Redo - Harry Potter Fanfiction

Chapter Twenty-five

It's like someone had popped Harry's balloon, and it was deflating. Stress and pressure were still piled onto the limp balloon, though. Harry was just kind of lost. He'd stare at the stone sometimes when he didn't know what to do, hoping it would give him answers.

But it was an inanimate object; it gave him only silence. Xira's forgiveness gave him some respite, quite a lot of it. Harry knew she hadn't fully forgiven him. There was tenseness between them still. However, Harry couldn't spend the time it would take to patch up their friendship.

Well, he had the time, but not the right mental state. What now? Maybe Harry could focus on his studies or learn more from Saffi. Still, Harry felt a bit shaken. It was all so clean and straightforward; surely, it wouldn't be this easy.

Harry almost got snapped up by a manticore, but he was fine. No trip to Madam Pomfrey, no near deaths. Harry was all in one piece, sitting on his bed, staring at the stone. He felt either Rio or Saffi move closer to him. Harry didn't check.

"Harry?" It was Rio; Harry turned his head to meet Rio's eyes. The viper's pin-needle eyes stared into Harry's soul and saw his unhappiness.

"Yes, Rio?" Harry asked softly, diverting his gaze from the snake and instead looking at Saffi, whose vibrant green form lay on his pillow. Tiny snores escaped her, but Harry knew at the slightest hint of danger she would spring up and be ready.

"What's wrong? You've done what you have to do, so why the long face?" Harry sighed deeply, glancing at Rio, who was examining Harry intently, tongue flicking out to read Harry's mood. Harry let his eyes fall back down to the stone in his hand. He tightened his grip on it, then loosened it.

"I-I really don't know Rio. I just feel all this is far too easy. There has to be more, right?" Rio shrugged nonchalantly, and Harry gave a frustrated little puff of air. Harry stuffed the stone into his pocket, suddenly feeling quite infuriated. Rio picked up on the change of mood immediately.

"Listen, Harry, there could be more, or maybe, for now, you've done what you've had to. I can't tell you the future. But sitting here, stressing about it, won't help at all. So why don't you try to take your mind off it or something?" He knew Rio was quite right, but Harry still felt hung up.

"What am I supposed to do? My schoolwork is all done, Saffi is out, and I'm not going to mess with her, and I don't want to read anything right now." Rio rolled his eyes and sighed. Harry knew that came out as pretty whinny; moments like this made him really feel eleven.

"How about you go talk to your little mate?" Harry's cheeks flushed pink. Was Rio talking about Xira? Even though he was blushing, Harry tried to look offended.

"Mate? Xira is just a friend!" Harry screeched; Rio chuckled.

"Yeah, go hang with her or something." Harry huffed, but he knew Rio was onto something. He got off the bed, hesitated, then walked out the door. Xira was amazingly easy to find, right there reading a book. One of her curls stuck out of her bun, and she kept trying to tuck it behind her ear.

Her hair had gotten slightly longer over break, the ringlets going past her shoulders now. The length suited her well. Harry studied her from the stairs, wondering what else was different. Not so much, except maybe she was a bit quieter now.

But what changed between them? Not much on her end probably, Xira was still angry with him, and that was it. For Harry, though, everything was new. He even looked at her differently. Harry knew why, but he wished everything could just be the same again.

Xira chose then to look up from her book and straight at him like she knew he was there staring at her. She gave him a puzzled look, shutting her book. He approached her like a shy fox, sitting on the couch opposite her.

"What have you been up to?" Harry asked inquisitively. She gave a little shrug, a small smile on her face now.

"Nothing really. You?" Harry shrugged, too, for some reason also grinning. Xira shook her head at him, but her eyes shined with amusement.

"Well, what do you want from me then?" Xira questioned, eyebrow slightly raised. Harry takes a breath, then looks into her sky-blue eyes. He sees her tense up; she's not breathing.

"I'm bored. Do you want to do something fun?" She immediately exhales, slapping his knee, annoyed. Harry chuckles.

"You jerk! I thought you were going to tell me something serious!" Xira huffs, crossing her arms. She relaxes. Harry guesses she's thinking about his offer now.

"Yeah, sure. What do you want to do, though?" Harry thinks for a moment before grinning mischievously. It was still quite chilly out there, and today there were no classes. Most people chose to stay inside because of the cold, but there were no rules against going out there.

"Want to have a snowball fight?" Harry sees the childish part of Xira light up, and he knows his own child is coming alive too. They both grin wickedly and rush to leave. Harry grabs Xira's coat that she left behind, though, not wanting her to get sick.

They race to the school grounds, laughter echoing through the corridors. Some students look at them strangely, but neither Harry nor Xira cares today. Xira is first to the snow, quickly balling it up in her bare hands and hitting Harry in the face.

"Oh yeah?" He asks darkly, wiping the snow off himself. Xira snorts but gets smacked by a snowball. She gasps, eyes narrowing.

"It's on Mr. Potter..." Soon enough, both children are soaked from melted snowballs. There are joyful giggles and snickers. And by evening, both are exhausted and lying next to each other.

"I definitely won." Comments Xira cockily. Harry rolls his eyes but doesn't have the energy to argue. He smiles up at the sky, watching it get painted orange and purple.

"Are you cold?" Asks Harry, turning his head to look at Xira beside him. Xira looks up at the sky; he sees the colors reflected in her clear eyes. She smiles softly; Harry is so close he can see a few freckles on her brown skin.

"No, I'm alright," Xira says, but Harry can barely hear her, her voice a whisper in the wind. He looks away and back up at the sky, his face flushed pink.

"Thank you, though." She says moments later, an afterthought. When Harry looks back at her, he meets her eyes. They study each other's faces.

"I wish it could be like this always," Harry mutters, closing his eyes. He hears Xira sigh and takes it as agreement. In a perfect world, a world where Harry could be a kid, where he didn't have a destiny looming over him. Maybe in that world, he could spend every day like this.

Yay I did it! Short but sweet? Idk. Apparently this has a romantic vibe...I'll let you be the judge of that ig. Thanks for reading loves!

                                                                          -Lemon Nugget