Harry Potter and the Ties that Bind

Chapter 29

Harry had been lying on the pavement with a crying Lisa lying on top of him for twenty minutes and going. Her tears had stopped a minute ago. However, she continued to sniffle, and Harry, loathe to interrupt his friend as she poured out her emotions, waited until she stopped wiping her nose against his shirt before talking.

"I'm sorry for disappearing on you."

"You should be sorry," Lisa mumbled into his shirt. "Do you even realize how worried I was when you went missing? It was like you had completely vanished. The Dursleys couldn't even remember you for some reason. I had no idea what was going on."

He sighed. "I know, and I know I have a lot of explaining to do. I promise to tell you everything... but I think we should get off the ground and head into your house before I start talking."

Lisa shifted on top of him before slowly standing up. Harry stood as well, discreetly using a cleaning charm on his clothes to get Lisa's tears and nose fluids off his shirt. He then held out his hand for Lisa, who grabbed onto it and squeezed as though he might disappear if she didn't keep a tight grip.

They walked up to the house, and Lisa pulled out a key, unlocked the door, and then entered. Harry went in with her.

The Crawft's house looked just as he remembered. He glanced around as his feet tapped against the wood panels. To his right, he observed the carpeted living room, which had a comfortable-looking sofa, several chairs, and a television sitting on top of a stand.

"Are your parents home?" Harry asked.

Lisa shook her head as she lead him to her room. "No, Mum is out with friends and Dad is working. Neither of them will be home for a few hours at least."

That will probably make telling Lisa what I need to tell her easier...

Not much had changed in Lisa's room, though he could see a few new items dotting the landscape. He and Lisa walked around several footballs that lay scattered across the carpet as they traveled deeper into the room. A number of picture frames containing photos of when they were kids hung from the walls; they hadn't been there before. As he and Lisa sat down on her bed, Harry glanced at the desk, where several frames filled with pictures of them sat.

Lisa crossed her arms. She tried to look stern, but her eyes and nose were both red. "Start talking. I hope you have a good explanation for why you disappeared on me."

Harry would have smiled at the front Lisa was putting up if he hadn't felt so guilty. It gnawed at him like a black void consuming his soul, this horrible feeling of self-loathing. His friend was hurt because of him. While he'd always known that he was going to hurt her when he disappeared, he'd been so wrapped in his own darkness that he hadn't even cared. He truly was an awful friend.

"What I have to tell you is a long story, and it might be hard for you to believe," Harry began. He unsheathed his mother's wand. It had been so long since he'd tried to use it that he wasn't even sure if he could.

"What's that?" Lisa asked as she gestured to the wand.

"This... is part of what I need to tell you about."

Because he wanted to be safe, Harry cast several basic charms to mask their conversation, including a muffliato spell. It was dumb. However, a part of him was really worried that someone from the Ministry would find out what he was going to do here. If they learned that he was planning to tell a non-magical human about magic... well, he didn't want to know what they would do.

So I can use my mother's wand now. I wonder if it's because the wand sensed my dark intentions before and refused to work with me?

It was an interesting theory. He would have to explore it later.