Hey! Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. This is going to be the last chapter in this story. There is going to be a sequel though, so watch out for that. I'll explain more about it at the end of a chapter. Enjoy the last part of 'Reasons to live.'

Chapter 4 Finding those reasons

Harry Potter, now sixteen years old, woke up with a start. He stared at his clock and blinked a few times, as if not believing the time. It was almost noon, and the Dursleys hadn't even bothered to wake him up at all. He didn't even hear any noise to indicate that they were still in the house!

He got up and slowly got dressed in his over sized clothes. He made his way over to Hedwig and stroked her affectionately. "Hey, Hedwig." He whispered. Hedwig only hooted in response.

Harry grabbed a piece of parchment and quill. 'I should probably write to Ron and Hermione and explain what's been going on.' Harry thought.

Just as he was about to sit down, his bedroom door opened and two people fell into a heap to the floor. On reflex, Harry grabbed his wand, turned around ad pointed it to the two intruders. A curse was on the tip of his tongue when-

"Harry, mate, put the wand down!" Fred Weasley yelped, putting his hands up in defense.

"No need to attack us." George Weasley replied, standing up and grinning down at him. Harry lowered his wand, his mouth slightly open in surprise.

"What-how-when-what are you doing here?" Harry asked, finally being able to get the words out correctly.

George beamed. "Were here to take you away of course. Ron and Hermione are in a right state-"

"-since you haven't been writing to them." Fred added.

Harry felt a pang of guilt in his stomach. Pushing it aside, he asked, "You didn't run into my uncle, did you?"

Fred let out a little chuckle. "Actually, Harry," Fred said, the mischievous twinkle in his eye, "we decided to let your relatives test out some products in our Skiving Snackboxes. Needless to say-"

"-they worked wonderfully." George finished.

Harry looked a little confused until realization dawned on his face. "Fainting Fancies?" he asked, grinning.

"Is there anything else that can get the job done better than the products in our dear old joke shop?" Fred asked dramatically.

The three of them laughed.

"Hey, Harry, I reckon you should probably get packed soon-"Fred started,

"The Order instructed us to get you and come straight to the Burrow. They seemed to think that we would take you somewhere else-"George added.

"-which we would have of course. No where dangerous though." Fred finished hastily, seeing the look of suspicion on Harry's face. "Honestly, Harry, how long have you known us? We'd never take you anywhere dangerous!"

Harry smiled at this. "So, you two are in the Order now?" he asked, while bending down to pack his things.

"Yes. There was a bit of a row over it, actually. Nothing big though. Mum just had a problem with us joining, kept saying we would be better off just handling our joke shop. We are pretty good duelers though." George said with some pride in his voice.

"And anyways, we want to fight. Almost all of the family is in the Order now besides Ginny and Ron. Hey, Harry, mind if I just let Hedwig fly to the Burrow? Might be easier and one less thing to carry." George said.

"Go ahead." Harry answered., "Oh yeah, what happened with Fudge?"

"Oh yeah, that. Well, the only thing we heard about it is that they'll be appointing a new Minister of Magic by the end of the holiday." Fred said happily.

"Good." Harry muttered.

"Is that it?" Fred asked, looking around the room. Harry nodded.

"Locomotor trunk." George cried, holding out his wand. Harry's trunk levitated a few feet into the air while George made it float out of the room and down the stairs. Harry and Fred followed.

"So how are we getting to the Burrow?" Harry asked.

"Oh, we connected this place up to the Floo Network." Fred said simply. The three of them made their way to the living room.

"You go first." George instructed, handing Harry some Floo Power.

Harry stepped into the fireplace, threw down the Powder and yelled, "The Burrow!"

Harry tumbled out of the fireplace and fell to the floor. He looked up and realized he was sitting in the Weasleys living room. Harry smiled to himself. He stood up and just as he did, several voices shouted, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!"

Harry started, being taken by complete surprise. He looked around and noticed that all the Weasleys, most of the Order, and Hermione were standing around the living room smiling. There was also a huge banner hanging down the wall, in bold letters, which read, 'Happy Birthday Harry.'

Harry just beamed. Just then, Fred and George came tumbling out of the fireplace, falling on top of Harry, making him fall to the floor again.

"Ack, George, that hurts!"

"Will you get off?"

"I'm trying. Trust me, I don't enjoy being on top of you."

Fred got up and Tonks and Kingsley came over to help Harry and George up.

"Thanks, all of you." Harry said sheepishly, staring at everyone in the room. Mrs. Weasley came up and hugged Harry into a tight hug.

"Nice to see you too, Mrs. Weasley." Harry choked.

After saying hello to everyone in the room, people began to help themselves to some food and butterbeer and talk to one another. After Harry grabbed a butterbeer, he looked around for his two best friends. He spotted them over by the table, away from everyone else and talking to themselves. Harry frowned and walked over to them.

"Hey." He greeted, smiling.

"Hi, Harry." Hermione greeted back, smiling.

"Great to see you, mate! It's not everyday your best mate turns sixteen!" Ron replied happily.

They all smiled at each other, then fell into an awkward silence.

"So...." Ron tried to break the silence.

"Are you okay, Harry?" Hermione asked timidly.

"Yeah." Harry replied, though he knew she was referring to Sirius.

"Don't give me that, Harry." Hermione snapped, looking annoyed.

Harry was taken aback. "What are you talking about?"

"You stopped writing to us." Ron said with an accusatory tone.

"But-"Harry started, only to be interrupted.

"Don't 'but' us, Harry!" Hermione said, though pretty loudly, so that most people in the room became quiet and were staring at them, though the three took no notice, "you worried me and Ron pretty badly, you know! You could have at least written us. Listen, Harry, I'm sorry about Sirius. Really. But why can't you tell me and Ron how you feel? Go on, yell, scream, throw something, anything, just let us know how you really feel!" Hermione said shrilly. Now the room was fully quiet, but the three still didn't take any notice.

"You want to know how I feel?" Harry asked them quietly, putting down his butterbeer.

"Yes." Ron said firmly. "It's killing us to see you so upset."

Harry looked at his two best friends for a moment, then pulled them both into the biggest, tightest hug he had ever given in his life. Ron and Hermione were surprised, but hugged him back.

"Listen," Harry said, not realizing he was still speaking out enough for everyone to hear,

"I'm sorry. Sorry for everything. Sorry for throwing those stupid little tantrums on you, sorry for not writing and for making you two worry. I just needed some time alone, and I got that. I was sad about Sirius all summer, I became really depressed. But I realized that just because I lost Sirius doesn't mean I lost everyone else. I care about you two more than anything in the world. You've been with me since the beginning and I've never thanked you for that. Now I realize that I made the mistake on trying to push you two away. So you want to know how I feel? I feel like the luckiest wizard alive to have you two and everyone else. And yeah, I know this isn't exactly manly, especially for a sixteen year old boy, to be hugging his friends, but, still, it's better than throwing thing."

Hermione hugged him, sounding like she was trying not to cry. "Yes, Harry, your right, this is much better."

Ron also hugged Harry tight as if he didn't want to let go. "Harry, mate, you know we've always been together, beginning til the end. You can push us away if you want, but you we're not going anywhere. We'll be right by your side this whole war."

"I know that now, I know." Harry whispered.

They stayed in each others embrace a little longer when they saw a flash of light. The three turned around and just realized everyone staring at them. Fred had a camera in his hand while George had a picture.

"Ah, alas, we have a souvenir to remind us of this special moment." George said dramatically, holding up the picture and looking at it with pride.

"Give it back." Ron ordered.

"Ah, but Ronniekins, this is such a great picture of you." Fred stated.

The three tackled Fred and George. Everyone laughed while the five wrestled for the picture.

"I got it!" Hermione cried triumphantly, holding up the picture.

"That doesn't count! She's a girl, she knows I can't hit her!" George said. Hermione had him pinned to the ground and was sitting on him.

"Okay, you lot, time for cake and presents." Mrs. Weasley announced. Everyone made their way to the kitchen, but Harry hung back a little.

"Here, Harry. You have it." Hermione placed the picture in his hands.

"So when you ever feel lonely, just look at this and remember you have two best friends who'll always be here for you." Ron said while giving Harry a wink. Harry smiled.

"Thanks you two. For everything." Harry said quietly.

Harry lay awake in bed later that night. He glanced at the clock. Ten minutes until midnight. Harry couldn't help but smile to himself. He placed the photo in the photo album Hagrid had given him in his first year. Harry looked at the picture, three people were staring up at him, smiling, and completely in the moment. A skinny boy with green eyes, a bushy haired know- it-all, and a gangly red head looked up at him smiling. Harry slowly placed in the album down and put his head on the pillow.

This truly was the best birthday he ever had. 'Mum, Dad, Sirius, I hope your proud of me right now. I'll never forget you, but I finally moved on. I hope your proud.'

Harry slowly closed his eyes.

If he had been awake a little longer, he would have seen Sirius Black, Lily and James Potter, clear as ghosts, sitting on his bed.

Lily Potter reached out and put her hand on Harry's forehead.

"Harry, we'll always be proud of you. We don't want you to live in fear anymore. We're sorry for leaving you here all alone. Or so we thought. You have wonderful friends, Harry. Don't give them up without a fight. Remember, I'll always love you." Lily whispered in his son's ear.

James touched his son cheeks and took a good look at him before speaking. "Harry, you look just like me when I was a kid. I always hoped that you would turn into a fine young man. And you have. I don't think I could be anymore proud of you. You're a brave, handsome boy with a huge heart. Don't wallow in despair. Go enjoy life to the fullest for us, your friends, and most of all, you. We're proud of you more than anything in the world. I wish I could've been there to watch you grow up. Please, Harry, don't ever give up."

Sirius reached out and took Harry's hands, tears in his eyes. "Harry," he choked, "I'm sorry. Sorry for leaving you. I feel like I let you down somehow. But Harry, it's not your fault. Don't ever think that. I love you and will always, but you can't wallow in the past Harry. We're all here watching out for you. We'll be there when you fight Volemort, we'll be right by your side. Go and win, Harry. Save the world, your not alone. Oh, and Harry, Happy birthday."

Ron Weasley opened his eyes slightly, and saw three figured over by Hary's bed. 'What? Is that...Sirius? How? Are those Harry's parents?' Ron thought. Dizziness suddenly swept over him and he feel back asleep.

James Potter, Lily Potter, and Sirius Black disappeared into the night, never to be seen again. What they didn't know, was that Harry had heard every word they said.

'Thank you. For the best birthday ever. I promise you, I'll fight and I wll win. I wanted a reason to go on, I found five.' Harry thought, smiling.

With that, Harry Ptter fell into a peaceful sleep, away from graveyards, Cedric Diggory, or the Department of Mysteries.

A/N. THE END! WHOO HOO! How was it? Like it? Well, review either way! The sequel will be up shortly. It'll be about Harry's sixth year. Anyways, Review and watch out for the sequel! Thanks to everyone who reveiwed. Love you all!

Love ya,

Amour Lily

PS. That part with Ron will be important for the sequel!