Close Or Far From The Law

Chapter 39 : 38. Blondes attract problems?

The next few days passed in a sort of mental fog. Harry tried but sleep eluded him and he now had a notebook to write down all his theories about the prophecy he had heard. Notebook that never left his side because he didn't think the dorm was safe. Ginny had proven it by coming to steal from his things during his second year. Vaguely, he wondered what would have happened if he had been able to continue talking to this Tom Riddle any longer... Would he have lost his mind? As he was doing now with his stories of the future?

If he hadn't taken Divination as a subject in third year, it was because he understood that it was a way for Ron to not have much to do while trying to have a pretty decent rating. Which he had not wanted, for this need to be proud of him, as absurd as that may seem today. However, Harry was certain that Thomas would rather talk about runes with him than nebulous words meant to disconcert them. He rather agreed with that and there was a certain desire in him to… To send everything to ruin. Damn, he was terrible at interpreting, he'd been struggling with all this for almost a week, almost forgetting his homework. Hermione was as worried as she was angry and the others questioned her to understand what was happening to her.

As if he could have said anything. Harry hid behind the fact that Sirius might die – which was still an absolute fact as things stood – and that he wasn't sure he could take it. His friends were very compassionate to him and quite frankly, he wouldn't know what he would do without them when he lied to them so often. Yes, for their safety and after? It didn't take away the guilt. That didn't take away the fact that he needed to sleep instead of having nightmares...

Distracted even at the table, Harry didn't eat much, getting scolded by Ron for it. Each to his own domain, his friends divided up the task. Neville made sure he didn't forget anything by going through his own things, Ron's food, Hermione's schoolwork. What a mess he was... And there, right now, he had taken the wrong corridor so stupidly that he wanted to hit his head against the old stone of the castle. Not that he couldn't find his way back to the library from there, but he was wasting precious minutes.

-Damn it…

Someone interrupted his plan to insult himself for a few seconds. What… Did he hear correctly? There was a light humming sound, was there? Harry drew his wand from its sheath and moved forward cautiously, straining his ears uneasily. He was certain that it wasn't a ghost, they didn't really attract his attention anymore and he even had the curious impression that they were running away from him most of the time. The humming was continuous even if it was faint, it sounded like a song, a nursery rhyme that eventually brought tears to his eyes. As if he had heard it before and the memory could only be painful. Had his mother sung it for him that long ago?

Harry finally stopped in front of a cupboard like any other, probably used by Filch who must have had cleaning items everywhere in Hogwarts as he had no magical power to clean. His discomfort increased and he pressed his ear against the wood. Yes, it came from there. He knocked on the door, the sound stopped. He bit his lip.

-Someone there ?

Stupid question, the Boggarts didn't sing, their presence was indicated by trembling cupboards. He tried to turn the handle but she resisted him. He tried the most basic opening spell, only to be denied entry. Puzzled, Harry asked.

-Hey, is anyone there?

-Yes, I'm here.

That airy voice. Harry had heard it before. We had a girl locked up?! What was this madness! He no longer hesitated and cast other opening spells, one of them ended up working and he almost hit the door in the nose. He quickly pushed it aside and took a look. The darkness and the tightness made him recoil, he felt as if his stomach and esophagus were being burned. A little blonde came out of there, without shoes, with tangled hair. Scratches on the hands. Harry finally recognized her.