Crossroads

Chapter 1

Harry Potter was tired. This was nothing new, but given that he had just had the most peaceful sleep of his entire life, it was honestly a bit surprising. Reaching blindly for his glasses, Harry found his mind drifting to unwanted places. The war was over, Voldemort was dead, and all of Harry's thoughts came back to one question: "What now?"

"Bloody hell," the tired man spoke as his glasses seemed to be playing a great game of hide and seek. He finally found them and placed them on his face before rising from his bed. Immediately Harry felt the soreness and fatigue in his body that had just engaged the darkest wizard of all time in a duel yesterday. He couldn't suppress the groan that escaped from his body as it seemed to protest every bit of his movements. Resolving to power his way through it, he quickly put on his shirt and made his way to the bed of his friend Ron.

As Harry made his way over to Ron, he noticed that the covers seemed to be stretched out a bit more than usual. Moving closer, he saw that there was clearly another body under the covers with Ron and he had a sinking feeling as to who it was. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw the telltale bushy brown hair of Hermione Granger, the woman he had realized he loved over the past eighteen months of spending time with her on a task that seemed nigh impossible to complete. He had spent nearly seven years of his life with her and never realized just how much he loved and needed her until it was too late. He was an idiot.

"Pleasant way to wake up. A punch right to the gut," mumbled the tired man as he slowly backed away, not wanting to disturb the couple's peace. Shaking off the raging jealousy, he made his way down to the Gryffindor common room to collect his thoughts.

He was the first to arrive down in the common room, and was secretly thankful for it. He really didn't feel like talking to anyone, especially since everyone thought he was some sort of legend now. None of them knew what he had gone through to even be standing there right now, and none of them could understand just how purposeless he felt. He convinced himself that his life would begin after Voldemort's death, but nothing happened. Voldemort died like any other man, and Harry was left to wonder what would happen next.

In his final moments, the Dark Lord laughed at Harry, as if knowing that the man would be feeling like this. Maybe Ginny was right, Harry painfully thought, maybe he would never be happy unless he was chasing after Voldemort.

Was this all that he was meant to be? Was he destined to be chasing dark wizards for the rest of his life? Could he ever truly know peace? So many questions, and so little answers came to Harry.

A frustrated sigh escaped the man's mouth before he quickly rose to his feet and left the common room. Some fresh air was terribly needed, he thought.

In no time, Harry found himself meandering through the grounds of the castle that he had called home for seven years of his life. The morning air caressed his face gently as the sun's rays cast an almost ethereal glow around the area. By all means, it was shaping up to be a beautiful day but Harry couldn't find it in himself to care. With each second that passed, each question that was left unanswered, Harry grew frustrated.

Continuing to amble his way through the grounds, he found himself at Hagrid's hut. Letting a small smile creep on his face, Harry thought back to his first friend in the wizarding world and all that he had done for him. One day, he was going to have to truly thank him.

He ventured past Hagrid's hut and quickly found himself at the lake of the Forbidden Forest, the same lake where he had driven off hundreds of dementors to save Sirius' life. At the thought of this, tears immediately sprung to the man's eyes as he remembered his Godfather, the man he had found and lost all too soon. "You'd know what to do right now, right Padfoot?" Harry asked into the open air, almost praying for any sort of guidance. None came.

Deciding to rest a bit, Harry began to
compartmentalize and try to resolve the conflict within himself. He was a man without purpose, and he needed to know where he could find it, if he could find it.

Seconds became minutes, minutes became hours, and Harry was no closer to finding out what he needed to do. His mind felt as if it were being pulled in a million different directions at once, as if there was nothing to center it.

At that final thought, an epiphany occurred within Harry. Voldemort, as much as Harry hated to admit it, had been one of the consistent things in his life. If nothing else, the man could count on Lord Voldemort's desire to kill him. Now that he was gone, Harry realized that that consistency no longer existed.

Before he could stop himself, he began to wonder if anything in his current life would be able to do that. Inwardly, he knew the answer. Throughout all of his life, there had been only one person who stuck by him through thick and thin: Hermione.

But Harry knew that her part in his life was over. He had served his purpose, and given her an opportunity to live and be happy. It was unfair of him to ask for her to stay by his side again, especially when she was determined to be with his best mate. It ripped him apart inside, but he accepted that he needed to learn to be without her.

"Fucking hell," he exclaimed. One of his worst fears was finally coming true. Hermione was no longer his, she never actually was in the first place, but he had grown accustomed to her unwavering loyalty and support. He took her for granted, and now he was paying the price for it.

He didn't know if he could bear the image of seeing Hermione and Ron together because the very thought of it had ripped his fledgling heart to shreds. Did he even want to be here anymore? Did he want to see them together, to be reminded of his failure? Furthermore, did he even want to live in a place where he would be constantly haunted by the people that he failed to save? Was he ready to be worshipped as a hero when he barely made it through?

The answer was a resounding no. He wasn't ready for any of those things. "I got it," Harry whispered out loud in triumph. He knew what needed to happen now. If he truly needed to find out who Harry Potter actually was, then he needed to escape the place that had forced him into a life he scarcely wanted.

He had no more responsibilities to this world, he had done his purpose. Now, it was time for him to set out and finally see the world beyond England. With the money that Sirius and his parents left him, Harry knew that traveling across the world would be all too simple. A grin crossed his face at the thought, and he immediately sat up to head back to the castle.