the marriage stone (Discontinued)

Chapter 65 - Woolgathering

Harry noticed a vague heaviness in his mind as he walked toward the Great Hall for breakfast. He was aware of where he was and where he was going, and he knew Sirius and Severus were walking on either side of him along with Remus and Dumbledore. But there was a fuzzy quality to his thoughts that he found odd - perhaps he had not slept as well last night as he had assumed. He hadn't taken his potion - he'd been too worried about Severus - and yet, he couldn't recall dreaming. And if he was honest with himself, sleeping pressed up against Severus had been a rather novel experience. There was something soothing about having the heat of another body beside him - something comforting. He could definitely get used to it.

He shook his head, trying to clear the haze from his thoughts. So much had happened in the last twenty-four hours, he couldn't help but think that this morning would be difficult. He'd been stared at before, had his every move scrutinized and published in the papers. But this time it all felt different; it all felt larger somehow.

Beside him he could feel a sense of excitement coming from Sirius, and it occurred to him that today was the first time in many years that Sirius would be able to walk into the crowded Great Hall as a free man. That had to be thrilling for him - it was likely that the last time he'd stood in the student-filled Hall would have been during his own seventh-year leaving feast. Both of Harry's parents would have been with him then. He glanced sidelong at his godfather and smiled when the man give him a quick wink. Something good had come of yesterday's events - despite the deaths and the chaos brought to his own life, at least Sirius was safe now.

There were two tall men armed with swords and dressed in chain mail standing in front of the doors to the Great Hall, and judging by their clothing and long blond hair, Harry guessed they were part of the group that had come from the Winter Lands. They both stood a bit straighter when they saw him approaching; the younger one on the left fought to keep a grin off his face. Both men nodded to him, and then opened the double doors. Harry felt a shiver move through his body at their behavior - was this to be his life from now on?

The familiar noise of hundreds of students talking all at once washed over Harry as he entered the Hall. Silence fell a moment later as people turned to see who had entered. But more startling than the silence was the way everyone immediately stood to their feet. It was a repeat on a grand scale of what had happened that morning when he'd left the bedroom to join the others by the fire. Somehow he didn't think serving tea was going to solve things this time.

A quick glance around the room, revealed various reactions - all of Gryffindor was smirking at him - though Harry thought Ron looked ready to burst with something he wanted to say. The Ravenclaws looked utterly intrigued, torn between staring at Harry and watching everyone else in the room. The Hufflepuffs were. . . blushing? Was it possible for an entire House to blush in unison? And the Slytherins were looking far more thoughtful than Harry had ever seen them, as if analyzing the events on a level Harry didn't want to contemplate. Even the other teachers at the head table were standing - though Hagrid was also grinning from ear to ear.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to find Dumbledore staring kindly down at him. "Perhaps a few words, Harry, to set things for the future," he suggested.

Set things for the future. Harry wasn't entire certain where to go with that, but he nodded his head anyway turning to stare at the boys and girls he'd been going to school with for the last six years. How on earth did he manage to get himself into these things? There were days when it just didn't pay to get out of bed.

And then just like that the words he needed came to him.

"You know me," he told them. "You know who I am. Think about what you know I must be feeling right now, and ask yourselves what you should be doing."