Harry Potter and the End of the Prophecy

Chapter Two

That was the way Harry's summer had started. It started with a miserable twist of his gut, and it hadn't gotten any better. His friends were all enjoying their summer vacation without him, while he was stuck at Hogwarts with Professor Snape. As it turned out, the professor was in an even worse mood because he was supposed to be on a vacation of his own, but Dumbledore had called him back to work with Harry. Every chance the man got, he turned against Harry. Nothing Harry could do would change his mood.

At first he had tried to be optimistic. He was respectful of the greasy git, and he always kept his temper cool. This in and of itself was a feat that rarely happened, but Harry managed to keep it under wraps for a good portion of the lessons. This alone seemed to make Snape even more angry. Again and again, he would insult Harry, his parents, and everything else he could find wrong. It was terrible for Harry. Day in and day out, Harry took the verbal abuse. He let it slide off of him like an oil.

But all oils eventually penetrate the surface.

Slowly, very slowly. Harry began to believe the things that the Professor was saying. Maybe he was a worthless orphan, meaningless to the world. Maybe his parents were as worthless as he was. Maybe Harry should listen to the things that Snape was saying? In a gradual slump, Harry slowly fell into depression.

His friends were no where to be heard of. One of the two people he had contact with at the school hated him, and reminded him every day. The only direction Harry could go was down. There wasn't another option. No one was there to pick him back up. Normally Hermione or Ron would be there to swing him out of his mood, but for the summer holiday, Harry was on his own.

Thankfully, the holiday passed by, and school was set to begin. Harry had become fair in his Occlumency training, and he could now safely ward his own dreams. Finally the need for constant contact with Snape was over. He hadn't gotten the necessary OWL to join the next class, so Potions was over. Thankfully. At that point Harry didn't care if he couldn't be an Auror. As of right now, there was a chance that he wasn't going to survive to be one anyway.

Harry sat on the front steps of Hogsmead station, waiting for the familiar whistle to blow, and his friends to arrive. He hadn't gotten any word from them all summer. None. Nothing. Not even a small note. He felt dismissed. But Harry's mind made up reasons why they didn't. Reasons, and reasons flashed through his mind. Something must have stopped them, because it wasn't like them to do that. Something must have been up…anything….

The whistle blew, and Harry stood. He had heard the train approach a while off, but he hadn't stood till now. He turned, and the throng of students poured off the train. Children of all sizes walked past Harry. Half of them he didn't recognize, and the other half ignored him. It was like Harry was a stick in the wind, and the wind was just passing him by.

A flash of red hair caught his eye, and he snapped his head to where it had disappeared. He caught it again, and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw a blast of bushy brown hair with it. Harry started to make his way over to them. Students were still pouring off of the train, and it made it hard for him to get to his friends who were moving with it.

By the time he made it there, they had walked on in front of him. He came up behind them, and called Ron's name. As the sound left his mouth he watched his two friends react. Their hands flew apart, and the moved away from one another in a quick jump. Only then did Ron turn around to face Harry. The look of pure guilt, surprise, and embarrassment evident on his face.

“Harry!” He said with fake enthusiasm that was easy to hear. “How are you?” Ron asked, his eyes darting between Harry, and Hermione.

“I'm fine. Well, summer sucked. But I didn't get a chance to tell you…since you never wrote.” Harry didn't mean to, but the last came out with a touch of malice attached.

Ron stuttered for a moment. Many different words tried to come out, but all were stepped on. Thankfully, Hermione stepped in. “Well, you know how it is. We couldn't write because of the Ord....” Her sentence was cut off by Ron.

“Hermione! Were doing it again! We can't continue to lie to him!” Ron said, seeming to crack under the pressure.

Students continued to mill around them, but none of them seemed to notice the Golden Trio under fire. None of them noticed the distress that happening. None of them noticed that two people were about to cause the `Great' Harry Potter the worst pain he had ever felt. No one knew. No one cared.

“What do you mean?” Harry said, slowly, and deliberately.

“Well Harry, you see…uh…well…it's like this…” Hermione tried to explain, but for once in her life, she was lost for words. Again, Ron stepped in and said the obvious. The obvious truth that Harry should have seen years ago. The truth that he should have seen this summer.

“You see Harry, Hermione and I are a couple now, and have been for about a year. We went on a summer vacation together, and got carried away. Were sorry we didn't write…” Ron said, not sounding the least bit sorry. When he mentioned the fact that they were a couple, his eyes smiled at Hermione, even if he didn't physically do so, Harry could see it. Or at least, he would have if he hadn't been to stunned by what Ron just said.

“I was worried about that.” Harry said. Emotion lost from his voice. “I knew that once you two figured it out, I would be the one left behind. I should have seen it before. But thank you for telling me now, so at least I don't go through the rest of the year thinking that I actually have friends. I hope you two are having fun together.” The last was said in a voice so low that no one but the three of them could hear it.

With a whip of Harry's cloak, he turned and left. The tears pricking his eyes were left ignored, and the screaming from Hermione behind was nonexistent. Harry didn't care. He had no emotion. He had nothing. His heart was broken. Ron and Hermione were all he had looked forward to all year and now they were nothing to him. All Harry had been was a means for them to get together. Nothing more. Harry was worthless, and he was starting to believe it.

-->