The Road You Take Don't Always Lead You Home

"I don't know about this," Kate mused, studying over the paperwork. "It seems awfully expensive...I mean, even as big as it is."

"Dad once told me that dishonest realtors would try to cheat people out of as much money as they could," Lisa said in an undertone.

"He was right," Dean muttered. "Does she realise I've taken a course in real estate?" Aloud, he said to the realtor, "You're charging us for volcano insurance. Is there a volcano near enough that we would need such insurance?"

The realtor appeared disgruntled, even more disgruntled when Dean managed to find several other excess charges and successfully get them eliminated. By the end of the evening, the price was down enough that the group could afford to split the mortgage without putting huge dents in their funds. Three hours and mountains of paperwork later, the house was theirs.

As she handed Draco the keys, the realtor added, "There's a fair bit of furniture stored up in the attic. It comes with the house. If you can't use it, just sell it or something."

"Thanks," Draco said, claiming the keys. Turning to the others, he added, "I'll get copies made tomorrow. Are we agreed that we'll meet at the house with all our things at five o'clock tomorrow?"

"Agreed," echoed the rest of the group. Most of them had been packing since they had first seen the house. It had taken several weeks to finalise the sale, but finally, the house was theirs.

Ron and Harry re-entered their apartment building; Harry raised a hand as they passed the front desk. "Evening, Mrs. Tuttle."

Mrs. Tuttle, the building manager, looked up from her knitting and smiled at them from behind her bulletproof window. "Evening, boys."

Harry and Ron exchanged a smile. Mrs. Tuttle was seventy-three and thought of everyone under thirty as children. "We're moving out tomorrow, Mrs. Tuttle," Ron told her. "We're going in on a house with some friends of ours."

"We'll miss you," Mrs. Tuttle said.

Rupert, the custodian, nodded from his post beside the desk. "Aye, that we will."

"Thanks." Harry and Ron scuttled for Old Green, one of the two ancient elevators in the building. About six years later, the doors obediently ground open on the tenth floor, disgorging the two impatient young men. Harry let them into the flat for what they both hoped would be the last time.

Ron surveyed the living room. "You know," he mused to no one in particular, "most people think their houses or flats or whatever look empty when people start moving out. I don't think ours looks any different than it has since we moved in."

Harry looked around. It was true. The only difference was the addition of two trunks and a single box to the two boxes of records. The box contained the record player itself; the trunks contained Ron and Harry's personal effects, such as clothing. They had little else and the furniture was staying with the flat.

"I guess we never did make this place a home, did we?" Harry half-chuckled. "I guess we always knew we wouldn't be staying here forever."

"That, and I really hated it," Ron agreed. "It'll be nice not to have to sit on the floor to do my homework...and to have other people to work with. That was one of the other things I missed--getting help. No offence."

"None taken," Harry said quickly. "Even if you'd asked I probably wouldn't have been able to help much." He sat down in the armchair and added, "What are the others studying anyway? Every time I ask they ignore me."

"Erm..." Ron thought for a minute, collapsing onto the sofa. "Justin's majoring in Liberal Arts, with a minor in Defence Against the Dark Arts. Kate...Kate's actually only been there a couple of years, she hasn't declared her major yet. Lisa's doing a triple major."

"Triple?" Harry repeated incredulously.

Ron nodded. "Once a Ravenclaw, always a Ravenclaw, she says. Anyway, she's majoring in History of Magic, vocal music, and Latin, of all things. With a minor in Magizoology."

Harry shook his head. "Well, at least she won't lack for job offers."

~~~

"Are we done?" George asked, setting his final box down.

"Almost," Lisa declared.

"What do we still need to do?" Neville groaned. "I didn't realise moving was this difficult."

Lisa pointed dramatically to the front gate. "We need a name for this place."

"Er, what's wrong with the address?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow.

Lisa threw her hands up in mock exasperation. "Nothing, it's just cool to have a name. You know, like Cosy Nook or Windy Poplars. My house growing up was Zephyr Springs."

"We grew up at The Burrow," George added.

Lisa beamed. "You see my point."

"Okay, okay. I pronounce this house...Bob!" Dean declared, raising a finger in the air. Lisa socked him hard in the shoulder. "Ow, what'd I do?"

Harry dropped his chin to his hand. "You know," he said almost absently. "First time I saw this place, it was like I already knew what it was called."

Ron looked interested. "Oh? And what was that?"

"Aspenloch."

Draco's lips silently formed the syllables. "That's perfect. What does it mean?"

"The Aspens are mountains in Colorado, in America," Kate spoke up. "Loch means 'lake', as in Loch Lomond."

"Mountain Lake...I like that," Draco said thoughtfully. "Aspenloch."

"Aspenloch," Kate repeated in a whisper.

"Aspenloch!" George said loudly.

Neville opened the back door. "ASPENLOCH!" he cried into the night. The word reverberated off the hills and woods surrounding them and came back to them, like the rich earthy tones of a chapel bell.

"It's perfect," Draco whispered, overawed.

Ron smiled. "Makes me think of..."

"Hogwarts," Harry completed.

"It's like we're finally..."

"Home."

"I wish you wouldn't finish my..."

"Sentences."

The once-silent house rang with the gleeful laughter of the new housemates. And scant hours later, the tenants of Aspenloch fell asleep, all off them feeling like they had finally come home.