Paradise Lost

1. Broken Beyond Dreaming

Albus lay facedown in the blood-soaked, scorched earth. His hair was singed and burnt, his face torn and scarred, and his body bruised and aching. His limbs felt heavy as lead, and his mind was shattered and broken. He felt as if he may never move again. Memories, hard and sharp, tumbled aimlessly through his head.

-Dad-

-Aunt Hermione, a flaming ruin behind her, standing with her wand pointed at him, rage and loss etched in every line of her face-

-Hogwarts crumbling-

-Sitting beneath the sorting hat-

-James on his knees, pleading with him on the quidditch pitch-

-The thestrals-

-Trelawney-

-Malfoy Manor-

- The Resurrection Stone-

-Feeling the wind on his face up on the astronomy tower-

-A thousand cameras flashing, as the Wizarding World Media hangs on his every word-

-Scorpius-

-Oh god, Scorpius-

-You are not like your father, Mister Potter; your mind is more devious, more….Slytherin

Albus lay beneath the smoke that now obscured the stars, and wished, once more, for a different life, a different existence.

-Why couldn't I have been born to somebody else, a different time, a different world?-

-Why couldn't I have died that night on the astronomy tower, that last happy night of my life, the one perfect night of my life? Why couldn't I have died and never seen, never felt the pain of loss again?-

-Why am I always the one to make the hard choices?-

-And why do I always make the wrong ones?-

Albus lay as if dead, and let his whole life wash over him.

-Regret-

-Pain-

-Power-

Love-

-Hate-

-Greed-

-Jealousy-

-Obsession-

-Joy-

-Loyalty-

-Betrayal-

-War-

-Life-

-Death-

And he saw clearly now the path of his life, and believed that no matter which way he had walked, this would have been inevitable.

-Nothings inevitable Albus Potter-

But that wasn't true, some things were inevitable, and as Albus looked back at the path of his life, at everything that had led to this moment, all his choices that made him who he was, he realized that there was one inevitable thing he had to do.

-Time is a fickle thing Albus Potter, and you may live to regret this choice-

-What choice don't I regret? If I fail, then this is just another sad anecdote in the life of Albus Potter-

-The last one-

-There's no one left to see it anyway-

Albus Potter stood, picked up his wand, his thirteen and a half inch yew, phoenix feather wand, and took a long look at the bodies of the fallen around him.

-Scorpius-

He pushed the memories away and began the long walk to his doom.

-Maybe not-

Pain blinding him, his very life darkening around his eyes, Albus Potter chose.

One last time.