The Age of Innocence is Over
By Phoebe Halliwell
Chapter one
From the age of eleven Harry Potter lost his innocence and his childhood, no one could ever bring that back, it just wasn't possible.
Through battling evils and overcoming the many obstacles thrown in his path Harry Potter was not exactly the most relaxed and sociable child that ever lived. He kept his friends extremely close and loved them fiercely.
Ron and Hermione were like brother and sister to him nowadays, they worked, studied and trained together, Harry had had to restart the DA once again, this time with the permission of Dumbledore.
It was exclusively for the older students of course, the sevenths years that would have to fight for the Order in the up and coming battle, they were all trained by Harry who in turn was trained by Severus who had escaped from Lord Voldemort fortunate to have his life and was now in hiding at Hogwarts.
The great castle once used as a school was now a refuge from war, with the many shields and wards no evil being dared enter its walls, Harry remained here with his two closest friends and of course some surprising other company.
When it came to the Dark Arts and becoming Deatheaters there were surprisingly few people that thought themselves fortunate to be a part of Tom Riddle's group of followers, the Malfoy's for instance were one such family that had fallen from grace in their master's eyes when they sought refuge at Hogwarts and not to perform as spies either.
They too had feared their safety in this war and had fallen to the feet of Harry Potter, the boy that lived and begged for forgiveness and refuge from their pain. The latter of course Harry was unable to give but he did forgive them, however uncharacteristic this was of the Malfoy family it was not so much for Harry, who had grown used to having to forgive people their wrongs.
Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy were currently occupying the first years dormitory of the Slytherin common room, their son, Draco had preferred not to remain there with his parents but to stay with the other seventh years who were all currently occupying Gryffindor tower.
Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnegan, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Draco Malfoy were all sharing the top most room in the tower; Draco had taken Dean's bed after he had tragically died when he went home to warn his parents of the forthcoming war. There was nothing anyone could have done to prevent it, but that didn't make it hurt any less.
Understandably the teens did seem a little withdrawn with Draco but they didn't hate him, they didn't even resent him but war was war and petty insults and bickering wasn't really welcome and Harry made sure that they didn't dare start up again.
Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry had once been alive and full, the students giving off such a buzz that almost made Hogwarts what it was, their laughing, their fighting, their rule breaking and even their pranks and tears but now with that all gone it was as if Hogwarts itself had perished into nothing.
The residents too had suffered this, they had watched the character of the castle drain and they had stood by and watched as Hogwarts became an empty shell, the occupants just as empty as the castle itself.
With war dragging on in an endless fashion it was no wonder that they had lost all the will to go on, teachers and what remained of the students were lifeless, one would almost say soulless, it wasn't natural.
Silent echoes from years previous were still etched onto the stone wall, a permanent reminder of what it once was, what was taken away from the future generations of magic. Messages of love and names inscribed to allow the reader to acknowledge that they were once there. The everyday graffiti of an extraordinary school now deserted of any real excuse to actually exist.
The vacant expressions void of any emotion greeted the headmaster nowadays no delight no laughing nothing that could ever pass as a joyful emotional, no one could be happy not now and it seemed that it would be that way for the foreseeable future.
Who could be happy during a time of war?
Class rooms that had once been the place that drilled knowledge into the minds of the young were now transformed into training rooms and storage rooms for weapons and the like. After it came to light that Harry could not use his wand in his fight against Voldemort, Dumbledore declared that all members of the Order of the Phoenix should be sufficiently trained in hand to hand combat, including of course sword fighting.
In this area, like so many others, Harry had excelled his teachers and now taught himself, Ron was still struggling and Hermione, who preferred a far more passive role in such a blood thirsty war had taken to being Madame Pomfrey's assistant and was learning the fine art of healing, while of course looking into developing cures for the inventive torture spells that the Deatheaters seemed to be coming up with.
Draco had always been a proud fencer, it was among his many talents, the ability to cross blades with another and come out of it with varied success that was of course until he had met Harry James Potter, who at the very least matched him in capability and far excelled him in natural aptitude for the skill.
While the others would happily sit and be taught how to use a sword as an offence weapon by either Severus or on occasion even Lucius, Harry and Draco had taken to challenging each other to harmless duels even though Draco knew full well that Harry's talent far out weighed his own in this particular area.
It was on such a night, when everyone else had managed to make their way up to their beds and drift into an easy or uneasy sleep, depending on the person, although many of the residents of Hogwarts never managed a full night without experiencing some sort of night terror or another. Harry had remained in the Gryffindor common room, dazing off into the fire that illuminated the room to its best effect.
Harry had been sitting there for the best part of the day, once upon a time Hermione or Ron would have asked him if he was alright or whether he wanted to talk about whatever was bothering him, however they did not offer such support any more. Harry needed these rare moments of solitude, his mind needed these few moments where he could shut down completely and not think of the awful things that he had done in his lifetime that were considered great.
Each time that he retreated into his own head the period that he remained there became longer, some had begun to worry but these thoughts were never voiced to Dumbledore or even to Harry himself, no one dared to question the boy-who-lived.
There was one person in particular who had seen the signs and was greatly concerned that one day very soon Harry would retreat back into his own head and discover that in there it was so much quieter and more peaceful than the world outside and he would decide to stay there. It had happened before and who could blame Harry if he decided to do this, no doubt one day he would but right now they had to pray to whoever was listening that he had the strength to go on.
He may not have cared for Harry a great deal in the past but now was an entirely different story, he could sit and watch the boy for hours upon hours and never once get bored with it, Harry was his hobby, his diversion, his beacon of hope on a forever cloudy horizon and not just because of his title and status.
Harry was still revealing in the death of his godfather, Sirius, he had lost so many a close friend, he wouldn't lose any more, he barely gathered the required energy to talk let alone feel sorry for himself or anyone else for that matter, he couldn't even summon the energy to blame himself for the events of two years ago to the day.
Remus, his once loving friend and partner to Sirius was a common visitor to the castle nowadays; Harry knew that he only came out of duty to Dumbledore and his parents to see their only son do well. Harry hated himself for taking away the one thing that Remus truly loved; he had destroyed so many lives whether directly or indirectly, but not just him, Tom.
Draco came down the stairs and sat himself down on the scarlet sofa next to Harry who did not even move or say a word to acknowledge that he had come into the room. Harry was never one to discuss what he was feeling, however since Draco had become a far nicer permanent fixture in their lives they had grown, not close but something similar, they were friends and yet they weren't, a situation hard to explain.
"You seem deep in thought." Draco said softly, "I'll go away if you don't want me here." He said, he hoped that Harry would want him to be there, he ,did so like company, even if it was only when he said nothing but there were the odd occasions where Harry would refuse to speak or acknowledge anyone.
"It's alright, I don't mind, I was just thinking about the past." Harry said softly, his tone quiet almost worn down, as if he was so tired that he could no longer summon the energy to move his lips so that he could form a single word, his voice sounded dry and in desperate need of a drink, one that Draco happily concurred for them both.
"Do you want to talk, I know that you think that thinking about it will change it but it really won't, you have to except it and move on." Draco said handing Harry his recently conjured Butterbeer.
"I know, but I keep thinking what if I had done things a little differently, would they still be alive or would have others have died in their place?"
"To dwell on such things cannot be healthy for you Harry, you used to have so much joy and so much life inside of you, a person like that should not dwell on death for death will one day take us all but to think about it overly so is to sentence ourselves to pain and suffering."
"You know, you don't have to sit here and comfort me and talk to me all night, I don't mind if you just want to disappear off to bed, I'll be fine here but I won't force you to go, I like having someone to talk to."
"Its okay, I like having someone to talk to as well, I was actually going to ask you a favour, if your up for it, would you mind if you did some extra training with me tonight, my sword work is a little off."
Harry seemed to consider this for a moment before replying. "I can't sleep so maybe it'll help, alright, I'm agreeable to that."
What do you think? Don't forget to leave me a review. Phoebe