We belong together || Harry Potter x Reader

Chapter 36

"What? That thing on your chest?" Neville asked, pointing to the treacherous pendant hanging loosely over your collarbone. 

Your legs were weak, it was difficult to walk a straight path through the tunnel behind the portrait. Harry, with a strong arm and resting your head on his shoulder, guided you through the way, making sure to ask you if you were alright almost every second. Your throat was the Sahara desert so all you could do was give a slight nudge at his shoulder to signal you were hanging in there. 

"Neville, you were telling us about those back at Hogwarts. What has been happening?" Hermione redirected the conversation back to the focal point. She was hesitant in going back to Hogwarts, she was horrified to see how the lovely walls she has called home for the past several years would all look now. 

"Right, sorry," Nevill said, shyly shrugging his shoulders. "We were all worried, you know, we did not hear from you lot in... forever, really. Even your caretaker," he turned to you once again, "came to see my parents-" 

"My neighbor?" You raised your chin up to gaze at Neville. 

"Yes! Have you seen her again?" 

A frown came across you and your friends, remembering the gravesite with her name on it in the cold. The memory of her soft yet stern smile when you would show her that you moved the cereal box without your hands from the top of the fridge to the table waved like a flag across your mind. Your relationship with her was strange, she would not hesitate to remind you that you were not her daughter. It was evident, she seemed old enough to be your great-great-great-grandmother by the time you were four. 

"She passed." You coughed, sniffing up the snot coming down your nose. 

Neville looked extremely devastated as Hermione explained the graveyard and her gravestone was on it. You were able to see Ron's surprised face and his guilt being written all over his face. He knew the complicated relationship you had with your caretaker, he would have wished to be there for you when you realized that she was not in your life. Once he felt your stare, he met your eyes, his filled with regret but with a quick shake of your head you reminded him that it was alright. You reminded him that he has nothing to feel sorry for, it was her time to go anyway. 

"Wait," Harry started, putting a hand over his stomach to signal for your moment to rest. "Neville, you said she was there where your parents are? Why was she there for?"

"Well, my parents uh... they could not tell me but a nurse told me that your caretaker was looking for you. She thought you would have been at the hospital since you used to come with me to see my parents." He smiled slightly at the memories of you and him making arts and crafts for his parents with your bare hands instead of using magic, to make it personal and to have something their son did for them. "She left a note under the vase my parents always had. When I got there, my father pointed to it and I was able to understand that I had to get it back to you." 

"Alright, where is it?" Ron asked, rubbing his bicep with his torn glove. 

Neville turned red. 

"Please, don't tell me..." 

"I reckon I might have forgotten where I placed it." 

Hermione's shoulders slumped, the small flicker of hope she had to see if you had something to remember her by was gone due to Neville's tendencies to be forgetful. She condemned him for having a huge heart but she wished he would have been able to be more cautious with something as important as this. 

"Think Neville," Ron encouraged, his features tensing around his eyebrows. He was forcing himself to remember, as if he was the one who displaced the note. "Maybe in your bag? Maybe under your bed? Or in your..." He raised an eyebrow at Neville and Neville profusely shook his head at the last statement. 

Neville's eyes lit up as Ron mentioned room. "I got it! I left it right under your cupboard! In your bedroom here! I placed it right under the upper left peg, right next to your box of shoes! I wish I could tell you what it said but I did not dare read it... I thought it was something only you can read and I would have felt really horrible if I did... Because, you know, an invasion of privacy and things like that..." 

Your heart filled with hope as you realized that obtaining that note was actually realistic. But, with Neville's tales of dementors and Snape ruling Hogwarts, your heart's desires have to wait for a moment. 

"I will go with her to get this," Harry announced after everyone decided to pick up the pace again. 

"No... Harry... Hogwarts," you started, shaking again with how cold it has gotten all of a sudden. 

"Y/n is right," Hermione agreed, hugging her arms closer to her stomach. "Neville is warning us about all of these atrocities happening and we can not split paths. We have to find those horcruxes." 

"Horcruxes? Here at Hogwarts?" Ron inquired, his eyebrows raising. "But, we did not even think of this being a possibility!" 

Harry froze for a good minute before gasping. "He knows. He knows! We have to hurry, Mione is right they are here." 

"But, Y/n, her note..." Ron started, frowning at this dilemma that he has. "I'll go with her. You and Mione can go find the horcruxes, I will stay with Y/n and help her find that note." 

"It's okay," you sighed, feeling your chest tighten after every breath. 

"No. I am not going to let you go into this without knowing what was on that bloody note. Neville, you bring Hermione and Harry back to Hogwarts and get everyone on track to safety as much as you can. I will be with Y/n trying to find that bloody note. If anything were to happen, I will not hesitate to find either of you and we will join you both in finding these damning horcruxes. Is that a plan?" 

Everyone's gaze landed on you for what felt like the millionth time. You were in an art museum and you were the most interesting piece of art in that whole building. You nodded not being able to resist the butterflies of hope swarming all over your body. 

"Hermione, can you help her again? She needs to be strong enough to do this," Ron asked, standing alongside Harry as Hermione thought over any spells and charms she could conjure to heal you. 

Once she has found one, with the flick of her wand and a couple of chants, your heart rate started to feel normal and a warm feeling sprouted from your head down to your toes. You were able to stand on your own without leaning on Harry's shoulder for help. 

"I really hope that this note has something useful because if not, I am putting everyone in jeopardy," you expressed, finding your grip on your wand again. 

"I promise you that if it is not something worth sacrificing myself for," Ron pledged, "I will go and tell Snape that I want to join his crew because I have to get rid of this big heart of mine that I have." 

Hermione rolled her eyes and you couldn't help but allow yourself to chuckle. You gave your friends a nod, smiling a little bit too hard at Harry whose eyes twinkled every time he looked at you. Once everyone has settled to go in different forks of the path, Neville kicked open the entrance to Hogwarts. The shining light of the Gryffindor's common room flooded the dark tunnel. 

You were back home.