Ron's POV

After the Aurors swept the Department of Mysteries, Ginny, Hermione, Neville, Luna and I were all taken by portkey to the Hospital Wing in Hogwarts. Harry staying back to talk with Dumbledore and (Y/N) staying behind because he was in no condition to travel.

Of course, Madam Pomfrey gave us an earful about being reckless as always and Hermione was still bedridden but the rest of us got off well, Pomfrey managed to fix Ginny's ankle in hours. The rest of us just had cuts and bruises and a few small broken bones.

Tonks came along later the next morning to explain what we had had to do now. She was looking pale and her face was sunken, some dirt still smeared on her face, her eyes were red and puffy. Even her hair wasn't as bright, it had gone from a bubblegum pink to a light brown.

She sat us all down in the Hospital Wing, first we were sworn into silence about most of the things we had seen at the Ministry, she assured us that Harry and (Y/N) were being taken care of, Harry was actually in Hogwarts, still talking with Dumbledore.

When Hermione questioned about (Y/N) and how he was Tonks' demeanour lowered even more, "He's...coping" was all she said. "Dumbledore will want to speak to him too, but he's not exactly in the headspace to be talking to anyone right now."

"But he'll be alright yeah?" I said, worried, she nodded "'Course he will, he's never been the type of person that would let this keep him down for long..." she trailed off, then sighed. "Listen," she said, looking to her watch.

"He should be here within the hour," Hermione sat up intently, then cringed at the pain. "He needs rest most of all so please try to be mindful" said Madam Pomfrey, who was making herself busy by prepping a bed for him.

"There is one more thing" Tonks said, we all looked at her intently. "Under no circumstances. I mean NO circumstances, are any of you allowed to hand him a wand, not to hold, not to see, not to carry or to borrow"

"But why-" started Neville, she just talked over him "-Do I make myself absolutely clear?" she said with a firmness in her voice I had never heard before. "Do you think he'd go after Dolohov?" I asked her, she looked at me and simply shook her head.

"That scum's halfway to Azkaban by now, everyone says he's gone raving mad, crying, wailing like a baby. No, Moody said he's worried (Y/N) might...never mind...Look...People do stupid things when they grieve, blame the wrong people. Lash out."

We all nodded in unison, "Trust me, I learned that the hard way, a stupid mistake, wasn't thinking..." she muttered "She'd have my head for it..." she muttered with a little laugh.

Shaking her head and looking back to us she stood up, wiping some tears from her eyes, she said her goodbyes, and walked out of the room. We sat there for a while, Ginny broke the silence.

"Do you think he would have done it? The killing curse" "Yeah, I would" I said, imagining what I would have done in his shoes, "Anyone would" Neville agreed. "I can't believe Sirius and (M/N) are dead" lamented Hermione, I nodded solemnly, not sure of what to say.

"Was Sirius Black a friend of yours?" asked Luna, seemingly unfazed by the topic and posing it as more of a question or as if she had just asked you to pass the salt. Hermione, Ginny and I all nodded.

When Neville and Luna gave us questioning looks, we explained his relationship to Harry. They nodded, "How awful." Said Luna sadly. Then we were all preoccupied with the sudden movement in the room.

(Y/N) was stood in the room, holding a teakettle. Despite looking fine, something wasn't right his eyes were glassy, as if he wasn't really focusing on anything, he was visibly trembling and had a thousand-yard stare.

Madam Pomfrey started fussing over him immediately. He flinched when she approached him, instinctively reaching for his wand, only to grasp at air. "It's alright dear, you're in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts." she comforted him.

He spoke for the first time, his voice was cracked and broken, so hoarse it was almost lost entirely, "No, no...not here, I don't want to be here" he immediately turned to the door and started striding towards it, Madam Pomfrey got in front of him.

"Looking for that cat of yours I imagine? We'll bring her to you, don't worry dear, just rest for now" Pomfrey said, almost forcibly putting some cheer in her voice to try and lighten the mood. Her voice was gentle.

He seemed almost angry at the offer, glaring at her like she'd attacked him "The cat? I don't want the damned cat! I want to GO BACK!" He roared, taking a step towards Pomfrey angrily, causing Hermione and Ginny to squeak in fright. His eyes looked demented.

Looking at his surroundings, he seemed to skip over our faces, instead finding the teakettle he had just dropped to the floor. He picked it up and started to shake it. "Back! Take me back!" When this didn't work, he seemed to get a lot more temperamental.

"I don't have time for this! I need to try again!" he said as this suddenly made everything clear. "I have to do SOMETHING!" he pointed out the window to the late night sky as the sun lowered in the horizon.

"See, the suns still up, I can still do it, I can still try" he said, still trying to convince us of something, his voice getting more desperate. "I have to do something. I can't...not again...I can't..."

He threw the portkey to the ground, it dented on impact with the floor with a loud "CLANG!" he whipped his head around to us again, patting his pockets. "...wand" He barged Pomfrey aside and stormed up to me, holding out his hand.

"Ron give me your wand!" There was a beat of silence where I was in too much shock to respond. "NOW!" He demanded. "I'm not doing that mate" I said, trying to sit up more, he let out a deep sigh.

It was the first time since he had got back that I'd seen some emotion in his eyes, he gave an angry, demanding stare around the room, as if silently asking everyone else the same question. Nobody complied.

He held a lingering gaze on Hermione, tears pricked the corners of her eyes and she shook her head firmly. He took a deep breath. "Fine!" he turned on his heel as Madam Pomfrey raised her wand and muttered something. "Winky! Take me to the Veil...room...in...the...depar-" and he collapsed.

Hermione and Ginny both gasped as he collapsed to the floor face first with an odd slapping noise, immediately snoring. "Poor boy," Madam Pomfrey said, tears welling in her eyes too. Then with a simple flourish she cast "Mobilicorpus" and lifted his sleeping form onto the bed she had prepared.

(Y/N)'s POV

The only thing worse than waking up from a nightmare you can't remember is waking up into one that you can never forget. I bolted awake, sweating and shivering, when I noticed there was only dim light in the room, I whipped my head around to look out of the window.

I think this was when it hit me, as I stared up at the moon in the sky. It was over, time was up. Even if I got back to the Veil, even if I found Mum, I couldn't pull her back with me anymore. "Of course I overslept" I muttered, it was almost comical.

I swung my legs off the bed and stood up, I wasn't going to lie in this bed anymore, it was wrong, almost an insult to Mum, this room had caused her so much pain, I shouldn't be here. I went to open the door only to find it locked.

Cursing, I went over to Ginny, figuring she'd be the easiest to overpower if I needed and reached for her wand which was peeking out from under her pillow. I just needed something to open the door. I'd give it back when I'm done.

As I reached down to grab it a quiet voice whispered an incantation behind me. With that spell, everything in the room suddenly went dead quiet, no sound of snoring from Ron or wind outside the windows, I turned on my heel to find Madam Pomfrey looking at me with a scowl.

"What are you doing! Back to bed!" she said in a voice that was trying desperately not to shout. She had Imperturbed us, so no sound would travel to the others. "Couldn't find the key, wanted a glass of water" she scowled at me harder.

"This isn't the time for a midnight stroll, back to bed, I'll get you some water" she said, wagging her wand at me for emphasis. Part of me wanted to snatch it from her, then I could use it to get out of Hogwarts, even if I had to fight my way out.

Or if I just got to the kitchens I could get Winky to take me to the Veil, then an idea arose, I had done it with Neville, I could do it again. I shut my eyes and wished with everything I had that I was in the ministry of magic.

Once I opened them to find Pomfrey staring at me, I tried again, this time telling myself I would get there even if I had to splinch something to do it. I didn't care about the consequences, I could keep trying until it worked.

Surprisingly, tears blurred my vision before I even knew they were even filling them. "Not here, please, I don't want to sleep here" I said aloud, Pomfrey gave me a sympathetic look, unable to contain herself she pulled me into a hug.

A voice in the back of my head told me this was the perfect time to take her wand from her, but I was too tired to act. "It's alright dear, its ok" she said, eventually leading me to the Gryffindor Dorms.

On top of my bed I found Bones, curled up and sleeping, part of my stomach violently lurched at seeing her, another memory I would never escape, but then she opened her eyes. Letting out a little "Meow" upon seeing me, she sauntered forward and began licking my hand.

I pet her, and I felt a little of the tension in my body leave. I fell asleep before my head hit the pillow. When I woke up I found out there were some people waiting for me outside the portrait. Sprout and Flitwick, looking saddened.

"What, I get an escort now?" I muttered, they instructed me that I needed to go back to the hospital wing, and they were here to make sure I went. Reluctantly and with a sea of onlookers we made our way back.

Looking at the frightened first years and the impressed fourth years, normally I'd be proud of my new notoriety in Hogwarts but I just didn't care. They could stare and whisper all they want, it meant nothing to me anymore.

"When do I get my wand back?" I asked as we walked, "When you can be trusted with it" said Sprout simply. "Why am I not being trusted with it now?" They didn't say anything. "Rude."

Once we were inside, I knew why I wasn't trusted, because believe me if I had a wand I'd be using it right now, inside where the two people I wanted to see the least right now, Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore.

I went to turn out of the room but was stopped by my professors. With a heavy sigh I sat down on the edge of a bed. As Madam Pomfrey saw to me Dumbledore approached me, "(Y/N), if you're feeling up to it, please come to my office."

With that, he strode away as if nothing was wrong. "You know, you could do this yourself" Pomfrey muttered as she used magic to heal up all my cuts and bruises, "I know, but your version always feels better" I smiled weakly, she returned it.

After that I stood up shakily and made my way to Dumbledore's office. On my way there something occurred to me when I started thinking about Sirius and I couldn't help but laugh. Of course, now everything made sense.

As I walked into the room, I stroked Baby Fawkes and he chirped at me sweetly. Dumbledore started blabbering the same nonsense everyone else does when something like this happens, "My deepest condolences" and so on.

I couldn't really care about his apologies, I knew he didn't really care. So, I cut him off. "-I think Fawkes is the perfect pet for you professor" he raised an eyebrow, "A toy you can just keep breaking without any consequence, fits you well."

He went to speak but I spoke over him again, "Something to take the hit for you so you stay safe. Just like you told me to do for Harry. Didn't tell me that Voldemort would get inside my head though did you?"

"I didn't know his capabilities, if I had I would have never-" "Oh don't start lying! Every time you talk about Voldemort, you're in awe. So what was the plan then? Voldemort invades my mind; you kill me and call it an accident?"

"I know you are upset (Y/N), but that is quite frankly, a ridiculous idea, I would never harm a student, no matter who it was or for what reason." I nodded along. "it was my assumption that Voldemort would simply be unable to enter your mind and would be forced out."

"If I had known that in doing so you would have put others at risk I would have never-" "I said stop lying!" I almost screamed "You would do just about anything to kill Voldemort, then you'd make some excuse."

"I'm sure you've already told Harry all this, that Sirius's death is fine in the long run because he's the specialist boy in the whole wide world who will defeat Voldemort if he just tries his best."

"But what about me? Why did my mum have to die? I don't remember being told about some big prophecy, and as we all saw, Harry was perfectly capable of defending himself, so it wasn't for him"

He paused, not speaking. "Well? I'm WAITING!" "I made a mistake" he said in a quiet voice. Fore once not sounding like the proud headmaster I once knew him as, but more like the decrepit old man I saw him for now.

"-If anyone is at fault for your mother's death it is me and me alone" I scoffed, "Of course, defending Harry even now as if it wasn't his fault too" I took a deep breath to calm down. "Oh, don't worry, you're golden boy is safe. I'm not gonna hurt him."

"I assume that's why you confiscated my property? To keep me from hurting poor Harry?" He sighed, "Partially yes, but otherwise, so you didn't do anything that you would come to regret and hurt those around you or yourself"

I laughed at the thought, "I wouldn't do that! I'm not you." His eyes darted away from me. I wanted to prove a point so I kept going. "Answer me one more thing" I asked, he simply nodded as my words cut into him.

"Why didn't you just tell Harry about the link?" I asked as if I cared about the answer. "He wasn't ready to know" he said as this excused him. I scoffed, "Of course, another lie" "You know what I think? It scared you"

He didn't even say anything this time "I remembered something earlier that suddenly made everything make sense. As I thought about being in the hospital wing, and thought about Sirius dying too."

"In my third year, I begged Fudge to let me share my memories with him to clear Sirius's name, do you remember?" he nodded, not uttering a word. "He said that the Minister of Magic could never be allowed to do that, makes sense right?"

"I imagine you would feel the same since you think so highly of yourself. But that got me thinking, if it's that powerful, and Occlumency was so important...why Snape?" He looked at me as if confused as to why I brought it up.

"Why get Snape to teach Harry? You know the old saying, 'if you want something done right'" Again the old man rushed to make an excuse. "He was simply more qualified to teach Harry-" I was hoping he'd say that.

"Ok then, why have Snape check up on me in Grimmauld Place? I don't need teaching" he sighed and began to think "Simple question!" I said, he remained silent so I answered for him. "To see if Voldemort had turned me, so you could stay hidden and safe."

"You didn't want Harry in your head, in case Voldemort used their connection against you" He nodded. "So what it boils down to is...Sirius died because of you, Mum...is gone...because of you..."

"I CAME TO YOU FOR HELP AND YOU MANIPULATED ME! Just to protect Harry. Just to protect yourself! Telling me I had to get stronger. To protect people, to be better! But it was for his sake, not for mine. Voldemort was right, you do just see me as a tool! All this time. That's all you've ever seen me as."

I bit down on my tongue to stop from shouting, because I knew if I riled myself up, I'd kill him. There was only one man I wanted to kill right now, luckily for Albus Dumbledore, it wasn't him.

"In the Department of Mysteries you pressured me to help Harry because you didn't want to risk it yourself. That was the only reason you ever wanted me there. That was why you've had Snape checking on me, to see if I was still of use!"

"My mother died because you're a coward!" I spat, my mask of calm fading. "My boy, I fear, once again you are absolutely right" he said in a sorrowful tone as he rummaged in his desk and pulled out a pair of wands.

Mine and my brothers, along with a third I recognised as his own. He passed me his, "Please, do as you see fit" He said, passing it to me. "I will not stop you. If you think it best-" He began, quietening down as I snatched it from him.

I raised it and pointed it between his eyes, knowing that with a flick of my wrist I could stop all his manipulation in an instant, part of me wanted to do it just to say I did, that I killed the strongest man in the world.

What stopped me was the fact I knew Dumbledore too well, I was done being manipulated. Besides, I knew it wouldn't do anything but make me feel more resentful, she wouldn't want me to do this.

I dropped the wand to the desk without another thought. I didn't want the wand, I didn't want to kill him, in fact I wanted nothing to do with the man whatsoever. "You know what, you're not even worth it" I spat, snatching up my wands.

"You know Albus, at the start of this year, I thought I was a coward, now I know I'm not, because I'm nothing like you, and I hope I never grow to be" With that I walked away without another word.

The next few days felt just as empty, Dad had been informed, he was coming to Kings Cross at the end of the year and we were going to make arrangements after that, other than that, we still had a few days of school left.

But that doesn't mean it wasn't with its ups and downs, Hogwarts always was. But it was in these low points that I found I grew the most.

After what I said to Dumbledore I decided to go down to the Kitchens, Dobby greeted me cheerfully which was a welcome change from all the people giving me side glances and uneasy stares.

Winky was a different story, when I got there, she started bawling her eyes out and reaching for a butterbeer. After I wrestled it from her hand we had a talk, she was convinced that she had failed her masters yet again and let Mum die.

I told her there was nothing she could have done and that she couldn't have known what had happened, sentiments that I had only really just come to terms with myself.

I picked her up and she sobbed into my chest. "She is changing Winky's life. She is making Winky feel happy again" she said through tears, I nodded. "She did that for a lot of people Winky"

"But she wouldn't want to see us getting upset now would she?" she shook her head, her ears flapping side to side, "She is calling Winky 'dear' not 'elf' " I nodded, "I know..."

By the end of the week, I was reading the Daily Prophet from beside Hermione in the Hospital Wing. She was having to take ten different types of potion every day and although she was improving she was already bored out of her mind.

I didn't usually spend long in the Hospital Wing, just being there still made me a bit sick, but I still visited, partly to check up on Hermione, partly because I knew spending time around my friends was usually the only reason I could get through the day.

Me and Ginny were particularly harsh on Ron for a mishap he had with one of the brains the Ministry kept. "But Ron, if you let it eat you, you would have finally had one" I giggled.

Ron went crimson and threw his hands up "I am a prefect; you can't talk to me like that!" he said out of frustration. I scoffed, "I don't care if you're the Minister of Magic, you're still a prat" and we all laughed it off, I think it was the first real laugh I'd had since we left the Ministry.

Whenever being in the castle got too much to handle and I just wanted to shut down for a bit, I made my way down to the forest, usually Hagrid was the only one who would see me go in, but he knew where I was going and why, and he never stopped me. In fact, he usually gave me some fresh meat to use.

Trudging down into the depths of the forest I made some rasping noises into the wind, then sighed and tried a different method of attracting attention. "Oh no, I have all of this tasty meat and nobody to share it with, whatever will I do?" I shouted, clanging the bucket as if it was a dinner bell.

It was only a matter of seconds before the Thestrals arrived, the older ones of the group taking the lead, some of the younger thestrals were still unsure of my trustworthiness.

As I was giving out the last of the meat and taking comfort in the relative quiet of the forest, I felt a nudge on the side of my thigh. I looked down to see a baby thestral, still barely able to stand, looking up at me expectantly.

I bent down to its level and held out a small piece of meat. It tilted its head at me for a second before eagerly biting at the food, nipping my hand. "Careful now small fry, too much of a good thing can make you sick."

With a happy little shrieking noise, the little thestral bounded off to its mother. I had lovingly named her Antoinette. As I was saying my goodbyes to Percival for the year, I rubbed his snout.

"I'm going to be gone for a few weeks, you take care of the little ones for me ok? Make sure they get all big and strong" he pressed deeper into my hand. As I walked away, I started crying, my tears felt almost red hot, I knew that it wasn't just because I was saying goodbye to thestrals.

It was because I could still see them. Part of me thought they'd be invisible to me again. Because I didn't even want to accept this was my life anymore. But I came to realise I didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

Another thing I didn't have much of a choice in, despite my best efforts to avoid it, was the fact Harry was taking every opportunity he could to get me to talk to him, I don't know if I was ready to talk to him yet. But eventually he caught me as I was coming out of the forest because he was returning from seeing Hagrid.

"Please, just let me talk to you" he pleaded as we walked up the rock path. "Funny, I don't remember stopping you talking, I don't remember anyone stopping you from doing anything you want to do" I said bitterly as I increased my pace.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry and if-" I spun to look at him, all of the anger I had welling up and spilling out with every word "-You could take it all back you would? How profound, well, it's a bit late now isn't it mate."

He went a sickly pale colour "I'm sorr-" "Harry, don't say sorry, I don't know what I'm going to do to you if you start apologising, because we both know no matter how sorry you are, it won't change anything."

"Harry, you ruined my life, you can't just apologise and make it all better, unless you've come to present me with a time turner?" "I wish I could." He said in a broken voice. "Of course you do!"

If I was in my right mind, I would never say something like this to someone who had also lost family. But as of a few days ago. I had stopped caring about that entirely "You want to know what I wish?"

"I wish. I had kept my brother's wand in my trunk. I wish. I had beaten Dolohov to death. I wish. I had stayed with Mum instead of blindly following Dumbledore around like a good little boy...you get the picture? There's always a thousand 'I wishes' after but that doesn't matter."

"So don't start me on 'I wish' right now Harry" he averted his gaze from me. I was still shaking but my anger was starting to settle as I looked at how distraught he was, my conscience telling me to try and help.

"The worst thing is, I can't even blame you...not really...because I would have done the exact same thing. I would have begged you to come on my hands and knees if I was in your position, I would have..."

I trailed off, changing my mind and listening to the hateful part of my self again "But you know the difference?" "What?" he said, his voice now bitter and angry too. "I would have listened to my friends."

He glared at me, "What's that supposed to mean?" "It's the thing I hate most about you, you never think things through. You just saunter along with blind faith that everything will be fine. You don't care who you hurt."

"No wonder Dumbledore likes his golden boy so much, you're both the same" I laughed, he raised his voice, "What you think I don't care I led people I loved and cared about to their deaths?" He said.

"Now? Yes. Then? No." He flared up, standing taller "What?" I sighed, "Lets not even talk about us, we can run down the list."

"Hermione is sat in the Hospital Wing right now and was nearly killed, Ginny broke her ankle and was almost tortured, Ron almost got eaten by a brain, Neville broke his father's wand and was tortured and to top it all off we all nearly died" "Because of you"

"Because you were willing to risk everyone else's lives to save Sirius, because of course what you want comes first! Hermione told you what Voldemort was counting on. But you ignored her. We told you, that we needed to contact the order, but you were set on running off to your death."

"I am sorry that Sirius is dead Harry, I am, he was a good man, and family, I understand that. But that doesn't make you suddenly not responsible for everything that happened at the Ministry. You were the one who-"

"-You think I don't know that!" He shouted into the cold air. I retorted. "I know you do Harry; I just couldn't care less, you've been acting like this for years, it's just finally caught up to you" He looked to me, mouth agape.

"So learn from it, next time you want to go fighting a troll, or hunting a murderer, or if you get the urge to fly a car into Hogwarts instead of taking the floo network. Do me a favour. In fact, do us all a favour. Think of us mortals first."

He didn't talk to me for the rest of the day and was too busy sulking to come with Me and Ron to the feast. Ron shook me to hurry me up, "Come on, I'm starving. . . ." "When are you not?" I said, he shrugged.

We walked down to the main hall. Hermione came with us, her arm draped around me to support her. The feast was great. We had a lot of fun; it was almost the same as always. But I felt like something was missing.

The twins weren't here to make jokes and cause a ruckus, Harry wasn't here to laugh along with us. It didn't feel quite the same, but I still enjoyed it a lot. Filch was sulking, Umbridge was AWOL and McGonagall was back which helped immensely.

The journey home on the Hogwarts Express next day was eventful in several ways. Firstly, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who had clearly been waiting all week for the opportunity to strike without teacher witnesses, attempted to ambush Harry and I halfway down the train.

They must have held a grudge against us for sending some of their family members to Azkaban, but to be fair, they were Death Eaters, it comes with the territory.

The attack might have succeeded had it not been for the fact that they unwittingly chose to stage the attack right outside a compartment full of D.A. members, who saw what was happening through the glass and rose as one to rush to our aid.

By the time Ernie Macmillan, Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Anthony Goldstein, and Terry Boot had finished using a wide variety of the hexes and jinxes we had taught them.

Me and Harry thanked the others and accompanied Ron back to our compartment, "the food trolley's just stopped if you want anything. . . ." we bought a large pile of Cauldron Cakes and Pumpkin Pasties. I had so many cauldron cakes I felt sick, though that was for multiple reasons.

After that, Harry started talking to me again and we were already laughing and joking by the time we made it back to our compartment. We both knew that my anger was just the form the grief had taken that day and were content to move past it.

Inside, Hermione was reading the Daily Prophet again, Ginny was doing a quiz in The Quibbler, and Neville was stroking his Mimbulus mimbletonia, which I tried to stay as far away from it as I could, I was petting the cats and keeping them quiet. Just enjoying the atmosphere of the room.

Harry and Ron whiled away most of the journey playing wizard chess while Hermione read out snippets from the Prophet. It was now full of articles about how to repel dementors, attempts by the Ministry to track down Death Eaters, and hysterical letters claiming that the writer had seen Lord Voldemort walking past their house that very morning. . . .so all the normal stuff.

"It hasn't really started yet," sighed Hermione gloomily, folding up the newspaper again. "But it won't be long now. . . ." "Hey, Harry," said Ron, nodding toward the glass window onto the corridor.

Harry looked around. Cho was passing, accompanied by Marietta Edgecombe, who was beaming at me as soon as she saw me, I waved back cheerily, Hermione let out a snort of derision. Harry's and Cho's eyes met for a moment.

Cho blushed and kept walking. "What's — er — going on with you and her anyway?" Ron asked quietly. "Yeah, that sorta just stopped, I was wondering about it, but I was too busy with Dumbledore's secret attempt at a coup to ask...among other things"

"Nothing," said Harry. "I — er — heard she's going out with someone else now," said Hermione tentatively. "Well, it's her loss" I said, nudging Ginny slyly, she glared at me so deeply I was scared her eyes would turn red like Voldemort's.

"You're well out of it, mate," said Ron forcefully. "I mean, she's quite good-looking and all that, but you want someone a bit more cheerful." "She's probably cheerful enough with someone else," said Harry, shrugging.

"Who's she with now anyway?" Ron asked Hermione, but it was Ginny who answered. "Michael Corner," she said. "That poor, poor woman" I said mournfully "Michael — but —" said Ron, craning around in his seat to stare at her.

"But you were going out with him!" "Not anymore," said Ginny resolutely. "He didn't like Gryffindor beating Ravenclaw at Quidditch and got really sulky, so I ditched him, and he ran off to comfort Cho instead." "What a Cu-" Hermione slapped the back of my head.

Ron looked highly delighted. "I always thought he was a bit of an idiot," he said. "Good for you. Just choose someone — better — next time." He cast Harry an oddly furtive look as he said it. "Well, I've chosen Dean Thomas, would you say he's better?" asked Ginny vaguely.

"WHAT?" shouted Ron, upending the chessboard. Bones and Crookshanks went plunging after the pieces and Hedwig and Pigwidgeon twittered and hooted angrily from overhead. I burst into uproarious laughter.

I think this was the most I had laughed all year, the sudden shock of the news and the  fact I had been bottling up my emotions just made it even funnier for some reason. "REALLY!?" She nodded shyly.

I pointed to Ron, "Deans snogging your sister" I said quietly, wiping tears from my eyes. I stood up, shuffling out the compartment, "Where is he?, I have to go laugh at him" Hermione pulled me down by the wrist, sighing.

"Who fed (Y/N) sugar?" she glared around the room to a very awkward looking Ron who was trying to hide his Cauldron Cakes. In reality I think this was a subconscious attempt at cheering myself up before the heartache to come.

As the train slowed down in the approach to King's Cross. We made our way through the barrier for once and I stood in shock at our entourage. The first to approach me was Dad, my heart sunk at his expression, a mix between relief at seeing me safe and absolute heartbreak at the loss we had suffered.

Despite promising myself I wouldn't cry in front of my friends again, once he wrapped his arms around me, I couldn't control it. Neither could he, so I see where I got it from, we openly sobbed in each other's arms.

After we separated Dad smiled, pulling a tissue from his pocket "Look at us, we're a right mess, bet you they're laughing at us already" he said, biting back fresh tears and wiping the old ones from his face. I nodded, "Yeah...probably causing chaos together." "Naturally" he chuckled.

We both knew that this was only the beginning of the long road to acceptance and moving on with our lives, these were only the start of the tears we would shed, but for now, just for today, it was enough just to be together again. To know we would get through it together.

Mrs. Weasley made it to me next, crushing each of my vertebrae in turn as she squeezed me into a hug that got tighter and tighter the longer it went on. She looked at me with a sorrowful expression that I had come to expect in the past few days and said "How are you doing dear?"

"I've been better" I smiled, tears threatening to well up again, she nodded, her face going a deep red as her expression got sadder, then she seemed to catch herself and looked between me and Dad, "If you need anything, anything at all, you're always welcome with us"

"We know Mrs. Weasley" I smiled, she hugged me again, then looked between me and Hermione with a smirk and hugged her too. That was when I realised who else was here. There was Mad-Eye Moody, looking quite as sinister with his bowler hat pulled low over his magical eye, his gnarled hands clutching a long staff.

Tonks stood just behind him, her bright bubble-gum-pink hair gleaming in the sunlight filtering through the dirty glass station ceiling, wearing heavily patched jeans and a bright purple T-shirt bearing the legend the weird sisters.

Next to Tonks was Lupin, his face pale, his hair greying, a long and threadbare overcoat covering a shabby jumper and trousers. At the front of the group stood Fred and George, who were both wearing brand-new jackets in some lurid green, scaly material.

The Grangers were somewhere off to the back, looking rather skittish. They turned to me, "Uh...hello" I said, I was shuffling rather awkwardly when Hermione pushed me closer to them and after a brief chat and weirdly enough checking the quality of my teeth, Hermione's parents welcomed me with open arms.

"Ron, Ginny!" called Mrs. Weasley, hurrying forward and hugging her children tightly. "Oh, and Harry dear — how are you?" "Fine," she pulled him into a tight embrace. Ron was goggling at the twins' new clothes.

"What are they supposed to be?" he asked, pointing at the jackets. "Finest dragon skin, little bro," said Fred, giving his zip a little tweak. "Business is booming and we thought we'd treat ourselves." "Charlie's gonna kill you" I said, they paused and then laughed at the thought.

"Hello, Harry," said Lupin, "we thought we might have a little chat with your aunt and uncle before letting them take you home." "I dunno if that's a good idea," said Harry at once. "Oh, I think it is," growled Moody, who had limped a little closer. "Oh I'm not missing this" I said happily.

We all shuffled over to the three Dursleys, who looked positively appalled to see Harry's reception committee. "Good afternoon," said Mr. Weasley pleasantly to Vernon, coming to a halt right in front of him. "You might remember me, my name's Arthur Weasley." Petunia looked both frightened and embarrassed.

Seeing my chance to talk to Dudley walked up to him "Sup Dudders, how's your school year been? Seen any Dementors lately?" I leaned in so I could whisper to him. "They like to feed on bullies you know. So I'd pray for clear skies if you know what I mean"

The second I said that the skies darkened a little, we all looked up to see the beginning of rain hitting the windows. "Ah, British weather. Lovely" I smirked and winked at Dudley.

His face dropped and I smiled brightly, he squealed and hid behind his parents. "We thought we'd just have a few words with you about Harry," said Mr. Weasley, still smiling.

"Yeah," growled Moody. "About how he's treated when he's at your place." Uncle Vernon's moustache seemed to bristle with indignation. "I am not aware that it is any of your business what goes on in my house —" "I expect what you're not aware of would fill several books, Dursley," growled Moody.

"Anyway, that's not the point," interjected Tonks, whose pink hair seemed to offend Aunt Petunia more than all the rest put together, for she closed her eyes rather than look at her. "The point is, if we find out you've been horrible to Harry —" "— and make no mistake, we'll hear about it," added Lupin pleasantly.

"We don't want any incidents to happen in your neighbourhood, do we..." I piped up, Vernon seemed to look me up and down, "I should think you should be taught some manners boy" "Probably, I'll put it on the to do list" I smirked, he snorted at me.

"Yeah, well, as we were saying, if we get any hint that Potter's been mistreated in any way, you'll have us to answer to," said Moody. Uncle Vernon swelled ominously. His sense of outrage seemed to outweigh even his fear of this bunch of oddballs.

"Are you threatening me, sir?" he said, "Yes, I am," said Mad-Eye, who seemed rather pleased that Uncle Vernon had grasped this fact so quickly. "And do I look like the kind of man who can be intimidated?" barked Uncle Vernon.

"Well . . ." said Moody, pushing back his bowler hat to reveal his sinisterly revolving magical eye. Uncle Vernon leapt backward in horror and collided painfully with a luggage trolley. "Yes, I'd have to say you do, Dursley."

He turned from Uncle Vernon to Harry. "So, Potter . . . give us a shout if you need us. If we don't hear from you for three days in a row, we'll send someone along. . . ." He nodded along happily. "We'll see you soon, mate," said Ron anxiously, shaking Harry's hand. "Really soon, Harry," said Hermione earnestly. "We promise."

Harry nodded. "If you do need anything, you know where to find us" I smiled, ruffling his hair and giving him a hug.  Then on a more solemn note I said, "I expect to see you at the funeral, wear your nicest dress, makeup too, Dung can give you some pointers." "'Course" he smiled.

Next I went to say bye to Hermione. It was super weird because almost everyone was staring at us intently, but I tried my best to act natural, "I'll miss you" I said sadly. "You can visit over the summer, maybe you can come for dinner?" she smiled.

I looked at her parents, they looked between us and nodded. I beamed at her excitedly. "I look forward to it." I leaned in and whispered, "Finally going to make it all up to me" I said coyly, she smirked.

"If you're lucky" "Oh, I most certainly am" I said, pulling her into a quick kiss. It must have lasted a bit too long because the Grangers cleared their throats. Dad said "C'mon (Y/N), I don't think any of us want grandkids just yet, there's time for that later, I believe I was promised seven."

I turned and glared at Ron, who was smiling. As they left, I was lost in my thoughts when I accepted that my life was going to change forever because of what happened this year. I don't think I would ever be ok with what happened, but I would live with it.

Because I realised, just because someone is gone doesn't mean we've lost them, we still have them, in everything they left behind, a lesson, a story, even an overdramatic black cat.

People are never really gone because they become a part of us, they change the people they leave behind. And yes, it's sad when they leave because we don't see them again for a while, but we will in the end, if we want to, I'm certain of it.

And when we do, we can show them how those lessons changed us and how important they were in shaping who we became after they left.

I was about to come to a fulfilling conclusion to this thought when Moody's voice called out "What are you doing boy?!" I realised I was staring into space, "Sorry, just thinking of something poetic" "You're just like your mother" he grumbled, Dad sighed "He does it every year apparently."

I then realised they were all several steps ahead of me. "Dad...Mr. Moody, wait up!..." I said, jogging after them "So, are we off to Gri-" I said as we made our way out of the station to part ways, "Quiet boy, we could be being watched" he said.

"I feel bad for the poor prat who's paid to watch me blabber on and on, must hate their job." I chuckled, he sighed, but as he looked away I caught him smiling. As we walked along, I concluded my thought.

Sure, whenever someone leaves us there will be a hole in our lives that nobody would ever be able to fill, but that person is still here, in everything they left behind, all the memories, all the happiness and all the love.

For now, that part of my heart wouldn't heal, but that's fine, because for now its broken and it will always be scarred, but most importantly, it will always be hers.