Intermission
There he was, standing on the newly made porch of the Burrow. Leaning against one of the newly painted pillars, he gazed over the green valley nestled between low, green-covered hills. The sun hung low in the sky, casting streamers of pink and orange along the horizon.
He was alone.
The war had ended. Voldemort and his army had been defeated. For the first time in nearly twenty years, the Wizarding World tasted true freedom. But many lives were lost in the process. Hedwig, Cedric, Fred, Sirius, Tonks, Remus, Colin Creevey, Snape, and Albus Dumbledore were among the casualties of the war. And not to mention his parents. Their loss left a huge gaping hole in his heart.
It had been four months since Ginny and Hermione left for Hogwarts. Hermione had decided to finish her studies by joining Ginny's year. She invited Harry and Ron to return to Hogwarts with her. Ron outrightly refused. He told her that he had enough studying and now that he had been given the chance to join the Ministry without having to graduate, he would be taking it.
Harry too declined, citing the same reason as Ron. But it was far from the truth.
For the first time in his life, he had no desire to return to Hogwarts. There were too much pain and too many losses. Returning to Hogwarts would only mean that he would have to face the ghost of his past. He became emotionally weary. His heart broke into tiny little pieces. He wasn't sure if it could be mended.
He and Ginny broke up. He found out recently that the beautiful redhead reconciled with Dean Thomas during his absence from Hogwarts. He at that time was going on horcruxes hunt with Ron and Hermione. Ginny was alone and afraid. Afraid of what would become of her family. Afraid of everything. It was at that time when Dean Thomas stepped in. Dean was there when she had no one else and he never left her side. And because of that, their feelings towards each other grew anew.
Harry of course had no inkling of what was going on back then. Ginny acted normally when she saw him emerging from the secret pathway that connected Hog's Head Inn to the Room of Requirement. As a matter of fact, she looked happy. It was only during the aftermath of Voldemort's defeat that he witnessed everything. And Hermione herself confirmed that Ginny had gone back to her former boyfriend.
They split on good terms though. There was some level of disappointment on his part but there was no anger between both of them. Anyway, he was the one who broke up with Ginny before he went out to hunt for horcruxes. It was nothing more than his own fault.
Bill and Fleur visited the Burrow yesterday. Fleur was late into her pregnancy. Harry was surprised to learn that she was pregnant when she fought in the Battle of Hogwarts. He scolded Bill for allowing Fleur to expose herself to danger. Bill defended himself by saying that he did all he could to make Fleur stayed out of the said battle.
"But you already know her. She is as stubborn as she is. She said to me that she is not going to let me face the danger alone. I really had no other choice. The only thing I could do was to keep her close to me throughout the battle. You have no idea know what it feels like Harry, trying to keep her alive. Trying to keep us all alive," Bill explained.
"I'm not going to let zhe future father of my child go out all alone, 'Arry. My place iz beside 'im and nozhing will change zhat," Fleur declared to Harry when he confronted her. "What matters iz zhat 'e iz safe. I will make sure of zhat in every possible way zhat I can."
Ron and his father were at work. They would only be coming home late in the evening. Molly was visiting George and Percy at Diagon Alley. She would accompany both Ron and Arthur when they returned.
Harry and Ron were offered to join the DMLE a couple of weeks after the Battle of Hogwarts ended. Kingsley Shacklebolt handed them the offer letter from the Ministry while visiting the Burrow one day. Ron accepted the offer straight away. Harry however hesitated.
Being an Auror became his lifelong passion the moment he found out what happened to his parents. But after everything he went through, he wasn't so sure. He still wanted to be an Auror. But not immediately. There were things he wanted to do first.
Sirius talked about going out and see the world when he was confined to Grimmauld Place. He talked about what he wanted to do once he got back his freedom. Sirius never got his wishes. Harry felt it was his obligation to fulfill those wishes in place of his godfather.
Hermione had yet known about his plan. She thought he was going to work at the Ministry together with Ron. He of course was going to tell her. He wasn't going to leave her in the dark. That girl had been too good to him. Not once she left his side during their hunt. She stayed with him even when Ron stormed out of their tent and left them in anger and fury. As a matter of fact, she never left him throughout his whole life at Hogwarts. She was always there for him. She was part of the reason why he managed to survive. She was also part of the reason why he could go on and not lose hope. That was basically why he offered to accompany her and Ron to Australia to find her parents. He wanted to be there for her when she needed strength the most.
But he also knew that they were now at a crossroad. Nothing would last forever. Soon they would have to make a choice on how they were going to continue with their life. Very soon the trio would have to disband. And it was already happening.
That night, he and Ron sat at the porch after dinner. The warm breeze blew in from the west. Stars glittered the dark canvas of the rarely cloudless sky. They each were holding a pint of firewhisky in their hands.
"Are you sure you want to do this, Harry?" Ron asked after many minutes of silence.
Harry took a gulp out of the mug before replying, "Yes. I've been thinking about it ever since I got here. It's just something I needed to do before I commit myself to anything permanent."
Ron nodded. "Does Hermione know about this?"
Harry shook his head. "Not yet but she will. I already wrote her a letter. I've sent it earlier today. I'm not planning to tell Bill and Fleur though. They already have enough on their plate, what with Fleur giving birth any time soon. There's no need for them to worry about me."
Ron sighed. "Things will be different without you, Harry," he lamented. "I've been looking forward to us working together, you know. It won't be as fun without you."
Harry smiled. He gave Ron a pat on his back and said, "Cheer up, Ron. I'll join you eventually. I'm not planning to be away for long. Don't want Kingsley wasting his time waiting for me, eh?"
Ron chuckled. "You'll be his prized possession once you join the Ministry, Harry. He'll wait even if it's for a thousand years."
Harry's smile faltered at this. "Yeah. Prized possession indeed," he muttered slowly.
Harry departed the very next morning after saying his goodbyes to the Weasleys.
A lot of things went through his head as he walked to the edge of the Burrow's compound. There was a lot of sadness but no despair. There was a lot of hope but no grieve. He gave the Weasley's abode one last look before he apparated.
He didn't plan to go away for long. He wanted to go back once everything he was planning on doing is done. Little that he realized that plans could change and that he would only make his return to Britain five years later.
To be continued...
A/n: The idea for this story came to me a couple of days ago. I wanted to put it aside temporarily and was planning to revisit it once my current story is ended. Apparently, there is a danger of me forgetting about it completely so I've decided to park it on this website. As with my other story, this will be a single pairing.
Harry/Hermione was the first pairing I go to when I started reading stories in this section. I just feel that it's natural for the pairing to occur given the apparent chemistry that exists within the seven books. Of course, I'm a huge fan of Harry/Fleur and Harry/Daphne pairing as well. Oh btw, I have yet decided on the pairing for my other story. For all I know, Harry could end up with Madame Pince.
So anyway, enjoy. You'll notice that I didn't put the 'To be continued' remark at the end of the story. I'll re-edit this chapter once the time comes. This will be a three chapters story.
