A loud crack found us standing in the shade of an orchard. �Thank you, Dobby. You�ve been brilliant today.�

The little elf was grinning from floppy ear to floppy ear. �Dobby is always glad to help the great Harry Potter. Does Dobby go on his next mission now?�

�Yes, and I�m going to tell you the same thing that I told Kreacher. It�s extremely important that you don�t get caught. Do everything necessary to stay out of sight. Just set the charms that we talked about, and then return to Hogwarts. I�ll need you to take me back to the Dursleys� later tonight.�

Dobby glanced skyward as a flash of red zipped overhead. He grinned at me again as he replied, �Of course, Harry Potter, sir!� before disappearing with another crack.

I followed the blur streaking above the trees, part of me wondering if I was too old for this. The other part of me argued that physically I was only a year older; besides, hadn�t I gone back in time, negating that particular issue? And if it was a question of maturity � and I had known lots of teenagers for comparison � she was far beyond her nearly sixteen years. That maturity had been partly won at a heavy price, however. She was no longer the shy little girl that had fallen prey to Voldemort�s cursed diary. She had grown from that horror and since proved her strength of character many times over.

She spotted me in the orchard and performed a couple of barrel rolls to bleed off speed before descending. I couldn�t help noticing that she had matured physically as well � the little girl I met at King�s Cross was now a striking young woman. Her face was flushed as she strode up and a few of her fiery tresses had come loose from her ponytail, catching the afternoon sun in a radiant halo. Nothing had ever struck me as being more beautiful.

She paused a few feet away, a wary expression on her face. �Harry? I thought you weren�t coming until Saturday.�

My palms were sweaty and my throat had become very dry. I took a deep breath.

�I had to see you.�

She didn�t respond except to tilt her head with an inquisitive expression.

�Erm� maybe you had better ask me a question that only I would know the answer, so you can be sure it�s really me.�

Smirking, she asked me a very� personal question about one of our private times by the lake before the end of term.

My face heated as I recalled the memory. That was certainly not in the book.

She laughed as I muttered the response. �Right � now we only have to decide if you are the Harry Potter who�s funny and sweet and snogged me in front of all Gryffindor House, or the moody, serious Harry Potter who feels as if he has the whole world to save.�

�Erm� that�s part of why I wanted to talk to you.�

She paled. �Right� serious Potter.� She took my hand and led me to the edge of the wood, directing me to sit at the base of a large oak. She sank into the grass facing me, but avoiding my eyes.

�First, I need to apologize for the way I left you at the funeral. It was inconsiderate of me to just walk away without explanation, not giving you any say at all about our relationship. I can only state in my defense that I was a little distracted, but that doesn�t excuse me from being a total git about it. I hope you can at least forgive me for the way I treated you.�

�Okay� apology accepted.� She was looking at me, wondering where I was headed.

�Thanks,� I said with a tiny smile. �Now I want to tell you a story, and it may sound a bit odd, but I do have a reason. Once upon a time, there was a bloke in his mid-twenties, an American Muggle named Jimmy, who loved to read adventure tales. One of his very favorites was a multi-volume epic about good versus evil, a reluctant hero who overcomes overwhelming odds to eventually defeat the antagonist while learning loads � both good and bad � about life along this incredible journey. The author spent ten years delivering this remarkable story, and by the time the seventh and final volume was published, the story�s devotees rushed to get a copy, eager to discover how it ended. This bloke read it and had a good chat with his friends about it, but when he woke the next morning, he was shocked beyond belief to discover that he had gone back in time to become part of the story as the main character, and had to re-live that last part of the story, hoping he could do a better job by knowing all the secrets and what was about to happen. Does that make sense so far?�

�Yeah, I�ve heard of stories like that, like a fantasy come alive.�

�Exactly! I have here,� I said, reaching into my rucksack, �the first volume of that story. It�s soon to be a best-seller in the Muggle world.�

I handed her the brand new book I had found in a London bookstore that morning, a first printing of Harry Potter and the Philosopher�s Stone.

�Oh, Harry!� she gasped, and tore through the pages, slowing at the Kings Cross scene. �This is incredible! It has all of us in here � do Ron or Mum or Dad know about this?�

She abruptly stopped turning pages. �Harry,� she said anxiously, �what are you saying? What about this American bloke� and going back in time?�

I ran my fingers through the mop on my head. �I� I�m not just Harry anymore.�

She stared in disbelief. �What�?�

�I�m saying that a part of who I am now is this Jimmy bloke from ten years in the future. When that part of me went to bed last night, it was 2007, and I woke up as Harry Potter, here in 1997, complete with all of Harry as well, memories and everything, so now I�m a combination of the two. I�ve already talked to Dumbledore � his new portrait at Hogwarts � and he hinted that there was an explanation, but couldn�t tell me what it was.�

�So� I�m confused� this other part of you� you were somebody named Jimmy and now you�re Harry too, and I guess you�re trying to figure out if this is some kind of dream or something.�

�Yeah, pretty much.�

She chuckled, and then worked her way to a full-blown howling fit, rolling in the grass with total abandon.

Of all the heroes in literature throughout history, I had to become the scrawny messy-haired teenager whose ex-girlfriend has gone completely round the twist.

�If I may ask, what is so bloody hilarious about this?�

She wiped tears from her face, trying to control herself. �Don�t you see? I grew up wanting to be part of the Harry Potter fairy tale, but you�re the one who actually became the fairy tale!�

I didn�t think it quite that funny, but I was glad to see her taking it so well. �There is a good thing about this, Ginny. I know how to end it, now, before all the horrible stuff in that final book happens.�

Her mirth had vanished. �It really is that bad?�

�Yeah, it is. When the Order comes to pick me up this Saturday, we�re ambushed by Death Eaters. The night of Bill and Fleur�s wedding, the ministry falls to Voldemort, and Ron, Hermione and I are on the run for months. Muggle-borns are persecuted and sent to prison for �stealing� their magic, of all things. Death Eaters are teaching at Hogwarts, teaching the Unforgivables so the next generation can train by torturing those who get detentions� until the worst part��

�Merlin,� she breathed. �It gets worse?�

�There�s a huge battle at Hogwarts, Ginny, wrecking the castle� so many people lost� until I can finally confront Voldemort, there in the Great Hall, and put an end to it.�

�You� confront�� Her eyes went wide. �That prophecy� the Prophet called you the Chosen One� it�s true, isn�t it?�

No mental slouch, this one. I told her about that night after the ministry raid, in Dumbledore�s office, and what I had learned.

�So a drunken bint is briefly overcome by� something,� she fumed, �and Tom finds out, and your life is buggared for what, sixteen years? That is just so� so� oh, I can�t even think about how unfair that is! At least now you know how to beat him, right? What do you have to do?�

�Dumbledore showed me last year. He let me tell Ron and Hermione, but it�s time you knew as well. I need you to know, Gin.�

I explained the concept of a Horcrux and how Tom had made six of these before he came for me on Halloween. She was horrified, but not surprised, that Tom�s diary had been the first one discovered, and the key to unraveling the whole mystery. I told her of the others and what was left to do.

�So you know where they are, and you just have to destroy them, right? Harry, what aren�t you telling me?�

�There was the Horcrux he never meant to make� the night he attacked me, part of him was loosed and left in my scar. I� I�m a Horcrux, too.�

�And� how do you get rid of this��

�We found that Basilisk venom and Fiendfyre both work. The container has to be destroyed beyond magical repair, you see��

�The container� Harry James Potter!� She was on her knees, outstretched hands clenching my shoulders, her face in mine as she gritted, �You. Did. Not. Come. Here. To. Say. Goodbye! You can�t! There has to be some way� there must!!�

Her defiance for me reminded me just how special this girl was. �Ginny, there is a way. Dumbledore figured it out.�

It nearly broke her to learn that I would have to let him attack me again, but after I explained the plan for this weekend, she was a little reassured.

�Okay, but you have to tell me what happens in this book. I want to know, and I mean everything, Potter.�

So I told her everything, backing up occasionally to previous years when an explanation required. It was a remarkably cleansing experience, to just get it out, to share with someone.

�So Snape is really on our side, Dumbledore died mostly from a moment of weakness, and you�re half someone I don�t know.�

�The Deathly Hallows, Ginny � they�re still very dangerous. If for some reason this weekend goes awry, you need to let Ron and Hermione know. Have Bill and Flitwick put extra enchantments around Dumbledore�s tomb. Put my snitch someplace where it can never be found. And I want you to have my cloak, Gin. It�s a family heirloom, and you�re the closest thing I have to a real family. Promise me, Ginny.�

�You wouldn�t give it to Ron?�

�You guys are like � a part of me, you know? Ron is my best mate and will follow me where angels fear to tread; I reckon he�s like my strength through all this. Hermione is so smart � she�s like my head, sorting it all out. But you, Ginny, are my heart, my hope, my reason for being sure I make it. I didn�t tell you that the book, the end of the story has an epilogue, twenty years from now � we�re at Kings Cross sending two of our kids off to Hogwarts, while the third is complaining about being too young��

�Twenty years�? Our three children�� She was quiet for a moment. �Harry, how do you feel about that?�

I grinned widely for the first time since arriving. �I think it�d be brilliant.�

Suddenly she was in my arms, kissing me furiously, and I fisted her hair behind, ponytail forgotten, its sweet flowery scent filling my nostrils, holding on to make sure she was real, that she wouldn�t vanish.

It was some time before we broke for air, and I was startled to see that her hair was flowing toward me, enveloping our closely held faces in a curtain of red. Then I realized that it wasn�t the tree pressing against my back, it was the ground. When that happened, I neither knew nor cared. She delved into my eyes, searching, and I felt exposed, laid bare, but at this moment, with this girl, I was good with that, and I willed her to find whatever it was, who I was, that she could reassure me that this was no dream, for I had nothing to hide from her.

�Ginny��

�S hh, Potter, the way I figure it, you�re still part Harry, and the rest of you I�ll just have to get to know over time. Right now, I�m investigating your snogging abilities for possible improvements.�

�And� have you made any discoveries?�

�Not yet. Need more research. So shut up and kiss me again.�

I had my orders, and I dutifully obeyed.

And this kiss was even better than the last, my senses overwhelmed, lost in her. I thought this must be the kiss she was saving for my birthday, something for me to remember her� at least this time we would not be interrupted�

�Oi! What�s going on here?� called the familiar voice of my best mate, his footsteps drawing near.

I guess I spoke too soon.