A/N: I'd like to use this to say thank you for such amazing followers! Don't miss the author's note at the end of this chapter too.
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Harry was still mad at me, had been for the past few weeks, but at least he was reserving his anger for when Mom and Paul weren't around. We told them about the wizard stuff, which prompted Mom to ask if I was going to share any secrets. The conversation didn't go so well.
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"Harry, I also have a secret I've kept from you," I explained slowly. "But I don't think you should know yet."
Harry stood blinking at me, his face skewed in consternation. "What?"
"You've got your hands full and my secret would only burden you more. I don't want to do that to you."
"Instead you want to tell me you're keeping something from me but not tell me what it is you're keeping from me?" he inquired incredulously.
I cringed a little at the bluntness of his words, but that was exactly what I was doing. "Yeah..."
"Are you bloody messing with me?! Do you not trust me with your secret after I trusted you with mine?"
"Of course I trust you, but you didn't exactly trust me with your secret, now did you? You had to reveal it because it literally attacked me."
"We could've just obliterated your memory! You would've forgotten any of it happened, but I trusted you so I didn't!"
The memory thing hit a little too close to home. "What? You want to be commended for choosing to not erase my memories?! Newsflash, Harry, that's like the minimum expectation people have! It proves nothing!"
"I never said I would do it, I said we could do it!" he clarified.
"Is that supposed to make me feel better? Is that supposed to convince me I should tell you a secret that would make your life harder? It doesn't."
"That's not fair," Harry argued.
It was a pathetic argument in my opinion, but instead of pointing that out, I said, "Sorry you see it that way, but I'm still not telling you. You'll know when you need to know."
Harry glared at me—also pathetic—and spoke with such bitterness he could've been a Brussel sprout. "You said I could trust you and talk to you anytime. That you don't want me suffering alone. And yet you don't believe in me enough to do the same for you?"
He didn't let me answer before he walked off to his room and shut his door firmly.
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We never revisited that conversation, but that was the biggest argument we ever had thus far. Harry and I maintained a strained relationship for most of the summer. We still hung out and did things, but there wasn't as much joy in them as there would've been. That was what I hated myself for the most. That I was part of the reason Harry was unhappy. I could only hope things would change before he went back to the UK. If he never wanted to come back again, I never would've forgiven myself.
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One night, we were out late taking a shortcut back home when I felt the air around me drop very suddenly. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I could see my breath and felt goosebumps rise on my arms. It was summer and a hot one at that. This was definitely not normal.
I pushed Harry behind me, but I couldn't tell where the threat was coming from. I saw Harry slip his wand out so I drew Riptide in pen form.
Suddenly, a dark, cloaked being swooped down to our right. Another one approached from the left. I uncapped Riptide and pointedly ignored Harry's wide eyes and astonished gasp at the bronze sword I now held. When one of the figures came too close, I lunged out to strike, but my sword passed through as if the figure was made of smoke. Then it opened its hideous mouth.
I don't remember what happened very clearly. I just felt cold, helpless, my life draining out of me as if all the happiness had been taken from the world. It didn't stop until a bright light was pushing the being off of me. Once both were gone, the temperature settled back to normal, yet I was still shivering.
Harry must have dragged me back home because the next thing I knew, I was being placed down in a chair gently. Mom's face was full of worry and Paul was holding out a bag of spare ambrosia for me. I took it gratefully and ate a small piece. Immediately, warmth filled me again and I gained some energy back. When I got my bearings, I saw Harry standing off to the side with a concerned look. It almost matched my mother's.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Harry repeated with a shaky voice. "I never meant for this to happen. I swear I didn't mean for this to happen."
Harry looked so crushed I wanted to run over and comfort him, but I could tell I wouldn't be steady on my feet. The world had only just stopped spinning.
I thought back to the Dursleys and realized they must have known Harry was a wizard. They must have ostracized him for it. That was probably why his life was hell. Harry might've thought we would do the same now that we knew and saw how dangerous being a wizard could be. He couldn't be more wrong.
Mom proved that by rushing over to him and pulling him into one of her amazing hugs.
"Oh, honey, it's not your fault," she assured him. "We understand. I'm just so glad you're safe. That you're both safe."
Paul joined in soon after. It was a beautiful sight. The love we had for each other warmed me more than the ambrosia. I was able to slowly walk over. Harry looked up to me. His eyes filled with nothing but guilt. I hopefully washed it away with a genuine smile as I joined the family embrace.
We stayed that way for a long time. I couldn't tell you how long because my ADHD was messing with my sense of time, as it normally did, but most of the tension was unwound after that. We all settled down in the living room and decided to put on a movie, something mindless that let us all just appreciate each other's presence. I sat close to Harry, a constant reminder that I would not leave him or cast him aside. Silently vowing I'd tell him my secret the next day, I let myself relax that night. Unknowingly, it was the calm before the storm.
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A/N: This is the end of part 2! Sorry for the loose ends, but I wanted to get part 2 out sooner rather than later. Part 3 is under works and will be a continuation of the same summer that part 2 takes place in. Thanks for reading and voting and commenting!
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Fanfiction[Completed] Harry Potter's world turned upside down. He no longer had to spend lonely summers at the Dursley's. In fact, he would never again spend his summers at the Dursley's. But was that a good thing? It meant leaving his friends, people he cons...
