A/N: Yes, since I left such a cruel cliffhanger last time, I decided to update sooner than intended. Anywho, I hope you like this chapter, no warnings for this one, but it's a good chapter!

Oh, and thanks to everyone who reviewed and favourited and put me on their alerts list! You are way too sweet for me. =)

Chapter Ten

Snape looked down at him with his dark eyes and promised, "You can leave with them."

Harry was in a daze. He had to be dreaming again. Some cruel 'rescue' dream. He'd had them before.

Harry looked at the door and then back at Snape. No. It was too easy. Wasn't it? After almost three years, freedom could not be just a few steps away.

Maybe it was a test? A test of his loyalty to the Dark Lord? He thought about the way Snape's lips felt against his own. No, Snape wouldn't do that. He wasn't such a chameleon anymore, not when Harry knew him.

"Are you staying here?" Harry asked, and Snape smiled.

"For a while", Snape said and Harry's eyes strayed to the door again. "Harry, I'll be fine. Just go, all right?"

Snape glanced over to the others again. "Just go. I'll join you in a while."

"Do you promise?" Harry asked, because he wasn't stupid. Snape was capable of lying to him.

"Yes", Snape said, smiling slightly, and Harry looked down at the wand still clutched in his hand so hard that his knuckles had gone white.

Okay. Harry moved slowly at first, and the only one who noticed was Malfoy. He stood by the corner, paler than usual, and met Harry's eyes as Harry made his way to the door. Harry had reached the door and had reached out his left hand to the door knob and he stood like that, frozen, waiting for Malfoy to speak, to yell out to the others. But he never did and Harry swallowed and opened the door and the small store was filled with the sounds of the battle again.

He shut the door behind him and ran, certain that they were coming after him, their wands at the ready, certain that any moment now they were going to hit him with some nasty spell. But they didn't, so he kept running up the street, to where he had last seen them.

A fire had started in one of the stores to his left, flames licking up the facade of the building, leaving behind streaks of black burn marks, but Harry didn't even give it a glance, he didn't even notice it. All that mattered was that he kept running.

And then there was someone else, shouting at him as they ran up next to him. They shouted that he should keep running, that they were almost out of the area with the apparition block. Harry continued, running blindly, faster than he had ever run before.

He tripped and there was that panicky moment when he frantically pushed himself up from the ground, his fingers brushing against something wet, blood or a spilled drink, maybe.

The air swept past him, pulling at his hair, trying to keep him where he was, trying to slow him down, but not even that was enough.

Just as Harry halted at the end of the street, he felt someone grab his arm, just over the elbow, and they both twirled around, leaving the destroyed street behind them.

/

The smell of smoke had disappeared and the air was colder. That was what Harry noticed first, before he opened his eyes. It smelled like damp grass and rain and... Summer.

Harry opened his eyes and squinted in the evening sun, before it all became clear. Hermione, Ron, Sirius, Lupin and Dumbledore. A few others that he didn't know the name of.

"Harry?" Hermione asked, and took a small step forward from Ron's protective arms. Her hair was pulled back in a loose braid, strands of dark, fluffy hair sticking out here and there.

Harry drew a hand through his hair and gave a disbelieving laugh. This was real. He hadn't been sure that it wasn't a dream, until now, but he could never have imagined this.

"Harry?" someone asked again and Harry let himself get wrapped up in someone's arms, Sirius' maybe. Yes, Sirius'. Harry buried his face in his robes, which smelled of soot and fire and sweat, but to Harry, it smelled wonderful. And under all that, there was the familiar smell of Sirius, which reminded Harry of belonging, of love and family.

And then there were other people around him, kissing and hugging, patting his shoulder.

Sirius kept his arm around him the whole time, a reassuring weight on Harry's shoulders, and Harry let himself relax against it, into warmth and safety.

/

Harry slept for what felt like days, but it couldn't possibly have been. It was only one night, but it was a full night without nightmares. He slipped in and out of pleasantly empty darkness, no old or new memories haunting him. When he woke up, he felt more rested than he had in years.

He wasn't alone in the room, some people were talking quietly at the far end of his bed. Harry let his eyes slide shut as he leaned back against the pillow, pretending he was sound asleep as he listened in to their conversation.

He heard Ron's voice hiss with anger and something else, fear maybe. "He should have told us!"

"He did tell us", Hermione's soft voice sounded slightly irritated, like she was explaining something for the umpteenth time and was really loosing her patience.

"He didn't tell us he was this bad", Ron continued and was met by silence.

"As much as you want to, you can't blame this on Snape", Hermione said quietly, after a long time.

As they said the name, Harry snapped his eyes open. He hadn't meant to, it just went on automatics. Harry missed him terribly, it was like a big, burning hole in the back of his head.

"Harry", Hermione said, in a near whisper, and they both turned to him.

"Where am I?" Harry asked, since that was the first thing that came into his head. He looked down at them, their friendly faces frowning in concern.

"You're in Sirius' house", Ron said quietly, like he wasn't sure how he was supposed to act. "Grimmauld Place 12 in London."

They'd changed. Ron had grown into a gangly and skinny teenager, with the slight shadow of stubble across his jaw. Hermione had filled out around her hips and chest, making her curvy and more like a woman than before. They had finished that change they'd started the last time Harry'd seen them, now they looked more like young adults than ever before.

Harry smiled, even though he wasn't sure what to do next. If he had to go back to go back to Voldemort at least he had this, his very own memory of them. He would hold on to that.

"Hermione", Ron said and Harry noticed that she'd started crying silently.

"I'm just so..." Hermione started, smiling between her tears. "We're so glad you're here."

Harry gave a weary smile. "I'm glad to be here too."

It didn't seem like it had stuck yet. He tried to repeat it in his head as Hermione hugged him tightly. He could do what he wanted. He could just walk out the door, if he wanted to. It was like really breathing, after having a weight on his chest. Freedom was like breathing fresh air for the first time in a long, long time.

Ron smiled apologetically at Harry over Hermione's shoulder, and sat down at the end of the bed.

"It feels like after a Quidditch game", Ron said, his eyes looking from Hermione's shaking form and Harry. "You're all messed up, but we've won, you know? Our team has won."

Harry was barely noticing what he was saying, he was too concentrated on the salty wetness spreading on his shirt, where Hermione's tears had leaked through.

"Sorry", she said in a puff of laughter. "I'm just so glad you're here."

"It's okay", Harry said, but so quietly that he doubted she heard him.

A/N: Hope you liked it, and please review and tell me what you think.