"I hate to let you leave."
Harry nodded and hugged Mother back for a long moment. He knew it bothered her that the Healers hadn't made any real progress on finding out how to remove the Horcrux from him. There was simply no precedent. Healer Percival had said that the Horcrux should have been too weak to torment him and assimilated by his soul if he was still alive, but he shouldn't have lived as long as he had if it was that powerful. They obviously didn't know much yet.
Draco and Mother and Father had all said they would figure it out. That was the only reason Harry hadn't broken down in panic or shock daily the way he had after he first heard the news.
Well, and he was going to Hogwarts now, and he didn't want to break down like that in front of Ron or Hermione. He trusted them, of course he did, but…
He just didn't know who they might feel they had to tell if he told them the truth about the Horcrux. Their parents? Dumbledore? A professor?
It was better to hold it to himself for now and only tell them if he had to.
Mother hugged him once more, and straightened up with a small sigh and a pale face. Father immediately placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and stared into his eyes. His left arm worked as well as it ever had, and Harry couldn't see any differences between it and the right arm in strength or color.
He hadn't missed that Father was wearing short sleeves to place him and Draco on the Hogwarts Express, of course. But he perfectly understood why Father would want to show off the Dark Mark being gone.
"You'll write to us every week?" Father asked softly.
Harry nodded. There was something going on at the school this year that apparently was going to make it impossible for his parents to come to Hogsmeade the way they'd been doing. Even regular Hogsmeade visits were curtailed, and Quidditch was being canceled, too. At least Harry was still going to be able to meet with Healer Letham, who had smiled and told Harry not to worry about the method she would use to get around the restrictions.
Father closed his eyes and nodded. "And you'll allow Draco to take care of you?"
"Not follow me around."
"I can do that, too," Draco said, stepping up beside Harry. He'd already put their trunks on the train and said hello to some of his Slytherin friends.
Harry scowled at him. Draco gave him an angelic smile back, and turned to hug Mother.
"I'll do what I can," Harry finally answered Father, whose worried expression got a little more relaxed. "I just—it's hard for me to get used to other people peering over my shoulder and asking me questions all the time."
"I understand that," Father said. He tightened his hands on Harry's shoulders, and then bent over and hugged him.
Harry hugged him back. He was never going to doubt that Father loved him again, not after what he had done this summer.
The Express whistled, and Draco grabbed Harry's hand. Harry waved to their parents and hopped onto the train with his brother.
Ron and Hermione did ask him a few times during the train ride what was wrong, but Harry told them that he was worried about Voldemort and the fact that they'd never heard what the outcome was from Sirius's trial, which was true enough. And Hermione filled the silence with chatter about the books she'd read and the holiday she'd taken to France, while Ron complained about his parents and brothers and Ginny. It was as normal as things could be right now.
Harry caught the eye of his own reflection in the window glass, and grimaced a little. He didn't like the way his cheeks were pinched and drawn and he looked even paler than a Malfoy "should" look.
He tried to smile and relax. The Horcrux hadn't killed him so far. The Healers were working to find a way to remove it from him. Things would get there. Worrying too much about it right now probably wouldn't change things.
"Did you hear about that attack at the Quidditch World Cup?" Hermione asked abruptly. "I'm glad none of us were there!"
Ron grumbled about how he'd wanted to be there, and only Mr. Weasley having a work emergency had kept him from attending. Harry shuddered a little. He had heard about the attack, about a bunch of Dark wizards attacking Muggles, and the Dark Mark being shot into the air. At least he hadn't dreamed about it or got any pain in his scar from it.
"Did they catch any of them?" Harry asked, just to say something.
....
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