A/N: I actually decided to do review responses this chapter…
Jbfritz: hahahaha… that was so random! Why hot pokers? And yes I have finished HBP… Glad someone else has; I finished it on the day I got it and no one else I knew had so I nearly went mental trying to find someone to discuss it with! And when my mates finished, none of them really believed my theories! They were just humouring me… pout…
Anyway, thanks for being such a faithful reviewer! Hope you enjoy this chap…
Makotochi: haha… true… yea I might be shocked at Harry if he was feeling up to doing anything… Thanks for reviewing!
Emma Barrows: Glad you enjoy the story… thanks for being another faithful reviewer… hehe, when I post a chapter, I can always count on a review from you and jbfritz! (That's a good thing…)
Anyway, hope anyone else who's reading this story and not reviewing (pointedly glares) enjoys this chapter too…
Morning dawned bright and early for the two sleeping friends. Both were still snuggled comfortable in each others' arms and with Harry's arm protectively around Lily and her head snuggled in the crook of his arm, her arm resting on his chest, it was easily the comfiest sleep either of them had had in a long while.
But this was destined to be disturbed by the sudden giggling that had erupted from somewhere in the room.
Groaning and both slowly opening their eyes, they came face to face with a few of their classmates; Mark, Daniel, Jason, Brandon, Andrea, Jess, Kristin and Alyssa to be precise.
It was only then that both of them actually noticed the position they were currently curled in and what it must look like to their friends and both had the grace to blush a bright red.
"So… What did you two do after we'd gone?" asked Alyssa feigning innocence.
"We actually didn't do anything," protested Harry with a small smile after figuring out that Lily was not going to say anything.
Still looking sceptical but deciding not to say anything, they switched onto different topics, Lily even occasionally joining in.
Finally they had arrived at the conversation Harry least wanted to come up; the reason he was in the hospital bed in the first place. However as Harry had been too lazy to take his arm off Lily and Lily seemed content lying there, Harry felt more confident to face the subject with her close to him.
"So, we found out today that Vernon and his erm… mates… were actually sentenced in court. Since the police actually saw what happened and the fact that there were so many of us trying to help out, they didn't even need you to testify. Apparently they got sentenced to thirteen years in prison." Remarked Brandon with a smile.
Though Harry felt some satisfaction at that, he couldn't help but feel that something was still missing.
"What else?" asked Harry.
"Well apparently as you had already smashed Vernon, it was counted as assault so you were also sentenced," began Alyssa though had to pause as Lily had shrieked, "to fifteen hours community service."
"Oh! Was that all…" said Lily, breathing a sigh of relief to which Harry only looked at her with an amused glance.
"I had a feeling that would come up…" remarked Harry lightly.
"Harry…" began Kristin, always the observant one, "You're taking all this far easier than we had expected considering you've just been… well… you know…" she trailed off.
As Harry had no reply to this the others automatically figured he didn't wish to discuss it any further and switched to another topic to avoid any awkwardness.
Harry looked up at the house which now seemed more daunting than ever. It was as though it were leering down at him, its windows glaring at him, every inch of the place daring him to enter.
Shivering slightly, Harry didn't even notice the small figure of Lily next to him until she placed her hand on the small of his back and smiled reassuringly up at him, to which Harry only managed a weak smile in return.
Feeling nauseated, Harry knew he would have to go in there sometime and resolutely turned the doorknob, the door creaking open.
Even as Harry and Lily slowly walked in, Harry could hear his friends pulling up in their cars and their loud laughing outside; he had asked them to help him do the move today.
But as Harry looked around the house, he could find nothing he wanted to take with him to his new apartment. All of his possessions were hand-me-downs and old clothes of Vernon's and everything else was too … well… for lack of better word, yuck.
"Harry, you haven't even been in the apartment yet have you?" asked Lily quietly with a smile.
"Good point!" realised Harry with a sheepish grin.
With a small chuckle, Harry decided they would all go for the trip to the 7th street apartments.
Surprisingly enough, as Harry asked if Lily wanted to go in one of the spare car seats or ride with him on the bike, Lily picked the bike, laughing at Harry's expression of shock.
"That damn creature grew on me" she reluctantly admitted with a smile.
Laughing, Harry fastened his helmet as did Lily and with all the cars ready to go, they revved up the bike and Harry led the way as none of the others knew where the apartment was.
Finally, and surprisingly with virtually no screaming from Lily, they had arrived at the apartment. Even the look of it shocked Harry; he had expected a shabby-looking run down sort of apartment but here he was looking at a magnificent white building with dark blue trims. Everything about this place was clean and well looked after.
Double-checking the address to make sure it wasn't one of the shabbier apartments down the street; Harry was surprised to find that it was the right apartment.
As he opened the front door of number 73B, he could hear the gasps of his fellow classmates behind him.
The door opened out into a marvellous living room with deep red walls and a soft cream carpet and beige roof. It had a black leather puffy-looking lounge suite and a grand fireplace off to the side.
One of the doors leading off this housed the kitchen, which in itself was beautiful. With black granite bench tops and new looking bar stools and appliances, it perfectly complimented the light pastel shades of the room.
Going back into the lounge and through another door, they found what appeared to be the guest room. It had a four-poster bed in the middle, decorated with a red and gold bedspread and dark mahogany bed-side tables.
Once again going back into the lounge, they walked up the short flight of stairs and, through the first door, found the bathroom. It had an inset bathtub in the floor, a cubicle shower off to the side and marble tiles covering the floor and framing the large mirror off to the side.
Even the taps and sink seemed to be expensive and well chosen.
Continuing on through the corridor, they found another bedroom, this one having been coloured in lighter shades of green, cream and black.
Finally they found what appeared to be the master bedroom and they could not be more surprised. Even though expecting it to be grander than the rest of the already marvellous house, none of them expected this;
A King sized four poster bed lay against the wall, decorated in red and cream. There was once again a fireplace in this room with a gold lining and the bed side tables were dark mahogany. The carpet was some of the softest any of them had walked on and looked almost black, giving the room a warm sort of atmosphere. Off to the side of the room was another bathroom, more magnificent than the first and through another door held a large walk-in wardrobe, surprisingly enough already holding all of Harry's clothes. Shocked as Harry was at seeing this, he decided to figure it out later, instead looking around the place more.
Finally, all of them made their way back into the lounge in a shocked silence.
"Well…" began Lily, "At least you won't have to worry about spending time fixing this place up…" which got a weak round of chuckles from around the room.
"This place seems like it should be on display in a museum or something but definitely not lived in!" said Harry in an unusually high-pitched voice which brought another round of laughter.
"Hey, you definitely deserve this place" smiled Alyssa seeing the look on his face.
"Well at least you don't need our help moving anything into here." Laughed Brandon.
"Yeah…" replied Harry weakly, looking around the… his… apartment.
'This is definitely going to take some getting used to'
A/N: Yay! I managed to finish another chapter! Hope the apartment descriptions were good… they were describing my dream house… or apartment…
Anyway, once again,
Please Review!