Disclaimer: All character and the world in this story belongs to JK Rowling. I own nothing.

A/N: This chapter is the conclusion of 'Book One'. I hope you agree with the 'break-up' as it would give me more opportunity to build up their relationship while keeping aside the romantic aspects of it, they won't be together for the most part of summer anyway. Many of the OCs would be put to rest but a couple of them would be reappearing sometime in the sixth and seventh year, there might be a few mentions along the way. In one review, someone pointed out that Harry forgave Molly without her apologizing. I forgot to mention it, that Fred and George wrote to their mother and explained the situation and Molly subsequently accepted that she might have gone a bit overboard. I completely missed to write that part. Sorry for the short chapter.

Any suggestions are welcome. Please Review.

Chapter Eighteen: London Bound

Hermione was on her way back to common room, she had left Harry behind as he needed some time on his own to figure out a few things. She crossed paths with someone she did not want to be in the same room with, her steps halted when she noticed him. Victor Krum was waiting for her in the corridor leading to the painting of the fat lady. He was scanning the corridor when his eyes fell on her, a small smile came to his usually emotionless face. His body language showed his hesitation, his eyes had the look that said he was sorry.

She wanted to walk around him, to avoid any awkward conversation but she realized that he was there to talk to her. She took a took a deep breath and walked ahead but before she could say anything, Krum raised his hand to stop her and handed an envelope. Without any words, he walked away, leaving Hermione with a lot of questions and an unopened envelope. She had half a mind to throw it away and walk ahead but the part of her brain that wanted answers overpowered the other part.

She entered in the common room but skipped spending her time there and went straight to her dormitory to go through the letter she just now received. 'Merlin, I hate to have questions', she was musing. She methodically opened the envelope with a knife and extracted the letter within, the letter wasn't long and she preferred it that way.

Hermione

I must first apologise if I had been the source of any trouble, it was not my intention. Secondly, I must clarify that I did not want to come between you and Potter, I most certainly was interested in you but there was no ulterior motive to it, my interest in you was genuine since the beginning.

I know you are with Potter but I just want to ask you if we can be friends? Would it be alright if I write to you, would you be willing to reply?

Waiting for your answer,

Viktor

She was now a bit confused, Krum's behaviour during Yule Ball and after the second task did not resemble the words he had written. But Hermione had spoken with him before Harry and she became a couple and he seemed a genuinely good guy. She decided that there was no point in starting correspondence with him now and hence she would decline his offer. She wrote a short reply and exited Gryffindor tower to send the reply, Mercury was in the Owlery so she had to go till there as it would not look good to personally handover the letter to Krum.

On her way, back from the Owlery, she noticed that Harry was standing near the Abraxan paddock but he wasn't alone, Fleur Delacour was standing with him. Hermione stood there, watching Harry spending a few light moments, he was patting a Abraxan and Fleur was showing him how to. Hermione would have given anything to be with him, to see him smile but she knew now was not the time, he needed some time on his own. As she was about to turn and leave, she saw that Fleur gave him a hug which lasted a second longer than it should have before she kissed him on both cheeks and walked back to the French carriage. Hermione felt a tinge of jealousy but she had to push those thoughts away. She knew Harry enough to know that he won't just break with her and get together with Fleur, 'what a stupid thought indeed'.

Harry just stood there, watching the flying horses. He had spoken to Fleur, he wanted to know if she was alright, he still had the image of fallen Fleur in his mind. They had spoken about a few mundane things and Harry was grateful for that. Fleur told him that it was Veela magic that helps them understand and gauge human emotions better than others. She showed him how to call an Abraxan and how to pat him the way they preferred. It was calming really.

As she left, Harry kept thinking about his friends. He did not have many friends before Hogwarts, the exact number of friends was zero actually, but things changed since he arrived here. He had made friends, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Fred-George, Dean, Seamus, his quidditch team members, Ginny (even though she was unable to speak in front of him). The numbers dipped for a while and at one time Harry thought that he was back to zero but then Hermione was there and Neville and then he regained his friends one by one. He made a few new ones too, Susan, Hannah, Fleur, Cedric.

Cedric.

He was dead and Voldemort was back. Because of him, he was the reason and now his friends were in danger. It was his fault and the guilt he was feeling was justified, according to him at least. Hermione would have surely scolded him for these thoughts but he was unable to get it out of his mind. The flash of green light and the lifeless eyes of Cedric would never leave him alone now. It was as clear as day and every time he closed his eyes, that scene, that particular moment flashed through his memory.

A war was coming, he was sure of that, Dumbledore had himself told him that. He needed to be strong, he did not want the same fate for his friends that had befallen on Cedric. He needed to be strong, to be prepared, he needed to become powerful to save those he loved. Even the thought of losing any one of them was beyond painful.

-0X0-0X0-0X0-

At the conclusion of the dinner, everyone rose and walked out to the main courtyard of the castle. The tournament was over and now it was time to say goodbye to the guest. Hogwarts student body gave a guard of honour to the guests as they walked towards their transports. The air was heavy with the events of the last night and there was no cheerfulness about it. Friends from different schools were hugging each other, extracting promises to stay in touch, to meet during the summer, to exchange letters. There were a few smile but many tears, it felt like the end of an era, the era of peace. Dumbledore met every head of institute before a professor led them and their contingent towards their transport. The whole exercise did not last even quarter of an hour and then the castle was silent.

The heavy silence that engulfed the castle was broken when Dumbledore asked the students to return to the great hall. Students settled before teachers entered, many of them did not go to their house-tables and sat with their friends from other houses. Susan and Hannah were sitting beside Hermione and Neville respectively, Ginny was sitting at the Ravenclaw table.

Harry looked around himself, all his friends were here. His quidditch team and Lee Jordan were sitting a few seats away on his right while Dean and Seamus were sitting on the opposite side. Ron was sitting across him, Neville and Hannah next to Ron. Hermione occupied the seat on Harry's right hand side, Susan was next to her. He wanted to memorise their faces, he won't be seeing those faces for the next few weeks. It won't be easy and if fate played anymore cruel games, the summer would turn to hell very quickly.

His musings were halted as Dumbledore walked in and stood behind his podium, a wave of his hand and goblets of chocolate-y beverage appeared in front of the students.

"Our journey this year is reaching its end. Most of us would return next year, some of us will embark on their future adventures of life. But the bond we share, as one big family, the bond of mutual respect, affection and acceptance with all our quirks, differences and bitter-sweetness, that bond will remain intact. Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you."

He raised his own goblet, "To Hogwarts!"

"To Hogwarts!"

They all drank to it, emotions were running high and nobody wanted to ruin the harmonious atmosphere, except a few Slytherins that is. Hermione wanted to hold Harry's hand, to comfort him, to try to reduce his pain. But she was unsure if she was allowed to do that after their breakup. As their goblets emptied, students started to leave the great hall in small groups. The train was to leave next morning and people had very less time to pack.

Harry did not leave immediately, he wasn't exited to return 'home'. His home was here, the words Dumbledore had spoken couldn't have been truer for anyone else sitting in the great hall than Harry. He had received respect as a human being, he was accepted as a person, he was recipient of the affection of many people; all this happened here, at Hogwarts. He was going away from his family, from his home for more than a month. Merlin, he wasn't looking forwards to it.

Neville and Hannah left first, everyone understood their need to say goodbye in private before they were to ride the Hogwarts Express. Ron was next to leave, he had packing to do and a few matches of chess to win against Seamus. Hermione did not want to leave Harry, she had no worries about packing, right now Harry was her priority. 'When wasn't he?', she mused. But she understood that she was not the best person to talk to him at present, he needed to talk to an outsider, someone who wasn't involved much with him, who did not know what had happened last night. The logical response was Susan and when has ever Hermione Granger refused a logical decision.

She turned towards Susan who was looking at her. An unspoken understanding passed between them and when Susan nodded, Hermione rose from her seat, bid Harry goodnight and left the great hall. By the time Hermione exited, the great hall had emptied significantly. Susan waited for Harry to acknowledge her presence and break the silence, she was not going to do it.

"You should go and pack, Susan. Aren't you going home?" Harry asked a minute later, his eyes still fixed on the empty goblet in his hand.

"Aren't you?" Susan asked and a moment later she realized that that was the wrong thing to say because the only response she received was a sarcastic chuckle from Harry. She did not wait any longer and rose from her seat.

"Let's go for a walk!" she said while offering a hand to him.

Harry hesitated for a moment before taking the offered hand which he dropped once he stood up. They strolled around the castle for a few minutes in a comfortable silence that could have lasted for years and nobody would have opposed.

"What's on your mind Harry?" She probed but not too forcefully.

"Too many things." That was the only answer he gave. Harry wasn't even looking at her, his gaze was fixed ahead, his eyes focussed on something in distance.

"Want to share any?" She asked, slightly turning towards him. She bumped her shoulder with him but he did not respond.

"Don't want to bore you." He answered flatly before stuffing his hands in his pocket.

"Try me!" She replied and took hold of his left arm with both of her hands.

"May be some other time." He answered, his head turning away from her, he was looking at the sky. They were in a deserted corridor which hadn't seen many students for some time, the thick layer of dust was evidence enough.

"I would write to you this summer." They halted and Susan stepped in front of Harry to face him.

"Uh huh."

"You are behaving very rudely, Mr. Potter." Susan said, her voice rising just a bit.

"I'm sorry." Harry answered and leaned on the wall next to him. "I would try to reply."

"What's wrong, Harry?" When he didn't answer, she continued. "Is everything alright with you and Hermione?"

Harry started to walk and Susan had to walk faster than she was accustomed to maintain pace with him. "We broke up."

"Oh."

In any other situation, she would have rejoiced the fact that he had broken up with Hermione and she was the one to comfort him but the circumstances have changed drastically in the last twenty-four hours. She still needed to know the reason, maybe there was still a possibility for her. "Why? What happened? How did Hermione let this happen?"

"I don't want to paint a bull's eye on her back too. One is enough for both of us." He chuckled, "I had to force her to break up."

"How are you?" She asked, a genuine concern taking over her features.

"I don't know." He simply answered and closed his eyes for a moment.

"How is Hermione?" She wanted to know how Hermione had reacted to it. she looked worried during their post-dinner gathering.

"I have no idea, haven't spoken to her much since…."

"You should not live things hanging, Harry, it would hurt both of you." Harry decided to take this advice and talk to Hermione when he reached to the common room.

-0X0-0X0-0X0-

As Harry was returning to the Gryffindor tower, he met the twins who were just exiting from the portrait hole, deep in discussion.

"We need to do something about the galleons."

"We will find a way, it's a big sum."

Harry stopped them, "hey guys, what are you up to?"

"Nothing we need to burden you about, Harry." One of them answered.

"Look guys, I have some money that I want to throw away. Want to catch it?" Harry asked. The twins looked at him suspiciously.

"It's ok, Harry, we can manage." The other twin answered this time.

"Guys, I'm not going to use that money anyway. If you refuse, I will just throw it from the astronomy tower. If you want to, consider it a loan for whatever you are planning."

The twins discussed in their secret way before they both agreed. Harry told them that he would hand them the galleons later that night. One less thing to deal with for him.

Once the 'discussion' was over, the three of them entered the common room and went their separate ways. Harry searched for Hermione but when her absence was confirmed, he left to his dormitory to prepare for his departure the next morning.

He emptied his trunk completely, the floor of the trunk was littered with owl treats, broken quills, scrap pieces of parchment and a ball of socks. Harry remembered what was inside that, a Pocket Sneakoscope which Ron had given him on his thirteenth birthday. Harry hadn't realized it before but now it was quite clear to him that the reason for the misbehaviour of sneakoscope last year was the presence of Wormtail in vicinity, the instrument was doing its job. A smile came to his face with that thought.

He cleaned the trunk before organizing his books at the bottom of the trunk. 'Hermione would be proud', he thought to himself. Once all his belongings were back in the trunk, he closed the lid and sat there, his eyes unfocussed. Suddenly he remembered something, something quite important. This year, he had lost one of his family heirlooms, if you can call it that, the marauders' map, to a Death Eater.

He quickly jumped up from his bed and sprinted out of the Gryffindor tower to Mad-Eye's office. He wasn't very positive about his prospects but he had to try, he can't just give it up a piece of his father's creation. When he reached his destination, he gently pushed open the door. The office was almost barren of any article except Moody's desk and chair.

Harry walked up to the desk, there it sat, the piece of parchment, in the centre of the mahogany desk, still active. On the top of it was an envelope, addressed to him. He tore open the envelope to find a brief letter, the name of the sender absent. The letter was penned in an artistically curvy cursive writing.

Harry

Leaving something that belongs to you.

Those were the only words in the note. He stuffed the note in his pocket before opening the map. He laid the whole map on the desk and surveyed the castle one last time before leaving for the summer. He noted that majority of the students were in their dormitories, a handful of the others either in common rooms or busy in some amorous activities behind closed doors of broom cupboards. It was the last evening the castle indeed.

He checked the Gryffindor common room, the quidditch team from the previous years was there, except Oliver, Ginny was sitting in a corner, Ron was with Seamus and Dean, most probably busy in a match of wizard's chess. He checked the close by section of map, Hermione was in her dormitory, the dot of her name was static, probably asleep; another dot was there beside her, Rita Skeeter. 'Merlin, I hate that beetle', he swore internally, he would have fed it to Hedwig but then he would be crossing a boundary.

His eyes wandered to other parts in search of other familiar names. He saw Neville and Hannah in some unused corridor on the third floor, he was happy for his fellow Gryffindor. He saw Susan in the Hufflepuff common room, some of his fellow fourth years of that house sitting alongside her. He moved towards the dungeons in search of his potion's master, just out of curiosity. When he did not find him in his office or his personal store or study, he checked the remaining map for the bat-like professor but there was no sign of his presence.

He was thinking about the disappearance when his eyes fell on the part where the DADA office was. There was the dot named 'Harry Potter' and there was another one, at the threshold. The label on the dot read 'Albus Dumbledore'. Harry was certainly surprised, a small amount of fear crept through his heart without any reason other than he had allowed himself to be unaware of his surroundings. He was so immerged in the search of Snape that he had left himself vulnerable to be attacked from behind, he scolded himself.

"Good evening, professor." Harry said without moving his eyes away from the map.

"Good evening, Harry. I hope I didn't startle you." Dumbledore replied while walking ahead and standing next to him, peering over the map.

"Not much, sorry I wasn't aware of your presence." Harry answered flatly, his eyes still on the map.

"I did not want to intrude." Dumbledore replied truthfully.

"You knew about it?" Harry asked, his voice smaller than he had expected.

"Yes, for quite some time actually. James once mentioned it but his explanation was a couple of lines short."

Harry laughed lightly at the meaning of his statement. Without the activation and deactivation phrase, the map was useless and dangerous, respectively.

"They were quite talented, your father and his friends or Marauders, as they like to call their band of mischief-makers. The charm work and rune work is quite extensive and delicate." Dumbledore paused before turning towards Harry. "It is rightfully yours and I respect that but I would advise caution, Harry."

Harry just nodded before deactivating the map and pocketing it. He did not want to give away the map again due to his recklessness.

"You look worried about something." Dumbledore asked him.

"How did you know that I was here?" Harry asked.

"I placed a charm on the envelope, I was informed the moment you touched it. It was just a precaution so that no one else get their hands to it." Dumbledore answered, a twinkle in his eyes clearly visible.

"Where is Snape?" Harry found himself asking the question.

"Professor Snape, Harry." Dumbledore corrected while sidestepping the question.

"Where is professor Snape, sir?" He asked again, more politely.

"Away." That was the only answer he received before Dumbledore bid him farewell.

-0X0-0X0-0X0-

It was exceptionally calm for Hogwarts express on a return trip to London. Harry was sitting in a compartment with his friends, there was Ron, Hermione, Neville, Susan, Hannah and Ginny. Not much was spoken in the few hours they have spent on the train except for during the visit by the Snacks Trolley.

Hermione was busy reading a book about charms, Neville had a herbology book opened on his lap, Ginny was reading the 'Quidditch Monthly' while Susan was busy solving the crossword in Daily Prophet. Ron and Hannah were busy in a closely contested match of chess. It was very rare for Ron to have competition in this, it was a shock for Ron when he lost the first match against Hannah on the train. Since then, he was busy getting revenge on her.

Harry was sitting by the window, completely lost, detached from what was happening in the compartment. His head was resting against the warm glass window, his eyes were busy watching the trees move, the scenery change, it gave him a feeling of calmness. It was a welcome relief from the inner turmoil and fear.

His head snapped towards the door of the compartment when there was a loud bang. What Harry saw intrigued and surprised him to no end. The door to the compartment was open and at the threshold stood Draco Malfoy, like a statue. His two goons were fallen on the floor of the corridor, stupefied, one turning green while the other sporting tentacles on his face.

Before Harry could say, ask or do something, the twins dragged away the frozen Malfoy and his goons. Their departing words were, 'we will take out the trash'. By the time, Neville was done explaining what had happened, they were about to reach the magical platform of the King's Cross station.

They were ready to debark when the train came to a halt. As Harry stepped down from the express, he was engulfed by Molly Weasley in a tight hug. He said his farewells to the other Weasleys who left via floo. Susan gave Harry a hug before she also left to find her aunt, Hannah following a moment later. Neville was searching for his grandmother, he left after a handshake when he noticed her standing a few yards away, leaving Harry and Hermione on the platform. There weren't many people left on the platform by the time Neville left.

Harry waited for Hermione to leave first but she did not make a move to cross the barrier. She had sent Mercury to inform her parents about her early arrival so she was certain that they would be standing on the other side of the stone barrier of platform nine and three quarters. She knew that she had to say her goodbyes to Harry here and now, before they cross the barrier because once they would do that, they would be putting quite some distance between themselves. She could not say him goodbye in front of her parents because then there would be question asked about it.

She looked at him with an expectant look, he was standing there with his head bowed, not meeting her gaze. She stepped closer to him before throwing her arms around him and bringing him in a tight embrace. He wrapped his arms around her a moment later and buried his face in her bushy hair. The hug was so tight that even air could not pass between the two humans. They clung to each other as if they were holding to a wooden trunk in a flooding river.

They just there like that for five minutes before Hermione broke the embrace but she did not move away. She looked in his eyes and saw the unshed tears and she was sure that those tears reflected in her eyes too. She kissed his cheeks and whispered in his years, "I'll miss you."

Harry kissed her forehead before replying, "I'll miss you too."

The next moment, Hermione was walking out of the barrier, not looking back even once. Harry waited for a minute before leaving the platform. By that time, he was one of the last people on the platform, he saw Ernie McMillan standing on the platform, most certainly waiting for his parents.

There was no sign of the Dursley Family, he checked the whole platform but there was no sign of his obese uncle, too-fat cousin or horse-faced aunt. He thought they had decided to skip the welcoming. He took the Knight Bus for Little Whinging and walked the remaining distance to the Dursley Residence in Privet Drive.

The sight that welcomed him was better than he would have expected. The door was locked, he waited in the backyard for an hour or so but when the Dursley family did not arrive even after the sunset, he retrieved the spare key from behind the flowerpot on the left of the backdoor and entered the house before closing the door behind him.

He was finally back at Durzkaban.