Disclaimer: I do not, in anyway own the wonderful world of Harry Potter, or Charmed. I am just dabbling in the world they left for us. Though I do own the plot...
(also, please note that this is indeed chapter 62. I made a mistake while posting the last one and at the top it reads that is chapter 60, but in fact the previous chapter is 61. This will be fixed at a later date.) And so,, without further adieu...
Chapter 62
Three Days Later pt 2:
Destiny Approaches…
Last time:
She sighed and was the first to break the silence. "Phoebe, why don't you and Paige, take everyone into the front room while Leo and I get us something to drink and maybe eat, from the kitchen." Her sisters nodded, not saying a word as they led the group into the other room.
Piper turned and headed quickly into the kitchen, letting her hands do all the work. She jumped slightly when she felt a pair of hands come to rest upon her shoulders. She turned around and her gaze fell into the concerned one of her husband. Her shoulders drooped and she gave a sigh and did not fight it as he pulled her into a hug. The moment that she felt his arms completely envelope her, she relaxed into his embrace and began to cry.
Halliwell Manor
Front room
Piper and Leo walked back into the front room, arms laden with food and drinks, with a few floating behind Leo. Her sisters gave her a look which Piper pointedly ignored and turned her attention to the
two newcomers. "Neville, Professor McCreedy, please, make yourself at home."
Neville responded with a slight nod to his head, whereas Professor McCreedy nodded and replied. "Mrs. Halliwell, how many times have I told you to call me Dargus?"
Piper smiled and nodded, "Dargus." McCreedy smiled and then too sat down next to Neville. "So," She said, breaking the silence "What brings you two here?"
Neville looked to McCreedy, who nodded, and then turned back to Piper. "Well, ma'am, that memory that you saw came from the Professor here," Neville said, gesturing to McCreedy. "After your husband left the search with me to come back to you, I went back to Headquarters only to find that my presence was requested here alongside the Professor. Anyway, Ezekiel thought we might be able to be of some help, though I'm personally not sure how much more help we're going to be in finding Harry. He seems to have just dropped off the map.
"Any help, no matter how small, is still help, Neville. Remember that." Ezekiel admonished.
"Yes sir." Neville replied.
Ezekiel smiled, "However, the boy is not wrong. I do not know much, but what I do know is that your son is going through something and it is taking its toll on him."
"Well, yeah, he just lost the one person who probably meant the world to him. Anyone might have the same reaction. I know I might." Ron interrupted.
"Ronald!" Both Hermione and Mrs. Weasley chided.
"What," He asked, looking at them both. "It's true."
"Be that as it may, son," Ezekiel said, "Harry is in a unique position and is the subject of a prophecy and has many things battling within him, trying to force their way out and find a balance. The loss of Miss. Weasley has…unsettled him, down to his very being."
"Do you mean the prophecy that the Headmaster told him after our fifth year? The one made by…"
"Trelawney, Miss. Granger? Well, while there is that one, it is not specific to Harry as it could have meant two boys. While that is a true prophecy, it had too much stock put into by the Headmaster and Tom Riddle. No, the prophecy of which I speak is much older and has never seen the light of day. Outside of myself, there are only two more…excuse me, three who know of its contents. If the contents of this prophecy were to come out, at the wrong time, there would be no coming back from it."
"What do you mean?" Phoebe asked.
"There are fates of those that are tied to the prophecy and to know of things before their appointed time can be a dangerous thing. Things must play out how they are meant to play out, there is no escaping this. This has meant loss, but where there is loss, there is also life." Ezekiel was about to continue, but was stopped by none other than Molly Weasley.
"Ginny's alive." That's all she said and the response was immediate. People yelling over the other, asking how she knew this and what she was talking about. When nothing was forthcoming from her in the form of answers, Ezekiel snapped his fingers, which resulted in a loud 'gong' to fill everyone's ears. Once recovered, he gestured to Molly to speak.
"Sh…she's not dead. She can't be. It's all there in the memory."
"Please elaborate my dear." Ezekiel coaxed.
"What I mean is…I remember stories of how, back in the 'Old Times', a shield, a protective shield, would be cast over those who were moments from death, to stasis them until they could be taken to a healer. It preserves the flesh so that nothing worse happens. Nothing get's in, and nothing out. Ginny IS alive."
Ezekiel's eyes softened and looked her in the eye. "My dear, you only have it partially right. The shield that currently surrounds Miss. Weasley does indeed preserve, but that is all it does, until such a time that arrangements can be made. I am very sorry to tell you that your daughter is…I am very sorry for your loss."
"I don't know about all of this." Paige began, as she stood up and began pacing. "All this talk about prophecies and fate and meant to be's…I mean sure, I've met an Angel of Destiny, but come on; this is just too much. It's like were some poorly written fantasy novel or something." She came to a stop next to the piano bench and sat down, next to Dargus, who simply looked at her with a slight smile on his face. She did a double take at that, frowned momentarily and then looked out among the others, all of whom had weird look upon their faces. She looked over at Piper who too was smiling and then continued "What are you smiling at Missy, do you think I'm joking or something?"
Piper's smile widened. "You are one to talk, Missy Paige. Was it not you who conjured your 'fairy-tale' prince into our attic?" Paige's shoulders slumped. Dargus patted one of her knees while trying to hide a smirk. She was about to respond with a comeback, but was brought up short, when Leo went rigid, dropping his glass of tea. They all looked at him worriedly. Piper moved from where she was to better help him.
"Leo, are you alright, what's wrong?" He didn't say anything for a moment, but when he did, a single, airy, word escaped from him. "Harry." Leo then turned to face the one who had brought the memory for them to see.
"Ezekiel, did you?"
"I did, Leo. We know that he has been actively blocking any form of communication and locating spells, not to mention the sensing abilities of our best trackers and from all the Whitelighters. I think however, that there must be something calling out from within."
"You think Harry is subconsciously calling out to us for help?" Ron scoffed.
"It is possible, though I do not wish to rule anything out. There is much at play here and even I do not pretend to hold all the cards or know everything. There is quite a bit I know, quite a bit I see, but there are also things hidden from one such as myself." Ezekiel paused and then looked over to McCreedy, who nodded.
"Longbottom," McCreedy yelled out. "You will go with Leo here, locate and return with Mister Potter. If you do not, the consequences…you will not like."
"Dargus, must you…"
"Sir, Ezekiel, what's going on?" Leo asked.
"My, boy, there is little time for us to act and we must make haste. Go with Master Longbottom and find your son. You must talk to him. And as loath as I am to say it, he is our only hope."
Leo nodded and made to stand up, but was held back by his wife. He knew that look in her eye. "Don't worry, I'll bring him back." He kissed her on the head and went to stand next to Neville. "Do you want to lead, or shall I?"
"You go; you're the one with the Harry beacon. I'm just along for the ride. And be of any help that I can." He said this last bit looking directly at Ezekiel, who smiled widely. As a swirl of blue and white lights danced around the pair, Ron leaned over to Hermione to say something into her ear, but was however drowned out when Phoebe called out to Piper. "Don't worry, Piper. He'll bring Harry back."
Piper sighed. "He'd better."
~~~hpgw~~~
A deafening scream echoed around the stone walls of the desolate cave, piercing the silence that had fallen throughout it, waking the sole occupant from their fitful sleep. Harry's body shot upwards, eyes darting around quickly, the scream dying on his lips, though still filling the cave he was currently in with an unearthly sound. He sighed. This was beginning to become a chore. Falling into a deep sleep, only to be hounded by the life and death of the one he had loved and then lost. The dream changed constantly. At times she, Ginny, seemed to be trying to tell him something, but it was at the moment he knew he was about to learn what it was she wanted to tell him that the dream would end. And it always ended the same way. With her death and it was more than starting to get to him.
"Ginny." He called out to the empty cave. Just as he laid back down in attempt to calm himself, he felt a trigger in the magical barrier that he had erected to warn him if any came close to him go off. In an instant he was on his feet and was ready for anything that may come at him. Some may say that he was way too high-strung and that he needed to calm down, but he knew differently. He knew that it would be the moment that he let his guard down is when something would happen to him that he may not be able to fight off. For over the last three days he had been doing his best to make his way through the demonic ranks, thinning them out, in attempt to send a message. There was however something nagging at him from the back of his mind, telling that there was something off, not with the world around him, but with him. He had done his best to shake this thought from his head many times, but no matter how much he tried, that still small voice would come back, telling him that something was happening to him, something dark.
He shook his head once more in another attempt to rid himself of these thoughts, as they would not help him in the coming confrontation. He had just planted himself facing the direction where he knew they would be coming from. He had to hold in a curse when he saw the familiar blue and white lights start to appear then deposit two men in front of him. Harry cursed wildly internally. He thought he had lost them, and put a stop to any way that they could find or locate him. 'I'll just have to do more next time.' He sneered at the newcomers, "What are you doing here?" He asked, venom dripping from his voice.
"Harry," Leo started, but was held back from moving any further by a hand upon his arm. It was Neville's.
"Not to close, Leo, look at his eyes." And he did and what he saw within them sent an involuntary shudder down his spine. His son's eyes were moving between black and white with flecks of the familiar green that normally resided. Seeing the green caused something from within Leo, making him stand a little straighter and gave him…hope. Maybe, just maybe he could get through to him. Though, before he even got the chance to speak, Harry had already begun doing so.
"You want to take me back, to help me." Harry stated. "Well, that's not going to happen."
Leo couldn't help himself, "Harry, we are worried about you. Something is happening to you, can't you see it? You are turning, you are letting your grief take you over and turn you into…"
"Something more powerful, yes, perhaps that is what I am feeling, maybe I should let it happen. Surely it would allow me to do what I want. Everything happens for a reason, father, you should know that. After all, you and the others are always trying to force that down my throat. And you, you are the worst. You say you seek peace, but you're just the same as the "Others" you would just seek to make me weak."
"What are you talking about Harry, I and your mother would never seek to keep you weak. We want to see you flourish." This however was the wrong thing to say because as soon as he had said it, his son's eyes flashed dangerously.
"See me flourish? Are you kidding me? You chucked me through time and gave me up. You gave me up to those who actually died fighting for me and my life. James and Lily Potter did more for me than you ever could."
Leo took the blow, and while he knew his son was angry, very angry and hurt, and while what Harry had said affected him on some level, he didn't let it get to him too much because of what he had seen in Harry's eyes. Ezekiel had been right, somewhere, from deep within, something was calling out for help. And he would be damned if he would stand by and do nothing.
"Harry," Neville began, "You have got to come home with us." He paused when he saw his friend eyes flash, but he knew he needed to say this, he needed to help his friend. "I know what you are going through. It was some time ago, but I too went through what you are going through. I lost my parents, yes, they are still alive, but sometimes I think that they might be better off if they no longer had to be prisoners within their own minds. However that is not up to me, and for a long time, I was mad, beyond mad, I wanted to hurt, hurt those who had hurt me and it wasn't until my grandmother took me to see Ezekiel that I learned what was important and how best I could do good and protect those who had someone of their own to lose."
He stopped talking when he felt a hand fall upon his shoulder. Neville looked over and saw Leo looking at him. There was something in his eyes that gave him pause, but also hope. Neville gave a slight nod and turned back to face his friend and let Leo take over the talking.
"Harry, I and your mother, and your aunts love you to no end. We will always love you and want the very best for you. While it makes little difference now, we sent you to the past to give you your best shot, your best chance at a good and peaceful life. And if I had the choice to do it again, I would make the same one. For you, Harry, are my son; I was there when you were born and I will always do what is right by you. Now, you can run, but I want you to know this. Your mother, but most importantly, I, will always find you. There is nowhere you can run that you can hide from us or our love for you."
Internally, somewhere, harry had heard what his dad had said, but at the same time, the nameless thing inside of him was urging him to run. And how he so wanted to. Harry straightened. Sneering at two people in front of him he said, "Catch me if you can."
And in the next instant, the entire cave was filled with black and white flames, only this time, Leo noticed, that the color of the flames had changed yet again. This time, white was the more dominate of the two colors. He smiled, it seemed, that on some level, his son had heard them.
"Well that didn't go so well."
Leo smiled slightly and turned to Neville, "Don't worry Neville, he will be back."
Confused, Neville asked, "What make you say that?"
"Faith Neville, I have faith." Leo said, smiling a little wider now, placing a hand on the Youngman's shoulder and effortlessly melted them into the shadows.
~~~hpgw~~~
Harry stepped out of the raging flames that had deposited him back at the cave that he had initially left from while trying to lead his father and Neville away from him. Moments after he stepped from the now vanishing flames, he raised his hands and started to wave them about the cave, all the while chanting. He was midway through when he stopped chanting and spun abruptly, a flash of lightning leaving his now outstretched hand.
Leo made a slight gesture with his own hand and sent the bolt of lightning off into the left wall. He smiled. "I told you Harry, I will always find you."
Harry lowered his hand and sneered. "It doesn't count as 'finding' if you don't even bother to go and look."
"In a way, you are right, but I know you son and I knew that you would return here."
"And how is that?"
"Well for starters, you left all of your stuff behind."
"I could have easily conjured something new to use. It is only stuff after all."
"That may be, Harry, but at the moment, you need desperately to have something familiar and as sad as it is, this cave is that to you."
Again, Harry sneered, though this time not as hard as before. At seeing the opening, Leo continued. "I sent Neville back to the Manor to be with your mom and everyone else. Ron and Hermione are there too. As are Ginny's parents."
"Don't you dare, speak her name."
"Why not, do you think you're the only person to have lost something?" Harry blanched. "Well let me tell you something son, you are not. They lost their daughter, they're only daughter. Your friend, Ron, lost his only sister and you are acting as though the world has slighted you in some way; punishing you. You are not the only one with feelings, Harry, you need to see that. You need to see that it is not the world hurting those who you love, this time. It is you. You running off, to do who knows what, that is hurting the ones who you call and who call you family. By your actions, you are causing them even more sorrow. You are denying your friend, the one person he has been able to confide in outside of his family. You are hurting that friend's mother, who sees you as another son. If there is one thing your mother and are grateful for in sending you to the past to be safe from the harm that would otherwise befall you here, is that you had a parental figure, someone who, through fate, became invested in your life. If something were to happen to you out here Harry, that woman who calls you son, would then have another child to grieve for. Tell me, how can that sit well with you. How would you be able to live with yourself?"
Leo stopped there to catch his breath. He hadn't intended to say all of that, just hit upon the more important points of what he wanted to convey. And as long-winded as he had just been, he felt from somewhere inside him, all that he had said, needed saying. He needed to get through to his son. He sighed and looked to the young man before him and couldn't help but wonder what was going through his son's mind.
Whereas Leo felt a little better after his little tirade, Harry was a different matter entirely. On the inside he was seething. 'How dare he say that to me; how dare he even go there.' On the outside, His magic was rolling off of him in waves, beginning to swirl around him as it had done when he was face to face with the Headmaster. In short, he was pissed, and as he went to respond, by both releasing his magic and his venom laced words, the mere thought of doing so was ripped from his mind, along with all other conscious thought. For his eyes were drawn to the thing that had just appeared to the right of his father, Ginny.
He knew she wasn't really there, as he could see right through her, but that didn't stop the unexplainable rush of peace he felt when he looked upon her. When asked later, Harry would describe feeling as though free from whatever it was that had been driving these past three days. He was completely at peace. But he should have known better, for as soon as the image of Ginny in front of him smiled, she vanished, taking with her the only moment of peace he had had since she had died. Seeing her vanish, seeing her die again, released all of what he had been repressing over the last three days and it forced him to his knees. "Ginny." He began to sob, over and over. He wouldn't remember when it happened, only that it did happen. Warmth enveloped him and began to rock him, back and forth, muttering quietly that 'it's going to be alright', you are going to be alright. He relished in the warmth, the safety of whatever it was that was holding him, knowing that at this moment, nothing could touch him. In the end, blackness overtook him and sleep welcomed him to its warm embrace.
~~~hpgw~~~
He had just looked into his Harry's eyes after saying what he did and had seen that Harry was going to respond, but he also saw that something had stayed his tongue. Quickly, Leo looked around and saw nothing, but when he turned back, he saw his son falling to the ground. The moment Harry began to fall to the ground, Leo ran to him and grabbed a hold of him and pulled him close. Leo's arms shook as he felt his son's body being racked by sobs. Through the crying, Leo could make out only a word, Ginny. This only served to strengthen the hold he had on his son, he pulled Harry closer to him and began to whisper himself. He began to tell his son that "It's going to be alright, you are going to be alright." He continued to utter these words, even as he felt Harry's crying lessen and all too soon he had a slumbering child, his child, in his arms.
Leo smiled slightly when he looked down upon his son. For what he was sure was the first time in three days, his son looked to be at peace. Gently, he took one hand and placed it on Harry's forehead and began to speak softly. From where his hand rested, a soft glow began to emerge and spread, until it encompassed his son's entire head. As quickly as it had came, the soft, golden glow left, leaving only Leo's hand upon his son's head. With a contented sigh, Leo took his arm and placed it once again around his son, drawing him closer, until Harry's head came to rest upon his chest. When he was sure that Harry wouldn't wake, he gathered him up in his arms and stood.
"It's time to go home, son." He said softly to the silent form in his arms as blue and white lights engulfed both father and son, taking them both back to their home, back to their family.
~~~hpgw~~~
His mind awoke before any other part of him did. It also took him a bit of time before he was even able to form a coherent thought, but form it he did. 'Ginny'. It was only a word, but that word brought everything back to him. He was alert. He was awake. And after looking around the room he was in and finding it a sight for sore eyes, the last thought he had before he slipped back into the black abyss was one that brought him some peace and saw him smile slightly. He was home.
~~~hpgw~~~~
Piper was milling about the kitchen, doing this and mixing that, all the while Molly Weasley was doing the same thing. They moved around each other as if performing some intricate dance that only they knew the moves to. If one of them called for something, the other tossed it to them and they caught it with a practiced ease and then went right back to what they had been doing before. Currently, the kitchen table was laden with all sorts of food of both American and British design, and as the time went by less space could be found on it and thusly food had begun to pile upon the counters.
It was to this site that Harry found the two women in when he made his way into the kitchen. All movement ceased when the swinging door clicked as it swung back outwards towards the dining room, catching the said women's attention. "Harry." Both women said with a warm smile. He returned the greeting with a quiet "Oh, um...I was just going to get some water." Before he turned and tried to walk back out.
He had just swung open the door again when a voice called out to him. "You don't have to leave Harry, if you would like some water, then you are more than welcome to it."
"I don't want to be a bother. I'll just get the water from the bathroom."
Both women watched, both sad, as he walked back out of the kitchen. "What am I going to do with him, Molly?"
"What do you mean?" The Weasley matriarch asked.
Piper sighed, "Ever since he came back, he's been different. At first, it looked as though he had a spark back in his eye. He said something about research and then went up to the attic and barred any of us from getting in. He was up there for hours. We finally had to call Dobby to see if he could get through and it was then we learn that the little elf had already been checking on him and had been providing him with meals."
"That elf really does think that Harry hangs the moon, doesn't he."
Piper smiled slightly, and then continued. "He finally came out of the attic a day later, shoulders slumped and aura shattered. He wouldn't tell us what he was doing in there, only that he was finished and going to bed. Oh Molly, I wish you could have seen him. He looked so defeated, that light that was in his eyes, gone."
"I know what you mean. I see that look sometimes in the mirror. Arthur notices it too sometimes and goes about trying to remind me what else I have in the world to be thankful for. Harry has that same look. I only wish I knew something that would help him." Piper pulled her friend not a hug and after a moment, released her. "Did you ever find out what he was up too, in the attic?" Molly asked as she wiped away a few tears.
"We did. When we went in there it seems he forgot to put away a few things. But once we saw the few items that still remained out, we figured out what it was he was trying to do. He was trying to summon Ginny." Molly gasped.
"The thing is though that we, Leo and I, don't think he was successful."
"What, why ever not?"
"We summoned someone ourselves and asked them."
"Who?" Molly asked with bated breath.
"We barely got through the spell before Sirius appeared, white lights and all. He said that Harry had been trying to call for Ginny, but as when I tried to call forth my sister Prue a few years ago, he told Harry that he wasn't ready to see her yet, that it was still too fresh and that seeing her would keep her alive for him and prevent him from fulfilling his destiny."
"Defeating the Dark Lord." Molly said breathlessly.
Piper nodded. "He's been moping around here ever since and nothing we do seems to bring him out of it."
Both women lapsed into silence, both with a mug of tea in their hands that Molly had been preparing while Piper had been telling her what had been happening with Harry. Molly couldn't help but think of everything he had been through in the four years she had known him. She was thankful every day that Ron and he had become fast friends and then widened that group to allow for a voice of reason. "That's it!" Molly exclaimed, jarring Piper from her thoughts.
"What is it?"
"I just figured out how to help Harry get out of the funk he's in."
"How?" Piper asked enthusiastically.
"Not how," Molly said, "but who!"
~~~hpgw~~~
"Harry..." Hermione called as she opened her friend's bedroom door. She had been asked to come over and see if she would have more luck where others had failed at rousing her friend from his stupor. When Leo had robed over to the Burrow and asked for her help to try and reach Harry, she was up and at his side quicker than Leo could blink.
"Harry, are you in here?"
The only reply that came was that in the form of a grunt that sounded from the darkest corner of his room. Coincidently the space in which Harry was perched currently was right in front of a window, though how the moonlight didn't come through and give more light to the room was a mystery to her, one she would ask about later. When she came to sit next to him on the window bench, she watched as his face turned to her and the tear streaks she saw upon his face made her want to forget why she was here and give him a hug to rival that of Mrs. Weasley's. His sore voice shook her back to reality and reminded her why it was she was here.
"What do you want Hermione?"
"Oh Harry, everyone's so worried about you. I've been worried, as has Ron. We all just want to help you." When all she received in reply was a grunt, she continued.
"Look, Harry, I know it's hard, but you will come through this. I know it doesn't seem like it now, but trust me, you will get through this. Ginny would..."
"Don't." Harry said dully, as he looked back at his friend with his tear stained eyes. "Just don't. I'm fine."
"Harry,"
"Really Hermione, you didn't get the hint, because it wasn't subtle."
"Look Harry, I didn't come to find you just to talk about Ginny," His head turned once again to face that of his friend's. He stared solemnly at her, though she thought she saw a hint of surprise somewhere behind his hurting gaze. "Harry, the Headmaster isn't doing so well. Madame Pomfrey says there is nothing left for her to do, but wait and see. It is all she can do to keep him comfortable."
To be fair, she wasn't expecting this to get a rise out of her friend or to pull him from his depression. She had witnessed first, well, second, hand just how much loathing and disdain he held for the man. So she wasn't surprised when he simply muttered. "That's good."
"Harry,"
"What, is that a horrible thing to say? I don't care Hermione. Ginny is gone and the Headmaster is dying, something which has been a long time coming. He has meddled in my life for far too long to elicit any sort of response even remotely close to sympathy or anything else for that matter."
Hermione turned away from her friend to wipe the few tears she had begun to fall. In her six years of being his friend, it hurt her to see him so unwilling to help someone. It hurt her to see one of her best friends fall into hole he had found himself in. After composing herself she turned back to face him, but found she couldn't, not without the tears beginning to fall. So she directed her gaze to her lap and after a few moments of silence she began to speak.
"I lost someone, my very first and truest friend, quite some time ago." She paused. She could feel his gaze on her. Yet she still couldn't meet his eyes. She continued.
"She was the best friend I had, until I met you and Ron, and even after that…I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. It had been like that ever since...ever since she died. She was hit by a car, you see. I was over at her house and her parents were inside preparing lunch and told us to go play outside until they called for us. I wish now that we had gone to the backyard, but as the kitchen was at the front of the house and that is where her parents told us to play..." Still feeling his gaze, she brought hers up to meet his.
"We were playing toss when it happened. The ball, she tried to catch it, but she missed by an inch and it rolled just to the edge of the property line. It hadn't quite gone in the street, but it didn't matter. She had reached down to pick it up when it happened. We both never saw the car, or at least I don't remember seeing it. All I remember is the screeching of tires and a scream." She stopped again to turn and wipe her eyes. She didn't know if she could continue, but she did, only after she felt a pair of hands come to rest on hers. She looked at her friend. He too had tears in his eyes.
"My parents didn't know what to do with me. They took me to the funeral; I had to be escorted out as I couldn't...let's just say that was not a good thing that I had gone. They tried so much to reach me in the hole I had thrown myself into. Nothing they did worked. It wasn't until one day that my grandmother was watching me, that she decided to throw caution to the wind and instead of listening to my parents when they told her to just leave me be, she picked me up and set me in her lap and pulled the book that was on her side table and began to read. I remember that...well, I'm honestly not really sure what happened, but I was drawn out of where I had put myself and have loved reading ever since. My grandmother read to me from then on out until I was old enough to read myself and then it was me reading to her. It was how she passed away, with me reading to her."
"Hermione,"
"It was sad, but I know that is how she would have wanted to go. She was my grandmother and I was her little librarian." At Harry's slight smile she said "oh give me a break, I was ten. It wasn't until I started Hogwarts that I thought there might be something there...to help me forget, forget the pain of having lost my best friend and then not six years later to turn around and lose the only other person who meant so much to me...but somewhere along the line, pretty much right after you, Ron and I became friends that I thought things might work out and maybe the worst was behind me. What I hadn't expected was to have to deal with you and what happens around you for the coming years. I don't regret being your friend; I just had to learn to have faith. I knew deep down that there was a reason for us becoming friends. The turning point was watching year after year as you came through every trial, every test, it made me want to try, and it gave me an even greater hope. I went to Madame Pomfrey and she referred me to a mind healer at St. Mungo's who specialized in dealing with traumatic events like I had."
At Harry's sympathetic look she quickly finished.
"Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I've lost people too and ever since that first day that first time I lost my first and what I thought would be my only friend, other things rose up and helped to fill the void. It wasn't until later that they did, but those things or rather people did. But there were times, as I said, that amidst the joy and love I would just wait for that other shoe to drop. First it was my friend, Laura. Then my grandmother and it wasn't until Hogwarts that I found friends again and ever since, I am sad to say, that there has been this fear that something is going to happen to break that friendship and leave me all alone again. And while I am older now and..."
"Most definitely wiser than Ron or I..."
"Anyway...what I am really trying to say is that it's okay to be 'not fine'. Things happen, events happen like the ones we've both been through and that, over time, the pain, it will come in waves...there will be a lull and then another wave hits you. But if you let us, let the people who love you, help, you will come through this. Ginny would want you to live, don't think on how she died, but on she lived."
Harry turned his gaze from his friend as tears began to well up. "I miss her. All the time I miss her. It's not waves, it's constant. And I walk through this house and I want to be here, to be with my family, to be who I need to be, to protect the ones...the ones left who I love, who need me and the protection I can offer, but I...I don't know...I don't know if I can be the one these people need and I can't talk about it for if I do...it just makes the pain that much worse knowing that I will never hold her in my arms again or see the way she smiles at me when she sees me doing something the muggle way. So I know what you're trying to say and thanks for trying. It means a lot. And I know that it's okay to be 'not fine'. I'm just not sure I will ever be fine again."
Hermione waited all of two seconds before she pulled her friend into one of the biggest hugs she could muster. "Harry Halliwell, you are one of my best friends and my brother in all but blood. Nothing is ever going to change how much I love you. And your family is here for you too. They want what's best for you. That is why they called me to come over."
"To knock some sense into me!"
"If needed, yes. You have got another thing coming if you think I am going to just let you sit by and wallow in self-whatever, while our exams are looming, not to mention the N.E.W.T.S we will sit in a year. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, ma'am." Harry said, giving a mock salute. It didn't have a lot of playful energy to it, but it was a start. Hermione smiled.
"Really though Harry," Hermione said as she stood and offered her hand. "One of these days you will find what you need to get you through this. And until that day comes, you can bet Ron and I will be there for you."
"I know Hermione." He said as he too stood, taking the offered hand. He then stepped up and linked her arm through his and led her to the door. He had just opened it and stepped through when he turned to face her. "And thanks, you know, for coming to talk to me. I know on some level it helped. I don't on which, but I know that it just did."
Hermione smiled at him and just as she was about to respond, her stomach gave a loud gurgle. Harry smiled the first true smile since before Ginny died and said, "Come along Ron, let's find you some food."
Hermione responded with only a smile of her own. She knew it would take time, but she was sure that she had just seen the first signs of her friend taking his first steps out of the hole he had found himself in. And she couldn't be happier.
A/N: Well that's it for chapter 62. I do hope you liked it. It may not be terribly long, but I ended up having to split, what was originally chapter 62, into two parts because it was becoming way too long. Well that and this was the perfect place to stop before we march headlong into what will be the end of this story. No, the next chapter is not the end, but it is, from what my outline and story content tell me, two chapters ahead of what will be the end. So in short, there will be three more posts and then this story will be complete. As I said above, I had to split the original chapter 62 and thus have well over half of it written. In fact, there is about a lack of 2k to 3k words left and chapter 63 will be done. Also to note is that I also have started what will be chapter 64. I am about 3,5k words in on that chapter...so fear not...things are well in hand and on their way.
See you lot very soon. Very soon, indeed!
Mudbloodpotter.