The chair had always seemed much bigger when Harry was 6.
It was a symbol. Only Uncle Vernon could sit there. It was where he sat when he yelled at him. Where he sat when he through stuff at him. When he was quietly and calmly talking away about how Harry Potter's very existence was a burden upon his own life, how this could only be an undisputed fact and nothing less, and all the shame and gratitude Harry should feel yet never would, he was sitting there.
It had became the chair. The source of power. Really though, as Harry sat in it now, it was just a chair. There had never been power. There had only been fear and strength. That was gone now. And they weren't monsters anymore. They were just bad people. And he needed to tell them that.
"Well, I see everything turned out well for you?" Uncle Vernon said.
"A lot of people died. A lot of good people. "Well" isn't exactly the word I'd use." Harry replied.
"You're free to go on living the weird life you've been living, I'd certainly call that good. But why are you talking to me about any of this? You aren't going to get any useful contributions from me. What's this all about?"
Harry paused for a second, as he tried to figure out what he did want to say.
He'd left them not knowing who was going to live or die. Those sort of feelings had for a second made him think he liked them. Like they were good people. But they weren't. Yes, they'd taken him in. Yes, maybe he owed his life to them. But what kind of life. A miserable one. An unnecessary misery they'd created, blocking out all the knowledge that could have made it so much better. But it was a life. Was that enough now? Harry didn't know but he knew he needed to say something, he needed to find a way to get all of these feelings out, to conclude this miserable part of his life once and for all. He needed to let the Boy Under the Stairs die once and for all. He just wanted to be Harry Potter now. That's all he'd ever wanted to be.
"For the ten years you made me miserable." Harry finally said.
"You were forced on us, we gave you the best we could provide." Aunt Petunia replied.
"No you didn't. You only gave me what you were willing to give. You hid the truth for all those years. All you did was hurt me and you knew it." Harry spat.
"What do you want us to say? We're sorry. We were all truly horrible to the precious chosen one and we beg for your forgiveness. Cause we wont. We never wanted to be a part of that world of yours and you knew it. Nothing I'm going to say right now will be different to what you know, and nothing you say will change anything. What's the point?" Uncle Vernon asked incredulously.
"I don't know. I just really want you to know. I just want to be able to tell you, as an adult, as a survivor, not as a boy, that I will never want to see any of you ever again. And I'm going to be glad of it. I'm moving on now and I'm so happy because of it."
There was a silence as the words filled the air, and the minds of the room's inhabitants. And as they left Harry's mouth, they brought with them 10 years of anger, of rage. It was all finally over.
"Well than you best be off." Uncle Vernon remarked.
"I will."
o o o o o o o o
"Did it go well?" Ginny said, waiting for him outside.
Harry thought for a second, than nodded. Yes. It was all over. He'd said everything he needed to say. That part of his life was over. Nothing to hold him back. He was an adult now. He was a man. He could go out into the magical world now undeterred. What was he going to do there? He had no idea.
"So, what now. We wont be missed for a couple of days."
He really did have no idea. But he didn't care. He was in a world of magic. Where anything was possible. And he had Ginny. He had everything he needed.
"No idea. But whatever we do, I want you there." Harry said, almost laughing
"That's really cheesy." Ginny said.
"Doesn't mean it's not true."
Harry looked in her eyes and smiled. She smiled back. A brand new world. A brand new day. New adventures. Harry couldn't wait.
The End
