Forward Progress - Part 1

"Morning," she said groggily.

"Morning," he replied, smiling softly at her sleepy expression. He pushed the hair out of her eyes and kissed her forehead.

"Are you all right?" she asked, suddenly sitting up straighter. The memories of the previous evening were obviously coming back to her.

"Yeah," he said sheepishly, not quite meeting her eyes. "Thanks, Ginny."

She'd been there for him when he'd needed her the most, but he couldn't put that into words. He didn't yet want to confront what he'd learned yesterday. He needed to work it out in his own mind before telling his friends. It was even more difficult with Ginny since she had no knowledge of the prophecy or the horcruxes. This was too big to keep from her, however. He just had to figure out exactly how much to tell her, never mind how to say it.

"We were all really concerned about you last night," Ginny said tentatively, and he was grateful to her for not demanding answers right away. "Mum didn't want to disturb you after you'd fallen asleep, but she used a charm to alert her as soon as you woke. Expect her any minute. She'd never allow enough time for any funny business."

Harry blushed deeply enough to do any Weasley proud and tried to extricate himself from Ginny's embrace.

"Don't worry. It's not you she doesn't trust; it's me," Ginny said, grinning. She arched her eyebrow and looked him up and down speculatively. "She's probably right about that."

Her words intrigued him as his brain started thinking of all the possibilities in that statement. He knew that any one of her brothers would likely hex him for the thoughts in his head, but at that moment, he didn't really care.

He leaned over to kiss her just as Mrs. Weasley rushed through the open door, wearing her dressing gown and looking slightly flushed. There was no doubt in Harry's mind that she'd sprinted from her bed and raced to the drawing room the moment her charm had alerted her that Harry was awake. He was happy Ginny had known about the charm so they hadn't been caught in a full-out snog.

Ginny lowered her head and rested it against his chest, giggling. "Morning, Mum," she said, her voice muffled.

"Good morning, Ginny, Harry. How are you, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked, moving towards the sofa and sitting down between Harry and Ginny. Ginny stood up and made faces at Harry behind her mum's back as she spoke.

"I'm fine, Mrs. Weasley," Harry said, grinning at Ginny over her mother's head.

"Honestly, Harry," Mrs. Weasley said, sounding more stern. "I don't know what I'm going to do with you. Running off like that alone. What were you thinking? You could have been killed. Now, I know you've become used to handling things on your own, but there is really much too great a risk for you to be running off without protection. I love you as if you were one of my own, dear, and I couldn't bear to see you hurt."

"Mrs. Weasley," Harry said, touched by her devotion. She really had been the closest thing to a mother he'd ever known, but she had to understand right now that she couldn't stop him from doing what he had to do. "Don't think I don't appreciate that you're trying to protect me, because I do. No one has ever done that, and it means the world to me…but you can't protect me from this. I'm more than involved in this fight…I am this fight. It centers around me more than you realize—"