Secrets and Sorrows

"Ah, Mister Potter, a moment of your time."

Harry saw Dumbledore standing at one end of the hall. "Yes Sir." Waving goodbye to Lavender and Parvati, he walked over.

"Charms class? How was it?" Dumbledore asked genially.

"It was okay," Harry said. He frowned slightly. "Had a bit of an incident. Some of my Housemates weren't being kind to each other."

"Nothing too bad I hope," Dumbledore said, looking mildly concerned.

"I don't know to be honest," Harry said with a small shrug.

"Perhaps it will be fixed by the night's end. Which leads me to the reason I wanted to speak with you. Professor McGonagall told me you do not wish to partake in tonight's feast?"

"Yes Sir."

"And you are not ill?"

"No Sir."

Dumbledore looked down at Harry for long moments, saying nothing. He noticed how Harry looked away, how he fidgeted a little, how he looked withdrawn and weary. Suddenly, Dumbledore had a thought and he too looked incredibly tired. "Ah. Forgive me," he said softly. "It is the anniversary, for your parents."

Harry sighed and nodded. "Yes Sir."

"I was unaware you knew," Dumbledore said sheepishly.

"My aunt told me."

"She did?" Dumbledore was even more shocked by that.

"Yes Sir. She told me my parents died on Halloween." Harry bit his tongue to keep him from saying what else Petunia said to him in regards to his parents' death and the holiday. "I've never liked the day since when she told me and I'd rather not go to the feast if that's okay."

"Professor McGonagall mentioned you had something else you do instead?" Dumbledore asked gently.

Harry nodded. "I've done it for the last few years." He hesitated. "I'd like to use the clubroom stove if I could, please."

Dumbledore remained quiet, stroking his beard in thought. "I will ask Inky to keep an ear out for you."

Harry looked at Dumbledore directly, deeply surprised. "Really?"

"Really. Do you need anything else?"

"No Sir, I've prepared things for tonight. I really appreciate it."

Dumbledore smiled sadly at the small boy. "You are welcome." It was his turn to hesitate. "I was fortunate to have counted your parents as friends, Mister Potter. I would like to say, as empty as it sounds, that they would not have wanted you to feel so poorly about this day. That said, I know the heart will feel how it does and it requires time for things to change."

"You knew them?" Harry asked, his expression one of deepest yearning.

"I did. Taught them and remained friends with them after they graduated. Perhaps one day soon we can spend a bit of time together and I can tell you a few stories."

"I'd really like that," Harry whispered. "Aunt Petunia never told me anything about them." Well, nothing good about them.

Dumbledore's expression fell, as if he heard Harry's thoughts. "We will see when we can do that then. I would be happy to share my memories of them with you."

.....

"You are giving him permission to skip the feast?" McGonagall gave him a strange look.

"I gave him permission, yes," Dumbledore said mildly.

"And he's going to be unaccompanied outside the common room?"

"One of the House Elves is going to be near and arrive at a moment's notice."

"Mister Potter can be trusted on his own near a stove," Flitwick said mildly. "He has proven himself and the castle is made of stone. It won't burn up."

McGonagall frowned at him, unamused. "I still think it is rather strange. What reason did he give you?"

Dumbledore looked at her. "He will not celebrate the day his parents died."

The room fell completely silent. Even the fire in the hearth seemed to diminish in volume.

"Oh." McGonagall looked down, ashamed. "How did I not think of that?"

"Because we had the luxury of memory to ease the pain of absence. We remember the good times while not thinking of the bad," Dumbledore said gently. "Harry does not have even that. I have suggested to him that we can try and find time to share some stories with him."

"That is a good idea," Flitwick said softly. "I'm sorry to say I never thought of it myself."

"One would think that his guardians would have told him a few things," Sprout said.

Dumbledore and McGonagall shared a look, hers a touch severe and his a touch resigned. "I had hopes. Regardless of that, we can try and fill in the blanks as it were."

Snape narrowed his eyes at them when he noticed the shared look, but said nothing more.

.....

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