Chapter 32: Resolution
Janieve sipped the Butterbeer while juggling the enormous book 'The Wizard Who Had Never Been To Gringotts'. It was surprisingly interesting and hilarious. Janieve actually laughed aloud a few times.
Knock, knock.
Janieve, too engrossed in her book, did not look up.
"Ahem!"
Janieve startled and dropped her book to the floor.
"Hey," she said to the intruder.
"Hi Jan," Harry said, "I've been searching for you all over. I should have guessed you are here."
Janieve smiled, but the smile was wan and did not reach her eyes. She shifted in the couch she had conjured with the room of requirement and motioned for Harry to join her.
Harry sat down beside her, his hands clasped. "I came to apologise," Harry said.
"For what?" she asked.
"Many things," Harry replied. "For not trusting you. For killing your mother. For not standing by your side when you obviously needed me to. For not being a good boyfriend. Not even a decent one," he said sadly.
Janieve studied his face. There was nothing but remorse. She softened and almost gave in. Almost.
"First of all, as far as I'm concerned, she's not my mother. And I don't blame you for killing her. You shouldn't too. She probably deserved it," Janieve said bitterly. "As for the trust part…"
Harry looked at her expectantly. Though he was trying not to look too hopeful, Janieve knew him better than that.
"I'm sorry," Harry repeated morosely.
"It's okay," she said, sighing. "It was nobody's fault."
Harry looked immensely relieved.
"But," she went on, "it just made me think about our relationship. We might have jumped into it too quickly. All these problems we had… I don't know. Perhaps we needed some time to know each other better, to learn to trust…"
Harry looked crestfallen.
"I'm sorry," Janieve apologised.
"No, don't be," Harry said, "I understand. But we can still be friends right?"
"Yeah," said Janieve, smiling slightly.
"Good," Harry said and stood up abruptly, "I'm going to leave you to your book. I'll see you at dinner."
"See you."
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"Harry, here. Hurry!" Ron urged.
"Coming," Harry muttered as he lugged his suitcase through the throngs of students scrambling for an empty cabin on the Hogwarts express.
Finally he reached the room where Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Janieve, Dean, Neville and Seamus sat.
"Looks really spacious," Harry said sarcastically.
"Oh come on Harry," Hermione said cheerfully, "it's really cozy." Harry cramped his suitcase into the luggage compartment and squeezed into the space next to Hermione.
"If anyone had suggested to me before this that eight persons can fit into this cabin," Dean said, "I would have laughed my ass off."
Ginny smacked him at his choice of words.
"Ouch, Gin!"
Harry tuned out the rest of the conversation. He was feeling kind of dispirited at the thought of going back to stay with the Dursleys. The feeling was even stronger this summer for he knew he not only had to say goodbye to his friends, he also had to bid farewell to Janieve.
Harry tried to console himself with the fact that he did not have to stay with his uncle and aunt for the entire summer. He would have turned the legal age of wizards before the start of August.
The train rattled to a stop at King's Cross station. They grabbed their things and stepped onto platform 9¾. Mr. and Mrs Weasley, Tonks, Lupin, Moody, Fred and George were already waiting for them.
When Harry reached them, he grabbed Lupin into a hug on impulse. With only a split-second's hesitation, Lupin hugged him back.
"I'm so glad you're here," Harry told him earnestly when they finally pulled apart. He helped Harry towed his luggage, and together with the others, exited the barrier which led them to the muggles' station.
Among the crowd, Harry spotted his Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and his cousin Dudley.
"Take care now, Harry," Mrs. Weasley said and drew him into a suffocating hug. "We'll see you soon."
"You take care of yourself too, Mrs. Weasley," Harry replied when she finally released him.
"Bye Harry," Hermione said as she hugged him.
"Bye Hermione. Bye Ron."
"See you after summer," Ron said as the two guys patted each other's back.
Harry turned to Janieve, who was lingering behind awkwardly, but both of them said nothing.
"Er…" Harry began.
Janieve flung her arms around his neck and rested her head on Harry's shoulder. "I'll see you back at school," she said into his ear.
Harry grabbed her back and held her tighter. "Take care, Jan," he said when they finally let go.
He grabbed Hedwig and dragged his baggage towards the Dursleys. When he reached them, he turned back and gave his friends one last wave.
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It is my pleasure to announce to you that we've reached the end of this series, The Blood of The Enemy. I want to thank all of you for all the reviews you've given me so generously. I'm sorry if some of you are disappointed that Harry and Jan are not together but that's only because this is not the end. I've already started writing the sequel and I will be posting them very soon. Hope I'll continue to see all of your reviews. Thank you!
I'd like to leave you with a part of a song which had given me a lot of inspiration when I was writing this fanfic. Here is, Only One by Yellowcard.
Here I go, so dishonestly leave a note, for you my only one. And I know, you will see right through me so let me go, and you will find someone…
