LETTER FROM HOME
A/N: So finally I post up Chapter Gojuugo! (55) . wow that's fun to say…gojuugo…gojuugo…gojuugo…gojuugo…hmm, well I hope you like this chapter, please review! And if you are reading this on ffnet please remember my blog. Bitterseries[dot]blogspot[dot]com. I promise it's worth it. Thank you for reading.
Without having truly formed a plan, Harry, Hermione and Ron left Grimmauld Place. They used muggle transportation, which was the most difficult thing for them. They weren't sure exactly where to go or really how to get there. Hermione suggested staying out of cities and well populated areas. It sounded good to Harry so they embarked on their journey.
Severus Snape stood at the top of the Astronomy tower. He looked out over the grounds. Dementors flew through the air casting Hogwarts in an eternal winter. Death Eaters stood sentinel at the gates as the children filed their way to the castle. He knew none of these faces would be the one he wanted to see, but still, he couldn't stop his eyes from searching. He missed Harry terribly, and the last words he had said to Severus still stung his already broken heart. He loved Harry, he loved him so much, that now that he faced the rest of his days without him, he couldn't hardly breathe from the pain. Harry was the only good thing to ever happen in his life, and now that he was gone Severus felt completely…empty.
He knew it had been a long shot making Harry relive those memories. He had tried to show him when the teen had promised to love him no matter what. But that had been an utter failure. He had fiercely rejected him even though Severus had tried to warn him that something like this might happen. He had said then, that it was okay, that he would understand. But he didn't.
Severus' eyes wandered away from the droves of Hogwarts students to land on the ground beneath the tower. Albus' body had landed there, crushed from the force of impact. . Severus had killed the man. Sure, Dumbledore was aware that it would happen, in fact he had practically begged Severus to do the task.
The man's mind wandered to the likely outcomes of this war. He had never allowed himself to think about his own outcome. It was highly likely that he would die. And if he somehow managed to survive, he would be arrested and tried providing the good guys won. But Severus didn't expect this outcome for himself. He knew what Harry was. He had learned it from Dumbledore only a week before his death. And he knew that in order for the Dark Lord to be defeated, Harry would have to die.
Severus wanted nothing more than to take his young love and hide together forever. He would gladly give all this responsibility up to someone else. But he knew Harry. Being the Gryffindor that he is, he would willingly sacrifice himself for the "greater good".
Severus swore to himself, right then and there, that when that happened, he would be right behind him. He wouldn't let Harry die alone; even though the teen hated him, and even though he didn't remember anything about their relationship. Severus was a terribly selfish man at heart. He would steal away Harry's final moments, if it were possible.
Months passed and there was no sign of Harry Potter. Wherever he was he was doing a terrific job at hiding himself. But Severus was getting worried and anxious. He had to know if his love was safe and unharmed.
He sat at his desk one evening and wrote a letter.
Harry sat in a rocking chair that Ron had transfigured from a tree branch and placed by the camp fire for him. The teen's belly was now a very sizable swell. One more month and his baby would be born.
Hermione stood over a pot of boiling mushrooms; it was the only thing they had to eat. When they first started their journey, Ron used to complain…a lot. But after he ended up making Hermione cry, he hadn't complained since.
The Horcrux that Dumbledore had fought so hard for was safe in Hermione's purse. Since no one could wear it without totally losing their minds. It was fine there, for now anyway. No one except Remus and Sirius knew about it knew about it and they were both on lockdown at Grimmauld Place.
Harry knew that the Death Eaters would lay siege to the house as soon as they realized harry wasn't dumb enough to set foot at Hogwarts again Remus and his godfather would, "give them something to watch." Sirius had said with a mischievous grin.
Harry hadn't confronted them about their obvious relationship. He figured they would tell him when they were ready. He smiled at the thought of Sirius finally finding happiness.
"If only we could buy us some meat." Hermione groaned to herself.
"What are you talking about? Mushrooms are my favorite." Ron did his best to smile through the blatant lie, struggling only slightly. He stood up from his position on a stone chair, which he had transfigured from a large rock and kissed her forehead. "Thank you love."
The bushy-haired girl blushed crimson and sputtered.
"Oh get a room you two." Harry said, throwing a small twig at them.
They chuckled but Ron was considerate enough to go back to his seat. The couple did their best not to flirt in front of him; mostly because it was rude, but also because was depressed about his own lover. He had never regained his memory after Dumbledore's death and it upset very much.
The teen rubbed his belly feeling his baby kick him in the ribs. Even though it hurt sometimes he was glad to have sort of comfort about his safety; or her safety. That was something he didn't know; whether his baby was male or female.
"Hey," said Ron looking straight up. "Check this out."
Harry and Hermione looked up to see a rather large raven flying in a circle above their camp. It seemed confused as if it was trying to land but couldn't find a spot.
"What's it doing?" the red head asked, eyeing the bird. "Maybe it's signaling Death Eaters where we are." He said, his voice in a panic.
"I don't think so." said Harry. There was something very familiar about this bird, but he couldn't place it.
"It definitely knows we're here." Hermione said. "But the wards should keep it from seeing us or hearing us."
"Or get in." Ron added.
The bird banked left and dropped to the ground. It walked to the edge of the wards and stopped. It flapped its wings in frustration, its feathers poofing out. The sun cast over it, showing a brilliant blue shine.
Harry noticed a piece of parchment tied to one of its legs. "Hang on." He said. "There's a letter." Harry moved to get out of the chair but Ron beat him to it.
"Hold on Harry, I'll go." He said drawing his wand, just in case. Ron walked over to the bird stepping out of the wards.
"KAWW! The bird screeched flapping its wings and flying away from Ron. But it didn't fly far, and landed a few yards away, not wanting to leave with its job undone. Ron walked closer, but the raven walked away.
It went on like this for a while until Ron was red in the face with irritation and Hermione and Harry's sides hurt from laughing so hard.
"Alright," Ron challenged as he stormed back into the wards. "You try to catch bloody thing then."
Harry walked over and stepped out of the protective barrier, fully exposing himself to the creature.
As soon as the raven saw him it flew straight for him, taking perch on his shoulder. "See Ron that wasn't so hard."
"What if someone followed it here?" Hermione asked when Harry brought the raven into the camp; effectively cutting Ron's retort off.
"We'll have to leave very quickly then." Harry said, reaching up to take the letter.
"How are we supposed to do that without apparating?" Ron added his two cents.
"Fine, then we're screwed."
"Lovely."
Harry opened the letter and read it aloud.
Dear Mr. Potter,
Allow me to start by saying, sending this letter to you is completely safe, and will not reveal your location to anyone, including myself.
I am well informed of the situation at hand. I understand that you are on a very dangerous mission.
I also understand that you can no longer remember who I am. This may sound strange to you, but we were at one point, or rather throughout a few years in a relationship of the romantic kind.
I still love you terribly, but I'm afraid I had to tamper with your memory. Not for my safety, but for yours. I know you won't understand any of this, and I am sorry.
I am sorry.
Please, just let me know that you're safe. Let me know that you're okay. And if there is anything I can do to help you from my end.
[Forever and Always]
A Friend
Harry's eyes widened as he read and reread the letter. "Forever and always" was written in Parsletongue. The teen could feel tears burning his eyes as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver watch with a brass tree of Avalon on the front. On the back, engraved there, were the very words in parsletongue as in the letter.
"Harry…" Hermione crossed the distance to her friend and hugged him, angering the raven who flew to a new perch on Ron's stone chair. "This is perfect." She said pulling away to wipe a tear of her own. "Now you can tell him about his son, or daughter."
"No, I can't." Harry said. "What if this bird is intercepted? I can't tell him. Not yet. Not until it's safe."
"But…he'll be born by then."
"I know." Harry hung his head. "I wish he could be there. I want him to know, but I can't. What if he's interrogated?"
"We don't even know who he is." said Ron. "For all we know he could be lying to you."
Harry's face contorted in anguish at the thought and Hermione threw a dark glare over her shoulder at her tactless boyfriend. "No Harry, I'm certain he's not. What about the parsletongue? That proves it, doesn't it?"
"Y-yeah." Harry took a deep breath and smiled. "He said he wants to help. So…I'll ask for help."
"Be careful what you say, exactly. Just in case."
"Of course." Harry smiled again. He was so incredibly happy to hear from him; wherever he was.
"Ask him to send us meat." Ron said before turning to glare at the raven.
"Hey I thought you liked my mushrooms." Hermione said with a chuckle.
Harry ignored their flirting as he stared at the beautiful scrawl across the paper.
A/N: Yay! Gojuugo! Gojuugo! 0.0 omg I just said it really fast and it sounded like, "Go Jew, go!" wow, I promise I am not a bigot. Suddenly it's not fun to say…
