An Unbreakable Vow ~ Harry Potter

xxiii - in which harry and valerie watch the sunset

The cool air ruffled Valerie's hair back. She let it blow, squinting into the dark to try to make out the sights of Hogwarts she had always cherished. She had come out for some peace and quiet, maybe some time to think. A faint outline of another person startled her.

Valerie couldn't face him right now. A tight knot appeared in her stomach. She stepped back, and was about to slip away.

"No — don't go —" a voice called. The person didn't turn around, but she had a good idea who it was.

"I don't want to interrupt you, Harry," Valerie responded, still backing up.

"Please," he pleaded, getting up to grab her hand. "I need somebody to sit with. I don't want to talk. I just want to sit and know that that other person is there. But it's not uncomfortable because you don't need to talk to feel good. You just feel happy when they're there. Do you know that feeling?"

She sat down next to him and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Yeah, I understand."

"It's really quiet here," Harry said. "It's almost like I can hear them."

"Your parents?" Valerie asked slowly.

"It's not the same, is it? When I saw them in the Mirror of Erised my first year, my heart ached so badly for them. I still feel that sometimes. But sometimes that feeling brings comfort."

She nodded, and then they grew silent. She didn't know how long they sat like that. All she knew was that she was glad that she could share that with Harry. He was one of her best friends. She knew that she would go to all costs to protect him.

"I miss my father," she whispered, burrowing deeper into his embrace. "So much. I wish I could've just hidden away with him and my mother, and forgotten about everything chasing us."

"Chasing you?" Harry asked, careful not to pry too much.

"When Moody talked about Imperio. I know that curse. My father was controlled by the curse," she answered. She could already feel the tears pricking at her eyes, but if she stopped, she knew she'd never be able to tell him. "Voldemort used it on him. He controlled my father to try to kill me. My mother protected me. For some reason — and I don't know why — my mother, a muggle, used magic to protect me. But she's not a muggleborn, see? I don't know how she did it. She doesn't know. She never wants to talk about it. I don't know why Voldemort wanted to kill me. My mum had to protect me. She — my father died —" Valerie choked up and buried her face in Harry's robes, sobbing quietly. "Now I'm just left with this little locket that won't even open for me!"

Harry wrapped his arms around her and didn't say anything. Didn't utter a word. He knew how it felt — in fact, he'd almost been in the same situation. She got out of it with no father and a broken mother, he'd gotten Voldemort, and his parents had died.

None of them were conscious of how long they sat, huddled together like that. The sun was rising. Harry reluctantly released her from his arms, and she sat criss-cross next to him.

"Can you hear them, Harry? The birds?"

Harry craned his neck, listening to the soft birdsong that reached their ears from far away. All was still.