Harry Potter and the Autumn Swan
by Lord Akiyama
a Harry Potter fan fiction story
Chapter Twenty-Five
There was anything but a positive face on Harry Potter, Ron and Ginny Weasley, and Hermione Granger as they entered the fifth floor of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. In visiting Ron and Ginny's father, Arthur, for a little Christmas cheer, they decided to make a quick trip to the tearoom so as to avoid going def from Ron and Ginny's mother, Molly, yelling her lungs off at her husband for daring to use Muggle remedies earlier. Their twin brothers, Fred and George, took pleasure in watching such an event take place and stayed behind.
On their way up a rickety staircase lined with portraits of brutal-looking Healers, they accidentally entered the fourth floor. It was here that they found what had become of ex-Defense Against the Dark Arts professor Gilderoy Lockhart as well as Neville Longbottom's family. While Harry and Ron didn't care too much about what happened to Lockhart, all were quite taken aback with what they saw happened to the Longbottoms.
While the others sat together at a table they selected, Harry opted to be alone and stand in a corner for a while. They somewhat understood, given that it appeared he and Neville seemed to be sharing a rather similar situation. Harry's parents were dead, Neville's parents tortured into insanity and now permanent residents of St. Mungo's. Two parents who lost their parents to the acts and deeds of He Who Must Not Be Named.
Seeing what happened moments ago dampened Harry's mood. He had always mentally told himself the past four years that very few, if any, could understand what he was going through emotionally. Then there was Neville. Harry imagined that his fellow housemate's situation was on par with where he was. In fact, he could imagine it was worse.
To live the rest of your life knowing that while your parents were alive, they were tortured to the point that they would never remember who you were. To be able to see them for what would otherwise be times of celebration like birthdays and Christmas, only for them to be dismissed in that they had no comprehension or emotional attachment to you or these things. It was as though Neville's parents might as well be dead if not for their bodies remaining active and alive. Just without any sense or comprehension of anything. Including their own son.
This line of thinking certainly got Harry to once again examine his own feelings of his situation. Ever since he could remember, he had always wished he wasn't an orphan. For his parents to be alive and not dead. Seeing the Longbottoms showed him that such things don't necessarily have happy results. Neville's parents are alive and not dead. But they know nothing of ever even having a son. As Sirius had put it, they were suffering a fate worse than death. The psychological and emotional pain Neville must go through every second of his life because of it was sure to be unbearable.
And to be able to continue on with his life despite all this.
Harry felt that Neville was far stronger than he ever will be.
Noticing that his cup of tea was empty, he decided to get some more. Maybe even a sesame cake or two while he was at it. He slowly walked over to the table and began pouring another cup. As he was adding sugar cubes to his tea, he couldn't help but overhear the conversation between the two adults standing casually at the end of the table.
"The brooms are getting faster these days," said the voice that sounded as though it belonged to a middle-aged woman. "The extra speed is sure to increase the risk of serious injury."
"All the more reason for our new policies, my dear," said the second voice. This one was obviously Scottish and it sounded a little rugged. Belonging to a middle-aged man. "Increased visits here for physicals to ensure they don't shorten their careers. Or worse, shorten their lives."
"All the more reason I could never get into Quidditch, really," said the woman. "Too violent for me. It's almost as bad as what the Muggles do for sports. Do you know that in America their version of what they call football sees them physically hitting each other all the time? Just to catch some oddly shaped object."
"Quidditch never was for the weak of heart," the man said. It seemed there was an added chuckle when he spoke. "It does, though, provide a living. People like to see skill and talent on display. To be amazed at seeing someone who can do the extraordinary that test one's strength and will. Thus, we have sports."
"Well, if you ask me, I'm just surprised you retired in one piece," said the woman.
"Oh, I've got my share of cuts and bruises, my dear," the man laughed. "I didn't retire unscratched. I just so happen to have recognized when it was time for me to leave the game, that's all."
"And I'm glad you did, Mr. MacPherson," the woman said. The mentioning of the name certainly caught Harry's ear and full attention. "Any way, I'll be sure to let you know how Mr. Jason is doing, okay?"
"I'm sure the boss would appreciate that very much, ma'am," said the man called Mr. MacPherson.
Harry glanced up to watch as the woman, who appeared to be someone who worked here, made her leave while the man remained in his spot. In front of the man was where the pile of sesame cakes were stacked. Harry started to ache for one all of a sudden. He gave a sigh. He might as well ask.
"Excuse me," he said as he reached for a sesame cake. "I don't mean to be rude, but are you Liam MacPherson?"
The man looked over to him casually. He took a minute to look at his speaker and nodded with a grin. "You're not rude at all, my boy," he said. He seemed quite laid back. "And yes, I am Liam MacPherson. Which makes you Harry Potter, if I'm not mistaken."
Harry was a bit taken aback upon hearing this. Almost dropping the sesame cake in his hand. Then again, he felt that he shouldn't have been surprised in the first place. His face had been plastered left and right in numerous papers in the Wizarding Community after all.
"Yes, I am, sir," he said.
"Please, don't call me sir," Liam said with a chuckle. "Makes me feel too old. Knowing I'm in my fifties doesn't help though. And my youngest niece is starting to get too heavy for me to carry."
As Liam took another sip of his tea, Harry couldn't help but picture him in his mind. Imagining what it must've looked like for a younger Cho Chang to be picked up by her uncle. The thought of Cho as a little girl lightened his mood a bit, as did the thought of her at all. How he would like that to be the most dominant thought in his head for the rest of his life.
"Speaking of my nieces," Liam said rather suddenly. "Cho has spoken quite fondly of you." Harry was sure he was about to blush. She talked about him. Fondly. "Told me that you're a well meaning person and that you're also a hell of a Seeker."
"I try," Harry said, almost rather clumsily. Still trying to recover from being told that his girlfriend thought fondly of him by her uncle. "That's all I do when I play, really."
"That's all we can ever do in Quidditch, really," Liam said. "To try. If you were to think otherwise, you're either foolish or in way over your head." He took another sip of his tea before turning to face Harry directly. "So Harry, what brings you to St. Mungo's on a lovely Christmas day?"
"Oh," Harry uttered, trying to shake himself from being lost in being told that Cho thought fondly of him by her uncle. "Mr. Weasley's here. Couple floors down. And his family have been very kind to me these past few years."
"I see," Liam nodded with understanding.
"If you don't mind me asking," Harry said. "How come you're here on Christmas?"
"Part of the job," Liam answered with a casual shrug. "Still work for the Tornadoes under some silly title like Executive Vice President of Quidditch Operations. Don't ask me what it means. You're better off asking our esteemed Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Any way, part of my job is to check up on our injured players being treated here."
Harry remembered Cho telling him about how part of her family's Christmas included having to wait for her uncle to arrive before they could have dinner and thus move into their presents. "How many players are here?" he asked.
"Usually two or three during Christmas," Liam answered. "This year is two. One of our Chasers, Douglas Alexander, and one of our Beaters, Mitchell Ryan. Heavy collision from a preseason game earlier this year against the Arrows involving two of their Beaters and one of their Chasers. Pretty bad, really. I convinced the boss that our boys should be out for the remainder of the season. Turned out to be a smart decision on our part."
The way his imagination was running, Harry decided not to ask what happened to the Arrows players.
"My visits here don't last all very long, really," Liam added. "Just a check on how they're recovering and some questions with the Healers. Then I'm off to spend the rest of Christmas with my family at my sister's."
Christmas at the Changs. Christmas with Cho.
Lost in his thoughts again.
"So you and Cho are good friends, eh?" Liam asked.
"Oh, yes," Harry replied rather rapidly. He coughed in the hopes that it would help him retake control of himself. "Yes, we're good friends. Pretty good. Very good friends." He wanted to kick himself right then and there. Now he was feeling nervous just talking about her to her uncle.
Liam chuckled. "I can tell that you are," he said. "She told me that your a wonderful person for her to have met and couldn't wait to return to Hogwarts just to see you again."
Harry was quite sure that that he might be blushing and that Cho's uncle would be able to see it. However, if Liam MacPherson did notice it, he was not letting it on as he took another sip of his tea.
"H-How often does she talk about me?" Harry dared to ask.
Liam shrugged. "She's been back from Hogwarts for only a couple days now," he answered. "And I've only seen her once since when she arrived at King's Cross. But, as I said, she spoke of you even in her letters. Part of the reason why I'm very much looking forward to seeing the next Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw game."
Harry's green eyes shot wide open. "Y-You're going to see us play?" he asked in a rather low whisper.
Liam chuckled. "Wouldn't miss it for the world," he said after taking another sip of his tea. "I missed the last game because of an international game the Tornadoes played in Canada. This time, I'm making sure I go. I help whenever Cho asks for some training here and there. And it's no secret what an amazing talent you are. As far as I can see, my niece playing against you is a match worth traveling the globe to see. At least, I would."
Harry suddenly found himself quite speechless. He was in a state of awe to hear Liam MacPherson, who Cho told him was a league MVP, member of a league championship team, and member of the British national team, say he couldn't wait to see him and Cho play against one another in a game of Quidditch.
It was sometime before he managed to notice that his friends were waiting for him so that they could return to check on Mr. Weasley. "Oh..." he uttered before clearing his throat. "I think I have to go."
"Seems I need to make my leave, too," Liam said, checking the time on his watch. "Well, it was certainly a pleasure to finally meet you, Harry." He extended his right hand out for him to shake.
"It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. MacPherson," Harry said. He accepted the handshake with a smile. "Merry Christmas to you."
"And Merry Christmas to you, too," Liam said. He did so with a grin and a wink before walking off in the opposite direction of where Harry's friends were waiting. Harry watched him leave and stared at his direction for a moment longer before finally heading toward his impatient friends.
"Take forever, why don't you," Ron groaned as they headed down the rickety staircase back to the first floor. "Who were you talking to that took so bloody long?"
"You wouldn't believe me," Harry said with a chuckle.
"Yes I would," Ron said. He sounded as though he was pleading Harry to tell him.
"Ron, you haven't exactly have been all that believing in Harry as much as you think," Ginny said, rolling her eyes. "Remember the beginning of the Triwizard Tournament?"
"So I was jealous," Ron said defensively to his sister. "I came around, didn't I?"
"Yes you did, Ron," Hermione said, interjecting herself into the conversation. "Although you still won't believe that Viktor Krum and I are just friends."
"How am I supposed to know you two didn't spend some quality time together over the summer?" Ron asked back. "You and your folks do a lot of traveling during the break. Perhaps you met him one day and decided not to tell us about it."
"This is exactly what your sister is talking about, Ron," Hermione said, getting very aggravated.
As they reached the first floor and passed through the double doors, Harry decided that he needed to say something before the bickering between his friends got real hostile.
"I was talking to Liam MacPherson," he said.
Ron came to a full stop, turned and faced Harry. His jaw had dropped as far as it could go. His eyes staring at him with great disbelief. "Liam MacPherson?" he managed to utter following a moment of silence. "You were talking to Liam MacPherson?"
"Yeah," Harry said, trying his best to suppress even a chuckle at the face his friend was making.
"Was league MVP the same year he took the Tornadoes to the league championship Liam MacPherson?" Ron asked again.
"Cho's uncle Liam MacPherson?" Hermione asked at the same time.
"Yes and yes," Harry said, this time unable to hold back a chuckle. "The same Liam MacPherson."
"Bloody hell, Harry," Ron said with a hint of excitement. While most knew Ron was no where near a fan of the Tutshill Tornadoes, he still respected great players regardless of what team they played for. And the credentials of Liam MacPherson overshadowed him having played for the Tornadoes. "What did you two talk about?"
Harry shrugged. He might as well say it. "Says he wants to be at the next Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw match," he said. After showing off a grin, he walked around his friend and made his way to Mr. Weasley's room.
He didn't need to turn around and see to know that Ron turned pale white hearing that someone like Liam MacPherson would see him play. Hermione and Ginny were forced to drag his frozen form to follow Harry. He couldn't help himself in letting out another chuckle with this picture in his head.
Although he wondered why Ginny bit her bottom lip rather hard when Hermione mentioned Cho by name.
Sirius Black knew perfectly well that there were two emotions Hedwig was feeling at the moment. Sadness and anger. Both relating to the news that Alastor Moody had bought a snowy owl for Harry to use from now on. To say that she was not comfortable with this was nothing less of an understatement.
"But... But... But why could Mr. Moody not turn me back?" she asked. It was a mixture of a plea and a demand.
Sirius took a deep breath. "It is felt that it would be best if you didn't turn back into an owl right now," he answered as calmly as he could. Merlin knew he had never been in a situation like this where he had to try to calm down an enraged woman like Hedwig. Especially one who months ago was a snowy owl.
"Why not?" she whined rather loudly.
Sirius took another deep breath. "We feel that because you were not born an owl we should try to figure out who you are," he tried his best to answer. "Harry needs regular correspondence and, unfortunately, your situation does not allow for that."
"But... But I been Harry's owl f-four years!" she yelled. She was getting very huffy, which didn't make things easier for him to try to explain to her why she could no longer be an owl.
"Just because you won't be his owl doesn't mean he'll be any less caring of you," Sirius said. It was one thing to say things that would ease his godson. It was another to say even any thing to a woman.
He was starting to see how James and Lily never really got off to a positive start.
"How can you be sure?" Hedwig cried. "He might like this one better than me!"
"I highly doubt that," Sirius said. A hint of annoyance could be recognizable in the tone of his voice, but he was sure she wouldn't know it. "Look, just think about it for a moment. You can talk to Harry. Be able to carry out conversations with you. He will be able to understand what you are saying, so he would be able to listen to you. Not this other owl. Understand?"
It was some time before he watched her nod slowly and nervously. He knew words were not going to be enough to convince her that his words would ring true. But he couldn't think of any other way to get through to her.
"While he wouldn't be able to... um..." Sirius started to say. Until he realized what he was going to say. He coughed and tried to prevent himself from blushing before he continued. "... To stroke your feathers... he, um... You see, we have this... We do something called, uh... called hugs... and, uh... I-It's similar to stroking feathers... but that the affection one has from having their feathers stroked is equally shared..."
There was no doubt in his mind that that was the single worst explanation of what a hug was that he could ever come up with.
After hearing such excuse for the stringing together of words, Hedwig stared at him with understandable perplexity. Not even any one who had truly been a human all their life would have understood what a single word he said.
He was afraid she was going to ask the question.
"Can you... show me... hug?" she asked.
The question he was afraid she was going to ask.
It was painfully obvious how pink his cheeks had become, though he knew Hedwig still hadn't understood how a human looked or felt shy. After all, she was asking what a hug looked like. Sirius thought about grabbing something like a pillow and using that as an example. But it wouldn't get across his meaning of how Harry would still care for her even thought she was now a human. There was just something to actually feeling the warmth and affection from an embracing with someone you cared about.
He would have to actually hug her in order for her to understand.
"Um..." he uttered unconsciously. The shade of pink on his cheeks deepened upon realizing he made a noise. "Can..." He coughed nervously. "Can you, uh... Could you bear with me for a moment...?"
Hedwig just stood there. Though not looking perplexed, she was no less unsure about what exactly Sirius was going to do. And yet was willing to let him explain in a way he felt he knew best.
If James was watching this, he would be on the floor, clutching his stomach with pain while laughing hysterically.
Sirius slowly stepped toward her. He wasn't sure if he should be thankful that she didn't understand or have an inkling of an idea as to why he was acting the way he was. She just stood there, waiting for him to do what he was going to do. By the time he was within literally inches of her, his cheeks were so warm he thought he was going to just suddenly combust.
"Okay, um..." he uttered nervously. "You, uh... You raise your arms... like this..." He slowly raised his arms to around his chest level. He was quite sure they shook a couple times. He watched her do the same, the look on her face still that of not knowing what was going on and still doing it. Now comes the most nerve wrecking part. "Okay... Now, uh... Now you... you move in so that... that... t-that your bodies are... t-touching..."
He was quite sure that any minute was either going to faint or something horrible was going to happen to him physically. It was a painfully slow process for him to finally allow his body touch hers in any way. Hedwig still looked rather indifferent about the whole thing, not even able to understand why he was acting this way.
If Lily was watching this, she would be howling with laughter in seeing Sirius Black of all people be this way around a woman.
And he knew they still weren't finished. Even though no one else was around to see this, it didn't make him feel any less uncomfortable about this.
"Now you, um..." he said, followed another cough. "Now you, uh... you close your arms... a-around the... other... person..." He was a lot slower at doing that then she was. By now his cheeks were so hot that it would be almost impossible for him not to be blushing. "The, uh... The e-effect of the hug... can be f-felt when you... g-gently t-tighten each other's b-bodies... t-together..." He felt her doing just that. Gently tightening her embrace upon him.
If James and Lily were watching this, tears would be flowing out of their eyes they would be laughing so hard.
"This feels good," Hedwig said in a rather sweet tone.
"Yeah, really," Sirius said breathlessly. So this was what it was like to be in James' shoes whenever he was in one of those moods where he was complete over the deep end for Lily.
"And this I do with Harry?" she asked curiously.
"Y-Yeah," he answered, followed by a cough. "Just, uh... Just know that while it's... it's comfortable... one can feel a little uncomfortable if you, uh... squeeze too tight or you... you hug them for too long."
"Oh," she said. "Okay. Have we been in hug for too long?"
Sirius didn't answer immediately. Part of him actually wanted to remain in her embraced for quite a long while. Where this part of him came from he didn't know.
"I, uh..." he hesitated to say. He took a moment before a took a deep breath. "I think you got the idea of what a hug is."
Hedwig released her embraced rather casually while Sirius was quite unsure with how swiftly or how slowly he wanted to let go of her and then back away. He didn't know if he should be fortunate that she didn't understand why he was so red from head to toe. That part of him that wanted to remain her embrace came back to tell him to do it again so that she would get the hand of it. Now he really wanted to know where the hell this part of him came from.
"So, um..." he managed to utter. "So that's a hug. Which you and Harry can share now that you're a human."
Hedwig appeared quite content with this. Being able to do things that she couldn't have done with Harry before when she was an owl. She suddenly went back to a somber mood as she sighed.
"But I won't get to see him as often," she said.
In some ways, it was as if Sirius was dealing with a child. Though he never knew how to deal with children younger teenagers. He never really had a chance to.
Sirius took a deep breath. "Look, I know it's going to be tough," he said. "The bond you have for him is quite strong and you feel that being away from him for so long will make it disappear. Believe me, Harry cherishes every bond his makes. You, especially. He will be longing for your company just as much as you long for is. He won't forget you. Alright?"
It took a moment before Hedwig finally nodded slowly.
"Besides," Sirius began to add. "I doubt he'd have the same kind of attachment to this Hedwig he has for you. Moody said the shop didn't have any more female snowy owls that looked like you did, so he had to buy a male."
Hedwig raised a curious brow. "No other female looked like me?" she asked.
Sirius shrugged. "Moody said that you were unique," he answered. "They said that a typical female snowy owl had dark scalloping. You were completely white, like a male snow owl."
Hedwig looked quite confused. After some time of thought, she looked back over to Sirius with a smile. "So I was unique even as an owl?" she asked.
"You're definitely the most unique creature I've ever met," Sirius replied.
He blushed suddenly in realization of what he said.
"You met Harry?" Cho Chang asked her uncle in shock. She watched as he started laughing rather heartily at the way she was reacting. Whether she meant for it to make it obvious or not, it was clear she and Harry were more than just very good friends.
"I was just as surprised to see him there myself," Liam MacPherson said with an additional chuckle.
Cho dropped herself into a sitting position on her bed. Her uncle slanting against the door frame of her bedroom. Cho noticed during Christmas dinner hours before that there was something he wasn't mentioning as he kept looking at her with a wicked grin on his face. Him having met Harry Potter earlier in the day would certainly fit as such a piece of information.
"What did you two talk about?" she asked anxiously.
Her uncle shrugged. "Nothing too much," he said. "I still had a job to do and he was there in support of his friends. If anything, we talked about the friendship you two share." Cho couldn't help but blush a light pink on her cheeks. Harry talked to her uncle about their relationship. She would have buried her face in her pillow if she wasn't curious as to what they talked about. "We also talked a little bit about Quidditch. Like how I will be at the next Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw game."
Cho sat up quite suddenly. This was the first she ever heard anything like this. "You're going to see us play?" she asked.
Her uncle started to laugh again. "That was his response," he said. "Yes, I'll be seeing you two play. Was able to convince the boss that it would serve as a scouting trip. Personally, it's just an excuse to see my niece play against Harry Potter."
Cho's excitement suddenly turned. She appeared to be quite reluctant after hearing him speak his last statement. He wanted to see her play against The Harry Potter. The Boy Who Lived. The identity Harry didn't want to be associated with. The identity she didn't want to see Harry be associated with. She bit her bottom lip for a moment before deciding to address the issue.
"Um..." she began nervously. "Uncle Liam. I'm happy that would come to see us play. Really. It's just... well..." She took a deep breath before she continued. "I'd rather it not be that you want to see me play against Harry because of who he is known as."
"You're right," her uncle said almost immediately. "I'm not watching my niece play The Boy Who Lived. I'm watching two really good Seekers face off in a competitive game of who's the better player." That statement made her feel a little bit better. "I will say that as much as saying to my boss that my being there will be a scouting trip, I get the feeling it might actually become so."
"What do you mean?" Cho asked curiously.
"Well, there's no denying the talent that will be on display in the game," her uncle explained. "You, of course, taking the lessons I've given you and developed your own style of play in the process. You've told me some really good things about your captain, Roger Davies. A Chaser worth looking into, given the success Ravenclaw has had under his leadership. I hear the Weasley twins are some of the finest Beaters the school has ever seen. And then there's Harry."
He didn't speak another word. And both knew that he didn't need to.
Even outside of Hogwarts, Harry had established himself amongst the Quidditch community as a prodigy. The first student player to ever compete in his first year as a student at Hogwarts and won the first game he played in. His skills were further defined over the years, resulting in helping Gryffindor win in his third year. By then, every Quidditch team in Britain, even the world, were starting to develop plans to recruit him should he choose Quidditch to be his profession in life.
Which would be why it was very easy for his boss to believe that Liam MacPherson would attend the next Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw game for scouting purposes. Any and every other team would have done so themselves.
Cho sighed as she looked up at her uncle. "Well, I think I'm going to turn in for the night," she said. "Will I see you again before I have to go back to Hogwarts?"
"Hopefully," her uncle said with a shrug. "We'll see what kind of work the boss loads on me before your game. So, until then sweet little niece. Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, Uncle Liam," Cho said happily. She waved as her uncle departed her room and closed the door behind him.
Cho took another sigh as she fell back onto her bed. It was quite a Christmas. The videos of watching her little sister Chun learn how to cook for the first time, with some rather disastrous results, warmed her heart. As did the Christmas dinner her parents made. And now she was hearing that not only did her uncle get the chance to actually meet her boyfriend, but also that he will be attending the next Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw game. Which, if Ravenclaw can win against Slytherin, will be for the school championship. As if the day couldn't get any more special.
Then she remembered one more important thing. Harry's present to her.
She rolled over to the foot of the bed, where her school trunk was placed. She quickly opened it up and grabbed the present. She then shifted herself all the way back to the head and sat herself against the wall. She could only imagine what Harry got her for Christmas. Especially given that he couldn't go to Hogsmeade. After staring at the casually wrapped gift, she ripped it open to see what was inside.
She was quite certainly that the feeling that overcame her was that of being breathless.
I promised a fellow housemate named Colin Creevey not to tell Professor McGonagall about him managing to sneak into the Yule Ball without being the date of an older student in exchange for any and all copies of this photo. This was the only one. So he says. I am certain you will treasure it as much as we both treasure the memory.
Harry
Cho watched with a smile on her face as the bewitched photograph played out the dance she shared with Harry during the Yule Ball. This Colin Creevey must be a pretty good photographer. They came out just right and their movements were in sync. She imagined the picture brought to life the scene she, for the past year, could only remember in her head.
She held the framed photograph up to her heart and embraced it as gently as she could. She could not imagine having had a better Christmas gift this year. Or ever even. It touched her heart in such a way that she never wanted to let it go.
Harry Potter was the most romantic person Cho Chang could ever have had the pleasure of meeting.
Harry Potter didn't mind that his godfather Sirius Black had another gift for him aside from the set of Practical Defensive Magic and Its Use Against the Dark Arts books he and Remus Lupin gave earlier. What he didn't quite expect was the actual gift itself.
"Your mother wanted for you to one day look back at your first year of life with great fondness," Sirius said. "There were times James and I had to get the damned camera away from her. She said that it was important for you to never forget."
Which was exactly what Harry will not do ever again. He slowly and carefully turned each page of the photo album, watching to take in each and every photograph placed in there. The majority of the pictures were bewitched, allowing him to watch moments come to life in motion.
Him curiously trying to grab his father's wand.
Laughing as Sirius in his dog form trotted circles around him.
His grandfather raising him high in the air.
Their first and only Christmas together.
So many memories. He could finally be able to relive them after years of not even knowing what they looked like. All he had to do was open this book and look inside. It was more than enough for him to feel choked up. The same with his godfather.
"Your father was the one who devised how the album was going to look," Sirius added. "Believing that it made the moments feel much more special if they were placed in a way that would make it seem like you were seeing a story unfold."
"It worked," Harry said breathlessly. He was quite sure his green eyes were getting watery.
The only other sound being made in the room was the quiet snores made by the sleeping Ron Weasley. Harry and Sirius were otherwise occupied in their own space. Harry sitting on the side of his bed while Sirius leaned forward from his chair. Both of them smiling at each and every individual picture they saw in the album.
It was the best possible gift Harry could dream of, next to having his parents back.
"There is some pages left at the end," Sirius said. "I leave that up to you to decide what you want to do with those."
"Thank you, Sirius," Harry said. He took a sniff, feeling quite sure that any moment a tear would fall. "Thank you so much."
"It's the least I could do, Harry," Sirius said in return. He placed a hand on his godson's shoulder. "You, more than any one else, deserved it." It was a moment later before he sighed and stood up. "Pleasant dreams, Harry. I'm sure this will help you in having them." He made a pair of pats on Harry's shoulder before he turned to leave the room.
Harry watched his godfather leave for only a moment. When the door closed, he turned right back to the photo album. He was in deep awe and heartfelt breathlessness look at each photograph he saw. It was several pages before he came to the end. He thought about starting over and go through them again, but sleep was slowly making its way into him.
He closed the photo album and placed it in his school trunk. Where he remembered was where he placed the present Cho had given him. He still had one more gift to open. Harry slowly opened the near perfectly wrapped present to discover what his girlfriend had given him. And his heart warmed.
To any other, a simple framed picture would not normally constitute as a treasured gift. But then Harry was not any other. The bewitched picture was of Cho standing in her school robes, smiling as she swayed slowly from one way to another while retaining her gaze upon the camera. Rather at Harry, as he could easily interpret.
He gently ran a finger from the top to the bottom of the frame. This picture was exactly something he wanted. To be able to look upon a picture of her and not have to rely upon his memory. He thought about keeping the picture Colin Creevey took of them at the Yule Ball, but he felt it was better for Cho to have it than him.
Sleep was beginning to take hold, but he wouldn't dare let go of the picture. He slowly fell back into a lying position on the bed, still holding the framed picture of Cho in his hand. He stared for as long as his green eyes would before his slipped into sleep. When that happened, he tried to use whatever conscious strength he had left in his arm to ensure that the picture was gently placed upon his chest.
Harry dreamed of a Christmas with his parents, his godfather, and his girlfriend together. The best dream he ever had.
A chapter dedicated solely to the spirit of Christmas. A full month after it happens in our realm of reality. Now I can start working on the rest of the stuff. I will say, though, that the scene involving Sirius and Hedwig was born purely out of a review comment of how I should remember that there's another side of Hedwig that I decided to take a peek at. Not sure if I'll actually delve into any further, especially now I'm kicking into the next portion of Order of the Phoenix, but it was a little fun to check out. So any way, continue to read and review folks. Continue to spread the word about the story and don't forget those reviews. I want to read some reviews! The more the better!
Harry Potter and all the characters, locations, and world created and copyright © JK Rowling. This story was created out of pure fun and enjoyment, so please don't sue or place an Imperius Curse on me.