One Hundred And Forty Nearly Twelve (Completed)

Chapter 9: Journey to the Burrow

In the weeks leading up to Christmas both Harry and Hermione wrote a letter at least three times a week to Ginny, each on alternate days. This way Ginny got at least one short letter a day. Ginny really loved to read Hermione's letters because they were long and so full of description, the quidditch matches were written like a commentary and Ginny had visions of Hermione scribbling frantically while trying to keep her eye on Harry as he hurtled after the snitch. She also enjoyed Harry's letters though they were always short, seldom had any gossip in them and were really short stories about Hermione or a boy called Neville, who Harry had told her was his best friend, Neville sounded like a nice boy.

Harry was surprised when the week before Christmas he and Hermione received a letter from Mrs Weasley, thanking him and Hermione for bringing her daughter out of a bad bout of misery caused no doubt by loneliness. The letter was one inviting them to visit the Burrow during the holiday to actually meet Ginny in person. Hermione pleaded with Harry to accept the invite and to write back to Mrs Weasley asking what day they could visit, she was really happy when the return letter asked if they would like to stay at the Burrow for a couple of days during the holiday.

Arrangements were made to meet the Weasley family on the platform when they got off the Hogwarts express. Hermione found that not having to go skiing with her parents now that she was married gave her a strange feeling of independence of being grown up, though she was not sure why. She knew though that this Christmas she would not be alone in some strange hotel where there was never anyone to talk to. Where she would sit night after night alone reading a book, more or less forgotten by those around her, this year she had Harry and she would get to meet Ginny, who she already thought of as a friend.

Harry had been surprised by the letter from Mrs Weasley; he had been convinced when he had made the decision not to sit with Ron on that first day that he had forfeited any chance of spending time at the Burrow, the place he had loved so much. It seemed to him that there were indeed some things in the past that just could not be changed, though he hoped that his fight with Voldemort would not be one of them, he hoped he could find a much quicker way of disposing of the evil wizard this time so avoiding the needless deaths of so many people.

Harry was reading his latest letter from Ginny, and he chuckled as he sat reading it, sometime in the last two days she had realised that she had been writing to 'The Harry Potter', he reread the lines that had made him chuckle.

'Dear Harry,

Thank you for your last letter, I am so pleased you won the quidditch match; I hope that I will be in Gryffindor with you.

Can I ask you a question, are you him? of course it doesn't matter if you're not but dad says you are, if you are I hope you are still going to be my friend…

She must have been a little nervous about asking, Harry thought, he remembered the crush she had had on him when they first met, he remembered how nervous he had made her, he would not do that this time, this time he would be starting out as her friend.

He began to write his reply…

Dear Gin,

I hope I can call you that, you asked if I am him, well I suppose I am, though I am nothing like the books or fairy tales say I am, I hope I haven't disappointed you because I have grown to like you a lot, and I was sort of hoping we could be friends for life. I know Hermione has come to think of you as her best friend although you have yet to meet in person.