“Where are we?” Harry inquired of his friends.
“We’re a mile or so off of Godric’s Hollow,” Hermione replied.
“What? Why did you Apparate us here?”
“It’s one of the newer Ministry guidelines. It’s unwise to Apparate directly to your destination, in case a Death Eater is lying in wait…or worse. So, as long as you don’t mind a bit of a walk, we can be on our way to go see your parents, Harry.”
His parents. Despite the hatred for Voldemort and Snape, Harry could always count on his friends to be there for exactly what he needed. And this time they definitely did not fail him. The three began to walk in the direction of the village that Harry’s parents had once called home.
“How’s the summer been so far?” Harry asked.
“Not too bad, considering. No deaths of anyone we know lately. What more could you ask for in times like these?” Hermione replied. Harry nodded and continued in step with Ron and Hermione, who he now noticed were holding hands.
“So, you two, huh?” Ron glanced over with a slight smirk on his face.
“Yeah. Kind of hard to believe after everything last year, isn’t it?” he answered.
“Not so much. About time is more what I was thinking.” Harry said, the smirk now upon his own face. It left abruptly, however. Harry had been waiting for this to happen for a long time, for his friends to finally realize they were right for each other. Unfortunately, this happy occasion caused another thought to surface to his already troubled mind…”So…how’s Ginny?” Ron and Hermione looked at each other with slightly grim expressions on their faces. Neither said anything for awhile, until Hermione finally broke the silence.
“I’m not sure you want me to answer that, Harry.” Harry looked over in alarm.
“What do you mean? Has something happened to her? Is she all right?"
“Harry, no, it’s nothing like that, it’s just…she’s miserable,” Hermione quickly responded.
“Yeah, I’ve never seen her this upset. I don’t think she’s stopped crying since we left Hogwarts,” Ron chimed in.
“What? What do you mean? She seemed all right when I left.”
“That’s because Dumbledore was on everyone’s mind. Ginny was bottling everything up at that time. You breaking up with her just fazed her a bit then. When she got back, everything hit her. She’s devastated. It’s all too much, Dumbledore dying, you leaving her, Fleur swooping around…she can’t take it,” Hermione dismally continued. Harry was in too much shock to respond for a few minutes.
“But...I did it for her. The last thing I want is for her to get hurt, or worse! Voldemort already tried to kill her once!”
“I know Harry, but don’t you see? Ginny loves you. She’d rather be by your side and with you than you out there risking your neck by yourself. She finally had you after four years, and now you’re gone again. And you know Ginny, she’s never been one to just sit around when things are at stake. You know she’d join you in a heartbeat. But she loves you too much to go against what you asked.”
Harry had nothing to say anymore. He didn’t know what to feel either. True, he still liked Ginny…No, you love her and you know it. He was shocked also to hear himself think that, but he knew it was true. He would never feel the same about any other girl in his life. And now he had upset her, which only made everything weighing on his mind feel heavier. The only consolation he had was that he had not yet lost her forever. Someday…maybe someday when Voldemort’s reign was over he could go back to her…but not now.
Finally they came out of the field onto a dirt path that wound its way towards a small area of houses and shops. It was a desolate place. Not a person in sight, windows boarded up, doors securely barred or locked. An old sign hung crooked on its post that read, “Godric’s Hollow.”
“So, cheery place. This is where they used to live?” Harry queried the vast silence.
“It wasn’t always like this. This wasn’t a wizarding community at all. Remember, Hogsmeade is the only all magical village in all of the country. Your parents were probably the only witch and wizard here. It would have been a good idea, anyway, to be hiding out around Muggles with Voldemort hunting them down,” Hermione answered. Harry stole a glance at Ron and noticed him jump a bit at the mention of the Dark Lord’s name, but certainly didn’t react as violently as he had in the past. “After Voldemort killed your parents, the residents started to become frightened. Many left just a week or so after that. The village gradually lost all of its people, and became abandoned. Most Muggles are too afraid to come back. They said that a house didn’t just fall down to shambles like that. Some claimed to have seen green flashes in the house and heard screams. It’s amazing Obliviators never took care of them.”
“Just HOW do you know all of this?” Ron asked his girlfriend.
“Honestly, Ron, the first fall of Voldemort is one of the most celebrated events in all of magical history. Do you never see me reading?” Hermione shot back, but she was smiling all the same. Harry laughed aloud at this comment, and they continued walking on the main path through the deserted village. There was little variation the entire trip. They passed row after row of falling down establishments, nothing extraordinary or particularly interesting to look at. The ground was littered with leaves, twigs, and old newspapers dated from years before. Hermione was right, everyone must have up and left after his parents were murdered. No one said anything the rest of the walk until they finally reached their destination.
“There it is.” Harry pointed forward at the cemetery. Harry continued onward into the area, then stopped and turned around. Ron and Hermione were now a distance away from him, talking quietly. They stopped when they realized Harry had and looked up.
“You go on, mate. They’re your parents. We’ll be along, let you have a little time to yourself,” Ron said. Harry could see no reason to argue and continued forward. It took him only a few minutes to find them. Alone off in a somewhat secluded corner, lay a gravestone that was a bit cleaner and newer than the others surrounding.
Together Forever
After sixteen years he was finally here, with his parents again, where it all began. Harry was suddenly glad that Ron and Hermione had decided to stay behind. He could have a little time to speak his mind.
“Hi Mum. Hi Dad. I’m back. I know it’s been awhile, and I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner. You know, Voldemort and all. It hasn’t been an easy life so far. Your relatives are really horrible, Mum, but I’m sure you knew that already. Still, life could be worse, I suppose. I hope you’ve seen Sirius. It was great to get to know him while he was here…” Harry trailed off. He was avoiding what he really wanted to say. It was difficult to bring it out, but now was the time. Sixteen years had passed, no sense waiting any longer. “I want you to know that---that---I---I---oh---AHHHHHHHH!” Harry began screaming. Pain like he had never felt before gripped his head, right along his scar. Harry clutched his head and vomited onto the grass by his feet. He had never felt any pain this terrible, even the Cruciatus Curse would be bearable next to this feeling. In his intense agony, he heard a cold, mirthless laughter ringing through his ears. And to add to this horror, he heard a matching voice. Attack not the physical self, but the heart… At once, his pain ended. Harry looked up and found himself sprawled on the ground, next to a pile of sick and twitching slightly. He slowly pulled himself up off of the ground and turned to find his friends running towards him.
“Harry, are you all right?” “What happened?” Harry still couldn’t look up. He heard their voices but they didn’t register completely. He knew what he had just heard. But what did it mean? As if in answer, a loud CRACK rang out over the cries of his concerned companions. All three looked over to the grave of the Potters to see a cloaked Death Eater. It was Hermione’s turn to scream this time. Harry, however, drew his wand.
With a quick swipe of his own wand, the Death Eater silently disarmed him. Again, without a word and another motion, all three were suddenly thrown back onto the ground, unable to move. The Death Eater turned its back on the trio and began chanting in a low voice. Bound by whatever spell the minion of Voldemort had cast, all the trio could do was helplessly watch as the eerie voice droned on. Time passed terribly, whether it had been a minute or an hour, Harry could no longer tell, but the chanting suddenly changed to yelling. Words that Harry could not decipher poured out of the masked figure, when at last the servant turned around and gave one more sweeping motion of it’s wand. At once Harry, Ron, and Hermione were able to stand up and pulled out their own wands. Harry recovered his from nearby, but much to his dismay he heard another CRACK. He looked up and saw no one besides his friends.
“Who was that?” Harry demanded. Both Ron and Hermione shrugged.
“I think it was a man, but that’s not very much to go on,” Hermione answered. She suddenly pulled back from where she was standing, only a few feet from the grave.
“What’s wrong?” Ron started, but he too jumped back a second later. The ground where they were just standing was beginning to shake.