A/N: Sorry palz for such a long wait. I know I had promised you a quick
update in the previous chapter, but my first weeks of school were unusually
busy. And now that I have finally settled down, I have Writer's Block! Of
all the misfortunes I could get, I had to get this particular one. My
writing progress of this chapter was very slow, and I do apologize. In hope
to insure the quality of the story, I had to write with the speed of a
snail's crawling. I hope it will go away soon. ^sighs^
Lots to say, but I just can't bring them into words. Oh well, another time then.
Enjoy! And Review! I'm in desperate need for the encouragement!
^......^=italicized
Chapter 14
Home At Last
The ride on Hogwart's Express was quite uneventful, save when Trevor the toad escaped and Neville in a failed attempt to ^Accio^ it back, set the hem of Harry's robe on fire. While apologizing profusely and trying to put out the fire, he in result burned his hand, and was yelling with pain. Harry in a hurry pulled out his own wand from his pockets, but he accidentally knocked Hedwig's cage off the seat, causing it to bounce on to the floor, and roll across to the other side of the compartment, with the poor snowy white owl shrieking. The racket finally ended with Hermione putting out the fire with a simple Water Charm, repairing Harry's singed robes, and bandaging Neville's hand until he could receive proper medication from Madam Promfrey. Harry had to apologized over and over to his pet owl and treating her to a whole handful of owl treats, before Hedwig would stop turning her tail towards his face. Luna fluttered in later on with her always-dreamy look at startling all of them when she asked if they have ever seen their great-great-great grandfather.
Malfoy and his cronies never showed up at all, which was a great relief to Harry, though he found it quite out of the ordinary. Usually, their trips to Hogwarts always involved with some kind of confrontation of the Slytherin trio, be it physical, magical, or verbal.
Harry laid back into his seat, watching the sun drop slowly into the distant mountains and changing from bright yellow into a fiery red ball. As the countryside rolled by, the wilderness of the Scottish moors came swiftly into view. Black angry clouds floated overhead, threatening to burst open any moment, as if in an attempt to welcome the students back to school.
Ron and Hermione were engaged in a chess game. From Hermione's contorted face and Ron's gleeful smirk, Harry could tell she was far from winning the game.
The food trolley arrived halfway through the journey and Harry bought every single treat available. The trolley witch warned him kindly that he might not be able to finish that much food, but Harry just shrugged his shoulders and dug out the amount he had to pay. The witch left with a sigh, but not before Harry could hear her mutter, "adolescents. They never listen to an adult's kind advice."
"Hey Harry, me and Hermione—" Ron started to say.
"It's Hermione and ^I^, Ron. Seriously, can't you even talk without grammatical errors?" Hermione asked.
"Alright, alright. Hermione and I are going on patrol through the train. We'll be back in a jiffy. Say," spotting Harry's food pile, "can I have a few of those chocolate frogs and cauldron cakes? I'm absolutely starving. Breakfast seemed ages ago."
Harry, only too happy to share his food, said, "yeah sure. Help yourself."
"Gee, thanks, mate." Said Ron, before slapping him playfully on the back and exiting the compartment with Hermione.
Harry sighed. He looked around the compartment trying to find something to do. Finding nothing, he sank back into his seat again and began thinking of nothing in particular. However, it is just those moments that sad memories protruded into his mind: Sirius falling through the flapping veil with not but a surprised look on his face... He didn't even have time to say good-bye to his Godfather. All had happened so sudden, so fast, as if it were a dream...
However, he did not cry. He had cried enough. He would mourn in silence. He would always honour and remember the memories of him...that bark- like laughter, those mischief-maker's eyes, the first day they met, him shutting up an annoying portrait, him singing Christmas carols, him wagging his tail at him...
Yes, he had grieved enough. It was time to move on. It was time to meet up with his future expectations: to kill, or be killed. It sounded so simple, his future laid out before him with only five words. Yet, those five words had been haunting him before he was a before he even existed. How could such prejudice exist in this world?
How many times had he hoped he could switch lives with someone? With Ron, perhaps. Ron had everything Harry hoped he had: a mother, a father, siblings both young and old; a real family that really loved him. Then how many times had he told himself that that wouldn't happen? He'd just have to live up to it. What he ^can^ do, however, is make sure he is the one that kills, as much as the prospect makes him shudder. He had to be brave. He had to be brave for Sirius, for his parents, for his friends, for Dobby, for...
"Are you alright, Harry?" a nervous voice broke Harry's thread of thoughts. He realized his hands were clutched tight. Shallow red marks on his palms indicated where his nails had dug into his hands.
"You looked pale just now. Have you caught a cold?" the voice asked again.
"I'm fine, Ginny. I was just—thinking..." Harry replied somberly.
"Oh." The female redhead nodded, patted his hand and answered in response, "I understand. I know that you probably don't want to talk about it, but—we're always there to listen. "
Harry was about to snap back at her, telling her she didn't understand, that she didn't understand what it was like to lose a loved one, but he bit back when he saw the sincere and look of understanding in her chocolate eyes.
He sighed.
"Thanks, Gin." He said.
"No problem. What are friends for?" She said with a shrug, gave him a smile, and bounced off to tag on Luna.
Harry wondered why he had never noticed Ginny before. Just their brief conversation had made left him in a brighter mood. Her smile was so pure, so bright. Usually, he only considered her as Ron's little sister, the youngest of the Weasley household, but not often did he look at her and thought of her as just...Ginny.
Glancing at her figure half turned towards him, talking animatedly with the fifth year Ravenclaw, he realized that maybe...just ^maybe^ Ginny will have more of an impact on his life than he thought. He should get to know her better, maybe...
"Bam!" the compartment door banged open. Startled, Harry's hearted almost skipped a beat. For half a second, he thought Malfoy would come barging in to disrupt their ride...again. However through the door, in marched Ron with Hermione at his heels.
"Back! Did you miss us?" Ron asked in mock concern.
"Miss you!? Hell no. It's a good thing I have a healthy heart, or else I'd have a heart attack right now, you know? I could have died, right then and there, and it would be entirely your fault, Ronald Weasely. " Harry clutched at his chest and said in a fake hurt voice.
"Haha." Ron let out a chuckle and sat down heavily onto the seat beside Harry, rubbed his stomach and moaned. "Aww, I hate patrolling. They make me hungry. Those annoying little ickledinkies of a first year just simply drive me crazy. They even started a food fight right inside their compartment, and me and—Hermione and ^I^ had to clean up after them."
Harry didn't feel it wise to remind Ron that he had just ate the few chocolate frogs and cauldron cakes before patrol.
"If you want to be a prefect, you should at least fulfill your basic duty and responsibility as one, Ron." Came Hermione's voice, albeit slightly muffled because her head was currently buried behind a huge book called ^Arithmancy—So You're Taking It Seriously^.
Ron rolled his eyes at her, but Harry still caught him grinning, as hard as Ron tried to hide it though.
"You know, Ron. You and Hermione—"
"What about us?" they both asked in unison, with Hermione snapping her head up from her book.
Harry grinned inwardly.
"Could you guys just ^try^ to stop bickering at each other? They really tend to get annoying after a while." He said.
"I'm sorry if it is bothering you, Harry. We'll try not to argue so much in the future." Said Hermione, while shooting a glance at Ron.
"Yeah. Sorry, mate. As long as Miss Know-it-all here doesn't bug me too much." Ron said.
"I don't—" Hermione started.
"Ahem." Someone let out a soft cough wickedly like Umbridge's, making the pair jump.
They looked at each other, and blushed, with Ron's reddening to the tip of his ears and Hermione's cheeks tinged with soft pink.
Harry glanced at Ginny who gave him a playful wink back. Harry's grin broadened.
*******************************************************
Finally, after hours of traveling, the red engine of Hogwarts Express finally pulled into Hogmeade's Station. The sky had become inky blue with only a hint of red tint. Away from London and all the artificial illuminations of the city, the stars all shone brightly in the sky, twinkling cheerfully down at them, as if to say, "Welcome back."
Hagrid's familiar voice rang throughout the train compartment, "firs' years, firs' year. This way, comin' through. Are all firs' years with me?" Spotting Harry and company, he waved and shouted, "alright Harry?"
"Hey Hagrid. I'm fine." Harry yelled back.
Hagrid winked, and disappeared into the dark with the first years, lantern swaying. Harry sighed. Apart from last year, some things never change, he thought.
Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all urged him into one of the thestral drawn carriages. The thestrals, their black scaly coat gleaming in the dark, looked even more menacing yet beautiful than last year, thought Harry. He stroked the thestral of their carriage on the neck. It closed its eyes in content. After he had gotten over his initial fright over the reptilian like horses, he started to admire them for their grace and beauty. He wondered how many more people would be able to see these magnificent creatures this year.
"Let's go, Harry. We're the last ones here." Ron said, poking his head out of the carriage.
"I'm coming." Replied Harry.
As the carriages clattered unceremoniously up the roads of Hogsmeade leading straight into the school gates, Harry watched as the castle loomed into spectacular view. The carriages lurched to a stop, and he Hermione, Ron, Ginny all clambered off.
Side by side, shoulder-to-shoulder, the four Gryffindors walked towards the great castle doors of Hogwart's School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
He was home.
He was home at last.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Lots to say, but I just can't bring them into words. Oh well, another time then.
Enjoy! And Review! I'm in desperate need for the encouragement!
^......^=italicized
Chapter 14
Home At Last
The ride on Hogwart's Express was quite uneventful, save when Trevor the toad escaped and Neville in a failed attempt to ^Accio^ it back, set the hem of Harry's robe on fire. While apologizing profusely and trying to put out the fire, he in result burned his hand, and was yelling with pain. Harry in a hurry pulled out his own wand from his pockets, but he accidentally knocked Hedwig's cage off the seat, causing it to bounce on to the floor, and roll across to the other side of the compartment, with the poor snowy white owl shrieking. The racket finally ended with Hermione putting out the fire with a simple Water Charm, repairing Harry's singed robes, and bandaging Neville's hand until he could receive proper medication from Madam Promfrey. Harry had to apologized over and over to his pet owl and treating her to a whole handful of owl treats, before Hedwig would stop turning her tail towards his face. Luna fluttered in later on with her always-dreamy look at startling all of them when she asked if they have ever seen their great-great-great grandfather.
Malfoy and his cronies never showed up at all, which was a great relief to Harry, though he found it quite out of the ordinary. Usually, their trips to Hogwarts always involved with some kind of confrontation of the Slytherin trio, be it physical, magical, or verbal.
Harry laid back into his seat, watching the sun drop slowly into the distant mountains and changing from bright yellow into a fiery red ball. As the countryside rolled by, the wilderness of the Scottish moors came swiftly into view. Black angry clouds floated overhead, threatening to burst open any moment, as if in an attempt to welcome the students back to school.
Ron and Hermione were engaged in a chess game. From Hermione's contorted face and Ron's gleeful smirk, Harry could tell she was far from winning the game.
The food trolley arrived halfway through the journey and Harry bought every single treat available. The trolley witch warned him kindly that he might not be able to finish that much food, but Harry just shrugged his shoulders and dug out the amount he had to pay. The witch left with a sigh, but not before Harry could hear her mutter, "adolescents. They never listen to an adult's kind advice."
"Hey Harry, me and Hermione—" Ron started to say.
"It's Hermione and ^I^, Ron. Seriously, can't you even talk without grammatical errors?" Hermione asked.
"Alright, alright. Hermione and I are going on patrol through the train. We'll be back in a jiffy. Say," spotting Harry's food pile, "can I have a few of those chocolate frogs and cauldron cakes? I'm absolutely starving. Breakfast seemed ages ago."
Harry, only too happy to share his food, said, "yeah sure. Help yourself."
"Gee, thanks, mate." Said Ron, before slapping him playfully on the back and exiting the compartment with Hermione.
Harry sighed. He looked around the compartment trying to find something to do. Finding nothing, he sank back into his seat again and began thinking of nothing in particular. However, it is just those moments that sad memories protruded into his mind: Sirius falling through the flapping veil with not but a surprised look on his face... He didn't even have time to say good-bye to his Godfather. All had happened so sudden, so fast, as if it were a dream...
However, he did not cry. He had cried enough. He would mourn in silence. He would always honour and remember the memories of him...that bark- like laughter, those mischief-maker's eyes, the first day they met, him shutting up an annoying portrait, him singing Christmas carols, him wagging his tail at him...
Yes, he had grieved enough. It was time to move on. It was time to meet up with his future expectations: to kill, or be killed. It sounded so simple, his future laid out before him with only five words. Yet, those five words had been haunting him before he was a before he even existed. How could such prejudice exist in this world?
How many times had he hoped he could switch lives with someone? With Ron, perhaps. Ron had everything Harry hoped he had: a mother, a father, siblings both young and old; a real family that really loved him. Then how many times had he told himself that that wouldn't happen? He'd just have to live up to it. What he ^can^ do, however, is make sure he is the one that kills, as much as the prospect makes him shudder. He had to be brave. He had to be brave for Sirius, for his parents, for his friends, for Dobby, for...
"Are you alright, Harry?" a nervous voice broke Harry's thread of thoughts. He realized his hands were clutched tight. Shallow red marks on his palms indicated where his nails had dug into his hands.
"You looked pale just now. Have you caught a cold?" the voice asked again.
"I'm fine, Ginny. I was just—thinking..." Harry replied somberly.
"Oh." The female redhead nodded, patted his hand and answered in response, "I understand. I know that you probably don't want to talk about it, but—we're always there to listen. "
Harry was about to snap back at her, telling her she didn't understand, that she didn't understand what it was like to lose a loved one, but he bit back when he saw the sincere and look of understanding in her chocolate eyes.
He sighed.
"Thanks, Gin." He said.
"No problem. What are friends for?" She said with a shrug, gave him a smile, and bounced off to tag on Luna.
Harry wondered why he had never noticed Ginny before. Just their brief conversation had made left him in a brighter mood. Her smile was so pure, so bright. Usually, he only considered her as Ron's little sister, the youngest of the Weasley household, but not often did he look at her and thought of her as just...Ginny.
Glancing at her figure half turned towards him, talking animatedly with the fifth year Ravenclaw, he realized that maybe...just ^maybe^ Ginny will have more of an impact on his life than he thought. He should get to know her better, maybe...
"Bam!" the compartment door banged open. Startled, Harry's hearted almost skipped a beat. For half a second, he thought Malfoy would come barging in to disrupt their ride...again. However through the door, in marched Ron with Hermione at his heels.
"Back! Did you miss us?" Ron asked in mock concern.
"Miss you!? Hell no. It's a good thing I have a healthy heart, or else I'd have a heart attack right now, you know? I could have died, right then and there, and it would be entirely your fault, Ronald Weasely. " Harry clutched at his chest and said in a fake hurt voice.
"Haha." Ron let out a chuckle and sat down heavily onto the seat beside Harry, rubbed his stomach and moaned. "Aww, I hate patrolling. They make me hungry. Those annoying little ickledinkies of a first year just simply drive me crazy. They even started a food fight right inside their compartment, and me and—Hermione and ^I^ had to clean up after them."
Harry didn't feel it wise to remind Ron that he had just ate the few chocolate frogs and cauldron cakes before patrol.
"If you want to be a prefect, you should at least fulfill your basic duty and responsibility as one, Ron." Came Hermione's voice, albeit slightly muffled because her head was currently buried behind a huge book called ^Arithmancy—So You're Taking It Seriously^.
Ron rolled his eyes at her, but Harry still caught him grinning, as hard as Ron tried to hide it though.
"You know, Ron. You and Hermione—"
"What about us?" they both asked in unison, with Hermione snapping her head up from her book.
Harry grinned inwardly.
"Could you guys just ^try^ to stop bickering at each other? They really tend to get annoying after a while." He said.
"I'm sorry if it is bothering you, Harry. We'll try not to argue so much in the future." Said Hermione, while shooting a glance at Ron.
"Yeah. Sorry, mate. As long as Miss Know-it-all here doesn't bug me too much." Ron said.
"I don't—" Hermione started.
"Ahem." Someone let out a soft cough wickedly like Umbridge's, making the pair jump.
They looked at each other, and blushed, with Ron's reddening to the tip of his ears and Hermione's cheeks tinged with soft pink.
Harry glanced at Ginny who gave him a playful wink back. Harry's grin broadened.
*******************************************************
Finally, after hours of traveling, the red engine of Hogwarts Express finally pulled into Hogmeade's Station. The sky had become inky blue with only a hint of red tint. Away from London and all the artificial illuminations of the city, the stars all shone brightly in the sky, twinkling cheerfully down at them, as if to say, "Welcome back."
Hagrid's familiar voice rang throughout the train compartment, "firs' years, firs' year. This way, comin' through. Are all firs' years with me?" Spotting Harry and company, he waved and shouted, "alright Harry?"
"Hey Hagrid. I'm fine." Harry yelled back.
Hagrid winked, and disappeared into the dark with the first years, lantern swaying. Harry sighed. Apart from last year, some things never change, he thought.
Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all urged him into one of the thestral drawn carriages. The thestrals, their black scaly coat gleaming in the dark, looked even more menacing yet beautiful than last year, thought Harry. He stroked the thestral of their carriage on the neck. It closed its eyes in content. After he had gotten over his initial fright over the reptilian like horses, he started to admire them for their grace and beauty. He wondered how many more people would be able to see these magnificent creatures this year.
"Let's go, Harry. We're the last ones here." Ron said, poking his head out of the carriage.
"I'm coming." Replied Harry.
As the carriages clattered unceremoniously up the roads of Hogsmeade leading straight into the school gates, Harry watched as the castle loomed into spectacular view. The carriages lurched to a stop, and he Hermione, Ron, Ginny all clambered off.
Side by side, shoulder-to-shoulder, the four Gryffindors walked towards the great castle doors of Hogwart's School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
He was home.
He was home at last.
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