Chapter 2: Love Bonds and Solace

By: stu14688

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Please don't sue.

"Bound by a love that exceeds even death." Those were the words written on the tombstone. Harry knelt in front of the headstone and gently laid the flowers he had brought with him in between the two names. There were only two flowers: a white lily and a white rose. Professor Lupin had told him that his mother had an affinity for roses while James had liked lilies, for obvious reasons.

Behind him, just a little ways back stood Ron, Hermione, and Lupin. The Order guards were off other places in the cemetery keeping a lookout. Harry suddenly felt a hand come down on his shoulder and stood up beside the last of the loyal marauders. The look of sadness in Lupin's eyes was more than Harry could bear. Try as he might, he could not keep the three tears back. They fell silently to the ground. Harry felt the hand on his shoulder give a squeeze to say that he understood.

As if from nowhere, Ron and Hermione appeared on the other side of Harry, and the four of them stood in complete silence, lost in their own thoughts for about two minutes. Then, they turned to leave. For the first time in his life, Harry felt a peace in his heart where he knew that there had been nothing but grief since his parents had died. He had found solace.


By the time that the group arrived back to Number 12 Grimmauld Place, it was already one in the afternoon. Molly met them at the door and handed them some sandwiches while giving a meaningful glance to Hermione reminding her of her part in the preparations. Hermione took the hint and suggested that they eat upstairs so they would not mess the kitchen up again since Mrs. Weasley had likely just finished cleaning. Harry rolled his eyes, gave a small shake of his head, and started to ascend the stairs. Ron noticed this, leaned to Hermione, and said, "He's onto us." With an exasperated sigh, she quickly followed Harry up to other level of the house. She knew that he would figure it out.

Lupin entered the kitchen to help Molly with party preparations after deciding that it would be best to talk to Harry later. She, of course, immediately started to badger him with questions. "How'd he take it? Did the trips to and from go smoothly? Is he better?" Lupin chuckled at her concern and began to answer – at least the questions concerning Harry.

"Well, I don't think that it was easy for him, but he seems more settled. He didn't cry, really, or at least not much. We gave a him few minutes to himself so I don't know if he said anything or not. He's going to be alright – I'm pretty sure of that. Arthur can probably tell you about the trips and such, but I didn't notice anything."

Mr. Weasley took his cue and told about the trips. He confirmed that indeed nothing out of the ordinary had been spotted. Everything went "smooth as silk." Molly gave her husband a strange look when he said that because she had never heard such a phrase. "Oh, it's a muggle phrase that I learned the other day. I've been looking for an excuse to use it," Arthur explained.

Molly rolled her eyes and said, "I should have known. Now, if you two gents don't mind, can you help me get everything ready? The guests should be appearing soon." Remus and Arthur stepped forward and asked for their assignments. The kitchen was quickly ready for the party.


Upstairs, Harry was still quiet but he seemed calmer. He felt better, as if he had released some of his grief in the cemetery; even grief over Sirius. The others noticed this change too, but decided not ask him to talk about it just yet. If they did, then he might not enjoy the birthday party.

Harry's dream still weighed heavy on Ron and Hermione's minds. "What's wrong, you two? You've both been awfully quiet today." Harry was intently studying his two best friends on the floor in front of him.

Ron was the first to answer. "You said something in your sleep this morning about someone with an unknown power that has been marked as an equal to someone else. I think that this person has parents who defied someone three times. This person also must have been born at the end of July. Do you know what were you talking about?"

Hermione noticed that Harry was not saying anything, but looked deep in thought. "It's you, isn't it? You were talking about yourself. This is what has been bothering you all summer since the Department of Mysteries incident."

For the first time that summer, Harry's eyes flashed in anger. It was not unnoticed by the other occupants of the room. They knew that he was about to chew them out, but it came as a relief. They hated seeing Harry so pensive. "What happened there was not an 'incident,' Hermione. It was my stupidity. I am the reason that Sirius died and that you and the others got hurt. If I'd listened to you and learned occlumency then what happened would not have happened. If I weren't so stubborn…"

He stopped here and looked down at the floor before speaking again. Whereas before his voice had been at a low growl, it now it sounded defeated and weary. "You know what is makes it worse? Snape was right all along. I am conceited. I do have a big head. I thought that I could save Sirius, and only managed to get him killed."

He then continued, even quieter than before. "Don't worry about the stuff I said this morning. It was only a dream. Don't jump to any conclusions about it." After he finished speaking, Harry turned and looked out of the window. It was really a nice day outside, and that helped to lighten his mood a bit.

Hermione was not convinced, but she did not say anything. She knew he would be stubborn about it. He was suffering from grief, blaming himself for all the horrible things that happened last June, and was holding a secret. It hurt her to see him hurt so, but not as much as it did to know that he was refusing to let his two best friends know what was on his mind.

Ron did not believe Harry either, but he was not going to stay silent about it. "Harry, mate, we know that something is bothering you. We're your best friends. You can tell us anything. It won't scare us away, I promise. I mean, think about it, if a troll, giant spiders, a baslisk, Death Eaters, and Umbridge haven't made us leave you, then do you honestly think that whatever you're harboring inside yourself will?

Harry did not turn around when he answered. "No, I don't suppose that it would scare you away, but it certainly wouldn't make your lives any easier. Just trust me when I say that it's best that you don't know. Only Dumbledore and I know, and the less who do, the better. There'd be a smaller chance of Voldemort getting the information."

Ron and Hermione declared that they did trust Harry, but assured him that they would not mind carrying part of the load for him if he ever did want to divulge whatever was occupying his mind. Harry had simply nodded and thanked them for their friendship as he continued to study the outside world.


A/N: Well, chapter two done. It's kinda short, but I promise that the next one is longer. It's over 3,000 words. Anyways, please R/R. I'll let you go now. ; )