Chapter 11 - A walk in the wood

They made amend the next day for the disappointment. Ginny suggested a countryside walk. They chose an isolated wood in the north of the country and decided to take Francis with them to please James.

They picked him up to his place, a modern spacious house in a small country town not far from London. His parents were all what Harry guessed them to be and no doubt was left on how the news of him being at the Burrow had leaked.

They made enough bustle, when opened their door, to make sure the whole neighbourhood was very aware of his presence. His name was repeated at least a dozen times one louder than the next and by the peers from the neighbour's windows and who decided to take the dog for a small walk at that precise moment, he knew exactly how many wizards lived in the borough. Harry had to restrain himself a good deal to maintain composure, but it was even worse for Francis who turned a deep shade of magenta by shame. That made Harry drop his annoyance immediately to feel for him. It was such a Dursleyish behaviour that was impossible for him not to sympathise.

They had been obliged to stop for a tea and many impertinent questions were asked, but finally, after half an hour of martyr they were allowed to leave with the boy.

Harry wondered why people couldn't just behave normally around him.

The walk in the wood turned out to be a brilliant idea; the sun filtered through the branches and a gentle breeze blew on them. Nobody was around and Harry could relax. The green always had the power to channel his mind in a positive track and felt relieved to have had the chance to escape from his prison. He walked hand in hand with Ginny on a small path for sometimes enjoying the summer greenery and to allow her to rest, after a while, they made a picnic under a tree. While the boys where about playing and chatting, Harry lay down on the blanket close to Ginny and caressed her belly tenderly. Straight away the baby made his presence known and Harry felt a sense of serenity and happiness. It was wonderful to feel this kind of emotions. There had been scarcely a moment since Christmas where his mind hadn't been in turmoil. He had known very few moments of peace.

He kissed Ginny overwhelmed by these good feelings 'Thank you, Ginny'

She turned to him 'What for?'

'For everything. To be perfect, to love me, for the baby…'

She smiled 'You are sweet. I'm far from being perfect though. I've got plenty of faults'

'I don't see any'

'Well, I'm snappish, I'm bossy and quite blunt sometimes'

'Those are not faults. Those are traits that make you what you are. Perfect' he pointed out removing a small leaf that had been caught in her hair.

She caressed him 'Thank you'

'You don't have to thank me. I would just like to be the same for you'

'Harry, you make me feel good, you make me happy. Why do you always talk as if you are not doing enough?'

As he was about to answer Albus ran toward them to show a black feather he had found on the ground.

Harry made him sit close to him, took his hand and rested it on Ginny's tummy, the baby inside was still moving and kicking.

Albus chuckled 'This is creepy!' he said retracting his hand.

Harry and Ginny laughed too 'it's not creepy, it's our Fred moving!'

'Do you want to call him Fred? Like uncle?'

Harry nodded. The kids never met Fred but at the Burrow there were plenty of pictures and they knew that George had a twin who had died in the Hogwarts battle. And anyway, a bit because of the joke shop and a bit because of their reputation as troublemakers, tales of them were still circulating at school.

'What if it's a girl?' he asked.

'We didn't think about it yet' Harry answered uneasy.

'I like Rose'

Harry sniggered 'We can hardly give her the same name as your cousin. Can you imagine the confusion?'

While this conversation was going on James and Francis approached to nibble something.

'What are you talking about?' James asked seeing their merriment.

'About the baby. We were talking about names. We decided for Fred if it's a boy, but we didn't find one if it should be a girl' Ginny answered.

Harry spotted James opening his mouth as if to suggest one, but he stopped himself suddenly, probably remembering he was in denial. But he had given it some thought apparently.

Interesting.

'I'd like to have a sibling' Francis said taking a sandwich.

'Are you an only son?' Harry asked.

Francis nodded 'and it's a bore'

'I would have liked to have a sibling too' Harry admitted 'I just had Dudley and it would have been best not to have him'

'Who's Dudley?' James asked.

'My cousin, it was my uncle and aunt's son. But he was a bully. I hated him'

'Did he bully you?' Francis asked astonished and Harry chuckled, amused by Francis's surprise in discovering that famous Harry Potter was bullied when young.

'Yes, he bullied me. But then, when we were fifteen, I saved him from dementors, and he stopped. It came out that he was grateful years later'

He thought about his cousin. He didn't feel a grudge against him like for his relatives. Their last parting made Harry forgive all those years of mistreatment. Nevertheless, he never looked for him afterward and vice versa. It would have only been awkward. They had nothing in common that could make an encounter worthwhile. Only some diluted blood, always shunned and disowned by the whole family.

'What dementors?' Francis asked and Harry knew he hoped to be told about the hundreds of dementors the fifth-year guy had recounted him. He had to disappoint him.

'One summer we had been attacked by two dementors'

However, because dementors are always dementors, being one or one hundred the kids' expression was raptured anyway.

'Did you chase them away?' Francis asked chewing his sandwich admiration and eagerness gushing out profusely.

'Yeah, I risked being expelled for it, I wasn't allowed to do magic outside school. And, in the end, it came out that one of the teachers had ordered them to attack me to have me out of Hogwarts. It didn't work thankfully'

'A teacher sent them?' James asked surprised forgetting his frown. It was probably the longest conversation ever had with him about his youth.

'Yes, it was a teacher who worked for the ministry'

Harry started to feel uneasy remembering about Umbridge. Many dark thoughts accompanied the memory of that year. It was the year where Sirius died because of his gullibility, the year where Voldemort had entered his mind. 'She was a bit hard on me, she banned me from playing quidditch and… she gave me some tough punishments' he thought about the pen incising his skin, but that was a bit too ghastly to be told during a picnic under the sun.

His expression darkened and he could see Ginny observing him attentively. The boys looked keen and eager to prolong this conversation as long as possible.

James had, by then, completely forgot to be an adolescent incensed against his own father and had got closer to him 'Why did she do that?'

'Because I was trying to tell people about Voldemort's resurrection, and she didn't want to. I was disrupting order under her point of view.'

They all gasped and shuddered in hearing him pronouncing the Dark Lord's name. Francis was in a fit of deep admiration, his eyes sparkling.

'I read the interview' he exclaimed.

'Yeah…' Harry recollected the loneliness felt that year, people believing him mad and treating him consequently, Umbridge torturing him, and Voldemort always present like a shadow.

Gloom downed on him. He rubbed absentminded the scar Umbridge left on his hand like if doing it everything that still tormented him could be cancelled. But neither the scar nor his torments could be erased away so easily.

Ginny still observing him could see what the kids couldn't. She knew how those talks influenced his mind.

'Ok, I think we should get moving a bit, what do you think?' she said smiling taking Harry's scarred hand.

He nodded grateful. The kids looked disappointed, but he was relived, it had costed him this confidence. He was glad to have been able to tell them of it, he could see how well James responded but at the same time it was painful to revive all those memories especially in a moment when he finally felt good after such a long time.

They started to walk again between the tall trees, warmed by the rays of sun and Ginny didn't relinquish his hand for a long time.