A Different Beginning

Chapter XXVI - Going Crazy

  If Ron had goggled at the idea of a Quidditch pitch, his mouth had only dropped open wider as Harry took him throughout the rest of the house. Fred and George had been just as impressed but Ginny had been all for the indoor pool. Harry had only grinned at her excitement of going swimming.

After the tour of the house, Harry brought them upstairs to show them their rooms. Fred and George were awed and pleased to be given separate rooms for once and Ron couldn't believe that he had his own bedroom and his own bathroom. But Ginny's expression had been priceless.

Maddy had chosen for her the guest room that was all done in lavender and white. It was a beautiful room that Harry's grandmother had decorated herself when she was the mistress of Potter Manor almost thirty-five years ago. The furniture was all solid oak and the room was painted in a soft lavender colour. The Queen-sized bed had a white lace quilt on it. It was large and had a huge bathroom with a whirl-pool tub. Harry knew that it was one of the best guest rooms in the house. He was pleased that Maddy had chosen that particular room to give to Ginny. Ginny was thoroughly impressed.

"Oh Harry! It's so beautiful!" She cried out as she turned to throw herself into his arms for a hug.

He grinned as he hugged her back but then his grin faded when he realized that she was pressed up very close to him. This did not feel like the Ginny he normally hugged. It felt ... right, almost as if she belonged in his arms in exactly that spot. Her hair smelt like strawberries and when he pulled away he wondered if he was going crazy.

"Uh, yeah, you're welcome," he replied. He had to get out of this room. His brain was playing tricks on him.

He looked around nervously to see if Ron, Fred, George, or Hermione had noticed his moment of insanity but no one seemed to have noticed it. He remembered how his heart had sped up earlier too when he caught Ginny from falling out of the fireplace. What was wrong with him, he thought. They left the room and headed downstairs into the living room. The room was empty so they made themselves comfortable. Fred spoke first.

"So Harry, what do you know about this Order thing? Mum and Dad won't tell us anything about it."

Harry shrugged. "Not too much really. Da told me that the Order of the Phoenix was started by Dumbledore during the first war and that they plan to reassemble it now or they have or they're working on it. I'm not sure yet exactly where they are in that sense. Da says that it's even more important to get the Order together now since the ministry is refusing to believe that Voldemort is back. They will be working on trying to bring down Voldemort or stop him before he gets too powerful once again. They are using Uncle Sirius' parents' old house as headquarters. It's dead depressing. Dumbledore wanted all of you to go live there but Da and I decided that no way was that happening and told Dumbledore you were coming to the manor! Anyway, the organization is to fight against Voldemort. That's all I know."

George grinned. "Well, it's more then we did, mate."

Ron nodded. "Mum and Dad won't tell us anything about it because we're not of age."

"But we are of age!" Fred exclaimed. "Mum just likes to keep us in the dark."

George nodded. "It's true. She wants to treat us all like children. She won't admit that we're growing up. I mean, look, James told you all about the Order."

Harry shrugged. "Not really. I mean, I know the basis of it and I've only been to headquarters because I went with Uncle Sirius to see if it was fit for human inhabitance but other then that I don't know anything. It's not like I know what they do or what their plans are or anything."

Ginny grinned at him. "It's not a big deal, Harry. I don't think that they're going to tell us anything anyway."

Harry shook his head. "I don't think my Da will keep me completely in the dark. After all, it was me who saw Voldemort come back last week."

Ginny gulped. "How are you doing with that and all?"

"Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed. "Harry doesn't want to talk about that! Have some respect!"

Harry glared at Hermione. "You're right; I don't want to talk about it. But I never did tell you guys what happened and I think that you should know."

"Didn't Dumbledore tell us?" Fred asked.

Harry shook his head. "Not really no, he left a lot out and he only really said that Voldemort was back and that he had killed Cedric."

Ginny reached over and took Harry's hand in hers. "I can only imagine how bad the dreams are."

Harry had glanced down to where she was holding his hand in hers. She had done that a million times in the past two years, but this time it felt different. He looked up into her eyes and managed a small smile. "Yeah, they're not exactly pleasant."

He started from the beginning, telling them everything that had happened in the maze up until the point where he and Cedric had decided to take the cup together. He paused for a moment and Ginny gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

"Harry, don't you dare blame yourself for Cedric's death!"

He turned to look at her, wondering how she knew that that was what had been eating him up inside since that night. If he had just taken the cup on his own like Cedric had said, he never would have died. "Gin, I told him to take the cup with me. I could have taken it myself."

"But you didn't and that's because you're selfless and you always want to do what is best for others," Ginny replied. "But you didn't know that the cup was a portkey and neither did Cedric, so don't you dare blame yourself for this!"

Hermione nodded. "Ginny's right, Harry. You can't be blamed for something that you had no control over."

He looked down at his hand, which was still being held comfortably by Ginny's. "Alright, I know that you guys are right. But I can't help the way that I feel."

Fred nodded. "That sounds reasonable, mate, so what happened then?"

Harry then proceeded to tell them all about the graveyard and the potion and the duel. When he was finished, they were all staring at him in shock. He stood up and walked to the other side of the room to look out the window. It was dark outside now. He felt arms encircle his waist from behind and he knew by the scent of strawberries and spring that it was Ginny. He turned around to pull her close, needing her touch for comfort just as much as he wondered why he needed it at all.

The touch was normal. Ginny was always hugging him, or squeezing his hand in comfort. It was the type of person she was. Just like with Colin, her best friend. She had no qualms about throwing herself into the arms of her friends when she was happy or sad or when they needed comfort. He was used to it and he knew that she did this to everyone. She was a giving person like that. But why did it feel so different suddenly? Why did it make him want to brush back the soft red hair and lay his hand on her cheek? And why did it make him want to kiss her? He shook the thoughts from his head and again wondered if maybe he was going crazy. After all, he had been a little stressed lately; what with worrying about Voldemort and what he was doing and with having all those nightmares at night? Not to mention his animagi lessons and trying not to worry his father. He grinned to himself as she pulled away; yeah, he was only imagining things.

"Well, now that you guys know everything, um what do you want to do?" Harry asked.

George grinned. "I don't know; let's play a game or something."

"What kind of game?" Hermione asked.

Fred shrugged. "I don't know. Got any suggestions?"

"What kind of game, though?" Harry asked. "Like a board game, a card game? What?"

Ron yawned loudly. "Whatever works."

"Do you have any muggle games, Harry?" Ginny asked. "Because I noticed that you have a lot of muggle things?"

Harry grinned. "Yeah, I've got quite a few muggle board games. Da always picks them up. He says that Mum got him hooked into living in the best of both worlds." He got up and went over into the cabinet in the far corner of the living room. "Let's see, we've got Clue, Monopoly, Pictionary, Scrabble, this trivia game thing, and yeah that's pretty much it."

"Ooh, let's play Pictionary," Hermione suggested. "That's a fun game."

Harry laughed. "Alright. Is everyone else okay with that one?"

Everyone shrugged so Harry pulled out the game. Hermione explained the rules and they shuffled off into teams; Ron and Hermione, Fred and George, and Harry and Ginny. They played for almost two hours. It was an interesting choice because where Ginny and Ron benefited from having someone who knew stuff about muggles on their team, Fred and George had trouble. Harry and Ginny won and they laughed as Fred and George complained about the unfair situation. Ginny just told them that they were sore losers.

It was almost midnight by that time so they decided to head upstairs to bed with plans of a fun-filled day for tomorrow. Harry went into his room and closed the door. Now that he was alone, he wanted to think about what had happened that evening with Ginny. He couldn't possibly really be having feelings like this about her. It had to be stress. After all, Ginny was Ron's little sister and one of his really good friends. This wasn't happening.

He closed his eyes and went to sleep; happily agreeing that he was only stressed out or going crazy.

**********

She was standing in front of him, her arms wrapped comfortably around his waist as she looked up into his eyes with a half-smile on her face. Her lips were set in a half-smile, half-pout as she grinned. Her hair fell down her back in waves that caught the sunlight and her eyes were bright with laughter.