Walking Free

Surprise Visitors

Tapping her foot impatiently Hermione crossed her arms over her chest in a frustrated manner. She and Ron had been standing outside Grimmauld Place for almost five minutes, waiting for Harry or Draco to come to the door. While Hermione's patience had held out for the first few minutes Ron had become disinterested rather quickly and had taken to wandering off around the corner of the block of houses. After much shouting and a few snide comments she had managed to drag the man back to the house and get him to stand still for almost a full sixty seconds. By this point her patience was wearing thin and she was sure that Ron was deliberately trying to get on her nerves by humming the tune of Hogwarts school song totally off key and the hand gestures didn't help.

The redhead suddenly stopped humming when his stomach rumbled loudly. 'Damn, they better hurry up and open this door already, I'm starving!'

'Shut up, Ronald. You're always starving.' Hermione mumbled.

Ron harrumphed, scowling. 'Maybe they're not in.' he suggested, wrapping his arms around his body, trying to keep warm.

'Maybe, but I doubt that Malfoy would leave the house, even if Harry went out. He's too scared. Where would he go anyway? He doesn't have a clue where he is really.'

'He doesn't have a clue full stop.'

Hermione smiled and nudged her boyfriend's side affectionately. 'Why don't you send a patronus? That way Harry will know it's us.'

'I guess.' Ron pulled out his wand and pointed it towards the door. 'Expecto Patonum. Harry, it's Ron and Hermione. Let us in! It's cold, I'm hungry, and I want my breakfast!'

'You already had breakfast!' Hermione huffed indignantly.

'Yeah, well I want seconds!' As Ron lowered his wand a small terrier raced out of the end, barking happily. It scurried around the wizard's feet before hurtling through the closed door into the house. 'Aww, I love that dog.'

'It's not a real dog, you know.'

'I know that! I just meant that I think he's kinda cute…'

As the two continued to argue a wand suddenly appeared through the letter box and pointed straight at the pair.

'Harry?' Hermione asked, perplexed.

'No, that's not Harry's wand, it can't be. It's far too small.' Hermione gave him a surprised look.

'What? I should know; I spent the best part of five years living with the guy. No, Harry's is at least ten inches.' Hermione looked away, blushing madly. 'What? What did I say?'

With that the wand shot back and out of sight. Seconds later the door creaked open and a pale face appeared through the crack.

'He's not fucking here!' Malfoy hissed. 'He went off earlier without telling me! I can't find the stupid twat.'

Sighing tiredly Hermione pushed the door further open and slipped inside, dragging Ron behind her who was still trying to figure out what it was he had said to embarrass his girlfriend.

As Harry stood in front of the now opening entrance he carefully removed the long chain from his neck. The moment the cool metal was pulled from his person, Harry felt a sudden release, as if just moments before, there had been a heavy weight resting on his broad shoulders. His mind had also cleared and the disturbing thoughts that had plagued his dreams last night and his thoughts that morning vanished.

Moving forward, Harry recalled the nightmares that had kept sleep from him last night. Strangely enough, there had been no dreams of his time imprisoned by Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Instead, he had dreamed of his godfather's death as well as that of Cedric Diggory. They had come to him, pale and ghost like and spoke of their disappointment in him; of how he had not done enough to save them and that ultimately, their demises had been his fault. Harry had cried out to them, several times, pleading for them to understand, for them to listen as he attempted to explain that he couldn't have done anything for them but they did not back down and the insults came thick and fast from their mouths. When they had finally disappeared, leaving Harry completely alone in a dense fog, an awful feeling of despair, guilt and loneliness crashed down on him in unstoppable waves.

The next nightmare that night was one that had left Harry gasping for breath, resolutely trying to stop the tears that wished to fall from his tired eyes. He had dreamed of his friends and family and how they had been out of reach and unable to come to him. His parents had strolled purposely towards him, hand in hand, smiles on their young, wrinkleless faces; however, when they neared Harry, they frowned. Harry, who was much younger in the dream, maybe just going into his teens, called out to them, desperate to embrace them and to feel their love. With his small legs, the dark haired boy ran to his parents; however, as he drove forward, the couple, who were now standing at the end of a corridor, appeared to be moving further away instead of closer. The boy called out to them, deep sobs emerging from his chest as he did so. He reached his delicate fingers toward them, desperate for their touch as he cried out. The tears pooling from his emerald eyes obstructed his view and, as he blinked to clear his sight, Lily and James Potter had vanished into the harsh winds that whipped around Harry. Amongst the deafening winds, Harry could hear his mother's voice in a statement that made his blood run cold, 'You are no son of mine, Harry Potter.'

Harry shook his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts as he blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. Taking a deep breath he looked around and realised that he now stood before the Headmaster's office door. Squaring his shoulders and taking another long breath, Harry knocked thrice on the wooden door with the knuckles on his left hand.

A moment later, a quiet 'Come in' was uttered and Harry, still clenching the chain in his right hand, pushed opened the heavy door.

The office had not changed in the past three years. The old desk sat in the middle of the room with the ornate chair behind it. Paperwork and such was stacked neatly on one side of the table in front of the Headmaster, who was currently sat with his head bent over something, and a bowl of yellow sweats, that Harry assumed to be Sherbet Lemons, sat to the right of the tower of paper. Behind Professor Dumbledore was a collection of portraits of the previous Headmasters and Headmistresses of Hogwarts School, some of whom were sleeping peacefully within their elaborate frames.

Upon hearing the door creaking open, Albus Dumbledore moved his eyes up to meet those of his guest. He was quite surprised when his bright blue orbs met the deep emerald of Harry's weary eyes. Taking his eyes away from the boy's, he looked over Harry's unshaven face and smiled before placing his elderly elbows on top of the desk before him and entwining his fingers together.

'Harry! How unexpected. Come, please.' He said jovially and inclined his head toward the empty chair on the other side of his desk. 'Do take a seat, my boy.'

The teen approached the offered chair slowly and it was then that Dumbledore got a proper look at the person before him. The stubble that grew on the man's face and the dark bags under his eyes gave Harry a haggard look; however, it was the eyes that concerned Albus the most. Behind the rectangular glasses were green orbs filled with pain, hurt and loneliness. The Headmaster's heart clenched at the sight.

'Are you quite alright, Harry?' Albus leaned forward, moving his arms away so that he could get as close to Harry as possible. 'You do not look well, my boy.'

Harry's eyes searched the Headmaster for a moment before he replied with the usual, 'I'm fine.'

'Harry, please. It is obvious to me that something is amiss.' When Harry did not give anymore away, Albus added, 'Let me help.'

'I…I,' Looking down to his lap, Harry finally gave in, 'it's the nightmares. I…I find it hard to sleep and when I do, I…' Taking a gulping breath he continued, 'I dream about what they did to me and it's something new every night and I just can't escape from it and…and I feel so helpless and alone.' Harry stopped and looked away from Dumbledore's distressed face. He closed his eyes for a moment and looked out of the large window in the office that had a clear view over the entire grounds of the castle. 'The connection is growing stronger. I can feel him,' he turned back to the Headmaster with fear in his eyes, 'I can feel him in me all the time. It's as if there's apart of him inside of me. My scar throbs constantly these days.' He added as an after thought. The two men sat in silence for a while, studying each other. After a while, Dumbledore spoke up with a quiet voice.

'I'm afraid, there is not much I can do for you, my boy.'

'Yeah, I know.' Harry mumble after a short while, averting his gaze back to the window.

Another pause of quiet filled the room. From the grounds, Harry could hear the rush of wind and an occasional bird chirping.

A small cough and Dumbledore's calm voice ended the silence. 'What brings you here today, Harry?'

Harry turned his head slowly back to the man in front of him before he looked down at his clenched hands. Opening the right one slightly, Harry released most of the chain and the locket so that the piece of heavy jewelry hung from a few fingers by the chain. Carefully, the teen raised his right arm to reveal it to the Headmaster before him.

'This, I believe, is the Horcrux you were looking for.' Harry said softly.

As the locket swung in his hand like a pendulum, the two emeralds glittering in the winter sun streaming in though the window, Dumbledore let a small smile grace his thin lips. 'How…?' He whispered with an almost childlike fascination. The man's twinkling eyes did not leave the swinging object until Harry placed it on the desk in front of him and began to recount Kreacher's tale.

There was silence in the room as neither men spoke. Dumbledore's chin rested gently on his hand as he thought for a moment.

'Kreacher had it all this time. Interesting how one never thought to ask him.' The aged man sighed, removed his hand from his chin and sat up perfectly straight in the tall, elaborate chair. 'You know what this means now, Harry? We destroy this Horcrux and are left only with Lord Voldemort's snake and the object we believe to have some connection to Ravenclaw.' Ever since Albus had visited Harry at Grimmauld Place, thoughts of the Horcruxes had been quite prominent with Harry.

'How does that work? How can a living thing have a part of someone else's soul inside of it?'

At this Albus frowned and lowered his head for a moment. When he looked up again, his blue eyes were tinged with sadness. He took a deep breath before speaking in a strong, firm voice. 'I will be honest with you, Harry. I will not pretend to understand how it works in its entirety. All I can understand from it is that there must be a connection between Lord Voldemort and the piece of soul within Nagini.'

'A connection?'

'Yes. I believe you bared witness to it in your fifth year.' When Harry raised his eyebrow in question, the Headmaster continued, 'The incident with Arthur Weasley in the Department of Mysteries, my boy. That was indeed Voldemort using his connection to possess Nagini.'

Harry sat still for a moment; thousands of questions whirling around his tired brain. 'And, can Nagini feel him. I mean, can she feel Voldemort through the connection?'

Dumbledore stared at Harry, studying him closely before answering. 'That, I cannot tell you Harry.'

The two men looked at each other for a minute, a strange silence settling over them. The Headmaster was the first to break eye contact. Using his elderly and wrinkled hands, he pushed himself off of his chair and slowly made his way across the room, towards the large, glass cabinet. As he did so, Harry closed his eyes, removed his glasses and rubbed them with the palm of his hands, attempting to remove the tiredness from them. When he replaced his glasses a few minutes later, Albus Dumbledore was once again sat before him, across the table. The only difference now was that, placed carefully before Harry on the wooden table, sat the sword of Gryffindor, glowing beautifully from the sun's rays. The diamond encrusted handle glinted enthusiastically when it caught the sun light, almost blinding.

'The sword.' Harry whispered as he was momentarily distracted by the object.

'You must know, Harry, that destroying the Horcrux will not be an easy job.'

When Harry looked up into the old wizard's eyes in question, Albus picked up the sword and slid his fingers along the long, silver blade.

'The Horcrux within the locket will put up a fight. It will not wish to be destroyed and I quite think it will recognize the threat of the sword if they come into close contact. If you will.' The Headmaster motioned for Harry to pick up the locket. 'Now, if you bring it closer to the sword, you will see.'

Harry did as he was asked, raising the gold pendant towards the silver blade; however, as he did so, he began to feel a resistance. Soon enough, the locket started to violently move away from sword and Harry could have sworn he heard it crying out in a desperate attempt to get away from its potential destroyer.

'This Horcrux is a powerful thing, Harry. Do not forget that. You must be strong, you must fight it.'

'Me?' Harry placed the locket back onto the table and met Dumbledore's gaze.

Here, the Headmaster chuckled lightly. 'Well, who else, my boy? You found the locket; I believe this entitles you to be the one to destroy it.' With that, Albus stood up and handed Harry the sword of Gryffindor.

Harry followed suit and stood as well. He gently took the proffered object, and similarly to the Headmaster, stroked his hand gently across the blade.

Albus picked up the gold jewelry and moved from behind the desk to the middle of the room. He placed it upon the top, stone step before making his way down the steps with Harry.

'Are you ready?' Harry nodded. His heart beating wildly in his chest and he grabbed the sword with both hands. 'I think you know how to open it, my boy.' Albus said softly and without even thinking, Harry opened his mouth and spoke to the object.

To Albus and all the portraits in the room, Harry's next words were only a hiss.

'Open'

There was a loud click as the old pendant snapped open with force. Harry could never have predicted what would happen next. The opened locket contained two glass windows; however, instead of a picture behind the glass, there was a living, blinking eye. Harry recoiled slightly, the image of Tom Riddle's eye staring out of the locket and right into him somewhat startled him.

Beside him, he heard his old mentor encouraging him to stab it with the long blade. But before he could, a voice filled the room, a hissing coiling around Harry's head.

'Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived. I have been in your mind, I have searched your thoughts, I know your hopes and your fears.'

Harry gazed into the mesmerizing eyes, unable to move. Dumbledore drew closer to him, urging him to ignore the part of Riddle within the locket. Begging him to be strong and to destroy it but Harry was not able to hear the words. The locket had him fixed in a trance.

'Your fears are right, Harry. They died for you, Harry, all of them, and you let it happen. You did nothing to save them. Loved by no one, you will always be alone. You will always have nothing. And it is all your fault.'

Harry's throat was dry, his head foggy and his heart still beat in his chest like a crazed, caged animal, desperate for release. From the two windows, two bodies blossomed, distorted and almost gruesome in their perfection. Harry almost dropped the sword in shock as he stumbled backwards a couple of steps.

The Riddle-Ron and Hermione, who now stood over him, gazed down at him with distaste.

The Riddle-Ron's voice was smooth as he said, 'We preferred it when you were in Azkaban, Harry.'

'You are nothing to us.' Echoed the Riddle-Hermione. 'You are no friend of ours. Stay away, go back.'

Harry cried out before the two figures changed, this time forming a Riddle-Albus Dumbledore and a Riddle-Sirius.

'I am disappointed in you, Harry. You could never listen, could you? Look what you have done; look at the damage you have caused. You should have nothing. You are worthless. No one cares for you.'

Harry felt someone grabbing his arm, tugging him away. 'Ignore it. Ignore it, Harry. They are not real.'

'You killed me, Harry. You let me die. How could you? You are not my godson.'

'No, Sirius, no. Please.' Harry begged as the figures changed again. Towering above him stood his parents; James and Lily Potter.

'You are no son of mine.' The Riddle-Lily snarled as she and husband turned away from their son. Then, as quickly as they had come, they disappeared, morphing into just one person. Riddle-Ginny stood beautifully before Harry; her flaming red hair, dancing lightly around her shoulders. Her face perfectly freckled as she looked down at Harry.

'You are nothing, Harry Potter. No one could love you. Get away from my family. Leave us alone. You are nothing and no one could love you.'

'NO' cried Harry as he dived forward. As the sword pierced through the windows of the locket, there was a long, pained scream and a clatter of metal on stone. Harry dropped the sword, stumbled backwards and fell heavily onto his knees in shock. His breath came out in deep pants as if he had just run a marathon. Before he could stop himself, before he could collect himself in front of the Headmaster, the deep breaths turned into pained sobs that he could not repress. He didn't notice exactly when Dumbledore kneeled down with him and took him into his arms. Harry didn't care that he had completely broken down in front of the man. He clung onto the man's arm, his breathing staggered and filled with shattering sobs. His chest tightened with each breath, burning under his skin. In all his life Harry couldn't remember a time he had felt more self-hatred and guilt.

Draco drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair as he stared up at the clock above the fireplace. His cup of tea sat cold in front of him, having been brewed almost half an hour ago. Hermione and Ron sat together on the sofa opposite him, waiting for Harry to arrive back home. After Draco had let them into the house, the blonde had soon fallen silent as he slumped back into a chair, his mind elsewhere. Hermione had made them all some tea while Ron tried to get anymore information out of Malfoy as to where Harry had gone. The blonde claimed to know nothing and said he hadn't seen Harry since the night before.

When the clock struck twelve in the afternoon Draco's shoulders sagged as Ron and Hermione checked their own watches, trying to figure out how long Harry had been out for.

'Malfoy,' Ron asked. 'why do you even care that Harry's not here?'

'What's it to you?' Draco hissed, flicking his silky hair away from his face.

'Well you're making a big song and dance about him not being here so there must be a reason, otherwise you wouldn't be so wound up.'

'I am not wound up you half-whit!' Draco clenched his fists and scowled over at the redhead.

'Anyway, what are you doing here? I'm sure Potter doesn't exactly want to see you after yesterday. I could hear you all arguing for hours.'

'That's none of your business,' Hermione scolded. 'but if you must know, we're here to see if he's okay. We didn't expect him to have gone out though, otherwise we wouldn't have come.'

'Well he's not here so you can leave.'

'Oh, for goodness sake, Draco. We're-' Hermione started.

'Don't you dare address me by my first name, you filthy mudblood!' Draco growled, his cheeks burning red.

'Oi, don't you call her that-'

'Stop it! Both of you.' Hermione held up her hands, forcefully shoving Ron back into the sofa with her left and wagging a finger at Draco with her right. 'Ron, it's okay,' she said gently. 'but you,' she turned on the blonde. 'need to get down from your high horse. We are adults now so if you could just start to act like one, maybe we can get along.'

Draco looked away and astonishingly didn't argue back. He grumbled to himself and sat back down on the edge of his seat.

'So, now what?' Ron asked quietly.

'Now, we talk and try to figure out where Harry has gone. I'm sure he's absolutely fine and that there is nothing to worry about, but Draco seems upset-'

'I'm not upset.' Draco mumbled into his fist.

'Fine, but you still want to know where he disappeared to. We all do. Are you sure he didn't say he was going out?'

'Yes, I've already told you that.'

'Okay, okay, then let's think about where he might have gone. The first possibility is that he went shopping, but he's been gone a long time and there is plenty of food in the kitchen, so I doubt it's that.'

'He could have gone for a walk.' Ron suggested. Hermione nodded briefly but frowned.

'He could have but once again it's been too long. However, he was quite upset when we left him yesterday, he may just need some space, you know, time to think.'

Ron agreed, slurping on his tea greedily. 'Well, if that's all sorted, I think it's time to leave.' he said cheerily, getting to his feet.

Hermione grudgingly nodded and waved her wand, sending their tea cups into the kitchen to be cleaned. 'Well Draco, it was…nice to see you again…'

Draco remained silent, carefully watching the couple from the corner of his eye, waiting eagerly for their departure. The little meeting had been awkward to say the least and he was glad it was finally over.

Ron and Hermione stopped by the living room door, remembering to collect their coats from the back of the sofa. Ron held Hermione's out for her, helping her put it on before turning back to Draco to say goodbye- not that he wanted to, he felt obliged and feared the wrath of his girlfriend if he didn't. Just as he opened his mouth to speak the sound of the front door opening drifted up the stairs, startling them all. Moments later, after the door had been shut again, a loud thump geared them all into action. Hermione was the first down the stairs, followed by Ron and Draco, battling between themselves as to who could get down faster.

'Harry?' Hermione asked as she reached the young man, crumpled on the floor, his whole body shuddering, drenched in blood. 'Harry!'

So happy I finally put this up. I've had this chapter half done for months but I never got round to doing it. Hopefully I should have some more up soon.

Please review.

Indigo coloured rain- I think Snape just feels really bad for what he did to Harry. He sees him and remembers what he did. Also, about the dialogue, how do you think I could improve because it is something I find hard? :) PLease review. Thanks.

Ladon's Avatar- Harry just doesn't want to be alone and I guess he realises that it wasn't really their fault. They saw what the believed to be Harry harming a family member and at the time must have been in shock. About them not visiting, to me, I imagined it to be that they were too scared, maybe of what Harry would be like because the things he did were totally out of character so they might think he had changed and wouldn't be who they had known. Please review. :)

Caelhir- Thanks! Maybe the brothers will appear in an epilogue, possibly sooner. :)

Bob Hammilton- Toffee drizzle?- No idea, I made it up. :) PLease review.

crazyme03- Cool, I sometimes worry that they're too short. :)

dem bones- I love Draco too! :) Snape will be more involved soon. He and Dumbledore might have things to talk about.

Jim Red Hawk- Haha, I still love him though.

nobody-Thanks. :)

Evil Unicorn Overlord- Your review made me really happy. Thank you so much. Reviews like your really make me want to write. Please review again. :)