The Hogwarts Express
The months went by quickly. Harry became friends with Ron and Hermione again, yet he still didn't trust them enough to tell them everything. They probably knew Voldemort was his father, anyway. The O.W.L.S. left Harry too busy studying to think about finding Voldemort. Harry knew Dumbledore wanted him to stay away from Voldemort, but he had to figure out some more information. Harry constantly wondered what happened to his mother, and more importantly, who she was. There was nothing in old copies of The Daily Prophet or any books about Voldemort having a family.
Harry kept having nightmares at night. In his nightmare's, Harry was running after a snake. The snake was trying to kill someone, a woman, and he had to stop it…Before Harry could do anything, he'd wake up in a cold sweat. Once in a while, Harry would find Ron awake staring at him. "Just a nightmare," Harry would mutter while Ron went back to sleep, unconvinced. Harry, however, would stay up for hours thinking until he fell back into a restless sleep.
With O.W.L.S. finished, Harry spent a lot of his time wondering what to do. He felt like he needed the information. Ron and Hermione noticed how he was always spacing out.
"Harry?" Hermione said after asking Harry a question he did not answer. Hermione had healed completely from the encounter with Dolohov in the Forbidden Forest. She had had to stay in the Hospital Wing for a few weeks, but she was back to normal again.
"What?" Harry asked, coming out from his thoughts.
"Are you feeling alright?"
"Yeah…I'm fine…"
"Hey, look at this!" Ron said, pointing at an article in the Daily Prophet that was spread out in front of Hermione. "It says that You-Know-Who has been spotted.
"Where?" Harry asked, peering over at the paper.
"Godric's Hallow." Hermione answered, studying Harry carefully. "You're not thinking of going after him, are you?"
"No, of course not," Harry lied. The last thing he wanted was Hermione trying to persuade him not to go. Ron would side with her, and they'd do anything to stop him. If only they knew how it felt to know hardly anything about your family, then they would agree with him.
"I'm not going to head after him, okay?" Harry said again, annoyed. Ron and Hermione were staring, unconvinced, at him.
"Well, I guess we better get packing," Ron said after a few moments of silence. "We're going back home in a few days, and we wouldn't want to forget anything.
The next couple of days passed by quickly, and soon the three were off towards the Hogwarts Express. Harry looked back at Hogwarts. He always hated leaving the school and going back to the Burrow. Harry, Ron, and Hermione boarded the Hogwarts Express and found an empty compartment. They entered the room and took a seat.
"So are you going to come over the last few weeks of the summer?" Ron asked Hermione. Harry didn't listen to her answer. He was focused on the figure he saw moving along the Forbidden Forest. The figure was tall and pale with light blonde hair. Harry recognized the person; it was Draco Malfoy. Harry hadn't seen Malfoy since he was led into the Forbidden Forest. Malfoy never returned to Hogwarts after that. Harry watched Malfoy until he disappeared back into the Forbidden Forest.
Harry decided not to mention this to Hermione and Ron. They were happily discussing about what they were going to do over the break, and they would think he was going crazy anyway. What would Malfoy be doing in the Forbidden Forest? Ron and Hermione would probably think Malfoy had a harmless reason to be there, while Harry thought he was up to no good.
If only he could get off the train to talk to Malfoy…
No, that would cause too much attention. He could find Voldemort without Malfoy's help, or Voldemort would find him, whichever occurred first.
There was stormy weather as the Hogwarts Express traveled back to Platform 9 ¾. Harry could barely see anything outside of the train.
"I think we should be arriving soon," Hermione said, glancing at her watch. "but the weather might've caused some delay…"
Hermione was right; the weather caused them to be thirty minutes late. The Hogwarts Express finally stopped, though, and the three got up to get off the train.
