Harry dropped his head to the book in front of him, eyes closed in frustration. He'd been trying to read this chapter on Rowena Ravenclaw for the last half-hour, with little luck. The low candlelight and the wonderful meal that Mrs. Weasley had made were conspiring to put him to sleep.
Of course, Ron snoring in the armchair across from him wasn't exactly encouraging him to stay awake.
"Any luck?" Ginny asked, sitting down beside him.
"This thing must have been written by Binns, it's so mind-numbing." Harry stretched his arms over his head and sat up straight. "What're you doing up? It's past 2."
"Why're you up?"
Ginny continued to stare at him as Harry avoided the question. "Any word from Tonks yet?"
"You'd get it first, being in front of the door." Ginny settled herself down comfortably in a chair before announcing:
"I know about the Horcruxes."
Harry didn't move, eyes still staring at the page of scribbles done by some long-dead distant relation of the founder. Ginny seemed content to wait in silence while he dragged his eyes up to stare at her, mouth slightly open.
"I know about the Horcruxes, Harry," she repeated slowly.
"Ginny, who…" Harry cleared his throat and tried again. "How did you…"
Ginny raised her eyebrows and very patiently spelled it out for him. "Fred and George are my brothers. I learned things from them. I had to, to keep any secrets from them. You don't put an Imperturbable charm on your door at night."
Harry was still stunned, but after a moment, he asked, "You pieced it together from snatched heard from under our bedroom door?"
Ginny smiled.
Harry frowned, then glanced over at the snoring 7th year. "Ron caved, didn't he?"
Ginny kept on smiling at him, slightly smug.
"You're not helping with this, Ginny," he said in a normal voice; they'd been keeping their voices low to keep from waking her brother up. Harry didn't care now, and closed the book with a loud thud, which managed to jolt Ron awake. "It's too dangerous."
"Wha's dangerous?" Ron yawned.
"You telling Ginny about the Horcruxes," Harry snapped.
Ron blinked. "I didn't…oh…yeah…" He had the grace to look sheepish. "You think she gave me a choice? Besides, Hermione explained it her."
"She thought you could use the help." Ginny nudged the large book. "Another pair of eyes."
"Another life to worry about," Harry murmured, but so Ginny couldn't hear. They'd fought over the summer too many times over it. In the end, Harry stopped bringing the topic up, and Ginny assumed she'd won.
A knock on the back kitchen door alerted them to Tonks' arrival. After an exchange of passwords that Mr. Weasley insisted they use, Tonks settled at the table nursing a warm cup of coffee.
"It's settled," she announced, looking at Harry. "Tomorrow afternoon, the Aurors will ambush a group of holed-up Death Eaters. You, Hermione and Ron can Apparate in 2 miles away. There's an abandoned set of sheds there. Kingsley will herd them toward you and let Dawlish rescue the kiddies."
Harry winced. "Don't like that part, much," he said, rubbing his neck self-consciously.
Tonks smirked a bit. "Best we could do, mate. Remember Moody's idea?"
Harry shuddered, but he couldn't help the faint blush in his cheeks. "Yeah." Coughing, he managed, "Tomorrow then."