Chapter 4 - Pretend and Attention (Prompts)

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Once Harry entered the Great Hall, the first person who made it over to him, was the only person he didn't expect to speak to him.

Molly Weasley came forward, a sad smile gracing her otherwise jovial face and with fresh tears streaks across her cheeks. The image made his gut clench. "How are you, Harry dear," she said softly before her arms circled him in a comforting hug.

Harry stayed dumbstruck, falling into her embrace for fear of doing anything else. She had just lost her son, and yet she was comforting him. The irony was not lost on him.

When Molly finally pulled back, her expression cleared the confusion he had been experiencing. She looked at him with sadness, sympathy in the depth of her eyes. Remus. She was thinking about his loss.

He felt the need to say that he was fine, so to keep her mind at ease. But somehow saying anything felt like the wrong thing. He simply nodded, ducking his head so his glance fell on the other Weasleys who watched their interaction with passive faces. Especially Ginny, who looked at him the way most of the others in the Great Hall were looking at him: with hope and expectation.

Almost immediately, Molly hiccupped, the tears pouring freshly and her shoulders beginning to shake with the effort of holding in her sobs. Harry stared in panic, not knowing what to do. He could feel the relieved breath leave his body when Ron stepped from behind him and grabbed a hold of his mother's arm. "C'mon, Mum," he said gently as he let her sob uncontrollably on his shoulder. Arthur made his way to his wife, his expression sombre as he lightly rubbed soft circles along her back. One by one the other members of their family made their way to their mother, each one trying to comfort her in this time. The only person who stayed where he was, sitting at the table while staring at his hands was George.

Harry couldn't help but swallow at the spectacle before him as Hermione stepped closer. They shared a look; and he knew she felt the same way he did. They felt like intruders.

It was while before he felt her whisper his name, nudging him in his side to get his attention. When he looked up, she cocked her head to the side referring him to the others in the Great Hall who were watching him, not the Weasleys. The attention being given to him was uncomfortable and awkward.

"You'll have to either go to talk to them, or pretend they're not staring."

"I rather pretend this night never happened," Harry mumbled as his glance fell on the Weasleys once more. "Besides," he said dryly, "what am I supposed to say to them?"

"You don't have to say anything."

He understood what she meant.

Handing over his mother to his father, Ron came over to them, his eyes only on Harry. "We're going to the Burrow right about now. Coming?"

Harry looked at Hermione, who seemed to be thinking the same thing as him: they might as well. Again, he nodded, feeling like saying anything would be inappropriate.

Ron nodded, throwing a brief look Hermione's way before he joined his family and started gathering them together. Harry couldn't help but notice that George wasn't even aware of his family leaving until Percy put a comforting hand on his back.

As the Wealseys made their way slowly out of the Great Hall, Harry and Hermione followed behind a good distance away. As he passed the other survivors, Harry noticed that most of them would nod in acknowledgement at him. He nodded back, a small gesture to show that he appreciated them and valued what they did to help him last night. It was a long walk to exit that hall; and he kept remembering how that first year when he walked down the Hall that first time, it seemed a relatively shorter walk than now.

He realized on some level that he might not see some of them for some time. It might be months before he sees Neville again, or Dean and Seamus. It might be years before he saw the Patil sisters once more. A goodbye like this deserved a slap on the back and 'see you soon'. But this wasn't the occasion that called for it. And everyone knew that.

In his own way, he said goodbye to everyone who was in the Great Hall, making a mental note to track them down individually and thank them some day. The only people he didn't look at as he stepped out of Hogwarts for the first time since the fall of Voldemort, was the Malfoys. He wasn't ready to accept what they had done... yet.

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