Harry was all smiles the following week. Nothing was better than spending time with his favorite family at the moment. They did chores, happily chatting away turmoils. Harry even helped Mrs. Weasley cook and nobody is allowed by Molly to help her! Harry even got the twins and Ron to let Ginny play. Harry ignored Ron's calculating gaze directed at him after defending Ginny. It was worth it after seeing her brothers' jaws drop unceremoniously to the ground.

Then there was their trip to Diagon Alley.

This time 'round, Hermione was unable to make the trip due to her parents both catching flus. He wondered how this happened, since she was able to make it the first time around. He supposed even the littlest of things could change a lot.

Having learned his mistake the first time, Harry spoke the words as clearly as he could, with conviction. As he said the words "Diagon Alley", he felt himself getting transported into a different location if the unpleasant sensation in his stomach was anything to go by seeing that Ginny was nowhere to be seen. He stepped out of the fireplace, in the Leaky Cauldron, nearly bumping his head on the yellowing, marble mantle. Not a second later, something light came crashing towards his back.

Ginny was slim and light without being scrawny and looking underfed, but for some god-forsaken reason, she was able to send him stumbling, before crashing down on the floor. Instinctively, he wrapped an arm around the small of her back while the other around her neck, burried in her hair. Harry's brain hasn't even registered the fact that his hand has found its way under her traveling cloak and onto the very thin blouse she wore.

The current diners at the well-established hotel-restaurant looked quite amused, more so because apparently, Harry was also 'The boy who cant floo." Not only that, but he was staring intently at the girl wrapped in his embrace. Those who saw his eyes could have sworn they were 'glittering' or 'sparkling' only in a way those in a state of limerence could.

When he recovered, face and neck not so pale anymore (Ginny was fairing better than him, but only slightly), he thanked and praised Merlin repeatedly that nobody from Ginny's family have witnessed their little no talk, 'tête-à-tête'. He couldn't imagine how Ron would react, or how the twins would mercilessly tease and prank both of them (but Harry had a gut feeling that Ginny was immune from the latter). Mr. Weasley would probably just smirk at him with a very knowing look, one he has given Harry constantly over these past few days whenever he went out of his way to spend time with Ginny. It shook his ire quite a bit. Mrs. Weasley would probably smile at his direction knowingly just like her husband before her parental protectiveness would promptly roar tremendously and berate her daughter for acting like some 'scarlet woman'.

With his blush fading slightly, but still remaining very intact, he pondered over what has changed from the last time.

Well, one, Ginny doesn't seem to run away and squeak everytime she sees me, he thought bitterly. He didn't even know why he was bitter about it, but he was.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley seemed to like me even more than last time. I'm pretty sure that I asked Mrs. Weasley if I could help cook last time and she rejected me, now she lets me cook dinner with her...

Glancing at Ginny, who was beside him, waiting for her third eldest brother to dust off the soot from his travel, he thought, rather, felt her smile. She grabbed his hand and quickly squeezed it, when he turned to look at his tingling hand, her's was gone faster than you could get Ron to finish his three-course meal in a minute.

Ron stepped through the floo with the grace that Harry could never manage and cocked an eyebrow at them. "Why are you both so red?" He asked thickly.

Ginny mumbled something unidentifiable and Harry answered with "Nothing", a few, unintended octaves higher.

Followed by Ron were the twins, who weren't as thick as Ron was, as soon as they spotted their younger sister with a complementary shade of red the same as their 'new found brother' (although George suspects that it could very be possibly in-law in the future), they started snickering, no doubt thinking of ways to tease them, ways that their sister would no doubt hex them to the next century for.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley stepped out of the fireplace after their most mischievous sons and checked if everyone was present and instact. They also could not help but wonder what has gotten into Harry, who was still quite red. The old married couple glanced at Ginny who's skin was the normal color, no sign of a blush anywhere, so they shrugged it off.

"Alright, everyone set?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

A chorus of 'yes' floated around their group with Harry meerly nodding, he still felt a little out of place with all the red heads, no matter how much they treat him like family.

The group made a short trip to Gringotts with Harry uncomfortably shuffling galleons into his pouch while Mrs. Weasley watched. She held no look of envy on her face, she really didn't care about money that much at all, besides, no matter how much Harry wants to help, she declines, saying that he was helping them in his own non-material wealth.

They were split, with Ron and the twins going off with Mrs. Weasley to get new robes, Harry's were still fairly fitted, he summarized, rather sourly, that he hasn't grown much, he resolved to fix that later.

Mrs. Weasley, Percy, Harry and Ginny went ahead to Flourish and Blotts to gather everyone's books for the year, all 'written' by the incompetent, big-headed, fraud named Gilderoy Lockhart. Harry has experienced enough of his foolery in the somewhat 'past' and would do everything he could to avoid the man, however, he had a sinking feeling that that plan won't work very well.

Stepping inside the over crowded bookstore, Harry groaned at the sight of posters of the pompous hoodwinker, flashing his, probably, fake, white teeth around. He was sickened by all the swooning ladies, even if one of them was his surrogate mother.

They roamed the store a bit to gather the required books and a few extras before falling in line with the crowd. As Harry expected, there was a book signing today, the swindler was probably on the other side of the door behind the counter. Sure enough, after a few minutes, resident imposter himself decided to grace the people with his presence. He walked out, ran a hand to shift his hair slightly and posed for the cameras.

"Good Morning my beloved readers! I am proud to announce that this year Hogwarts has welcomed me the post for Defense Against the Dark Arts!" he announced proudly. As an irritable-looking man danced around him along with other photographers to capture a picture, stepping on Ron's toes without so much as an apology.

"Big deal, what's he teaching us? How to curl our hair and whiten our teeth?" Ron muttered darkly as he rubbed his sore foot. The twins sniggered appreciatively and Percy's lips twitched. Lockhart looked down on Ron, obviously having heard the comment.

Anticipating the moment, Harry used the desk laddened with books infront of him to hide from the con-artist, when all of a sudden, the desk itself was pushed to the side by another stocky, Daily Prophet photographer so he could set up his 'stand'.

Harry who was leaning against it, stumbled forward and once again found contact with the ground rather forcefully for the second time that day. Only this time, there was no comforting weight on top of him.

The store went silent and he heaved a very melodramatic sigh. Looking up, his vivid green eyes met dull blue and he groaned loudly, intentionally hitting his head on the hard, wooden floor. He was laying stomach down right at Lockhart's feet. Behind him, he could hear Ron and the twins snickering, while Ginny had no shame in letting the whole store hear her tinkling laugh.

Lockhart had a look of absolute disgust on his face. When his pupils traveled north however, and made contact with his scared forehead, his face turned gleeful -- it was sickening.

"Why..it can't be? Merlin's beard! Harry Potter!" he practically shouted.

Harry made a face and ducked his head, silently cursing Lockhart and the damn photographer, it didn't help that he could still hear Ginny laughing and he didn't know whether he enjoyed hearing it or was annoyed by it.

The supposed 'author' of their school listed books pulled him, rather forcefully, to his feet right before he started shoving a whole stack of books in his hands.

"Here is a full set of free books young man. If you only wanted my attention, you could've asked, I would make time for the boy who lived any day." he said with an odious smile.

He mumbled a thanks and scurried over to where Ginny was. He dumped all of his books in her hands, despite her protests and like last time, he would proceed to buy his own. Not that any harm would be done if I didn't, he thought sarcastically.

"What are you doing Harry? Come back here and take a photo with me! Together, you and I are worth the front page!" Lockhart cried foolishly, attempting to grab the back of his cloak and robes.

Harry, whom had enough, avoided his hands and rounded furiously on him. His eyes weren't sparkling now, they were glowing, everyone could see a fire ignite within them, waiting to be unleashed on another victim to burn into ashes. The room fell silent once more, it was creating thick tension, if you were to mix it with the suddenly hot air.

Apparently, no one paid a mind to the mildy rattling bookshelves, except for a petite and observant red-head.

"Listen here, Mr. Lockhart." Harry spat the name mock vehemently, "Thank you for the books but that's all you will get out of me! I am not some piece of artifact to be ogled at, you hear me?" he was shaking with rage now, something he has yet to control. "I will not stand being famous for something that killed my parents AND. MADE. ME. AN. ORPHAN!"

He said it all in a voice so far from threatening but the menace was heard clearly. He felt a small hand clutch his own and he turned his head to look at Ginny. Her eyes held no pity, it held compassion, but at the same time she was reprimanding him for making a scene. She tugged it once and he relented, allowing himself to be dragged over to a corner where he could calm down. All the Weasleys shot concerned yet suspicious looks at them. Ginny just shook her head, an action with a message that her parents agreed with.

After casting the required spells discretely, she let go of his hand and let her eyes wander over him. His shoulders were stiff and slumped while his fists were curled into balls. Lifting his chin, she saw that he was crying.

Having no care that they were in the presence of dozens of people, Ginny wrapped her arms around his middle and layed her head on his collar bone. He was a bit taller now, taller than he first was that summer. She then began to rub circles on his back. He stiffened at the touch, no matter how exposed he was to physical affection since he met the Weasleys and Hermione, a childhood without it still makes him uneasy when he doesn't initiate it.

"I-"

"Shut up."

"But-"

"Take your time." she interrupted placatingly.

Harry huffed indignantly at her but secretly reveled in her understanding. They stood there for what felt like years but only a few minutes when Harry pulled back and smiled sheepishly.

"See, you learned your lesson. Now, what was it we learned today?" Ginny teased as she wiped a stray tear that made the corner of his eye its habitat.

"Don't make a scene and not to stay out of character." he drawled back, attempting to look bored.

"Good."

Harry took a good look at her smiling figure and felt the pride, happiness and something else coming from her in waves. In a way, he couldn't possibly understand why she still stuck by him even after all the times he failed to acknowledge her and her attempts to comfort him. He forgot she was possessed for Merlin's sake! He barely even apologized for that!

Just when she was taking down the silencing charms he blurted, "I'm sorry."

She stopped and without looking at him, reinforced the privacy charms. "What ever for?"

All she heard was mumbling but she caught a few words such as "prat", "git", "notice" and a few more "sorry"s. She looked at him amused.

"Harry, if you could speak in English now I'd gladly lend you an ear." she grinned at him to lighten the mood but his stomach churned again, whether it was because of the guilt or because her grin was so adorably cute, he didn't know.

"How come you still stick by me?" he demanded, her face showed several levels of hurt so he hastily supplied. "After ignoring you for almost three years, you still stand by me and I haven't even given you the light of day! I'm sorry, I just- I don't understand how much you care about me when I've only recently started talking to you." his voice was laced with so much guilt and regret that made her face and most likely her heart soften. She put a hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eye. He was somehow convinced he was looking into her soul.

Out of all the reactions he suspected, he didn't expect this one - she laughed.

"I didn't exactly make it easier for you to talk to me then Harry, with my embarrassing crush," she tensed before continuing, which Harry frowned at "among other things." She laughed nervously but quickly sobered, "I stand by you because if anyone deserves support and love from people it would be you and I'd do anything to make sure we end what hasn't started yet so you could live a happy life, marry a woman you love, have a career and children. It's no less than what you should be entitled to." She spoke so softly than even without the silencing charms, no one else would hear her.

Unconsciously, he started to imagine a more than modest looking house by the beach. He and Ginny were sprawled against a blanket on the sand, cuddling whilst three children made castles and swam. Two of them were boys, one had Harry's features plus Ginny's hair and eyes. The other was a carbon copy of his father all exept for the scar. The remaining child, who looked to be the youngest made his heart swell so much with joy that he wasn't sure why it hadn't burst yet. She looked exactly like Ginny but with his own green eyes.

He snapped out of his daydream to see an object of his daydream standing before him, looking amused but her eyes betrayed her, for it was slightly misty.

"I- Thank you."

She saw the genuiness shine in his eyes and felt his gratitude. She noticed that when he was emotionally drained he showed his emotions better. It looked as if he was on the verge of bursting into tears again. Fortunately, for good reasons. She lightly rubbed his eyes, feeling her own water. "Hey, the reason I brought you here was so you could collect yourself. Now let's take a few breaths and prevent myself from turning into a human hosepipe yeah?"

She grinned that grin that instinctively made him smile back, she hugged him again before taking down the privacy charms.

They returned to her family with a now beaming Harry and a far too smug looking Ginny.

• ~ | ~ •

They were in for a surprise if they thought no one was paying attention to them. The Weasley patriarch and matriarch stood of to the side watching the two converse, although they weren't all that concerned that they couldn't hear a thing.

"Look at them Arthur, my baby is growing up and finding love so young." Molly spoke in a rare moment where she wasn't worried about her daughter dating too young. If anything, she was supportive of it. She raised seven children after all, she could spot genuineness from a mile away. And right now, the boy was practically bathed it in.

"Looks like I'm losing my little girl a tad bit faster than I hoped." he spoke, bittersweet feelings lacing his words. Arthur only knew of the boy through the papers before this summer but now that he met him, he couldn't possibly believe that he came from an abused environment based on the way he turned out. He was baffled at how a child so loving was raised in a home like that. He deserved better, the child that he would bounce on his knee during Order Meetings while his parents slept due to exhaustion. He might investigate a bit on the information his youngest son passed onto him, it was no less what Harry deserved.

"I almost feel like I'm looking at James and Lily." she replied sadly, tears brimming her eyes. Her heart ached for her friends that deserved to see this amazing boy grow up. The boy was filled with so much love and emotion. I swear to you Lily, I will take care of this boy she thought silently.

Her husband chuckled, "Based on the stories Remus and..Sirius told us about their school days, James and Lily weren't this friendly when they were at their age."

Molly wiped her eyes with a conjured hanky and dabbed her cheeks. She chuckled too, "5 galleons they start dating during Harry's third year."

Arthur shook his head at his wife, she could go from extremely emotional to normal faster than you could say nox. "5 galleons on the summer after Harry's third year."

"5 galleons they start dating summer before Harry's third year." Percy butted in, looking up from his book to smirk slightly at his parents' priceless expressions. The way his sister looked at Harry and Harry at her was so subtly sweet that he felt a bit nauseous. He then casually moved away from his parents to survey an interesting row of books about prefects.

• ~ | ~ •

Harry's good mood was short lived when a familiar boy strode towards them, arrogance seeping on the floor for every step he made. His blonde hair staying firm, unmoving atop his head. "Bet you loved that didn't you, Potter? Famous Harry Potter, can't even go to a bookshop without making the front page." he spat.

Draco Malfoy glared at Harry who glared right back. For a moment, Harry thought that the Malfoy heir's attempt at a disgusted gaze faltered. Before he could either comprehend if it was a figment of his imagination or not, Ginny stepped up. "Leave him alone you bleached ferret." she hissed.

Malfoy looked at her sharply, sneer already in place but before he could retort with an insult of his own probably containing rants about "muggle-loving blood traitors" his father put a hand on his shoulder and shoved him, not so gently, aside.

Lucius Malfoy was the spitting imagine of his son, rather the other way around. His long blonde hair flatly cascaded his shoulders. His face was blank and held an air of superiority, nose twitching all the same as if he caught scent of something repulsive. He looked down at Harry like he was the gum under his polished, leather shoe. "Ahh, Mr. Potter, what a wonderful pleasure to finally meet the one who vanquished the Dark Lord." His tone had an underlying drop of sarcasm one that would go unnoticed under untrained ears.

Harry stared right back at him, green piercing dark gray. The pride and marking of the Malfoy name. "I wish I could say the same for you Malfoy," he replied cooly, "Although we both know that VoldiBaldy isnt gone for good yet, isnt that right Lucius?" he added in a deadly whisper. He tried to maintain his cool on the outside but the words Malfoy choose sent a chill down his spine.

"The One with the Power to Vanquish the Dark Lord Approaches."

Dumbledore explained the prophecy to him a few days before the ministry fiasco. Surprisingly, the one who convinced the headmaster was Ginny. She loudly reprimanded him that better Harry knew of it now when it's not too late and that being kept in the dark is more likely to make you look for trouble than avoid that. He never really thanked her for that either, he thought bitterly.

"What a wonderful pleasure to finally meet the one who vanquished the Dark Lord."

He didn't know if fate was playing games with him or if it was just one big coincidence.

If looks could kill, Harry would be buried several feet under based on the glare the senior Malfoy gave him although Harry was unaltered by it. His icy glare moved from Harry to his other friends and he internally groaned.

"I see you have sunk lower from being a half-blooded Potter to publicly including yourself with Weasleys."

Harry shrugged nonchalantly, "Honestly I feel like I've risen higher. You however bought yourself out of Azkaban while claiming to be 'imperioused' but really, you were as loyal to the half blooded tosser as a house elf is to his master."

Lucius seemed to gain a healthy bit of color while he started to pull out his wand, a dreaded curse on the tip of his tongue. Not a moment later, Mr. Weasley appeared in the middle of the commotion. "What's going on here?" he demanded, gently pushing people aside to get to them.

He noticed the Malfoy patriarch standing to the side wand in hand. Arthur knew that the man was threading on thin ice at the moment. Pulling your wand on the boy who lived is not good for your social status. "Lucius" he greeted curtly.

"Weasley." he sneered.

"Were you not just a second away from cursing Harry?" he asked loudly, causing several heads to turn in their direction. Harry's face was burning, he hated attention of any kind (except maybe from Ginny).

Lucius looked around the room to see that almost everyone was watching them. Everything was at halt, those who were scanning bookshelves paused to watch as well as those in line at the cashier. Even the cashier herself was openly-staring at them. He noticed that all the Weasleys were glaring at him and his son, but the youngest's one had the most vicious narrowed eyes.

Perfect.

He lowered his wand and straightened his robes with a charm. "I was meerly fixing my robes, Arthur." he replied, saying the name with distaste. It didn't affect Mr. Weasley all that much, the feeling was mutual afterall.

The head of the Malfoy family reached forward to grab a book from Ginny's cauldron. A second hand transfiguration book was what he was able to grab. He pretended to look at the cover and back. Ginny was getting irritated, it was one thing to suddenly appear out of no where and disturb them, but another was grabbing a personal item of hers right infront of her without a warning. "Hey Mr. Malfoy, I'd like to have my book back please. I heard it was rude to pluck things from people without their permission. It's a simple thing taught to most decent children. You walk as if you own Britain, I was hoping you would know that what your doing doesn't exactly 'scream' manners."

Their were a few snickers the joke drew from the crowd which made him more infuriated. Her brothers were laughing and Harry was beaming at her direction. Her face colored, but she managed to restrain the blush.

Lucius growled and tossed the book back to her cauldron, it was a good bit heavier this time around, confirming their suspicions. "Here you go, you insolent litte girl. It's all your father could provide you anyway."

Ginny only rolled her eyes but her father wasn't so mollified. He swung back his fist and stuck Malfoy senior's jaw. Minutes later, Hagrid was tearing through their group and holding up a badly beaten Lucius.

Arthur certainly had a beating too, only this time, verbally and from his wife.