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"Hermione! Ron! What are you two doing out here? It's freezing." You stuffed your hands deeper into the pockets of your winter coat, hopping through the snow towards Hermione and Ron who were glancing nervously at the 'Three Broomsticks Inn'.
"What in Merlin's beard are you two staring at? You-know-who in there or something?" You joked, the corner of your lip tilting up into a smirk, cocking your head up at the cozy looking building.
Hermione stabbed you in the side with her index finger and slapped the back of your head, "Not funny [F/N]. We're waiting for Harry." Hermione retracted her gloves hands into her pocket, blowing out a puff of breath.
You furrowed your eyes at the Inn. "But minors aren't allowed inside? How did he manage to get in?" You questioned.
"Cloak of invisibility." Ron murmured from his spot on the enormous branch.
"The cloak of what now?"
"Something he inherited from his father, okay? Pay attention to the door, he might come outside at any time." Hermione scolded, snapping her head back to the Inn's door, her glare almost melting through the door.
"Merlin, stingy much.." You complained, shifting your weight to your left leg, glancing around at the white wonderland around you. You hummed in thought once you looked back at the door,Hermione and Ron already got distracted again by some dumb thing Ron said, and missed the door opening.
You didn't see anyone come out per say- but you did see two feet pattern across the snow, leaving a long trail towards the forest. You glanced at Hermione and Ron who were now back to staring intensely at the door, unknowing that Harry apparently already left.
You shrugged and bid them goodbye, walking past them to follow the trail of footsteps.
The snow crunched underneath your feet as you shuffled through it with effort, it's been snowing a lot lately, it was almost impossible to open your window in the dorms without slamming your entire body weight on it.
You hurried through the half busy streets of Hogsmeade, awkwardly avoiding a group of Christmas carol singers that Harry had uncaringly pushed through, having made them all tumble to the snowy ground like dominos.
After a good minute of slowly trailing the footsteps in the snow, making sure Harry wouldn't be able to hear you, just in case he would bolt immediately. Fortunately, or unfortunately, for you, the sound of your footsteps was cancelled out by the occasional sniffs that came from Harry's invisible form along with the sound of rustling clothes.
When you finally came to a stop it was on a more bare spot of snowy land, trees rid of their leaves crowding the area and the small rays of sunlight that were still present fixated on two rocks where the footprints had ended.
You walked down the little hill you were on towards the rocks, the noise of Harry's soft sobs and sniffling filling the cold, stale air. You inched closer to the biggest rock of the two, Harry's cries softening even more to an inhuman low pitch, you almost got caught up on how quiet his crying could get but that was a worry for another day.
You bent through your knees in front of the rock, resting your behind against your calves. You shuffled your feet a bit in the snow to remain balanced as you reached one hand up to Harry's invisible figure, carefully twitching your finger searching for the apparent cloak of invisibility he owned.
Before you could ultimately come in contact with the boy, his hand became visible from underneath the cloak, grasping your upper fingers softly before bringing them down to his lap, tugging off the cloak with his remaining hand himself.
Once the fabric was piled on top of your laced hands, you began to realize how truly devastating the situation Harry just got out of was for him. His eyes were bloodshot, puffy and still rimmed with tears that dripped down his swollen rosy cheeks.
Emerald green eyes that were usually filled with childlike curiosity and genuine admiration for the wizarding world, were now clouded heavily with despair, drowning in sorrow and betrayal.
"You alright, my dear?"
Harry barely registered the gentle undertone before visibly growing annoyed.
"Bloody peachy [F/N], what do you think!? Would I be here bawling my eyes out like a child if I was simply 'alright'?"
Harry's hand had tightened in your own, nails digging crescent moons into the back of your hand.
You hadn't even flinched from the pain yet when Harry tugged his hand from your hold, guilt now sparkled in his eyes between the mess of the remaining emotions.
"I- I'm so sorry, shit, I didn't.. mean to, please don't-"
A gentle shush was all that escaped you as a response, lifting your hand from Harry's lap bringing it up to stroke his cheek instead, wiping the now slowly declining tear streaks away.
"It's alright love, just let it out. I'm here."
If your words weren't enough to impact the trembling boy in front of you, your hand sliding to the back of his neck, sitting down next to him and guiding his head to lay in the crook of your neck definitely did.
Wretched sobs were all that filled the peaceful silence in the snow covered woods, Harry's hands moving to clutch the back of your robes in a vice grip.
"Please don't.."
It wasn't necessary in the slightest for Harry to finish his sentence, the grip of your robes, tears on your shoulder and the sobbing ringing through your ears spoke a thousand words.
"I won't. I promise."
You merely hoped your equally tight grip and touch would be enough to speak a reasonable amount of words back.
so it's been a while aye? nothin' much to say, i'm simply amused you can tell that 'round the end of the chapter my writing style did an 180 because i didn't touch this document for a month
