The evening approached faster than I had expected. I knew that because when I woke up a few hours later, Hermione was gone and the streetlights were now lit outside. Groaning, I rubbed my temples, feeling even more tired and frustrated then I did a few hours ago.
What else was there to do now? Oh, right. Nothing, according to everyone else, it seemed like.
"Max?"
I jumped in my seat, managing to shout, "I'm in here!" The door opened, revealing to be Ginny. "Oh, hey. I was hoping you'd be my brother finally coming to his senses."
"One can only hope that scenario," she replied, chuckling a little. "But it has happened before, so maybe it'll happen again."
I let out a scoff. "Yeah, I don't know about this time, Gin." Sighing, I leaned back in my chair, staring at the ginger. "So, what do you want?"
"It's late, Max, and I think you should come home with Harry and I," she said.
"Okay, and why is that?"
She shot me a serious look. "Do you want to be alone right now?"
I bit my lip, shaking my head. "No, not really."
"That's what I thought. It's pretty late, anyway," she said. "It's almost midnight."
Midnight? I was really knocked out, then.
"Well, you do look really tired," she pointed out.
"Thanks," I added in a sarcastic tone, getting up from my chair. "Come on, let's go."
Once I turned the lights off and locked the door, Ginny and I walked towards the elevators in silence. I had no doubt in my mind that both of us had a lot to think about, one of those things being about Harry. The more I thought about him, the more irritated I was with him. Even as adults, we still bickered and argued as if we were teenagers again. It was beginning to get ridiculous, to be honest, and I bet everyone else felt the same way, too. I didn't blame them since they had been putting up with our shit for too long now.
Once we arrived at the Potter household, Harry was already there. "Hey," he said to us.
"Hey," Ginny and I responded in unison, shutting the door behind me.
"You got here quickly," I added.
"I left after Ginny went to go get you," he stated. "It's past midnight now."
"Yes, we can read the time, Harry," I retorted, rolling my eyes at him.
"Max, do you even know what day it is?" he asked me.
"Saturday?"
"Stop joking around. I'm being serious."
I huffed a sigh in annoyance. "Okay, what day is it, then?"
Harry swallowed hard, shooting me a serious and sad look. "It's Halloween."
My face fell, making me feel more guilty for being clueless and rude. I was so wrapped up with everything that was going on that I didn't even think about what day it was. Now I realized why Harry and Ginny wanted me to come over.
"Oh, Harry, I...I wasn't thinking..." I tried to apologize.
"It's fine," he assured me, though it didn't seem like it was fine. "We've been a bit preoccupied at the moment..."
"That's still no excuse to forget today," I told him.
Thirty-nine years ago, Voldemort murdered our parents and the Wizarding world was shaken. In that moment, our lives were forever changed and we didn't even realize it. Harry and I began to get together on Halloween after him and Ginny got married. It was the one day in the year where we sat down and mourned the anniversary of our parents' deaths. It was hard talking about it, even though it happened a long time ago, but it got a little bit easier every year. Of course, neither of us would be able to bring it up without having this aching feeling inside.
"Can you believe it's been thirty-nine years?" I questioned.
"It doesn't feel like it's been that long," Ginny spoke up.
"Wow, we're old," I added.
Harry snorted, forming a small smile and shaking his head. "Don't even remind me. Come on, I want to show you something." So Harry led me upstairs and opened the first door to the left, revealing Albus' bedroom. He went towards the bed and sat on it, letting out a sigh. "I guess you can tell by looking at it that this is Albus' room."
"It wasn't too hard to figure out," I assured him. It made me think that I hadn't been in Scorpius' room since I gave him my bracelet a few months ago. I wondered if Draco had been in there since he started getting into this mess.
Ginny walked up from behind me, looking at Harry. "Can't say I'm surprised to find you here," she told him.
"Don't worry, I haven't touched anything. Your shrine is preserved." He immediately winced, regretting what he just said. "Bad choice of words." Ginny, however, didn't make some snippy comment. She only stared at him as he continued to speak. "You know, Max, we've had some pretty terrible Halloween's, but this is undoubtedly the second worst one."
I nodded my head in agreement. "Yes, definitely."
Ginny cleared her throat, folding her arms over her chest, slowly making her way towards Harry. "I was wrong to blame you. I always accuse you of jumping to things and..." She stopped, sitting down next to Harry, shooting him an apologetic look. "When Albus went missing, I assumed it was your fault, and I'm sorry I did that."
Surprised, he looked at Ginny. "You don't think this is my fault?"
"Harry, he was kidnapped by a powerful dark witch. How can that be your fault?"
"Because I chased him away. I chased him to her."
"I chased Scorpius away, too," I admitted.
Fed up, the ginger threw her hands up in frustration. "Can we not treat this as if the battle is already lost?" she blurted out, which threw us off as she raised her voice a little.
Harry began to cry softly. "I'm sorry, Gin..." he attempted to whisper, but his voice cracked.
"Are you not listening to me? I'm sorry, too," she said, placing her hand on his shoulder.
He sniffled, wiping the tears from his face. "Max and I shouldn't have survived. It was our destiny to die, even Dumbledore thought so, and yet we lived. We beat Voldemort. All these people...our parents, Fred, the Fallen Fifty, and it's us that still get to live? How is that? All this damage and it's our fault."
"Are you trying to make us feel even more guilty about the war?" I spoke up, feeling infuriated. "We've gone through this many times already, Harry. What else was there to do? Who would've been there for everyone if we had died?"
"I dunno, but I'm sure they would've found someone," he retorted.
I scoffed, rolling my eyes at him. "I highly doubt that."
"You two shouldn't blame yourselves for those deaths in the Battle of Hogwarts," Ginny stated. "They were killed by Voldemort."
"But if we had stopped him sooner..." Harry began to say. "Don't you realize how different things would've been? All that blood on our hands..." Harry trailed off, massaging his temples with his fingers. "And now our sons have been taken, too--"
"Albus isn't dead," Ginny said firmly, then looked at me. "Scorpius isn't dead, either. They're both alive and well somewhere." She took Harry into her arms as I grabbed a chair near me and sat down, sighing.
For a moment, we sat there in silence, the room filled with nothing but pure unhappiness. The tension was getting heavier by the second. I couldn't stand it, not one bit of it. "How many more people have to die for The-Twins-Who-Lived?" I asked.
"I don't know, Max," Harry replied truthfully, unsure of an answer. He looked over at some blanked on the floor. "That blanket is all I have of that night. That's all I have to remember them by. And--" He stopped, looking closely at the blanket. He got up and walked towards it, picking it up and staring at it in disappointment. "This has got holes in it. Ron's idiotic love potion has burnt through it, right through it. Great. It's ruined." He opened it up, spotting the writing on it.
"I don't think those are just holes, Harry," I told him, observing the blanket from my chair. "There's something written on it."
Ginny got up and took the blanket from Harry. "Let me read it. My eyesight is better than yours, anyway..." I got up, too, trying to help Ginny read the message on it. "'Dad...Hello...'"
"Hold on, that's not right," I told her. "Let me try." I grabbed the blanket from her, spreading it out for me to see all of it. "'Hallow...Hollow?'"
"Now you're screwing it up," Ginny retorted, rolling her eyes.
"No, I'm not, Gin. Look, there's some numbers here, too," I pointed out. I turned towards Ginny. "You wanna figure out what the numbers are?"
"Yes, if you'll just be quiet this time..." Ginny did her bed to figure out the numbers. "What is this? It looks like some Muggle telephone number or maybe some grid reference..."
"No, that's not it. Hang on..." Looking closely, it seemed like Harry cracked the code. "It's a date. 31st October, 1981."
"I also don't think that says 'hello,' either. I think it says 'help,'" Ginny stated.
"'Dad. Help. 31/10/81,'" Harry repeated, smiling with excitement. "It's a message. Albus sent us a message!" He kissed Ginny's hand, gripping it tightly. "This is brilliant! We've finally got something!"
"Wait, Albus wrote this?" Ginny questioned in surprise.
"Yes," Harry said. "Not only that, but he's also told us where they are and when they are. Now, we know where Delphi is and where we can fight her."
"Woah, hold on a second..." I shot Harry a worried yet serious look. "The boys are stuck in 1981?"
"Yes, which means we have to go back in time and get them."
"Oh, so now you want to use the Time-Turner..."
Harry rolled his eyes at me. "Don't even say another word about that. I know it's dangerous and all, but now we have a lead on our sons and on Delphi."
I sighed, shaking my head. "Merlin, I can't believe this..."
"Gin, send an owl to Ron and Hermione. Max, you send one to Draco. Tell them to meet us at Godric's Hollow with the Time-Turner. We have a chance, and by Dumbledore...that's all we need."
*******
Half an hour later, the six of us were in the center of an expanded Godric's Hollow. I remembered when it was a lot smaller and more quiet. Now, it was a busy market town with people scattered all over the streets. Overall, I felt overwhelmed by looking at all of it as we walked around.
"Wow," Hermione muttered, looking at the surroundings. "It must be twenty years for me..."
"Twenty-three," I corrected her.
"Is it just me or are there more Muggles about?" Ginny questioned.
"It's become quite popular as a weekend break," Hermione explained.
"I can see why..." Draco spoke up, trying to take it all in himself.
Hermione looked at Harry and I. "This feels just like old times."
"Old times with one unwelcome ponytail added to the mix," Ron blurted out.
An aggravating expression formed upon Draco's face. "Can I just say--"
"Malfoy, you may be all chummy chummy with Harry, you may make Max happy, and you may have produced a relatively nice child, but you've said some very unfair things to and about my wife."
"And your wife doesn't need you fighting her battles for her," Hermione intervened, shooting Ron a stern look.
Ron, huffed a sigh in defeat, knowing he needed to stop. He kept eye contact with Draco. "Fine, but if you say one thing about her or me--"
"You'll do what, Weasley?" Draco inquired, raising his eyebrows at Ron, clearly ready to start something.
"He'll hug you," Hermione replied. "Because we're all on the same team, right, Ron?" She gave Ron a warning look.
Ron hesitated, swallowing hard. "Fine. I, um...I think you've got really nice hair...Draco."
"Thank you, husband," she said as we began to walk away from the numerous people that were walking all over town.
"I always forget what power you hold over Ron," I muttered to Hermione.
She grinned. "I think he forgets sometimes, too."
We all walked for a little ways, wanting to make sure that we were alone. Then, Harry shouted, "I think this is a good spot!" as we stopped right by a deserted alley.
"Well, this isn't scary at all..." I muttered.
"Okay, Draco, you've got the Time-Turner?" Harry asked him.
Draco reached into his pocket and showed it to him. "Right here."
Harry nodded his head. "Good. Are we all ready?"
"No," I replied quickly.
"And why not?"
"Because I'm just not, okay? I thought I was ready to do this, but now I'm here and it just..." I took a deep breath and tried to continue, but I couldn't get any more words out.
Harry walked towards me and led me away from the others. "Okay, seriously, what's really bothering you?"
I sighed, shrugging my shoulders. "I don't know. It's just all so scary and dangerous."
"Look, I know a lot of things are at stake here--"
"Harry, when it comes to us everything will be at stake," I pointed out. "But this time it's personal, very personal."
"Max, listen to me..." He took my hands, gripping them tightly. "You and I...we've been through so much. We saved the Wizarding world together once. We can defeat Delphi and save our sons, I know we can. I can't do this without you."
All of a sudden, my emotions came over me as I pulled my brother in for a hug. We had been through so much. We spent the rest of our teenage years together, we faced Hogwarts together, we ran from Snatchers together, and we even fought Lord Voldemort together. Now, twenty-two years later, we were still out in the action, saving the world, and there was no one else I'd want by my side to help me.
"Together until the end?" I whispered in his ear.
"Always," he whispered back, then pulling me away from the hug. "One final adventure. What do you say?"
I nodded my head, a smile creeping up on my face. "Let's go save the world again."
Smiling back, Harry led me back with the others, taking a deep breath. "Okay, everyone, let's go back to where it all started."
Draco spun the Time-Turner a few times until it began to spin wildly on its own, falling to the ground. We all took our places around it, our hearts beating faster than ever before.
I was ready. I was ready as I'd ever be.
Before we knew it, we were bewildered by the unexpected wave of light, followed by a loud bang! Then, everything after that was a blur. Once it felt like the trip was over, we checked our surroundings.
"Did it work?" Ron asked.
"Let's go find out," Ginny replied, being the first to go out in the streets. Her face went from confused to shocked. "Guys, come out here!" The rest of us went out to where she was at and couldn't believe our eyes.
"It worked," Draco muttered.
"It worked," I repeated, not sure how to process all of this. Here I was, at Godric's Hollow, on the exact day my parents were murdered, the day everything changed for the Potter family, for everyone in the Wizarding world.
"How does it make you feel?" Harry questioned me. "Because I'm not sure what to feel, really."
"I don't know, either," I admitted. "It's weird, I can say that much."
Harry nodded his head in agreement. "Definitely."
Hermione nodded her head and turned towards the rest of us. "Okay, come on. We've got a witch to defeat."
With that, the six of us began to tread down the street, mentally preparing ourselves at what would come next. I was positive that all of us knew what Delphi had ready for us was not going to be pretty.
A/N: They're back in 1981! Weird.
We're so close to the end, but we're not! It's a strange feeling. What are you most excited for?
Song above is Eden Voyage by X-Ray Dog. Idk, I feel like it fits the chapter, lol.
Comment, vote, <3
-A