To The Burrow
Harry sat in the Gryffindor common room alone; which was in all actuality, making him happy. The calm silence of the castle was a stark contrast to the previous days. In fact any recollections he had of the castle always seemed to be accompanied by the sounds of the place as well. When school was in session the large numbers of students made all manner of noise, which would echo around the corridors.
Today it was different, and different was good, very good. He turned sideways and reclined across the large sofa. "I might be able to catch a quick nap," he said aloud, though there wasn't a soul around to hear him. "Why bother with that? I'll just have another nightmare. Of course me having nightmares isn't anything new is it?" he continued speaking to the empty room. Closing his eyes, he relished in the quiet. Even late at night there was almost always one student in the common room working on an essay or some other assignment. The sound accompanying those students was the soft scratching of a quill on parchment, or the swish of a turned page, but it was sound none the less. Harry was an expert on the late night comings and goings in the common room, spending more nights alone in the common room than any other Gryffindor in history he supposed.
In his six years at Hogwarts there had never been a week that he didn't spend at least three or four nights in the common room. Second place for the number of late night visits had to be Ginny Weasley. And thankfully, that number was a distant second to Harry's tally.
'Ginny… what about Ginny?' he questioned himself. 'What about Ron and Hermione?' he then wondered. Harry closed his eyes tightly in an attempt to clear the offending thoughts from his mind. His stomach growled.
"You're right," he laughed softly. "I need to eat." He made his way through the school to the portrait hiding the entryway to the kitchens. With a quick tickle of the pear and twist of the knob, the painting swung open and he went in to see the elves. Kreacher brought him a plate of eggs and bacon. Harry shoveled the food rapidly into his mouth, eager to sate his hunger.
Half way through his hurried breakfast Harry felt his stomach turn and he raced out of the kitchen looking for the nearest loo. He slammed the door open, barley making it to the toilet before expelling his breakfast. With his stomach empty once again he felt better. Harry walked to the sinks and washed his face in cold water. After freshening up he returned to the kitchen.
"Kreacher, can I just have some wheat toast please? No butter, just plain is fine. And can I have a glass of water?" Harry asked the elf.
"Of course master," Kreacher responded politely.
Harry waited patiently and was soon rewarded with his wheat toast and water.
"Ahem!"
Harry jumped at the unexpected intrusion. Before he could turn around Professor McGonagall walked in and stood directly in front of him.
"Mr. Potter, I trust that you have taken advantage of the opportunity to eat a fulfilling breakfast?" she queried.
"Yes ma'am, Kreacher made me bacon, eggs and toast. I'm just finishing up." Harry replied. Kreacher glared at his owner, clearly not happy with Harry's less that truthful answer.
"Good. Now then, Harry, I can understand your desire to be alone but I do not agree with how you are distancing yourself from the Weasleys," she scolded him softly.
"I don't want to be a burden to them; they still have so much to work past. You know, with Fred and all," he explained.
"What about Ginny? I though for sure the two of you would find comfort in each other at this most trying of times," she said in a softer, more caring voice.
"I… I don't…" Harry sighed and let his head droop. "We're not together," he mumbled.
"I know the two of you split prior to your mission. I'd just assumed that it was only temporary." The elderly witch touched Harry's arm gently. He flinched, and she quickly withdrew her hand.
Harry looked up to his elder with sad dull eyes. "That's what I thought too…I don't want to talk about it any longer." He blinked a few times before addressing Professor McGonagall again, "Do you mind if I stay a few more days?"
"No, not at all, and Harry, all the professors are here if you need someone to talk with." She smiled warmly at her student.
Harry nodded, and the professor left him to finish his toast.
The next two days evolved in exactly the same fashion. Harry would wake, shake off the newest nightmare and go down for a bit of toast from the elves. Afterward he would make his way back to the common room to rest his aches and pains. He didn't sleep for more than a few hours at a time. The light naps allowed him to rest and helped keep the horrible dreams away. The down side to the lack of sleep was that he lost what little weight he gained while staying at Shell Cottage just a few weeks ago. Another side effect was the negativity of his attitude, his mood became surlier and he seldom smiled. He tried to stay away from the work crews and teachers.
On the third day Professor Flitwick cornered him and asked about his limp and other injuries. Harry tried to make excuses for his limp saying he'd fallen off his broom. In hindsight that strategy proved to be less than successful. At least the diminutive professor didn't call him a liar outright.
He was ordered to present himself to Madam Pomfrey in the hospital ward, but he never went. Somehow he felt as though the physical pain he was feeling was helping him. No matter how twisted the logic, it was all that made sense to him. Instead, he snuck into the medicine closet using his invisibility cloak and smuggled out some potions to help heal the open wounds. His method of treatment wasn't going too well. He managed to hide the hurt from everyone that saw him. In private he used the remaining physical pain to distract him from the emotional pain coursing through his heart and the mental anguish polluting his mind.
Harry walked softly across the bedroom to get a closer look at the pictures on the night stand beside the bed. He stooped over, peering at the dusty photos. Suddenly his legs were unceremoniously yanked out from under him and he crashed to the floor. He struggled to free himself from the attack but the snake was too strong. He twisted around to stare into the giant snake's face. Nagini's glowing yellowish eyes devoured him, the snake's coils tightened around his torso, squeezing him forcefully. Harry gasped for breath.
"Hermione!" he shrieked. "Help me!" he managed to gasp. He could hear the rapid footfalls as his friend raced up the stairs to his aid. The door to Bathilda Bagshot's bedroom flew open. Hermione stood in shock at the sight before her.
Harry continued to pummel the snake, throwing punch after punch into the snake's writhing body. The snake flipped him across the floor and then wrapped another length of its body around his neck.
"Reducto!" Hermione yelled, but the spell missed wide to the left. The sitting bench by the bureau splintered, raining wood chips onto Harry's face. The snake tensed its muscles in reaction to the errant spell.
Harry gasped for air in a desperate attempt to breathe, but the tightening of the snake's body allowed no air to enter his lungs. The window to the bedroom exploded inward, Voldemort glided swiftly into the dark room. "Imperio!" Hermione never had a chance to react before Voldemort cast the Imperious Curse. He used his wand movements to pull her towards the center of the room.
"Well, well, if it isn't Harry Potter…" the evil wizard said in a silky smooth manner. Voldemort leered at Hermione. "I'm so glad to see Nagini will be eating well tonight."
Harry's vision blurred from lack of oxygen, he tried to focus, straining his eyes. His pulse pounded within his skull, thumping loudly. His eyes clouded even more and he began to loose consciousness.
"And now Mr. Potter, say goodbye to your worthless mudblood friend," Voldemort hissed. The Dark Lord flourished his wand towards Hermione. "Avada Kedavra!" The flash of green light that haunted so many of Harry's dreams returned, striking down his best friend.
"Nooooo!" Harry screamed in agony. "Nooooo!"
He tossed over and sat bolt upright in bed, sweating profusely. He gulped quick breaths in an effort to calm his breathing. He settled down and took in the familiar sights of his dormitory. His breathing and pulse returned to normal and he slid back under the sheets. He tossed and turned the rest of the night, barely gathering another hour or two of sleep.
Harry was stretched out in his four-poster bed, covers loosely lying across him. The nightmare was long gone and he managed to get nearly three hours of undisturbed sleep. So far those three hours marked the longest stretch of uninterrupted sleep he enjoyed since leaving the Burrow the night of the wedding.
He stirred as brilliant white sunlight filtered into the room. He felt a flutter above his head. 'Hedwig!' he thought. A smile graced Harry's face for the first time in days, until reality set in and he knew Hedwig was dead. Reality became suddenly worse when he lifted one eyelid and lazily focused his blurry eyes on the scarlet envelope hovering above his head, knowing immediately the fluttering was a howler.
Molly Weasley's voice echoed throughout the room, "HARRY JAMES POTTER! HOW DARE YOU! LYING TO ME, LYING TO ARTHUR! WHERE IS YOUR HEAD CHILD? YOU WILL, I STATE 'WILL', PICK YOURSELF UP, PACK, AND BE AT THE BURROW BEFORE NIGHTFALL. IF NOT I WILL COME BACK TO THAT SCHOOL AND DRAG YOU HERE BY THE EAR! THIS LACK OF RESPECT IS INEXCUSABLE. I EXPECT MORE FROM YOU AND I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANY OF YOUR 'WOE IS ME' RUBBISH!
Harry sat up on the bed, thunderstruck at the raw power of Molly Weasley's voice.
"I SAID, GET GOING DAMNIT! NOW, ARSE OFF THE BED AND MOVING MR. POTTER!" Molly's voice cascaded over his head causing him to cover his ears.
Harry took a long hot shower to soothe his injuries, then returned to the dormitory and dressed for the day. He finished dressing and started the process of packing his meager belongings.
"She isn't my mother! She's only feeling guilty, or pities me. And there is no way I can go to the Burrow while Ginny is there, that is another impossible situation," he ranted out loud. In a testament to his bravery, he seriously considered ignoring the demands from Molly to return to the Burrow.
In a testament to the power of his remaining common sense, he decided it was better for him to adhere to her wishes and face the Weasleys now, rather than later. He grabbed his rucksack and shoved the infamous invisibility cloak in along with the torn picture of him on his broom as a toddler and a few other items scattered throughout the mostly empty dormitory. He proceeded down to the kitchen for his breakfast of plain wheat toast with the elves and then strolled across the grounds for a few hours. Harry sat by Headmaster Dumbledore's tomb talking to his deceased mentor. After that he walked the grounds and found his way to Hagrid's hut.
"Hagrid! Hagrid, you home?" he called out.
There was no sound from within the hut. Hagrid wasn't home. Harry sighed in disappointment.
After leaving Hagrid's place Harry continued to walk the grounds in solitude. Eventually he arrived near the quidditch pitch. Happy memories flooded back to him. One large regret Harry kept, was that he had never really seen Ginny play much. Umbrigde had banned him one year and Professor Snape's detentions had derailed him the next. This was something he hoped to remedy in the future, assuming of course, that she wanted anything to do with him.
He started to think about how he was going to explain everything to the Weasleys. How could he explain all these feelings and visions when he couldn't even decipher them for himself? The war was supposed to be over. Inside him, inside his head, the battle still raged and from the way he felt, Voldemort was winning.
"HARRY POTTER! WHERE THE BLODDY HELL ARE YOU! THERE IS PRECIOUS LITTLE TIME FOR YOU TO GET HERE WITHOUT FEELING MY WRATH. I HAVE TOO MUCH INVESTED IN YOUR WELLBEING TO ACCEPT THIS BEHAVIOR. AM I UNDERSTOOD?" Mrs. Weasley's voice reverberated across the hills as another howler snapped in the air above him.
Harry resigned himself to the inevitable. He walked down the hill towards Hogsmeade. At the stone gate, he looked back at the castle and stepped across the wards. He felt a cold shiver as he did so, figuring he was leaving one of his favorite places. After passing across the wards he focused, spun to his left and disappeared.
With an audible 'pop' Harry appeared on a deserted country lane. Across the street was a large abandoned farm house. It was a light red brick, white trim and shutters. From the size of it Harry figured it must have housed a large family at one time. The front and north side were wrapped by a large sitting porch. The south side was connected to a large two story plus carriage house with a covered breezeway. The estate was in dire need of repair, it had not been lived in for some time.
He trudged on, and passed under the old willow tree about a third of a mile from the Burrow. He adjusted the pack and limped slowly towards the house muttering over his excuses as he went. He climbed the few steps to the porch.
Without warning his arms and legs slammed together to his sides. Harry gasped as his breath was pushed from his body. He was immobilized immediately and was only able to emit one garbled shout of, "Heelllp!"
The front door was pulled back in haste and Mrs. Weasley pushed open the screen door, rapping Harry on the head with the corner of it, making him wince in pain. "Harry? What on earth…"
He was still invisibly bound and it was getting harder to breathe. He heard "Hmppff" from the window above the front porch, so did Mrs. Weasley.
"GINEVRA MOLLY WEASLEY! DOWNSTAIRS THIS INSTANT!" she bellowed. "WE DO NOT HEX VISITORS TO THIS HOUSE!"
"I DON'T WANT HIM HERE!" Ginny hollered back.
"WELL IT'S NOT UP TO YOU, WE ARE THE PARENTS AND WHAT WE SAY GOES! NOW MISSY, GET DOWN HERE!" retorted her mother.
At this point Mr. Weasley appeared at the door, Molly looked at him and said, "Do something."
Mr. Weasley reacted by doing what any smart male would do, he ducked to his left and headed for the basement, leaving his irate wife to deal with his impassioned daughter.
Molly spun on her heels and headed back in the house as Harry continued to struggle with the hex. A few moments later Molly reappeared dragging Ginny along by her long red ponytail.
"UNHEX HIM YOUNG LADY!"
"No Mum," Ginny said quietly.
"No arguments please, I said, unhex him," Molly said forcefully but her voice was returning to a normal level.
Ginny flicked her wand and muttered an incantation under her breath. The invisible bonds on Harry loosened. Ginny glowered at Harry for a moment, turned abruptly and stalked off towards her room. At this point, sensing the commotion was past; Arthur came up from the basement.
Molly glared at Arthur as he ascended the stairs. "Pick one!"
"Harry," Mr. Weasley answered without hesitating.
"Chicken!" Molly said to him with disgust. "Look after him while I go deal with your daughter." She spun quickly and pounded back into the house.
"Well, that was quite an entrance wasn't it Harry?" Arthur questioned.
"I suppose it was," replied Harry, who was now sitting up and rubbing the cut on his forehead caused by the screen door. Upstairs he could hear Molly yelling at Ginny for her behavior towards Harry.
"Come on, we'll conjure a couple cots and you can keep me company in the study. I don't believe I'll be allowed in my room tonight after my hasty exit from the battle zone," Mr. Weasley chuckled.
"Need a drink Harry?" Arthur asked as he poured two rather large glasses of fire whiskey for them, conjured the cots and set the bottle between them as they both sat. "Couple things I've learned over the years son. Number one; do not find yourself anywhere near Molly when she is livid with anger. Number two; do not put yourself in a position to be hexed by my lovely daughter. Number three; never get between two redheaded women having an argument."
He continued on, "Seeing how all three rules were in effect, I did the only prudent thing, I got out." He smiled at Harry. "I'm serious young man, even at my age; it is less painful to sleep on this cot than get caught in any one of those situations, much less all three."
"Thanks for inviting me," Harry said quietly. "I can leave you know, if Ginny really doesn't want me here."
"Oh, don't worry about it Harry, she'll calm down eventually," answered Mr. Weasley.
"Before or after I'm irreversibly damaged by one of her hexes?" asked Harry.
"Well, that remains to be seen, but I'm not putting any money on you," Arthur chuckled again.
They stayed up a couple more hours chatting and had several more drinks. Eventually Mr. Weasley fell asleep. Harry lay on his cot dreading the point he would fall asleep, knowing when he did so, the nightmares would return. Harry tossed and turned.
Voldemort again entered Harry's mind, emitting his, evil laugh. "Come little Potter. Come see if you're man enough to help your little friends…" Voldemort sneered. To his horror he saw, Ron, Hermione and Ginny dangling upside down suspended from gallows situated in the gloom of the forbidden forest. "Pick young Potter, pick, as whichever friend you choose to save the others will surely die…Come now, who do you want to live?" he tormented Harry.
"No, no, I can't, I can't…" gasped Harry thrashing about on the cot.