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Author: DaisyFlo Story: The Dark and Twisting Path Rating: Young Teens Setting: Pre-DH Status: WIP Reviews: 8 Words: 12,353
A/N: I'd just like to say, thanks to everyone who reviewed and read my first chapter! I'd also like to give a big thank you to my pre-betas, you're great and without your encouragement, I'd never have even been able to submit this! And finally I'd like to thank my beta, Lisa. Thanks so much, for everything you're doing for me and I defiantly wouldn't have been able to do this if it weren't for you. You're great. Happy reading – enjoy! Daisyflo *** CRASH! "Sorry, Mrs Dursley" mumbled Ron, as he turned away and smirked along with Harry. Hermione was trying not to laugh at Vernon's reddening face as he sat at the table glaring at the bits of shattered glass all over the floor that Petunia was now sweeping up. "Mum, where's my – " Dudley froze in his tracks at the sight of Harry, Ron and Hermione. "Boy! Go and find something to do! Go on! Shoo!" Vernon gestured frantically towards Harry and the kitchen door. "Come on," Harry muttered and pushed them through the hallway and towards the front door. "He's quite rude, isn't he, Harry?" "Which one are you talking about?" he grinned. "Well, they could at least try and make an effort. They don't seem to care." "That's because they don't. Listen, Hermione. They don't care about me. So I don't care about them. It's simple. Nothing will ever change. That's just the way it is." "But maybe you should try. And Ron and I should try and be nice to them too. That was the third cup you'd smashed!" Ron tried to look ashamed of himself, but failed miserably. "And …Petunia must at least like you…" "Not this again, Hermione…" Ever since Ron and Hermione had arrived at Number 4, Hermione had taken on the task of making Harry enjoy staying with his relatives. Ignoring Harry's attempt at telling her that it was impossible to like the Dursleys and that they hated him, she still wouldn't give up. Ever since she walked in on his and Petunia's hug she had been badgering him about it until one night he finally gave in. In was just after dinner and they were all up in Harry's room. "You don't usually get hugs from her, do you?" she had asked. "Hermione! Listen, it wasn't a big deal, okay?" he groaned. She looked at him as if trying to work out what he was hiding. "You've never been hugged by her or your uncle, have you?" Harry sighed. "Okay. It was the first hug that I ever remember receiving from a relative." Her eyes filled with tears. "Hermione! Stop crying!" "It's just so sad." "It's nothing! Look, it was the first hug I remember getting from a blood relative, but they're not my family. You two are and I've got more than enough hugs to be going on with." "Oh, Harry!" she cried and threw her arms around him and burst into tears. "Hermione!" he looked desperately at Ron, who just shook his head and shrugged, looking completely bewildered. *** Soon it was the evening of July 30th and Harry sat in his bedroom blindfolded. "What are you doing?" he kept asking, but all the reply he got was a "You'll see." It was very annoying. At around 11:50 at night, Ron removed his blindfold. Harry looked around, stunned. There were streamers covering all the walls in red, gold, yellow, orange, blue, purple… every colour he could think of. There were paper stars stuck to the ceiling, the wardrobe and the desk, which had been enchanted to twinkle. But best of all was the floor. It was littered with presents and cards, and in the middle sat a massive birthday cake. It had white icing but there was barely any white left. It was covered in hundreds of multi-coloured sprinkles and in the middle, written in Ron's messy handwriting, it said: Happy 17th Birthday Harry Harry was at a loss for words. "Harry? Harry? Do you like it?" In answer, he turned and grinned at Ron and Hermione. "It hasn't even started yet but I know that this is going to be the best birthday I've ever had." Ron pulled something out from behind Harry's desk. "Butterbeer? Fred and George sent them." "Sure." "Wanna open some presents?" Sitting down, Harry was overwhelmed by the number of presents he received. There were presents from Charlie, Fleur and Bill, Fred and George, Mr and Mrs Weasley, Remus, Ron, Hermione and Ginny. He got many presents, including a watch similar to the one that Ron got from Mr and Mrs Weasley, and a brand new, very expensive-looking chess set from Ron and Hermione together… but the best was from Ginny. When he picked it up it was small, but surprisingly heavy. He unwrapped it and found a small box. He opened the lid and found a long chain with a plain gold, oval-shaped pendant. Bringing it up to his eyes, he saw that the oval had a catch at the side. He slowly undid it and it creaked open, letting out a blindingly bright light that lit up the whole room. "Ahhhh!" he yelled and slammed it shut. He stared at it for a moment and then said, "Wow." "I think I'm blind..." said Ron, rubbing his eyes furiously. "What was that?" Hermione asked. Harry's eyes were still stinging from the brightness of the light. "I dunno. Oh, hang on…" there was a scribbled note from Ginny. Harry, This is a Chaîne de Lumière. It gives light to the wearer and only to those he trusts. Happy birthday, Love Ginny He read the note aloud to Ron and Hermione. "How much did this cost?" said Ron, astounded. "Where did she get it?" asked Hermione. "I don't know." It was times like now that Harry wanted to be with Ginny more than ever but he knew that it couldn't be until the war was over. He closed his eyes trying to block all thoughts of Ginny from his mind. "Come on Harry, its 11:59, want to blow out your candles?" Hermione quickly lit the cake. Harry bent over the candles. He didn't usually make birthday wishes because he didn't usually have a cake to make them on. However, he felt that this was special. So he closed his eyes and wished the hardest he ever had for his wish to come true. Right now, it was what he wanted most in the world. The clock struck twelve and he blew out all his candles in one puff. Hermione had just handed him a knife, when Harry felt a floating sensation fill his body. Although he was still sitting, he felt lighter than air, as if he could float up to the ceiling if he wanted to. Then suddenly, he realised that his feet were glowing with a deep red light. Unfortunately, it didn't stop there. The light travelled up his body until it reached his head, where it burst into little sparks and landed on the carpet in front of him. In a room a few doors down from Harry, Petunia turned in her sleep. All of a sudden, her dream changed; now she was now floating upwards and was flying through the clouds. If you were standing on Privet Drive and looked up at her bedroom window, you would have seen deep red light through the followed by sparks. Petunia turned in her sleep again. Her dream had changed once again; this time she was reliving a moment that she had experienced almost sixteen years ago… once again, she shrieked and dropped the milk bottles, as she found something unwelcome on her doorstep. "Candles from Fred and George?" asked Harry, as he brushed his hair, checking for stray sparks. "No…" said Hermione slowly, turning to look at Ron. "I don't know what that was." "Maybe it was a coming of age thing," said Ron, shrugging his shoulders. "Did that happen to you, Ron?" said Hermione pointedly. "Well, no, but – " Harry tuned them out. He had just had a thought. He thought he had a pretty good idea of what had just happened to him…or what had just been lifted from him. He wondered if the same thing had happened to Petunia. *** After Harry's birthday, the days went by quickly. In no time at all it was Monday night and time to leave. "So…I guess I'll see you, sometime," he mumbled while standing in the living room with his trunk and broomstick. Clearing out his room had been stranger than usual because although he didn't leave anything, when he packed for Hogwarts, he still felt nervous in case he left anything because he would never get it back. Growing up, he'd always imagined this day as the best day of his life. Finally being free of the Dursleys. No more of Dudley's teasing and taunting, no more of Vernon treating him like dirt, no more of living in the house that was full of bad memories, no more of Petunia's-. That was it. After everything about the charm that Dumbledore had placed upon them, her wanting him to be okay and win the battle, he had felt closer to her, closer to her than he'd ever been before. And now, just as they were starting to realise that they have something in common and to talk to each other like other was family, he had to leave. He made a silent vow that he would come back and visit Petunia again sometime. "Won't you be back next summer?" barked Uncle Vernon. "Urm…actually, no. As of last week, I am seventeen which – in the wizarding world, means that I am basically an adult, so I've gotta get a job, move out, you know that kinda thing." Even Uncle Vernon was shocked at the news. "Well then…I guess, yes, see you, then." "Erm…Harry? We're going to see you at the Burrow, come on Ron." And they Disapparated. "Bye," grumbled Dudley, avoiding Harry's eyes. "Take care, Harry!" Petunia burst out, then covered her mouth as if she didn't know what she'd said as Uncle Vernon and Dudley glared at her. "Wait, boy! But what about that Voldletort… person?" "What?" "He was after you last year, what about now?" "Well, Voldemort is still searching for me, so I've got to kill him before I get a job. That's just part of my plan. See you!" and he dissaparated leaving the stunned Dursley family behind. *** Harry, Ron and Hermione were to spend two weeks at the Burrow and then they would start their journey a week before everyone went back to school. After arriving at the Burrow on Monday night and sitting down to a magnificent dinner they had trooped off to bed. It was Thursday night. They had just finished their meal and were about to enter the living room when Ginny announced that she was going to get some fresh air. Harry didn't think that anyone had noticed but she purposefully dropped her bracelet by Harry's chair and said when picking it up, "Meet me outside round the back of the shed." A few minutes later when they were all in the living room Harry tried to get away. "Mr Weasley, should I collect more firewood?" "Er…Harry? We don't use firewood, we use our wands." "Erm…how about I teach you how to make a Muggle fire?" "Really? Brilliant! Take Ron with you." "No, no I'll be fine. Back soon." Once outside Harry sighed. He did not think that one through. Harry spotted the shed and poked his head round the back. Ginny was quite comfortably standing there looking right back at him. It was roomier than he'd imagined, so he slid round to join her with ease. "Took your time." "Yeah. Sorry needed to think of an excuse. I'm supposed to be collecting firewood – I'm gonna teach your dad how to make a Muggle fire." She laughed and said, "Nice one." There was a short silence. "Ginny, listen." She looked up into his eyes. "I wanted to talk to you about the break-up." "So did I. That's why I wanted to meet you here. It's the only place where you can get some privacy in this house." "You go first," he said. "Well, when we broke-up…I know that you think that Voldemort would use me as bait, but I know you too well, Harry. I know that wasn't the only reason, so answer me truthfully, Harry. Are you coming back to Hogwarts?" Harry closed his eyes and sighed. It was the hardest thing that he had to do, admitting to Ginny that he wasn't coming back to Hogwarts. But when he looked down at her, she was still gazing hopefully up at him even though the teardrops sparkling at the corner of her eyes waiting to fall already knew the answer. "No, Ginny. I am not coming back to Hogwarts. I was going to tell you…announce it to everyone tomorrow. Ron and Hermione refused to let me go alone so they're not coming back either." Ginny opened her mouth and was about to insist that she was coming too when Harry said, "No. I'm sorry Ginny but you've still got two years left at school and you're not of age yet so you're not even allowed to leave yet. You've still got to do at least another year before you can leave." She closed her protesting mouth and swallowed. "Right. Yeah. I get it. There's no point persuading Mmum and Ddad to let me go, when law won't let me leave. But when has that ever stopped you? When have rules ever held you back from doing something? I wouldn't be alive if you hadn't broken the rules! You and Ron weren't allowed to leave the dormitory but you did and you saved my life!" "Ginny, that's different! They were school rules – this is law! And while I'm trying to defeat Voldemort, it won't make it any easier if you're on the run from the law! Besides, it's different for us. Hermione doesn't need another year of school, she already knows everything! And anything she doesn't know she can teach herself! Ron's only interested in Qquidditch, he doesn't know what he wants to do! And me… well, I have to leave. I can't go to that school while Dumbledore's not headmaster and…and well I'm the only one who can do this. I have to find and do certain things before this war can end. Things that only Dumbledore and I knew about." Harry watched a tear trickle down her cheek and Harry wiped it away. "Well I suppose that I should," she gestured towards the house,"Go." As she was sliding past Harry and leaving him and the back of the shed behind, he didn't know what made him do it but he grabbed her arm and whispered, "Don't go." And as she looked up into his eyes she saw that they were not full of apologies and excuses for going but of heartbreak and hatred of himself for doing the right thing and hatred of the law that made her stay behind. And then without thinking, he pulled her in closer and kissed her like he never had before. *** Harry was in his shared room with Ron. "Ron?" "What?" grumbled a sleepy Ron. "Going to the bathroom." "'Kay," Ron half snored. Harry crept downstairs and softly knocked on Ginny's door. "Who is it?" she whispered. "It's me," he whispered and poked his head around the door. Ginny was sitting up in bed reading. "Hey," she whispered and put down her book. "Hey. Why are we whispering?" "Hermione's asleep." She pointed to the lump in the other bed with bushy brown hair. Damn, Harry thought. He had forgotten about Hermione being there. "I wanted to say that I…well…I mean today was good, it was great! But…erm…" "You think that we shouldn't see each other," she finished for him. "Erm…yes but I think that we should get used to not being a…a couple when we're around each other…I guess," he finished lamely. "So you're dumping me again?" Ginny's voice was suddenly cold. "Well, when I came to see you I didn't want anything to happen." "What – by the shed?" "Yeah. I didn't know that anything would happen." "Well, I wanted to talk to you about everything and I didn't know that anything would happen either!" she replied. "Yeah! I wanted to be with you for a while…to talk and stuff–" "Then if you remember correctly, Harry, you shouldn't have kissed me!" her voice was hurt but still cold. She looked as if she was about to cry or maybe about to yell? He couldn't tell. Harry was surprised that Hermione hadn't woken up yet. Maybe she was a deep sleeper. If she was awake, she would have known what to do in a situation like this… "Excuse me? We're having an argument about how you didn't want anything to happen, but you kiss me, you lead me on, then the same day you dump me again, then when I'm upset about this argument all you can do is stare at Hermione?" "NO! I… I…Just thought that she had woken up maybe…or I don't like her…well I do like her…a lot…but not like how I like you, she a good friend and all but not in the same way!" Ginny looked furious. Harry knew he was just babbling and making it worse. He just couldn't stop it. "Get out." She spat. And he left. Ginny leant back on her pillows and let the tears roll down her face. Once outside, Harry leant against the wall and he closed his eyes. He felt horrible. He felt as if his heart had been ripped out and trod on. He hadn't felt like this for Cho, he'd never felt like this for anyone, he felt as if he couldn't go on without her, he wanted to run back in there and kiss her breathless, make it all better. But he knew that if he did that, he would never let her go and he couldn't see her, not until the war was over anyway. He felt his eyes watering and from inside the room he thought he heard a sob, too. *** This can't go on, Maxïmo Park – Going Missing
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