I left Arizona on one of the few days it was raining. Somehow, it seemed like an omen to me… My father puttered around the house, making sure I had everything before I made the 4-hour flight to Forks, Washington, to my mother's house. I hadn't seen her for years, and I was finally spending the rest of high school with her while my dad traveled. At least no one knew yet. My teachers at Hogwarts looked at me with pity as I packed up my belongings for the last time. How many of them had Dumbledore told? And how many more could sense it? As I packed up my things, Professor McGonagall burst into tears. All the Gryffindors thought she was being sentimental as we packed for our last year, but I won't be going back to Hogwarts, even with all of the things I still need to learn. Doesn't it seem like such a waste? I know that my dad felt guilty about leaving me to go on this trip, but in all honesty, I needed to see my mom, and my parents hated each other.
The drive to the Phoenix airport was…painful… My dad tried to make weak conversation with me, and failed miserably. To be fair thought, I wasn't very good company today.
I think I'll miss the sun the most. How it warms my skin, how it makes everything grow, but, most of all; how it makes me feel. The sun seems to make everything seem better. After a rainstorm, the sun seems like a ray of hope. For me, maybe sun is all I have left.
I've never given much thought to how I would die. But, now that I know what I do now, it seems inevitable. There is no escaping it, and for some reason, I'm not sure that I want to. As Dumbledore says, "Death is the next great adventure." Maybe this new adventure will be better than the one I'm in now. Remember the sun? Where I'm going, there doesn't seem like there will be much of it…
He hadn't seen his mother for years, not since he first started school at Hogwarts. On holidays, he went to his father's house, or stayed at school if his father was away on business. It had been 6 years since he had last seen her…
Harry shouldered his bag with shaky hands as the plane landed on the tarmac. It was raining and the lights flickered briefly as the plane landed. He stood up quickly and left the plane. His luggage had already been shipped to his mother's house, so all he had to carry was his backpack. His mother and Remus were waiting for him at the door, and he got into Remus' car as the rain thundered down harder. Remus, one of his father's friends, had lived in Washington for years before Lily moved to Forks. His mother and Remus weren't exactly friends, but Remus discreetly looked out for her. When she forgot to pay the electric bill, Remus was the one to charge it to his credit card. When Lily forgot to put gas in her car, Remus drove her to work. What Lily didn't know, was that James had asked Remus to look after her when he had found out about Harry. Remus had an idea, but even he didn't know all the details. It was one of the reasons Harry had decided to move to Forks. This way, his father would have time to get his son's will finalized and anything else taken care of. Tom Riddle was hiding out at the moment, but it was only a matter of time before he found out about the prophecy and what it entailed. 'Neither can live. None may survive.' When Voldemort found out about that, he would inevitably try to find a way around it. But, for Harry, as long as he could bring Tom down with him, he saw no problem being a martyr.
Remus drove Harry and Lily to her home and helped Harry carry his bag inside. He hugged him tightly and whispered, "Welcome home, Cub." Harry pulled away from him and wiped his eyes discreetly. "Thanks, Moony."
"Well, Harry, your stuff is all upstairs?" Lily said unsurely. She hadn't seen her son in years. Last time she had, he was a small boy, certainly not this man before her. Harry's short hair had grown to reach the middle of his back, and he had long since gotten rid of his glasses. James had allowed him to get his eyes fixed with a potion when he was 14, and he hadn't worn glasses since. Harry had piercings, and through his wet shirt, she could see the hinting of a tattoo on his back. Her little boy was all grown up...and she had missed it...
Lily sighed guiltily as Harry walked upstairs to his new bedroom. The walls were a light gray and the bedspread a few shades darker. He dropped his bag on the floor and threw himself onto the bed, crinkling the covers as he landed. His magic automatically straightened them and cast a warming charm on his damp clothing. As the time for the prophecy drew nearer, his powers grew stronger. His magic flared out in accidental bursts, fixing small things and making him more comfortable. The only thing he was afraid of was when he didn't realize he was doing magic. When he had school on Monday, what would stop him from doing magic in front of the human teenagers? How would he keep himself safe? Accidental magic didn't matter at Hogwarts, but here it could ruin the life his mother and Remus had built for themselves.
Harry sighed into his pillow and rolled onto his back. I'll deal with school in school. No use worrying about it now...Harry slid off his bed and over to his closet. His clothes were already hanging up and a new computer was sitting on a desk in the corner of the room. He ambled over to it and switched it on. A summer at Hermione's had taught him about many muggle things, including how to use a computer.
The computer hummed on and logged him on to the internet. A few summers ago, when they were first learning, Ron had insisted on calling it the 'spider net' and trying to unplug the computer so the spider wouldn't be able to get him... Harry chuckled over the memory and logged onto the Hogwarts server for muggle students. He and Hermione had set it up in 4th year as a way for Muggle Born to keep in contact during the holidays, as owls and floo powder might scare the student's human families.
Harry signed in and saw a message from Hermione, asking him to stay with her again over the summer. She knew that James traveled a lot, and she didn't want him to be all alone for 3 months. Harry quickly replied that he was in America, at his mother's house, and she logged off. 'Guess she's mad that I didn't tell her ahead of time...' Harry thought with a smile. Harry glanced at the count down clock that Neville had programmed, and scowled. It was a countdown to when school started again, but for Harry, it was counting down something entirely different...