(Book 7 FanFiction) Harry Potter: The Last Horcrux

Chapter 03: ...And Another Door Opens

The next morning, Harry awoke feeling groggy and disoriented. He blinked several times, trying to clear his head, but he just couldn't manage to raise it from his pillow. He could hear raised voices coming from downstairs, and he dragged his pillow over his head in an attempt to drown out the noise. It had taken a long time for him finally to fall asleep the night before, and it felt as if he'd only dosed off a few moments ago. Vague recollections of a dream started to come back to him...

He'd been on his Firebolt, racing through some dark tunnels in search of something. He'd felt a desperate panic rising within him that took nearly all his strength to clamp down.

He'd kept hitting dead ends, no matter which way he turned.

Dudley was there, stirring a potion, and he'd locked Harry in his cupboard where Harry soon fell asleep. His hair had kept growing while he slept and eventually grew so long it crept outside the cupboard door.

Ginny had used his hair to find him and had to slay a dragon in order to reach him. He'd climbed behind Ginny on the Firebolt, and the two of them had sped off into the sunset.

"Great," Harry mumbled into his pillow. "Now I'm dreaming about fairy tales, only I'm the damn Damsel in Distress." Harry knew he would never tell another living soul about that dream as long as he lived.

His bedroom door banged open, and Ron and Hermione entered — wide-awake and already dressed. They both looked entirely too upbeat to suit his mood.

"Come on, Harry. Get up; we're leaving," Hermione said bossily.

Still feeling groggy, Harry wiped his eyes. "What time is it?"

"Time to go; Ron and I have taken care of everything. I've already shrunken our trunks and have them here in my bag. Let's go," Hermione said, trying to pull his covers back. "You've been anxious to leave forever, and we've got loads to do."

"Hermione, let me get dressed," Harry said, grabbing his bedcovers and feeling slightly panicked. He was only wearing boxers, after all. What was her hurry, anyway?

"I've left your clothes right there," Hermione said, pointing to a pair of jeans and a T-shirt already laid out for him.

"Thanks, Mum," he said, smirking. 

"Don't get smart," Hermione said, frowning.

"We'll meet you downstairs, mate," Ron said, dragging a protesting Hermione from the room. He gave her a slight shove to walk in front of him and leaned back to say, "Just think; you're finally free of this place. Mum will be going spare if we don't arrive in time for her to feed you this morning. Hermione thinks there must be something going on with the Order, since she hasn't noticed them keeping watch and no one is here to escort us to the Burrow."

Harry hadn't noticed any of the Order keeping watch at Privet Drive, either, but he knew that didn't mean anything. With Ron and Hermione there to distract him, he hadn't spent all his free time looking for Order members as he had in the past.

As Harry dressed, he glanced at his nightstand and saw a folded piece of paper that he didn't remember placing there. He picked it up and read the few words printed on the inside in Aunt Petunia's small, tidy, script.

Godric's Hollow

16 Hillside Lane

Godre'r-graig, South Wales

Harry swallowed heavily and stuffed the note in his pocket. This was it: a real and tangible address of where his parents had lived — where he had lived, once upon a time. Why was Aunt Petunia giving this to him now? Was it her way of saying goodbye?