A free man
Ginny's POV
Tap. Tap. Tap.
I groggily opened my eyes, the sound faint but persistent. I blinked into the dark of my room. What was that? I listened for a moment.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
There it was again, louder this time.
TAP! TAP! TAP!
Sighing, I dragged myself out of bed and trudged to the window, rubbing sleep from my eyes. I blinked when I saw the source of the noise—a beautiful white owl tapping at my window. I hurried to open it, and the owl swooped inside gracefully.
"Hello, girl," I muttered sleepily. "You're going to wake up the whole house if you keep at it."
She hooted in response, clearly scolding me for not letting her in sooner.
"Sorry," I said with a yawn. "I was still asleep."
The owl hooted again, dropped the letter it had been carrying into my hands, and flapped its wings, as if impatient to leave.
I stared at the letter, curious, before I opened it carefully.
Dear Ginny,
I must say it was a surprise you wrote to me. I'm not exactly at good terms with your brother. I think he is a bit irritated that I'm in Slytherin...
Anyways, I'm honoured you thought of me to answer your questions.
I think Slytherin is a very nice house, but there are definitely some stupid students. There are some purebloods (like Malfoy) who are totally crazy and learned their whole lives that halfbloods and muggle born are stupid. Which is of course not true! There are also very nice students and I've made some amazing friends, so I'm sure you will too!
My advice is to follow your heart, sounds very cliche but it's true.
Yours truly,
Harry Potter
PS: If you want to keep communicating (which I would like), please send them via Hedwig. I don't think your owl could fly to Scotland again...
I couldn’t believe it. Harry Potter had written back! And what’s more, he hadn’t dismissed me because I was a Weasley.
My heart soared as I immediately grabbed a quill and parchment, scribbling my thanks and telling him I would love to keep in touch.
This, by far, was the best thing to happen to me all week.
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Time Skip to the End of the School Year
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Harry's POV
How had this happened?
I was alone in the Shrieking Shack, face to face with a man who had once been a wanted criminal. How lovely...
"You killed my parents!" I yelled at Sirius Black, who was standing in front of the door, blocking my way. "How dare you show up to Hogwarts after everything you’ve done?"
"I didn’t kill them, Harry! Please, just listen to me," Sirius said, his voice desperate.
"Don’t you dare call me Harry!" I shouted, my fists clenching. "Pettigrew is dead because of you!"
I needed to think. I needed to get away. I needed to let someone know where I was.
"Harry, I need you to get Dumbledore. He’s the only one who can help me," Sirius said, a plea in his voice.
I couldn’t decide what to do. If I went for Dumbledore, would he even believe me? What if I left and Sirius escaped?
"Alright, I’ll get him," I said reluctantly, "but if you escape while I’m gone, I’ll find you and make sure you never run again!"
Sirius smirked. "As if you could kill me, Harry."
"I could," I snapped. "Stay right here!"
As I turned to leave, I heard him mutter something under his breath, "Just like his father, that lad."
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Sirius is free.
Pettigrew had received the Dementor’s Kiss, and now Sirius was free. The man I had hated for so long, the one I thought had killed my parents, was innocent all along.
It was still a shock to me. I had no idea what to do with this new information. And yet, there he was, asking me if I wanted to live with him.
"What do you say, Harry?" Sirius asked, his voice surprisingly gentle.
Could anything be worse than living with the Dursleys?
"Yes!" I said, without hesitation. "I think I would like to live with you."
Before I could stop myself, I hugged him tightly, a sense of relief flooding through me. This was my chance to have a real family, one that wouldn’t treat me like dirt.
Sirius froze for a second before returning the hug, and for the first time in my life, I felt like I belonged.