Only Time Will Tell

Only Time Will Tell

By: A. Byrnes

Chapter Five ~ Confessions and Unexpectations

Harry nodded and turned to Amy and said, "Follow me. Your bedroom is at the top of the stairs across from my room." Amy smiled at him and followed him out of the kitchen to her new room for the summer.

They left the kitchen in silence, but when they began to walk up the stairs Amy said, "It really is nice to meet you. Ron, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley talked about you all the time. And I'm sorry for what happened two weeks ago. I know you must have loved him so much to go look for him and try to rescue him the way you did."

When they reached the top of the stairs, he turned and looked at her. His face filled with sorrow, he said, "Yeah I did love him. He was the closest thing I had to a father. And I screwed that all up in one night and now I will never see him again." His voice breaking as he tried to stifle back a sob that had escaped while he was speaking.

Amy pulled him into a hug and said in a quiet soothing voice, "Harry that wasn't your fault. You had a vision that showed you that he was in trouble and you went to save him, but came to find out that the vision was a trap. You're not the first wizard to be duped by Voldemort and you are certainly not the last. And you will see him again one day. It's not like he really left you. He will always be in your heart and memories. And he still loves you. He will always love you."

She rubbed his back as he sobbed on her shoulder. When he began to compose himself, he straightened up and looked at her. He could see a tear running down the side of her cheek unnoticed by her. He then looked at her shoulder and saw that there was a darker patch of blue on her jean jacket where his tears had landed on her shoulder.

He felt ashamed for crying like that and said sheepishly, "I'm sorry about that. I don't know why I started crying like that."

Amy giggled and said, "Don't be sorry. You didn't do anything wrong. Everyone's entitled to have a good cry every once in a while, even strong and brave young men such as yourself. And if you need to have a good cry any time soon, just remember that I'm always here if you need a shoulder to cry on."

Harry began to blush and said, "Thanks for the tip. I'll remember that."

Amy leaned over and kissed his cheek and whispered in his ear, "No problem." Harry blushed even more and tried to hide it by turning and leading the way to the guest bedroom. Amy however saw that his neck and the tips of his ears were beaming bright red. 'He blushes red and gets embarrassed just as easily and madly like Ron and James does. Maybe it's a guy thing or something?' she thought.

Harry opened the door and flicked the light on and said, "Well this is it. You have an armoire in the corner and you have your own adjoining bathroom right through that door over there,' he pointed to a white door with golden handles, 'and you have a nice comfortable bed and a desk over by the window. If you need anything like towels or extra blankets, just let me know and I will go and fetch them for you."

He turned to look at her, but she had moved over towards the window. He realized that she was looking up at the stars. He walked up next to her and asked, "What are you looking at?"

She turned to him a gave him a small smile and said, turning back to the window, "The stars. There's so many and I can see some of the constellations too. I grew up in Boston and you can't see the stars in the city at night because of the city lights, so everytime when I see them I'm always amazed at how beautiful they are. Back at school, I learned about all of the constellations in Astronomy Class, and everytime I see the stars, I try to find as many constellations as I can. From here, I can see the Big Dipper, the Little Dipper and Sirius. Sirius looks particularly bright tonight."

Harry, who was gazing up at the stars as well, jumped when he heard her say that last sentence. Thinking he heard wrong he asked "What was that you said?"

She pointed out the window and said "Look," she pointed at the stars where there was a cluster of stars and at the tip was a star that must have been the brightest star that could be seen, "See that very bright star. That star is Sirius the Dog Star. It's very bright."

Harry, looking at the star, smiled sadly thinking about 'Sirius the Dog' he knew personally. "Oh! I see it... It is quite bright, isn't it?" he said. Amy had turned towards him while he was talking and saw the sad expression come across his face as he was talking. When he realized that he was being watched, he turned to look at her and asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

She looked him in the eye and said, "Truthfully... I feel sad for you. I'm not trying to pity you or anything but I can't help it. You're barely sixteen and you have seen so much horror and dealt with so much death and loss. I can see the sadness in your eyes and it makes me wonder how the hell you have kept yourself from insanity from everything you have been through."

He turned back to look out the window again wondering how he could answer a question like that. Then in a hoarse voice, barely over a whisper, he said, "I guess its because I have something to live for and I don't want to let anyone down. I mean I can't help being who I am. I never asked to be 'Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived' and sometimes I wish that spell didn't backfire and had just killed me the way it was supposed to. I mean I'd trade anything to be someone else or at least be 'Just Harry.' I hate all the fame I'm getting because of something that happened to me when I was a year old. But most of all, I do this because I want to make my parents proud and to assure them that their sacrifice to protect me didn't go for naught."

He turned to look at her and was surprised to see tears running down her cheek. He felt so bad for making her cry that he pulled her into a hug and held her tightly close to him. When he realized that she had composed herself, he loosened his grip but didn't let go of her.

She pulled her head back a little bit, just enough so she could look him in the eyes and said, "Your parents will always be proud of you no matter what happens. And I know what it feels like to want to be someone else for a change, but you know what? Not everyone sees you just as 'the Boy Who Lived' you know!"

Harry gave her a disbelieving look. He scoffed at her and said, "Oh yeah? Everytime I enter the wizarding world everyone I meet already knows who I am because they're already starring at my forehead. Now tell me, Amy, name one person that I have met that has not thought of me as 'the Boy Who Lived' but as Harry 'Just Harry'."

He saw the look of determination on her face as he told her his request. He saw her smile as she said simply, "Me."

Harry's mouth dropped opened and when he finally stopped looking like a fish out of water, he asked, "Wh-what?"

She smiled at him sweetly as she said, "Me silly. Is that so hard to believe?"

With the look of complete surprise still apparent on his face, he said, "Well...yeah."

Amy laughed and said, "Think about it Harry. I have spent a good hour and half in your company, have you noticed that I haven't looked at your scar?"

Harry thought about it for a minute and said, "Well...no I haven't."

Amy giggled and said, "Well you should pay attention more often."

Harry blushed and said "Yeah I should try and do that once in a while, shouldn't I?"

She smiled back at him, thinking about what he had said earlier. 'Sometimes I wish that spell didn't backfire and just killed me the way it was supposed to.' She looked him straight in the eyes and said, "I'm glad the spell backfired on you. Otherwise we wouldn't be standing here talking to each other. Harry, I promise you I will never see you as 'the Boy Who Lived', but always as 'Just Harry'."

She pulled him back into a tight hug to assure him that she meant what she said. He rested his head on her shoulder, his face turned into her neck so he could breathe in the scent of cinnamon. Before he could get totally lost in the sensation, he said, "Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me." Amy sighed contently with her head on his shoulder.

When she finally glanced at her watch, she gasped when she saw that it was well past midnight. When Harry heard the gasp, he asked, "Are you all right?"

She looked up at him and said, "Oh I'm sorry. I didn't mean to gasp that loudly. I was just surprised at how late it is."

Harry glanced at his own watch and said, "It is pretty late, huh? I guess you would want to get settled in now. Do you need me to help you with anything?"

Amy had already taken out her trunks and enlarged them when she said, "Nah... I'll manage on my own. You can go to bed if you want."

"Are you sure?" asked Harry.

She looked up at him and said, "Harry, you look like you went to hell and back again. Go and get some sleep."

Harry looked into the mirror that hung above the dresser and winced when he saw how pale he was with dark circles around his eyes. He turned to her and said, "I really do look like crap, don't I?"

She laughed and said, "Yeah you do," as she flicked her wrist and watched all of her clothes fly into the dresser drawers folded neatly or were hung neatly in the armoire.

Harry's jaw dropped in fascination and said eagerly, "Can you teach me that?"

Amy walked over to him and kissed him on the cheek. Then giggling and said, "While I am here I will be teaching how to do this, Potions and I will be going through physical training with you so you can be quicker when you are dueling Voldemort. But for now I want you to go to sleep because you look as if you hadn't slept in weeks. So go to bed."

Harry was blushing madly when she kissed his cheek. He had somehow found the courage to repay her the favor, but instead of kissing her cheek he leaned in and softly kissed her on the lips. When he removed his lips from her, he leaned into her ear and said, "All right. I'll go to bed now. Good-night."

He stood up straight and gave her a wink. She felt her face burn as she blushed and said, "G-good-night Harry." Harry gave her a small smile and turned around and walked out of her room.

When he left, she sank down onto her bed and tried to slow down her rapidly beating heart. When she finally clamed down, she replayed the kiss in her mind still feeling the sparks even after the kiss was over. She thought 'Well...THAT was unexpected. This is going to be one very interesting summer!' Feeling exhaustion take over, she lay down on her bed and fell asleep.

TBC