* Harry's P.O.V *
The sun was just barely poking out of the window when I got up, a strange, unnamable pit forming in my stomach.
It was my last day at Hogwarts. Ever.
I was never going to come back to the place I'd called home for so many years, the place I'd made my best friends, the place I'd laughed, belonged, worried, studied, learned, fell in love.
My eyes raked the common room as I ambled sleepily down stairs, and a fleeting memory of my first kiss with Ginny flashed in my mind, warm, bright, and pleasnt.
Out the window I could see Hagrid's Hut, so small, so far away, and I smelt his horrible rock cakes, heard the crack of a dragon egg, and remembered Fang's booming bark.
My feet carried me outside, not knowing where I was going, and as I jumped the trick step on the staircase, I got a vision of Neville, sinking knee down.
As I passed the transfiguration classroom, I remembered Ron and my's first lesson, how difficult we found it, and how McGonagall yelled at us. A grin crossed my face.
All these memories, these things I was to leave, took hold in my brain at once. A dizziness came over me. Where would I live? I didn't want to impose on the burrow for too long, and Ginny and I might need time to find a place...
Instead of thinking about it at all, I strolled outside in the early morning, the last few spots of pink and orange from the sunrise fading away. It was peaceful, quiet.
I threw myself down underneath the willow by the lake, remembering the grasp of the grindilow, the sound of screeching mermish.
I lay on the grass for a long time, the dew soaking the back of my shirt for a long time. It was real. I was really leaving Hogwarts. I was really leaving home.
I just closed my eyes, face pointed to the sky. I didn't know how much time had passed before I caught a wiff of a pleasnt, flowery smell, and felt the tickle of hair on my cheek.
"Gin," I murmured, not opening my eyes. She lay on my chest, holding my hand in hers. Our breathing was in perfect rhythm.
She whispered, "What do you think?"
I looked at her. She had a whistful, sad, and curious face that somehow wrapped all into one.
"I don't know. I'm...gonna miss it. A lot."
She smiled.
"Me too."
It was a long time before we moved again.
***
The din of the Great Hall was deafening, everyone talking, laughing, eating, drinking. It was a happy and sad event, the going away feast. Hufflepuff won the house cup, but I honestly didn't care.
Professor McGonagall stood, and the talking ceased. She looked upon us all, her expression hard to read.
"Well, it's the end of another year. Now, I hope you enjoyed yourselves here. As soon as I dismiss you, you may head to the train. Have a good holiday."
There was an instant stamping of feet. Vaguely wondering why her dismissal was so short, I jogged up to her.
"Professor-" our eyes met. She was someone I could trust, a teacher, a mentor, a friend.
"See you later."
She gave me a real, genuine smile, making her eyes light up in a way they hadn't before.
"Take it easy Potter."
I shook her hand, and bumped into Hagrid, who instantly pulled me into a rib-cracking embrace.
"Promise meh you'll write Harry. I'm going ter miss yeh, I'll tell yeh that."
I looked way up at him, and smiled.
"I'll miss you too."
And before I knew it, he was being dragged out the front doors by Ginny and onto the Hogwarts Express.
I took one last look at the castle, the plethora of turrets and towers. I felt an ache in my chest to stay.
"I'm not going home," I thought, not even whispering it under my breath. "Not really."
And as I was settled against Ginny in the compartment, I took one last, sharp intake of breath as we rounded the corner, the castle shielded from view.
So that was really it.
I was really gone.
***
Omg soo GUESS WHAT
MY AMAZING BALLS SISTER THREW A SURPRISE HARRY POTTER BDAY PARTY AND OMG IT WAS THE BEST THINGN EVER OKAY BYE