The Adventure Continued
Chapter 19: Letting Go and Holding On
A/N: My sincere apologies for the wait! I had this all written in my notebook, but it just took me forever totype itinto my computer. Thank you for the reviews! I'm glad I still have people reading during this tough time. I know school is becoming more hectic than usual, but I'm glad a few people have stuck in there! The next chapter will be long, but it will also be a while before it will post (again, my sincere apologies!). I just don't have enough time in the day to finish homework, work, and finish all these side things I'm doing. Good thing is: we will get back to the point of the story! Yay! Ever wondered what happened to Neville? Stay tuned.Again, thanks for the reviews and I hope you will review again! I appreciate all comments of all types! You have been my lifelines on this story! Now on for much more interesting material: the actualy story instead of my blabbing.
"Harry?"
"Harry!"
"Harry Potter, open this door!" Hermione firmly commanded.
"Merlin's beard, Hermione, you're not his mother!" Ginny retorted, pulling out her wand. "Harry, if you don't let us in, we'll use magic!" However, the only response Ron, Ginny, and Hermione got was silence. Ever since Ron and Hermione's announcement, Harry had been keeping himself locked in his room and only Ginny really understood why.
"You're being so stupid, Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, very close to tears. "We're sorry we didn't tell you, Ok? What more do you want?"
Again, the three waited to hear Harry's response, but it was still the same as before: silence. "Maybe he's not in there?" Ron suggested.
"No, he's in there," Ginny answered confidently. "He just won't come out."
"Ah!" Hermione cried in frustration. "You're worse than Ron!" Hermione turned and ran down the stairs, her hands covering her face.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Ron called, turning and running after her. This left Ginny to stand in the hallway, staring at Harry's door.
"Harry?" she tried again. "It's me, Ginny. No one else is out here. You can open the door now."
For a moment, Ginny thought that Harry really wasn't in there, but then she heard rustling of sheets and a voice very close to the door, "What do you want?"
"Let me in," Ginny requested. "Please?"
"Why?"
"Because you need me," Ginny answered simply. To her surprise, the door cracked open and a green eye peered out at Ginny cautiously. When he was satisfied that Ginny was the only person present, he admitted her inside.
Ginny took a long look at Harry before she said anything. His hair was as messy as usual, but his eyes were dark, his skin was pale, and his robes were a bit tattered. Either Harry hadn't slept a wink since Christmas or he had been out drinking the previous night.
Harry ran a nervous hand through his hair as Ginny surveyed him and then offered Ginny a seat in the armchair across the room. Ginny sat down while Harry sat on the edge of the messy, un-made bed and stared at Ginny. After a moment, Ginny spit out what was really on her mind: "You look awful, Harry."
"Thanks for the compliment," Harry answered dryly. "I'll make sure to add it to my resume when I apply for a new job. 'Great skills, excellent knowledge of useless information, and looks awful.' Yeah, I'll get hired."
Ginny looked surprised. "You lost your job?"
Harry stared at the floor and nodded. "It's not the teaching job: it's my Auror position. Tonks thinks I should take time off. Well, it was more like, 'you have become very, dangerously stressed and perhaps the strain of an Auror isn't for you.' Doesn't really sound like Tonks, does it? It sounds more like Kingsley if you ask me."
"But Kingsley loves you, Harry!" Ginny protested. "He wouldn't do that!"
Harry didn't respond, but just continued to stare at the floor. "I feel like my whole life is tearing apart in front of my eyes. The next thing you'll see is a big, smiling picture of me on the front page of the Daily Prophet: The Chosen One Has Been Chosen to Leave the Ministry."
Ginny giggled. "They would!" but stopped quickly at Harry's dark look.
"I just feel like quitting life," Harry added gruffly, ignoring Ginny's comment. "Maybe I should have died after I defeated Voldemort. I've escaped death so many times, I'm beginning to wonder whether my life has already ended and I'm just too stupid to realize it."
"Then you would become what Professor Binns is: a ghost and you're not, Harry. You're just as alive as I am," Ginny stated, as if trying to convince her mind, too, that Harry really wasn't a ghost. After all, he did look astonishingly white…
Harry jumped up and began to pace the room. "That's only it, Gin! I'm alive, but I've let my best friends go and now they keep secrets from me. Next thing you know, I'll just have disappeared off the face of the earth! One day, you will all get up and wonder, 'what happened to that Harry Potter boy?' But no one will know!"
"Is that all you care about, Harry?" Ginny asked quietly.
"No," Harry answered sharply, but then relaxed and kneeled in front of Ginny. "I don't care who knows that I'm alive as long as I have my friends and the people I care about around me. Right now, I don't even have my friends anymore."
"But you have me," Ginny protested. "You have me, Hannah, and Luna. We're your friends, Harry, and no matter what, we'll be there for you."
Harry smiled at her thoughtfulness. "Promise?"
"I don't know: is a promise really worth anything to the Great Harry Potter?" Ginny teased. Harry burst out laughing, then grabbed a pillow and threw it at her face. "Potter!" Ginny screamed, holding up the pillow threateningly. "Never mind about promises: I'll make sure you don't live long enough to have any friends!"
Harry grabbed the pillow out of her hands and held her in his arms. "Is that a promise, too?"
"Hogwarts! Hogwarts! Hoggy-Hoggy-Hoggy-Warty-Warty-Warty!"
"Peeves!" Professor McGonagall shouted at the poltergeist in the Entrance Hall. "Out!" Peeves stuck his tongue out and threw something brown at McGonagall before fleeing from the scene. When Harry and Ginny turned to look at the Headmistress, McGonagall had pudding covering her face and it was all the staff could do to not break into laughter.
In a moment, the pudding was cleared and McGonagall and recomposed herself. "Welcome back!" she greeted the group warmly. "Hopefully you all had a wonderful Christmas!" A few people cried out happily and some others clapped, but the exclamation died down fast. "Now, I have an outline of the second half of the term and what should be accomplished at this time so that our students will be updated. If you don't already know, the ministry is hoping to begin O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.'s next year." A few people groaned at the thought of more work, but it was to be expected: students were definitely behind.
"The students will be arriving tonight and I have set the new schedule for patrolling the castle. I had it sent to your office so I expect that it will be read before the end of the night. I will see you all at dinner tonight," McGonagall ended the meeting and everyone walked out, going their separate ways, and most making their way up to their offices. "Harry, can I talk to you for a moment?" McGonagall caught Harry before he could leave the Entrance Hall. When everyone had left, Harry looked up at the Headmistress, almost knowing what was coming.
"I got a letter from the Ministry," said McGonagall. "You don't have to be here. The Ministry can send a replacement and you can pursue other careers if you desire to."
"No, I want to stay," Harry answered, shoving his hands nervously into the pockets of his robes. "I will finish out the year like I was assigned to."
McGonagall almost smiled, but firmly kept her mouth in a straight line. "Very well, Potter," she said. "We will talk about this later." Harry watched her turn around and head for the kitchens before he began climbing the six flights of stairs up to his. As Harry lay on his bed, he felt the load he had been carrying fall from his chest. No more reports, no more hunting, no more assignments and he decided to stay at Hogwarts: he was finally free.
"Where do you think Neville is, Harry?" Ginny brought up the next morning at breakfast. "Have you heard from him at all?"
"No, not yet," Harry answered grimly, taking a quick bite of toast.
Ginny's face turned pale. "Do you think we should do something? Tell someone? Neville was our friend, Harry! We can't just let him…you know…die," Ginny whispered.
Harry looked in Ginny's brown eyes. "He'll be Ok, Gin," Harry promised. "He made it alive through the war, right? We just need to give him more time."
Ginny searched Harry's green eyes, but after not finding what she was looking for, turned back to the Daily Prophet in front of her. Harry turned back to his food, glad that Ginny couldn't read his mind at that moment. In fact, Harry had been constantly thinking of what became of Neville since their meeting in early November. Should someone go looking for him? But everyone had believed that Neville had disappeared! To go looking for him now, 3 years after he had been declared dead in battle was preposterous! To even think of something like that would be enough to send a person to St. Mungos!
Yet still, Harry worried. Even while teaching his classes that week, assigning more homework than ever to keep his students from getting behind, and keeping up with his staff duties, Harry still had Neville in the back of his mind. He couldn't stop worrying about his friend: Neville was at least one friend he needed to hold on to.
Forgot about Neville? To be Continued...