The Flaw in the Plan
Pain. Searing pain seemed to pulse from every movement of my body, until even breathing brought agony.
I knew logically that this was a good thing. That Voldemort was evil and it was a blessing to be rid of him.
So why did I feel so cursed?
I felt so empty. I felt like someone had just ripped something essential from me. A limb, or a memory… something that was once a part of me was now just…gone.
Stolen.
I felt dizzy and breathless as I fell to the ground, huddled on the floor in a pathetic heap, unable to move. Distantly I heard Ginny screaming my name.
Ginny…
She was safe now; everyone was safe now that Voldemort was dead. Even I was safe…
So empty…
I had never felt this pain before, this, subtle ache in my very core. Oh how I just wanted it to end!
PLEASE LET IT END!
Her touch burned my skin, my head felt like it was splitting open and spilling my blood onto the floor. I couldn't even hear my screams over the pounding in my ears.
Everything was a blur of color; I couldn't see anyone or anything even as I felt hands on me. They shook me, prodded me, dirtied me.
DON'T TOUCH ME!
It hurt, my very magic practically screeched as it tore my skin, enraged and desperate to make them let go of me.
Why did it hurt so much? Why wouldn't they stop touching me, they were HURTING ME!
"STOP TOUCHING ME!"
My voice echoed in the great hall, and all of their filthy hands left me almost immediately. I felt like sobbing in relief as the pressure in my chest lessened somewhat, but it continued to throb with every beat of my heart as I tried to breathe.
"Harry…"
Why was I so empty… why did it hurt so much?
"Harry, what's wrong with you?"
That's not right… the voice should've been smooth as ice, hissing and familiar and confident- this voice was wrong. It was hoarse and hurt my ears; it was also high and sweet, like an over sugared candy you just couldn't wait to spit out.
"It's over, we won Harry!"
The voice seemed to be in a pain too… we won? Won what?
…
The war.
"Please, snap out of it Harry! He's dead! We're safe now -!"
He's dead.
Voldemort couldn't hurt anybody else.
He's dead.
His horcruxs were destroyed.
He's dead…
Even the one in me was gone.
I was no longer a horcrux… I was just an empty shell… an empty shell…
My heart began to pound as my eyes shot open.
His soul was gone. I no longer, consciously or unconsciously, feel him inside me. He was cleansed from me; I no longer had any ties to him.
I was so empty…
I was nothing.
I stumbled to my feet, deaf to everyone as I staggered across the hall, my eyes fixated on a body laying just in front of me.
Come back…
I fell to the floor by his side as I put my shaking hands on either side of his face. "Wake up…"
He needed to come back inside me; I needed him back inside of me where he belonged.
"It's time to wake up now…"
His face remained surprisingly passive, even beautiful under the glow of the candles in the great hall. His face was the purest white and soft as silk under my fingers.
"Harry…"
His lips refused to move, to form that arrogant smirk I now craved. He needed to stop pretending to be asleep; he needed to wake up now…
"Harry V-Voldemort's dead, mate. Why are you acting so-?"
"He's not dead, he just needs to wake up…" I muttered to the vaguely familiar voice, swaying slightly as I tried to continue breathing.
"Come on, you can do it…" Shaking Voldemort slightly, I tried to smile encouragingly down at him, "It's okay, I'm here… I just need you to wake up now…"
"He's gone mad Hermione,"
"Shush Ronald! He's probably in a state of disbelief; he just needs time to adjust is all,"
Why wasn't he waking up? Voldemort needed to wake up, he needed to open those wonderful ruby eyes, he needed to-
Why were they touching me again?
They weren't just touching me; they were pulling me away from him, from his gloriously soothing soul-
"Let me go!" I thrashed under their restrictive hold, screaming my heart out as I tried to return to his side…
"Harry, you need to snap out of this right now!"
"NOOOOO!"
I felt them struggle to hold me as I kicked, bit, and snarled; fighting tooth and nail to return to his side where he needed me…
"Is he possessed or something! What the hell is wrong with him Herm-"
I heard a gasp as I kicked one of my captors, feeling triumph as both pairs of hands let me go.
I scrambled back to his side, taking his cold hands in my own and bringing them up to my chest. The wound in my soul cried out for relief as it searched for its companion, twisting in agony under my skin when it felt nothing.
"No…"
I tightened my hold on his hands as tears of anguish filled my unseeing eyes.
"You need to make it stop; you need to make the pain go away…"
…
"I'm you horcrux, your safety."
…
"I feel so empty; I need you to fill me again,"
Silence.
It resonated across the great hall until all you could hear was your own heartbeat. I could feel the eyes of hundreds if not millions of people on me, but I felt uncaring to them. They couldn't help me, they couldn't sooth my ache, they couldn't fill me and I so needed to be filled again…
"I'm your horcrux, I wasn't meant to be so empty…."
I cried out in agony as my body trembled, finally falling to the floor because I couldn't hold myself up any longer.
I settled myself into his side, bringing his arms around me as I buried my head on his chest and sobbed.
"… Hermione-"
"I don't know Ron... I just don't know..."
Come back inside me, don't leave me like this! I need you inside me; I can't live with this pain!
That was when reality crashed down on me.
I could not hear his heartbeat.
His soul was gone.
And that was when I could no longer breathe.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, and this is simply how I thought Harry Potter should have ended.
Sorry for those who've read Death at a Funeral and want an update: in all honestly I don't know if I ever will continue it, because despite all the ideas I have, I kind of like it where it ends... maybe one day I'll publish a second story, a sequel.
Anyways, this is just a little one-shot about how I felt Harry would feel once all the adrinaline wore off and he realized what he had done; this title is actually the title of the last chapter in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, since this is basically just an AU of that chapter.
This will actually REMAIN a one-shot, and will probably never be read since there are so many longer stories about Harry and Voldemort out there.
For those of you reading this, thank you! I hope you enjoyed it! :)
Please press that button on the bottom of the screen and tell me what you think,
PLEASE! *puppy face*