“‘Cause when I look to the sky
Something tells me you're here with me
And you make everything alright
And when I feel like I'm lost
Something tells me you're here with me
And I can always find my way when you are here”
Lyrics to "When I Look to the Sky" by Train
Disclaimer- I own none of this. It all belongs to J.K. R. Thank you for letting my mind wander…
Chapter Nine- Home
At once, Harry recognized Ron, but Ron barely looked at Harry before he jumped back and pulled out his wand. He pointed his wand at Harry and was just about to attack him when he finally realized who he was. Ron lowered his wand and walked back toward Harry as if to get a better look at him.
“Ha…Harry? Is it really you?” Ron looked very confused.
“Yeah, it’s me. I…um…I guess I just had to have a little break for a while. I missed all of you so much, so I had to come back. I’m sorry for leaving like that. I won’t do it again, I promise,” Harry told him.
“Wow, just wow. We thought you died! Everyone is looking for you and there are rumors being spread about where you were and people are claiming to have seen you in places. Hermione! You have to come outside now!” Ron yelled. Harry waited with Ron and Sarah for Hermione to come out. Finally, he saw a young bushy haired woman run out into the yard.
“What is it, Ron? I was in the middle of doing someth…Harry? Oh my God, you…you’re alive?” She ran to him and hugged him. Then, as if a switch had been flicked, she randomly started hitting him. She was slapping him really hard and didn’t stop until Ron pulled her off of him, but Harry didn’t care. In his opinion, he had deserved every last hit she threw at him for leaving. Harry staggered back a little because he wasn’t expecting her to do that. Sarah supported him, and then turned to face Hermione and Ron. To his surprise, she started speaking to Hermione, who was still struggling to break free from Ron’s grip.
“Hey! What is your problem? It took a lot of courage for Harry to come back here. You have no idea what he’s been through since the last time you saw him. He’s injured, you know, pretty badly. He’s also a hero too. He got injured saving the life of a little girl; you should be ashamed of yourself. He’s had nothing but good things to say about you and I understand that it was wrong for him to leave, but, please, control yourself!” Sarah scolded.
Harry could see tears flowing from Hermione’s eyes as he held his arm carefully because she had punched him fairly hard a few times. He could see the hurt in her eyes. Ever since he had known her, Hermione had been like a sister to him. She had been there whenever he needed advice, and always tried to help him the best way that she could. Harry had not thought about the impact of his actions on Hermione before he left for Massachusetts. Now he understood and regretted that he had put her through so much pain. Harry was truly sorry for what he did and vowed to do anything to gain Hermione’s trust back. He went over to Hermione and hugged her and she cried softly into his shoulder.
“I’m sorry, Harry. It’s just, when you left, it hurt so much. So many things had happened and I guess it was just all too much.” She pushed Harry away, went back to Ron and he put his arm around her. Harry turned around and stared at something in the distance, hating himself for hurting his friends so much. Sarah glanced at Harry and then at Ron and Hermione.
“Okay, now c’mon. You guys were friends for years and yeah, Harry did mess up, but you know what? He realized that he made a mistake. Give him a break. And Harry, give yourself a break,” Sarah pleaded. Ron stepped forward, clearly confused again.
“I’m sorry, but who exactly are you?” he said rather rudely to Sarah. Harry turned around as soon as he remembered that he hadn’t introduced them.
“Ron, this is Sarah. She’s my friend who has helped me through a lot and has been there for me when I needed her. I asked her to come with me because she’s very special and a great person,” Harry explained, “I met her while I was in Massachusetts.”
“Massachusetts…isn’t that in the United States? Why on Earth would you go there of all places?” Hermione asked as she tried to flatten her brown bushy hair.
“I don’t know. It was just the first place I thought of. I remember reading about it in History of Magic class, I guess, because of the witch burnings. When I got there, I wasn’t sure where I was, so I asked a nice man who was sitting in the park. He was Sarah’s father and he offered me a job at his inn and a place to stay. I guess I just needed some time to think about some things. It hurt me so much to leave and I’ve been regretting it ever since. Everything just kept pulling me back here, so I finally gave in. I’m sorry for not giving you any warning.”
He hung his head and saw something just then that made him smile. Hermione had a diamond ring on her finger. He had joked about it with Sarah, but never actually thought Ron and Hermione would come to reality and realize that they cared very much for each other. At that moment, he couldn’t have been any happier for his two best friends.
“Well, I see that you two have been busy while I was gone. I guess congratulations are in order, then? It’s a relief to see that good things can happen in even the darkest of times. When did you have the wedding?” He took Hermione’s hand and looked at the beautiful ring. She blushed and Ron’s ears turned bright crimson.
“To tell you the truth, Harry, we haven’t had one yet. I wanted to wait a bit longer to see if you would come back, but now that you’re here, we’ll waste no more time. Ooh, I’m so excited!” Hermione jumped up with joy and gave Harry the warmest hug ever. Sarah smiled her brightest smile and Ron looked happier than ever.
“Harry, I was wondering if you would be my best man. There’s no one else who deserves the honor as much as you.” Ron took Harry’s hand and shook it.
“Ron, you don’t even have to ask.” He hugged him and whispered to him, “You’re getting married, man!”
“I know. I can’t wait! Jeez, Harry, you spend a year in America and already you’re starting to pick up their slang.” Ron laughed. Leave it to him to tease Harry the first day he comes back, but Harry expected nothing less from his comrade. Harry looked around and to his relief, saw Hermione and Sarah hugging. Harry thought he was witnessing the beginnings of a great friendship, as he listened to them talk.
“Sarah, I wonder…since I don’t really have a lot of choices and you seem very special to Harry, would you be my maid of honor at the wedding? I know that we don’t really know each other, but I think this could be a good chance. You must be a very special person if Harry brought you here, and I would love it if we became friends and I think you got the wrong impression of me earlier. What do you think?” Hermione looked hopeful. Sarah’s eyes were watering as if she was trying to hold back tears. Ron and Harry watched to two women in awe as they talked and they were both thinking the same thing. Will they ever understand what goes through their minds?
“Oh, wow, I don’t know what to say…”
“Just say yes,” added Hermione.
“I would be honored to be part of your wedding, Hermione,” Sarah agreed.
“That’s great! Well, we’ve got a wedding to plan. Let’s go inside, I’ve got to owl my parents, and Ron, yours are inside. I bet they’ll be so happy to see you, Harry!” Hermione said excitedly.
“Well, then, what are we waiting for? I can’t wait to see Mr. and Mrs. Weasley,” Harry exclaimed. Ron led the way into the house and then called for his parents rather loudly.
“Mum! Dad! You’re never going to believe this! Come quickly!”
“Ronald, enough, are you trying to alert the whole town?” Hermione laughed. It seemed that she had a severe case of the giggles. Just then, Harry saw Mr. and Mrs. Weasley run into the room.
“Ron, for God’s sake, what is it? Are you…Harry?” Mrs. Weasley’s tone changed when she laid eyes on him. She gave him a great big hug and burst into tears.
“Hi, Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, it’s nice to see you again.” Harry panted because Mrs. Weasley was squeezing him so tightly. Ron, suspecting that his mother had gone a little too far, pulled his mom off Harry, much to his relief. Mr. Weasley went up to Harry and firmly shook his hand.
An awkward silence filled the house as Harry stepped back toward Sarah. He looked around and found that the house hadn’t changed much. It was the same warm house that he had always remembered. Harry had both been excited about and dreading this moment, the moment when Ginny’s parents would have to face the reason for her death. This was, of course, purely Harry’s opinion and as far as he was concerned, he was absolutely right. Nothing was going to change his mind, not even Ginny herself. Ron spoke first.
“Mum, Dad, guess what? Now that Harry’s back home, we can finally set a date for the wedding!” Ron announced and he was Mrs. Weasley’s next victim for one of her big hugs as she started crying tears of joy.
“That’s wonderful, dear!” Mrs. Weasley sobbed. Next, she moved onto Hermione, then Harry again, and then to Sarah without even realizing it. She opened her eyes at last and looked at who she was hugging. She jumped back in surprise and asked, “Who are you?” This made everyone laugh, even Mr. Weasley, who did not have the slightest idea who she was either.
“I’m Harry’s friend Sarah. He asked me to come here with him and I am extremely honored to meet all of you. Harry speaks very highly of you, Mrs. Weasley. It’s nice to meet you and Mr. Weasley,” Sarah explained as she shook Mr. Weasley’s hand.
“Harry, if I could get a chance to say something, it’s very good to have you back. And it’s a pleasure meeting you, Sarah. Please, come inside, I’ll make some tea. Do you like tea Sarah?” Mr. Weasley asked, but Harry knew what she was going to say.
“Um…actually, you wouldn’t have any hot chocolate, would you? I’m not a big tea drinker.”
“Of course we have some hot chocolate, dear; I’ll go and help you Arthur,” Mrs. Weasley responded. Ron led everyone to the sitting room where he caught Harry up on the latest news in Quidditch.
“Honestly, Ron, Harry is gone for a year, and all you can talk about is Quidditch? Never mind him, Harry, I’ve been meaning to ask what happened to your arm. I’m sorry if I hurt it outside; I really don’t know what came over me,” Hermione questioned.
“Frankly, I’m surprised no one has heard yet. You see, Sarah and I went to the movies one day, and guess who also decided to go to the same theater? We were on our way out when we saw Malfoy torturing people. If I hadn’t gotten involved, he would have killed a little girl and I couldn’t let that happen. I really hadn’t used magic in a long time and when I got involved, we were both dueling pretty fiercely and both got wounded very badly. I sent Sarah away of course so she wouldn’t get hurt and when I turned up injured and a little dazed, she freaked out and brought me to the hospital right away.
“It was a Muggle hospital and they can’t heal magical injuries as well as St. Mungo’s can, so my arm is still badly injured. I’m thinking that I should probably take a trip to St. Mungo’s and get it looked at,” Harry clarified. Ron and Hermione looked speechless and surprised.
“Oh, Harry, can’t they just give you a break? Even when you’re in hiding, evil finds you. Voldemort’s dead, so why can’t the Death Eaters just come to reality and understand that? Why can’t they just leave you alone! It’s not fair! Oh, the nerve of Malfoy, strutting around acting like he owns everything. Does he think he can just walk in and control everyone’s lives? What makes him so special, anyway? Somebody really needs to teach him a lesson…” Hermione went on like this for several minutes while Harry, Ron, and Sarah watched in amazement. Harry remembered Hermione get this angry at Malfoy back in their third year at Hogwarts when she actually slapped him.
“Hermione, calm down, we’ll get Malfoy, I promise. I think that I hurt him pretty badly though, ‘cause he ran away halfway through the fight and I don’t think he would have checked himself into St. Mungo’s. Being a Death Eater may have wrecked his chances of getting in, which means that he’s probably still hurt like I am. He’s weak, oh yes; he’s definitely not as strong as he was, but he’s planning another attack and we have the upper hand this time. I’m not going to be taken by surprise again; this time I’ll be ready. Malfoy can do as he pleases to try and get to me, but I’m not going to let him hurt anyone else. I’ll make him see that taking Ginny away will be the last thing that he does to hurt me!” Harry said rather suspiciously and this both frightened and confused his friends a little while he was predicting Malfoy’s next move.
“Hold on, Harry, what exactly did Malfoy do to my sister? I thought it was Voldemort who killed her? What exactly happened that day?” Ron asked and Harry could see him fighting to hold back tears. Instantly, Harry knew he had said too much. He had not intended Ron to ever find out about Malfoy and Ginny. Harry sighed deeply because, to be honest, he still didn’t want to talk about that day. Sarah was also listening intently, but seemed a bit confused. Harry hadn’t really told her about that day in detail either. He hesitated for a moment, but was relieved when Hermione spoke instead.
“Oh Harry, we won’t make you tell us now. After all, isn’t that why you left? To escape what happened that day? It’s not fair that we ask you now; we’ll wait until you are ready to talk about it. So, what’s it like to live in Massachusetts?” Harry felt very relieved and very grateful toward Hermione. It was as if she could tell that he wasn’t ready to discuss that day yet. Sensing that Harry was lost in his own thoughts, Sarah responded to Hermione.
“Well, you know, I suspect it’s not much different from living here, minus the magic. It sure is different living without magic”” Sarah was interrupted.
“Sarah, you must know all about the non-magical world! Please, could you tell me one thing? Harry has never been able to answer this and neither has Hermione, but it has been bugging me for years. What, exactly, is the function of a rubber duck? It seems so unimportant, but yet, mysterious. Can you please enlighten me?” Mr. Weasley asked with a look of complete seriousness. Sarah looked as if she was going to explode with laughter and Ron turned bright red.
“Um, you’ll have to excuse my father; he’s always been a bit obsessed with Muggles like yourself,” Ron explained.
“No, no, it’s quite alright. I believe that the function of a rubber duck is to entertain Muggle children. You see, it’s a bath toy to make bath time more enjoyable for them. Sometimes rubber ducks can even double as squirt guns.” Sarah laughed at this and the rest of the group joined in. Mrs. Weasley walked in carrying a tray of drinks and they laughed their way through the rest of the afternoon as they caught up on time that was lost. Mrs. Weasley took pride in reminding Harry that he ought to eat more and as a result, Harry got the chance to enjoy some of her outstanding cooking.
Pretty soon, the afternoon was fading into night. Harry couldn’t help but notice how well Sarah fit in with his friends. They had dinner and Harry felt very sleepy. He was offered Fred and George’s old room and decided to turn in earlier than he would normally. On his way there, he couldn’t help but look at Ginny’s room. He stopped and stared for a few minutes wondering whether he should go inside. He put his hand on the doorknob, turned it, and pushed. Memories came flooding back to him and he found himself lost again within his own mind.
When It Seems Like All Is Lost by KateH
Chapter Notes: I'm so sorry for the extremely long wait. I was having some difficulties with this chapter. I hope you like it!