Disclaimer I do not own Harry Potter and everything recognisable belongs to J K Rowling. Also this story is inspired by 'A Shattered Prophesy' by Project Dark Overlord.
Thank you to all those who reviwed. All your comments were greatly appreciated. Now on with the next chappie. Enjoy!
Chapter Fifty Three
"Would you like to repeat that Mr Potter, I'm not quite sure I understood you."
Damien sighed and looked at the middle aged Auror staring back at him.
"Which part?" he asked rudely. He had already been through his explanation four times already.
"The whole thing" the Auror replied, not taking his eyes away from the young boy's face.
Damien took another breath and repeated his story.
"Like I've already told you, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and I were walking through a park. You know in the muggle world. We were all staying at Hermione's house and so decided to go out for some fresh air. But when we went out we were cornered and captured by Death Eaters. They forced us to apparate from there and took us to those horrible woods. They were going on about how they were going to kill us and leave our bodies in the woods for animals to find." Damien stopped and pretended to take a shaky breath.
"They were just about to attack us when Harry came and saved us. But there were too many Death Eaters, Harry couldn't fight all of them by himself so we were forced to help him. We did the best we could until you guys came along and saved us"
Damien finished and looked at the Auror sitting calmly in his chair. He seemed to be looking at Damien intently. Damien refused to look away. He knew that eye contact was the important thing here. If Damien looked away it could make the Auror think Damien was lying.
Damien prayed that Ron, Hermione and Ginny stuck to this story as well. They had come up with this story when they were hiding behind the boulder with an injured Ron. They only had a few minutes to come up with something. Damien looked back at the Auror, hoping he had bought the story.
"What I don't seem to understand…" the Auror began to say and Damien felt his heart plunge into his stomach.
"…is why the Death Eaters would want to take you to a muggle village and kill you there. It's not something that is common with the Death Eaters attacks. If they wanted to kill you, why not do it when they captured you. You said you were in the muggle world. They could have killed you there as well. It doesn't make any sense that they would go through the trouble of abducting you when they were planning on killing you moments later anyway."
Damien stared at the man. 'Time to bring on the waterworks' he thought to himself.
"Look, I don't know why they did that. I-I can't explain their…their way of thinking. I'm just glad that I didn't die! If Harry, Harry hadn't come on time…I shudder to think what could have happened to us!" As Damien said this he filled his hazel eyes with tears.
The Auror stared blankly at him. No reaction to the emotional boy sitting before him. Damien rubbed at his eyes and pretended that he was embarrassed by the tears.
"Sorry, it's just that…I'm really shaken up by all this. I just want to go home and sleep"
The Auror seemed to soften at this. He got up and conjured a glass of water for him.
"Just relax. I need a few minutes. I'll be back soon"
Damien nodded and took the glass of water. He watched the Auror leave the room. Damien hid his face in his arms, not wanting to let the people watching him see his face. He knew that the room was being observed. Sirius had told him a few times that the interview rooms could be observed. His heart hammered in his chest at the thought of his father watching him just now. He hoped everyone believed their story. As long as Mr and Mrs Granger weren't involved in the questioning, it would be fine.
The door opened and Damien looked around to face whoever had entered. He shot out of his chair as he saw his three friends rush into the room. Hermione threw her arms around the younger boy and squeezed him tightly.
"Are you okay, Damy" she whispered.
Damien nodded his head. He hoped that the other three knew they were being watched and listened to right now. He hoped they didn't say anything about what really happened as that would give them all away. It seemed that the other three were cleverer than that as Hermione continued to speak.
"I just can't believe how close we all came to dying today. If Harry hadn't come and saved us I don't know what would have happened. We would all be dead right now." Hermione put her head into her hands and began to cry softly.
Damien thought he was good at acting but he had to hand it to her. She was putting everything she had into her performance.
Ron came over and hugged her, whispering soothing words to her. Damien noticed that Ron was walking again. His leg must have been fixed by the Ministry healers.
"Ron, how's your leg?" Damien asked as he looked at his friend.
"Good as new" he smiled. He looked really exhausted though. Damien hugged Ginny and all four friends sat around the table.
No one spoke but just sat there quiet in their own thoughts. Damien knew that the reason the four friends were allowed to be together was so that they could slip up and say something that would catch them out. He felt really angry with the Ministry. 'Harry's right. There no better than the Death Eaters. Making us all sit here like this. It's not far from torture!' he thought angrily to himself. He lowered his head onto the table and closed his eyes.
He wondered if Harry was okay. He knew his brother had been injured but being Harry, he wouldn't say anything or show it. Damien knew that he couldn't see Harry for a while now. The Ministry might keep an eye on them if they suspected anything.
The door opened again and this time Damien felt his heart leap right into his mouth. Sirius and James walked into the room, followed by Mr Weasley and the four Aurors who had been questioning the teens.
Damien looked at his father, but it seemed that James wasn't looking at him.
"We've talked things over and I suppose there isn't much else left to ask you. All of you can go home. I hope you realise how lucky you all are though. Not many children can say they duelled with Death Eaters and lived to tell the tale" the Auror said looking at the teens. Damien couldn't help but notice the hint of admiration in his eyes.
"It wasn't really us that were fighting. Harry did most of the fighting. We just stayed out of the way" Ginny said in a small voice.
At once the four Aurors tensed a bit and looked at Ginny. Even Mr Weasley was looking uncomfortable.
"About that, I have one last question" the Auror that had been with Damien said. Damien groaned inwardly.
"How is it that he came to save you? It seems strange that he happened to know exactly where you were and that you were in trouble"
Damien realised that this was why the Aurors had kept all of them here and had questioned them again and again. They refused to believe that Harry had actually helped anyone. They would have believed them in a heartbeat if all of them had said that Harry had tried to kill them. But the fact that Harry had saved them, this was just implausible to them.
Damien felt hatred so strongly towards these men that he had to bite his tongue to stop himself hurling abuse at them. Why couldn't they just leave Harry alone?
"We don't know how he knew where we were" Damien heard Ron say.
"We didn't really get a chance to ask him. We're just eternally grateful that he did" Ron finished.
The Auror was looking at Ron, it was apparent by the look on his face that he didn't believe them that Harry had saved anyone. Hermione looked up at the Auror, a strange look in her eyes and she suddenly addressed one of them.
"Actually I remember something quite odd happen between Harry and the Death Eaters." She said looking thoughtful. She had drawn all of the Aurors attention to herself.
"I don't really understand it but, when Harry first came and stopped those men from hurting us, a strange conversation took place. One of the Death Eaters, I'm assuming he was leading the others, started shouting at Harry about something. He said something about Harry being a traitor and being responsible for destroying something…a …a Horcrux, yes that's what it was. A Horcrux"
Damien was staring wide eyed at Hermione, as were Ron and Ginny. Slowly Ginny caught on.
"Oh yeah, I remember that as well. What the hell is a Horcrux?" she added.
"I don't know but they were pretty pissed at Harry. They kept on saying that Harry was going to pay for destroying them. But Harry didn't look scared at all. He pulled a black diary out of his robes and claimed that this was the last Horcrux. Before anyone could do anything, Harry destroyed it. That's when the fight really broke out!" Hermione finished.
Damien was staring at her in complete awe. The girl was a genius. She had given the Aurors evidence that Harry had destroyed all of the Horcruxes, without giving away the fact that they were all involved.
Damien looked at the Aurors, all of them had their mouths wide open and a look of genuine shock was on their faces. They asked Hermione if she was certain that's what she had heard. After Hermione repeated the story again, they looked at each with a mixture of excitement and shock.
"Well, you all can go now, if there is anything else you remember, please inform us right away!" one of the Aurors said as they hurried out of the room.
Mr Weasley embraced Ginny at once and wrapped a comforting arm around his son and led them from the room, whispering that Mrs Weasley was downstairs, in a right crying mess. Hermione was embraced by Sirius who told her that he was going to take her back to her parent's house. As they left the room, Damien caught sight of his father. James hadn't moved from the corner of the room. He was staring at Damien, the anger lurking in his eyes. Slowly James moved towards the door, he left the room without saying a single word to his son. Damien felt his heart sink. Everyone else had believed their account of the events but James hadn't. His father didn't believe him, not a single word.
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The journey back to Godric's Hollow was the most uncomfortable that Damien had ever experienced. They sat in the car in complete silence. James still hadn't said anything to him. Damien sat in the back seat, not wanting to say anything to his father. He didn't know what he could say that would diffuse the whole situation. At last they arrived at Godric's Hollow and Damien hurried behind his father to get inside the house.
James had never acted this way with Damien before. It was usually Lily who told Damien off for misbehaving and James would always laugh it off. The only other time Damien remembered his father looking so angry was the day he found out that Harry had come home and given Damien the Layhoo Jisteen. Damien shuddered at the memory. He had hoped he never got to see his dad so angry again.
James still hadn't said anything to Damien and made his way to the living room. Damien followed him miserably. He came inside to see him mum pulling her head out of the fireplace. She had obviously been trying to floo call someone. At the sight of James and Damien walking into the room, she quickly pulled herself to her feet.
"Damien! Oh thank Merlin you're okay!" she exclaimed and at once embraced her son tightly.
Damien didn't say anything but welcomed the warm embrace. The fact that Mr Weasley and Sirius had comforted the others and his own father had completely ignored him, was the most upsetting thing for Damien.
He looked at his mum with a warm smile as she looked over him intently to see if he was injured.
"Mum, I'm fine" he reassured her softly.
"I've been trying to see where you were for the last half hour. I was just speaking to Tonks at the Ministry, but she said you all had left a while ago" Lily explained as she hugged Damien once again.
"What happened? How on earth did you end up in the midst of Death Eaters?" she asked as she let go of her son.
Damien didn't say anything and looked at the still figure of his father. James had his back towards them and was in the process of removing his outdoor robes. When Damien didn't answer, Lily turned to her husband.
"James, what's wrong? What happened? Will someone tell me what happened?" she asked as she looked from her son to her husband.
Damien decided to confront his dad now. He had to explain things to him. He couldn't stand the silent treatment anymore.
"Dad…" Damien started but was cut off by James.
"Don't!" James had said this quietly but the word seemed to cut through Damien. The thirteen year old just stared at his father in shock.
"Don't call me that! It's obvious you don't think of me as your father. If you had you wouldn't have treated me like you this." James had turned around to face Damien and the look of hurt in his hazel eyes, disturbed Damien more than his words.
"James! What are you saying?" Lily said in disbelief.
"How can you talk to Damy like that?"
James whirled to face Lily, anger etched on his handsome face.
"I am saying what I feel. I have never been so hurt in all my life! I never thought my own son would lie to me!"
Damien stood still and let his fathers words cut at him from inside. He had never intended for his father to be hurt for anything.
"It's nothing but sheer dumb luck that he got away today, Lily. He could have been facing many years in Azkaban for the stunt the pulled today, him and the rest of his friends!" James stopped talking and for the first time since coming from the Ministry, James made eye contact with Damien.
"I don't know what you were thinking Damien, but you are so lucky the Ministry believed your story. Do you know what they would have done to you if they found out you were actually with Harry?" he asked angrily.
"Dad, I wasn't…" again Damien was cut off by James.
"Before you tell me that you weren't with Harry, explain something to me. Explain how it was possible that the Death Eaters managed to abduct you and forcefully take you away, while that pendant is still around your neck!"
Damien instantly reached for his Layhoo Jisteen. He had completely forgotten about that. Of course, no one at the Ministry knew about the protection the pendant offered to him. No one except for his dad. That's why James had known instantly that Damien had been lying. He knew that while that pendant was around Damien's neck, nothing harmful could happen to him. Death Eaters especially would be thrown away from him, before they even got a chance of attacking him.
Damien didn't know what to say. He stood awkwardly in front of his parents, not daring to make eye contact with either of them. Lily was just staring at her son, mouth open with shock.
"I'm thankful that the Ministry believed you. Otherwise…" James stopped and took a steady breath. It was obvious that James was still recovering from the shock of what had happened. Damien had come very close to a sentence in Azkaban.
He looked at Damien and took a few steps towards him. Damien took a deep breath and made eye contact with him.
"I'm only going to ask you this once, Damien. Don't even think about lying to me" James said as he stood before him.
Damien could only nod his head miserably. He knew what James was going to ask him.
"You had planned to be with Harry today, hadn't you? You've been keeping in regular contact with him?"
Damien took a deep breath and looked at his father again. He knew it was useless to lie.
"Yes" he answered quietly. He didn't even dare look at his mum.
"How long has this been going on? When did you start meeting him?" James asked, his voice shook with suppressed rage.
Damien considered lying about this, but then changed his mind. If he was going to get in trouble he may as well come clean.
"Just over three months" he answered.
James didn't respond. He stood staring at Damien. He had of course realised that Damien had been in regular contact with Harry, but he never thought Damien would be in contact with Harry for as long as three months and not tell his parents.
James stood with his jaw clenched tight and his hands rolled into fists. All that time he had spent desperately looking for Harry, going to the muggle world looking for 'Alex'. Worrying about his safety and praying that he was well. Throughout all of that torment he and Lily were going through, Damien had secretly been meeting Harry. James could barely control the anger pulsing through him just now.
"Get out" James hissed at Damien.
Damien took a step back in shock.
"Dad?"
"Get out! Get Out, Damien, before I do something I'll regret, get away from my sight!" James shouted at the frightened boy.
Lily was standing in front of Damien in an instant.
"James!" she looked shocked with his behaviour.
James didn't say anything but walked around both of them and stormed out of the house, banging the front door so hard that it was left hanging from the hinges.
Damien was in tears. He had never seen this side to his father. He knew that no matter how angry his father was, he would never raise a hand to him, but the rage that was in his father's eyes had scared him.
He looked at his mum. Lily was also shaking. Whether it was from anger or from shock from James's reaction, Damien didn't know.
"Mum" Damien managed to say through his silent sobs.
Lily turned to look at her son. She wanted to go over and hug him, but she too was outraged that Damien had hid such an important thing from them.
"I think you should go upstairs" she said with difficulty.
Damien felt like someone had slapped him hard. He stood gaping at his mum. After a moment he obeyed and silently went to his room. He only let his tears fall once he was in his room.
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The rest of the day wasn't any better. James returned back home late at night and wasn't in any mood to talk to Damien. That night was the first night that Damien heard his mum and dad argue.
The following day, Damien was only acknowledged by his mum. Although Lily was beyond furious with Damien as well, she couldn't treat him the way James had been. He refused to even look at the young boy. Damien tried to talk to his father but gave up when he got no response. He was about to bitterly tell his dad how much he resembled Harry when he was in a foul mood but decided it wasn't clever to rub salt on his wounds just now.
Damien spent the rest of the day in his room refusing to come down and have lunch. He desperately wanted to speak with Harry. If he could convince his brother to come home, everything would work out. His parents would forgive him then. Damien was half expecting Harry to turn up at their front door since now their mission was complete. Voldemort's immortality had been destroyed. There were no more Horcruxes left. According to Sirius, Harry had promised he would come home once he was finished. So, hopefully Harry was on his way home now.
Someone did come over to Godric's Hollow, but it wasn't Harry. Remus and Sirius had come to see how everyone was holding up after the whole Death Eater and Ministry thing. After being filled in by angry shouts, Remus spent the evening trying to calm down James with the help of Lily. Sirius had quietly made his way upstairs to see his youngest Godson.
After a few tears, Damien opened up and told Sirius everything.
"I only wanted to help him, Uncle Siri. I figured that if I told dad where Harry was, dad would force Harry to come home. Harry didn't want that. I knew that Harry would run away again and then we would never get a chance to help him! I only tried to help him. Why can't mum and dad understand that?" an emotional Damien asked as he was comforted by Sirius.
Sirius looked sympathetically at his 'pup'.
"You didn't do anything wrong by Harry. But you have to understand how your actions must have looked to James. You know how desperately James has been looking for Harry. You might not realise it but your dad has not been eating, sleeping or even relaxing in these past few months. Damy, you dad is suffering because every moment he fears the worst for Harry. All he wants is his son safe. He won't let anyone hurt him if he can help it. You knew for the last three months where Harry was, had means of communicating with him but you kept that information to yourself. All the while, James and Lily were fighting with everyone and everything to find Harry. James feels betrayed by you. He thought that you would trust him enough to let him bring Harry home and keep him safe."
Damien opened his mouth to argue but Sirius held up a hand to quieten him
"I know that you didn't mean it. You would never hurt James. I know that and even he knows that. But he's really upset just now. He will calm down and then you can explain everything to him." Sirius comforted the distraught boy.
But James didn't calm down. The whole week went by and James still refused to look at or even acknowledge Damien. Lily had asked Damien if he had any way to communicate with Harry. With a hesitant look at his father, Damien had replied that Harry always contacted him. He never said anything about the mobile phone. He wanted to hold onto the phone in case Harry contacted him. Damien was getting more and more anxious that Harry hadn't come home yet and he hadn't even phoned or sent any type of message to say that he was okay.
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Ron, Hermione and Ginny listened sympathetically to Damien as he told them how horrible the last week had been. They were all sitting in Ron's room at the Burrow. There was an Order meeting happening downstairs, now that the news of Voldemort's Horcruxes being destroyed was out in the open.
Damien was glad he was brought along. He couldn't really stay home by himself so he was now sitting with his friends. Damien was eternally grateful that his parents hadn't involved the Weasleys or the Grangers in this whole mess. The Weasleys still thought that the teens had been abducted by the Death Eaters and that Harry had saved them. Mr and Mrs Granger still didn't know anything about the dangerous things their daughter was involved in. Damien figured that his parents were too afraid that if the truth came out more people would find out and the Ministry would be involved again.
The four teens sat miserably as Damien finished.
"…and now he won't even look at me. He hasn't spoken to me since that first day. I just wish he would look at me, even a glare would be welcome."
Hermione was instantly next to Damien and was embracing him softly.
"I'm sure he will calm down and forgive you. He can't stay mad at you forever" she whispered soothingly to him.
Damien only shook his head.
"There's something else bothering me. Harry hasn't contacted me. I know he was hurt in the battle but I'm sure it wasn't that bad. Now, I'm just wondering what happened to him. He hasn't even sent me a message to ask if all of us are okay" Damien finished.
"I haven't sent him a message or anything since I don't know if he's in hiding or what's happened to him. I don't want to risk anyone catching him because of it." Damien added.
Before anyone could respond, Damien gave a startled jump and reached for his jeans pocket.
"Damy, what…?" Ginny started but stopped as she saw Damien pull out his mobile phone enthusiastically. He had jumped because of the sudden vibrations of the phone.
Damien quickly read the message and his hazel eyes widened with surprise.
"What! What does it say? Is he okay?" Hermione asked as Damien sat in silence, reading the message over again and again.
"Yeah, it's just…I don't know if this is right?" he looked puzzled and then walked to the small window peering out of it.
"What? What isn't right" Ginny asked as she joined him at the window.
"It says that Harry's waiting for us outside." Damien told them.
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The four teens crept outside quietly, hoping that they weren't caught by anyone. They quickly opened the back door and stepped out. According to the message Harry sent, he was waiting for them in the small room above the garage. The same room he had slowly recovered from the magic transfer and the attack by the Death Eaters.
The four teens held their wands in front of them. It seemed odd that Harry would come to the Burrow. Usually he would ask them to come and meet him in the muggle world. Damien was glad though. He didn't think he would be able to slip out and meet Harry, not after the strict grounding he was under.
They opened the door to the small room cautiously. They let out a collective sigh of relief as they saw Harry sitting on the bed. He looked up at the four teens and their wands and smiled at them.
"At least you guys have learnt something" he said with a smile as he stood up.
Damien was the first one to race up to Harry. He threw his arms around his brother and clung onto him like he was a lifeline.
"What's with all the hugs?" Harry joked as he pulled away from Damien.
Damien didn't reply but just stood close to him. The others came inside the room and locked the door behind them. Harry looked like he had healed from all the injuries he had received. His face still looked a little thin, but otherwise he was okay.
After asking if everyone was okay they all sat on the two beds in the room. Harry listened to the story the four teens had told the Ministry. He gave an inward sigh as he realised that they were safe from the Ministry.
"You shouldn't have come here like this. Do you know there is an Order meeting happening in there? Dumbledore and all of the Order members are only a few metres away from you" Ron said worriedly.
Harry only gave them a smirk and replied.
"I know"
"You do?" Ginny spluttered out.
"Yeah, I figured it would be the best time to meet you guys. They won't have a clue you're missing"
Everyone just stared at him. Harry really did have a warped way of thinking.
"Okay, so what's happening now?" Ron asked, a hint of excitement was seeping into his voice.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
"Well, the Horcruxes are all finished. I mean there're all destroyed. Voldemort is now as mortal as everyone else." There was a wide grin on his face as he spoke.
"We did it! I mean, you did it. You destroyed them but all of us helped. Together we managed to finish all of them. What are you going to do next? Finish the Death Eaters? Whatever it us you're planning, I want to be a part of it" Ron said excitedly.
Harry smiled at him, despite himself. He was glad that everyone had survived the attack and that they all kept their word and didn't give him away.
"I haven't thought about what the future holds" Harry started to say quietly.
Damien interrupted him at once.
"I'll tell you. You have to come home and free me from the torment mum and dad is putting me through."
Harry looked mildly shocked at first. He sat quietly as Damien ran though his account of what had happened when they came back from the Ministry. Harry was surprised that James had acted in such a way with Damien. It wasn't Damien's fault that Harry didn't come home.
"…so you see, until you come home, mum and dad are going to continue making my life as uncomfortable as possible." Damien finished miserably.
Harry didn't really know what to say. He turned to face Damien properly and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sure they will forgive you with time. They can't stay mad at you forever"
Damien felt like ice cold water had been poured over him. He sat and took in Harry's words. 'With time' what did that mean?
"What do you mean? You are coming home, right?" Damien asked feeling dread creep into him.
Harry looked at Damien with regret. He seemed to be fighting just to look at Damien in the eyes.
"Damy, you know that things will get worse if I come home. It's not as simple as returning home and hoping that the Ministry or the Order won't notice."
Harry was speaking but Damien could hardly hear him over the roaring of blood in his ears. Harry wasn't coming home. He had never planned on returning to Godric's Hollow.
"But, but you promised Uncle Sirius that you would come home. You said that once you were finished you would return home" Damien said, fighting to control his emotions.
Harry looked sorrowfully over at him.
"Some promises are only made to be broken"
Damien seemed to lose the battle to control his emotions. He stood up, glaring at Harry.
"You can't do that! You can't just bring up someone's hopes and then crush them like that. You don't have any right to do that!"
Harry stayed quiet as Damien yelled at him. The other three looked uncomfortably away from the scene.
"Why did you come here anyway? Why did you bother to meet us here like this? Was it to…." Damien trailed off as he realised why Harry had come. Why Harry had taken such a risk to come to the Burrow while there was an Order meeting going on."
"You came to say goodbye" Damien whispered as the realisation hit home.
The look on Harry's face confirmed that he was right. This was the last time any of them were going to see Harry.
"You can't just leave like this! I won't let you. I didn't take all this shit from everyone just so that you can walk out on all of us again!" Damien screamed at Harry. Harry stood up as well and the soft look in his eyes had hardened.
"What are you going to do? Tell on me! Go ahead Damy, the entire Order is only a few steps away. Why don't you go inside and tell them I'm here"
Damien glared at Harry, wanting nothing more than to hit him.
"Maybe that's what I should have done. Maybe I should go in there right now and tell dad that you are here. Then he can drag you home by the hair if he has too. I won't care!" Damien was breathing hard and looked on the verge of tears.
"But if I was going to do that, I would have done it ages ago. I promised to myself that I wouldn't let anyone hurt you or make you do something you don't want to do. I just never thought that you didn't want to come home!" Damien yelled bitterly.
"I don't know what else to do!" Harry shouted back at Damien. Everyone in the room was silent, hardly breathing due to the tension.
"I don't know how I can make things any better. I know that if I go from here, everyone will be better off" Harry continued a little more gently.
Damien looked at Harry with hurt shinning in his eyes. He refused to say anything to him.
"Look, we all got what we wanted. The Horcruxes are gone. We all finished them! It's over. We won" Harry tried to explain that his purpose was finished. He had to leave now.
Damien looked at is brother, tears glistening in his eyes.
"No, I lost. How can I have won if I lost you in the end? I didn't help you because I wanted to help defeat Voldemort. I helped you because I wanted you back in my life. The hope that maybe, someday, once everything was over, we all could be a family. If you go then I've lost, Voldemort won"
With that said, Damien walked to the door and walked away without responding to Harry's shouts.
The other three stood, lost in the tension. No one knew what to say. Harry looked heartbroken at Damien's departure. This wasn't how he wanted to say goodbye.
Harry looked uncomfortably at the rest.
"Look, I just wanted to say, that…I never really told you guys how much your help was appreciated. I wouldn't have been able to finish this so quickly if you guys hadn't been there, so…I just wanted to tell you that"
Hermione smiled at the awkward thanks they got.
"You're welcome, Harry" she said softly.
"We better go and see him" Ron gestured to the house. Harry only nodded.
Before leaving Hermione walked over to Harry and whispered.
"Before you leave, I think there is one more person you should say goodbye to properly."
Harry's eyes flitted over to the red haired girl standing next to the door. The unshed tears in her eyes hadn't been missed by Harry. He nodded his head again at Hermione.
Ron and Hermione left quietly, saying goodbye and good luck to Harry. They didn't look very happy about Harry leaving, but didn't feel like they had any right to stop him either.
Ginny stood next to the door. She wanted to leave as well but somehow her legs weren't responding to her. They stood firmly on the ground.
Harry walked over to her and closed the open door, facing the girl. Harry knew exactly how Ginny had felt about him. Damien had slipped many hints about her being 'still madly in love' with him. Harry had always disregarded these words. He wasn't really bothered with how anyone felt about him back then. Harry always buried any feelings he had for Ginny. He had told himself that he had no future. He shouldn't bring up someone's hopes when there was no possible future for them.
Harry looked at the red haired girl before him, not really knowing what to say to her.
"I suppose you want to tell me I shouldn't leave as well." Harry said after a moments pause.
Ginny looked at Harry, a sad smile on her face.
"Would it make any difference to you?" she asked quietly.
Harry only looked at her, the answer in his emerald eyes.
"If you've made up your mind to leave, Harry. I won't ask you to stay."
Harry was surprised with her answer.
"Is that how you really feel?" he asked, not knowing why he wanted to know.
"It doesn't matter what I feel. It doesn't mater what I want. I've never asked you for anything, Harry. I don't intend on asking you now" Ginny's tears slipped out of eyes and trailed down her face. She didn't wipe them away.
"Ginny. You know that my future is very unclear. I don't even know how long I'm going to be here. I know how you feel and I just want to say that you shouldn't waste your time. You have a future. I don't. Don't waste it" Harry said softly, resisting the urge to wipe away her tears.
Ginny smiled again and looked at Harry, deeply lost in his eyes.
"I've never asked you to return the feelings I have for you. So you can't tell me not to love you, Harry. I don't care about my future. The only future I care about, is yours"
Ginny walked away and pulled open the door to leave. She turned around to look at him, a smile playing across her face.
"You know Harry, if you had said that you don't love me and that I should stop loving you. I might have listened to you. But the fact that you said we have no future together and you said it almost regrettably. That gave me the answer I so desperately wanted to know."
Harry could only stare at her. She had managed to find out what Harry had tried to hide. Ginny locked eyes with him for the last time and whispered.
"I'll never forget you, Harry"
Harry smiled as she walked out of the door. He stood in the empty room, trying to stop his heart from breaking.
"Me neither, Ginny" he whispered to himself.
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