Through and Through - The Cup
Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Harry Potter or any characters or places in this story, they belong to JK Rowling. I am making no money from this story.
Prologue
Timing is everything. It can be the simplest concept to grasp, but is often the most challenging subject to effect. Yet now the time had come. It should have been a day of liberation; he had dreamt of this moment for as long as he could remember. Still, Harry felt somehow he had missed something.
It wasn't in the planning or details, he had thought long and hard about what he had to do. For once, all of his belongings were carefully packed in his trunk. Actually, he had scarcely removed anything from it. This Spartan life was something he expected would soon be common where he was going. The small bed, ragged desk, and wardrobe were the only things left in his room.
The only matter now was actually leaving. He knew he would never return to this house or see his only remaining relatives again, and the life and relationship that he could have had with them, was the thing that was missing. Through the years he had always wondered what his life would have been like if his parents had not been murdered. Though now that he was going for good, he had found himself thinking of what the Dursley's meant to him. In any case, his decision was made, and his path laid out. The time was right.
As the clock turned to 6:30 AM he released Hedwig from her cage, and gathered his trunk, closing the door for the last time. Harry set his things by the door and entered the kitchen to say his farewell. Aunt Petunia was the only one there; Vernon was just rising for work, and Dudley would be asleep for several more hours.
"Aunt Petunia," he said quietly as she busied herself at the stove, "I'm leaving now. Thought I should let you know."
Petunia stiffened warily as she moved a pan. "Well, then, I expect this is the last we shall see of you," she said tersely.
Harry could only nod his head. After a moment he spoke "Well, take care then," and turning towards the door he added, "and thanks." The door closed behind him and he didn't see her head drop, nor hear the small sigh that escaped her lips. He grabbed the handle of his trunk and Hedwig's cage, and apparated away from the house of his childhood.