Harry looked around my room and snorted to himself shaking his head, "You got the better end of the stick Charlotte."
"What makes you say that?" I asked curiously and he sat down next to me crossing his arms.
"I lived with muggles, our mum's sister and her moron of a husband. I lived under the stairs till I was ten while their son, our cousin, had two bedrooms to himself." My bottom lip trembled as he continued his story, "I was punished for doing magic though I didn't know what it meant. It wasn't till I met Hagrid that I knew that I was wizard and the truth about my parents... our parents." He tested the word out and even to me it sounded strange.
See AlsoLord Voldemort SI Chapter 17 - Chapter 17: A New Use for the Mirror of ErisedLord Voldemort SI Chapter 15 - Chapter 15: Tentative Actions, Pt 1Lord Voldemort SI Chapter 4 - Chapter 4: Peace Is but a Dream"Have you ever seen a picture of our parents?" I asked curiously after a moment and Harry raised an eyebrow, "I've never seen a picture of them and I know I look like my- our mum but I'd like to see her."
Reaching into his coat pocket, he pulled out a photo frame and handed it to me and I gasped. It was a moving photo of a man and a women dancing. It was autumn and they looked so happy together. They smiled and laughed and kissed. I felt tears running down my face as I took them both in. James looked adoringly at Lily and I felt a small warm feeling spread through my chest as I watched them dance and kiss.
"Thank you Harry." I choked out and he nodded before slowly, so slowly, putting his arm around my shoulder. It felt so strange, I didn't know how to react as he comforted to me. Letting my instincts take over, I leaned my head onto his shoulder as we watched our parents dance in the beautiful autumn photo.
I don't know how long we stayed there for, just comforting each other but it felt like an age. After a little while both our stomachs began to rumble and I realised that I hadn't eaten since the night before. Looking outside I saw that the sun was setting and it was getting late.
Pulling away, I wiped my eyes and handed him back the photo frame but he shook his head. "Keep it, I've got more I can show you when we go back home."
Home... he thinks of Hogwarts as his home I thought to myself and again my heart broke as I realised what he said about living under the stairs. If that was how he lived, how the hell can I not feel guilty for having a privileged easy carefree childhood?
The goodbye with my aunty and uncle was weird. They were all over Harry like a rash, begging him to come back as soon as the school year was over which I think he was all too keen about. With me, it was awkward because in my mind they had had million and one opportunities to tell me what had happened but they had kept it from me.
The ride home was awkward, though I didn't speak much. Madame Maxime had allowed them to use the coach to take us back which I thought was extremely nice of her. I kept my mouth closed the entire time while Harry spoke with Marius. Professor McGonagall sat quietly next to me reading a book though I felt her eyes on me a few times which she thought I wasn't looking.
As we landed on Hogwart grounds I felt a sense of unknown. If Beauxbatons was anything like Hogwarts, then word will have gotten around about me and who I was. I felt my hands begin to shake at the very thought of it because sadly Harry and Marius had spoken about his fame and what it brings to his life.
The Boy Who Lived Harry had said they called him and I had felt myself go red because if he is known as the boy who lived... then that meant I would be known as the Girl Who Lived.
As I stepped out of the coach, I was immediately swarm by my friends all their arms wrapping out to grab me as I was pulled into a hug. Blair was crying while Nathan and Felix murmured that they were happy to see me safe and sound. From over Blair's shoulder I watched closely as both Nathan and Felix glared at Marius who walked straight past them and didn't look back.
