After the War

Chapter 6

Thank you to everyone who has read this! It means so much to me, so please enjoy!

The next afternoon, Harry found himself outside on the Hogwarts grounds, bathed in the sun that was still celebrating their victory over the Dark forces. After another long day of repairs, he, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny left to see Hagrid, who for some reason had not been into the castle since the battle. Miraculously, his hut at the edge of the forest remained standing, with only his garden and fence trampled into the soft dirt. As they approached the hut, they could see the curtains spread wide open and had a clear view of Hagrid drinking heartily from a bottle. When they were ushered into his hut, they had a hard time understanding his slurred speech, but his joy at Grawp's support in the battle was clear and at least for the moment, he did not seem traumatized by the events of the past few days. But of course, that might be from the help of the whiskey.

As quickly as they politely could, the four left Hagrid's hut in much less time than they expected and began to walk casually along the grounds towards the broken Quidditch fields.

"Well, he seems to be doing well," Ron said once safely out of earshot.

"I can't say that I'm not surprised," Hermione replied disdainfully.

"At least he's happy?" Ginny commented, more as a question than anything. They continued to talk as they walked along the sloping grass. The trees stood to their left and the Whomping Willow kept its barren branches still. Harry glanced at the towering trees ever so often and now felt no fear about what lies within its hidden depths. He ignored the urge to search the forest floors for the small stone that would allow him to see his parents and Remus and Sirius and Fred. He resisted the call to overturn every pebble littering the floor, knowing how dangerous the stone could be.

Before he could turn his head away from the beckoning trees, something caught his eye. He stopped mid stride and turned to face the forest, not bothering to call out to his friends who continued on without him. Eventually, they backtracked and stood beside him, peering into the shadows in utter confusion. All they could see was a normal gap in the trees, only the dark ground pushing through vines and branches, just like at any other spot in the forest.

"Harry? Is everything okay?" Ginny asked, facing him. But, what they could not see was the dark ground pushing through vines and branches into Aragogg's old lair and towards the bright flash of green. Towards what should have been his own demise. Towards what should have been an end to his struggles. Towards what had haunted his dreams last night.

He heard voices talking around him, much too far away to notice or care. The only voice he could hear whispered "Harry Potter..." It sent chills through his body and was cold enough to freeze ice in his veins. Red slits came into view and a swish of a long black cloak.

Suddenly, a hand on his shoulder had whipped him around so that his back was to the forest entry. He blinked multiple times in rapid succession and pushed away the impending panic that was threatening to engulf him.

"Harry, was that where you walked into the forest?" Ginny asked. He noticed Ron still stood behind him with his hands out, clearly ready to catch him if he blacked out again. Suddenly embarrassed by his moment of weakness, he stepped back to bring Ron into the small circle.

"Yeah," he admitted. "Yeah, but I'm fine." Ron and Hermione exchanged a sideways glance that only they could discern meaning from while Ginny stared at him with her arms crossed.

"You're not fine, Harry. None of us are 'fine'," Ginny said exasperated.

"Let's just keep walking, okay?" Harry asked. Without waiting for an answer, he walked through the group towards their destination and allowed the other three to catch up to him before falling into step.