Disclaimer: The magical world of Harry Potter, its dynamic characters, fascinating places, and remarkable histories, belong to J.K. Rowling. I will not take credit for her brilliance. This simply is an adaptation, a work of fiction from a fan that found the courage to begin loving her story through the story of the boy-who-lived.
Prologue
Stepping out into the brisk autumn air, I left the over crowded great hall far behind me. Taking a deep breath I let the cool fall air fill my lungs. I was thankful to get away, to get just a moment of silence. Looking down at my clothes, a feeling of ridiculousness flooded my thoughts, standing out here alone in my best dress robes, a pressed silk white bow-tie and a black clean-cut robe that I had purposefully not worn in years. I felt like a fool.
Quickly loosening the tie around my collar, I clutched the stone railing tightly in the hope that doing so would allow some sort of release from the overwhelming feelings that flowed through me. I tried to breath. I tried to breath. I tried to breath.
Yet it still felt as if I was suffocating. This place was too familiar. It held too many memories. Even this balcony, this exact spot where I stood brought a current of emotions surging through me. The bile of uncomfortably rose through me almost to the point of making me loose the over-extravagent dinner I just tried to eat.
The breeze across the old castle sent a chill throughout my body, its frosty touch against my face awakening something within me that I had not felt for many years. Wasn't it here on that night, a night so long ago, a night much like this one that I chose to love her? I felt my mouth twist into a smile as the image of her beauty enraptured my thoughts. In that single most important moment of my life, I knew, despite all that we had endured, that I never wanted to be separated from her. Standing here so many years ago, I made the choice to love her, to love her despite all that is might cost us in the end.
I ran my hand through my untidy hair trying to take a deep breath; I should not have come here tonight. Not after all that has happened. What made me think that I could actually go through with all of this? As I looked now out over the grounds of this place, a place I used to call home, the memories came flooding back. Closing my eyes, I took another deep breath. It had been years since I stood here. Years since I walked these halls, yet the images and memories that waged war in my head now made me feel as if the years had never past.
It was then that I knew it was too late. For standing here on this balcony I was forced to remember, forced to remember all the things that I had been trying for years to forget. I was forced to remember that fateful night.