"You're grounded." Harry blinked in surprise, before fighting back a smile as the other man began his rant. "For at least the next decade, maybe longer. Your mother and I think that might be enough time to get all this stupid 'rush into danger without talking to anyone' nonsense out of your head."
The redhead merely nodded in agreement.
"That means no Quidditch."
"Uh dad, Harry isn't on the team, remember?"
James stopped short, blinking before scowling, "Bugger, uh okay fine then uhm… well we will just find something to ground you from then! I don't know what, but it will be big and important, and you will really have time to think about your actions young man."
The boy merely nodded, "I understand, and I'm sorry."
His words served to take the wind out of the man's sails as his shoulders slumped.
"We just… do you know how much it hurt to see you like this Harry? To know you almost got yourself killed?"
He didn't, not really. Sure, his friends had always been concerned about him but most of the time it was as simple as 'there was no one else and I'm fine so what's the problem?'. Still, if it had been one of his sisters he would have been devastated and he tried to focus on that instead. "I get it, I do. Seeing Harriet petrified was awful."
"Why weren't you there, when we came in to visit?" Lily inquired softly, causing the youngest wizard's eyes to drop down to his lap.
"It felt like my fault. Everyone who had been hurt, who had been petrified was connected to me. If I hadn't been here, if I hadn't been related to either of you it might never have happened."
Harriet and Amy quickly shook their heads in denial while the redheaded woman reached across and laid her hand on his, "Harry, you can't know that. Nagini… she was sick before this, before you would have even been born. There's no way to know how her mind would have twisted things."
"Exactly! It wasn't you fault Harry. Hermione and I should have been more careful, shouldn't have been out knowing who was being targeted."
"Is she okay? Hermione that is?"
James nodded, "She is, and her parents have insisted that neither her nor they blame you in anyway shape or form. They know the one responsible is in jail right now."
****
It was the first time they had been alone together since he woke up, first time in well over a week he had even seen her. Such a short amount of time, and yet so much had transpired that neither even knew where to begin.
"So…"
"So"
He shifted, wanting to ask so many things and at the same time not wanting any answers. Still, it didn't appear as though she would be starting the conversation, so it was up to him. "Did they at least apologize to you?"
Riddle snorted, "There have been a few attempts, yes. Mostly excuses."
Harry nodded, idly rubbing the sheets as a distraction. "Thank you… for saving me."
There was silence then, followed by a deep sigh, "It was my own damn fault in the first place. I should have known it was her, should have just asked you to take me down and dealt with it before it escalated."
"So, what Nagini said was true? That you knew her?"
"A long time ago, yes. We went to school together. She was a few years younger. She looked up to me, and for a time I was something of an older sister to her… then once she graduated things changed. I took her traveling with me. Different cities, different countries. We went to dueling tournaments, learned magic from other lands… we became close."
"You fell in love."
This time Grace huffed, but said nothing, "She did, I did not. There was too much hero worship, too much dependency, too much desperation to be what I wanted her to be. We were lovers, but I thought that had been the extent of our relationship. I didn't realize how wrong I was until she began talking about marriage."
His eyes widened, earning a small smile from the woman seated next to him. "I didn't think… I mean can women get married in the magical world?"
"Depending on the country, yes. In England it is rare. Women taking each other as lovers or even living together is fairly normal, but full on marriage? That's a rarity."
"What happened?"
Riddle shrugged, "I broke it off and left, told her that I didn't feel the same way. I thought it was amicable, that she would understand and although it would hurt, she would grow because of it, become her own person… I was wrong. A few years ago, she confronted me again, babbling about the Chamber of Secrets, about how we could get married there, her wedding present to me. It had been so long I hardly recognized her."
"You laughed at her."
The accusation made the woman wince but nod shortly after, "Not my proudest moment, I will admit. I think it was towards the end of the school year, which meant stress was at a peak. I was tired, the students were tired, everyone was tired and in that moment I just… snapped. I barely remember the conversation, even now."
Harry stared down at his hands, "What's going to happen to her now?"
"Azkaban most likely. I doubt she will receive The Kiss since there wasn't any permanent damage, but she did assault multiple students"
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