Swing Sets and Tree Tops
It had been close to two months since Harry had lost his godfather. Since then he hadn't spoken much, just did the jobs he was given by his relatives and kept to himself. Today his relatives told him they were going away for the day, so he had the house to himself. But after an hour of sitting in his room re-reading his textbooks, he had grabbed his wand and left for the park down the road. It wasn't far, but by the time he got there, he was sweating like a pig in a blanket. The days were hot and were getting hotter. But Harry didn't mind much, he was now at the park.
Unhurriedly, he made his way over to the swing and sat down, gently pushing back with his feet. He watched as the tall grass swayed in the cool breeze and smiled wistfully. 'I wish I was that free.' He thought to himself, pushing off the ground a lot harder this time.
As he came down on the swing, a small SNAP sounded behind Harry. Without turning around or stopping, Harry spoke to the new comer. "Hello Professor McGonagall." He said in his best Snape impersonation.
Minerva spun around at the sound of her name and was surprised to see Harry there. "Harry. What are you doing here?"
"I'm swinging." He continued in his deadpanned tone. "Why are you here Professor?" He asked.
The Transfiguration Professor paused in her walking at his tone before continuing to the swing set. "And why aren't you with your relatives?"
"They're not here."
"They left you alone?" She gasped.
"Everyone else does."
Minerva stepped forward and grasped the chains of the second swing. "Harry…"
"You didn't answer my question Professor." He said, looking up at her. "What are you doing here?"
With a deep sigh, Minerva sat down on the swing. "I came to check on you."
"I'm fine."
Minerva looked at him. He was skinner then he was when he left school, he had dark circles under his eyes and he looked so pale. "Are you really Harry?" She asked softly.
Harry stopped his swinging and looked down at the ground. "Not really." He said, voice cracking under the strain of held back emotions.
Minerva's eyes teared up at Harry's emotional response. Carefully, she reached out and clasped his hand in her own. "Do you want to talk about it Harry?"
Harry looked up at his Professor before looking up at the sky. "We should move. It looks like it's about to rain." He said and stood up, not letting go of her hand. He helped her up from the swing and walked beside her to the undercover picnic table close to the tree. He sat down beside her on the bench facing the park. "So, how are your holidays going Professor?"
Minerva arched her eyebrow at the change of subject, but allowed it. "Slowly, very slowly." Harry looked up at her confused. "All of the other Professors believe I should be resting. So, my holidays are going very slowly." She explained.
Harry looked at her sadly. "Because of the stunners?" Minerva nodded and Harry looked down at the table. "W-We saw it you know. From the Astronomy tower. The attack. We saw. We were horrified at what she did. Ron went to throw his telescope, but Hermione stopped him. I tried…but Neville stopped me. Said you would have me in detention for the rest of my life for being so stupid."
McGonagall stared at him. "What did you try Harry?"
"Jumping over the railing." He mumbled, but because of her animagus form, Minerva heard and gasped. "Harry! That was a very reckless, foolish thing to try." She took a deep breath, and smiled vaguely. "Though I am touched that you would try something so drastic to help."
Harry looked up at her and smiled a little for the first time, before looking back around the playground. "Well, you've been there for me for five years. It…hurt seeing that happen to you. Like part of my family was torn away from me."
Minerva's eyes softened at the confession and moved closer to him on the bench, taking his hand in her own again. "Oh Harry. You don't know how much it means to me to hear you say that." She said softly.
Harry looked up at her with a cheeky smile. "I think I do."
Miner looked at him with her eyebrow arched. "Oh, and how would you know?"
"Because, when you first spoke to me, you called me Harry." He explained with a happy smile.
For the first time in a long time, Minerva laughed whole heartedly. When she calmed down, she saw that Harry was still smiling at her and she couldn't help but smile back down at him. Shaking her head, she turned back around and gazed at the bare park. "Why did you come to this park Harry? It seems so…" She trailed off, looking for the right word.
"Boring? Empty? Lonely?" He supplied for her.
She twisted to look at him again with a slight frown. "Well yes."
Harry looked out over the park as McGonagall studied him and shrugged. "I don't know. Mainly to be alone. There's not many places I can go and you can only read your text books so many times before you know what's in them from heart."
Again she lifted her eyebrow at the last statement. "Text books."
Harry blushed when he realised his slip, but nodded his head. "I've umm…I've read through them a couple of times."
Feeling the corners of her mouth twitching, Minerva turned to observe their surrounding again. "So, you know the course for the rest of the school year, and it's only the end of the first week of holidays." She paused for a second, before turning back to Harry with a serious expression. "Is that all you did? Read?" Harry nodded his head. "No. I won't allow you dwindle away to nothing." She said, back to being Professor McGonagall.
Minerva stood up and turned around to face Harry, leaning heavily on her walking stick. "Up, Mr Potter." Harry stood up and moved around the table to stand beside his Professor. "It is time I spoke with Petunia." She said and started to stride towards the pathway near the rode.
Harry watched for a second before he realized that she expected him to follow her and jogged to catch up. Once he beside her, he matched his stride to hers, but slowed down when he noticed that her fast pace was making her lean on her staff more the before. When she saw what Harry was doing, she pursed her lips and pushed on, forcing herself to continue on past the pain. Immediately Harry saw what she was making herself do, and quickened his pace to catch up with her again, this time thinking. Two blocks from his relative's house, he saw that his Head of House was holding onto the top of the cane very tightly. Because he wasn't focusing on where he was walking, he didn't see the stone in his way and tripped.
Seeing Harry trip from the corner of her eye, Minerva stopped and looked down at him in concern. "Are you alright Harry?"
Without opening his eyes, Harry rolled onto his back and groaned. "Fine. Sore, but fine." With a little bit of effort, he pushed himself up and stood, only to jump back as pain shot up through his leg. "Ow."
Minerva stepped forward at the cry and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Harry?"
Smiling, Harry looked at her concerned expression. "I'm fine." To prove his point, he placed his foot back on the ground and took a step, and then another.
Unsurely, Minerva nodded her head and started to walk again, noticing the visible limp that he now had. Slowing her pace so he could keep up with her, she ignored the need to sigh in relief as the pain in her chest eased. Not long after, they were standing in front of the Dursley's house. Just as Harry was about to open the door for Minerva to enter, a dark silver car pulled up in the drive way.
TBC…
I would just like to say, thank you to all who have read and reviewed Secrets of the Heart, and that since I have been given my two ass-ignments for art already, updates may be random.