The Sunrise of My Heart

Over the next two weeks, I got closer to my great aunt. I had even dropped the "great" part and was just calling her "Aunt Iris." It was a comfort to me that she was so kind and accepting of me, and she took my curse with surprising ease.
"Slytherin was a bastard," she said. "Of course he would curse people for being happy."
Over the past few days, I had been collecting food from the pantry. Crackers, dried fruits, other nonperishable foods, and multiple bottles of water. One night, after Aunt Iris had gone to bed, I gathered my stock of food and water and stuck it in a backpack. I put on some comfortable sweatpants, a thin sweater, and a light jacket. Once I had my backpack on, I opened my doors leading outside and silently made my way through the garden.
I had enough food and water in my backpack to last me quite a few hours, which was good. My trek was going to take me a long time. Considering it was still January, I was starting to wish I had grabbed warmer clothing. But I knew that eventually I would get warmer from my constant walking, and I didn't want a heavy jacket to weigh me down.
After about four hours, I reached my destination. I had made my way through two water bottles and a packet of crackers, along with a handful of dried fruit. Despite the cold weather, I had worked up a sweat from the hours of walking. When I saw the house in the distance, I nearly stopped dead, but I forced myself to keep going.
Even from the end of the street, I could tell the house was completely ruined. It looked like someone had burned it nearly to the ground. Only the foundations and a few wall fragments still remained. As I walked closer to the wreckage that was once my home, I felt my eyes start to water, my heart start to pound, and my hands start to shake. It took everything in me not to simply sit down in the middle of the road and cry, but I made myself keep walking.
When I finally made it the the house, I stepped carefully onto the threshold, making my way through the damage. Even as destroyed as it was, I could still tell where everything had been. I was standing in what was once the living room. To the left, I could see where our kitchen had once stood. I slowly made my way through all of the rooms, memories of living here running through my head.
Once I made it to used to be my father's study, I stopped, sinking to the ground. There was nothing left of my old life, no sign to show the world who had lived here. I sat among the wreckage, weeping over my loss, for a very long time. Finally, when I was sick of crying, I dried my tears and stood up, making my way out of the damage. I continued to stand in the front yard for awhile, staring at my broken home.
"Hey, kid!" a heard someone call. I turned to see an old man walking a dog. I frowned, wondering what an old man would be doing out at this time, when I realized the sky was turning gray. "What are you doing over there?" he asked.
"Nothing," I said, walking away from the house.
"That house caught fire a couple weeks ago. Don't go messing around in there. The foundation's not stable."
"It caught fire? How?"
He shrugged. "How does anything catch fire? Someone was careless."
So this was the story the Muggles were being told, then. The house had caught fire because someone had been careless with an outlet, or a candle, or some other potential fire-starter. It was plausible, at least.
"The poor woman who lived here perished in the fire, along with all of her pets."
"That's tragic," I said sadly.
He grunted in agreement while his dog sniffed at the grass, looking for a good place to do his business.
"Do you know what time it is?" I asked.
"It's just after 5 a.m."
"Crap. Thank you."
I had to get back before Aunt Iris noticed I had sneaked off in the middle of the night, and I only had three hours at the most before she would get up. Hopefully, she wouldn't check on me until after nine, but I still wanted to make it back before she decided I should get up. With a groan, I realized my only option was to jog part of the way back. I had loved jogging as Roxi, but now I hated it. With a sigh, I set off, keeping my pace brisk but manageable.
As I jogged, the sky got lighter and lighter, and my backpack seemed to get heavier. I would have cursed it, but I didn't want to waste my breath. I would have apparated, but I was annoyingly underage. I was glad that I had decided to bring multiple bottles of water, because they came in very handy on my way home. I would jog for about thirty minutes, and then I would walk, grabbing a bottle of water and drinking deeply from it. I was going to have to pee like a racehorse by the time I got back to the house, but it was worth it.
Finally, after about three hours, I made it back. The sun was very bright by now, and my clothes were soaked with sweat, but at least I had made it. I quietly entered the garden and walked to my glass doors, slipping inside. Once I was in, I listened for any sounds indication Aunt Iris had gotten up. Hearing nothing, I dropped my backpack on the floor, changed out of my dirty clothes into some clean pajamas, and crawled into bed. With a contented sigh, I closed my eyes, bone-weary and ready for sleep.
"So, where did you go?" Aunt Iris asked from my doorway.
My eyes flew open. "Crap," I said for the second time that morning.
"What was so important that you had to sneak away in the middle of the night, and be out for nine hours?" Her expression was stern, and was alarmingly close to Professor McGonagall's expression when she was lecturing.
I sighed. "I went to my old house."
"You walked all the way to your old house? In the middle of the night, in January?"
"Yes."
"Why?" she asked, looking at me like I was crazy.
"I just... had to see it one last time."
"I can understand that, but why did you sneak away in the dead of night to do it? I would have willingly taken you."
"I know. But... It was just something I had to do on my own. I can't explain why, it was just important that I went alone."
She sighed and shook her head. "You silly girl. At the very least, you could have asked me to drop you off. Instead of walking the numerous miles to get there."
"If I weren't still underage, I could have apparated," I said.
"Next time you plan on going on a voyage, you should tell me. Okay?"
I nodded. "Okay."
"Now get some sleep. Your teachers sent in work for you to do today."
I groaned and plopped back against my pillows, not looking forward to writing essays this afternoon. At least I'd be able to do them at my own pace, which would be very slow today since I had worn myself out walking all that way. I sighed, closing my eyes and deciding to worry about my homework when I woke up. Almost immediately, I was embraced by the sweet arms of sleep.