When She Cries

A Harry Potter FanFiction

By: Kassie Wilson

Chapter 4

On Thursday Abby woke up early and got ready taking a little more time than she usually would. She took a shower then dried her hair and allowed it to fall in its normal wavy way. She parted it off to the side and pinned back the side with more hair with a purple sparkly butterfly barrette. Then she dressed in dark blue white washed jeans and a lavender v-neck baby doll t-shirt with a dark purple tank top underneath. Once satisfied with her outfit she applied minimal make-up of a light blush, lavender eye shadow, and light pink lip gloss. She checked her appearance one more time in the mirror before grabbing Harry's present and heading across the street. She walked in and the house was quiet. She went to the kitchen and only Mrs. Weasley was there already cooking what Abby assumed to be Harry's favorites.

"Hi Molly."

"Why, hello dear! Harry will be so happy to see you, and don't you just look gorgeous!" she exclaimed.

"Thanks," Abby said as she blushed. "Breakfast smells fabulous, Molly! Would you like me to wake up the birthday boy?"

"Go on up, you know where he is," she said with a smile.

Abby walked up the stairs and crept into the boy's room. Ron was just beginning to wake and she looked at him and put one finger over her lips. He nodded and smirked as Abby crept to Harry's side of the room. She knelt down and stared at his troubled face and whispered, "Harry," and waited as his eyes fluttered open. "Hey you, happy birthday," she said with a smile.

Harry smiled and rubbed his eyes. He grabbed his glasses and sat up. "I must be dreaming, there's an Angel in my room," he said with a grin.

"Okay, you're a charmer. Out of bed you go, breakfast is almost ready so get dressed and I'll be downstairs with your present," she said with a smile as she braced herself on his bed to get up and he grabbed her hand.

"I don't get it now?" he asked with a small pout. Abby blushed and shook her head.

"Nope, not until you're dressed and downstairs for breakfast," she said as she gently rubbed her thumb against his hand before winking and walking out of the room with a little more sway in her hips than she usually would have.

When Abby left Harry laid back and groaned as Ron laughed. "She's really getting to you isn't she?" Ron asked.

"Yeah mate, she's just, wow," he sighed. "I'm gonna marry her one day Ron."

"To do that you have to date her first mate," Ron said throwing a pillow at him. "Now come on, mum's cooking up a grand birthday breakfast storm down there."

By the time the boys got down stairs Abby's plate was full and she was strumming her fingers impatiently as were most of the other people waiting for them. Harry sat down beside her and shook his head as he loaded his plate as well.

"Alright everyone, dig in," Molly told them.

After their huge breakfast Harry opened presents. From Hermione he got the book and a box of Bertie Bots Every Flavor Beans. From Ron he got a jug of Butter Beer. From Mrs. Weasley, well what else but a bright green sweater. From Ginny he received a deck of wizard cards that of course had moving pictures of famous Quidditch players and an anti-cheating charm. He had also received a few other miscellaneous things from other Order members and finally opened Abby's last. The card was the exact shade of his eyes and had a moving drawing of a golden snitch on the front.

Inside Abby had written out a poem:

In times of despair, your smile brings me hope.

In times of trouble, your knowing look helps my world make sense.

In times of weakness, your courage inspires me.

In times of fear, your strength lifts me up.

In times of happiness, your hand in mine is all I need.

Together you and I are stronger than we could ever be apart.

She signed the card:

Harry,

Happy Birthday!

I hope we can spend many more of them together.

Abby

Harry opened the book of paper that can only be read by someone with the code and the ink that changed from blue to green to black and repeated.

"In case you want to write a note and don't want anyone else to read it," Abby explained.

Harry smiled, "Thanks Abs, it's awesome." He wrapped her in a hug and she hugged back breathing in his unique almost windblown scent. Harry was dazzled by the subtle scent of berries in her wavy red-brown hair.

"No problem," she whispered in his ear, "Happy Birthday."

They released each other and found that most of the people in the room had dispersed. Ron and Hermione simply smiled and Molly stood at the sink having a scrub brush do the dishes. Harry and Abby blushed and Harry gathered his presents and hauled them upstairs. Abby followed but Hermione tugged on Ron's arm so they stayed behind. When Harry finished packing the items in his trunk he turned and saw Abby standing in the doorway looking longingly out the window. He walked to her and ran his knuckles along her arm. "You okay?" he asked.

She turned to look at him and smiled. "Yeah, just missing home; missing my mom and dad," she told him and sighed. Harry wrapped his arms around her gently and she returned his embrace as he gently stroked her hair. "I'm sorry, it's your birthday, I shouldn't be this depressing. Do you want to go to my house? We can watch a movie or something, unless you would rather spend time with Ron and Hermione."

"I would love to spend the day with you," he said with a smile. She smiled and looped an arm through his as they headed downstairs and out of the house. Abby's house was empty. Josh was at work at the Ministry and Jaime had become really good friends with Ginny so they were at Number 12 making jewelry in the drawing room.

Abby took Harry up to her room and pulled out her big black case of DVDs and laid them on the bed. "You pick, it's your birthday," she said with an easier smile.

"Can we talk first? There's something I haven't told you or really talked to anyone about and I'm ready to now," he entreated.

"Yeah," she said crawling onto her bed and motioning for him to join her. He crawled next to her on the bed and sat cross legged while she propped herself up with pillows against the wall stretching her legs out in front of her. "Hermione did happen to mention that you were holding something back," she told him.

"But she didn't say what it was?" he asked.

"Nope," Abby confirmed, "She just said that you lost someone this summer, too."

"Okay," Harry sighed, almost as if he'd hoped that Hermione had told her so he wouldn't have to.

"Hey," she said taking his hand, "it's okay, you can tell me," she whispered.

Harry gazed into her eyes and finally resolved whatever was keeping him quiet. "I should probably start at the beginning," he said quietly. Abby squeezed his hand encouraging him to go on. "When I was born my parents named my dad's best friend, Sirius Black, my Godfather. For years everyone believed that he told Voldemort where to find my parents, but in my third year at Hogwarts we found out who the real culprit was. After that a lot of stuff happened that night and the real culprit got away and Sirius had to come here and hide. Then last year, Voldemort figured out that we have some strange connection from the night he tried to kill me. He can get into my brain and make me see things that aren't really happening. Which is what happened at the end of last school year, he made me think that he was torturing Sirius in the department of mysteries at the Ministry. So Dumbledore's Army, which I will tell you about later, we went in with wands blazing and it didn't take me long to figure out the I had been tricked, Sirius didn't even come to the ministry until I had gotten me and my friends into a big mess that we couldn't get out of. That night Sirius died, at the hand of his cousin Bellatrix Lestrange." As Harry told the story Abby listened intently and simply held his hand tightly. "It's my fault he died," Harry whispered.

"Harry James Potter, look at me," Abby demanded and Harry's eyes met hers. "This was not your fault, Bellatrix Lestrange killed your Godfather, and Bellatrix Lestrange alone is to blame for that. I know you don't believe me right now but I will keep saying it until you do." Tears had welled in Harry's eyes and began to spill down his cheeks. Abby took his face in her hands and cleared them away with her thumb. She gently kissed his forehead and wrapped her arms around his neck. In return he held her tightly around the waist and couldn't stop himself from sobbing quietly for a few minutes. When he pulled himself together Abby let him go and leaned back onto her pile of pillows but kept hold of Harry's hand and held their hands together on her lap.

"Thank you, Abby. I haven't talked to anyone about it since it happened in May, but for some reason I just needed to tell you about it. I can't explain it," he told her.

"I feel it, too, Harry and there are things, horrible things in my past that I really want you to know about, but not today. Today is for you, okay?" she said.

"Okay," he said breathing deeply, "So, how about that movie?" he said with a lopsided smile.

She grinned and nodded motioning to the case. "Those are all my movies, feel free to have a look. Believe it or not some of them are actually about the military and sports so you can probably find something you'll like in there," she said with a chuckle.

"Actually, believe it or not, I'm hungry," Harry laughed. "Might I be able to con you into cooking for me?" he said with puppy dog eyes.

"How could I resist those eyes?" she said playfully, climbing off the bed and pulling him to his feet with her. They walked hand in hand down to the kitchen and she asked, "What are you in the mood for? You cannot be super hungry, that breakfast was obnoxious, but it is lunchtime. We know I do pasta well; I also make a mean homemade pizza and a pretty awesome chicken salad."

"Hmmm, pizza sounds delicious," he said with a smile.

Abby nodded and preheated the oven then turned to the fridge in which she found premade pizza dough, pepperoni, and shredded mozzarella cheese. From the cupboard she pulled out pizza sauce. She washed her hands and then found the pizza pan under the stove. While she kneaded and flattened the dough onto the pan, Harry walked up next to her and leaned against the counter. "I never told you, you look beautiful today. I like that color purple on you," he said softly as he gently stroked her arm once leaving a trail of goose bumps in his wake. Abby blushed and murmured, "Thanks." Once she had rolled the dough into the shape of a pizza she grabbed the sauce jar and try as she might she couldn't open it. She turned sheepishly to Harry and he grinned as he easily twisted off the cap. Abby spread the sauce nice and thin then put the cap back on the unused sauce. "Can you put this back in the fridge?" she asked handing him the jar.

He did as he was asked and then said, "I'll be right back," and walked out of the kitchen.

Abby sprinkled the cheese on, added the pepperoni, set the timer, and put the pizza in the oven. Then she went to find Harry and he was in the living room standing on the stairs looking at a collage of pictures of Abby. Abby stood at the bottom of the stairs and leaned against the wall watching him as he reached up and touched a picture of her and her mom.

"She was beautiful wasn't she?" Abby interrupted.

"She still is," he said with a smile and started to come down the stairs.

"I was talking about my mom," Abby retorted matter-of-factly.

"I know, but you look just like her, so she still is," he said with a wider grin as he took one hand and tucked Abby's unruly strands of hair behind her ear landing his hand on her cheek. Abby closed her eyes and leaned into his hand for a second then she gasped and twisted away from him hastily walking toward the kitchen. She braced herself on the counter to stop herself from hyperventilating as a flood of memories came rushing back into her mind that she really didn't want to think about right then. "Abby? What's wrong? What did I do?" Harry asked as he bounded through the door. He didn't touch her but he stood close.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I'm not going to lie and say I'm ok, I just need a minute. Please don't leave," she pleaded. "I'll be right back, if the timer goes off the oven mitts are in this drawer."

"I'll be here," he affirmed and she ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her room grabbing her receiver and sitting on the floor next to her bed as she quickly dialed Zac's number.

"Abs?" Zac said groggily.

"Hey," she said shakily, "I'm sorry, I know it's early but I need you to talk me down."

"What happened?" he asked, immediately more awake.

"So, it's Harry's birthday and we're spending the day alone at my house, right? Well he's being awesome and we're really getting closer and whatnot and then he touches my face and holds it, and I freak. I know he's not him Zac but that's all I could think about," Abby cried to her best friend.

"Abby, listen to me," Zac said firmly. "He's not there; he can't hurt you or anyone else any more. Do you hear me?"

"I hear you," she whispered tearfully.

"Do you think that Harry would ever do something like that to you?" he asked.

"No, not ever," she said vehemently.

"Have you told him about it yet?"

"No, I know I'm ready, but it's his birthday. I can't tell him today," she said as she cleared tears from her cheeks.

"Okay, but you need to tell him soon, let him help you, let him be there for you. I know your typical reaction is to turn to me, but I'm not there." Abby heard something in his voice that sounded like resentment. "Okay Abs?"

"Alright. Thanks Zac. Love you. Go back to sleep."

"Love you, too, Abs. Have a good day."

They hung up and Abby took a few more minutes to calm down before she walked back downstairs and to the kitchen. When she walked in Harry stood and the concern was plain on his face. "Are you okay?" he asked.

She said nothing but simply walked to him taking his hand and holding it against her face. She looked into his eyes showing him that her fear was gone.

He smiled and gently stroked her cheek before pulling her into his arms. "Ok."

He held her for a few minutes and then the buzzer for the oven went off and he let her go. She got an oven mitt and pulled the pizza out to find that the crust was a nice golden brown and the cheese was all melty just the way she liked it.

"That smells delicious," Harry raved.

"That's because it is delicious, dear," she said with a smile as she grabbed the pizza slicer out of the drawer and sliced the pizza. "Can you grab two plates out of that cabinet?" she pointed with her head and Harry opened it and grabbed them placing them on the table. "And two cups out of the one to the right of it," she said.

He did and asked, "What are we drinking?"

"We still have some punch left, or we have Coke," she said, "your choice."

"Punch sounds good," he said taking the pitcher out of the fridge as Abby put the sliced pizza on the table.

Lunch was a pretty silent affair while Abby and Harry played that game where one of them stared at the other and the other would look up to catch them staring so both of them would look down and blush or giggle.

After they cleaned up lunch Harry and Abby went back to her room. "Do you want to pick out a movie?" she asked.

"Sure." Harry grabbed the movie case and started to flip through them. "So what do you recommend? I don't really have any taste in movies, growing up with the Dursley's I probably only saw three or four movies while I lived there."

"Hmm, well what are you in the mood for? Comedy, drama, romance, romantic comedy?"

"How about romantic comedy, now you pick which one," he said sliding the DVDs to her and moving his self to sit next to her against the wall.

"I know just the one," she said flipping to somewhere in the middle of the case and pulling out French Kiss with Meg Ryan. She got up and slid it into the DVD player then grabbed the remote before rolling back on the bed.

Abby laid her head on Harry's stomach and felt the pace of his breathing increase. She rolled her head to look at him with a satisfied smirk on her face. "You okay?" she asked with a small laugh. He swallowed hard and nodded forcing a smile. Abby giggled. "Do I make you nervous Harry Potter?"

Harry laughed a little and then got very serious, "You scare the hell out of me Abigail."

Abby smiled and gently chewed on her bottom lip. She reached over and twined her fingers through his then rolled her head back towards the T.V. causing their hands to land on her flat stomach. Harry gently drew random designs on her t-shirt with his thumb and she giggled squeezing his hand. "That tickles," she complained.

"Sorry," he laughed, "I'll be good."

After the movie Abby sat up and stretched. "What did you think?" she asked as she turned to Harry.

He smiled and said, "It was good; the blonde was gorgeous!" he exclaimed with a smirk.

Abby's face fell and she looked down at her comforter. "So you're into blondes then?"

Harry moved closer to her and pulled her chin up to meet his eyes. "Actually, I'm a sucker for a pretty brunette," he said softly as he slowly brought his face closer to hers. Abby's breath quickened and Harry saw the fear in her eyes. He smiled and leaned his forehead against hers and she breathed a sigh of relief. "Not until you're ready, and I can tell you're holding back. I don't know why but I know I'm not going to push."

Abby pulled back and took his hand still resting on her face into hers. "Harry, I'm ready to tell you why but I didn't want to ruin your birthday," she explained.

"Abby, I'm with you and no matter what you tell me, you being here with me makes me happy. Please, Abby, I need to know," he pleaded.