A/N: Everything you recognize belongs J.K.R.

July 27, 1997.

Harry was moved from 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey for good. He was never going to return there. He was staying at the burrow for the time being.

But he didn't seem to be in a cheerful mood, as he should be after leaving that hell
of a house after all those years of mental torture and mistreatment.

He was in a somber mood because: in the whole escaping process Moody was killed; his
beloved owl, Hedwig, lost her life; and George lost an ear.

But there was also another reason for his solemn heart.

Ginny.

He knew he had broken up with her, but that didn't mean, it wouldn't be painful. He
had done that to keep her safe, not because he didn't have feelings for her.

How he couldn't have feelings for her: she was a wonderful witch after all. She was beautiful, smart, funny and all the other good one can say about a girl. She was the only ray of sunshine in his darkened world.

He couldn't stop thinking about her. She was constantly in his mind. And his thoughts had only amplified after returning to burrow. He wanted to kiss her; run his hand through her silky fiery red hair or at least keep looking at her chocolate brown eyes for hours.

But he knew, he couldn't. He had to keep her away from him. He had to keep her safe. She was
too important in his life to let anything happen to her.

Harry knew that Ginny was having the same thought. Though she was doing her best to
hide her true feelings, he could see it in those chocolate brown orbs of hers, every time their eyes met.

He knew: she wanted to confront him for pushing her away; hex him for considering her
weak; kiss him for caring about her safety so much.

But he also knew that she wouldn't do any of those. She would respect his judgment.
She was a really wonderful person. He just hoped: he would survive the war to spend his rest life with her.

But that wasn't the only thing he had noticed. He also noticed that all of the Weasley brothers, at least who were in the burrow, were eyeing him whenever they thought he was distracted.

But that didn't surprise him, because of what happened between Ginny and him almost six weeks ago. But, what surprised him was: there was no anger, what he primarily contemplated
would be in those eyes. What he found there, was disappointment and on some occasions, sympathy.

He knew, they were just waiting for a chance to confront him, and to be honest he would let
them do that. Not because they were Ginny's brothers, but because they were a part of his world too.

He wasn't worried about Molly and Arthur's reactions though. He knew, they were old and mature enough to understand his intentions. And he knew they did because, they were
not giving him any kind of weird glances. So that only left the Weasley brothers.

And it happened the day before his birthday; two days before Bill and Fleur's wedding.

They were having dinner, when Harry noticed the Weasley brother giving each other furtive glances.

At first he was confused, but when his eyes met Ron's and he gave him a somewhat apologetic look, Harry knew that was it.

The talk with the Weasley brother was coming soon.

But, what he didn't notice was looks the eldest Weasley brother shared with another member of
his family.

As soon as dinner was finished, all the Weasley brothers except Bill got up and left the
kitchen. As Harry knew what was coming next, he remained on his seat.

After Molly left the kitchen table to wash the dishes and Arthur unfolded the evening Daily Prophet to have a look, Bill spoke up:

"Harry, can we have a walk? I want to talk to you about something."

Harry sighed and then nodded his head.

They both got up and left the house and headed toward the orchard.

Though, Harry knew it was coming, he couldn't help being nervous.

As the reached near the orchard, Harry noticed: there were six chairs placed in a circle; four of them were occupied by Fred, George, Charlie and Ron.

Seeing him Ron shifted in his chair uneasily and Charlie gave a profound expression, while Fred and George smiled evilly rubbing their hands.

Harry knew, the twins were just playing with him; yet he was nervous.

No sane wizard or witch would like to cross two pranksters.

Bill indicated him to take a seat and he took the other himself.

None of them spoke for a minute or two though for Harry, it felt like hours. Then Charlie opened up.

"So, you dated my sister".

It wasn't a question but Harry answered nonetheless.

"Yes".

"And you broke up with her".

"Yes".

This time it was George who asked, "Why?".

"To keep her safe", replied Harry.

"Don't you think, she is powerful enough to take care of herself?" inquired Fred.

"Do you think, she is powerful enough to face Voldemort?", he asked back.

Fred didn't answer but Charlie looked angry.

"Do you even know what did it to her?" asked Charlie in a raised voice.

"Yes. Because I am going through the same thing", replied Harry calmly.

"So, her feelings matter nothing to you?" asked Fred.

"Her safety matter the most to me", he replied sternly.

"Do you even care about her? Do you even know what she is going through?", asked Charlie obviously angry.

Harry was enraged now. How dare they thought that he didn't care about her.

He jumped up from his seat and all the boys were startled at his sudden movement.

"Do you even know what it did to me? Do you have any idea what she means to me?" all the Weasley brothers were shocked at his sudden outburst; "When you need advice you can turn to your father; when you need comfort you can hug your mother or sister; When you need company you can have your brothers. But do you know what I have got? I have got my parents who was killed when I was fifteen months old; a godfather who was falsely convicted and chucked into Azkaban. And now he is dead because of my own stupidity. I have got a family who thinks and treats me as a house elf. And after sixteen years of my tortured life, when I got some who liked me; who could comfort me; make me happy, I had to push her away to keep her safe from a crazy maniac bastard who has been trying to kill me since I was in my mother's womb and ending up killing all the people who are close to me. And here you are asking me if I care about her or not". With that he took a deep breath and sat down in his chair with a thump.

All the boys were left dumbfounded at his outburst. They never considered Harry's feelings about the whole matter, not so deeply at least. They came there to get a explanation from him as to why he had broken up with their sister, but what they got instead was beyond any of their imagination. So, they just sat there in silence.

After a few minutes, it was Ron who got up at first and walked toward the house, followed by Fred and George who put a hand on Harry's shoulder before leaving.

At last Charlie got up and looked toward Bill.

The eldest Weasley brother opened his mouth for the first time since they had arrived at the orchard.

"You go. I have something else to talk to Harry", replied Bill.

Charlie looked thoughtful for a moment; then he nodded and left.

After Charlie left Bill sighed and looked at Harry.

"You know Harry: my brothers may be a little rushed toward their opinion but, I am more mature than them. I didn't come here to interrogate you about your break up with my sister. Instead I came to know about your feelings for her".

Harry looked at him somewhat surprised.

"Yes Harry. I know you well enough to understand that you are not one of those guys who just work on their impulses without caring about others' feelings".

Harry got emotional for a few moments at those words of trust but then recomposed himself.

"What do you want to know Bill?"

"Your feelings toward Ginny are not just like an ordinary girlfriend. Are they?"

Harry got up from his chair and walked a few feet away. He stood there with his back toward Bill.

"No Bill, she is not just an ordinary girlfriend to me. She is much more than that. She is my comfort; my warmth; my happiness. In a phrase she is the sunshine of my life, Bill".

Bill smiled and also got up from his chair. He was actually happy to know that his sister meant so much for someone like Harry. He walked toward the younger man, who had become like a brother to him, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"So,you love her. Don't you?"

Harry answered without turning back.

"Yes".

After a few moments, he turned back and looked at Bill, who just smiled and nodded.

Harry left the orchard and headed toward the burrow.

After Harry entered the house, Bill also started walking toward it, but stopped suddenly near a shadow.

"I think: you have learned all you wanted to know. And I hope you got all of your questions answered".

With that he took a few steps but stopped again.

"You know, you are very lucky to have someone like him".

Then he walked away never looking back.

A few moments later, a young lady with auburn red hair and chocolate brown eyes stepped out of the shadow. Her eyes were glistening with tears and she had tear tracks on her cheeks.

Ginny had stood behind the tree listening to the whole conversation. She was somewhat upset and angry at Harry earlier for making them both go through all of the trauma and emotional pain. But after listening to the whole conversation, she understood why he had pushed her away; why he so desperately wanted to keep her safe and most of all, how much she meant to him.

Then she smiled. Harry loved her. Though he didn't directly confess it to her, but she had listened it from his own. The thought brought an indeterminate amount of hope and joy inside her.

At that moment she promised herself that she would wait for him, no matter how much it took for him to fulfill his destiny.

With that determination she entered the house and walked up the stairs. She passed her room on the first floor landing and headed toward Ron's room.

She opened the door silently and peeped inside.

Harry was in his bed, lying on his stomach.

She closed the door silently and muttered, "I love you too Harry".

She wiped rest of the tears from her eyes and left for her room.

The next day was Harry's birthday and she was going to give him something, to make him remember his way back.

A/N: Please read and review.