Third Corridor

(This is a short story, meant to be only this chapter and nothing more, please don't ask for updates for there won't be any, and if you loved it I'd be very happy with a review.)

(Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, because I'm pretty sure there would be more nudity if I did.)

(Summary: I hate you, I've hated you since the moment I met you and yet the thought of leaving your arms scared my poor little heart to a racing beat. Sometimes I like to think it was magic, me finding you. )

Sometimes I like to think it was magic, me finding you. Always I scold myself and exchange magic for luck, karma, chance, even god for Merlins' sake!

I can't believe I found you.

It was pure curiosity that took me down that corridor that night. People tended to stray from it, ever since first year when we were told not to go there. Third corridor was always considered off limits even when the danger had left.

I was tired, dizzy, crying.

I can't believe I found you.

It's incredible how Hogwarts was the only place they didn't search for you. They scoured the earth to find you body, and yet not even a trace of pale blonde hair could be found. When I opened the door to fluffys' x-room, I was expecting an empty room for me to curl up and cry in, it had never crossed my mind that someone would beat me to it.

You were scrunched up in the far corner, head on knees and back against the cold stone wall. I froze, eyes glued to what I couldn't believe, the one who everyone was looking for, here, at Hogwarts. I thought about hitting you, screaming at you, killing you. I thought about stunning you and sending you off to Askaban. I thought about leaving you, turning around and just forgetting you were even there.

I thought about hugging you.

You looked so desolate, so broken. You still wore the robes that I had last seen you in, standing on that roof top, tears spilling from your eyes. A metal tray lay discarded beside you, the work of a house-elf. Your hair was in a ragged mess, your nails dirt-encrusted. Your fingers seemed to be burrowed into your skin, red welts forming on your moonlight coloring where you had clutched at yourself in desperation.

I took a tentive step forward, completely disregarding everything logical that happened to flash through my head. My robe fell off my shoulder, baring my naked form except for pj pants that could fit twelve. You didn't hear my approach, my bare feet barely making a whisper as they hit the stone floor.

One second I was standing in front of you, staring down at your prone form and the next I was curled around you, hugging the life from your already life-deprived body. My chin seeked your shoulder, my hands gripped your back, my tears met your skin. We were both crying, and your hands reached up and buried into my hair, your legs moving so that our chests touched.

I was crying for the thought of all the people who died for my cause, all the blame that lay heavily upon my weak adolescent shoulders. You wept for your actions, and the consequences that lay in wait for you.

In my mind we must have cried for hours, but in reality it could have only lasted twenty minutes. By the time I had calmed down enough to not gasp my next breath you had moved yet again, so that I was in your lap, wrapped up in your limbs. Your breath was a steady warmth against my neck, your hands comfort in my hair.

You sniffled and pulled away a bit, only enough to glance up at my face, our eyes locking.

"…what…" you seemed to hesitate and your fingers curled tighter into my hair, a response saying you didn't want to leave.

"What am I supposed to do now?" your voice was a husky whisper filled with the damp of tears.

I paused, thinking out my answer. I hated you, I've hated you since the first moment I met you and yet the thought of leaving your arms scared my poor little heart to a racing beat. I loved you warmth, your pain, our tears. I loved the fact that you wouldn't tell anyone, that my breakdown could only be witnessed by you and you alone.

"… Stay here?" I suggested quietly, hoping you didn't do the opposite. My chin buried itself back behind your ear before I could see your reaction. Me eyes squeezed shut, I waited with baited breath.

You tensed and I waited for the explosion. Then you relaxed and your cold nose rubbed against the underside of my chin. Your heat seeped into every one of my pores, sinking me into a desolate sleepiness that I hadn't felt for weeks, and my fingers lost their strength, instead of gripping, I was resting in your arms.

"…okay…" you drew in a deep breath, my chest rising with it as well, "I can do that."

Two weeks later you were found, three and you were taken away from me to live in a small dirty cell with the demons of fear at your door. Six and I had saved the world, only to save you. Now we are here, me standing in the doorway of the third corridor forbidden room, you beside me. I'm not quite sure about what I'm feeling, it could be happiness, for our fingers a twined together. It could be reflection, for we are both remembering the past. But to be honest I don't think I'm feeling anything but this, content. For finally I don't have reason to fall to the floor and pour my soul out onto your shoulder, now I'm where I want to be.

Because I'm here with you.