When All is Lost One is Found

Chapter 65: Emotion Evoking Owls

When All is Lost, One is Found

Author: Rinoaebastel

Chapter 65: Emotion Evoking Owls

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and gain no profit from this fanfiction other than writing practice. JK Rowling owns Harry Potter.

AN: This story may contain scenes taken from the Harry Potter movies and books, but it's not exact dialogue, just rewording of dialogue or omission. It is not marked.

He entered the Great Hall just as the students started to eat their lunch. He kept his gaze to the ground and remained deep in thought as he walked up to the main table. He knew some of his fellow professors were staring at him, but he didn't care.

He'd thought he'd come to terms with what he'd said earlier to Granger. Assumed that he'd accepted his actions right then. But he hadn't. Many thoughts had bombarded him, heading in all sorts of scenarios, some likely, others not so much.

All he knew was that unless she left his life, he wouldn't let her go. He wouldn't push her away. In his death, he'd be able to grasp onto the fact he'd had someone special in his life.

He sat down and a plate of food appeared in front of him. It was a rare steak with a side of peas and some garlic potatoes. He focused on its scent rather than remember hers. Put all his thoughts into the taste as he ate the meat, relishing in the tender way it pulled apart in his mouth as he chewed.

He looked up, in her direction for a second before focusing back on his food. She was at the corner of the Gryffindor table, her appearance back to normal. She had her nose stuck in her book and a quill and scroll to her right. In the quick glance he saw she was looking better than she'd had since the fallen out with Potter and Weasley.

He was about to eat a spoonful of peas when something slammed into his back. The peas flew off the spoon, one of them landing in a goblet.

He shot up from his seat, wand out, his reflexes controlling his actions.

Everyone went silent. He felt all eyes on him and glared out at the students. They quickly went back to eating and talking. He looked down at the owl on the ground.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Granger looking worried.

"It's only an owl," Minerva stated.

"Thank you for that enlightenment," he said. "But I am sure you would've had the same reaction if it had barreled into you," he said. "If not, then you should probably practice your defense." He didn't like speaking that way to Minerva, but it was important to keep up his arrogance.

He leaned down and picked up the owl, which was a bit loopy from the hit. He sat it on the table and took the paper from it.

The bird swayed back and forth, and took a step. Right into his potatoes. The other professors gasped, but he raised an eyebrow at the thing and almost laughed. It was... cute. And pitiful. One eye looked to be facing the students while the other looked at him. He waved his wand at it, casting a spell. Its eye straightened and its dizziness ceased.

He took a generous piece of his steak and fed it to the owl. He nearly jumped when it nuzzled his hand and then flew away.

He ignored the surprised looks on the other professors' faces as he opened the letter and began to read. His lips pursed when he saw where it was from. His jaws tensed with every line he read, and his grip on the paper tightened.

He stood, wadded up the paper in his right hand, and stalked out of the Great Hall before he lost all of his composure.

As he stepped into the garden, he took deep breaths of the cold air. He kept his wand in his robes. If he didn't he might destroy something. He stepped down onto the thick snow and thought of the positives of what happened.

He could go to Spinner's End and destroy the last trace of his miserable past.

With violent steps, he stormed through the snow towards the gate. He'd burn the place into ashes. He didn't care if it was where he lived. Didn't care that he now legally owned it. That man bought it. It was where his despicable muggle father murdered his mother. Where he'd been beaten numerous times while his mother struggled to get up off the floor. It was a place that brought memories that still haunted him on nights when he contemplated how he became the man he was now.

Once Dumbledore's plan came to fruition, it would be the first thing people went after anyway. Now he could burn away some of his sadness and hurt.

Deep down, he knew it wouldn't do any good. Those things were already branded in him forever.

The metal gates crashed against each other when he pushed them open. He exited the grounds not thinking about whether or not the gates closed behind him.

He stopped at the apparition point. His body was so tense it started to ache. He closed his eyes, taking deep breaths as the wind blew around him, blowing snow off the trees and creating the little specks of ice that hit against his face.

Then something crashed against his back, something warm and soft. He felt a head rest against his back. A pair of arms moved around his waist.

And hugged him.

AN: Yep, I'm posting a day early. I got a lot to study and I wasn't going to manage to do it tomorrow. Let's see how this week goes and see. Anyway, Don't faint my dear readers with the cliffy. Hope you like it and let me know what you think. See you next Saturday! I hope, if not it will be some hours before,

Oh, there is a companion draw to this chapter you could find on DA in a couple of days (If the amount of papers doesn't eat me.)