"Harry," Mrs. Weasely breathed softly. She smiled as she rushed to hug him close, disregarding the layers of grime and the stench. Harry reveled in the feeling of being loved again, but all too soon Mrs. Weasely pulled away. She looked at him sternly and slapped him soundly across his face. Harry reached up and touched his stinging cheek gently. He looked at her, confused. Was he really that hideous? Was he wrong to come home? Mrs. Weasely, seeing the boy's hurt and confusion, rushed to hug him. She started to apologize to him, but she dissolved into tears.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked. Why was this woman crying on his shoulder?
"Save her?" Mrs. Weasely pleaded. She looked imploringly into his green eyes.
Harry couldn't bear to see Mrs. Weasely look at him like this. "Okay," he consented. He waited for the woman to give him a better idea about whom he was supposed to save, but she only pushed him towards the fireplace.
"Save my baby," she said dolefully. Harry took a pinch of floo powder and threw it in the fire.
He was just about to ask Mrs. Weasely where he was supposed to go when he put two and two together. Ginny. Without another moment's hesitation, he stepped into the fire and called out, "Hogwarts!" The last sight of the Burrow he saw was of Mrs. Weasely kneeling on the floor, crying.
Harry fell out of a fireplace. A quick look around told him he was in the Great Hall. He stood up and brushed himself off. He took his glasses off of his face and stowed them in his pocket. They were now broken at the bridge, and glasses that were broken and scratched did him no good whatsoever. He started running along the path his feet knew so intimately. Surely by this time Ginny would be in the common room.
Within moments, Harry sat panting outside of the Fat Lady's portrait. He went to tell her the password, and he realized that he didn't know the password. He heard footsteps and Harry sunk into the nearby shadows. A first year Gryffindor walked up to the portrait. "Dillywort," the girl said. Harry waited until he heard the portrait close before coming out of the shadows.
"Oh my! Look at your robes! Where on earth have you been? Wait…do I-"
"Dillywort," Harry said, interrupting the portrait's thought process before she thought to raise the alarm that a strange man was lurking the hallway. The portrait swung open, revealing the entrance to the common room. Harry clambered through.
Ginny looked up from the essay she was trying to write on her lap to see who had just walked in. Before Harry could blink, she had her wand out and pointed at him. Harry was shocked, though he kept his face emotionless. Ropes came shooting out of the girl's wand even though she hadn't said a word. He easily deflected the spell with a wave of his hand. The ropes fell limply to the floor and Harry began to walk slowly to the red haired girl. She threw her books upon the floor and with one more fearful glance behind her, ran to her dormitory. Harry entertained the thought of going after her, but soon remembered the slide the stairs turned into. He stared after her retreating back, trying to understand why she had run from him.
He heard the portrait swing open again, but he ignored it. "Ron you're not supposed to punish Slytherins randomly! The poor boy was studying and you gave him detention for looking sinister! Of course he looked upset, you made his best friend do lines for- what was it? Oh yeah, for talking about a pet snake!" a patronizing tone said exasperatedly. Harry turned around. The boy with red hair stared over the girl with bushy hair. Harry watched the boy's face as he tried to comprehend what was in front of him. The boy took a step forward but stopped and instead took a step back, landing him where he started. The girl with brown hair noticed her friend's odd attitude. She turned around to see what he was staring at. After a second of a shocked silence, Harry braced himself for impact as the girl hurtled towards him. "HARRY!" she cried in jubilance. He grunted as she made impact. Her arms wrapped around his chest and she squeezed him as if to make sure he was really there. Harry stood there, not pushing the girl away but not hugging her back.
The boy walked slowly up to his two friends and closed his eyes slightly and looked Harry in the eye. Harry broke eye contact first. "See Ron, I told you he'd come home!" Hermione said breathlessly, finally releasing Harry. Ron continued to look at Harry as if Harry weren't really there, and was just a really good imposter. After what seemed like an eternity to Harry, Ron offered his hand to Harry, who shook it.
"Welcome home," Ron said quietly. Harry pushed Ron's cold demeanor from his mind as Hermione pulled him to the couch.
"Where have you been?" Hermione asked anxiously.
"Yeah 'cause you look like h-"
"You look awful," Hermione broke in, interrupting what Ron was going to say. Harry looked down, holding his hands in front of his face. He sat down on the couch and Ron and Hermione sat down on either side of him.
"I don't get it," he said finally. He looked at each of his friends in turn. "I should be happy. I won the final battle. What's left?" he asked them. He sighed heavily and closed his eyes.
"No, I don't think you have," Hermione said after a moment of thought. Harry's eyes shot open and he looked at Hermione incredulously.
"What are you talking about?" Ron demanded. "Harry killed Voldemort!" he added like that explained everything.
"But look at him," Hermione said, gesturing vaguely at Harry. Harry looked at his two friends who were staring back at him. He couldn't bear to see their looks of sympathy and he looked down at his lap. He inspected his fingernails, a bad idea since they had been neglected for too long.
"Oh," Ron said quietly.
Harry looked up at them and asked defensively, "What?"
"Your wallowing in self pity and self hate, until you overcome that, you will never be the same," Hermione informed him matter-of-factly.
Harry looked at Hermione. "But…" he started.
"She's right you know?" Ron said, shrugging his shoulders helplessly.
"No, I don't know!" Harry said heatedly.
Ron and Hermione looked at each other. They should have expected this. "Harry…" Ron began, pleading Harry to understand.
"Shut up, Ron," Harry said, shaking his head.
"Harry, really, look at you!" Hermione said exasperatedly. She was tired of trying to reason with someone who was obviously uninterested in reasoning.
"Yeah, I know, I'm ugly," Harry said bitterly. He hung his head. "Giolla was wrong, you do care," he added sadly. He had been stupid to think his friends would overlook his disfiguration.
"Giolla?" Hermione asked, picking up on the unrecognizable name.
"Doesn't matter, just leave me alone," Harry said quietly.
"Harry," Ron said in a strangled voice.
"Don't you know how miserable everyone was without you?" Hermione said, beginning to lose her patience, something that didn't usually happen. She never used to fight or get angry with Harry.
"Yeah, miserable... right, you were probably crying at the sight of me you were so upset," Harry said bitterly.
"Harry, it's not like that!" Hermione exclaimed. Her eyes bored into the side of Harry's head, willing him with all her heart to understand what it was like to not know anything about Harry's whereabouts.
"Shut up Hermione," Harry said, meeting her imploring gaze. "Both of you just shut up!" Harry repeated, looking at Ron now. Ron looked sadly at Harry. Hermione sighed heavily. Harry looked at each of his friends one last time and growled. He thrust himself out of his seat and stormed out of the common room, knocking papers and inkbottles as he went. When a click signaled the closing of the portrait, Hermione and Ron met eyes. Ron's blue eyes were filled with a knowing pain, the pain of someone who had guarded himself against such pain and managed to find himself suffering anyway. Hermione's brown eyes showed an intense distraught feeling. They sighed heavily together and left each to his or her own thoughts.
Author's Note: Yes, I do have a valid excuse this time, though some may still be angry, and to everyone I apologize. For the past week, I have been waking up, going to school and staying there until ten (I was in charge of sound for the play my school did). Then, in my spare time…. which came out of sleep, I've been trying to keep up with my homework, and memorize my lines and movements for a skit I performed at my church this morning. So I apologize, but this was my first chance since a week and a half ago to update. I'm really sorry.
Response To Reviews: Not too bad I suppose. I didn't get the twenty I wanted, I got thirteen, which is pretty good, but I'm starting to get greedy now that the story's moving on, and I'm more concerned about how it's all fitting together (or not). So please review, I'm begging you! (Well, asking politely)
Anonymous Reviews: There was one for chapter 18, but I also received two reviews from the same person, but different chapters. In the hope that that person is still reading, I will respond to those reviews as well.
RomanClassic: Yeah, I'm sorry about not answering the cliffhanger, but you got a little situational irony, which helps you understand the characters Ron, Hermione, and Ginny a little better I hope.
Kenneth: I'm going to respond to both of your reviews at once. I know I promised a happy ending, and by chapter ten, that promise seems unlikely, but trust me, there is a happy ending on the way. As for your other two points (Harry's looks and someone getting hurt) I can't promise anything, but just remember, the ending is indeed a happy one. I hope you're still reading this!
