Chapter 23: Halloween

The next morning, they both had to force themselves to get out of bed and go to classes. Harry would have been happy to spend the next month or two having sex. There was nothing at Hogwarts that interested him nearly as much as enjoying Pansy.

However, she was a tiny bit sore and had to walk a little slower that day. She probably shouldn't have let him talk her into a round two or three. And round four was definitely a mistake. It had all felt so amazing last night, though. Still, she had never had anything inside her like that, and Harry was larger than average from what she had learned. Which was just another thing she didn't want any other witches finding out. Pansy felt the need to be extra guarded- she didn't want to tip off Patil and Brown, who both seemed to have special instincts for sniffing out gossip.

Needless to say, they were both pretty distracted throughout their classes that day.

And with Halloween being only a day away, Harry was thinking even less about his classes. He stopped by McGonagall's office that afternoon.

"Professor, may we come in?" he asked when she answered her door.

"Certainly, Mr. Potter."

"Thank you," he answered as Pansy followed him inside and sat in a chair in front of her desk. "I recently discovered a few things regarding the rules."

"Oh, such as?"

"Well, I learned that adults can take their children home over the weekend."

"Provided the staff has been made aware, yes that is true."

"And students of age can have similar leave."

"Yes, Mr. Potter."

"Then, as I am legally considered of age, I wanted to let you know that I am planning on a trip away from the school tomorrow, and as Pansy's guardian, I will be taking her with me."

"May I ask just what sort of trip are you taking this weekend? This is unexpected and a bit sudden."

Harry could see the reluctance of the stern teacher. The rules were clearly on his side, so why did she not want to let him go?

"You do know what tomorrow is, professor."

"Halloween." After a moment's pause, she paled a bit and her expression softened.

"I did not learn how my parents died until two years ago, nor that it happened on Halloween. I did not know where they were buried, and I have never been to their graves. The muggles I grew up with told me nothing but lies about them."

"I told Dumbledore they were the worst sort of muggles," McGonagall said with a shake of her head. "I tried to talk him into taking you somewhere else all those years ago."

"You should have tried harder." She did not miss the tone of his voice. "Regardless, I intend to go to Godric's Hollow tomorrow. Halloween has been bad luck here at Hogwarts for me, between the troll attack and the Chamber of Secrets opening. I think it might be for the best if I give it a miss this year."

"I understand, Mr. Potter. If I had known you'd never been, I would have gladly taken you years ago. But do be careful. There is a killer on the loose after all."

"True, but if Black is supposedly headed to Hogwarts, then any other place should be safer than here. Not to mention being away from the dementors."

"Yes, I heard about your encounter on the train."

"Then I hope you'll be on your guard in the future, professor McGonagall. Those monsters have already tried to attack students once, don't be surprised when they try again."

"Quite, Mr. Potter," she agreed with a sigh. "I assume you will leave via Hogsmeade with the rest of your class?"

"That seems like the easiest way, professor."

"Very well. I wish you the best for your trip. Be sure to return Sunday before curfew."

Harry was lost in thought for most of dinner when he wasn't being distracted by conversations with his friends. Pansy, however, noticed McGonagall speaking to Dumbledore at the head table, followed by the headmaster looking over at Harry. 'What was the old man up to now?' she wondered.

Pansy was worried that night about Harry. She knew that going to his parents graves for the first time would be hard on him, but she wasn't sure how he would react. He'd told her of his frustration at how little he knew of them and how the teachers such as McGonagall and Flitwick seemed unwilling to talk to Harry about them. Sadly, Lupin would probably be the best bet to learn about the Potters, but Harry wanted nothing to do with the traitor as he called him.

Her cramps began that night and were much lighter even than the previous two months. That was a small blessing, but she still didn't feel well enough to have sex with Harry, which was unfortunate. It would have certainly helped his mood. Not to mention relieving some stress for both of them. And, well, it would have just been a lot of fun also.

Halloween came and they made their way down to eat breakfast as Harry's pensive mood remained.

"Hey, Hermione, Ron, I wanted to let you know that we're leaving from Hogsmeade for the day."

"What do you mean?" Granger of course wanted to know Harry's personal business. It was possibly the main thing that Pansy disliked about her.

"After finding out about Malfoy spending part of the weekend with his mother, I discovered that I had the same ability due to being emancipated. As it is the anniversary of my parents' murder, I'm going to visit their graves."

"Oh, Harry," she leaned over to hug him and Pansy scowled. "I wish I could go with you."

"I'll have Pansy with me," he answered quietly.

"Will it be a long trip?"

"Not with the help of magic. We won't be back until tomorrow though."

"But mate, you'll miss the Halloween feast."

Of course the weasel and his stomach were thinking only of food. Pansy could not be more disgusted by the boy and his crass insensitivity.

"That's kind of the idea Ron."

"But why do you want to miss the feast?"

"Well, think of the last two feasts. First we had the troll attack, then we had the chamber's opening. Halloween is bad luck for me."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Besides, Ronald, Harry might not feel up to something like that after visiting the grave of his parents," Granger hissed. She was annoyed by the oblivious ginger and Pansy smiled for once at the bookworm. "Do be careful, Harry. Sirius Black is out there somewhere, after all."

"True, but according to the paper, he's supposed to be trying to head here to Hogwarts. That means that anywhere else should actually be safer. Not to mention not having to be around those damn dementors. So really, I should be warning the two of you to take care.

"Anyway, I just wanted to let you both know, as I won't be at Hogsmeade for very long today."

Almost all of the teachers were watching as Harry left the Great Hall that day. His trip to Godric's Hollow stirred their memories. Many of them had lost loved ones to the Death Eaters. Several of them had taught James and Lily Potter, and the couple had been well loved by their teachers.

Minerva had been both saddened and alarmed to find out that Harry had never been to their graves and thought again of his comment that she should have tried harder to talk Albus out of leaving him with the muggles. There had been a hard edge to his words that worried her. It made her think of just how and why he had taken up his head of house status and with it his emancipation. There were enemies out there that could try to take advantage of him, although she remembered his solicitor, who was obviously very protective of the young man. Thinking of that made a part of her ashamed. Was there more that she should do to protect him?

Two beady black eyes watched with a flood of emotions hidden behind them. Hatred, pity, scorn, regret, disgust. He ground his teeth and swallowed them all down.

Another man watched with only sadness and regret.

And one witch watched with a smile on her face as Pansy followed Harry out the doors...

When they reached the village, Harry led them to a flower shop. Hermione happily helped to pick out a bouquet to take. He'd never been to a cemetery or a funeral before, so he was grateful for her help. All he knew was that he wanted to take some lilies, as cliche as that seemed in his mind.

Ron didn't say much. Harry could tell that his friend was uncomfortable but was thankful for his presence none the less.

Pansy picked out her own bouquet. She gave him a small smile when Harry looked over at her.

Eventually when they were all finished, they paid and left the shop.

"Are those for me, Lord Potter?"

Just as Harry had stepped outside, he had walked nearly right into Narcissa Malfoy. She was as beautiful as ever, with that flirtatious smile once again.

"Lady Malfoy, what a pleasant surprise," he said as he noticed Draco scowling off in the distance and heading off in another direction. Perhaps the boy was avoiding his mother? "I assume you are here to visit your son again. If so, he seems to be trying to slip away."

He pointed where Draco was about to head into Honeydukes' and Narcissa immediately called him over. Harry smirked at the pouting ponce.

"Sadly, milady, I and my flowers are otherwise engaged for the day."

"I see," she said with a sad smile on her face. He could see the recognition in her eyes. "I wish you well on your trip then, milord."

"Thank you, milady."

As she walked off, Harry could hear Draco muttering complaints to her. He felt something odd as he watched her go- the wife of a death eater seemed truly sad for his loss.

"Well guys, I guess this is goodbye for the day."

"I'll be thinking of you," Hermione said as she crushed him in a hug. He noticed tears in her eyes once she let him go. She turned to Pansy. "Take care of him.

"Stay safe, Harry."

"I will Hermione," he said with a smile, then he turned to his other friend. "Ron, don't have too much fun without me."

"Yeah," Ron grunted as he awkwardly patted Harry on the shoulder. "See you tomorrow."

With flowers in one hand, he offered his free arm to Pansy and used the Potter family ring's ability to travel to Godric's Hollow.

"Disgusting."

It was his first glance at the home of his parents. Pansy shivered a bit at the angry tone of his voice. The building had been preserved ever since that night, with a sign proclaiming it the site of "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's Downfall." They couldn't even use the name on the sign, for crying out loud. There was still a hole in the roof and one side of the upper floor.

"According to Sam, I could reclaim this place from the ministry," he said quietly. "Not that there's much point at the moment, but it sickens me how they've made a monument to my parents' murder."'

"I'm sorry, Harry," she said as she gave his hand a squeeze. Being away from school, she felt she could be open for once with him. "Not that its an excuse, but I think so many people were just glad to have their own skins saved, that they didn't stop to think about what it cost you. If it meant not worrying about any more of their family members being killed, they were willing to celebrate regardless. I've heard they had to call in every Obliviator to deal with the wizards throwing parties that night and alerting the muggles.

"Of course, the way I heard it was mostly about how my father wanted to kill everyone." Harry chuckled at that.

"It seems angering your father has always been something I've been good at," he said. His plan would be ready soon, but he didn't want to say anything to Pansy yet. "You know, I think the thing that bothers me the most about this is how few Death Eaters he actually had. From everything I read it was only a few dozen, never even as many as one hundred. There are thousands of witches and wizards in the country. How could so many worthless cowards let so few terrorize them like that? Even the aurors didn't use lethal spells for years while those scum were murdering, torturing, and raping anyone who got in their way. What complete bullshit."

He turned to her with a serious look in his eyes. "If you ever get attacked, if they ever come back, I want you to fight to kill Pansy. The Death Eaters never held back and had no qualms with murdering children."

"I won't hold anything back."

"I know that it might not be an easy thing to do, to actually kill someone," he said as he looked away, over at the broken building once again. "It was strange dealing with it when I killed Quirrel. I certainly didn't get any help from anyone. If it comes to it, Pansy, I'll help you. I'll also protect you as part of House Potter with everything I am."

"I know you will."

"Good," he turned back to her and smiled. "I guess we should go find the cemetery then."

They walked through the village for a few minutes towards a church that could be seen off in the distance. Once they got closer, they could see the cemetery nearby. In front of it, there was a memorial to soldiers lost in war that shifted as they approached into a statue of Harry as a baby with his parents. Pansy stopped to look at it briefly and Harry noticed they had walked all this way hand in hand. It was a nice change to not have to hide.

"What a cute baby you were," she teased. "Or at least this statue suggests you were."

"I don't think it's a very good likeness actually."

"Why not?"

"The hair isn't an untamed mess."

She laughed with him. They walked on and came to the gate of the cemetery, where she once again pulled him to a stop.

"They call this a kissing gate," she said with a gleam in her eye, "and you know what that means."

"Yes, I do." He answered by turning and kissing her deeply. A passing old woman tutted at them, and Pansy stopped from the all out snogging they had begun. "I guess it's not really the most appropriate place, huh?"

"It seemed very appropriate to me."

"Then your bad influence is rubbing off on me, because I think we didn't kiss enough either. It is our first kissing gate, after all," he said with a chuckle.

"Well, maybe we should at least try to be careful with the flowers."

"Good idea." Harry turned to look inside at the rows of graves. "I guess we should go in already."

She noticed his moment of reluctance and took his hand in hers again.

"I'll be right here with you the whole time, Harry."

"Thanks."

They walked in silence for several minutes, looking at the names on the graves, searching for his parents. They saw the names of a few magical families before eventually they found the marker.

"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." He looked at her strangely. "I wonder who decided to put that nonsense on the gravestone. Let's not mention that they were parents who left behind a baby, or that they were unfairly cut down barely into their twenties, just some cryptic garbage that almost sounds like a Death Eater slogan."

"Yes, the Death Eater thought occurred to me as well," she replied. "I think it's a quote from the Bible though."

"I wonder if they went to church here." He looked over at the nearby building. "Was your family religious?"

"No."

"How did you recognize the quote then?"

"I'm not sure, I think I've heard it before somewhere."

"Oh."

They stood there for a moment awkwardly.

"Do you want to say something to them? I can give you privacy if you want."

"I'm not sure."

"Well, why don't I start then?" Pansy stepped over in front of the graves and set down her flowers.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Potter. My name is Pansy. You wouldn't have met me before as my parents were on the other side of the war when you were still alive. I'm here with your son, Harry. Even though you didn't get to raise him, I wanted to thank you for creating him. He's the best thing that's ever happened to me. He saved me from my family. I love him. I can't even imagine how much better he could have been if he'd lived with you.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Potter, but your sister is a bitch. She and her muggle family didn't do right by your son, but that's all over. Harry's with me; I'll take care of him from now on. And one of these days I will make those muggles pay for hurting him. I promise you that.

"I don't know what it would be like if we could meet. Maybe you wouldn't like me because I'm a Slytherin, or because I can be a bitch," she heard Harry laugh a little too loudly behind her. "Your son seems to like me though, so maybe he got that good taste from one of you.

"Anyway, I guess I don't really know what else I should say to you. Rest in peace, wherever you are."

She stepped back over to Harry and took his free hand in her own again.

"It might be hard for me to top that," he said with a chuckle. He took a deep breath, stepped forward, and knelt down at the grave site.

"Hi. It's Harry. Sorry I haven't come by before, but as Pansy mentioned, Petunia is an awful bitch and her husband is even worse. So that's not really my fault I guess. I'm a third year now; I'm the Gryffindor seeker ever since first year, which I guess would make dad proud. I haven't lost a match yet, although I missed the finale first year and the season was canceled part way through last year because of a basilisk. A basilisk which I had to kill by the way. I wonder if Hogwarts was such a death trap when you guys went there.

"This year, there are dementors just outside the school grounds because your old friend turned traitor Sirius Black broke out of prison. He's supposedly after me now, but the dementors are a much bigger threat so far. They already attacked me on the train to school. I'm learning the Patronus charm to deal with them. I'm teaching Pansy too, and my friend Hermione. Pansy's further along, but I can't tell Hermione that as she'd probably work herself to death to catch up. Some idiot at the ministry has given her a time turner to let her take every elective, which is completely mental. She's a muggle born and she's still taking muggle studies for fuck's sake. Not to mention Divination, which she's almost admitted to being a waste of time already.

"Thankfully, I had Pansy to talk me into taking the other three electives instead. Arithmancy doesn't thrill me so far.

"Care of Magical Creatures is taught by Hagrid now. It's not bad, but his idea of interesting creatures means they are probably a lot more dangerous than what we should be dealing with as third years. I'm not complaining though, as it almost certainly will come in handy for me since I've already come in contact with a unicorn, a basilisk, a cerberus, a dragon, a troll, and about a thousand acromantulas. I'm hopefully less likely to die with Hagrid around.

"Now, Runes, on the other hand, is great. Really interesting, plus it has all sorts of things you can do with them. And let me tell you, I've had some really great practical experience with them. Although, if you're watching over me, you probably already know that. Which is gross, as no one should watch their son's sex life.

"Anyway, changing topics immediately, I'm emancipated now thanks to Pansy, who told me all sorts of things that Dumbledore or someone should have told me a couple of years prior. And that means I never have to go back to the Dursleys, although I think Pansy might want me to take her to pay them a visit. I'm not going to though, as I'm responsible for her now, and I don't want her to go to Azkaban.

"What else should I say? I've got a house-elf named Dobby now, who I freed from the Malfoys. He's pretty great and he's done a lot to take care of both Pansy and I. I've got a lawyer too. His name's Sam McKenzie and he's done a lot to help me too.

"Oh, and I met the Brightwells, mum. I stayed at your old flat last summer. I think we might go spend the night there later.

"That reminds me- I guess I haven't explained, but Pansy lives with me now. I claimed her from her family through a life debt. A life debt which she basically created because she's really devious, which is one of the things I love about her. It got her away from her father, who's a total bastard. He's a Death Eater, and apparently the ministry was completely incompetent and corrupt as he never went to Azkaban. I'm going to protect Pansy from him."

He paused for a moment, but Pansy didn't see the blazing look in his eyes.

"I met one of your other friends this year. Lupin. I'm not sure where the hell he's been my entire life, and honestly, at this point I don't care. He's the Defense teacher. I... I kinda yelled at him the other day. He tried to act all concerned about me, twelve years too late...

"They call me the boy who lived. They stare at this stupid scar on my forehead. I'm not even sure why they think I survived a killing curse. It's not like there was an eye witness. You're both dead, I was a baby, and Voldemort is some sort of spirit. I doubt he told anyone what happened that night. Despite all this, people decided to write books about me, sell dolls of me, and all sorts of other crap. I have no idea how they knew what I looked like as I was dumped on the Dursleys' doorstep like a fucking newspaper.

"Sam's suing all those bastards anyway. House Potter is doing a lot better now, financially at least. For the moment though, it's just Pansy, Dobby, and I against the world."

He stopped and looked around the graveyard. He seemed to be searching for something, but Pansy couldn't tell what it might have been.

"There were times that I hated you," he said in a low voice. "When they left me battered in the cupboard, starving, and in too much pain to sleep. I hated you for dying and not taking me with you. For leaving me with the fucking Dursleys. Couldn't there have been anyone else, anyone at all?"

Harry was shaking with anger and loss, and Pansy knelt down beside him. She wrapped an arm around his waist and laid her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her shoulder in response, then he kissed her forehead.

"I guess that doesn't matter anymore. It's been twelve years now, and finally my life is getting better. It's often still ridiculously dangerous, but that's usually not my fault. Assuming I survive Hogwarts, I think one of these days I might move away. Live a quiet life somewhere with the girl I love. I deserve some peace one of these days.

"Maybe that's what you have now. It must suck to have to die to get that though.

"I..." he trailed off and looked down. Pansy let him be as the silence stretched on.

"I don't know what else to say. Goodbye, I guess."

Harry climbed to his feet and helped Pansy up.

"Let's get out of here."

"What do you want, Lupin?"

They hadn't made it out of the cemetery when Harry spotted the professor. It was probably the last person Harry wanted following him here.

"I wanted to make sure you were safe, Harry."

"Why? Black's supposedly going to Hogwarts- that's why we have all those damn dementors there. We're a long way from there."

"You were right, I should have been there for you during your childhood-"

"Save it, werewolf. I'm not interested."

Lupin paled and backed away a couple of steps. Harry stepped in front of Pansy and pulled his wand out.

"How did you know?"

"I'm not a moron. Someone gets sick every full moon- I wonder what that could possibly be? Plus, Snape taught us a rather informative lesson on werewolves while you were out the other day. I think he doesn't like you.

"Whose bright idea was it for you to follow me? Yours? Dumbledore's? It seems like the type of thing he might think up."

"The headmaster thought it would be a good idea to make sure you were safe here."

"And he sent you. Probably hoping I would forgive you. That we could bond over my parents' graves or some such nonsense. That's not going to happen."

There was a moment where they just stared at each other. Lupin broke the silence.

"I guess you two are together then? You're certainly more affectionate here than you are at school. I don't understand why you think you need to hide it."

Pansy tensed behind Harry.

"Trying to throw me off guard, Lupin? I wonder why? Maybe you're working with your old buddy Black? That could explain why only now do you show up, once he's broken out of prison."

"I wouldn't work with that traitor!"

"Really? As far as I'm concerned you betrayed my family just the same."

"Harry, please..." the teacher looked rather worn and pitiful as Harry scorned him. "I'm sorry-"

"Petrificus Totalis! Obliviate! Confundo!" Harry was a blur as he attacked the Defense professor. Pansy could hardly believe what she was seeing.

"You followed us to Godric's Hollow. You watched us at the grave. You didn't see anything out of the ordinary. You didn't try to confront me. You saw us leave."

Harry turned to Pansy as he pulled his invisibility cloak out of a jacket pocket. She stepped close to him as he threw it over them.

"Quietly now," he said as they moved away from their teacher. Once they passed out the gate, he whispered a Finite at Lupin. Harry removed and enlarged a shrunken pack.

"Hold onto this," Harry said as he pulled out a silver chain. He activated the portkey and they disappeared.