Disclaimer: All characters are the property of J.K. Rowling.
Prologue
He didn't know why he did it – why he had to return here of all places. It was little more than a ruin now. The walls were crumbling, the air above his head was full of dark energy, punctured only occasionally by the remnants of the wards that used to cover the castle. He placed a hand on the stone and shuddered.
A deep gash in his leg continued spilling out blood in a steady trickle. He had lost his wand in the battle – it had exploded in a million shards, and the phoenix feather had incinerated and left a hot white burn on his palm. Not that it mattered. His magical reserves were all but depleted.
He limped on slowly.
He felt inexplicably drawn to the place – and something – something indescribable he felt on the edges of his mind called to him. He walked past a row of ruined portraits and the nearly leveled gargoyle that had once guarded Dumbledore's office. The Death Eaters had been here last year and taken what valuables they could find in the Headmaster's office after they had broken the wards and entered the empty school. He climbed over what was left of the gargoyle and trudged up the unmoving circular stairs.
He couldn't help but gasp when he entered the office. Painful memories gripped him, and he could almost see Dumbledore sitting in his desk with his knowing smile on his face. He wondered bitterly if things might have been different if Dumbledore hadn't died – if anyone could have been saved.
A rustling distracted him from his thoughts. He turned around abruptly, ready to draw his wand before remembering that nothing was there.
It was Fawkes. His small body was covered with a fine downy coat. He picked the bird up, and it gave a weak chirp.
What had compelled him to come up here in the first place grew stronger, and he found himself moving, unbidden to a ripped portrait of Dumbledore. He slid his finger across the portrait. The portrait slid open smoothly.
The Mirror of Erised stood in the middle of the hidden chamber. The panes of the mirror had broken and a silvery substance undulated beneath it.
Unbidden, Dumbledore's voice entered his head. It does not do to dwell on dreams.
He stepped closer. Fake images flashed across the fragments of the mirror. He saw his parents standing there, smiles on their faces. Sirius stood behind them, younger than he had ever seen him. Remus was there too. And Ron and Hermione were there, with their arms entwined, both with grins on their faces. And...and...Ginny stood off to one side. She glowed gold in the sunlight and the smile on her sweet lips was so wonderful it hurt him to look at it. Her arms were outstretched in front of her.
He closed the distance between them and reached out.
The ground beneath him disappeared.
He fell.
A/N: Yay! I wrote something! This story will slowly be resurrected. Oh yeah, and please review. smiley face
