Chapter One

My name is Harry Potter and seven days before my seventeenth birthday my girlfriend was found murdered just five miles away from where I was staying for the summer months. She had been on her way to visit me and to celebrate my coming of age in the wizarding world. They had even found my gift alongside her cold remains; a set of ink green dress robes. I had been complaining on how mine had gotten too short and she had remembered. I wish she had made it out alright instead of that stupid set of robes, which I can't bear to wear or even look at.

I should've realized that her time was coming. It was a hazard to be friends with me. I was the biggest nemesis of the most feared Wizard in the entire world-Lord Voldemort. It was common for those around me to suddenly turn up dead. As years passed, I grew numb to the piling bodies in my wake. What could I do? I'm just a teenage boy. I have no special powers or any secret weapons to save those I love. I don't know what people want from me.

But I could not understand who would want to harm my beautiful Hermione. She had a kind soul yet a fiery personality that one couldn't help but love. She stood up for herself and was as stubborn as any girl I had ever met. What I loved most about Hermione was her passion. When she found a cause, she became dedicated, almost borderline obsessed, with doing anything she could. Hermione loved to help others. I remember how she wanted to be Head of the Department of Magical Cooperation. I used to laugh when she told me how everyone should play nice with each other. What I wouldn't give to have her here, rambling about how there is some good left in this world.

I almost didn't go back to Hogwarts. What was the point of returning to school? My love was dead and I was heartbroken. My soul had been shattered and I felt vulnerable and naked without her by my side. I was depressed and wanted to turn away from this forsaken world that I had been stuck in. I wanted to return back to the non magical world, the muggle world, and not ever look back.

However, my best mate Ronald Weasley and his little sister, Ginny, would not let me give up so easily. On the morning of September first, the day the train was leaving from London to Hogwarts, they entered my room.

"Wake up, Harry," said Ginny cheerfully, placing a tray of breakfast on my lap. The tray was warm and smelled of pure grease. I could feel my mouth watering.

"Yeah, come on. You haven't eaten in days." Ron plopped down on the edge of my bed and stole a roll off the breakfast tray. I didn't hold it against him and I began to eat the eggs, bacon, sausage and hash browns.

The room was quiet as I munched. Ginny sat at my desk, staring at the pictures of me and Hermione that adorned the wall around her. Her brown eyes looked sad and she seemed to glow in the dim room. Ron smacked noisily on the roll and stared out the window.

After I finished eating, Ginny turned back to me and offered an awkward, tight smile. "How are you feeling?" she asked timidly.

"I'm alright," I shrugged. I felt a tickle in my throat and my eye twitched slightly. I would not cry in their presence.

Ginny exchanged a knowing glance at Ron. Ron shrugged his shoulders and tilted his head slightly towards my direction. For days I knew they had been discussing me in private. They were afraid. They were afraid that I was losing my mind. Or perhaps they were afraid of me, afraid that they would meet the untimely end just as Hermione had.

Ginny swallowed roughly and spoke, her voice quavering. "Harry, we came to talk to you about...about going back to Hogwarts with us."

Ron said nothing.

"I know you are seventeen now and have the choice is yours," Ginny began hurriedly, as though she was worried I was going to cut her off. "But I really think you should reconsider your decision."

"Ginny," I sighed. "I understand why you want me to come back to school with you, but I have no interest in returning."

"But Harry," Ginny pleaded. "You have to come back. Hogwarts is your home. You won't be able to go anywhere in life if you don't finish your education."

"She's right mate," added Ron. "Our cousin Grus left Hogwarts in his last year, and now he scoops up dragon dung for a living. Nobody will hire him because he isn't qualified to do anything."

I glared at Ron and Ginny. Who did they honestly think they were, coming into my room and trying to force me to come to Hogwarts with them? Could they not understand that I was mourning my loss? Were their skulls that thick that they could not understand how truly hurt and torn apart I was? Rage boiled my skin, and the room suddenly felt ten degrees warmer.

"You lot have got an awful lot of nerve," I retorted, my voice shaking with anger. "I refuse to go back to Hogwarts, and that's that."

"Calm down," said Ron apologetically, holding his hands in the air. "We didn't mean to upset you."

"Harry, why don't you want to go back to Hogwarts?" asked Ginny. "It's your favorite place in the world."

"I don't care about Hogwarts anymore," I lied.

Ron gaped at me, but Ginny began to weep. Her delicate shoulders began to shake and tears streaked her pale face. Though she seemed so fragile, she spoke hotly to me.

"The only reason you say that is because you are afraid to go back," she spat at me. "You are afraid to return because you're worried that everything will remind you of Hermione. Stop being so selfish about this! You aren't the only one is upset by her loss. We all loved her equally and we all wish she was here! But you can't sit around and mope and give up on life. It's not you and it's not what Hermione would have wanted. So stop insulting her memory and shut down your pity party."

"Ginny," said Ron, trying to pat her arm and calm her down. She jerked out of his reach and was now glaring at me.

"The choice is yours," she said gravely, wiping her eyes. "But you know what the right one is."

That was the last thing she said as she stormed out of the room. I couldn't even react. I didn't even know what to say. Ginny was correct in everything that she said. The idea of returning to Hogwarts was a frightening one. I knew that if I went, I would see Hermione everywhere, from walking to class to studying for exams in the library late at night. But the second half of Ginny's lecture, I had not been aware of. Had I been acting as though Hermione's murder only affected me? Was I insulting her memory by admitting defeat and wish that I too were dead? I could not think of the answers. I wasn't even angry at Ginny, which was strange. I had changed so much in such a short time.

I looked at Ron. His ears were pink and he was having difficulty looking me in the eye. He was uncomfortable, and even moreso, he was scared that I was going to flip out on him for having such a flippant sister.

"Harry, I'm so-" He began.

I held up my hand, cutting him off. "I've got to pack. The train leaves in about five hours."

Ron let out a little laugh and clapped me on the shoulder.