Harry's Future

Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Harry, Ginny, Mrs. Weasley and Abagail sat around the kitchen table in the Black house finishing up a late lunch. They had come home directly after the trial of Pontificus Lestrange was finished. No one said much during the meal, perhaps feeling it was merely enough to be there together to offer Abagail whatever support she might need. Harry finally broke the silence as Kreacher was gathering up the plates and cutlery. 

"How are you feeling, little one?" he asked. 

Abagail looked at him, took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh before answering. 

"I'm doing alright, I guess, Harry. The bad guy is going to prison so I guess that counts for something. And it looks like any questions that there might have been about how I got the job were cleared up." 

"You noticed that, did you?" Harry asked. 

"Harry, please, those questions were about as subtle as a slap in the face. Besides, I saw what was in some of those letters to the Prophet. It was pretty obvious that the Chief Warlock was looking for a way to settle the matter one way or the other." 

Harry nodded, again having to remind himself that the girl's diminutive body hid a very grown up mind. 

"Do you think you might have been just a little harsh with that despicable man at the end, Abagail?" Mrs. Weasley asked. 

"It might have seemed that way, Mrs. Weasley, but that's because you couldn't see what he was thinking. It wasn't what he was saying. He didn't feel bad about me, he thought I was just some simple child and all he was trying to do was make the Minister look bad." 

Harry gave a small smile and said, 

"So what now?" 

"I go back to school, keep on with my studies and fit in as much drawing and painting as I can. That reminds me, I brought a few things with me when I went back to school but I'd like to pick up some more from my room to bring back. I might need some help." 

"I'll go back with you, Abagail," Ginny offered. "I want to make sure you get back alright. We can pack a couple of small bags." 

"Thanks, Ginny. We should probably get started on it then, I'd like to be back for dinner." 

"Sure thing. Let's go," Ginny said as she stood up and the two left the kitchen. 

"She seems to be holding up pretty well, Harry," Mrs. Weasley said. 

"So far so good. But we'll keep an eye on her for a while. I don't want another unpleasant surprise," he said quietly. 

Later that evening after Ginny had returned and they had eaten a light dinner, Harry was sitting in his study at his desk working on the outline for his course. Ginny was sitting in the cushioned chair working on some notes of her own. 

"Harry, I was wondering about something," she said. 

"What's that, love?" 

"What was it like for you to find out you were a wizard?" she asked. 

Harry put down his pen, which he had started using more and more rather than a quill, and sat back, looking at the wall in front of him, thinking. Then he turned to his wife and said, 

"Confusing, a little frightening, but in a way very exciting and reassuring. I don't know if I ever told you but when I was growing up in the Dursley house and going to the muggle school some odd things happened every once in a while. The time I found myself on top of a school building when I was trying to get away from Dudley and his gang, or every time they cut my hair it was back like this the next day, and then that whole episode in the zoo with the snake. As unbelievable as the idea of wizardry was to me it answered the questions those incidents raised. I stopped feeling like an oddball and felt like I belonged someplace. Plus it gave me the opportunity to have friends and the first time I flew, that was amazing," he said with a gleam in his eye, but that faded when another thought crossed his mind.