Silver Claws [Drarry] ✔

Prologue: Time to go back

REALLY IMPORTANT/READ BEFORE READING:

This was written when I, the author, was 13 years old and just figuring out what writing really means. There was no extensive planning involved, chapters were written with months in between them, and some information was stuffed in because I grew too attached to it to realize it isn't working. 

Other things to keep in mind are the fact that there are plot holes, there are appearances of toxic relationships (which are not acknowledged to be toxic relationships), mental health is handled really badly (there is some romanization of depression and a blatant lack of proper mental health help being given or even sought out), some plot points are poorly resolved, most OCs are two-dimensional and frustrating, etc. 

Please be aware that I am 100% aware that this fanfiction is not the best thing you'll ever read, and quite frankly I wouldn't even call it good. It is, however, one of the first things I've written in my life and I refuse to take it down due to the sentimental value it holds.

So, proceed with caution if you still wish to read it and if not, I hope you find more enjoyment in some of my other work which is more thought out and well-written such as "Wings of Salvation" if you're looking for Drarry (a ship for which I also have two one shot collections) or "rotten work" if you feel like general Harry Potter angst with a touch of Harry/Ron/Hermione.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"We never truly know a person until we accept their past, help with their present and become their future. "

  Harry looked back at the empty field behind the Burrow. Just seconds ago there were other people waving goodbye behind him and that was the scene he was actually trying to see. But they were hundreds of kilometres away and since he apparated he wasn't able to say one last goodbye.

  The faces he grew to love so much over the past three months were now gone and Harry wished he could've just stayed there with them forever living in their world, their life and never being afraid of the fact that one day he will need to leave and live his own life.

  But he knew he couldn't do that. He had responsibilities and family and other, older friends that cared about him, and no matter how much he cared for his new friends he couldn't just leave the old ones. The ones that kept him alive for more than seven years.

  He relived each and every scene from the past summer in his head before walking over half-dry late summer grass, to the door of Ron's home. The house that grew to be his home as well. He knocked three times like it meant something here when obviously there was no chance a certain blond would open the door for him. Those summer smiles were behind him, and cheerful laughs were too far to be heard now.

  It was Hermione that hugged him the moment the door was unlocked and, dropping all his bags to the ground, Harry squeezed his friend tight. Ron came and when Hermione kept babbling about worrying and thinking something had happened to him Ron couldn't take his arms off Harry. Harry didn't mind. He found out that having his best friend hugging him was better than anything. Maybe even smoking. Perhaps, if he could stay in Ron's embrace forever, he could solve all his problems. Perhaps.

  They entered the kitchen and the whole Weasley family, well the ones who weren't at work or outside, hugged him and voiced their concerns. Hermione, the mother hen she was, was trying not to cry. Harry wasn't sure if it was from happiness or sadness but it wasn't really important. Ron hugged her shoulders and Harry watched her melt in his best friend's embrace. It didn't pass long before the silence fell over them and it was Harry's time to talk...

...He didn't say anything...

  Molly was politely trying to make him speak, but it wasn't helping. Harry decided that what happened this summer is supposed to stay in the summer. It was near Hogwarts time again and they all wanted this last year to be different. That's why he left, isn't it? Although when he had packed his bags to go back home it sounded like a good idea, good excuse but now... Well now, he wasn't sure anymore as the sweet sun faded away from his skin he could see all the consequences and all the problems the cunning summer was trying to hide from him. It was time to jump back into the dark water of reality.

  Harry excused himself and left to the room he was staying in- Ron's room. The room that watched him grow and waved goodbye a few months ago, silently waiting for his return like its walls knew he would come back. After all, he had to come back, right? The two followed him and when they sat on the bed Hermione sighed and asked lightly not trying to force him into anything. It was a light question but the answer was heavier than any of the three thought.

"How was your summer, Harry?"

"Interesting."

  One word that said all but said nothing at all. Because summer was long and there was no way that you could always say all. Too many hidden things Harry didn't even notice. Too many things had happened and there was time to talk about it. But not just yet. The dust had to settle and problems had to come out, hearts had to realize they were broken, and tears had yet to fall. Regret had yet to squeeze their insides through grey days and, memories had yet to make Harry's breathing heavy. And then, just then, could all these things step aside and make a path for words, let them come out and cut, tear, and sew Harry back together.

  Many nights had passed before Harry told his best friends all about it. Where he went, who he met, what he did, and what happened to him. It was a secret Hermione and Ron didn't quite understand but agreed to keep. Harry didn't ask them to understand, he didn't want them to understand, he asked them to try to understand, and first of all, he asked them to listen. And like real friends would, they listened and they helped, and they cried.  

 The end of summer and the morning of the 1st of September came faster than a blink, and Harry knew he needed to focus. He needed to forget what he had done, the heart he might've broken when he left, and he needed to fight the demons that manifested in his nightmares at night with the thoughts of guilt. He knew they would come back when the sun disappeared from the horizon and last traces of summer leaked from his raven-black hair as they weren't so weak, so unimportant and they wouldn't give up easily. He found a way to stop them, or keep them away for a while at least, but that way was gone as the last scented flowers of wild apples in Weasley's garden disappeared.

  Maybe it was good that they were back, maybe they will force him to drag himself back into the rainy reality of the place he really belonged to. Even though throughout the summer they tried to teach him that home doesn't always have to be a place, he wasn't convinced that the Burrow could be anything but home for him. Scenes were gone, the sun disappeared, laughter was too far, wildflowers he used to roll in died, and he closed the door to the lips that kissed him whole summer. He felt like he closed the door to happiness, he closed summer. Because summer was over.

And after all, it was time to go back...