The noise faded away, back into the crackling static. I got off the couch and walked over to the radio.
"Was that...?" Harry asked.
I nodded. He was alive. Adam was alive. Stunned by this revelation, I couldn't help but sink to the floor. "Oh my God," I said.
"This is great," he said. "Right? It's great?"
He was alive. He was safe. He was running some sort of radio about Harry. I wassorelieved that I didn't even really have words to express what I was feeling.
The anxiety that I had been carrying around inside for the past few weeks nearly disappeared. I found myself crying, though I wasn't sad. It was merely the relief that Adam was alive!
"Kat, don't- don't- it's okay," Harry said, looking concerned.
"It's great," I said, wiping at my tears. "I'm relieved. I'm so relieved."
"Oh," he said. "Well. That's great."
I nodded. Oh, I hoped wherever Adam was he was great. I hope he had food in his stomach and was happy. I wanted him to know I was thinking about him, but it wouldn't make any sense to him. This whole time, he had no idea that I had been tormented by thinking he was dead and it was my fault.
I was no longer in love with Adam. I knew that for sure. He had been such a huge part of my life the past few years though, that it was hard not to love him as a friend. That was part of the reason I wanted this to be over so badly. I needed to have him back in my life. I needed even more to be able to see Dad and Rob.
"So great," I said. I needed to pull myself together, but I found it hard to stop crying. I was just letting everything out that I had been holding in for so long.
He stood up and extended a hand to help me up. I hugged him tightly. "Thank you for finding that."
He smiled. "I've found it a few times before," he said. "That's the first time I've heard Adam on it."
"What is it?" I asked.
"Radio show for the resistance," he said, "death announcements, advice... that sort of thing."
"Who runs it?" I asked.
"They're meant to be anonymous," he said. "But Dean does it, Remus Lupin, a few of Ron's brothers..."
"That's really awesome," I said. "Have you heard anything?"
"I've heard lots of things," he said. "But nothing much that would mean anything to you. We were listening to it the night Ron left... I think that's what mostly set him off that night."
"What do you mean?" I asked, going to sit on the couch. Relief was tiring.
"Well that night after you went to sleep we listened to the radio show and we heard about Ginny getting into trouble at Hogwarts and he was upset."
"Is she okay?" I asked. I knew that he would be upset just like Ron was.
"Yeah, she's fine," he said. "Just seems like she, Neville, Luna and a few others may be trying to lead the resistance at school. They broke into Snape's office. Sounds like the punishments this year are a lot more severe than detention."
"Oh, my," I said. I wasn't sure what exactly to say to him. "I'm sorry."
He shrugged. "She's a strong girl; she's going to do what she wants."
I nodded. "I never really got to know her," I admitted.
"She's determined and strong and caring..." he sighed. He slumped into the couch next to me. "And I love her."
I smiled. "So it must be hard to be so far away?" I asked. I just wanted to hear him talk about her. I liked to hear it.
He shrugged. "Yeah, it certainly isn't fun... but I think the further away I am, the more I realize I am not in love with her. I want the best for her, but I'm not sure that is me."
I rubbed his shoulder. "I'm sorry," I told him.
"No reason to be," he assured me. "I should be sorry for tearing you and Adam apart."
"No," I said. "You didn't... we were already heading that way. It just becamereally easy to grow apart... but just because we're not together doesn't mean I don't love him... same thing with you and Ginny. I want the best for him. I really do. I don't really see us getting together after this is all over... I think that ship has sailed. He was a great first relationship but I'm ready for something else."
I held his gaze for a moment. It was a reaffirming gaze that told me we were both being genuine here.
Then he nodded and stood up. "Hearing that made me feel better."
I felt the same way, I couldn't help but smile as he walked away.
~.~
A few days later, we had a group meeting over dinner. Tonight's dinner was a can of chicken noodle soup that I had diluted with some melted snow. Food was getting low. We needed to move on from here, and soon. At this point, we knew Ron was not coming back.
"I want to go to Godric's Hollow," Harry said.
"Right now?" Hermione asked. I knew she would be hesitant to leave here... It would seal Ron's fate of having left us. Also, she had been coming down with a cold for the last few days. I had expected at least one of us to get sick already. We were all working so hard to compensate for there only being three of us. We each had to take the night shift and wear the locket every day. Combining lack of sleep with no good, nutritious food made us weak.
"Yeah," Harry said. "I would like to go tonight."
"Tonight?" I asked. "That's awful soon."
He shrugged. "We have time. It's better to move at night, too. So why don't we finish up dinner and go."
"I'm not sure that is the best idea," I told him. "Hermione is sick. Let her get another night's rest before we go."
"I am fine," she said. "I am not slowing us down. Finish up, Kat, and we can get ready."
I sighed. I didn't think she was ready, but it seemed like she didn't care. Or maybe she just didn't want to be the weak one. The soup burnt my insides as I slurped it down.
"Will you remind me why we're going to Godric's Hollow again?" I asked.
"It's the most likely place of Gryffindor's sword," Hermione said. "He was born there; it seems like a good place to look."
"Plus, according to Muriel Weasley, Bathilda Bagshot lives in Godric's Hollow and she may know where it is. She was close to Dumbledore; he may have given it to her. And I would like to talk to her."
"That's where you grew up, as well, right?" I asked.
Harry nodded. "Sort of. I haven't been back there since I was one. Anyways, I've got some Polyjuice Potion, and some hair," he said. "We will be all set."
We got to work, packing things up. We shoved everything in Hermione's bag and got on our thickest cloaks. While we had been packing and preparing for this trip, neither of us had really taken into account the need for winter clothing. Luckily, we had been able to use some of Ron's left behind clothing to keep warm.
It was snowing hard outside the cover of the tent. Big, wet flakes landed on our faces and in our hair. It was beautiful, but I did not want to stay out in it long. I grabbed Harry's arm to apparate.
We landed in a small village. I wasn't sure if it was Godric's Hollow, I had never been there or even seen pictures. It was quaint looking. I peeked in a window on the high street to find it was a Muggle home. This wasn't Godric's Hollow. A Christmas carol floated out the window and made me smile.
"Harry," I said, turning around. He had trudged through the snow to get a little ways down the street.
"Mmm?" he asked, without turning around. Hermione stayed close next to him, though she generally looked miserable.
"It's Christmas Eve," I told him.
"Oh," he said. "Is it?"
"Yeah," I replied. "I've been keeping track of the date in my journal."
He didn't say anything else, he just smiled. Drawing his wand from his pocket, he summoned a few hairs. That grossed me out just a bit, but I tried not to think about it too much.
Harry took out three small vials. It was the Polyjuice Potion. I recognized it immediately. I had not worked much with it before, but it was beautiful. "Kat, have you ever had Polyjuice Potion before?" he asked.
I shook my head. "I've read about it," I told him, "but never had a reason to use it."
"It's not going to be fun," he said. "But it won't be too unpleasant. You'll have a better first experience than Hermione."
If her cheeks weren't so read from the cold, I had a feeling Hermione would have blushed a deep color. I took the vial from him, and tipped it back.
Nothing happened immediately like I expected. It took a few moments, but I felt my body begin to rearrange itself. It was lucky I was wearing Ron's clothing, because I began to expand. My hair got shorter, and incredibly curly. My hips widened and I got shorter. I was now middle aged.
Aside from the general odd feeling of my body disappearing, it was a very different sensation. Skin did not quite feel like my brain told me skin was supposed to feel. I tried to shake the odd feeling.
I looked up that them. Harry had also become middle aged, just like I had. His hairline receded and he now had gray hair. Hermione hadn't gotten that much older than we were, but she was very short and blonde. Pretty, but indistinguishable. For a second, I just had to stop and respect magic. Seeing my friends' appearances change so rapidly before my eyes- It was really bizarre!
"Ready to go?" Hermione asked.
I nodded and took Harry's arm once more. This time, when I opened my eyes, I found us in a very quaint village. This one was magical for sure.
We walked down the High Street, though I wasn't sure what we were looking for. At the end, I saw big gates.
A cemetery.
I knew that was our destination immediately. Harry walked quickly, and I took his arm to keep up. Hermione stayed a step behind us. I was worried about her, hoping this didn't make her cold turn into the flu.
When we got in through the gates of the cemetery, Harry stopped. I followed his line of vision to find what he was looking at.
It was a statue, about ten feet above us. It was dedicated to Harry's parents, and featured them holding him. It was such a somber sight it took my breath away.
"Wow," was all I could manage, while my two companions were silent. I took out my wand to try and clear off the snow that had settled on top of them. Harry's parents were so beautiful.
"Wow," Harry repeated, a few minutes later. We just stood there and took in the sight.
"I wonder where their graves are," Hermione asked.
We each went out to three separate sections of the cemetery to look. I used my wand to clear snow off the tombs. I desperately looked for James and Lily Potter's names.
I had gotten through three rows when I found it. I should have known, it was a wonderfully tasteful stone.
James Potter Lily Potter
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."
That was such a powerful statement. "I found it," I called out weakly. This whole experience was very awe inspiring... it was putting this all into perspective.
Harry appeared by my side a few minutes later. He knelt down at the grave, taking his glove off and feeling the letters with his fingertip.
It was such a private moment I felt awkward being there to witness it. Hermione came over to us too, and laid a wreath she had conjured down next to the grave.
It was a moment that I needed, though. I needed to see where Harry was coming from. This is what he was fighting for. His parents had been such strong people, giving up all they had for their son. They weren't that much older than us and they had given the ultimate sacrifice for him. And now it was his turn to use what he had been given to save everything.
It all made sense. I felt like the final puzzle piece was laid, and what we had to do cleared into the focus.
I took a deep breath and laid my hand on his shoulder. I just wanted him to know that I was there. Wherever we were off to next, I would be right there for him. We couldn't do this alone, but we would be stronger together.
Author's Note: Woo! Another chapter. I've gotten some awesome feedback recently, and that's really made me happy! Keep it up, guys. Thanks to potter-reading-coastie for betaing this chapter :) This story has now surpassed Tonight with the number of people subscribed to it :) The only story that has more subscribers is You and I! I'm very pleased :) The first chapter of something new should be up soon, so subscribe to my profile to get the alert for that the moment it's out! Thanks!