MetaFic

Harry Potter put his book down and gave the window across from him a nasty look. It kept rattling in its frame, no matter how many charms he cast to stabilize it. With a scowl Harry rummaged through his trunk until he found a threadbare pair of mustard-colored socks that had once belonged to his Uncle Vernon. Walking up to the window, he jammed the socks into the crack between the glass and the wooden pane. Harry looked at his handiwork in satisfaction and started to turn away when a sound that was not wind and lashing rain reached his ears.

The sound of unearthly trilling.

The sound of Phoenix song.

Harry sighed. He would have been happy to see Fawkes under most normal circumstances, but he could only assume that Dumbledore had sent his familiar to pick him up. Well, Harry had a couple of surprises left in store for the Headmaster. There was an ungainly squawk, followed closely by a thumping sound on the front door of the cottage. There, that would buy Harry some time before Fawkes reported to Dumbledore. Harry just hoped that Fawkes had not brought anyone with him; that would make fleeing this location more difficult. It would also mean that Harry would need to find some way to hide himself from Fawkes.

An angry pounding at the door let Harry know that Fawkes had not come alone. Harry sighed and drew his wand. He might as well get this over with.

Harry opened the front door of the cottage and stepped back in confusion.

"Are you going to invite me in or not?" a sopping wet and extremely miffed Ginny Weasley snarled.

Harry blinked twice and then stepped aside. "Um, sure, come on in."

Ginny Weasley stalked past him into the cottage. "Where's the loo?" she demanded.

Harry pointed to a short hallway. "Middle door on the right."

Ginny Weasley stomped off, muttering about freezing rain during the summer and idiot birds.

Harry turned back to the door, where Fawkes hovered in the storm, seemingly unfazed by the rain and the holding charm Harry had put in place to stop intruders. "You can come in, if you promise not to drag me back to Dumbledore."

Fawkes chirped happily and flew into the room singing. He circled the room twice and then perched on a rafter.

"Harry! You didn't happen to think to steal any towels when you left the Dursleys', did you?" Ginny called from down the hall.

"Yes, I did," he called back, struggling to come to grips with his rapidly changing situation.

"Could you be a dear and bring me one?"

Without thinking too closely about it, Harry went to his trunk and pulled out a fluffy cotton towel. He walked down the hall and tapped softly on the bathroom door. "Ginny? Should I leave it out here for you?"

"No. Just bring it to me," she replied. "I promise I'm decent."

Harry heard the sound of water dripping into the sink and a muttered curse. Trying very hard not to think about the possibility of Ginny not actually being decent, he pushed the door open and peered around the corner.

Ginny Weasley had changed into dry clothing from her trunk, which Harry saw was on the floor next to her. She had her head over the sink and was wringing rainwater out of her hair. He walked into the room and handed her the towel. She smiled gratefully and started vigorously attacking her hair with it.

"Um, would you like me to take your trunk to the main room?"

"Sure," Ginny said absently, still worrying her hair with the towel.

Harry grabbed the handle of the trunk and dragged it to the main room. He sat down on one of the folding chairs he had picked up in the nearby muggle village. Realizing that he had company, and now he had to entertain, he unfolded the second chair of the set, placed it next to his makeshift table, and then turned toward the hearth, where he started another pot of tea.

"That's better," Ginny said, joining him. She hung the towel up on a peg near the hearth and then rummaged through her trunk for a hair pick. Once she retrieved it, she plopped down in the second camp chair and started working on her hair. She smiled up at a bemused Harry. "So, nice place."

Harry finished making the tea and passed her a cup. "Here, this should warm you up," he said, sitting across from her.

She smiled and took the cup. "Thanks."

"So, um, what exactly are you doing here?" Harry finally asked.

"Well, that's a rather complicated question," Ginny began.

"Short answer, then."

"I was abducted by Dumbledore's bird."

Fawkes trilled an affirmative.

"And you just happened to have your trunk?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well," Ginny said, smiling, "I was about to strike out looking for you on my own when I was abducted by Dumbledore's bird."

"On your own? Are you nutters?"

Ginny frowned at him. "Why not? You're not the only one who can go wondering off, you know. People do it all the time. Besides, you shouldn't be out here all alone. What if you — you fell off the lighthouse and broke your leg or something? It's much safer with two." She took another sip of tea and made a face. "Your tea tastes awful, by the way."

Harry grinned at her. "Then next time you make it."

"I will."

"So, who knows you're here?"

Ginny put down her cup and looked at Harry solemnly. "Well, pretty much the whole family saw Fawkes snatch me up and fly away. So, I guess everyone."

A soft pop made them both look up. Hedwig circled once and dropped a letter into Ginny's lap before flying up and joining Fawkes in the rafters. Ginny unfolded the note and scanned it.

"Well?" Harry asked.

"It's from Ron and Hermione. Apparently Mum's gone round the bend. She bearded Dumbledore in his office about Fawkes kidnapping me. They say that it's only a matter of time before the Order sends an owl to me and tries to trace it."

"Well, we can fix that," Harry said, drawing his wand. He pointed it at Ginny and muttered two incantations, one after the other. "There, now anyone who sends an owl to you will find the letter undeliverable."

"What about your mail?"

"I canceled the charm."

"So the only way to contact us..."

"Will be if we send out Hedwig first," Harry told her.

Ginny nodded. "Ron and Hermione want us to write and let them know if we're all right."

Harry nodded. "We can send a letter with Hedwig later, if you'd like."

"That would be nice." Ginny looked around again. "You haven't done much with the place, have you?"

"Hey, I just got here this morning. You're lucky I've taken the time to get the loo working again. I spent the first two hours trying to waterproof the place."

"What are the other rooms like?"

"You've seen the bathroom. This is the main room, and there's a little kitchen nook in the corner," Harry said, pointing at an antique stove. "There's two more rooms, neither of which are in very good shape, and then a large storage room where I guess they kept lamp oil, coal, and other supplies."

"Mmm," Ginny murmured critically. "Well, we'll have to see if we can cozy the place up a bit."

"I was just planning to use this room and the bathroom and live out of my trunk," Harry said with a shrug.

"Well, that will never do," Ginny said and stood up. She pointed her wand at a set of broken down shelves and with a flick, repaired them. "We can use that to store clean clothes and other items."

"We?" Harry said, peering over his glasses at her.

"Yes, Harry; we." She made it a challenge.

"Ginny, you shouldn't be here," Harry said, standing up.

"Neither should you, but here you are."

"Ginny, your family will miss; you should go home."

She stepped toward him. "I'll have you know that they miss you too, you great bloody prat! You had us all scared witless! And just exactly how do you expect me to get home? It's not like I came in over the floo."

"I could fly you to the mainland and buy you a train ticket."

"Mainland?"

"We're in the Orkneys."

"Yes, well, I was busy being flown through a storm and didn't exactly notice the landscape. How did you ever find this place?"

Harry laughed. "Aunt Petunia had one of those oversized books people leave out on their sitting room tables to impress other people; it was full of pictures of lighthouse all over the Isles."

"It's brilliant," said Ginny. "We should set it up proper."

Harry frowned. "You should go home to your family," he said, trying to make it a command.

Ginny narrowed her eyes and set her feet. "So should you. Come home with me, Harry. We're your real family, even if we're not related by blood. You know that, right?"

Harry blinked. "I know. And I will, eventually. I just need to sort some things out."

Ginny nodded. "Fine. I can wait. I'm good at it, in case you haven't noticed."

Harry sighed and tried his final gambit. "I've only the one sleeping bag."

"I brought a duvet."

"It will get really cold at night."

"Then we'll build up the fire and you can budge over." Ginny smiled wickedly. "I hope that sleeping bag's an extra large, otherwise it's going to be a tight fit."

Harry blushed.

Ginny Weasley laughed at his hapless expression and set about making the place more comfortable.

***
Hedwig hooted softly to Fawkes, who gave her back a happy trill. She nodded at the great magical bird; Fawkes always did seem to have a knack for knowing exactly what Harry needed. It was good that they had such a friend. She returned to watching the goings on below.

Her boy had picked out a good, secure location, and now his mate was building a nest. Hedwig hooted wistfully and wondered how long before they started filling it with chicks.

***
Ron looked around the dark bedroom at Grimmauld Place which he normally shared with Harry. They had moved back to headquarters, "until the current emergency was over," as his father had said. Ron picked up the note that Hedwig had delivered to his room earlier. He would let the adults know in the morning, long after he had sent Hedwig back with a reply. A knock on his door made him look up. He hastily hid the letter from Harry and Ginny under his covers.

"Come in," he called.

Hermione slipped into the room and settled down on the bed next to him.

"Hey," she said. "Everyone else is asleep, except for Tonks."

"Is she on watch?" Ron asked.

"Yeah," Hermione said. "Ron?"

"Mmm-hmm?"

"Do you think Harry and Ginny are all right?"

Ron smiled and produced the letter from under the covers. "I got this about twenty minutes ago."

Hermione took the letter while Ron held a candle in place for her to read by. "Well, at least they're together. Do you think Ginny can convince Harry to come home?"

"I'm more concerned about Harry convincing Ginny to stay."

"You don't think he'd actually do that, do you? I mean, this is Harry we're talking about."

"Yes, I think he would," Ron said. He smiled widely at Hermione. "He might even think it was his idea."

"Ron! That's your sister you're talking about."

Ron shrugged but was unapologetic. "Yeah, I know, but she's also a Weasley."

Hermione gave him a confused look. "I don't follow."

"She's liked Harry for what, forever? And now Fleur says she's bonded to him?"

"You don't really think — "

"Hermione," Ron said, reaching out and touching her cheek, "one thing you should know about Weasleys; we are a damned passionate lot. And once we set our minds on something, very little will get in the way of us getting what we want."

Hermione licked suddenly dry lips. She couldn't take her eyes from his, and the room felt very warm. "I — I need to get some sleep." She started to rise.

"Stay," Ron said, sitting up and taking her hand. He moved toward her. "Stay with me."

"Ron, I — I just can't — it wouldn't be —"

Ron Weasley leaned forward and pressed his lips softly to Hermione's. He broke the kiss and smiled at her. "I'll be here when you're ready."

Hermione blinked in surprise and then quickly stole another kiss before turning and fleeing from the room.

Ron smiled at the door as it closed behind her. Harry was right; it was time to grab some happiness.