Chapter 8: Finding Home

This wasn't what he had planned out…

Harry had all given up hope of ever finding his family after he saw what was left of his parent's house. But here he was with his godfather. Night had come and his friends had given the two of them privacy in the living room—while they tried to sleep the snake attack off in one of the bedrooms.

Harry sat there, explaining to Sirius everything that he could remember. How he got separated from his parents, and then forced to live in an orphanage—just waiting for someone to come and take him. But no one ever did. And so he took a chance and decided to come back here for some answers after he'd been allowed to leave with Hermy.

"You were living in an orphanage all these years?" Sirius croaked out, his hands over his face, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You were alive… all this time…?"

"Sirius, you didn't know," Harry said at once, trying not to feel the slight bit of resentment inside him for Sirius never bothering to look. But those nasty feelings faded after seeing the devastated look in his godfather's eyes.

"All this time…?" Sirius repeated to himself, "And I never knew?"

Harry reached across the table and gripped his shoulder. "Again, you had no idea where I was. But just what happened?" he asked desperately. "Mum and dad? What happened?"

Sirius sighed as he looked up at him and explained, "Your parents decided to take a quick weekend vacation up near Hogsmeade. They invited me along, but I couldn't go. I wasn't feeling well that weekend. But we planned on having breakfast when they got back…"

"But they never did," Harry said softly.

"No," Sirius said, getting up and pacing the room. "On the night that you all were supposed to come back, was the revolt. I didn't hear about it until the next day. They never showed up at the docks. I thought at first that they just missed the boat and would catch the next one, but I waited there all day and you all never came back. It didn't feel right… and that was when I heard the news."

"And Mum and Dad?" Harry asked softly, already knowing what must've happened.

"They were killed in the attack," he sighed. "There were a small army of hooded figures attacking innocent people and they stepped in to try and stop it. From what I heard, they fought bravely but…"

"I don't remember too much about that," Harry admitted, raising his hand up to look at it, completely lost in thought to that night. "I was cold and dad gave me his cloak as we headed down the road that night. That was when all these people started yelling and screaming… there was fire burning in the distance, but I didn't understand what was going on. Mum was scared. She pulled me along after her and dad… I remember holding on to her hand."

Sirius sat there staring at him, as if unable to tear his eyes away from him as he listened to every word. "But I was getting shoved around by all those people we got separated… the crowd pulled her away from me. I never saw her again. Or dad… eventually, some men found me and threw me out to the orphanage when I told them what happened."

"They told me that they were gone," Sirius sighed, covering his face with his hands. "And that you were killed too. Why didn't I…? I should've looked… I just…"

Harry got up from the table and went around it to hug him tightly. "You know, all these years, I wondered just what it would feel like to see you again…"

"And what are you feeling now?" Sirius asked, looking up at him.

Harry felt embarrassed at the tears that were burning his eyes, but he didn't turn away as he said, "I feel like I finally found a place to belong."

Sirius had tears in his own eyes as he stood up and hugged him tightly.

"I'm so sorry," he said sincerely, his voice choked up. "For making you wait all this time."

Harry fought the tears as he buried his face in Sirius shoulder—not sure what else to do. He didn't know how long they stood there like that before they finally pulled away.

"Now that you're here, what now?" Sirius asked him at once. "You will stay here won't you? We have all this time to make up."

The smile faded slightly from Harry face as he looked to the door where his friends were sleeping "I want to," he said softly, "More than anything. But… you see I made a promise. I have to see it through to the end."

He and Sirius looked up at each other.

Harry then sat down and explained the whole truth to Sirius about what they were doing, and why they were here.

"So you think that Hermy might be the princess?" Sirius asked slowly.

"It would explain a lot," Harry said. "Hermy doesn't remember anything about her past. She doesn't remember anything before the revolt. The only clue she has to who she is Hogwarts, and that's where her only family is supposed to be alive. I know it's a long shot, but she wants to take a chance."

He looked pleadingly up at Sirius, hoping that he understood. "I want to be here with you!" he said earnestly, "You have to believe me! But I promised that I'd help her!"

He got up to pace around the room. "It's only going to be a little longer… a few weeks at most! We're going to see the Grand Duchess Minerva at Hogwarts. We'll find out the truth one way or another. If it turns out that she's not Hermione, then we'll come back here and try to start over. But if she is, then that means that she found her family and her home."

He looked Sirius in the eyes. "She's like a sister to me," he said. "I love her like a sister and she's been searching for who she is as long as I have. If there's a chance… if there's any way that she could find her family like how I found you, then I want to help her!"

Sirius just looked at him.

"No matter what, I'll come back," Harry said imploringly. "Now that I know you're here… I want to know everything. But until then, I have to try and help her. Do you understand?"

Sirius merely smiled sadly as he pulled him into a tight hug.

*The Next Day*

"I can't believe this," Ginny said, sounding hurt and angry. "We're leaving him behind?"

"Ginny," Ron sighed. "Let's not go into this again.

"Do we have to leave like this?" Ginny asked upset, glaring at him, "We didn't even say goodbye! How do we know that he wanted to stay?"

"Of course he wanted to stay," Hermy said forcefully, fighting the tears. "Harry found his family. There's no more reason to stay."

That night, while Harry and Sirius talked, they decided to slip out the house just before the sun rose. They didn't want to make Harry choose between them and Sirius. So they thought that the best thing to do would be to just leave before they noticed they were gone.

They packed silently, and slipped out the window to the docks. They were so focused on making it to the ship before Harry realized that they were gone, that it wasn't until they were back on the ship did they realize what they were doing.

"But…" Ginny said, looking ready to cry as the ship started to move away from the shore. She looked as if she was ready to jump ship, but Hermy put her hand on her shoulder.

"I know," she said tearfully. "But this is best for him. We shouldn't make him choose us over his godfather. I mean, I know that Sirius wants him to stay… and this looks like a wonderful town to live in. I'm sure that he'll be just fine."

"None of us are happy about this, Ginny," Ron said grimly. Though he didn't know Harry all that long, he couldn't help but feel as if he was abandoning his best friend.

Hermy wiped her tears away as she leaned on the railing, thinking about the one person she had grown to love as her brother. "He found his place…" she said softly.

"Yeah, he did," said a voice behind them and they jumped to see Harry was standing there behind them.

"HARRY!" Ginny called happily, and ran forward to hug him tightly.

"What are you doing here?" Hermy gasped, unable to stop the surge of relief when she saw him.

"What do you by what am I doing here?" Harry demanded, "You that desperate to get rid of me?"

"No," she said hurriedly, "But we left and…?"

"I knew what you were planning," Harry said, rolling his eyes as he and Ginny pulled away. "I knew that you would try something like this. I set out on this journey with you all and I intend to finish it. We made a promise didn't we?"

"But you found your family," Hermy reminded him softly.

"Yeah," he said. "But me and Sirius talked it out. It's not forever. Once we go to Hogwarts and get some real answers, I promised that I'd come back. He wasn't happy about it, but he agreed that it was for the best… Look…"

He turned and waved to the shore. They looked back to see Sirius Black standing there on the docks, his arm raised in farewell. "Thanks so much for understanding!" Harry called after him, waving long and hard, "And I promise that I'll be back after we finish what we need to do at Hogwarts!"

"Whatever!" Sirius called back, trying to sound like he didn't care… even at this distance, the sad look on his face betrayed his emotions. "Just come back when you're done!"

"Thanks for saving us, Sirius!" Ginny called, also waving goodbye. "I hope we see you again soon!"

"Yeah, thanks for the food!" Ron called.

"Is that all you have to say?" Ginny snapped at him, rolling her eyes.

"What? He fed us," he retorted.

"I don't know what I'm going to do with you," she said with a sigh. "I can't believe that we're related."

But Harry ignored them as he kept his eyes on Sirius even long after the ship pulled from port and the island was nothing but a speck in the distance.

As Ginny and Ron left below deck, still arguing the whole way, Hermy was smiling sadly at Harry. "I'm sorry," she said.

"For what?" he asked her in surprise.

"I didn't want you to have to choose between us and…" she began but he gave her head a gentle tap.

"We're family too aren't we?" he asked her. "I mean… I did promise you that I'd stick with you all the way didn't I? Not just half way. And like I said, Sirius understood… and after we get to Hogwarts, we'll find out about your family too. Sirius agreed that we could all move in with him if it turns out that it doesn't work out. But no matter what, I'm going to come back."

"I know," Hermy smiled sadly. "And that's kind of him. At least I know I have a back-up plan when we find out I'm not Hermione."

"And how do you know that?" he asked her.

"Come on," she sighed, leaning against the railing. "Me? A princess? Do I look princess-like to you? I'm about the furthest thing from a princess as possible."

"I don't know," Harry said brightly, turning and walking around the deck. "After all this, I think that it just might be true your highness."

"Not you too," she sighed.

He merely laughed, and Hermy was unable to join in at that—just glad that her best friend would be sticking with her for just a little longer.

*Later*

The rest of the day passed peacefully, and now the sun was starting to set as Harry stood on the deck and stared out at the shore that was long gone. While he was glad that he'd chose to come, a part of him still wished that he stayed behind and get to know Sirius. But… he kept reminding himself that he would learn everything once he returned.

Besides… he wasn't ready to say goodbye to his friends just yet.

"Harry?" said a voice, and he looked up in time to see Ginny walking towards him.

"Oh, Ginny," he said in mild surprise as she joined him at the ship's edge. For a few minutes, neither one said anything. But then Ginny looked to him and said softly, "I'm glad…"

"For what?" he asked her in surprise.

"That you'll be travelling with us for a little longer," she smiled, her hand brushing his as she rested them on the railing beside him. "To be perfectly honest, I didn't want to say goodbye to you."

Harry felt his face turn a little red as they looked at each other. "Neither did I," he confessed and they laughed awkwardly.

"Well, I'll be coming back soon," he told her as he thought back to Sirius. "He even offered to have all of you live with him too… if you wanted to."

"I don't know," she said thoughtfully. "I mean, it's a nice place, and I wouldn't mind living there I suppose… but…"

"You had different plans?" he asked.

"Not really," she said softly. "I just planned on getting out of Hogsmeade. I never really thought about settling down someplace. But the more I think about it, the more I suddenly want it. Well, I guess it all depends on how well things go at Hogwarts."

She looked up at him, his green eyes looking into her brown ones… and at that moment she no longer cared what happened in the future. She no longer cared about all that reward money. She suddenly knew what she wanted.

She wanted to be with Harry.

She may have only known him for a short time, but she never once had such strong feelings for someone as she did with him. He made her feel safe… that just by being near him gave her a place to belong…

Harry kept looking long and hard at her, his throat strangely dry as he slowly found himself leaning in to her. And as if some force was commanding her to do it, she tilted her head up and that was when their lips finally touched and it was as if the rest of the world faded away until it was only the two of them together.

Harry gently cupped her face in his hands, this kiss was so unplanned, so unexpected… that it was a wonder that they didn't miss their targets. But at the same time it was so wonderful. Neither one of them had ever kissed another before, and had no idea what to do. It began as a simple press on each other's mouths—shy and innocent—but after awhile, it turned soft and they were kissing properly… but slowly.

It wasn't like anything either of them had ever felt before… the closest that they could put to words this experience was coming inside after travelling through a long, cold blizzard and sinking into a warm bath.

After what felt like an eternity, they finally broke apart, and pulled back to stare at each other. For a moment, they seemed to be at a loss for words.

"Now I know," Ginny whispered vaguely.

"Know what?" he asked her hoarsely, gasping for air.

"I know now what it is that I wanted so badly," she confessed, her hands folding into his.

"And what's that?" he asked back.

"I wanted to find a home," she whispered, closing her eyes again, "One that I could go back to… and now I know that I am home…"

"We're both home…" Harry finished for her as he shut his own eyes and they were kissing again—their arms around the other as the rest of the world faded away until it was only the two of them alone together.

*Hermy*

Hermy who was walking up to the deck stopped dead as she saw them. Harry and Ginny were there, their arms around each other and sharing a gentle kiss under the glowing sky. She was stunned to say the least… she had known that they liked each other, but she didn't think they'd be moving this fast. But as she watched them pull away and talk—she could see such a calm and spiritual look on Harry's face that she couldn't remember ever seeing before.

She merely smiled as she turned and headed down the stairs to the room where Ron was. "Did you find them?" he asked her, "It's almost dinner."

"Oh, don't worry," she smiled. "They're just fine. Ginny's just telling Harry how glad she is that he decided to come with us."

"Oh," Ron said, obviously thinking that they were just talking, and Hermy intended to keep it that way if she could help it.

"Just asking," she said, sitting down across from him. "What would you do if Ginny was in love with someone?"

"Why ask that?" he asked her.

"Just making small talk," she lied. "Just asking if you knew that she loved someone?"

"You think I'd let my baby sister be with just anyone?" he asked sourly.

"But what if he truly loved her in return?" she pressed on. "What if she was happy with him and wanted to be with him? I mean, it's bound to happen someday right? You can't protect her forever… and I think she has a great judge of character."

"Look, it hasn't happened yet," he said waving his hand away, "And until it does, I'm not going to bother with it. I mean, if the guy she likes is a decent enough bloke, maybe. But it all depends on the guy."

"And if you approved of him?" she asked smiling.

"Then I… why're you asking?" he demanded.

Hermy fought back a smile. "Well, maybe I'm getting a little ahead of myself." She leaned back and then asked, "Forget I said anything. But what about you?"

"What about me?" he asked crossly, obviously not liking all these questions.

"What are you going to do when you fall in love with a girl?" she asked him brightly.

"Me?" he asked, suddenly turning red. "I dunno… I never… ah…" he trailed off, and she had never seen him look so uncomfortably.

She laughed, "Forget I ever asked," she said smiling, feeling happier than she had for a long time. She never really noticed how easy it was to talk to Ron… nor how easy it was for her to forget about what it was they were doing. All the questions she had in her life… who was she? Where did she come from? Her family? All those questions seemed to slip out of her mind as she laughed with him. All his stupid jokes just seemed to make it easy for her to forget all these bad things.

Not that she ever really noticed this as she spent the next ten minutes talking with him, laughing about some stupid stuff, until Harry and Ginny came back in the room.

"What took you two so long?" Ron asked them, as Ginny almost floated into the room, a dreamy smile on her face.

"Just enjoying the ocean," she smiled, and went skipping off to her room, saying that she was going to lie down.

Harry merely sat down on the couch with them, and had that same dazed expression on his face.

"What's with you?" Ron asked.

"Huh?" Harry asked distractedly, "Yeah, I'm sure dinner'll be good too…"

"What?" Ron asked, completely baffled as Hermy giggled.

"Oh, I think all this salt air does things to people," she smiled at Ron, as Harry continued to gaze off at the wall, and she knew that dinner was the last thing on his mind. "It's nothing to worry about… they'll be just fine."

(Awww… yes, I decided to have Harry and Sirius say goodbye again for a little while. And yes, the main romance of the story will be Ron and Hermione. But it's taking them forever to realize how they feel for each other, and I needed something to contract it. Harry and Ginny were meant for each other, but it wasn't until they thought they were going to say goodbye did they really notice it. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll be getting up the next one soon. The next chapter is when they finally arrived at Hogwarts!)