you raise me up || harry potter

chapter 65

»»————-　song:　————-««

one summer's day

★ joe hisaishi ★

❝ once you've met someone,
you never really forget them.❞

- zeniba, spirited away

♢ ♢ ♢

Snape decided to break the news to Harry tomorrow, since that was when he had his final Potions class of the year. No use rushing, Snape reasoned. It wouldn't be very subtle if Snape randomly summoned Harry to his office when it was already so close to dinner. 

It was only the next day, when Snape sat in his office languidly as he finalized exam grades, that he bolted upright in alarm.

He had been so ecstatic about the Dursley's no longer being protected by the blood wards that he hadn't thought of one very important thing: Dumbledore knew how kind Harry was, how selfless. 

He would try to change Harry's mind.

Snape rifled through his drawers, looking for the Marauder's Map. He had long debated with himself whether to return it to Harry or not and hadn't quite made up his mind. He was glad he hadn't.

Because he couldn't let Dumbledore get to Harry first.

♢ ♢ ♢

It was the final week of classes, and as exams were over, the teachers had little control over the students, who were either packing excitedly or taking advantage of the beautiful summer weather. Harry fell into neither category, seeing as he had little reason to be excited to pack, and by extension to be grateful for the warm weather. Late spring always put a pit in his stomach, because warm weather always meant going back to the Dursley's and doing the gardening all summer long as he desperately drank water out of the hose when Petunia wasn't watching.

There wasn't much to do. Feeling bad for Sage, who was pretty much left to his own devices for the year as Harry ran about with this whole Sirius Black business, Harry spent most of his evenings in hissed conversation with the snake. It was fascinating; until now, Harry never thought much of what it would feel like to live as an animal, let alone an animal with no legs and an appetite for bugs and frogs. Which got him thinking about what it would feel like to become an Animagus... but he tried not to dwell on it too much, since that also got him thinking about his father, and he found it difficult to keep his eyes dry whenever he thought about his parents.

During the day, Harry tried not to ever be alone in the same room as Draco, both of whom were clearly doing their utmost to avoid each other. And this proved to be quite difficult, given that they were in the same House and lived in the same dorm room. It was awkward enough the whole year, but now that they weren't stressed about exams or a supposed mass murderer on the run, it was doubly hard. 

Figuring it would be harder for the two of them to bump into each other out on the vast grounds, Hary wandered about outside in the late morning sun between classes, trying not to feel sorry for himself and reminding himself to eat a bunch at dinner that night to try and offset the Dursley's penchant for witholding food, when he realized he had accidentally walked under a tree that Cedric Diggory was sitting under.

Before Harry could awkwardly shuffle away, Cedric looked up. "Oh," he said, looking like he wasn't quite sure whether to stand up or what to do with his stretched out legs. "Hello."

Harry gave him an awkward smile, then a genuine one when he saw the book in his hands. "Hey, is that Quidditch Through the Ages? That's my favorite book."