Harry Potter and the Final Horcrux

Harry Potter was lying in his bed and stared up at the ceiling of his small bed room in number Four Privet Drive with a thousand thoughts and feelings spinning around in his mind. It had only been two weeks since his return from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and as he promised Dumbledore the summer before he returned here one last time.

One last time before he became of age and would no longer consider this house his home, even though in his heart he never believed the mundane dwelling the Dursleys lived in his home. Not since he was eleven, probably not even before then.

Slowly Harry sat up and rested back against the headboard of his hard little bed and looked around his soon-to-be-former bedroom as it was bathed in the pale glow of the street lamps outside which filtered in through the window.

His school trunk was packed full of his belongings and stood neatly by the door with Hedwig's cage sitting atop it, empty since the owl had gone off hunting for the night. Harry wasn't concerned; he knew she would be able to find him no matter where he went. His green eyes then glanced at the clock sitting on the nightstand: One twenty-five; it was near time for him to leave.

Yes, he promised Dumbledore he'd come back here, but he never promised how long he'd stay. Besides, with the Headmaster now gone forever there seemed little point in fearing any sort of reprimand.

As soon as that thought passed through his mind once again - Dumbledore was gone - Harry's chest tightened and he squeezed his eyes shut. As always when this happened, which was at least three times a day since he came home from school, it took ten deep breaths for him to think clearly again and push the grief back down.

Where Harry was going there would be no time for grieving.

Ten deep breaths and five minutes later Harry opened his eyes again; he could feel the moisture of unshed tears clinging to his eye lashes. He ignored them and swung his legs over the side of his bed and slowly stood while glancing down at his clock again. One thirty. Time to go.

Quietly as he could Harry slipped on his trainers and grabbed his jacket which was hung on the back of his old rickety desk chair. He approached the bedroom door and put his ear to it; with any luck he would be greeted with the sounds of the Dursleys snoring away. No one in the house stayed up past eleven anymore, especially since Dudley had been brought home by the police the day after Harry returned.

Dudley (or 'Big D' as he's known to his friends) and his gang, it seemed, had been caught shaking down young fifteen-year-old Darrin Miller for money. The officer informed Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia that Dudley was not to be out after dark in Little Whinging or face formal charges for the assault.

At first all three Dursleys bristled at being told what they could or could not do, but when the officer mentioned that they could be sued for possible personal injury by young Darrin, Uncle Vernon immediately sent Dudley to his room without dinner (a first in history) and agreed to all the officer's demands. If there was one way to get Vernon Dursley to give up a fight, threaten to hit him in the pocket book.

It didn't take Harry long to detect the rumblings of Uncle Vernon and Dudley for him to feel safe enough to open his bedroom door slowly and peer out into the hallway. All was quiet (save for the snoring), dark and deserted, just the way he wanted it.

So, with the coast clear Harry silently slipped on his jacket, seized his trunk and Hedwig's cage and made his way downstairs pausing only once to look back at his old bedroom. Everything was neat, prim and proper, it didn't even appear that his bed had been slept in, which was the plan all along.

Harry would have left a note explaining that he'd left never to return and to say goodbye if he felt that such a gesture would be appreciated. Knowing the Dursleys it would take them the better part of two days to notice his absence then throw a party to celebrate he was gone.

The image of Aunt Petunia inviting the neighbours and Uncle Vernon ringing Aunt Marge over to throw a 'Harry-is-gone' party put a smile on Harry's face. That would be just the thing the Dursleys would do and despite the fact he was the butt-end of the joke, Harry couldn't but find it all oddly funny.

It took some doing for Harry to negotiate his trunk and bird cage down the stairs silently but he managed to do it and soon found himself standing before the front door, his hand on the door knob.

"Well, this is good-bye," whispered Harry as he slowly turned the knob and pulled the door open.

"I thought you were to stay," said a soft, quiet voice from behind Harry.

Without thinking Harry spun around while whipping out his wand which he had slipped into the back pocket of his jeans earlier. It took only a second before he realized he had trained his wand on his Aunt who had emerged from the kitchen dressed in her usual night attire of flowered night gown and pink fuzzy slippers.

Slowly Harry lowered his wand and placed it back into his rear pocket mumbling a quiet apology to his Aunt. Aunt Petunia on the other hand merely stood before him with arms crossed and a curiously concerned look on her face, which was something Harry thought odd since whenever she encountered something magical - such as a wand - she usually responded as if someone had brandished a rotten fish in her face.

"I thought that you were to stay until you were of age," repeated Aunt Petunia, her voice neither stern nor disgusted as it typically was when she addressed Harry. "That's not until the thirty-first."

"I promised Professor Dumbledore I'd come back here after my last term. I did and now I'm leaving," replied Harry, keeping his voice low as to not wake anyone upstairs.

"Where are you going to go?" asked Aunt Petunia.

Harry arched a brow, no one in this house tended to care where he went or what he did as long as it wasn't around them or caused them any embarrassment. This sudden show of concern on his behalf was a little startling if not down right unsettling.

He responded with a shrug and a half truth. "London, I have some friends there who can put me up." Yes, he was going to go to London and yes, he had friends there but no, he was going to put himself up somewhere.

Aunt Petunia pursed her lips into a thin line. "What about -- " She paused as if uncertain she should continue but forged ahead anyhow, "Him?"

"Him?" replied Harry, his voice hissing with surprise at his Aunt's question.

"You know --" Aunt Petunia paused and a look of anguish crossed her face for a brief instant, "--the man who murdered your parents."

Of course Harry knew of whom his Aunt had been referring to but was just surprised at her bringing him up. "He knows I'm here and if I stay I may put you, Uncle Vernon and Dudley in danger. It's best if I leave and find protection in the magical world -- It's best that I just say good-bye."

Harry was surprised at himself with what he said, not realizing until now that was indeed one of the reasons he felt compelled to leave. Then he waited for Aunt Petunia to wince or scowl at the use of the forbidden 'M-word', but to his surprise she merely sighed.

"I don't suppose that if I tell you to go back up to your room that you'll listen to me," she stated matter-of-factly.

With a slow shake of his head Harry stepped back to the open doorway and grabbed the handle of his school trunk, signalling that no, he wasn't going to obey that order. "Good-bye Aunt Petunia."

A flash of a scowl came over Aunt Petunia's face, making her appear more familiar but it returned to that concerned, almost motherly look she generally saved only for Dudley.

"I didn't think so." She sighed again and began to turn back towards the kitchen. "You never listened to me anyhow."

For a moment Harry bristled at her comment but calmed himself, this wasn't any time for an argument. He looked at her for a moment then began to silently turn to the open door way when he was caught by surprise again.

Aunt Petunia quickly crossed the short distance between the two of them and gave Harry a quick, tight hug then a peck on his cheek. The sudden show of true affection from his otherwise distant and strict aunt caused a lump to rise in Harry's throat. He returned the hug and kiss to the cheek noticing that a single tear had slid down her cheek.

"I'll be okay, Aunt Petunia," whispered Harry, pulling back from her. "Just take care of yourself and the others."

It only took a second but the concerned, almost anguished look on Aunt Petunia's face was replaced with the familiar stern scowl and she waved him out the door.

"Go! Go! You're going to let all the bugs in the neighbourhood in," she hissed as Harry swiftly stepped out onto the front walk, pulling his trunk and cage with him.

Not another word was spoken as Aunt Petunia closed the door on Harry, her lips and face stern but eyes wet and soft. For a fleeting second Harry wanted to go inside and do as his Aunt had asked, go up to his room but he knew that he couldn't go back now.

One chapter of his life was now over, time for another to begin.

It took some time but Harry was able to lug his trunk down several blocks away from his former summer home, his arms and back aching at the labour of his load. He silently wished he was of age so he could put a levitation spell on his trunk to make it easier to manage, but he didn't want to draw anyone's attention at the Ministry so he managed on his own.

When he felt a safe distance away from the Dursleys' he stopped and stepped to the curb, pulling his wand out from his back pocket and held it out before him.

The purple triple-decker Knight Bus appeared down the road and came to a shaky stop in front of Harry. The conductor - whom Harry instantly knew wasn't Stan Shunpike, since he was still being held by the Ministry on suspicions of being a Death Eater - leapt from the doorway of the bus and began the typical introduction and explanation of the purpose of the Knight Bus, but he read from his little cue card so quickly and mumbled so badly Harry never caught his name.

Flattening down the fringe of his unruly dark hair to hide his scar so he wouldn't be instantly recognized, Harry paid his fare, received his ticket and climbed aboard dragging his luggage with him. This new conductor, who appeared to be no older than Stan was, didn't offer to help.

"Where ya goin'?" asked the conductor as he stepped onto the bus after Harry.

"The Leaky Cauldron," replied Harry while surveying the first level of the bus to see if any spots were open and to his surprise it seemed rather deserted. The last time he took the bus at night there was at least one bed occupied by a sleeping elderly wizard.

"Aye, ya'd be the first rider we've 'ad all night. Not many people out an' about after dark these days, I reckon," sniffed the conductor whose name appeared to be Earl now that Harry was close enough to see his name plate pinned to his ill-fitting jacket. "I reckon we'll getcha t' London in no time. Won't we Erne?"

"Ar," replied the familiar bespectacled Knight Bus driver as he reached up to pull the lever that would send them on their journey.

Harry barely had time to throw himself onto the closest bed and brace himself before - BANG - the bus surged forward with that familiar burst of speed.

"So, whatcha doin' out this time o' night, eh?" asked Earl casually as he leaned back against the partition separating Ernie from the rest of the bus.

"I'm meeting friends at the Leaky Cauldron," replied Harry quietly, picking out a piece of floor at Earl's feet to look at while talking to him. "I won't be seeing them until tomorrow morning but thought I'd arrive ahead of time and spend the night there."

"Fair 'nuff, fair 'nuff," drawled Earl lazily before glancing over his shoulder so he could look out the front of the bus. "Reckon we got ourselves another fare ahead there, eh Erne?"

"Ar," replied Ernie as he pulled a lever to bring the wildly zigzagging bus to another sudden stop.

Again, Harry gripped the bed he was sitting on to prevent him from being thrown forward onto the floor.

As Harry recovered Earl nimbly leapt out the door and began his introduction to the person who summoned the bus. Harry couldn't see who Earl was speaking to but a moment later a young woman with waist length dirty blonde hair and wide almost luminous blue eyes stepped aboard.

Harry blinked in surprise. "Luna?"

The Ravenclaw swung her misty gaze down at Harry and smiled widely at him. "Ah! Harry! A pleasure to see you again, you're the last person I was expecting on board."

Harry smiled back, genuinely glad to see the former DA member and friend. It almost made him forget the dread he had in his stomach when leaving the Dursleys. "I'm happy to see you too, Luna. Where are you going this time of night?"

Luna casually grabbed one of the posts of the bed that Harry was sitting and swung easily beside him. She looked as normal as ever to Harry, if you could consider how she looked normal, she was wearing a multi-coloured skirt with an off-white blouse under a blue dragonskin jacket. She also still wore her butterbeer cap necklace, radish earrings and had her wand safely stowed behind her left ear.

"Oh, Daddy had me go visit my cousins in Liverpool since he's so busy with the Quibbler these days and doesn't want me home alone all the time. My cousins are so very boring so I told my Uncle Reginald that I was going for a walk," explained Luna, her voice a quiet sing-song as she watched Earl climb back aboard. "I was tired of walking so I summoned the Knight Bus. Where are you going, Harry?"

Before Harry could respond Earl had closed the bus doors and - BANG - they were off again. Harry marvelled at how composed Luna kept herself while he was thrown back onto the bed from the sudden momentum.

"Know each other, eh?" asked Earl with a grin as he eyed Harry pulling himself off the bed and then gave Luna an appraising glance. "This one o' ye'r friends you were meetin' at the Leaky Cauldron?"

"Err..." stammered Harry, suddenly not liking the look Earl had given Luna. "No, we're just friends from school."

"Well, I am heading to the Leaky Cauldron myself but it's a mere coincidence that Harry and I happened to meet each other here," said Luna smiling at the conductor, "if you believe in such things as coincidences."

"Coincidence? Huh?" grunted Earl who slowly turned his gaze over to Harry again then slid his eyes upwards slowly, widening as they found what they were apparently looking for. "Blimey! Harry Potter."

Harry realized too late that with his being thrown about his hair must have been pushed back off his forehead to reveal his tell tale scar. He quickly went about flattening his hair again to cover the scar up once more, while staring at his feet to avoid Earl's now captivated gaze.

"Why yes his name is Harry Potter," said Luna cheerfully, her luminous eyes still fixed on Earl, "though he doesn't like the attention and it is rather rude to stare."

"Oh, yea, sorry 'bout that, mate," coughed Earl as he pointedly looked away and out a nearby window.

"Thanks, Luna," mumbled Harry, glancing at his friend.

Luna turned her gaze back to Harry and he was shocked to see how soft her eyes had become, she had never looked at him that way before. "It was nothing really. People sometimes don't understand what it's like to be someone else, especially if that someone else is you."

Harry smiled feebly back at Luna, unsure of how to take the comment, he was about to respond when Earl suddenly barked out.

"Next stop, The Leaky Cauldron!"

Harry grabbed the edge of the bed as did Luna as the bus came to its usual screeching halt. This time he didn't surge forward as badly though Luna didn't fare as well and latched a hand onto his arm to prevent her from toppling over. Harry quickly reached out to steady the girl as the bus came to its final stop and he stood. Luna looked up at him smiling softly before making her way to the door and he followed.

The pair stepped off the bus and Earl carefully unloaded Harry's trunk and cage, apparently now more than happy to be of assistance.

"Well, there ya go, Mister Potter, sir," said Earl as he smiled and set down Harry's trunk on the sidewalk, sounding much like a house-elf.

"Thanks," muttered Harry, still not liking the fact that he had left Privet Drive no more than half an hour ago and already he's been recognized.

Earl continued to stand beside Harry's trunk, slowly swaying from one side to the other as if expecting something more. Harry glanced at the man then grabbed the handle of his trunk to begin pulling it inside the tavern. Luna wordlessly seized Hedwig's cage and shot a look at Earl as well.

"He said thank you. You may go," said Luna curtly before following Harry inside.

Again Harry had to raise a surprised eyebrow; he had never heard Luna sound so rude before. Yes, she didn't have any qualms about speaking her mind but her voice never had the edge to it as it did just then. He decided against commenting on it as they entered the tavern main room and he looked about, finding it just as empty as it was the last time he was here.

Old Tom behind the bar looked up tiredly from his work of polishing glasses. "We're closing in ten minutes."

"Oh, um, I'm here to get a room," said Harry quickly; suddenly afraid that now that he got here he'd be turned away.

"A room for two," added Luna, her voice regaining that dreamy quality it always had.

With a blink Harry looked at Luna in surprise. "Uh, two?"

"Oh yes, I am assuming of course that you do have money to pay for such a room. I know it would be imposition on my part but when I left my cousins I didn't bring any money of my own. I do hope that's alright," explained Luna airily as she lazily surveyed the tavern.

"Er..." Again Harry stammered, unsure of how to respond. Then he merely shrugged and turned back to Tom once more. "Yeah, a double room if there's one available."

Tom merely grunted an affirmative and pulled a key out from under the bar, Harry walked over and took it.

"Room twenty-one, upstairs and fifth door on your right," directed Tom before he returned to the task of closing his bar down for the night.

Harry nodded a mute thank you to the barkeep then made his way to the stairs then up them, trying his best to keep his trunk from thudding with each step he ascended. Luna followed, lightly swinging Hedwig's cage in her grasp.

It didn't take long for the pair to find room twenty-one and Harry unlocked the door, opened it and entered. To his surprise - and relief - the room spotted two double beds sitting on opposite sides of the room. For a moment he had an uneasy but oddly excited feeling that there would be only one bed.

Luna glided in after Harry and closed the door behind her then locked it. She set Hedwig's cage atop one of the two dressers present and wordlessly moved towards the bed on the far side of the room. Harry dragged his trunk over to the remaining bed and set it down at the foot of it, then slipped off his jacket and hung it on a hook near the door.

"Again, I thank you for doing this Harry. It's very kind for you to pay for my room tonight," said Luna as she sat down on her bed and swung her legs up onto it.

"No problem, Luna," replied Harry as he sat down on his own bed, suddenly realizing how tired he was and he let out an involuntary yawn.

"You should sleep," said Luna giving Harry an appraising look. "Did you not sleep today before departing your house in the middle of the night?"

Harry shook his head as he slipped off his glasses and set them on the nightstand before lying down, in fact he had spent most of the day cleaning his old room and packing.

There was also the unsettling fact that since returning from Hogwarts whenever he tried to sleep all he had were nightmares, the same image flashing in his mind. That of Dumbledore being hit by Snape's killing curse before plummeting to his final rest at the foot of the Astronomy tower. Harry didn't share this fact with Luna though.

"I didn't have time, besides I couldn't sleep anyways. Though right now it feels like I could sleep for two days."

"Then do so, if you need anything I will be here to watch over you," said Luna quietly.

For a moment Harry wondered what he'd possibly need from Luna in the middle of the night, a few thoughts entered his mind but he quickly pushed them aside. Without thanking Luna for her offer he simply rolled over to face the wall and closed his eyes to welcome a much needed and surprisingly peaceful rest.

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