The Troubled Wizard (A Harry Potter Fan Fiction)

Chapter 19

After breakfast, Harry went and took care of Errol and Hedwig. For some reason, Errol didn't seem to have a cage at the moment, so the two were sharing Hedwig's. He would have to get the story behind that later. It was a little cramped, but they didn't seem to mind too much.

"Hey, you two." Harry smiled brightly at them as he opened up the cage to give them some room to fly around while he cleaned it. Hedwig flew over and sat on his shoulder, nuzzling his cheek. She snipped at the large bandage covering his face with worry. "It's ok." Harry assured her as he caressed her soft plumage. "It's just a scratch really. Mrs. Weasley said that I should be able to take it off later today. I've been taking some healing potions Madam Pompfrey left for me that have been helping it heal faster."

This seemed to make her feel better, so after a few more nudges, she went off to play with Errol. The old owl did not look particularly thrilled to have the younger flying circles around his head, but he did seem to be enjoying the company.

After watching their antics for a few more minutes, Harry got back to his task of cleaning out the cage. He removed the old newspapers and replaced them with fresh ones. He rinsed out the water bowl and filled up the dish with more food. Once he was satisfied with his work, he coaxed them back into the cage, promising to let them out again before supper. He really needed to ask Ron about what happened to Errol's cage...

*****

Hermione had left not long after breakfast, promising to return in a couple days, and the rest of his friends were still off doing their chores. It was too early to start helping Mrs. Weasley with lunch, so this left Harry in the odd position of having a lot of free time, and not knowing what to do with it.

With the Dursleys, he had usually just spent his extra time sleeping, because he had nothing better to do. He thought about working on some of his homework, but Ron had asked him if he wanted to do some later that night, so he didn't feel like doing homework twice in one day. He finally decided that he would go on a walk and clear his head for a bit. He would have gone flying, but Madam Pompfrey had forbidden it until he had put on a bit more weight.

Walking out the front door of the Burrow, Harry made his way down to a small pond on the side of the house. He sat down at the edge and watched as different colored fish glittered beneath the water. He took off his shoes and socks and dipped his feet into the water. Leaning back on the grass, he looked up at the sky and watched as clouds lazily drifted by, momentarily blocking the sun. Several birds flew by, chirping happily as they went. Harry let out a deep sigh and sank further into the soft grass. He couldn't remember another time in which he felt so... at peace.

Harry couldn't have said how long he had laid there before he felt someone sit down next to him. He could hear them slipping off their shoes and dipping their feet in as well, before laying down next to him. Harry turned his head to the side and saw Ron smiling at him. "Hey mate, how's it going?"

He shrugged and turned back towards the sky. He realized that this was the first time he had been alone with Ron sense telling the truth about his uncle. "I'm sorry..."

"What for?" Harry didn't even need to look at him to recognize the concern in his friend's voice.

"For not telling you..." he mumbled. "I... I didn't want you to think it was because I didn't trust you... I just..." he couldn't seem to find the right words, but he had a feeling Ron knew what he meant.

Ron reached over and squeezed his hand reassuringly, "I know Harry. You were scared of what could happen if they found out you had told someone. I get that." He pulled his hand away so he could wipe a tear from his cheek, "I'm just... so sorry I didn't see it before..."

Harry turned to him in surprise, "Don't blame yourself, Ron. I was purposely trying to keep it a secret from you. I didn't want you to figure it out."

"I know mate," he looked at him sadly, "but I should have..." they sat in silence for a while, before Ron turned back to him. "Do you want to go swimming?"

Harry chuckled at the quick change in subject. "I don't think I can, what with all the bandages."

Ron smacked himself on the forehead, "I'm so stupid, of course, you can't go swimming right now."

Harry laughed at his realization, "Besides, I don't actually know how to swim."

"What?!" Ron said in surprise, "Really?!"

He shook his head, "Any time my aunt and uncle took Dudley and his friends to the pool, they left me at home."

"But didn't they teach you in primary school?" Ron asked, "Like in a gym class or something?"

Harry shook his head again, "Every year when my gym teacher would give swimming lessons, my uncle would get me a doctor's note so that I couldn't participate. He didn't want people to see, well... you know..."

"Bloody hell!" Ron glared up at the sky, "Isn't there one thing those people got right?!"

Harry shrugged, "I don't know. They weren't all bad..." Ron was about to protest but he kept talking, "If not for them, then I wouldn't have met you."

Now he was confused, "How do you reckon that?"

Harry glanced back up at the sky and watched as a butterfly drifted by overhead. "We first met when we're at the train station before first year. I was alone and had no idea how to get onto the platform, but you and your mum showed me what I needed to do. That meeting could have gone differently in several different scenarios. If my parents hadn't died, we wouldn't have met like that because they would have been there to help me get onto the train. The same could be said if I had grown up with Sirius or another wizarding family. But since I grew up with the Dursleys, who didn't care to see me off on the train, I got to meet you."

Ron blushed and turned away from him. He lightly punched him on the shoulder, "We still would have met, you dork, we're in the same house after all."

"I know," he continued, "but there're plenty of other kids in Gryffindor that I never talk to. For all we know, we might not have become best mates if not for meeting on the train that day."

"I guess you do have a point..." he smiled, "although I'd like to believe that we would still be best mates, no matter what happened."

Harry smiled back at him, "Yeah, I'd like to think that too..."

They sat by the pond for a bit longer before deciding that they should probably head back up to the house. They both vowed that no matter what happened down the road, they would still remain best friends forever...

(A/N - hey guys, thanks for reading. :) Happy Holidays!)