Unofficial Portkey Archive

Ron had left only about an hour before, and though he hated to admit it, Harry missed him already. It was not like they had not been separated before, it was just he was feeling a bit clingy. The notion of traveling out to Leakwood Manor made him slightly nervous, so he decided this would be a good time to get things in order before he took off.

Harry made a trip down to Diagon Alley to do some last minute shopping. He had been meaning to buy some clothes for quite some time now. It was time to be a little more fashionable, or at least get more than two pairs of non-school clothing that would fit. He certainly could not rely on the hand-me-downs of Dudley anymore. He picked out four or five pairs of shirts and pants and got a gaggle of socks and a new pair of shoes to go with it. With all of it in a big bag, he headed back outside.

He made a quick detour and stopped for a bit. After a quick butterbeer at the Leaky Cauldron, Harry then got back up and wandered down to Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes to check in on Fred and George. Harry stood just outside the window and looked around from the outside. There were a large number of people in the store and Fred and George seemed highly occupied, so he decided to come back later. Things might be less busy in the afternoon, Harry hoped.

He began to just walk down the sidewalk, seeing what there was to see and before he knew it Harry was stone crazy bored. The last place he wanted to be was shopping, especially by himself. With a shrug of his shoulders he gave up on the whole idea and made his way back to The Burrow. Ginny had made plans to make a short visit to Neville's house and he decided it might be nice to tag along. He really had not had a chance to see Neville's parents since they had been able to come home from St. Mungos. Plus, the look on Neville's face when he saw Ginny would be worth it to make the trip.

Harry changed out of his old clothes and tried on some of his new ones. He stared in the mirror and thought that he looked kind of nice in clothes that actually fit. He came downstairs only to run into Ginny who had just finished getting herself ready. She was looking cute as she could be, with a summer skirt and a soft blue tank top. This was definitely going to be fun watching Neville squirm. Harry felt that Neville needed a little nervous excitement in his life.

"You ready to go?" Ginny asked.

"Yep. Shall we?"

With that the two of them apparated there way to the Longbottom estate. Harry was a bit shocked. Neville's family was quite wealthy. He remembered that his grandmother was a woman of means, but this was a very nice home. The home had to have been four stories high and was surrounded by beautifully manicured rose gardens. There was even a small fountain just a ways out from the front door.

Ginny let out a soft whistle, "Wow. I had no idea. The Longbottoms appear to be about as wealthy as the Malfoys. Who knew? I'll give him this much. Neville sure does not rub it in anyone's face that he has money. They way that boy dresses you'd think he would be poorer than us."

Harry let out a guilty laugh. The two of them stepped up to the main entrance and pulled on a silk knotted rope that was dangling down. A pleasant sound of a small bell filled the large patio. A moment later the door opened and an older gentleman stiffly greeted them.

"Good day young Master and Miss. May I ask the nature of your visit?"

Ginny quickly spoke up, "Yes. I'm Ginny Weasley and this is Harry Potter. We're friends of Neville's and have come to pay him a visit. Is he in?"

"Master Neville is indeed in. Please come in and I'll let him know you are here."

The pair walked in and did little to cover their amazement at the high-ceilinged foyer. A large roman column rose up from the center and went all the way to the arched ceiling. The surrounding walls were a series of hand painted murals depicting a myriad of nature scenes. One side was a deep, primeval forest with a meandering stream. The water was actually flowing and a soft breeze bounced the oak and pine tree branches bobbing up and down. Another side was a gorgeous mountain view into a sprawling fertile valley. A dusting of snow could be seen swirling to and fro and horses were galloping in the fields below. Before they could notice anymore, a timid voice interrupted them.

"Harry? Ginny?"

Standing just inside an arch, leading back into a substantial library, was Neville. He seemed genuinely happy to see them, but simultaneously nervous and shy. There was no mistaking Neville; he practically coined the phrase 'self-conscious'. He was looking good though. Since his parents had come home he had been spending a great deal more time outdoors and it showed. His skin went from pale to a nice olive color. It suited his dark brown hair, which had recently been cut and styled. He actually looked not half bad. The defeat of Voldemort and the reuniting of his family had obviously done wonders for his well-being.

"Hi Neville," Harry smiled. "It's great to see you. I hope you don't mind us dropping by. We thought it would be nice to check up on you."

Ginny did not say a word. She just looked at Neville with her head cocked to one side; like she was sizing him up for some reason or another. Neville smiled at Harry, but his face seemed to go piqued at the sight of Ginny. He had obviously not had time to mentally prepare seeing her. Neville just looked right at her and stood there with his eyes wide open. If ever Harry doubted that Neville had a substantial crush on Ron's little sister, it was now dispelled. Neville quickly stared down at his feet and mumbled a shy hello to Ginny.

A glance at her and Harry's heart sunk. She looked at him with no warmth in her eyes. Instead, Harry saw pity. Ginny was only here, because she felt sorry for Neville. There was no doubt that whatever fleeting hopes Neville might have held were going to crash and burn at the feet of his red-haired muse. The whole thing was kind of hard to look at.

"Hi Neville, it's nice to see you again," Ginny said.

Listening Harry heard nothing but niceness in her voice; the kind of dismissive niceness that only a woman can do so well.

"Would you like to have lunch with us? We were just about to sit down." Neville spoke with enthusiasm.

"We'd love to," Harry said honestly.

With that Neville led the two of them through the library and down a long corridor that had numerous pictures of the Longbottom clan through the years. At the end of the hall was a large set of maple-wood doors. Neville grasped them firmly and opened them up. They led into an elegant dining room with a large, oval cherry table, set for a delicious summer lunch. China place settings were loaded with fruits, cheeses, sandwiches and sweetbreads. Already sitting down was Neville's grandmother and both his mom and dad. They looked wonderful. The sight made Harry grin. It was a good moment for him to see the direct results of what defeating Voldemort had done. It helped bring families that have been too long apart back together. Alice Longbottom was the first to speak.

"It is so wonderful to see you Harry and of course you as well Ginny. We're delighted you both came to visit Neville. Please sit down and eat with us."

She was a warm and gentle person. Harry immediately liked her and had no doubt that she was a great mother to Neville. Living without her all these years must have been a heavy toll on him. Harry understood that all too well.

The six of them enjoyed friendly conversation throughout the scrumptious meal. Even Mrs. Longbottom, Neville's 'Gran', seemed a whole lot friendlier and far less condescending to the poor boy. Then Neville's mom said something that changed the mood of the entire moment.

"Neville, you never told me that Ginny was such a pretty thing. No wonder you are so fond of her. She's smart 'and' beautiful." Alice turned to Ginny with a smile, "He just never stops talking about you. It seems like you would end up a major topic of conversation in every letter he sent me during the last few weeks of school. He spent the whole morning framing pictures of you and putting them all over his wall. I just think its so darling how highly he thinks of you."

Neville dropped his fork into his plate. He stood up and then sat right back down. He stared as hard as a person can stare at the water glass in front of him. His whole face had completely drained of all color and he began to stammer quietly. He politely asked for everyone to excuse him and he lurched back up knocking his knee into the table.

"What's wrong with you Neville?" his grandmother glared. "You have company here."

Neville apologized, but still continued to get up. He turned away and quickly stumbled out of the room without another word. The room was deathly silent. Harry felt a hole deep in his stomach. This was probably one of the worst moments of Neville's life. It was just completely awful.

Mrs. Longbottom began to offer an apology on Neville's behalf, but Ginny cut her off.

"No, it's alright. Please don't apologize. He was embarrassed. I'm sure I would have run off as well."

Neville's mother sat with her mouth wide open.

"Oh, dear. This is all my fault. I thought… well, I thought with all the talking about you and all the stories and wonderful things he had to say… I assumed that the two of you had something going between one another. My poor son; I am so terribly embarrassed, and I went and embarrassed Neville too."

She brought her hand to her forehead and shook her head. She had made an honest mistake, but unfortunately it was a mistake that would be humiliating for a young man who already had the confidence of an eggplant. Harry stood up.

"I'll just go and check on him real quick."

"No, I will," Ginny said mollified.

"I don't think that's a good idea Ginny," Harry replied somberly.

"It's okay Harry. This is something I need to do."

His father quickly told Ginny how to get to Neville's room. She thanked him and then made her way to catch up to him. After a number of stairs and various twists and turns she found his room. The door had been left open a crack and she quietly stepped in. Neville looked like someone had just died. He was trying hard to quickly pull the pictures of Ginny off the wall that he had put up earlier that day. When he turned and saw her, he dropped them all on the floor. He looked like he really wanted to run, but just could not seem to find anywhere to run to.

"I… I can explain," Neville stammered.

"There's nothing to explain Neville," Ginny said quietly.

"I'm so sorry. You must be terribly upset," he responded.

"Upset? Why? 'Cause a nice young man who saved my life has a crush on me? No, Neville I'm not upset and I'm not embarrassed. I know that you are though, and for that I'm so sorry. I'm also sorry that I never properly thanked you for saving me from that death-eater. I know I would be dead right now, if you had not been there."

Neville was still staring at the pictures on the floor he had dropped a moment ago. His face told Ginny everything she needed to know. He wanted nothing more than to have the earth swallow him whole right then and there. Anything so he would not have to look up into her eyes. To be honest, she was sort of glad he did not want to look at her. For some reason, she felt terribly guilty for what he would see looking back at him. A girl who thought he was a really nice guy, but nothing more. Neville was a lot of things, but he was no Draco Malfoy.

"Harry and I will go. I know this is not how you wanted this afternoon to end up. I promise I'll write to you. Thank you for lunch, and much more importantly, thank you for being such a wonderful friend."

With that, Ginny turned around and made her way back to the dining room. Harry had already stood up and was waiting for her. She looked at him and shook her head back and forth. Mindful of where she was at, she turned to everyone else.

"We are so glad to see how well you are all doing. It was lovely to enjoy lunch with you. Not that it is my place, but I think that Neville would really like to be left alone for a bit. I promised to send a letter to him. I'll come by and visit again after I have a chance to write down a few thoughts that I'll send by owl. Take care."

Harry nodded his head and offered his thanks and farewells. Following that, Harry and Ginny left the Longbottom home; a lot more somber than when they first arrived.

--- ---

After the visit to the Longbottoms, Harry decided that maybe now was just as good a time as any to start his adventure. He was afraid any more of this visiting old friends would make him even more depressed. He was ready for a little excitement. Something to put the past exactly where it belonged; in the past.

After stopping by Gringotts Bank to get some travel money and packing all his belongings up at The Burrow, it was time to go. Ginny and Mrs. Weasley were there to see Harry off. Molly hugged Harry tight and wished him the best and told him to write as soon as he got settled in. Ginny was quite unhappy that Harry was leaving, but knew that he needed this in his life. She said goodbye to her friend and threw her arms around him.

"Go find yourself out there Harry. It's time you learned more about who you really are. You'll always be my hero, but you can't be your own hero. So, you need to discover what's on the inside of you. Goodbye… but just for a little while."

With that he walked up to the fireplace, threw some floo powder in and called out, "Gillingham's Brownhog Tavern."

With a sudden pulling sensation he was hurled across half of England and popped out inside of a small tavern. It was in downtown Gillingham, but was hidden from muggle eyes. A sanctuary for witches and wizards who lived near the eastern shores. Harry picked himself up and dusted his pants off. There were only two other folks in the tavern; an old barkeep and a young woman wiping down a tray of mugs. Both of them looked up and nodded as he gave a quick wave.

"I'm sorry to barge in. I was just passing through and was told this was the closest place I could travel by floo," Harry apologized.

The serving woman smiled and reassured Harry, "No apologies necessary. We get a number of travelers through here. We're the only wizarding establishment in a forty kilometer area, so we kind of expect it."

The barkeep hollered, "So, where ya headin' to?"

"Well, I've recently inherited a home nearby and I've come to see what it's like."

"Really now," the barkeep exclaimed, "whereabouts is it?"

"Um, Leakwood Manor," Harry answered.

The woman practically dropped the mug she had in her hand.

"Seriously?!"

"Yeah, why is that bad?"

The barkeep laughed, "Nah! It's just the place has been sitting empty for nigh on about fifty years now. Never really expected anyone to come and claim it."

Harry realized that his mother never even set foot in the place if that was true. If his guess was right, the last of his family who might have lived there, would have been his grandmother and grandfather on his mother's side. Though, he could not even be sure of that. He hoped that he would be able to answer these questions and more when he finally arrived.

"Could you tell me the quickest way to get there," Harry asked.

The young woman looked thoughtful for a moment, "Well, if you don't have a car, than your best bet is the muggle train that has a stop a few miles from there. You'll need muggle money though. They won't know what to do with knuts or galleons."

"Oh," Harry sounded disappointed.

"You can trade some of your wizard money for muggle money here at the bar if ya like. I charge five percent, to make it worth my while."

Harry decided it was a fair deal and traded in for enough money to buy a couple train tickets; just in case. As Harry made his way out of the tavern the young woman called after him.

"If ya get lonely for the company of wizarding folks, then come down and visit. Summer is when a lot of people come through for vacations and the like. You'll most likely come in to a full house."

Harry thanked her and within a half hour was on an eastbound train. The food cart that wandered by was filled with pre-packaged muggle snacks, none of which appealed to him. So, he settled in and waited to hear the station called. There was a quaint little village, or so he was told, about two and a half miles from Leakwood Manor. He would get off there and either walk the rest of the way, or ride his broom if he thought he could do it without being seen.

As he looked out the window and watched the small towns slide past his view his thoughts went to Hermione. The more he thought about it, the more unhappy he was with her for leaving. Why did she have to go anyway? It was not so long ago that one of her favorite things to do was spend time with him and Ron. Now, it seemed like she could not wait to get away from them. He shook the feelings off and determined to have loads of fun in his new manor. A lot more fun than taking witch's philosophy courses anyway.

Harry heard his stop and made his way off the train. The little place was aptly termed a village. The whole thing could not have held more than a few hundred people, but it was quiet and kind of homey feeling. A few passer-bys saw him and smiled politely. Harry waved and smiled back at them. He passed over the dirt road that went through the middle of the village square and ducked behind some trees. He opened his bag up and pulled out his wand. With a quick flick he pulled out and returned to normal size his broom and his invisible cloak. He slipped the cloak on over him and the broom as best he could and then kicked off and sped through the airy forest around him. Following the directions of the tavern owner he made good time and arrived at the edge of his property.

Harry was delighted to note that a large amount of his property was pristine forestland. There was even a large creek running nearby that seemed to be running in the direction towards where the manor was supposed to be. He got off his broom and removed his cloak. He figured it might be nice to walk from here. The trees were tall, but spaced far apart. It gave everything an open feel that many forests do not seem to have. He realized that indeed the creek led straight to where he was headed. It got wider and wider as he walked and finally it opened up into a large pond in a field up ahead.

As Harry climbed a small hill he stepped into an enormous wide open space. The trees surrounded the area, but there was a substantial amount of clear land. Harry noticed a small cemetery off to the side. It was well kept and had an array of ornate stone and marble sculptures throughout. Beyond that he could see a large garden that was surrounded on three sides by a tall ironwork and stone fence. It was immaculately kept and most of the plants and bushes were in full bloom. An explosion of reds, blues, yellows, whites and many other colors of flower were everywhere. Then his eyes stopped and his chin just about hit the ground. There in the middle of it all was an old stonework manor. It too was amazingly well kept, but still retained that old feeling that gave it such a unique charm. There were tall bushes lined up leading toward the front entrance. Stone steps led straight to the tall, double-sided oak doors. The manor was only three stories high, but made up for it in being so wide and deep. There were even four small towers on each of the corners. Each of the towers had immense stained glass windows. Harry guessed that the place must have had fourteen or fifteen rooms.

The question sprang to mind again, which was, what on earth was he going to do with a whole manor all to himself? The next question was how on earth was the place so well cleaned and groomed. It was obviously empty, but there was no doubt that someone or something was keeping the place perfectly.

Harry slowly stepped towards the magnificent archway alcoved over the oak doors. He made himself a promise that he would come back outside and walk through the garden and especially the cemetery, but right now he was dying to see what the inside of this place looked like. As he reached out towards the door handle, one of sides opened up for him. There in the doorway was a tiny house-elf with a broad, happy grin.

"You must be being Master Potter. Come in, come in and I am happy being the one who first makes you welcome here at Leakwood Manor."

With a deep bow the small elf beckoned Harry inside. Harry stepped in and felt like he had just stepped back in time. The entryway floor seemed to be a rugged mahogany and the round-stone walls had two colorful banners hanging just inside. Each of them bore the same family crest that Harry had seen pressed into the wax seal on the will. It certainly did not have the fancy flare that the Longbottom estate had, but Harry liked this even more. It was sort of like, well, sort of like a smaller version of Hogwarts just for Harry. He immediately felt a sense of overwhelming peace flood into him. He had not even seen the rest of it yet and he already loved every single thing about it.

Harry looked down at the excited house-elf and said, "I'm home, for the first time in my life… I'm home."