Hi Guys! I am back with another story (or series of stories, depending on how you look at it)! Anyways, I just got the idea for this, and I couldn't stop writing. Hopefully everybody else won't be able to stop reading. I kinda plan to write this while writing another FanFic that I am starting to work on and should be up shortly. Basically, whenever I have writer's block or come up with another short story to add, I'll probably post another chapter. So, read, read, and read some more, and then after you do all that, please tell me what you think!
Disclaimer (because I feel I must): This is J. K. Rowling's rather large beach. I am just playing in the sand for a while.
Sanctuary
Harry just opened his eyes with a sense of fear. He let the feeling flood him, tired of resisting it for so long. He listened to his deep, ragged breaths for a very long time before he realized that it was all just a dream. For a second he didn't know where he was. He looked around and realized he was in his familiar bed at Hogwarts. The blankets were warm and the pillow was feather soft. He was safe. Then it all flooded back to him. Everything from the past couple months of his life all became perfectly clear in his mind.
"Voldemort is dead," he whispered to himself, and for a second happiness washed though him. Though, him being dead doesn't make the nightmares go away, he added darkly in his head, and the happiness instantly disappeared.
Harry calmed his heartbeat by taking slow deep breaths before he got up. In all reality, he didn't want to leave the bed. The bed gave him a sense of security, a sense of joy. As if all the darkness in the world couldn't touch him while he laid there, safe and warm under the covers. He wouldn't have to face what was waiting for him outside the boy's dormitory. He wouldn't have to see all those who have died and all the tears shed because of their numerous losses. He wouldn't have to hold himself together for the sake of the many others who needed somebody to depend on. He wouldn't have to be the one that they all would look to, who they would all congratulate for an act that he never wanted to do, but had to. He wouldn't have to recall the events of the past few months and tell them to a hundred different people who would all need to know for their own reasons. He could just sleep and let a numbness wash over him. A numbness that would transform him from the famous Harry Potter who everybody revered, to just Harry who had the weight of the world thrust upon him the day his parents died. This bed had become his sanctuary.
But he knew staying in bed also made him a coward. Though everything outside would hard to deal with and depressing, Harry knew he had to be brave. He was a Gryffindor, wasn't he? The Sorting Hat had put him here, and he didn't question it anymore. He knew he was always meant to be one. And if he didn't learn anything else these past couple of months, he learned that he was stronger than he had ever originally imagined. Nothing could compare to how awful everything has been up until today. Nothing could compare to the pain he felt for the people they had lost and memories he would have to carry with him for the rest of his life. But his future was bright, and there won't be any pain in it. Hiding under her covers wasn't going to help fix anything. He had to be brave.
So, he pushed back the covers and welcomed the bright light shining in through the window. He noticed Neville, the only other person in the room, was in his usual bed sleeping. He remembered, vaguely, walking up here. He remembered lying down for the first time in what seemed like weeks. Then, he wondered where Ron, Seamus, and Dean were before remembering that Seamus and Dean were picked up by their parents yesterday, and Ron must have already gone downstairs.
Harry was surprised to see clean robes hanging on the end of his bed. He tried to figure out how they got there for a moment, before giving it up and just accepting it. He, as quietly as possible, grabbed the robes and crept his way to the bathroom so he could wash up before facing the rest of world.