1
As Harry stood looking over the bridge after the battle, he felt something on his shoulder. A hand. He turned round to see two faces, they were eerily familiar but not at the same time. They stood back; they had seen his confused expression and stepped back.
"Mum? Dad?" He breathed so quietly it was almost a whisper.
James pressed his left index finger to his lip as Lily smiled at him proudly. They both turned to their left and slipped away silently.
Suddenly, Ron and Hermione appeared beside Harry and, copying Harry, stared at the spot where James and Lily had been, just minutes previously, before commenting on his gormless stare.
"Harry what is it?" Ron asked suspiciously. When Harry didn't answer, Ron stepped back and Hermione moved forward, next to Harry.
"Harry, can you hear us? What's going on Harry?" She spoke slowly and clearly but at the same time, almost whisper-like, as if she wanted no one else to hear.
Slowly Harry turned around. He was as white as a ghost and when he spoke he sounded horse, as if he had been screaming for a long time.
"I saw them. But how could I, they're dead. I saw them." Harry breathed before turning and running of in the same direction as his parents. Ron and Hermione exchanged glances of confusion before chasing Harry, screaming his name.
When Ron and Hermione finally caught up to Harry he was stood still, looking around.
"I saw them, they were here, where are they, I saw them." He repeated it over and over until Hermione butted in.
"Who did you see Harry, maybe we can help?" She said sympathetically.
"My parents, I saw my parents."
"Harry, your parents were killed by You-Know…Voldemort" After the look on Hermione's face Ron changed 'You-Know-Who' to 'Voldemort', he was dead after all.
"I know!" He shouted at Ron "Do you not think I realise that they've been dead for nearly seventeen years? Do you not think I've have wondered what my parents were like for as long as I remember? What did I see in the mirror of erised first year hmm?" He was right up in Ron's face by this point and when there was no answer from Ron, he continued. "I saw my parents; I saw, my whole family. I didn't even know who any of them were but I saw him. I saw my greatest desire, to be in a family and to be loved." He was tearing now and Hermione put her arm around him but he shrugged it off angrily and turned his back on them. "I have to find them, see if it really was them I saw, if you believe me, you can come with me, but if you don't…stay, help clear up." And with that, he left, turned his back on anyone. Ron and Hermione stood there, gobsmacked at what had happened. After a couple of minutes, Luna ran up to them with her long blonde hair flowing behind her.
"Where's Harry going?" She said sweetly, smiling as usual.
"He's going to look for his parents." Hermione answered, with confusion in her voice that showed on her face until it turned into a smile.
"Oh, it was them I saw, I thought it was. You know, Harry really does have his mother's eyes and he really does look like his father, they could be twins! That's how I knew it was them…so, why aren't you two going with him?"
"To be honest, I really don't know. I guess we didn't believe him. Come with us Luna?" was Hermione's swift reply. With her nod, the two of them left, leaving a bemused Ron behind them.
Ron couldn't believe this. He had been abandoned by his girlfriend, best friend and good friend. Did everyone else believe Harry, over him? They were all mad in his eyes. Harry's parents were dead. There was no way he saw them! Still, he trudged after the two girls to make sure he wouldn't be left out of this adventure like he had almost a year ago when they all went searching for horcruxes. He wouldn't be left out again! He jogged after them now, so he could catch up to them all. They couldn't be far. As he left the spot he realised something, he had been left, he didn't even know if they realised he wasn't there. He stopped to consider this but then thought about how cross Hermione probably is at him for not coming, and, once again, not believing (or talking to) Luna. He should catch them up, quickly. In the distance he saw Hermione and Luna stood, looking around, scanning faces.
When Ron reached Hermione she greeted him
"Oh, so do you believe us then?" She said scornfully, not really giving him his full attention.
"It's better that he's helping us find him than him not. Like daddy always said: 'a little bit of help is better than nothing.'." Luna replied
"Thanks Luna." He said, nodding at Luna before turning to Hermione. "So, can I be of a little help?"
"Sure" Hermione replied gleefully" all we need to do is track down your best friend. Any ideas on where he may be. Or, better yet, where his parents are?"
"Well that's easy. Harry is somewhere on the planet, defiantly. Somewhere in England probably, somewhere in Hogwarts, maybe. Within a two meter distance, which is about as far as I can see, no, he defiantly isn't." Ron had a smug look on his face that quickly wore of when he saw Hermione's face. She had such a sour expression that turned to anger at his sarcasm.
"Do you think that's funny Ronald? Your 'best friend' is missing and the way you're helping us to look for him is by using sarcasm and snide comments? He's just killed the darkest wizard of all time, and now he says he's seen his parents. Are you not even slightly worried about him?"
"Yeah! I'm really worried about him. Believe it or not, I'm out of my mind, like you say, he just said he saw his parents. I don't know where he is but I do care but I know we will find him." By the end, Ron's voice had fallen into a horse whisper and his eyes had softened. At his 'puppy-dog' style look, Hermione melted. She hugged him and he held her close as her tears ran down the back of his jumper.
"But what if we don't find him before he does something stupid?" She asked, her tears in full flow now. Ron held her tighter and consoled her.
"You know Harry, he'll wait for us and we'll do the stupid thing together. Like we do most the time." Hermione let out a laugh at this point and pulled away from Ron. She brought a crumpled white tissue out of her pocked and dried her eyes. Tough her face was red and puffy, Ron smiled with pride at the sight of her slight smile. He hadn't seen it since before this mess. Before the war even! It was at this point that he knew.
"I love you Hermione." He breathed, almost silently.
"What?" Hermione asked in reply.
"I love you and I don't care who knows it," he began to shout now. "Anyone who'll listen. I love Hermione Granger. I love her."
"And do you know what," Hermione joined him "I love him too. I love Ron Weasley."
At the same time, they lifted their arms in the air and held hands. Now everyone knew.
After the excitement. They looked around.
"Bloody hell" Ron said loudly, pushing his palm against his forehead. "We lost Harry and now we've lost Luna! Well she shouldn't be hard to find." Hermione jabbed her elbow into his ribs with a cheeky grin on her face.
"We'll find them both, don't worry. We'll find them" And with that, they left the crowded courtyard and headed for the forbidden forest.
The path to the forest was a long one. The worry and the wonder of where people were disappearing to, was getting on top of them. Hermione had her hands on her head as if she was stressing out, but Ron, on the other hand, had his hands in his jean pockets in a very relaxed fashion. They walked away from the light of the courtyard and into the shadows of the nearby trees. All of a sudden Hermione saw something out of the corner of her eye. Something blonde was moving towards the deep green trees. They were wearing purple and pink. Two colours that shouldn't go together but…somehow do, but only on them. Suddenly, they turned around. Their face was pale, and defiantly feminine. She waved at Ron and Hermione with big hand movements and a huge grin spread across her face. Her bright white teeth were slightly spread apart. Hermione waved back with huge hand movements whilst Ron gave her a look as if she was waving to the air.
"Who are you waving at? I can't see anyone." As he said this, Ron looked the other way. He looked left and right, moving his head this way and that so quickly, it looked as if his head would fall off. Hermione put her hands to his face to steady it. She looked deep into his eyes before pointing at Luna beside the trees.
"It's Luna and she's over there." She giggled un-controllably at Ron's expression. In fact, by the time Luna reached them, Hermione had one hand on Ron's shoulder and the other on her heart. She was bent over with her eyes closed, smiling.
"What's so funny Hermione?" Luna asked suspiciously before joining the laughter. She just saw the look on Ron's face and joined Hermione laughing. However, she fell onto the floor and rolled on the stones, laughing in a high pitched voice.
Ron backed away quite slowly until he tripped. His foot got stuck in a rock and he went flying through the air into a pond. The water was a sickly brown colour. He lifted his arm and scowled at the colour his jumper had turned. As he looked up he noticed Hermione and Luna laughing harder than ever. He found a clearer pool and looked into it. Finally he saw what the girls had been laughing at. He had two huge, brown, muddy hand prints on his cheeks. He laughed himself before delving his own hands into the blue pool and rubbing his face. Once he had given himself the all clear he moved back to where the girls stood. They had calmed down a lot and were both stood up quietly chuckling under their breath. They both breathed a cleansing breath before looking at Ron again. He had a clear face and a smile going from ear to ear. He loved to see Hermione smiling, and the thought of her finally having another friend, a female friend, made him smile even more. He went in between the two girls, put his arms round their shoulders and they walked into the dark forest.