Part Forty-Seven: Leaving Hogwarts
The dreary weather of what should have been a bright, June day was bringing everyone inside the Hogwarts castle down from any high mood they may have been in. Rain poured down in sheets, the humidity from the heat mixing with the precipitation forcing many of the students inside. Overcast skies had been prevalent for the past few days, though there was very little fog, and the bleak atmosphere was proving to be nothing short of depressing. Seventh year students were looking at it as a sign of the equally depressing event each of them was about to embark in. Tomorrow, they would walk out of the Hogwarts doors and getting on the Hogwarts Express for the last time.
Draco sat in the Ravenclaw common room, Harry situated behind him, staring out the window at the sheets of rain pounding without relent onto the ground. Some of the younger students were out exploring the castle while the older ones were already packing, having already said their goodbyes before the awarding of the House Cup that night. Gryffindor, of course, was to be the winner despite the valiant attempt made by all the houses minus Slytherin, which was terribly suffering due to the incident with the stairs that resulted in the suspension of Crabbe and Goyle.
Without his friends from Ravenclaw around, and having already packed as to not delay the process, Draco caught up with Neville Longbottom and Ginny Weasley, who pointed him toward the Quidditch Pitch to find Harry. When he arrived, Harry was zooming around on his broom and, from where Draco was standing, having a wonderful time. Upon seeing Draco, Harry landed and revealed that he had been brooding, wishing things could stay at a standstill but were nonetheless moving forward. What good was magic if you couldn't keep things perfect, anyway?
Draco invited Harry back to common room for some company and now here they were, sitting back to chest with Harry's arms around Draco's thin shoulders. Each had the severity of what tomorrow meant on their minds but neither one dared to speak about it. Shifting, Draco rested his head on Harry's shoulder, breathing in his now familiar scent while his mind shifted from the Hogwarts Express tomorrow to the Hogwarts Express almost ten months ago.
It had been a teary goodbye, mostly on Narcissa's part, as Draco left her for seventh year and boarded the train. He could remember the chaos raging inside him, feeling as if any moment it would split him right in two. Platform nine and three quarters rolled out of sight as the train headed north, and Draco sat by the window watching the landscape roll by. He had been sitting with Ruby Cabot then, the only person who he felt had a right to stare. Arriving at Hogwarts, Peeves had been an annoyance at worst, nothing he wasn't used to. Kailah had arrived without his full knowledge. Blaise had gotten on his nerves. Draco still wondered how ten months later he could be sitting in Harry Potter's arms, feeling the strongest genuine love he had known for more than a few hours.
Harry Potter was something - someone - that Draco never expected to happen to him. No one that pure could ever love him, nor could someone that golden ever manage to beat his way through Draco's exterior. He supposed it was a strange twist of fate that had brought them together, Harry catching Draco at the one moment in time when the chink in his armor had been discovered. It could have been anyone that Draco woke up to when all seemed lost and yet it was Harry. Something about it was too right. It was so perfect Draco had problems comprehending that it was even happening at all. Life can be like that sometimes. Your dreams, not matter how trite, can seem so very far away, and then, there they are, realized before you even know it was what you were searching for all along.
Movement behind him broke Draco's train of thought and he turned around to see Harry slowly pulling away from him. Draco suppressed the urge to reach out, bring him back for something more than the warmth his body heat provided. Ron and Hermione would be back from their visit with Hagrid by now (Harry had already taken the time to say goodbye), and Harry wanted to spend some time with them in Gryffindor before the feast that night. Promising to see Draco at dinner, Harry claimed Draco's lips for his own before letting go and disappearing through the exit out of Ravenclaw tower. Sighing, Draco let his head drop to his knees.
~*~
"Remind me why I have to leave you again," said Draco, wrapping his arms around Harry's waist and dropping his chin on Harry's shoulder, pouting.
"I can't tell you to go away when you look at me like that, Draco," said Harry, smirking. Leaning forward, he placed a gentle kiss on Draco's forehead.
"Oh please," said Ron, rolling his eyes.
"Like you and Kali haven't been intolerable since you got engaged," said Hermione, rolling her eyes.
"Like you haven't been sour just because Servius left yesterday," said Ron.
"It's a good thing, too," said Kali. "I think Hufflepuff would have killed him. If he hadn't lost those hundred points in his last Potions class with Daddy, they would have won the House Cup."
"Draco, you really have to go back to your table," said Harry, trying to get back on topic.
"But why?" said Draco.
"You're whining."
"So?"
"So, Draco, you have to go back to your table. The Heads of Houses are handing out our yearbooks before the feast and you won't get yours if you don't go over to Ravenclaw. Flitwick isn't going to come over here and hand it to you just because you decided you didn't want to comply."
"Fine," Draco grumbled, pulling away from Harry and standing up. "But remember, no one opens their yearbook until the train tomorrow. And I will be back. Don't think you've seen the last of Draco Malfoy."
"I'd be very sad if we had," said Harry.
Harry turned back to the table, laughing, as Draco stomped across the Great Hall to the Ravenclaw table where Padma, who was also laughing, greeted him.
"Can you believe that's the same Draco Malfoy from our foray with Polyjuice Potion second year?" said Ron, looking past Harry to the Ravenclaw table.
"That isn't the same Draco Malfoy," said Harry, folding his napkin and looking longingly at the empty plates. "I'm bloody hungry. I do hope McGonagall hands out our yearbooks soon. I want to eat."
"I still find it somewhat amusing that you're dating Draco Malfoy."
"I still find it somewhat amusing that both you and Hermione are dating someone with Snape genes."
"Point taken."
"I like Servius," said Hermione, defending her boyfriend.
"No one said there was anything wrong with Servius. I was just pointing out that he had Snape genes," said Harry, laughing. "You were getting awfully defensive, Hermione. If I were you, Kali, I'd be insulted."
"If you were me, Harry, I'd be pregnant," she replied.
"From the way you and Ron shag, I'm surprised you aren't."
"Can we not talk about shagging at the table?" said Ron, running his hands through his hair and turning a light shade of red. "Servius is gone, Harry isn't pretending to be the Gryffindor playboy, and thus there is no reason to bring up shagging before our meal."
"You need to loosen up, Ron," said Harry, nodding. "I was just insinuating that you and Kali go off to shag a lot. I'm not saying I blame you. If I were Kali, I'd be getting you in bed every second I had the chance."
Kali snickered at the way Ron's freckles were starting to blend into his complexion.
"It never gets harder," said Harry. "Ron always blushes when you talk about shagging in any way whatsoever. Does he do it with you, too, Kali, or is it just me? I mean, I remember when you used to get embarrassed over me talking about you and Ron, but then you got used to me and you laugh along with me now. Ron - he just never learns to laugh at it."
"That's because it isn't funny," snapped Ron.
"Yes it is," said Kali, kissing him on the cheek. "I love you, anyway."
"That's nice to know," he said, rolling his eyes.
"McGonagall," said Hermione, pointing at their Head of House, who happened to be coming in their direction. "And stop talking about shagging. I agree with Ron. It isn't an appropriate topic of conversation."
"You never told Servius to stop it," said Harry.
"That's because she was shagging him," said Ron.
"I was not and let's not talk about that, Ron. You were the one who said there was to be no talk of shagging at this table. I supported you and now I'm being attacked as well."
"I'm not attacking you, Mione," said Ron, as McGonagall handed him his yearbook, giving the contingent disapproving looks. Harry supposed she must have heard them accuse Hermione of shagging Servius.
When Draco rejoined the Gryffindor table, they put their yearbooks in a pile to the side to be viewed the next day on the Hogwarts Express. Harry, who was especially taking the departure from Hogwarts hard, had decided they should look at them together on the train as a sort of drowning in nostalgia. Draco, who was taking the departure from Harry (even if it was temporary) especially hard, had agreed. Everyone figured that Kali would take a peek before then but Ron planned on trying to detain her.
"Draco, why do you always sit at the Gryffindor table?" asked Ron, who had a bit of everything on his plate and was now experimenting with something that looked like it was once a roasted potato.
"Didn't we go over this before?" said Draco, piling food onto his plate for a second helping of almost everything.
"You said you liked us better, which I refuse to believe," said Ron.
"I do like you lot better. I like Harry and Kailah, anyway."
From across the table, Kali winked at Draco.
"Now, Ron, you really should leave him alone. What does it matter if he's sitting with us anyway?" said Hermione. "Draco's our friend now and I should think you'd accept that. He's been sitting here for month. You can't tell me you developed a problem with it all of a sudden."
"Actually, Ron could say something like that and get away with it. He's very unstable," said Kali, knowingly.
"I am not unstable and I don't have a problem with Draco sitting here. I was just curious of the real reason. I'm the one who's being attacked tonight."
"Settle, children," said Harry, grinning. Draco shook his head, rolling his eyes.
"I sit here because some of the Ravenclaws are still curious about me, Harry sits here, and I feel less like a seriously unhinged Slytherin freak when I'm with you. For some reason, you've been the people who accepted me for the way I turned out and not the way I used to be."
"You aren't a Slytherin," said Hermione.
"What?"
"You said you feel less like a seriously unhinged Slytherin freak with us. You aren't a Slytherin anymore."
"As opposed to being a seriously unhinged freak," mumbled Ron.
"What?" said Hermione.
"Nothing."
Draco gave a short laugh and shrugged. "That was how I felt before I switched houses. Before I - eh - stopped cutting myself, actually. Everyone was always staring at me and I felt like I should have had 'seriously unhinged Slytherin' tattooed across me. Especially that night in the library when Pince kept watching me like I was going to go completely bonkers and spit foam at all her precious books. That night was awful. First Blaise in my face and then Potter. . ." He paused, glancing to Harry and forming a sheepish smile. "I mean -er - Harry came to have a lovely chat with me."
If Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Kali hadn't been laughing from his slip up or from his venomous spitting of Harry's last name, the smile and correction pushed them over the edge. They were in hysterics and Draco didn't seem to appreciate it at all. Glaring, Draco spooned some of the potato-like things onto his plate.
"He insults me and then he eats all our food," said Harry, smirking.
"You need to feed the formerly suicidal boy," said Draco, popping a potato in his mouth and grinning.
"Is there some hidden joke in there as well?" asked Harry. Draco nodded.
"When I first got back to Hogwarts, I felt like a freak in a zoo. Everyone kept staring at me. And you know how you aren't supposed to feed animals at the zoo . . . Well, I said not to feed the suicidal boy."
"You have a sick and twisted sense of humor."
"I only had myself for entertainment. What do you expect?"
When the House Cup was awarded, all of Gryffindor broke out into celebration at the victory, Draco included. Hermione, being Head Girl and top of their class, deemed Draco an honorary Gryffindor, which he claimed brought his house membership count up to three. No one expected it to go any higher as it would take nothing short of a miracle to make Draco a part of the Hufflepuff house. The Sorting Hat itself would have to pick him up and carry him over there. Considering the Sorting Hat and its attitude, Harry expected it would do no less if it ever came down to that possible scenario. You never knew just what hidden talents the founders could have blessed that hat with.
~*~
When Harry awoke, he immediately shut his eyes again, rolled over, and tried to force himself back to sleep. Knowing it was hopeless, but wishing he would never have to step on that train, Harry rolled back over to see Seamus Finnigan sitting on the end of his bed, staring at the window and looking every bit as depressed as Harry felt.
"We're finally leaving," said Seamus.
"Yeah."
"What are you doing when you get off the train?"
"Going home with Sirius. We live in Godric's Hollow . . . Lupin's going to be there. He's apparating because he refuses to take the school train again."
"I'm going home, too. Lavender and I are playing it cool for a little while until we decide whether we want to stay together. I heard you're moving in with Draco."
"Yeah. We're looking for a place this summer together. He's going back to the Manor for awhile."
"I'm going to miss everyone so much."
"So am I, Seamus. I'll see you at Ron and Kali's wedding, though. There's no way you wouldn't be invited."
Seamus laughed. "Right. Of course I'm going to be invited. Kali thinks I'm funny. She'll probably want me there just for comic relief."
"Probably," said Harry, laughing. "I guess we should get ready to leave then."
Seamus only nodded.
After the gloomiest breakfast Harry had ever eaten at Hogwarts, the last breakfast he would eat there, he returned to Gryffindor tower where he found Ron in the boys' dormitory, seated on the bed he had occupied the six years before. Harry didn't speak walking over to where Ron sat. Dropping next to him, Harry let his head drop to Ron's shoulder and he sighed feeling Ron's head fall to meet his. There had been so many memories made in this room from late night pillow fights to finding comfort only a best friend can provide after the most horrid nightmares. It had happened so fast and it was all too soon to let it go. Holding on, however, was not an option.
Ron hadn't been the only one to visit a dorm long forgotten before loading his trunk onto a carriage and riding away from the castle into Hogsmeade. Blaise reported that he returned to his dorm, checking for anything he may have left behind, and Draco was seated in the middle of the room. He had slipped in unnoticed while students were passing in and out as they prepared to leave school for summer holiday. Dropping to his knees before him, Blaise wrapped Draco in an embrace, rubbing his back when he could feel Draco's frame start to slightly shake. Any other time Blaise would have been concerned, but allowing Draco to salvage some dignity, Blaise didn't pull back. He didn't need to openly acknowledge that the other boy was crying.
Harry's much needed comic relief came just after they had loaded their things onto the Hogwarts Express. Hagrid had come down to say one final goodbye as had Snape, who was staying at Hogwarts for an additional week to wrap up anything he still had in progress. Kali had just barely said goodbye to her father, Hagrid and Snape a good distance away from each other on their way back to the castle, when Ron left out a shriek and Harry saw a pair of identical red-heads come into view.
"We heard about your engagement," Harry could hear one of the twins say. From this distance, it looked more like Fred but it sounded like George.
"We are very proud of you," said the other twin.
"Fred and I wanted to congratulate you since we couldn't be at your graduation. We also want to apologize for our absence."
"We would also like to register our astonishment that you're getting married before us. Before Charlie, even," said Fred. "Kali, we're very happy you're to become a member of the Weasley family. We like you more than Ron!"
"Thanks," said Ron, rolling his eyes.
"So, to prove just how excited and proud we are, we wrote you a little poem."
Ron's eyes got huge at George's words and he began to drag Kali in the direction of the train.
"But I want to hear the poem," protested Kali.
"Then they can owl it to you," he replied, disappearing onto the train and refusing to listen to anything his brothers may have been tempted to say. Shrugging, Harry made them promise to send him the poem by owl as well and dragged Draco onto the train beside him.
"I don't want to go home with them," said Ron. "They have a flat in Hogsmeade but they never use it. They're always apparating back to the Burrow. I'm going to have to deal with them all summer until I pass my apparation test and go work at the ministry. That and get married. I'd go live with Uncle Dane but I hate his kids."
"No wonder you get along with him so well," said Kali, snickering. "I'm sure your brothers won't be that bad. I'll be with Aunt Serena and Servius. They decided to spend the summer with us."
"Servius is staying with you?" said Hermione. Kali nodded. "Perhaps I'll have to visit."
"I know I will," said Ron. "I won't be able to wait to get away from my evil brothers. It's a twin thing. All Weasley twins are evil."
"It's strange to think Snape doesn't always live in the Hogwarts dungeons," said Harry, laughing. "I mean, I suppose I always assumed he stayed there even over the summer."
"We have a place in Devon," said Kali, laughing. "It's actually surrounded by muggles. Daddy likes muggles because they're scared of a man who walks around in all black so they leave him alone. No one ever tries to bake cookies for my Daddy, that's for sure. Witches and wizards have a tendency to just assume he likes the color black, which he does."
"It's still weird," said Harry.
"Never mind that," said Draco. "Get your yearbooks. We said we'd look through them."
Five yearbooks were produced, all with purple covers emblazoned with the Hogwarts crest in emerald green.
"Where do we start?" asked Ron.
"Gryffindor," said Draco. "We'll just work through the book." After flipping through his book for a few moments, Draco said, "Is there any picture taken of Harry that wasn't by Colin Creevy?"
"Where are you?" said Kali.
"I skipped back to look at pictures from over the first six years. I wanted to see how little I was. Oh look! There's that picture Creevy took of you and Lockhart, Harry. You really should stop trying to get away from the smarmy bloke. He'd never let you go."
Leaning over, Harry followed Draco's finger to see the picture Colin had taken second year.
"Colin really wanted it in there," said Hermione, grinning.
"Did you work on this?" said Draco. Hermione nodded.
"McGonagall is the adviser so Kali and I decided to help with it this year. I was in charge of Gryffindor and I had to help with Graduation Ball pictures. That's why we were taking so many pictures and encouraging you to take more."
"That's also why I rooted through all your picture collections," said Kali. "I had no say in layout, though. I don't even know which pictures were chosen. Draco, if you want to see pictures that weren't taken by Colin Creevy, there's a whole bunch on Harry's pages."
"I didn't even think of that," said Draco, finding the scarlet bars on the side of the page for Gryffindor. Flipping open to Hermione's pages, Draco grinned. "That's a good one of you and Servius by the lake. Ginny Weasley took that, eh?"
"Oh, yeah," said Hermione, blushing. "I really liked that one. I wanted to have it forever."
"I especially like that one with you, Servius, and Lee Jordan in that diaper," said Harry, who had also opened to Hermione.
"Can we please forget that ever happened?" said Ron, sounding annoyed.
Snickering, Kali turned a few pages through the book.
"Look at this one," said Kali, pointing to the pages containing photos solely from the Graduation Ball. "Me and Daddy dancing."
"McGonagall thought that needed to be in print, referenced, and for future victims of your father to access in the library. You look sweet, though, despite the evil intentions for its placement."
"Nice headshot, Harry," said Ron, snickering. Everyone but Harry turned to his pages and burst into laughter.
"You look like you have a nervous twitch," said Draco.
"He probably did," said Kali.
"Leave me alone," said Harry, frowning.
"Oh, Harry," breathed Draco, his fingers ghosting over the pages. "Did you see your pages yet?"
"No," said Harry, brow furrowing. "What is it?"
"This."
Draco angled his book for Harry to see, his fingers barely brushing the paper beneath a photo of Harry and himself seated in the library. They were opposite each other, arguing, and Harry instantly recognized the scene set before him without looking at the large pile of medipotions books sitting between them.
"That's when I first told you that you could come to me," said Harry, his voice soft. "I should thank Colin for taking that."
"I saw that picture and I thought you would want it in there," said Hermione.
"People ages from now are going to wonder about me," said Harry, still staring down at his pages.
"We wonder about you now," said Ron.
"Seriously, Ron. Look at my pictures. Here I'm yelling at the Quidditch team and I keep pounding my fist into my palm. I'm arguing with Draco in the library. I'm working on curses in Defense with Lupin and Hermione. I remember that!"
"What do you remember?" said Draco.
"Sitting in the middle of the common room studying," he replied. "Blue means it was for Charms. Ron interrupted me when he came back from work and I was happy for the interruption."
"You're right. People are going to wonder about you. You always look angry. Studying. Quidditch. Here you're snapping at Servius over dinner. The only one where you're placid is this one of us."
Harry smiled seeing the picture. He and Draco were huddled together in the Quidditch stands, arms around each other and heads resting on each other's shoulders. Once in a while, Harry's eyelids would flutter before placing kisses on Draco's forehead or the careful eye could catch their grips on each other tightening. Soft words were occasionally whispered between them. Below the picture were the words Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy ignoring the Slytherin versus Hufflepuff Quidditch Match and the rest of the world.
"Nice, Hermione," said Harry. "I suppose you had a hand in that."
"A bit," she said, smirking. "You should see all my captions."
"Like 'Ron Weasley killing Draco Malfoy in wizards chess'?" said Ron, smirking. "I like my captions."
"Where does it say that?" said Draco, flipping through the pages. At the bottom, left hand corner of Ron's pages was a picture taken by Lupin of him and Ron playing chess on the way to Sirius's for Easter. Under the picture were the words, Ron Weasley killing Draco Malfoy in wizards' chess. "Very funny, Hermione."
"Would you look at that," said Harry, pointing.
"Why don't you open your own book, Potter," said Draco, scowling.
"Because I prefer yours, Malfoy. Sharing is caring, after all."
"Right. So what were you talking about?" Harry pointed again. "Well, how about that?"
"How about what?" said Kali.
"Ron's pages," said Harry. Kali flipped back. "Top corner of the second page."
"So? We're dancing at the Graduation Ball."
"And you're crying," said Draco.
"So? That means Ron just proposed to me."
"But look who took the picture."
Kali glanced to the side and her jaw dropped. The photographer had been none other than Severus Snape.
"Daddy?"
"Looks like it," said Draco.
"He's starting to scare me," said Harry. "He isn't supposed to like Ron. I think the world has gone backward, Kali."
"Sometimes I do, too, Harry."
Finally opening his own book, Harry flipped back to Quidditch and started looking through the pictures of the various teams and captures of the matches. He was analyzing his team when Draco dropped his book, his hands visibly shaking as he bent down to pick it back up.
"What's wrong, Draco?"
"Nothing," he said.
"Let me see, Draco," said Harry, stern. Opening the book, Draco handed it to him and wrapped his arms around his torso. "I don't get it. They're your pages. What's the big deal?"
Hermione, who hadn't worked on Ravenclaw at all, flipped to Draco's pages along with Ron and Kali.
"I see," said Kali, soft. "Oh, Draco, it's okay. You're better now."
"I don't see," said Harry, sounding perturbed.
Leaning into Harry, Draco ran his finger along the edge of one picture, stopping just in the middle of it and letting his finger hesitate. The setting was the Slytherin common room and Draco was asleep on the couch, occasionally shifting. Just above the hem of his sleeve, there was a thin red line, visible only if you were looking for it.
"Okay," said Harry, slowly. "So you look bad there."
"I didn't realize I looked so terrible," he breathed. "I mean - I knew at the time. I just didn't know."
"Right, but look here," said Harry, pointed to a picture of him and Draco lying outside on the grass during a particularly warm day in April. He remember feeling so lazy that day having just gotten out of the hospital wing and wanting no more than to want to spend it doing absolutely nothing with his friends. Kali, who had been the photographer, and Ron went outside with he and Draco and they didn't go back inside until the air had turned cold. "You look good here."
"My hair was falling out," said Draco, his finger still next to the first picture. "I didn't even realize. You can see the bones in my face. I look like a skeleton."
"You were sick, Draco. We all know you were sick. You're better now. That's what matters."
Forming a small smile, Draco leaned forward to kiss Harry. "I know, Harry. I just didn't realize."
The search through the yearbooks lasted far past the time the witch with the trolley came around and they each bought a lunch. By the time the Hogwarts Express rolled into the station, they had relived seven years of love, hate, and the friendships they had managed to form by the time all was said and done. Draco wasn't ready to step off the train and finally admit that their schooldays were over and he pulled Harry in for one final kiss where they were still protected by the innocence of youth.
"You coming?" asked Ron, pausing.
Harry nodded. "Yeah. We're coming."
Hermione, Ron, and Kali flashed them understanding smiles before dragging their trunks off the trains and in the direction of those waiting for them.
"I'll see you in a few days," said Draco.
"I love you."
"I love you, too, Harry. Always."
Stepping off the train, their first kiss as former Hogwarts students was shared before they parted ways, passing the barrier between Platform nine and three quarters and Hogwarts to adulthood and maturity.
