If Harry could ever get his head out of his arse and realise what was in front of him.
Ah, young love.
When Pig arrived with a letter from Ron in the second week in August, reality came crashing back down on Harry uncomfortably quickly. He stared at it for a long moment, a tightness in his chest that it took him a minute to realise was anxiety.
Why did he feel so anxious about seeing his best friends again?
Since Draco had visited on his birthday, it had gone back to just being himself and the three adults. He'd mentioned briefly to Sirius that he had other friends who were somewhat in the know, like Neville, who could maybe visit, but Sirius had gently put his foot down.
"I told you when you got here this house has always been for family, not visitors," he had said with an apologetic half-smile. "I understand wanting to have your friends over, but the fewer people who know about this place, the better. Narcissa and Draco are family, as astonished as I am to be saying that and actually meaning it. They're Blacks, they deserve to be here. But no one else, pup. Not here."
Harry understood, and truthfully he liked it better that way. Seren Du was a little bubble of paradise — the rest of the world didn't exist unless they sought it out. All of them seemed to be benefiting from the break; even Snape, though he'd been acting a little weird lately, was like a completely different man. Harry didn't know if the professor was always like that in private, or if it was Remus' influence, but he was pretty sure the house had something to do with it.
All the same, he should've been excited to go to the Burrow. And to the Quidditch World Cup! And yet… if Ron hadn't made it clear in his letter that he wasn't taking no for an answer, Harry might have turned him down.
He kept the letter in hand as he shuffled down to breakfast, where all three adults were already up. "Morning, cub," Remus greeted, then frowned. "Why the long face?"
Harry held up the letter. "Ron's dad got tickets to the Quidditch Cup. They're going to come pick me up from the Dursleys on Sunday evening." "That's brilliant! International quidditch, I'm so jealous!" Sirius' enthusiasm was dampened by a confused expression. "Why do you look like you need a Cheering charm?"
"No, it's great!" Harry insisted. "I just… I like it here. I thought I'd have all summer with you." Ron had talked about the Cup, but Harry hadn't truly expected Mr Weasley to actually be able to get enough tickets for all of them.
"Pup, go to Ron's house. Have fun with your friends. Go see the Cup," Sirius urged softly. "I love having you, but you can't stay cooped up in here forever. You deserve to spend time with your friends, not us three old farts." "Oi, speak for yourself there, Grandpa," Remus said in mock-annoyance.
"Only one of us is going grey, Moony dearest, and it sure as hell isn't me," Sirius replied sweetly. "Anyway, pup. What I'm saying is, this place is your home now, it will be as long as you want it. But you're young, you should be out having fun with kids your own age. Besides," he added, screwing his nose up. "How will it look to the rest of them if you suddenly decide you love being at your relatives' place so much you don't want to leave them to go see quidditch? They'll think you've been possessed."
Harry grimaced. That would certainly give the game away. "I suppose." He glanced down at the letter. If the Weasleys were coming on Sunday, that only gave him two more days at Seren Du.
"We'll figure out a way to keep in touch while you're in school. It'll be fine." Sirius reached over to squeeze Harry's shoulder. "Chin up, kiddo. We knew this was coming sooner or later."
"Yeah, but I thought it'd be later," Harry muttered, frowning into his porridge.
"It'll be good for you to see your friends again, Harry," Remus said, offering him a smile. "We'll have to take you back to the Dursleys' Sunday lunchtime, let you get picked up from there. It's a good thing we already got your school supplies." Instead of going to Diagon Alley, Harry and Remus had gone to Margin Alley in Cardiff, where it was quieter. Sirius wanted to come, but apparently there were anti-animagus wards in the area.
"I'm sure my relatives will be thrilled to see me again," he replied dryly. At least he wouldn't have to spend long with them.
With the clock suddenly ticking down very rapidly to his departure, Harry was determined to make the most of Seren Du before he left. He had a bit of a panic at the start — so many things he wanted to do, and so little time left! — but he figured it out pretty quickly. He could fly at the Burrow, even if it wouldn't be on a proper half-pitch. The pool, the library, and the company were the things he would miss the most. He also sent Artemis off with a round of letters for all the friends he couldn't send Hedwig to, explaining he was being moved to somewhere his mail would be monitored and he'd see them back at school. Luckily, that was only a couple of weeks away. He'd hate to be out of contact with Draco for much longer than that. Ever since the visit, Artemis had been run ragged flying back and forth between them.
The three adults had decided to wrap up Harry's lessons for the summer, since he'd be leaving soon anyway. Harry was actually a little sad about it. Currently, he was sat in Snape's potions lab, helping finish off a batch of Skele-Gro that would be going to the Hogwarts hospital wing ready for the new school term. "With that bloody tournament, we'll probably need plenty of derisively.
it,"
Snape
had
muttered
Setting the potion aside to cool, Harry looked up at his professor cautiously. "That's all done, then?" Snape nodded.
"Once it's cooled, I'll bottle it and send it to the school." He checked some notes on a piece of parchment tacked to his desk; Pomfrey's order list, from what Harry could gather. "Now that I've seen you're a perfectly competent brewer, I'll expect your grades to improve in my class, Mr Potter."
•
🚀New updates on my Ko-fi!🚀
Support me and read the novel, now available in PDF, with the advanced chapters.
•
https://ko-fi.com/cmrowling