The shadows overwhelmed him. The darkness cornered him. The evil seduced him. He was losing strength.
Harry glanced around his surroundings warily, a smoky grey mist swirling around his ankles, an endless sky of black all that he could see. He tried to take a brave step forward, to walk his way out of this dream, but his limbs seemed to feel like lead, his feet seemingly glued to the dark floor.
"Don't panic," he said firmly to himself, clenching his fists tightly, his arms resting at his sides, useless. "This is exactly what he wants. Me to weaken and submit to him." Harry glared at the space in front of him, realizing at once, with a jolt, that the small weight of his glasses on his nose was gone, his eyesight one hundred percent perfect.
"What...?"
"Don't you see, Harry? The caressing darkness, the swell of shadows, the quiet of it all? Why even go back to the light?"
Harry's head snapped up immediately. He knew that voice. He definitely knew it... But from where? It sounded so good, so promising, so rich... He desired to believe it. He did believe it. What was there to consider? Wasn't that what he had wanted in the first place; perfection, quiet, to be left alone?
His head swam with empty, meaningless thoughts.
"That's right, isn't it, Harry? It is what you secretly crave for, am I right? Everything the opposite of what you have now. Do you realize it now, the fact that we were meant to become a team?"
A team... That sounded nice. He never had a team before. It was always him alone, always up to him in the end. Was that fair? It didn't seem fair, not to him at least. Why him, anyways?
His emerald eyes dulled.
"Yes, why you? You, after all you've been through, should you not just be alone? Alone, in the soft darkness where you will always be protected?"
He would be protected? That was even better than being a team, it seemed to him. He had never been truly protected before, had he? He had his mother's love, her sacrifice, but that wasn't what he wanted. He wanted her alive, he wanted his father. He wanted his godfather, he wanted to be normal and sheltered from the kind of life he was living now. But no one wanted to cut him a break, did they? They all thought he was some type of god, some type of constant hero that didn't mind all the gossip around him. Some type of invincible man with enough bravery to face all the world's scum and dirt alone. But he didn't want to be alone, not in that sense.
His muscles began to relax, his body slumping.
"They just aren't letting you live properly, are they? They talk badly about you, they smear your name in dirt and expect you to save them all from peril. What fools they are."
Fools. That's what they were. Fools for believing in him. For thinking he could save them all. For listening to every comment coming from the Ministry, whether badmouthing their favorite hero or his family. They didn't deserve him, did they? He didn't have to save those fools, did he?
His throat was suddenly dry.
"No, Harry, you do not. It is what is right, but when have they ever done the right thing for you? You were not given a choice during your many battles- I am giving you one now. Join me?"
Desperately... Harry desperately wanted to say yes, to meet the person who knew him so well, well enough to be able to understand what Harry felt. But something unexplainable held him back. Something magical.
He felt something warm bubble inside of him.
And then there was a bright flash of gold and silver, melting the darkness away, enveloping Harry in its warm embrace, as if comforting him. The last thing Harry saw was a narrowed pair of blood red eyes in the last of the shadows before everything disappeared.
TBC...
First Harry Potter fic before so it's pretty awkward, I think. Please tell me your opinion. Any helpful advice is welcomed!
bluehoobell
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and its characters belong to J.K. Rowling, a writing genius.