"So, you're definitely going with Snape?" Fred asked.
It was the last day of the school year. Harry and the twins were sitting up in the Astronomy Tower. In the distance they could see the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students leaving. Hogwarts students would be brought to the train station in a couple of hours. For the first time ever, though, Harry would not be taking the Hogwarts Express. Instead, he would be going ahead with Alexei to his new home. He wasn't thrilled with the transportation methods: a mixture of Portkey and Apparation.
Harry nodded to the twins. "All three of them. Both Severus and Lucius have things to do, so I'm leaving with Alexei when all the students leave."
"You must be excited," George said. "Never returning to the Dursleys' again."
"Yeah, it's pretty great," Harry said. He could hardly express how happy he was.
"We're happy for you," Fred said.
"You've been through so much this year and, despite it all, you're leaving with a family," George said.
"A strange family," Fred added and Harry chuckled.
"But a family," George said.
"It is pretty weird," Harry agreed. "I don't know if I ever told you, but I saw Ron in dreams all year. He helped me a lot and he supported all this with Severus before I did. I saw him once more, the night after the task. I think he's happy, somewhere good. He's with Draco and Cedric. All he wants is for us to stay friends."
The twins were quiet for a bit, a hit of sadness in the face of Ron.
"Of course we'll stay friends," George said.
"We just want to be here for you," Fred said.
"Especially now," George added.
Harry smiled at them, glad to have kept their friendship through everything. He had gained a family, but he lost a lot of friends. It had truly been the toughest year he'd ever had.
He and the twins stayed in the tower, chatting and watching the Beauxbatons carriage fly away and the Durmstrang ship sink into the water. While talking, Harry looked over at the Quidditch Pitch. It had been restored, the maze removed. Memories of the maze flashed in his mind and they started to bring up the graveyard, but he forced them back. Those events plagued his sleep and he wanted these last moments with the twins to be free of that horror.
He hadn't talked about it yet. Severus, Lucius, and Alexei still didn't know everything about that task and night. Lucius knew what happened in the graveyard, but apparently hadn't told the others.
Must be waiting for me to tell them, he thought. It was clearly the man's way of letting Harry discuss it when he was ready.
"Time to go, boys."
Harry turned and found Alexei. He and the twins got to their feet and followed the vampire to the Entrance Hall.
"Have a good summer, Harry," George said.
"Write, will you?" Fred said.
"I will, promise," Harry said and waved as they joined the crowd of students leaving the castle. Harry stayed off to the side with Alexei. The vampire allowed him to stand there for a while, watching the students leave. Most of them were chatting happily and excitedly. The return of Voldemort and Cedric's death hadn't impacted most of them very much. Many of their lives continued as normal. He wished he was one of them.
The maze had changed him, just not in the way he thought it would. This entire year had changed him. His whole life was different now.
"Ready to go, rebenok?"
ESTÁ A LER
Caught Between
FanficIn his 4th year, Harry feels like he has lost everything while also fighting for his life in the Triwizard Tournament. However, he may find that, perhaps, he has actually found everything he has always wanted.
