The next day, Remus was, once again, gone by the time Harry woke up, and did not come back before he went to bed. The same thing happened the day after, and the day after, and the day after…
Harry was starting to get the feeling that Remus was intentionally avoiding him.
"Where is Remus, Mrs. Weasley?" Harry asked her at breakfast one day.
She gave him what Harry could only perceive as a pity look, and said softly: "I'm sorry, dear, but he already left."
Harry looked down at his plate, and poked around with his fork in the scrambled eggs. He felt the eyes of everyone at the table on him. "It's alright."
"The mail is here!" Hermione jumped, like she does every morning. Today, the owls carried with them the letters from the school.
"Okay, we're going to Diagon Alley then." Mrs. Weasley picked up one of the letters on the kitchen table.
And so, they did. A few days later, they all traveled through the Floo, to Harry's dismay, to the Alley.
Diagon Alley was way darker and sadder than Harry remembers it to be. Many shops were closed, and the ones that were open were very empty.
"Ollivander's is closed." Harry noted.
"Yeah, they kidnapped him too." Draco said, staring at Ollivander's sign.
"Is he…" Harry started asking, but couldn't finish his question.
"As bad as me? No." Draco finished his question for him, and answered. "He's not in good shape, but they didn't kidnap him to punish him."
"Then why did they kidnap him?" Harry asked.
"The Dark Lord has some wand related questions, I guess." Draco simply said, and moved on to the next shop.
They went to Madam Malkin's to get new robes. They all needed new robes. Draco also got new quidditch uniforms.
"You look good in your uniform." Harry said when Draco tried them on. Draco just blushed and mumbled thanks.
They also went to Flourish and Blotts to get new textbooks.
"Do you need a Potions textbook?" Draco asked Harry as he grabbed one for himself.
"No," Harry grabbed it from Draco, checked it out, and returned it to the shelf. "I didn't score high enough on the O.W.L."
Afterwards, they went to check out the twin's new shop. Draco decided to not tag along.
"But, you love pranks." Harry said, making puppy eyes at him.
"I have some more supplies that I need to buy." Draco said, and then added, when Harry raised his eyebrows: "for my elective classes. I won't be long."
And so, they made their way to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes without Draco.
"Hermione!" A voice came from behind them, right as they entered the store. Harry turned around to find Anthony Goldstein, Hermione's newest pen-pal.
"Anthony!" She exclaimed and ran towards him.
So, Harry and Ron found themselves wandering around the store alone. Just the two of them.
"What's their deal?" Ron asked at some point. Harry really didn't wanna be put in this position.
"I don't know." He said, managing to hide his annoyance. "If you wanna know, you should probably ask Hermione."
"Forget I asked."
Harry did.
They were later joined by Draco, who had bought the supplies he went to get. Draco proved to be a profitable customer for the twins as well.
Later that night, they made it back to the Burrow. As everyone got ready to sleep, Harry stayed up.
"Are you coming to bed?" Draco asked.
"Not yet. Don't wait for me."
Draco walked up to him, kissed him on his cheek and went to bed.
Harry waited. He watched as the fire burned the woods to ashes, until the wood was gone. Harry fed it some Daily Prophets. The issue he threw in happened to be the one with him on the cover under the title in big bold letters: "The Chosen One?".
He watched as his picture burned. The picture that was taken right after Sirius died; right before Dumbledore took him to his office where he would tell him about the prophecy.
The sound of the door creaking snapped him out of his deep thought. He looked up.
"Hey," the person he was waiting for.