Within You

Chapter Eleven: Eat Your Heart Out

Harry had had three therapy sessions since he testified in court to discuss his kidnapping, and now the Christmas holidays had begun. Remus had been invited to Kent to stay at Ted and Dromeda's house for the holidays, as they had wanted their daughter home. Harry had, of course, been given an invitation to the home, but he'd declined, instead opting to go to Devon and spend it at the Weasley house.

Bill and Fleur were staying in France, because the Delacour family was known to be quite a persuasive one, and they wanted some more time with their granddaughter. Charlie and Andre were staying in Romania, due to Andre's football contract extending there, and because Charlie was making wonderful headway on his series of novels. By contrast, Percy and Audrey had taken a spontaneous trip to Fiji, and everyone—minus Harry, Hermione, Molly, and Arthur—was taking bets to see if Audrey would get pregnant over the next couple of weeks. Fred and Lee were at the Weasley home, however, alongside George and Angelina, and were spending quite a lot of time with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Ginny was there, too, of course, as was Dean, and so Molly and Arthur had their work cut out for them, running around and making sure that the younger generation was plenty happy.

On Christmas Eve, Molly and Arthur went into town with the twins and their partners, going for a last bit of shopping, as well as catching up. Ginny was delighted when Dean had surprised her with a sleigh ride, and they went up and down the lanes close by the Weasley residence for hours on end. Harry could hear a combination of laughter from Ginny, along with the bells jingling around the horses' neck. Harry, for his part, had had a remarkably quiet day, after accidentally walking in on Ron and Hermione snogging, before he'd good-naturedly thrown their winter clothes at them and urged them to take a romantic walk in the snow.

And so, that's where Harry found himself, sitting in front of the massive fireplace in the Weasley den, the flames keeping his face warm. Andressa was curled up in his lap, asleep, enjoying in his company and the warmth he provided. He was stroking her absentmindedly, as he often did, as he stared into the flames, licking at the pieces of wood, before him, becoming lost in those hazy, heat-driven thoughts as one does whenever you're in an empty, silent room, with nobody to speak to, and nothing to do other than watch the fire, if you're not in the mood to pick up a book, or if you know damn well that the telly will be full of Christmas-related specials or films, full of people just being happy.

A lump rose in Harry's throat then as he fully considered happiness for a moment. Was he happy, at the end of the day? He certainly had a better life than he had eighteen months ago, living in the shadows of his cousin, aunt, and uncle, and what they could do to him. Classes for his second term of Year Eleven were just about to end, and he was already dreading the return journey to Surrey from Edinburgh. Ever since Year Nine, his aunt or uncle had deemed him old enough to get a cab home, and, thankfully, Ron or Hermione would provide him with some pound notes so that he could do just that. Upon arrival, he would be kicked upstairs to his bedroom and await further instructions.

Life wasn't like that anymore, thankfully, now that Remus had guardianship over him. Living with Remus and Dora was a god-send, literally, as he had virtually no restrictions. Provided that he kept his grades up, helped a bit around the house, and was home by his generous curfew time, Harry had practically free-rein. He had to keep in touch with them, obviously, if something came up or if he had decided to change his plans, but Remus and Dora were terribly kind people, who really seemed to love him, so Harry figured he should take it and be grateful, not that he didn't love them back.

Love. Harry mulled that term over and over again in his mind, attempting to come to terms with the notion that he had fallen head over heels for his sciences professor. He didn't know if Severus would ever feel the same way about him, or if the man even knew how he felt about him in the first place. Perhaps he had an inkling; Severus was an intelligent man, which was one of the reasons why Harry had fallen for him in the first place. It was also his captivation, snarky remarks, and that seductive voice of his... Truly, though, it all stemmed from the comfort that the man had given him in the wake of learning the truth about what he'd had to contend with outside of Wartsmoth, and now, although the pair hadn't spoken since Halloween, there seemed to be something lurking in those endless black pools of his eyes, something that Harry was desperate to figure out.