So anyways, I'm sure you all are curious whether or not I abandoned this story. I, in fact, did not. I was actually focusing more on work and college because I had no other choice. I actually just graduated from college like a couple of days ago, which is a great honor as I received the honor of magna cum laude and I'm first generation with such huge feet! I'm glad to be done so I can take a long worthwhile break and focus on writing, instead.
Chapter 40: Every Rose Has Its Thorns
A couple of weeks had passed with Harrison studying underneath the Dark Lord's presence. He had spent weeks learning about dark magic and about several curses that would leave your enemies practically begging for death. It was pretty much everything that he had asked for. Of course, he couldn't spend all of his time studying underneath the Dark Lord. He spent a couple of days here and there to visit the Malfoys and frequently spent the long afternoons and the evenings until the moon was almost high in the sky and returned back to Slytherin Manor, to repeat it again.
And soon, the last day of July was here. It wouldn't have been rather significant as he already gave up the significance of his birthday a long time ago, and yet, he knew Draco and Ella most certainly had something planned to celebrate his birthday. He couldn't help but muse to himself about how much he had accomplished in a matter of a year.
From getting out of Azkaban practically on his birthday, to finding the Chamber of Secrets, investigating the mystery of the Dark Lord and bringing himself back to full power but also, managing to get Ella out of Azkaban was something that he really wished for. Now, the only thing that was really missing was getting them out. But for now, he will focus on that aspect later.
He cleared out his thoughts of what he was thinking before he headed downstairs, to the dining room to have breakfast. When he got there, the Dark Lord was already there, sipping on what Harrison presumed to be warm tea. He already has a plate full of food, mainly sunny side up eggs and a thing of toast on the side, with butter to the side.
"Good morning, Harry," Tom said, greeting him.
"Good morning," Harry greeted back, taking a seat at the table.
A house-elf appeared, and Harrison told the house-elf what he wanted for breakfast before the house-elf disappeared with a loud pop. It was quiet in the room, save for the occasional scraping of silverware against the plate. He ignored the sound and turned to a question that was on his mind.
"What is on the agenda today?" He asked.
A house-elf appeared with his food and Harrison took a small bite out of his waffles that were dunked in syrup.
"I have business that I need to attend to today, so there won't be anything on the agenda today," Tom told him.
Harrison nodded in response.
There was silence in the room for a couple of minutes. Harrison focused on eating his breakfast and was just about halfway done with his waffles when he heard Tom getting up from the chair where he was sitting and approaching Harrison from behind.
"I know it's your birthday which is also why I am giving you the day off," Tom said. "And I have decided to give something back to you."
He placed a small, black book with yellowing pages in front of him, and Harrison nearly had to blink twice to realize what was in front of him.
The diary.
Harrison could practically feel the dark magic oozing from the book, and knew it was just like before he gave it to the Dark Lord all those weeks ago. He thought he wouldn't really ever see it again, but it was fine, otherwise. It was the Dark Lord's object, after all and Harrison had no lay to claim the diary. It was just rather strange to see it again.
"You're giving me back your diary?" He found himself questioning.
"I am," Tom confirmed. "I have decided to give you back the diary. I trust that you will take good care of it for me. Otherwise, there will be consequences, understood?"* He slipped into Parseltongue and Harrison refrained from shivering from the indirect threat in his words.
Although, he knew nothing was going to happen to the diary. The threat was still there and he knew that he would know it and feel it if he had ever displeased the Dark Lord.
*Of course, Tom,* He hissed back.
"Good." The coldness disappeared from Tom's voice and changed the subject with, "Enjoy your twelfth birthday, Harry and I'll see you later."
With that, Tom left the dining room and left Harrison in the dining room.
Harrison finished his breakfast and pocketed the diary that was still placed in front of him. It felt nice to feel the familiar weight in his pocket, and felt the urge to be able to write in the diary once more, but refrained from doing so. He had other things on his agenda than writing in a little, black diary; particularly since he knew that Draco and Ella most likely had something up their sleeves to celebrate his birthday.
He left the dining room with the house-elves collecting the dirty dishes off the table and headed towards the floo in the parlor to head towards Malfoy Manor. He knew Draco and Ella had something up his sleeves- they wouldn't have possibly forgotten his birthday, not if Ella had anything to do with it. Plus, the letter they had sent him over a week ago, essentially saying they would hex him if he didn't dare show up to the manor on the thirty-first.
And he had done exactly that.
Letting the green flames of the floo overtake him, swirling until his feet nearly stumbled over the vast carpet that belonged to the Malfoy's. He shook off any dust that may have gotten a hold of and was about to head out of the room to find Ella and them before the door to the drawing room opened.
"Harry!" Ella shouted, with a large smile blossoming on her face. He could see the obvious gap on their upper top teeth where she had lost those teeth nearly a week ago. Yet, her adult teeth haven't really started growing in yet. "You're here! I thought I would have to hunt you down and hex you, or something like that!"
Harrison laughed, "No need for such kind of violence, Ella. Besides, I'm here now so no need to do that."
"I was afraid that you wouldn't show up, considering it's your birthday and all. And I know you think it's not really that important-"
"It's really not," Harrison protested.
"See- that's why I put that in the letter. Otherwise, you wouldn't show up," Ella told him. "I know you. You stopped caring about your birthday a long time ago, which I don't blame you for, considering our circumstances. I thought it would be nice to celebrate your birthday together with a close group of your friends, and family."
"Don't tell me you have something planned," Harrison groaned. "You know I don't care about any of that."
"None of that," She said, raising her voice slightly. "Please."
Harrison didn't bother saying anything and instead looked beyond her small stature and through the open door to reveal the corridor- one of many in its place. He had no idea what Ella or any of them had planned, but if he had to guess, it had to be something special involved. Otherwise, why would Ella be in here all excited?
"Fine, then I have no choice," Ella commented.
Before Harrison had time to react, Ella quickly tugged at his arm and his sleeve, by default, before marching both of them through the corridors. For her having such a small stature and being only out of Azkaban for a couple of months- she had such a strong grip on her. Harrison had no other choice, but to follow her. He knew he was able to let her go, but he didn't want to risk hurting her or anything like that.
But doing all that didn't mean much of anything. He decided to take small, heavy steps to make it a little more harder for Ella to drag him through the corridor and hopefully, tire her out and loosen her grip on him. Yet, her grip still remained unwavering.
"Harry, please. It's just one afternoon and then you can go back to hating your birthday and pretending it doesn't exist for another year," Ella tried to explain, but Harrison was barely listening to her.
He was more focused on the fact that it was his birthday. A day that should have sounded special, but it wasn't. It stopped being special a long time ago. No amount of celebration, or gift-giving or whatever people did to celebrate one's birthday wouldn't ever give him the feeling that his birthday was worth it. It was just another day, another average day that he should have been practicing another one of those Dark Lord's spells or something like that, not here.
"One afternoon for you, besides you should know that my birthday isn't really special. It's just a day," Harrison protested once more, trying to get himself out of it.
Ella simply didn't bother saying anything as she merely quickened her pace as a result.
It wasn't until they got closer where Harrison felt his hands go sweaty and he increased his antics to try and escape from Ella's grip.
"Come on, where's your excitement?" Ella asked, stopping in front of the garden door.
Through the garden window, Harrison was able to see a small set up in the middle of the garden. It was the middle of summer so everything was still green, and alive which made the flowers set up and the peacocks sort of running around a nice touch. He could see several white tents in the distance with several tables and chairs under them to escape the bright summer sun. There were much shorter objects and of them varying sizes that Harrison assumed to be presents and cake. Yet, what surprised him was the amount of people.
There weren't a lot of people, which was a good thing. There was no way that Harrison wanted a large celebration or anything like that. It only looked like it was the Malfoys, Sirius and a couple of his classmates. It looked nice, but the problem was- he didn't want to be the center of attention or anything like that. Did he even deserve this?
"Ella, please don't make me go out there," Harrison pleaded, his voice cracking with desperation and hurt.
It sounded so unlike him. It almost sounded like he was a child who was throwing a temper tantrum because he didn't get what he wanted. But he knew it wasn't like that. Those feelings that were pent up within him, of all those years that he spent in Azkaban- all those birthdays that simply weren't birthdays to him, not anymore. It's hard to feel happy especially with the dementors that would suck out the joy and anything remotely happy.
But perhaps, it was because of that. Because didn't last year he received the greatest gift of all? Freedom. Although, even then that day wasn't special. There were no cakes, presents, or anything remotely sounding like I'm sorry for what happened to you, I care about you or I love you for that matter. No one dared to care for him. The Potters were very unpleasant to see him back on their doorstep and in their care for the month before Hogwarts which was typical. No one ever gave a damn about him, or until recently. So what was the point in all of this?
"What's wrong? You're never liked this," Ella asked concerned. "I haven't ever seen you this vulnerable nor scared looking especially out here-" She gestured to the outside scene that stowed in front of them where he could hear the signs of laughter and small conversations lingering through the warm, summer breeze.
"The only time you show those types of emotions is back in Azkaban, when the dementors came to feed on us. But out here, you always have a mask up, and you never show any type of emotions, be it negative or positive. What has changed, Harry?"
Harrison sighed, looking away from the younger girl before he responded, "I'm not used to any of this whatsoever. The parties, the laughter, the small conversations, people who actually care…. It's such a foreign concept. I don't know why I'm telling you this, it's not like you'll understand that feeling."
"Why don't you try to explain it to me then? Instead of assuming that I don't know what it's like?" Ella raised her voice to another octave, to where Harrison quickly threw up a silencing ward around them to where no one would be able to hear what was being said in the conversation. "I don't know, because you never tell me what's wrong. You're always quick to solve my problems, but when it comes to yours, you're quick to put it aside and act like it's not important when sometimes, it eats you up.
Harrison scoffed, "You don't understand the feeling of never being good enough for anyone, and the feeling of proving yourself constantly. How everyday for six years straight was another type of hell because you were pushed aside for someone who is proclaimed to be the hero of the wizarding world. Then watch everyone who was supposed to love you turn their backs as soon as word spreads about you killing seventeen muggles and throwing you into Azkaban. I spent five years there and now all of a sudden, I have people that say they suddenly care about me? Where were they when I needed them?" His voice cracked as he bit back a sob that was begging to come out, but it wouldn't. He wouldn't cry.
There was no point in tears, no point in reliving the past whatsoever. He had to be strong for everyone and that meant including himself.
"Harry, you forget that I was raised in Azkaban as well. Do you think I was happy about my circumstances and the fact that I was in prison since I was three years old? I wouldn't ask that for anyone. Or are you just hanging onto the fact that I have been raised by my mother and father and Uncle Rabastan , and everyone else there? Albeit, the same people who had raised you as well or did you forget that fact?" Ella yelled, her pale face turning a shade of light red. "Those people cared about you and they always will. I bet you, they miss those lessons and they miss both of us."
"Ella-" He started.
"No, I am speaking," Ella continued and went on despite Harrison's protests, "I think you forget everything you told me when I was struggling. I don't think you realize the fact that we have surrounded ourselves with people that have cared about us. I have never seen Uncle Lucius or even Aunt Narcissa care like this to anyone but their close friends and family. The way that Draco has your back, and your halfblood status and all because you prove yourself to be someone worthwhile to them. You could rival the Dark Lord if you really wanted too, but I know you won't. Those three care about you, even the people we left behind in Azkaban will be there when you get them out.
"Or we can look at Sirius. The fact that yes, you knew him before everything happened and he didn't care. But he's here now, and wants that relationship. I'm sure he cares about you. Why are you being such a brat about this when you told me everything about this, about trying to overcome the trauma about being Azkaban. Or did it only matter when it comes to me, but not to you. Or are you just the type of person who lies to anyone, including those who care about you…. I thought we made a promise to never lie to each other?" Ella snapped.
"We did," Harrison murmured. "I promise you that I won't ever lie to you."
Ella scoffed, "Then why are you doing it to me? You know I care about you. You're practically my older brother and we've been through thick and thin- why are you doing this now?"
"Because I don't want to be seen as expendable, okay? What if the only reason why they care is because they rely on me to change the wizarding world. They expected me to find the Dark Lord and I did, but they didn't do anything to even go search for him. I was the only one insane enough to listen to the whispers that the Dark Lord was alive, but only just. I got you out of Azkaban, when they were willing to let you spend time there… Is it going to be the same way when we get the others out, capture the ministry or even the rest of the wizarding world? What happens if my usage is seen as enough once all this is over? What happens then?"
Harrison didn't even notice anything was out of the ordinary, not the thick choke of magic in the air, begging to be released and begging to hurt someone- anyone for that matter. He didn't realize until he had sharp fingernails into his arm and looked down to see Ella staring at him with her dark gray eyes narrowed into small slits, and her mouth that was normally excited to see him, was turned upside down that made Harrison look down in concern.
"What?"
"You need to stop. You're going to lose control of your magic and right now, it is begging to be released… If it does, I'm afraid it'll hurt me… If that happens, I swear to Merlin, I'll make you suffer even more," Ella threatened.
Harrison merely gulped and reigned in his magic. He knew that Ella's threat wasn't hollow whatsoever. He was sure if there was a day where he accidentally hurt Ella, hell would be unleashed. He would never be forgiven but it wasn't that. It was merely if Bellatrix or one of them ever caught word about him ever hurting Ella- he was sure that either being back in Azkaban or the killing curse would be mercy compared to what would happen otherwise. He refrained from shuddering after thinking about that.
"You're right, Ella… I'm sorry," He told her- his voice filled with remorse and sorrow.
"I know you are." Ella's frown was replaced with her usual smile and turned back towards the door, and had her hand on the doorknob for them to go outside. Harrison quickly canceled the silencing spell before he followed her outside and to where the small gathering was.
The small gathering was in fact a small gathering. Tables and chairs were set up underneath white tents to block out the bright sun. Several tables where there was food, and refreshments on one end, while on the other end contained gifts that were meant for him. He could see Draco, Blaise, Theodore, Pansy along with Daphne and her younger sister right by the refreshments, holding glasses of what looked like punch and appetizers like shrimp and all that. Sirius and Lucius looked like they were in a deep conversation while Narcissa messed around with the cake and the decorations a little bit.
It took everything within Harrison not to run away, or do anything like that. Instead, he followed Ella's guide to where she gently pulled onto Narcissa's light blue summer dress that had a high neckline and cinched around her waist. She paired it with light blue heels with her blonde hair pulled in a braided crown.
"Ella! Harrison! You made it!" She exclaimed, looking up from what she was doing. She straightened her back, letting her silver bracelets fall from her forearms down to her wrists, and reached for a hug, both of them in tow.
The hug was squishing between him and Ella getting sandwiched from Narcissa's strong grip. It was squishing if there was no way that he could get a full breath of air in without due to the grip that Narcissa held around them. It didn't seem like she was going to let them go any time soon so he stood there, not moving and just let the hug happen until Narcissa broke the contact.
"Ella, I was wondering what was taking so long. I was worried that something must have happened but regardless, you're here now… Can you help me with tying the balloon decorations down so we don't lose them?" Narcissa suggested, turning her attention towards Ella.
"Of course!"
Ella ran off in the near distance, her blonde curls flying along with her pink summer dress that reached to her knees bounced with her step she took. Her figure grew smaller and smaller in the distance and Harrison tore his eyes away from him when Narcissa cleared her throat softly.
"And you, Harrison! I was worried that you decided not to come and you have found out about your surprise." Narcissa turned her attention towards him, "Which I'm grateful that you didn't do because we had to celebrate your birthday."
Harrison smiled softly, "Thank you, Narcissa."
Narcissa didn't seem like she really heard him as she continued on what she was saying, "I know you probably weren't expecting anything or anything like that but you helped us a lot in the past. You brought my niece away from that horrid place, and you became Draco's best friend. Things we can't repay you enough for… Thank you."
"Thank you, Narcissa," He murmured, repeating himself once more. He lowered his gaze towards the green grass under him. "But also thank you for keeping her safe and taking care of her as I work on trying to get her family out."
Narcissa smiled before she said, "Enough about Ella. Today is your day and to relax, and take a moment to realize your accomplishments. Relax, have fun. Draco's over by the refreshments table along with several other of your classmates if you want to spend time over there." She pointed towards where several smaller figures were and Harrison nodded in response.
"We'll have cake and presents in a few but for now, talk to others. Don't be shy."
Harrison didn't bother saying anything as he headed towards where his classmates were over by the refreshments, just like Narcissa said. He saw Pansy in a white blouse with a black, flowing skirt with her black hair tied into a braid. She already had her arm snaked around Draco's arm, and what it appeared to make Draco's movements a little hard to do with that arm. Meanwhile, Draco was trying to grab a couple of shrimps, and fresh fruit onto his plate and kept doing a shrugging moment with the arm that Pansy snaked onto.
"Happy birthday, Harrison," She purred, noticing Harrison's presence. She returned her attention to Draco by clinging back to Draco's arm and holding him with a tight grip.
"Thank you, Pansy," Harrison murmured in a neutral voice.
"I'm so grateful the Malfoys' invited me, otherwise how will I be able to see my Drakey-wakey," She cooed, letting her head rest on Draco's shoulder.
"Oh my gosh, Pansy… Get off, you really need to find someone else to do this to. This is getting annoying," Draco snapped. "I get it you have a crush on me, but can you actually lay off of acting like some love-sick puppy?"
"But Draco, you always let me do it," Pansy pouted. Harrison saw tears starting to form and about to fall. "I don't know why you're always like this."
"Because I don't care. You only care about me because of my rich status. You hoped to be the future of Mrs. Malfoy and enjoy the riches of my family, but that's not going to happen."
"How can you do this to me?" Pansy choked. She had tears streaming down her face and her face contorted into even more of a pug than anything. "Why? Don't you have anything else to say?"
"Not really," Draco shrugged.
Draco and Harrison turned their attention to Pansy's fleeting figure whose cries were heard, getting quieter and quieter as she moved away from them. Out of the corner of his eye, Harrison saw Daphne and her younger sister head away from the tent to probably join Pansy, just leaving Blaise, and Theo.
"I've been waiting to do that for a long time," Draco murmured. "Maybe this time, she'll actually get the hint and do this towards someone else…"
"I doubt it. She's always going to be like that unless she finds someone else who is more rich than you are," Theo piped up. "That's very unlikely, considering she has been like that for as long as we knew her."
Draco shrugged, "Well a guy can dream… Anyways, happy birthday, Harrison."
"Happy birthday, Harrison." both Theo and Blaise said in unison.
"How does it feel to finally turn twelve years old?" Theo asked.
Harrison shrugged, "I could care less, honestly. My birthday isn't even that special. I probably wouldn't have turned up if Draco nor Ella were very persistent. "
Theo let out a small laugh with that. His dark brown eyes creased with his smile, "Yes, well… I can't imagine your birthday to be the same day with the boy who lived. I could see why your birthday isn't even that special."
Harrison nodded in response.
"No one cares about what the boy-who-lived and whatever his blood traitor and mudblood friend is doing. Honestly, the way I see it. We have a much better deal considering Harrison actually respects our customs and whatnot," Draco said in a rather haughty tone. "Besides, as much as you say you don't like your birthday. -My family and I wanted to show you that we care about you especially as you're my best friend- even if you don't think so. Besides, I'll stick by you until the very end."
Loyalty was always a fickle thing, Harrison thought. Yet, here was Draco- merely twelve years old, already loyal to him. He knew that making a friend out of a Malfoy was going to reward him, and yet it did. He would never have to worry about the Malfoys backing out of someone's loyalty in fear, or running. They were right where Harrison wanted them.
"I know you will, Draco," He murmured. "You have already stuck by me since the first day I met you on the train- and sat with a recently released prisoner. You knew the risks and still sat by me."
Draco smiled as Harrison knew he was reminiscing by going down memory lane, "You knew my baby cousin and the rest of my family. You told me the truth about them and that's something I'm grateful for," Draco said. "I'm glad she is out of that horrid place. I couldn't believe the letter that mother and father sent me, telling me she was free. Did you have something to do with it?"
Harrison only smirked in amusement, "I thought you knew me by now. I don't give away my secrets. That's for me to know, and perhaps you'll find out later."
"You're still going on about that?" Draco whined. "Come on, Harry. I thought we were friends."
"We are, but I won't give up my secrets intentionally," He smirked.
It seemed to be almost the end of the current conversation as they started a new conversation about Quidditch and of course, joining Hogwarts' Quidditch team in the fall. Harrison pretty much tuned them out as it wasn't anything that he was remotely interested in. How others found the appeal of being hundreds of feet in the air, chasing a tiny golden ball around was beyond him. It was what his classmates enjoyed so why should he offer an opinion about it if he didn't care about said-sport?
Harrison found himself drifting away from the conversation and headed towards where Lucius and Sirius were standing over. They were standing next to a group of green hedges that seemed to lead off somewhere. It almost seemed like they were having an inclusive conversation that seemed to be surrounding politics or some sort with the way, both of them immediately hushed as soon as they heard Harrison's footsteps approaching them. It made Harrison rather curious about what they were hiding, but it wasn't like he was able to use legilimens on them, considering they were master Occlumens or at least knew enough to block him out.
"Harrison! There you are, I was worried that you wouldn't be here," Sirius greeted, being the first one to break the silence that surrounded them. "Happy birthday! How does it feel to be twelve years old?"
"Fine," Harrison said quietly, shrugging as a response. "It's just another year older. Not much of a difference."
It seemed that Lucius smirked at that response before he answered, "Right you are. Considering you are still young, you should enjoy your time being young. You only live through your childhood once."
Harrison shrugged at that response, "Makes it hard to enjoy it when you spent years in a place that rivals hell."
It seemed that Harrison's response must have triggered something as there was an awkward silence in their air. No one seemed to want to be able to say anything after that. Harrison was about to turn away and find a place somewhere in the gardens to have some solitude. Yet, it seemed that Sirius, once more wanted to break the awkward tension in the air.
"Right," Sirius said, rather awkwardly. His onyx eyes darted from one hedge to another, to the ground but never meeting Harrison's gaze. "You know I haven't seen you much this summer. I was hoping to see you a lot more."
"I've been busy if you haven't noticed," Harrison said in a rather cold tone, "Besides what I'm doing is something that a lot of people would kill for… Besides, what I do with my life, and especially during the summer holiday doesn't concern you. You aren't my guardian, nor will you be."
"I'm sorry, I overstepped," Sirius quickly apologized. "I sometimes forget that you and I don't have that relationship. At one point, I wouldn't mind being your godfather again."
"Look I don't want to have this conversation right now, especially in front of Lucius and everyone else. We can talk about this later if you want too, but I'm done with this conversation," Harrison finished, already walking away from the two.
He didn't bother waiting to hear a reply from either Lucius or Sirius before he left to find something else to do until it was time for presents and cake. He wasn't going to let Sirius's outburst or his crossed boundary on discussing personal manners affect him, at least not right now. He'll deal with that later.
Time passed rather slowly at that. Harrison had spent much of the time with Draco and his friends more than anything, who had already brought out several games of wizarding chess, and exploding gob-stones to pass the time until it was essentially time to open presents.
Everyone gathered around in a circle with Harrison nearest to the table with all the presents on it. There weren't many presents which Harrison thought was a good thing as he couldn't imagine what other people would even give him whatsoever. Somehow, he still remained surprised as he opened several things of chocolate frogs, a wizard's chess set, several other candies and sweets. Two of his gifts were books which wasn't much of a surprise. One of them being a spell book and essentially on different types of curses and jinxes to use towards others, and a book about blood magic that he was certain Sirius gifted him from his library. He tossed those aside on the table and opened up the last present: a silver charm bracelet that had black hearts all around it.
It seemed like there was only one particular person who might have gifted it to them, which was obvious from the get-go.
"A bracelet?" He said aloud.
No one seemed to respond besides Ella who broke the silence with, "Yeah. It should easily fit on your wrist perfectly. It's charmed to whatever size of your wrist is. I also had Aunt Narcissa and Uncle Lucius help me pick it out but to also put some version of a cheering charm on there to make you happy on the days where you're feeling down.
"Thank you, Ella," He murmured, slipping the silver bracelet onto his wrist, feeling the cold metal on his wrist. True to her word, the bracelet sized itself perfectly onto his wrist and wasn't really hard taking it off either.
"You're welcome," Ella said once more before she looked up towards Narcissa with a toothy grin, "Is it time for cake?"
There were small chuckles that were heard as a result from Ella's response and her total changing of the subject. It seemed that no one wanted to say no to Ella's question as Narcissa was the one that cleared the presents away, probably inside in his room or something like that, and brought the cake over to where they were at. It was a relatively a two-story cake- all of it covered with white, vanilla frosting that small strawberries placed on top of the cake.
With another flick of Narcissa's wand, the cake started to serve itself- cutting a slice for everyone and placing it onto the China plates that were next to the cake. Everyone grabbed a piece of cake and started eating it.
The cake wasn't too bad in Harrison's opinion. Although, he knew it was because he hadn't always been a fan of sweets too much which was a good reason why. The frosting was a little bit on the sweet side as it seemed like there was lots of sugar in it, but the small strawberry pieces that lined the frosting and inside the chocolate cake was something that he particularly enjoyed the most out of it.
Of course, during it- he watched as Ella quickly ate hers not realizing where some of the frosting was ending up on, and somehow managed to get it on her nose!
"You have a little bit of frosting right there," Harrison pointed out with his freehand. He touched the white frosting on the tip of her nose, and wiped it away with his finger.
"Thanks, Harry," She said, with a small smile on her face.
The remainder of the party passed swiftly. As the evening wore on, exhaustion crept onto the faces of the departing guests. They bid him a final happy birthday before stepping into the floo to return to their own manors. By then, the sky had transformed into a vivid mural of purples, pinks, oranges, and a fiery red, casting long shadows across the landscape. The temperature had noticeably dropped, lending a sense of peace to the night and a small breeze seemed to make the leaves and plants bristle.
Harrison lingered for a while longer once the festivities seemed to die down. He headed towards one of
the ornate water fountains in the Malfoys' garden. The scene was peaceful with the painted sky, and the start of the stars twinkling above. The sound of water splashing made a tranquil sound that seemed to calm Harrison's mind and his thoughts.
Despite all the festivities that seemed to happen, his thoughts were still focused on one thing. Did he even deserve any of this? The joyous faces and heartfelt wishes seemed misplaced, out of sync with the narrative of his life. His eyes flickered to the stars above, hoping to find the answers up there, but no such luck. Memories of Azkaban lingered at the forefront of his mind, a bitter reminder of something that he couldn't seem to escape. Back then- he didn't have much going for him, stuck behind the iron bars that barred him from freedom.
It's been a year since he was free- but why did he feel like he didn't deserve any of this? Why couldn't he bring himself to be happy like everyone wanted him to be? So many questions that Harrison simply didn't want to think more of.