Chapter fourteen: Leaving Hogwarts
Next chapter. I actually deleted what I had done for this when I reached a major breakthrough on how its supposed to work. I decided what the last Horcrux was, and no, I'm not going to tell you now. But what I will say is that it was a major breakthrough and has caused me to re-think my entire plot (what there was of it). Anyway, next chapter. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own Potter or any of the Related Characters.
It was strange really, to think that after all the time he'd spent looking he'd finally discovered what he was looking for. Two months had passed since Harry sent the letter to Petunia, and there was still no action in connection with the Horcrux. Well, there was, but just not the level of what his friends had hoped. Harry had, it appeared, discovered a huge secret in connection with them, but he wouldn't as yet give much more information. All he would tell them was that he knew that there was one within the castle, and he had a fair idea what it was, but he wasn't going to try and get that one yet, because it wouldn't do him any good. These things had to be done in the right order, with the right preparations, and it wasn't right to destroy that one just yet. He wouldn't give them any more details and in the end Ron and Hermione just gave up asking.
It wasn't all over though, as Harry was constantly reminding them. He knew where a second of the Horcruxes was, and was just waiting until everyone got back from Christmas before he went to get it. He didn't want to leave without saying goodbye, he said, and although they pretended not to notice it, this comment was always followed by mutterings under his breath, in which Ginny's name and often Neville's popped up. Everyone could see it though, the way Harry Potter looked at Ginny Weasley and the way she looked back at him. And it was common knowledge that given the circumstances, they would have been together unquestionably. Many people even asked how come a nice boy should have to go through so much pain, and still be asked to deal with so much more. Ron and Hermione spent many days trying to get Harry to talk to them, but he always refused, until finally, after much waiting, the day came.
Harry sat and sucked the end of his quill thoughtfully, before looking down at what he had written and groaning to himself. Three hours and all he had come up with was a few measly sentences.
"Dear Ginny,
I've had to go away for a while. I'll be back as soon as I can. Don't worry about me. You know I've got to do this for everyone."
Hardly the best of letters, or the most informative, but Harry just couldn't think what else to write. Sure, he could have written more, he could have explained to her what he was going to do. He could have told her that he might not return and that he loved her and had done for years. But he just couldn't bring himself to put it down on paper. It was as if writing things down was like bringing a finality to them, a finality he wasn't ready to deal with just yet. Written words were final, Dumbledore, and Sirius, had taught him that. After all, it had been Sirius's will which had left him the house he would eventually, provided he survived, call home. And it was Dumbledore's written instructions to him which told him what he had to do, told him how to destroy a Horcrux and how to manage with the stress of knowing that you had killed something, even if it was just a shard of soul and not really alive. No, Harry thought, he couldn't put all he was feeling into words. If it was to be said then it would be said to her face, and he couldn't bare to see how upset she would be if she heard him tell her that he might die. It would break his heart.
Sighing, he signed his name at the bottom of the note, sealed it with her name and left it on the table where he knew he would find it in the morning. Then, without so much as a thought, he rose from his seat, crossed the common room and stepped quietly up the stairs, pausing only to make sure he had the correct room before entering and tapping his sleeping friend on the shoulder.
"'Mione, wake up, its time."
She was awake in seconds, rubbing sleep from her eyes as she pulled on her robes, grabbed her wand and a rucksack from under her bed. "I've been packed for ages, I'm ready when you are."
"Okay, I'll just go and wake up Ron and meet you downstairs in five minutes." came his whispered reply. "Though it might be slightly longer, you know Ron."
"Okay, tell him I've already packed for him so it doesn't matter that he didn't bother." She smiled and nodded, and then sighed as she watched his retreating back run down the stairs. He was a great person, but sometimes being best friends with Harry Potter just wasn't the easiest thing in the world. It had become even worse since McGonnigal had shown him how to get up to the girls dormitory, and it had since become a regular occurrence to be awoken at strange hours in the morning simply because he wanted to chat.
"Ron, wake up." he whispered, shaking his best friend roughly awake. While the gentle approach might work for Hermione, Ron tended to need a heavier hand.
"What, Harry, what's up?" The blurry reply came from somewhere deep underneath the covers. "Its three AM, what's so important?"
"Its time to go." came the hurried reply. "Hermione's waiting downstairs for us. She says not to worry about packing, because she's already got all your stuff together. Just hurry up, we need to get out of here quick."
"What? Oh, okay." Ron groaned, and started to pull himself up out of his bed, and Harry couldn't help laughing at the bright orange underwear that just couldn't help but make itself known.
"Come on, I'll meet you downstairs. I just want to grab a few things." He smiled as his friend blearily rubbed his eyes and stretched before pulling on his robes, which Harry didn't have the heart to tell him were backwards.
Five minutes later found Harry, Ron and Hermione walking quietly along the passages of Hogwarts and slipping out of a side gate without so much as a whisper. Hurrying across the grass they stopped under a tree, the same tree under which James had played with the snitch all those years ago, and Harry pulled out his wand.
"Don't mention to anyone that I did this." he closed his eyes and thought for a moment, before making a complicated motion in the air. "There we go, that should do it." he opened his eyes. "We should be able to apirate out of the grounds now, so long as we stay within five yards of the tree when we go."
Hermione looked aghast for a minute, but a reassuring smile from Ron convinced her that it was all okay, and that this had in fact been planned a long time in advance.
"We're going to Grimmauld Place." Came Harry's quiet whisper, before with a breath of wind he disappeared.
"What's going on?" Hermione asked Ron, looking doubtful, but he just shrugged his shoulders.
"I know no more than you really. He told me that he'd been given permission to open an apiration point somewhere in the grounds but only for five minutes so it didn't cause too much of a security breach. And he told me that we'd be heading to Grimmauld Place because that was secure, but he wouldn't say any more. I was hoping you'd be able to tell me something, but I guess he didn't really tell either of us anything." Grabbing her hand quickly, he forced her to follow him as he apirated out of the grounds and into the big wild world.
This felt like a good place to end the chapter, so I did. The next chapter will be up when I finish writing it, but its more likely to come if I get the reviews for it.