He's been gone for exactly 6 years now. It was this day in November, 6 years ago, that my best friend left us.
||**Flashback**||
"Hey, Ron?" Harry said. "I'm gonna go get some fresh air."
"Fine. But take your cloak; it's cold outside tonight." Ron warned him.
"Don't worry about me, Ron. Goodbye." Harry said. "Tell Hermione I said bye to her too."
"Why? You'll only be gone a few minutes." Ron said.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Harry told him. "But tell her anyway."
||**End Flashback**||
I should have known something was wrong. Especially when I thought I saw a tear in his eye as he turned and left. That was back in our sixth year. Graduating from Hogwarts without my best friend in seventh year was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. On graduation night, word from the Ministry came that said Lord Voldemort was dead. That was the only good thing about seventh year. It meant that Harry was still alive, for whom else could be powerful enough to defeat Voldemort?
Every day, I hope and pray that Harry will show up, acting like he never left. But every day, a little bit of that hope dies away. Now it's more wishful thinking than actually believing that he could show up.
Hermione has more faith than I do. She's hired investigators and tried every spell she could think of to try and locate him. Nothing worked, but she still believes Harry could show up any day now.
Nearly every day, a newspaper or magazine publishes an article proclaiming that someone has seen Harry. I've quit reading them all together now. I don't want to build my hope, only to have it shattered.
But, wait. What's this? Sure, it's another article of someone claiming to have seen Harry, but this one has a photograph. You can see the brilliant green of his eyes and the lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead. You can also see a muggle with a newspaper that says the date: November 8. That means the picture was taken 2 days ago. At a building that I recognize.
I look at the picture more closely. Harry is wearing a uniform with a name on it: Jerald Whinterston. So he's using an alias, huh? That must mean he doesn't want to be discovered. Fat chance! Tomorrow I'm going down to that building and finding my friend!
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A/N: Please R/R! I'm very proud of this! In the next chapter, Ron goes down to Harry's place of work. Why didn't Harry comeback after Voldemort's downfall? What is he hiding? Find out in Chapter 2: Explanations.
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with, or endorsed by, the author or publisher and gain nothing from writing this story, except self-satisfaction. I only own the plot.
