A/N: All characters, sets and character personas belong to J.K.Rowling. Read and Review, please.
Chapter 2: Sanity and Strength, Rivaled
The following morning, he woke up to a very tired self. He couldn't move. He forced himself to. He had packed up his things the previous night. He was supposed to bring all his things downstairs... including his trunk. How? He tried his best. He knew that when he just reached the station, he would be alright. Ron and Hermione would be there, waiting for him. He put one hand on one handle of the trunk, and pulled. He pulled with all his might. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally got to the stairs. Vernon was already waiting downstairs.
'Get going, boy!' he snapped.
Anger flowed through Harry's body and mind. He felt like simply lashing out, pulling his wand on everyone, and getting taken to Azkaban. He wouldn't, though, not when he made it this far. He couldn't give up now. He motionned to Uncle Vernon to come help him with his trunk. Just has his Uncle was about to say something, he stopped. Harry didn't know why, but Vernon had just realized how pale he was. He came up the stairs, disgruntled, still thinking if he was doing the right thing by helping, in his mind, a terrible nephew. He picked up the trunk by the handles, and made his way downstairs and to the car. He then put the trunk into the car. Uncle Vernon then looked at Harry with a 'get-yourself-into-the-effin-car-before-I-smack-you-look'. Harry knew he was in trouble. He had left Hedwig's cage upstairs.
'I'll be right down' said Harry in a pleading voice.
Vernon was livid. He immediately regretted having helped his -terrible- nephew. Harry rushed as fast as his body would allow it up the stairs, which was at a snail's pace, and got Hedwigs cage with Hedwig inside. He started going down the stairs when he tripped over the first step and then tumbled to the very foot of the stairs. He had broken his hand, sprained his ankle and was bleeding from his head, but he couldn't do anything now, or his so very *close* relatives would murder him and never take him back to Hogwarts. He tried to get to the car as fast as his legs would allow, which was again very slow. He dragged his foot behind him as he got up to the car. He then opened the door, and sat down. Relief. He was next to Dudley, but that didn't matter. Dudley was terrified to even look at Harry who was in a state that resembled death.
From in front of the car, he heard a voice full of anger. 'Keep your hands on that cut on your head. Don't drip blood in my car!' Vernon snarled.
Harry was not only supposed to bear the anger, he was also supposed to keep the car clean. Think Cho, he thought... but why? Why did she come back? Was she an angel that was supposed to come and rescue him? If so, she wasn't doing a very good job. Maybe she just hates me for killing Cedric, he thought. He paused. We didn't kill Cedric! a voice in the back of his head spoke. The rest of his mental self replied with a big 'Of course we did!'. Had he truly killed Cedric Diggory, the love of Cho's life? Maybe that was the reason. He then got back to reality, and got to the conclusion that angels were probably non-existant and that it was a stupid to have thought otherwise. Before he realized he was already at King's Cross. Success! He made it!! However, after a few seconds of ecstasy, he couldn't find Ron and Hermione. They usually went through the brick barrier together. Oh well, they must already be waiting beyond it. Maybe they wanted to be alone... I've sensed something between them for a while... That's it. His mind was set, Ron and Hermione would be just beyond the brick barrier between the muggle and Wizarding worlds.
His mind made up, Harry, though greatly pained, took his trunk, put it on a trolley, and made his way to the barrier very slowly, trying not to kill himself and dragging his foot behind. Without even saying goodbye to his relatives, he crossed the barrier, without a problem. Problem... uh, where were Ron and Hermione? Instantly, Harry weakened even more. Why weren't they here? He had been deceived. He fell down. A laugh came from behind him. It was Draco Malfoy.
Harry tried to make out some sort of insult, but he couldn't. He was too weak. It was 5 to 11. He had to get on the train quickly.
Malfoy didn't seem to be interested in Harry anymore. He was starting to walk... towards Harry! Harry exhaled a sigh of relief when Draco took a step over him, stepping with his left leg forward. His right leg, however, hit Harry's ribs with his knee. He had the wind blown out of him. He could barely get up. 4 to 11 o'clock. Four minutes left. He had to act quickly. He started getting up, pushing his trolley towards the train. He then unloaded his trunk with Hedwig's cage on top of it. He didn't know how he did it, but he picked his trunk up and got onto the train. Inside, he looked for an empty compartment. He didn't want to be seen in this state. At the very end of the train, he found a compartment that remained unoccupied. He got in, slid the door shut, and flopped himself on the seat without even putting his trunk onto the luggage 'compartment'. He wasn't sleeping. He couldn't sleep. He had slept for the past week, after fainting. Oh, when he arrived, everything would be okay. For sure, this time. Hagrid was bound to be there. Yes, he was going to be fine.
Just as he finished consoling himself, which hadn't helped much, someone slid the door open. The soft, gentle, soothing female voice asked if he minded if they shared the compartment. She stopped mid-sentance.
'Harry? Is that you?'
Harry looked up... he didn't expect to see Cho.
'Cho, hi.'
'What happend to you, Harry?'
'Oh, my muggle relatives.' He was gaining power by the sentence.
'You look terrible.' comforting him.
Cho had always seen Harry as 'The Boy Who Lived'. She had always thought he was the shallow guy that saw her for her beauty, but not more. True, she was very beautiful, but that's all that everyone saw in her anymore. They didn't care that she was a Seeker for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, or anything else associated with her, they just saw a beautiful girl whom they wanted to be their girlfriend.
'So, how are you?'
'Fine.' she said, finally taking a seat.
'Well, anyways, do you mind if I take a nap?'
'Uh, no, not really...' she said, a bit shocked. She was sure he was going to be like everyone else, and confess his love to her. Maybe she had been wrong about him.
Harry lied down on the seat opposite to Cho, and began to close his eyes. He didn't feel like sleeping, but with his current condition, and his heart doing somersaults every time Cho spoke a word, he couldn't really bear sitting up. A few minutes later, he opened his eyes, and saw Cho staring at him.
'Yes?' he asked, intrigued.
'Cho?' he insisted...
'Cho. Hello? Earth to Cho...' he started waving his hands. She hadn't said a word.
'What? Oh, hi Harry!' she finally answered, still looking into his eyes.
'Sorry about that, I, uh, went out of this world.'
'Yeah, I noticed.' he laughed.
Trying to change the subject, she asked where Ron and Hermione were. Harry said he didn't know, which was the truth. They kept talking all the way up to Hogwarts.
