Chapter 1: It's All in Your Head
A/N: Please let me know how I did! I'll try and get the second chapter up in a couple days, and it won't be nearly as dark as this one, I promise :)
THE BATTLE FOR HOGWARTS was over. The dust had settled, the bodies had been removed from the castle grounds all save one. Tom Riddle's still form with his skull cracked open and his eye's open as wide as their slit-like shape would allow them too be.
Soon after their duel had ended, Harry had thrown on his invisibility cloak and snuck back up to the Gryffindor Common Room, where he now sat alone. It was the only place that he could think to go. His mind was refusing to work properly. He should have been happy, rejoicing down below with the rest of the wizarding world. But he wasn't. His mind was spinning, and he felt about ready to throw-up.
Harry stared at the fire, and was reminded wistfully of his fifth year, when he had used the same fireplace to talk to Sirius about his Scar.
Sirius. Another name, another face that Harry would never get to see again. Another friend that had died because of Harry. He stared deeper into the fire and watched the flames dance and spin. Before his eyes, the tongues of fire began to take shape. Within the blaze, he saw the figure of Fred Weasely, laughing and dueling, Percy beside him…. and then he was blown backward by a jet of bright-green light. He slumped against the wall, a sickly smile plastered on his motionless face.
The flames danced brighter, and within them the scene changed. Now he saw Tonks, fighting side by side with Lupin. Her eyes shown in the heat of battle…. But then she too was hit. Thrown back, her body fell in slow motion, propelled by the force of the Death Eater's curse, before crumpling to the ground motionless.
Harry shook his head desperately and shut his eyes hoping to block it all out, but when he opened them again the flames were even brighter. They had expanded out of the fireplace. The fire was everywhere, surrounding him. Lupin turned and stared at Harry, his mouth moving wordlessly – screaming in sorrow at the body of his wife, crumpled on the floor. Then, suddenly, Harry heard a sound. Loud and clear it echoed through the flames; someone was screaming. Lupin's eyes snapped wide in recognition. He swiveled instantly and sprinted towards the origin of the noise. Harry followed, scared of what they were to find.
Lupin reached his target; it was his newborn son, Teddy, wrapped in a blanket, crying his eyes out. Crying for the mother he didn't yet know he'd lost; crying because of the smoke, and the desolation, and the sadness. Remus bent over smiling, hoping to comfort his child. He reached down tenderly to stroke his newborn son's shining cheek.
The second Lupin's hand hit Teddy's skin, a huge tongue of flame rose above them, swallowing Lupin up. When it disappeared it had taken the man with it, leaving Harry alone with the child.
Teddy resumed his screaming, louder than before. Harry ran towards the spot that where his old teacher had stood just seconds before.
"Lupin, no. LUPIN, PLEASE! Come back, professor. Teddy needs you… I need you. Please come back, professor." Harry was sobbing uncontrollably now.
"He can't". A small voice whispered from below Harry, "He can't come back, he's dead. He's dead and I'm alone. He's dead and its your fault." Harry look down astonished. It was Teddy that had spoken. The boy opened his mouth again, and this time his voice rang out loud and clear in Harry's mind, growing louder by the second.
"HE'S DEAD AND ITS YOUR FAULT. ALL OF THIS IS YOUR FAULT." Before Harry's eyes, the baby was changing. He was no longer small and his face was becoming ghostly white, its eyes narrowing to red slits. The boy that had been Teddy Lupin just seconds ago, rose up in a black, shadowy form and began to laugh. A high pitched, cold sound that resonated loudly in the flames. Harry glanced around, and noticed that the tongues of fire seemed to be joining this now-demon in its laughter. His scar began to burn uncontrollably.
"He's dead, Harry Potter. Lupin, Tonks, they're all dead."
"No… no this can't be. YOUR DEAD! I KILLED YOU." Harry was sweating, and backing away. His voice broke and he stood there sobbing frantically. "I killed you, I killed you. I saved the world, and I killed you." The specter smiled, and the red eyes narrowed back to slits.
"You think you've won?" Lord Voldemort smiled and let out a high pitched laugh, reaching down to stroke Harry's cold, clammy face. "Your friends are dead, Harry Potter, and you killed them. It's all your fault. Do you really think I would have came here tonight if not for you? Do you think any of them would have died if it wasn't for you? You are a toxin in their lives, Harry Potter. They would be better without you and you know it."
Harry shook his head wildly, and looked around for an escape., but the demon was everywhere. It morphed into a different form; Ginny was standing before him looking more terrible, and beautiful then he could have ever imagined. Her eyes were blood red as she leaned down to look at him.
Demon-Ginny hissed, "You think I could love you, Harry? You think I could even look at you after what you've done to my family. My brother is dead, BECAUSE OF YOU. WE TOOK YOU IN, WE CARED FOR YOU. WE TREATED YOU LIKE OUR OWN AND YOU DESTROYED US." Again, the specter changed shape, and Mrs. And Mr. Weasely appeared before Harry, carrying their dead son and glaring down with blood-red eyes stained with tears.
"LOOK AT HIM, HARRY. LOOK AT OUR SON. YOU did this. MURDERER." Their voices intertwined, and sent shockwaves through Harry's skull. Around him the ground shook, rumbling in time with the Weasely's shouts. "MURDERER. MURDERER!" Louder still the voices grew. Harry turned and ran, screaming at the top of his lungs. But the flames engulfed him, and the voices were now everywhere.
"You see, Harry," Lord Voldemort whispered softly in Harry's ear. "I didn't need to kill you. Your friends hate you. The love of your life hates you. The world you think you saved? It would have been better off if you had died all those years ago" The specter's smile grew wider still. "Your worse than me, Harry Potter." And at that moment, Lord Voldemort, now inches away from Harry's tear-strained terrified face, flew down at him, engulfing his vision, filling up his mind. His scar exploded. The pain was unbearable. With a scream, Harry fell backwards into the flames, eyes wide open. Around him inferi arose, forming a large circle around him. They moved ever closer. With each second new figures arose to join the existing army. He glimpsed at their faces and was horrified to see that he recognized all of them. His parents. Sirius. Fred Weasely. Tonks. Lupin. Dobby. They were nearly upon him, and he lay there unable to move, unable to breath, unable to –
"HARRY! Come on, Harry, wake up now! HE'S IN HERE, HERMOINE! Come on Harry, wake up. Pleeeaaase, wake up." Harry opened his eyes, still terrified, and blurredly saw the form of Ron Weasely, kneeling down next to him. Ron smiled as he saw Harry's eyes open.
"There you GO, mate. Thought I'd lost you there for a second. Harry, we've won! WE WON! We did it! Well… you did it, mate! Ha ha! I'd have never bet on you you know, not in a million years, but WE WON, HARRY!" Ron slapped him on the back gleefully and went to go tell Hermione that Harry had been found.
Harry stared after him, reliving in his mind the horrors he had just seen. The fire in the common room had gone out, leaving the common room dark and empty. He heard again the clear cold voice of Lord Voldemort, "You're mine, Harry Potter… You're a toxin in their lives and you know it… Do you really think that any of them would be gone if not for you?"
In the back of his mind, Mr. and Mrs. Weasely's voices still echoed more, "MURDERER! MURDERER! MURDERER!"