Bloody but Unbowed

Chapter 2: Home

All the sleeping potions Kreacher gave him were useless. Harry could not have a proper sleep. At the slightest noise he would wake up, imagining it was some Death Eater prepared to kill his loved ones. In those sleepless nights he started writing letters. He wrote several times to his mother and father, some to Sirius, and a few to Lupin, to tell him about his son. He kept all these letters in what was once Regulus's room, now his library - even though it was nothing compared to Hermione's.

Ted was now being raised by the Weasley family, but Harry was the one who looked after him most of the time. He was growing fast, even without his mum and dad.

"Dada" called him one day. It seemed like a knife had pierced his heart.

"I'm not your dad, Teddy. Your dad was a very brave man, and I am not even remotely as brave as he was."

"It is my fault if your father is dead." Harry wanted to add. But he kept that for himself.

"Harry, you should go to Mungo's hospital. It's not normal at all." said Ginny one night, while moving his index finger back and forth on his naked chest. Harry was feeling pretty distracted from her smell and her naked body against his.

"What?"

"I said that you should see a doctor. It might help you sleep."

"I don't need to sleep if you're near me."

She smiled and blushed, but she didn't intend to give up this time. "Listen to me, what you are experiencing is completely normal: in the Muggle World they call it PTSD - post-traumatic stress disorder. It is easily curable, especially by magician doctors. You should try."

He sighted, looking up to the roof. Then he answered "You're right, I should do something before I turn out as gaga as Mr Lockwood". They both laughed.

He kissed her, slowly, first on her neck, then on the lips. And, without even realizing it, they were bonding their body with Love and Trust.

When they woke up, the morning after, a bright sun was entering through the curtains. They could hear Kreacher cooking breakfast downstairs. Harry started brushing Ginny's hair, he was thinking about what she had said during the night. She was right. He knew that. But still there was a part of him that didn't want to get better, that felt like he deserved all that pain. Why? Because he didn't die like the others, because most of his loved ones passed away to keep him alive. And the guilt was torturing him from the inside. "Where did you go?" whispered her. Sometimes Harry was surprised by how much she understood him. But he didn't want to tell her the whole truth, because he knew that she would tell him that it wasn't true, that he shouldn't feel guilty. But yet he did. "I'm hungry, let's go downstairs?" replied him, trying to avoid the question completely. Ginny didn't insist.

In those days Kreacher was doing his best to cheer up his Master, and Harry had to admit that his pancakes were really something.

"Good morning Master! Good morning Miss Ginny!" The elf welcomed them, a big smile on his toothless mouth. Harry and him had become true friends since the whole killing-Voldemort mission, and yet he insisted not to be freed: you can't free a bird that has lived in a cage for all his life, in a world where it doesn't belong it will only die.

"Kreacher made you some pancakes and a big birthday cake, Master. Kreacher wanted to be the first to wish you happy birthday, Master, and give you his present." He handed Harry a small package, all wrapped up in what seemed like an old copy of the Daily Prophet. Harry opened it: it was a medallion with a photo hidden in it. The picture had been made many years before: there were Harry, Ron and Hermione in front of Hogwarts castle.

"Thank you Kreacher." said Harry, with tears in his eyes. Then he did something that had never done before: he hugged the little elf. Kreacher was completely caught by surprise, but in no time he hugged him back. For the first time in his life he felt a burning sensation on his chest: it was Love.

"Master sh-shouldn't hug K-Kreacher, K-Kreacher d-doesn't deserve it." started babbling and sobbing.

"You do, Kreacher! You are so kind to me, so caring! You do deserve my love." replied Harry, trying not to burst into tears. But Kreacher got there first: he started crying and crying, and it seemed like he couldn't stop. In the end Harry's pajamas were completely soaked, but Kreacher was the happiest house-elf in the whole Wizarding World.