STRANGERS
Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter or anything that's part of it. I do own Renata.
Harry was riding the Hogwarts Express away from school for the final time. He thought back to his first days at Hogwarts. Coming in and seeing all the faces in the Great Hall. Sitting under the Sorting Hat, terrified enough to wet himself. He remembered entering his first class, entirely clueless. Gosh, he even remembered the day Hagrid came and told him he was a wizard. He remembered it as though it were only yesterday, and at the same time as though it was from a whole other lifetime. He'd always remember. He was reckless, he went off with this stranger who told him absurd things and he'd believed every word.
And every word had been true. He did anything and everything Hagrid told him to that day in Diagon Alley. "Firs' stop, Gringotts," he'd said, and when they approached the robe shop, "Go in by yerself".
He remember how lost he got the first week of school. Took him all week to manage to get to the Great Hall without getting lost.
And classes. He had wanted to learn so much and it just seemed so difficult.
He thought back further and recalled days before he knew about being a wizard, days when he had passed total strangers in the street and they seemed to know something he didn't. A twinkle in their eye, or being startled or respectful when they saw him.
And how often had he felt that he didn't fit in and would never fit in? He was different, and he knew that; but he hadn't known how he different he really was.
Harry looked forward to resting at the Black house this summer. He'd spent his entire life since finding out he was a wizard fighting for the greater good. He'd lost so many friends along the way. It was over now. There were other people to take the job. He'd done his part.
He let his shoulders slump and stared out the window, remembering words from a book he'd once read, "Stories don't end, just the people in them." That was certainly true.
He could recall passing perfect strangers in the street before he'd learned about the world of wizardry and feeling as though they knew him, or he knew them. Like there was some kind of bond.
Hogwarts. Harry had been through so much there. Learning about magic. Fighting evil. His first kiss. The first time he'd flown through the air on a broom and feeling as though he was born to fly. Learning the ways of the world. Discovering that no one, not even Dumbledore, was all-powerful. Realizing that the wrongs and rights of the world were hardly ever simple to understand.
Finally fitting in somewhere.
The world could go to rot for all he cared now. He was tired. He'd done his part. He'd fought the last fight meant for him. All he wanted to do now was to rest. A friendly hand clasped his shoulder. He looked up into the eyes of Renata, staring back at him with complete understanding. He saw Ron and Hermione on the other side of the compartment, sitting close.
He didn't want to be a hero anymore. He wanted to settle into a normal life. He didn't want to fight evil. Just marry the girl he loved. Get a steady job, a safe job. Raise a family. Watch his future children grow up . . . a quiet life was what he needed. Renata was the only steady force he had. In some ways she was so predictable. In others, always an adventure.
She sat down beside him and whispered, "I love you, Harry. I'll always love you." She laid her head against his chest.
He whispered into her hair. "I know. I love you too, Renata." He tilted her face up to him. "You're the best thing that ever happened in my life and I never want to let you go. Will you marry me?"
The past seven years . . .he'd learned his past. He'd discovered who he himself was (his present). And he knew his future. His future was the blonde girl sitting beside him.
He was content. He was at peace, truly, for the first time in his life. All he needed to hear was one word.
She looked up at him, "Yes." They locked eyes and kissed before getting off the Hogwarts Express for the last time.
Author's Note--Insert a stanza of Phil Collins' Strangers Like Me where each of the line breaks are. I tookthe lyrics out because is threatening to delete accounts with songfics. If anybody wants to read this the wayI originally wrote it (I think it's better that way, personally...) email me. TrueTeenTypist AT Yahoo DOT com.