Forward Progress - Part 4

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, jumping out of her seat and rushing towards him before Ron could stop her. "Are you all right? What happened yesterday? What were you thinking running off and leaving us behind? We'd talked about this, Harry. Ron and I were supposed to go with you. We were all going to do this together. You can't go around changing our plans and singularly making these kinds of decisions. Why did you do that? Why?"

"Hermione!" Ron said, grasping her shoulders and leading her back to the table. "Give him a chance to speak. I'd like to hear this as well,"

Harry could see the telltale red on Ron's ears and knew that Ron was equally upset with him for leaving them behind.

Harry took a deep breath, trying to control his irritation. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was going. I just decided that I needed to see my parents' graves alone." He looked over at Ginny. "That's where I went, to my family's home in Godric's Hollow."

"Yeah. We'd worked that bit out ourselves," Ron said.

"But why?" Hermione cried plaintively. "It's too dangerous to do these things on your own, Harry. We'd already planned it,"

"Plans changed," Harry said, running a hand through his hair in exasperation. "Look, I don't know if I can make you understand this, but it was just something I had to do alone. I won't do it again; we're in this together, but I had to do that part alone."

"What happened while you were there?" Hermione demanded crossly. Harry wasn't certain which she was angrier about, the fact he'd gone alone or that he'd altered her carefully laid out plans.

"Hermione," Ginny said warningly, speaking for the first time since he'd entered the room. Keeping her eyes fixed on Harry's face, she said, "I think that might have been rather personal for Harry."

Harry felt bolstered by her defense, and he smiled weakly. "Thanks, Ginny. It was difficult, and I do need to talk to you all about some of it. Maybe we could go up to the drawing room where it's a bit more private." He'd been watching the door warily, hoping they wouldn't be interrupted. The kitchen always seemed to be the center of activity at headquarters.

As they followed him up the stairs, Harry's heart raced. He'd really mucked up this time. He needed to talk to Ron and Hermione alone in order to get his thoughts together before approaching Ginny. But how was he supposed to ask her to leave without hurting her feelings, or worse, getting hexed? Ron took the problem out of his hands.

"Beat it, Ginny," he said, turning in the doorway to block her entrance.

"What?" Ginny asked indignantly, surprise and irritation clearly showing on her face. She placed her hands on her hips and glared at her brother.

Ron crossed his arms across his chest. "We've got things to discuss that you don't need to hear. You can snog him later."

"You're not getting rid of me that easily, Ron. I want to know what happened at Godric's Hollow, too. You don't mind, do you, Harry?" she asked, looking up at him, color rising on her cheeks.

Harry could see the trace of uncertainty in her eyes, and he cursed Ron for his tactlessness. "Back off, Ron. Give me a minute," he said, pushing Ron into the room and turning to face Ginny. Her eyes were glistening slightly, and his stomach clenched.

"Ginny, I do want to tell you about Godric's Hollow. There are things I want to talk to you about that I can't discuss with Ron and Hermione, but there is also something that I need to discuss with them that I just can't share with you. I promised. Please understand," Harry said, his heart dropping when he saw the determined glint in Ginny's eyes.