Helium | Harry J. Potter

36

HARRY's POV

The last day of fifth year. Wow.

The OWLs went great - I hope. With all the studying Hermione made me do, I better have a high score.

Everyone leaves first thing in the morning, so I've been packing all day. Later tonight, Alura, Hermione, Astoria, Ron, Daphne, and me have a dinner planned in the room of requirement.

Ron is currently trying to decide if he should try out for the quidditch team next year, and I'm telling him he has loads of time to decide.

Dean and Seamus are still pretty mad at me for the whole fire situation, and I'm not saying that they shouldn't be, but it's not like they lost anything.

"But if I do play quidditch next year,"
Ron continued, "I'd barely have time for anything."

"Ron, I promise you it's not like that. And you have plenty of time to decide what you want to do."

"Fred and George told me quidditch was time-consuming."

"Yeah, and they also told you that you had to battle trolls to get in your house," I reminded him.

"Fair point." He shrugged.

At this point I'm almost done packing, I just need to get my toiletries out of the bathroom.

"What do you and Alura plan on doing this summer?"

I shrugged. "I don't know; Alura will be with Daphne and her family for the first two weeks of summer, assuming Stefan lets her go."

"It sounds like you don't want her to go," Ron pointed out my tone.

"No, it's not that I don't want her to go. It's just - I don't want to waste two weeks away from her."

Ron smiled. "You're in love," he sung jokingly. "L-O-V-E," he spelled out.

"Shove off!" I laughed, heat rising to my cheeks.

"So, have you told her yet?"

"No, but she's told me," I told him. "And I know how that sounds, but it was only once... okay, maybe twice... three times at the most."

He shook his head and sighed."You're the one who was chasing her this whole year - and you're telling me you haven't said 'I love you'?"

"Technically Alura said she was in love with me," I corrected him.

"That makes it worse!" He laughed. "She's bloody in love with you - what's stopping you from saying it back?"

"I don't know... Maybe I'll say it during the summer."

"I never thought Alura Salvatore would be the first to say it."

"You're not alone in that thought."

ALURA's POV

I finished packing yesterday because I wanted a chance to say goodbye to Cedric since he just graduated and will be leaving.

I haven't told Harry that I'm talking to Cedric yet, but I'm only saying goodbye. That's all.

I say the password to the Hufflepuff common room and walked in. The common room is chaotic. Students are running left and right, some are just sitting down and chatting, others are running up and down the stairs.

It takes me two minutes alone to get through the group of students and to the staircase. The rest of the walk to Cedric's dorm goes smoothly.

I knocked on his door hesitantly, not knowing if I should stay or turn back. Cedric answered the door and he looked as if he hadn't slept in days.

His hair is messy, which is very unlike him, he's in sweatpants and an old t-shirt. The life quite literally looks like it was drained out of him.

"You look..." I scanned his body, looking for anything to compliment him with, but looked back up after realizing there's nothing.

"Like shit," he finished. "I know."

"Weren't going to be my exact words, but..." I stopped myself. "Why do you look like this?"

"Cho broke up with me. She said it'd be too hard to keep a relationship with me leaving," he answered. "So now I'm trying to pack my whole dorm since my roommates decided to bail and go to some party."

I raised my eyebrows in shock. He's trying to pack a whole dorm on zero sleep by himself? Not on my watch.

"Need any help?"

-

It took longer than I thought to pack everything in his dorm. He told me I could leave but I didn't want to leave him alone with the whole mess. I'm currently running to the room of requirement, as I'm already late.

When I finally get there, I try to make it look as if I hadn't just rushed all the way over here. I smooth my hair and tie my shoelaces. Then I join my friends and boyfriend.

They're all laughing at something Daphne said when they notice me sit next to Harry and across from Astoria.

"Sorry, I had to do something," I made up. I took a sip of my water to avoid answering any questions.

"That's fine." Daphne waved off. "We haven't even pulled out the drugs yet."

Hermione spat her water back in the cup and quickly apologized. "I'm sorry, what?"

Daphne used her hand to cover her mouth while laughing. "I'm kidding!"

Astoria shook her head and laughed. "This is who I have to live with."

"Try having to live with three brothers and a sister," said Ron.

"You win." Astoria scrunched her nose.

Randomly, I turned to Harry and told him I loved him. And for the first time in months, he said it back.

If I could pause this moment and play it on repeat forever, I would in a heartbeat.

This was our new beginning. Everything that has happened, big or small led to this. To now.

I once believed that pain is what makes us who we are, and while that's true, it's also the people around us. My friends — my family. It's their love that lifts me up — like helium.

The End.