter expectantly.

"I understand, Mum," Ginny said after a moment.

Arthur swallowed and nodded, shutting his eyes tightly as he pursed his lips. "We have things to do then. Starting with a trip to Diagon Alley. If you're going to Hogwarts, you're going to need a wand."

"Is this the right thing, Arthur?" Molly asked as she sat on the edge of their bed. Arthur paced on their rug, following the same worn down path he had for years.

"I don't know." He said as he came to a stop in front of their window. "They both understand the risks though. They both agreed."

"They're children, and they obviously have crushes. Of course, they'd agree." Molly said as she stood up, unable to be still any longer. "What happens when those crushes fade? What happens when reality and they realize that they might not be quite as close as their hormones are telling them they are?"

Arthur shook his head slowly but didn't look to his wife. "We have to have faith in them."

"They're children, Arthur. This is wrong. We can't do this. I . . . I . . ."

Arthur turned and pulled his wife to him as she started crying. "I don't' know if this is the right thing." He said after a moment. "I don't think there is a right choice here. Both choices are impossible. I do think, though, that we made the best choice we could."

"You can't know that," Molly said, not lifting her head from the crook of his shoulder.

"I can't, no." He agreed. "But our daughter is going to Hogwarts. She's gonna learn magic. We can't take that away from her without taking a chance on it. This way . . . this way, even if things don't work out, we can look back knowing we did everything we could for her. So yes, this is the best choice."

"You know they haven't fallen asleep yet," Harry said as he leaned against the headboard of his bed, his head tilted so he could see the moon through his window.

"They're too distracted to notice me sneaking about," Ginny said as she moved to sit at the foot of the bed. "and I'm far too distracted to sleep myself."

Harry nodded, understanding. Usually, dilemmas like this didn't keep him up, didn't bother him into worry. He'd find a solution, use it, and everything would be fine. There was no solution here though, only a long gamble that everything would turn out okay. "It won't always be just us." He said, voicing his concerns. "I've watched people date and break up over the stupidest things. What happens when it's no longer just us? What happens if we find people and they can't deal with this?"

Ginny shrugged. "Obviously they weren't meant to be if they can't accept us. Though, that's a bit short minded. I mean, we've already been . . . you know."

"Kissing." He said. "Yeah, I'd thought of that. What happens if we date and then break up. What if one of us gets hurt and we can't stand to be around each other." He asked, dropping his head so he could look at her properly. "I've seen it happen to the happiest couples."

"Well, we can't know the future," Ginny said. She shut her eyes and a look of concentration crossed her face. She sat there for a moment before he felt it. The pang of affection was as strong as he expected it to be, given the emotion it was, but it still took him by surprise. "Dad told me stories about you when I was younger. Night time stories." She clarified as a blush took her cheeks. "I had little play weddings with you while playing with friends. Then I learned I was a squib and all that went away. Reality punched me in the face and I've had that black eye since. It feels like . . . I finally feel like that is getting better, and of all the people to fix it, it's you."

"Ginny," Harry said slowly. He didn't want to crush her, but he had to look at it realistically, logically.

"No, don't Ginny me. You're not my Mum or Dad. I like you Harry and yeah, I don't know if we'll work out and I don't know what'll happen if we do break up. I can't pass this chance up though. Damn you, damn the risks. Me. I can't pass this up. I'm going to go get a wand tomorrow, Harry. My own wand. That's worth it. We'll work out everything else after that." She took up her look of concentration again and after a moment he felt her sense of determination.

She would make it work, damn everything else.

He opened his mouth to argue but shut it as something else came up. It was new, surprising in its intensity and completely foreign to him. The edge of his lips twitched up against his will as he looked at her, her face scrunched up as she concentrated on making sure he knew she was serious. He felt old, tired, looking at her so full of determination. He admired it. "Okay." He said, simply.

Her eyes popped open as he spoke and the hope that had been there before blossomed into a smile as she quickly crawled up the bed toward him and kissed him. It wasn't as intense as their second kiss and it wasn't a sloppy as their first. This one was unique though because she pushed all the happiness she felt through it and he felt its echo inside himself as he kissed her back.

"Yew, eleven inches with a particularly large Chinese Fireball's heartstring as its core," Olivander said, the same overly excited tone he had when Harry first came to his stop still alive and well in the man.

Harry saw Arthur tense up as Ginny reached for the wand. With good reason too. While she had shot fire out of his wand in the burrow, she'd been far more destructive in Ollivander's shop. If not for the enchantments that let them fall slowly to the ground he imagine quite a few of the wands would be damaged in some way. He watched her magic jump into the wand just as it had in every other wand. He breathed a sigh of relief as her magic wrapped its way around the core of the wand and bounced back, a far more controlled halo of flame puffing out of the tip.

"Wow," Ginny said as she looked back to him. "You were right." She said.

"Generally, yes," Harry answered with a grin. "What are we talking about right now, though?"

She laughed, "It tingles."

Arthur raised an eyebrow at him at that and Harry had to choke back a laugh.

"This place is packed, this year," Harry said. As he walked through the Flourish and Blotts.

"Last minute shoppers," Ginny said from his side. "It was really busy when we went to get Ron's stuff last year, too."

Harry hummed his response as they broke the book rows and entered the main area, to find Molly. "If they're shoppers then why are they all standing around?" he asked as they began to push to the standing crowd.

"Harry Potter!"

Harry looked up at the sudden exclamation, his hand instinctively going for his wand at the sound of his full name. The crowd seemed to realize who he was as their eyes found him.

"Come on! Come on! Let's get him up here!" the voice said. The crowd parted a little, giving him a path to the front. He saw Molly there, standing near the front, but he also saw a small makeshift stage with a desk set up on top of it, stacks of books set up around it, and the most flamboyant man he'd ever seen.

"Who is that?" Harry whispered as he began walking toward Molly.

"I think that's Gilderoy Lockhart," Ginny whispered back.

Harry cocked his head at her at that. This guy was going to be the defense professor. He felt a bit of relief at that, but his fear far outweighed that relief. Would this man try to kill him too? Would he be able to stop him if he tried?

"Go on, Harry," Molly said when they finally reached her, motioning him up to the stage.

"Mum, I don't think –"

"It's alright Ginny. Go on, Harry dear."

Harry hesitated and the man's unflappable smile fell a bit before coming back just as strong. He took an overly large step and let himself flop off the stage as he came up to Harry. "Harry Potter." He said again, "As I live and breathe. What a pleasure it must be for all of you," His voice rose as he looked around the crowd "to see both us here in one place! Now I knew you'd be going to Hogwarts this year and I've prepared a little gift for you."

He ran back up to his stage and grabbed a pile of books that were sitting on the desk. Harry glanced at Ginny, who was wearing the most annoyingly self-satisfied smirk he'd seen on her yet.

"Here you go, here you go," Lockhart said as he brought the books back and held them out for Harry. "My complete works, free of charge, signed by yours truly. Everything you'll need this year for defense against the dark arts, which I will, personally, be teaching."

The crowd loved it, apparently as they started clapping. "Thank you, sir," Harry said slowly looking at the books.

"Nonsense, Harry! There's no need to thank me. We celebrities need to stick together, after all." He said, kneeling down as a few people with camera's pushed to the front of the crowd, Ginny and Molly getting pushed behind them. Molly actually looked rather worried now, but Ginny was covering her annoyingly self-satisfied smirk as he glared at her. "Now let's put on a big smile." He said as he raised his hand toward the camera. "We'll make the front page of the prophet with this."

"That was awful," Harry said as he followed Molly and Ginny toward the exit. The crowd had finally let him free and refocused their attention on Lockhart.

"Mr. Lockhart is an amazing man, Harry," Molly said. "He's been all over the world dealing with all sorts of creatures."

"Trust her on that. She's read all his books. Twice." Ginny said, leaning toward him and whispering it overly loudly.

"Oh shush, you," Molly said, smiling as she did. "We're lucky that professor Dumbledore was able to get him on as a professor this year. You'll be able to learn a lot from him."

Harry sighed and looked at the books that he'd been given. They all had Lockhart on the cover, moving around and striking poses and smiling. They hardly seemed like books that were meant for a classroom.

"Oh, this can't be good," Molly said under her breath.

Harry looked toward the door and found Ron standing beside his Dad who was talking to a slightly taller man with blond hair. It wasn't until Harry say Draco that he realized the problem. Arthur did not look happy at all and the man wore the kind of demeaning smirk that Draco flashed around all the time at school. It was a shock, still, when Arthur turned back and handed Ron the cauldron full of books he'd been holding and twisted on spot, punching the other man in the face.

"Arthur!" Molly yelled as the man shot back up, hitting Arthur in the stomach with his cane before punching him as well. Arthur, his balance taken from him by the blow to the stomach, fell back when he was hit in the face, knocking Ron down with him as he fell.

"Really, Weasley." The man said as he leaned down, grabbing Ron's arm and hefting him up before going back for the cauldron. "Try not to behave so uncivilized in public." He lifted up the cauldron and fingered through the books before chuckling and dropping it back down to his side. "Though, uncivilized may be the appropriate word, after all." He shoved the Cauldron back into Ron's arms, "Come, Draco, your mother is waiting."

Arthur scowled from the floor as he attempted to rise up and have another go at the man. Molly was there though, grabbing his shoulder and whispering harshly in his ear.

"I'm guessing your dad and Malfoy's don't get along," Harry said, glancing at Ginny.

"Like oil and water." She said. "Dad doesn't talk about it much but Malfoy is constantly shutting down Dad's projects at work. Dad was trying to organize something this summer, but he wouldn't talk about it. Gotta guess Malfoy did something."

"Draco had to learn it from somewhere, I suppose. You don't come out that annoying."

Ginny laughed at that. "True enough, I suppose. Do I have that to look forward to this year?"

Harry shrugged. "He and your brother got into it a bit but I'm not in any classes with him and I don't hang out with any of the same people. Hermione's come head to head with him a few times though. Hearing her tell it, he's the worst thing to happen to Hogwarts, ever."

"Well, I'm looking forward to meeting her then." Ginny said, "Anyone that's willing to have a go at Malfoy is good in my book."

The Weasley's made their way onto the platform with precious few minutes to spare, as Harry had learned was practically ritual for the clan.

"You look out for your sister now," Molly said as she pulled Georges robes straight.

"She's gonna take over the school, she is. We're gonna have to be watching our backs from her." He said, nudging Fred.

Fred nodded. "Thought we'd be safe at Hogwarts, safest place in the country. All lies."

"Oh shush." She said, swatting at their chests.

Harry chuckled at that and looked to Arthur, who was on a knee with Ginny.

"You have everything pumpkin?"

"I do." She huffed out.

Arthur smiled at her. "If you need anything, anything at all, you write. Actually, write even if you don't need anything."

"I'll be fine, Dad." She said. "Really."

"And don't forget your appointments with Madam Pomfrey." Arthur looked at Harry. "You too, young man."

"We'll be there every week," Harry said. "And I'll make sure she writes."

Arthurs' shoulders sagged and he opened his arms. "Come here pumpkin. One last hug."

The shrill whistle of the train drew all their attention and Ginny wrapped her arms around her father. Fred and George grabbed their trunks and made their way into the train quickly, as Molly made her way to Ginny and opened her arms expectantly too.

Harry watched the embraces quietly as he waited.

"We love you, dear," Molly said as she released Ginny. "We'll see you at Christmas, yes."

"Yes, Mum. I love you guys too." She stepped back and grabbed her new trunk and stopped at his side. "Come on." She said, a big smile lighting her face as she looked at the Hogwarts express.

He nodded and waved to her parents as she started up onto the train.

Susan, Su, and Hermione took Ginny's presence far more gracefully than he expected. Hermione and Susan were always going to be fine, but Su was a bit brasher than their groups Hufflepuff representatives. She accepted the youngest Weasley well enough though. Hermione surprised him with how fine she was, though. He'd expected some reaction from her with Ginny's connection to Ron, but she'd been perfectly congenial.

She hadn't brought it up at all though. She didn't bring up the letter Ron had sent her either. Harry was perfectly happy to let her do whatever she would, however, fast she wanted, but in the two months he'd been forced into close contact with Ron, he'd learned that youngest male Weasley wasn't one for patience and he did seem genuine in his desire to properly apologize.

He'd probably do something wrong if he got impatient.

That would be his problem though, Harry decided while Ginny chatted with the other girls. He felt her ankle pressing against his as they kept their legs stretched out across the small space between benches. Nobody had said anything about it, thankfully, because he didn't really want to face any of them and lie. Dumbledore hadn't said anything about keeping it a secret. He'd been very vague about the truth of the matter.

The healers had been wrong. That's the story that Dumbledore had spread to those curious enough to ask about Ginny's presence. They hadn't found out until they'd taken her to Diagon Alley shopping for her brother and she happened to pick up a wand.

It was a poor excuse, Harry thought, but so far nobody had attempted to look any deeper.

Harry wasn't sure about his ability to lie to his friends though. He wasn't sure he could look them in the eye and tell them that story if they asked him directly.

"Okay," Hermione said suddenly, cutting off Ginny's questions about what Hogwarts was like. Hermione turned in her seat, facing him fully, and put a serious look on her face. "I'm not just going to ignore this anymore. What happened at the end of last year? You vanished at the end of the year, all your letters this summer were entirely unhelpful, and now you're sitting here with an eye patch on like nothing at all has happened."

Harry glanced around the cabin. Hermione had been the one who asked but Susan and Su looked just as interested. Ginny just smiled softly and looked at him expectantly. He huffed out a sigh and smiled up to Hermione. He hadn't even told Ginny the whole truth yet. Dumbledore and whoever he was speaking to inside the ministry were the only ones who knew the whole truth.

Could he trust them with the truth? Would Dumbledore want him to tell them and leave such a glaring weakness in their veil of secrecy? He was already a hole in the veil. Tonks had gotten him into the basics of occlumency but anyone that wanted into his mind could still get into it easily enough. Four girls, four second and first-year Hogwarts students, knowing as well seemed like an even large hole.

Voldemort was an active threat though. He'd been inside Hogwarts last year and, thankfully, he'd only come after Harry. Something fierce coiled inside him at that and he set his jaw, focusing on the present again. He'd gotten training from an Auror. It wasn't the most comprehensive and he still had a lot to learn, but it was a sight more preparation than they had. He couldn't let anything like that happen.

"Last year, Professor Quirrell was possessed by Voldemort," He started.

Finally moving past 60,000 words! Tell me what you think in the form of a review. I know not everyone liked the whole bond thing but I agonized over the decision to include it for over a year before deciding that I couldn't move forward without it in the story. I promise I'm not mindlessly introducing aspects to this story just for the sake of having them, I'm working toward an end game, even if we're only in second year.