Harry Potter and the War of the Wands

Chapter 11 - Reunions

You could have heard a pin drop as Harry made his way into the Great Hall. The first student to notice him was a Hufflepuff third year who dropper her goblet in shock at his appearance, which alerted the rest of them. Whispers started as he walked towards the Gryffindor table, feeling uneasy about the attention. Ron was one of the last people to realise what was going on.

As Harry reached the table Ron and Hermione exploded with delight. Both of them leapt from their chairs, and Hermione grabbed him in a tight embrace. Harry smiled as he hugged her back.

"Hi guys," he said simply. Finally, Hermione let him go. Ron stood gaping for a second as the rest of the students looked on, equally shocked.

"Harry... you're a bad ass!" he said in awe whilst looking at Harry's battle gear. A surge of laughter escaped Harry as he pulled his friend into a huge bear hug. They laughed together until Harry spotted Ginny over Ron's shoulder. She had made her way over from the Ravenclaw table and now stood just behind Ron with a relieved smile on her face. Harry let go of Ron, who stepped aside to let Ginny in.

"Ow!" yelped Harry. Ron and Hermione were as shocked as he was when Ginny slapped him across the face.

"Don't you ever run out on us again, okay?" she said with a smile as her eyes swam with tears of happiness. She grabbed him and kissed him fiercely. When she finally released him, he managed to splutter out an apology. Ron and Hermione laughed.

The rest of Gryffindor surrounded Harry, cheering and applauding, and he was getting pats on the back from all over as the rest of the students swarmed around too. The only table who hadn't moved was Slytherin, but that was to be expected. And although they didn't join in the cheers, a few of them clapped along until they received chilling stares from Pansy Parkinson.

"We heard what happened in Diagon Alley. You were amazing, Harry," said Neville. Ron and Ginny froze for a second, and Neville realised he'd made a mistake in speaking. Harry caught their look immediately.

"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly. Having left the battle as soon as it ended, was it possible he'd missed something important?

"It's okay, mate," said Ron steadily. "We'll talk later, okay?" Harry nodded, feeling that something was definitely wrong.

A few of the teachers had now come down to wish him well too. Harry was overwhelmed with it all and thought to himself that Professor McGonagall had been right to suggest going directly to the common room.

"You're a hard person to track down, Harry," a voice spoke up. Harry looked around and saw another person he had been looking forward to seeing properly again. Remus Lupin made his way through the group, and Harry smiled warmly. They looked one another up and down before smiling and hugging.

"I thought it best to disappear," said Harry haltingly. "It's good to be back though."

"It's good to have you back," replied Remus. "Come on, everyone, back to your seats and let Harry get settled in again. You can catch up with him later, I'm sure." Grumbling, the students broke off and made their way back to their seats as Harry sat down at the Gryffindor table with his friends. "You've been hurt?" The dried blood of the Death Eater was still visible on Harry's face.

Harry shook his head. "The blood isn't mine, I'm fine," he replied shortly. Ron, Hermione and Ginny all looked curious. Harry looked at his friends, giving them a look to let them know he'd tell them when he got the chance.

"Well that's a bonus, I suppose," said Remus. "We'll talk properly later, okay?" He looked into Harry's eyes.

"Yeah, that'd be good," said Harry, and Remus smiled and went back to the teachers' row.

Harry looked up at the ceiling where the sun was just beginning to dim and smiled. His friends were all around him and he was safe for the time being. Only one thing rankled at his heart... he had lost his parents again. And he wasn't sure how he was going to cope with that.

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After dinner, Harry, eager to check on Laranole, suggested taking a trip down to Hagrid's hut. Professor McGonagall had sent word that Hagrid was caring for him, and since he was also looking forward to seeing his half-giant friend, he thought he'd kill two birds with one stone. Ron had been flabbergasted when he'd found out that Harry had found a new pet. Harry reassured him that Laranole was more of a friend, rather than a pet.

"But, it's a snake, yeah?" asked Ron incredulously as they made their way down to Hagrid's, Harry having had made a quick stop at the bathroom to wash the blood from his face.

"He's a snake, yeah," replied Harry.

"I think it's fascinating," chimed in Hermione. Ginny nodded in agreement.

"You would," said Ron. Hermione scowled in response as Harry laughed a genuine laugh.

The last of the suns rays were shining down on them and there was a pleasant warm breeze. Without realising they were doing it, Harry and Ginny had instinctively clasped hands as they walked. Unknown to them, trailing closely behind, Hermione had pointed it out to Ron who shook his head with a smile.

"There's no use him fighting it," he whispered wisely. She smiled gently at him and took his hand too. He blushed slightly but smiled back in realisation.

"I agree," she said.

As the four of them reached the hut, Fang bounded towards them and covered each of them in turn with saliva.

"It's abou' time yeh came teh see me," barked Hagrid good-naturedly as he rushed out and lifted Harry off the ground and pulled him into a bone-crunching hug.

"Can't breathe... choking," coughed Harry.

"Whoops. Sorry, Harry," said Hagrid, gingerly putting him back down. "It's jus' so good teh see yeh." Harry rubbed his chest and smiled up at his friend.

"You too, Hagrid, I've missed you," he said sincerely.

"Well, get in here, I've bin lookin' after your friend, and he's doin' much better now," said Hagrid happily. They all went into the hut eagerly. Laranole was stretched out in the corner on top of some grass which Hagrid had obviously used to make a bed with. Harry called over to him.

"Ah, Harry, that wasss a clossse call, wasss it not?" said Laranole as Harry came in to view. Harry smiled down at his friend.

"It definitely was, pal. If you hadn't have been there, I don't think I'd have made it," replied Harry sincerely. "I'm just glad you're okay." He knelt down, and Laranole slithered up and curled himself around his shoulder.

"Your friend ssseemss like a good man," hissed Laranole. Harry looked round at Hagrid and smiled.

"He's the best," replied Harry, "along with these guys." He turned towards Ron, Hermione and Ginny.

"Guys, this is Laranole," he said. They all beamed at the snake.

"Can he understand us, Harry?" asked Hermione curiously.

"I underssstand sssome human ssspeech, yesss," said Laranole as he craned his neck in greeting. "If they ssspeak ssslowly."

"He says he understands some human speech as long as you speak slowly," Harry translated.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Laranole," Hermione enunciated carefully. Ron and Ginny seconded it.

"Tea fer everyone?" asked Hagrid as pulled out a huge tin of rock cakes and passed them out. The kettle whistled a few seconds later, and he poured them all steaming hot mugs of tea.

They all settled down comfortably, with Fang slobbering over Harry's feet. Ron surreptitiously chucked his rock cake behind his seat, rather than break a tooth trying to eat it.

"Alrigh' then, spill the beans, Harry," said Hagrid as rested his huge frame in a massive armchair. "Where did yeh disappear off teh?"

Ron, Hermione and Ginny all looked intensely engrossed. The last they had seen of him before that evening had been Bill and Fleur's wedding, and they all knew how that had turned out.

"Well," coughed Harry, "I guess I do owe you guys an explanation." He smiled grimly. Laranole had curled himself around Harry's arm and drifted off to sleep.

"You all know what happened at the wedding anyway," he continued. "I lost the plot as soon as I saw Snape. All I wanted to do was get to him no matter the cost. I realised, though, that we had to strengthen the barriers or the Burrow would have been overrun. But as soon as we did, that I summoned my travel bag and Firebolt and went after him." Harry was gritting his teeth as he spoke.

"That's the last I saw of you, mate," added Ron. "We were barely back on our feet when I saw you flying off."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that, but I saw Snape dragging one of the other Death Eaters onto his broom and flying off. I chased him for about half an hour, until..." He stopped.

"Until what?" asked Hermione curiously. The room was silent in anticipation. Harry eventually got the words out.

"Until Snape let his Death Eater pal fall from his broom." The four of them gasped.

"He did wha'?" asked Hagrid incredulously.

"We were about three hundred feet up in the air, and I nearly had him in my grasp when he just pushed him off," grimaced Harry. "I had to make a split second decision... so I chose to catch the guy." He shook his head morosely.

"But, he was a Death Eater, Harry," said Ron in surprise. Harry nodded sullenly.

"I don't know why I did it," he replied.

"You did it because you're not like them, Harry," said Ginny proudly. "That's what makes you the person you are." She leaned over and took his hand gently.

"Exactly," seconded Hermione.

"I'd have let the bastard fall," said Ron softly. Harry looked up, slightly taken aback.

"Ron, that's harsh," said Hermione reprimanded.

"So what!" snapped Ron. He stood up sharply. "So what if it's harsh... they deserve it," he muttered. "They all do!" he said as stalked out of the hut. Harry didn't know what to do.

"What was that all about?" he asked, looking around at the three of them in turn. Ginny's eyes had dropped. "Will someone please tell me what's happened?" he pleaded.

Hagrid finally spoke up.

"You left righ' after the trouble at Diagon Alley, didn't you, Harry?" he asked.

"As soon as the Death Eaters disappeared, yes, I Disapparated," replied Harry uncertainly. Ginny's eyes were swimming with tears. Harry rubbed her hand supportively.

"Well, yeh weren' there when they found Fred," continued Hagrid. Harry closed his eyes tightly. "He'd bin hit with a really bad curse."

Harry gripped Ginny's hand tighter. His stomach was suddenly in knots.

"He's still in St Mungo's," Hermione filled in. "They don't know if he's going to make it." She also looked despondent as she stroked Ginny's hair.

"That's why Ron is so angry," said Ginny softly. "He's scared we might lose Fred."

The hut had gone deathly still. No one seemed to want to be the first person to speak up. The only sound that could be heard was Fang panting heavily. Eventually, it was Hagrid that broke the silence.

"You know wha'," he piped up encouragingly. "I don't think any curse is gonna be enough to stop Fred Weasley. He's got too much fight in him. Jus' yeh wait an' see." Ginny smiled a watery smile.

"What did you do with the Death Eater, Harry?" asked Hermione suddenly. Harry had wanted to avoid this part of the story. He didn't want to look at them.

"I Imperiused him," he said quietly.

"You what?!" spluttered Hermione. "That's an Unforgivable, Harry." Ginny also looked slightly surprised.

"I couldn't think of anything else to do," he responded defiantly. "I ordered him to go to the Ministry and hand himself in. I couldn't exactly show up myself, considering I was going to disappear, could I?"

She paused for a moment, and then reluctantly conceded.

"I suppose not. But you could get in a lot of trouble if the Ministry finds out it was you."

"They have more than enough on their hands than to worry about me, hopefully," said Harry.

"Wha' about Snape?" asked Hagrid.

"I don't know," said Harry miserably. "He got away." Hagrid squeezed his mug so tightly that it cracked in his hand.

"Ugh, sorry 'bou' that," he said as he mopped up the mess.

"That takes us up until after the wedding," said Ginny. Her tears had died away again. "Where have you been since then?"

Harry didn't answer immediately. His mind flashed back to the long conversations he'd had with his mother and father, how they'd seemed so proud of him and his accomplishments. He snapped back to the present.

"You went to Godric's Hollow, didn't you," asked Hermione softly, "to your parents' graves?" Harry smiled sadly and nodded.

"I've been staying in my old cottage since then," he said. "I found a secret room that my parents' made. It had loads of different books on magic."

"A secret room?" asked Hagrid. "It's a wonder Dumbledore didn't know about it and tell yeh."

"He did know about it," Harry said, slightly spitefully. Hagrid looked surprised. "I guess he might have told me if he had been alive when I planned to go." Harry had wondered frequently over the past few weeks, just how much had Dumbledore been keeping from him?

"I've been studying and training there until today," continued Harry slowly. He was deliberately avoiding speaking about the portrait. The grief of losing it was just too recent.

Hermione sat quietly. She had already surmised that he'd visited the orphanage in London also, but didn't want to say anything in front of Hagrid and Ginny.

"What happened at Godric's Hollow that you had to leave?" asked Ginny. "When you appeared in the Great Hall you were covered in blood." Hagrid's eyes widened at hearing this.

"Voldemort found me again," said Harry. "He sent a bunch of Death Eaters who broke through the protective charms on the house. I knew they were coming though, so I almost got away without any trouble... almost." A grim smile had spread over his face.

"How could you know they were coming?" asked Hermione.

"I locked minds with Voldemort," said Harry shortly. She looked startled. "I've been practicing Occlumency and Legilimency, and I thought it was the right time for a trial run. That's how he found me. He spoke to me in my head and knew where I was hiding. I couldn't stop him," He shook his head angrily.

"Did you find out anything useful... about his plans?" she asked. It was hard to word her questions so as not to give away too much information to Hagrid and Ginny. The only three people who were supposed to know about the Horcruxes were Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"Nothing too important," said Harry in understanding. "I saw him in a sitting room talking to a Death Eater. They were talking about infiltrating the Ministry." He didn't go any further into the confrontation of their minds. He still wasn't sure what had happened when he broke through that barrier in Voldemort's mind.

"It's gonna be hard to know who teh trust in the Ministry now," said Hagrid.

"It always was," said Harry dourly.

"It's getting quite late. It's probably time for us to get back to the castle, Hagrid," said Hermione finally. The sun had gone down some time ago, to be replaced by a bright crescent moon.

"Yeh're probably right," he replied. "Yeh can fill us in on the rest another time, eh, Harry?"

Harry stood up and passed Laranole over to Hagrid, who laid him gently back on the straw bed.

"He should be back teh normal in a week or so," said Hagrid quietly. "I'll let yeh know when teh come an' get 'im." Harry smiled and nodded.

They all waved goodbye to Hagrid as they made their way back up to Gryffindor Tower together. The common room was nowhere near as busy as Harry had been used to. A few of the lower years whispered amongst themselves as Harry entered, and his classmates patted him on the back as he passed.

"I want to go check on Ron, okay?" he told the girls. Hermione nodded understandingly, and Ginny gave him a peck on the cheek as he made his way up to the boys' dormitory.

Ron was lying on his bed staring intently at the ceiling. When he realised Harry was there, he sat up.

"I'm sorry, mate," he said straight away.

"It's okay, they told me what happened," replied Harry gently. He sat down on the edge of Ron's bed. "I wish I hadn't left so soon."

"It's not your fault, Harry," reassured Ron. "There wouldn't have been anything you could do. The only people to blame are Voldemort and his Death Eaters." Harry was surprised. He had never heard Ron use Voldemort's name before.

They sat silently together for a while before Ron spoke up again.

"I remember one time in Diagon Alley," he started. "The whole family were doing some Christmas shopping, and I'd wandered off on my own to look at brooms. I must only have been six or seven at the time. I was okay until I realised I couldn't see Mum or Dad, then I started crying. A couple of older kids nearby noticed and started to taunt me. One of them, the biggest one, pushed me over."

There were tears forming in Ron's eyes slightly as he spoke. He didn't open up like this very often and Harry hated to see how vulnerable he was right now.

"Then out of nowhere, Fred showed up," he continued. "They were bigger than him too, but that didn't stop Fred. He yelled at them ''What are you doing to my little brother?' They just laughed at him. He helped me up and told me not to worry." Ron smiled. "Before they knew it, Fred had flown for the big one and burst his nose. The other one tripped over himself trying to get away from Fred."

Harry smiled gently. "That sounds like Fred alright."

"I don't want to lose my brother, Harry," said Ron tearfully.

"I know you don't, mate, I know," he replied softly. He pulled Ron into a hug and patted him reassuringly on the back. "He'll get through this."

He wanted to believe it so much himself.

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