The Train Ride Home.
The Hogwarts Express rattled along the tracks, the countryside rolling past in a blur of green and gold. Inside his compartment, Harry sat in silence, watching the scenery with his chin resting on his hand. The past year had been nothing short of insane—magic, trolls, secret trials beneath the school, and nearly dying at the hands of a possessed professor.
And now, he was going back.
Back to the church.
Back to her.–No to It.
Harry swallowed hard. He had spent the last month free of her presence, free of those piercing, unnatural eyes watching him from the dark corners of the church. But now he would have to face her again.
In person.
He clenched his fists. He didn’t want to. The thought of stepping through those old wooden doors, of walking down those halls at night, knowing she could be waiting, made his skin crawl.
But there was something else, something that made the thought of returning bearable.
Sister Maria.
He allowed himself to exhale, focusing on the good. He had missed her, missed her warm presence and the way she always seemed to understand him without prying too much. He missed the other sisters, too, and the church’s quieter moments—the peaceful ones, before night fell.
Harry reached into his pocket, fingers brushing against something familiar.
The rosary beads.
He still didn’t know how they had ended up with him on the way to Hogwarts, but he knew exactly who had given them to him. The cold, tingling darkness that clung to them was unmistakable. It had been with him all year, quiet but ever-present.
A reminder.
Harry closed his hand around them, suppressing a shiver. He could almost imagine those blackened, claw-like fingers placing them there.
He exhaled sharply and shoved them deeper into his pocket.
The compartment door slid open, pulling him from his thoughts.
"Mind if I sit here?"
Harry looked up to find Luna Lovegood standing there, her wide silver eyes gazing at him curiously.
He hesitated—then nodded.
She stepped inside, setting down her bag, then sat across from him, staring out the window as if she could see something beyond the glass that he couldn’t.
They sat in silence for a long time, the rhythmic clatter of the train filling the space between them.
Then, out of nowhere, Luna spoke.
"You look like you're going somewhere you don’t want to go."
Harry blinked, caught off guard. "What?"
Luna turned to face him. "You have that look. Like you're bracing yourself for something bad."
Harry hesitated, then gave a small shrug. "Maybe I am."
Luna nodded, as if this made perfect sense. "Sometimes, it's easier if you pretend you're just visiting. Like you're only passing through, and soon you'll be somewhere else again."
Harry frowned. That was... strangely insightful.
"I'll keep that in mind," he muttered.
Luna smiled dreamily and went back to looking out the window.
Harry leaned back in his seat, eyes drifting to the blurred landscape outside.
Maybe she was right.
Maybe he just had to remind himself that Hogwarts was still there. That he would be back.
That this—returning to the church, facing her—was temporary.
Just another passing moment.
Still, as the train carried him closer and closer to his destination, he couldn't quite shake the cold weight pressing against his chest.