Sentimental Reasons

18. Supportive

It was a pleasant discovery to find a grand piano at my disposal. However, when I returned to find the room this morning, I couldn't find it. Despite my persistence, I gave up and headed to the library to read the book my parents had given me on the matter of dark arts. As I walked up to the entrance, a familiar face greeted me. 

"Audrey!" William smiled and took me in for a hug, "How've you been? I'm sorry I couldn't make it to your party, by the way." He blushed and pulled away from the hug, "I'll redeem myself." He winked. 

"It's fine. Don't worry about it. How's your family?" I asked. 

"They're great. Gave me some nice presents as well. I got -" He started but got interrupted by the librarian demanding us to quiet down. We both awkwardly smiled, "I'll tell you all about it afterwards. I have a class right now but I'll see you later?" He kissed me on the cheek. I wasn't ready for that advance but shyly smiled. 

I entered the library, which was practically unoccupied. I plopped down on a table, the furthest away to keep me undistracted, while I figured out the meaning of each spell and potion I needed to know to defend myself from the dark arts. As I read through many pages, I understood what my parents meant when they gave me this book; he was coming back, and everyone would be involved. As much as I didn't want to believe it, it had come true. Voldemort was back was hungrier than ever to pursue his philosophy and his revenge; To rid the wizarding world of Muggle heritage, to conquer both worlds, Muggle and wizarding, and to kill Harry Potter, the boy who lived. I closed the book and sat for a while, listening to music from my headphones. 

"I hope I'm not disturbing." A voice disrupted Michel Berger's voice (a French singer). I opened my eyes to see Harry. 

"Harry," I smiled brightly at his presence. "How are you?"

"Great!" A timid smile appeared on his face. "We have Potions right now. I think you zoned out." 

I quickly checked my watch; I was already 5 minutes late. I must've probably fallen asleep. I quickly gathered my stuff and muttered some French swearing. "Merde, merde... (shit, shit...)"

"Hey, it's fine. Remember, Slughorn is our Professor." He smiled with his eyebrows lifted. "He's probably going to be later than us." 

I exhaled a sigh of relief, "You're right," I chuckled, "Thank you for waking me up." 

He gently smiled. "Let's go," He said while grabbing some of my books to help. 

As we walked through the corridors, he asked, "Additional protection?" while analysing the book in his hands. 

"Yeah," I admitted, looking at him with sympathy. 

"I agree. Classes aren't enough to know how to protect ourselves." He noted while looking straight in front of him. His expression was blank. 

"Are you okay?" I dared to ask.

He took a long moment to answer, shaking his head and shrugging. "I don't know." He finally admitted and looked at me, "I don't even know if we're going to survive through this last term because of him. I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know if I'll be strong enough to save us all. I... I just don't know." He stared back in front of him. He had so much lying on his shoulder at such a young age. I wrapped my arms around him, stopping us in our tracks before joining the rest of the class, still waiting for Slughorn. 

"We're here. We're here to help you. You're not alone. Whatever's going to happen, we'll be here. Hermione, Ron, Cedric, Dumbledore, me, everyone will be here with you. Standing by you." I muttered over his shoulder, loud enough for him to hear me. "Thank you, Harry. Thank you so much. You are giving us hope. You're stronger than you believe." I pulled away from the hug to look at him. His green eyes looked back into mine. Fear was all over them, but as I watched deeper into his eyes, I saw courage, fearlessness, and love. Everything to help us during this war that is to come. "I'll always be here." I smiled and looked back toward the class. Malfoy glared at us. "You were right. We'll never beat Slughorn for his tardiness." I chuckled to bring some joy into the atmosphere. A sincere smile appeared on his face, and we joined the rest of the group. I didn't bother joining the Slytherin boys and instead waited with the golden trio.