Nothing belongs to me. J.K. Rowling and WB have that honor. I just like to play with them. My thanks to my beta, Jestana, and a special thanks to Dar Quing, who helped me get started on this chapter when I was stuck.

Chapter Thirteen: Thinking Makes My Brain Hurt

Due to the wards having been strengthened, Harry was able to go to the Burrow for Christmas. Hermione was going to spend it with her parents, and come to the Burrow for the last couple of days before school started again. Harry was looking forward to getting away from Hogwarts for once. He couldn't seem to find time to get away by himself and think about what Professor Grey had talked to him about. He needed to just sit and think, and his friends didn't seem to be able to leave him alone long enough. He was hoping at the Burrow, he could sneak away for a couple of hours.

They were able to floo there from the Headmaster's office. Harry stumbled out of the fireplace, and was immediately gathered into a motherly hug by Molly Weasley.

"Harry! It's so good to be able to have you here for Christmas!" Molly let him go and took a good look at him. "Not eating enough, and not sleeping enough. We'll certainly try to remedy both things while you're here." With that, Molly turned to welcome Ron and Ginny home, with hugs for each, and a kiss on the cheek.

"Well, there's lunch waiting in the kitchen, if you want to come and eat."

Ron, as usual, was eager to follow the suggestion, and walked quickly into the other part of the house. Ginny and Harry shared an amused glance, and followed him.

That night, after Ron fell asleep, Harry lay awake, thinking. One of the things that had struck him after his conversation with Professor Grey was that he knew an awful lot about what had taken place over the last five years. Professor Grey had not been around, yet he had talked about things almost as if he had been there. Harry knew some things came out in the newspapers, but not all of the circumstances, especially about Cedric's death. How did he know about everything?

Over the holidays, Harry was able to find time to get away by himself. He had set aside the mystery of Professor Grey's knowledge of things, and just focused on what he had said to Harry. He had told Harry things that others had said as well, but Professor Grey didn't have a vested interest in Harry. As a bystander to some extent, his opinions had the weight of non-interest to them. He was only here for a year, and if Harry didn't get out of his depression, it had less of an impact on Professor Grey. Yes, he probably wanted Voldemort defeated as much as the next wizard, but his interest in Harry's personal well-being was not there.

Harry began to come out of his depression. As he realized he really couldn't have stopped what happened with Cedric, and accepted his role in Sirius' death, but assigned blame where it needed to be assigned, his thinking became clearer. He should mourn for his godfather, but not fixate on it and ignore everyone around him, or make them miserable.

Some things about his mood change were funny. The first time he took part in a snowball fight with the Weasleys, Ron stopped to stare, and got hit from both sides at the same time. He took it in stride, though. Ron just laughed, and threw a snowball back. When Hermione got to the Weasleys after Christmas to spend the last couple days of the holiday there, she couldn't believe the change in Harry, and the first time he sat and joked and laughed with the twins, Hermione just stared with her mouth open.

"Hermione, you're beginning to look like Ron's been giving you goldfish look lessons." That made her close her mouth, but she continued to watch Harry carefully.

Finally, the night before they were supposed to go back to Hogwarts, Ron and Hermione cornered Harry in the bedroom he and Ron were sharing.

"Harry, we are really glad you're feeling better. But, what happened?"

"A couple of weeks ago, Professor Grey and I were working on some techniques, and I was struggling. He stopped me and told me I didn't have any passion behind what I was trying to do, and that was the problem. He goaded me, and I exploded at him. Eventually, he told me that some things that happened were beyond my power to change, and I needed to stop beating myself up about them. Also, that I had a partial responsibility for Sirius' death, but there was enough blame to go around, and I had to stop trying to take it all on myself. I've been thinking about what he said, and it makes sense. It's helped me to deal with everything that happened in the last couple of years."

Hermione and Ron just stared at him, then Hermione leaned forward and gave him a big hug. "Harry, I am so glad that you are doing better! We were really starting to worry about you."

"I'm not totally out of the woods yet, but I'm getting closer. Just stick with me, and bear with me a little longer."

"Of course, mate. Best friends, right? We're with you through thick and thin. What kind of best friends would we be if we turned our back on you now? You're getting better. If we were there when you were struggling, we'll be there to help you get out of the woods." Ron clapped Harry on the back.

"Thanks, both of you. Ready for bed? We have to get up early tomorrow." Harry was getting embarrassed. Ron and Hermione looked at each other, and nodded. Hermione got up and moved to the door.

"Good night. See you both in the morning."

Ron and Harry spoke in unison, "'Night, Hermione."

As the two boys settled down to sleep, Harry spoke quietly, "I'm glad you're my friend, Ron. I don't know what I would do without you there."

"Same here."

As Harry slowly fell asleep, he thought again about Professor Grey. How did he know all the stuff about Harry and his thoughts?