Catch Me I'm Falling
Writinggiveslife
The title comes from one of the amazing songs from my favorite Broadway show, Next to Normal. If you've never heard it, I suggest you look it up on YouTube. You may not understand it if you don't know what the plot of Next to Normal is, but still, a great song.
Up in the Astronomy Tower, a thin figure stood, outlined against the scarlet sunset. The silhouette had stood there unmoving for several hours against staring out into the grounds of Hogwarts. One would see this, and perhaps wonder the reasoning behind the individual acting as a sentinel, when all was seemingly calm. The Dark Lord had been defeated, and his followers were, for the most part, residing in Azkaban.
For those who got a closer look, they would see a teenager wearing an expression that should not be on no youth's face- age. The boy, only 17, remained uncommonly motionless; uncommon for someone of his age.
And those who got closer still would see the uncharacteristically emotionless face of Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived. The teen stood alone, letting the cold, damp air hit him, pulling at his hair, and forcing his eyes to narrow. He stood there awhile longer, completely still.
After a moment, his eyes began to water, wetting his cheeks, and then stopping as suddenly as they had started. He abandoned his position, and sank to the stone floor of the tower. Though he was hidden from view, he did not remove his mask of indifference. He would not be weak. Not again.
He had been so weak, so helpless and pitiful. He had let people die for him, worry for him. Not anymore. He would no longer give anyone anything to worry about. He would be stoic if it killed him.
He remained like that, crumpled on the cold floor, through the night. No one found him, because no one looked. And that was fine with Harry. He didn't deserve care. He didn't deserve his friends. This had become his mantra, etched deeply in his mind. He deserved nothing. He deserved nothing. He deserved- Harry's silent chant was interrupted by footsteps. They steadily grew louder as the person approached.
The desire to run and hide was quashed as Harry realized he couldn't move. He had skipped a meal too many, it seemed. He had been careful, eating enough so as to not raise suspicion. He didn't want the concern of students and teachers, especially not his friends. Or, he revised, the people who he had called friends before he had proven himself unworthy. But now, despite his precautions, his body refused to leave the spot on which Harry lay. It was all he could do to curl his body into a fetal position, as if it could protect him at all.
Harry listened, eyes closed in exhaustion as the quiet footsteps stopped. He exhaled a hot breath. He had not been found… As he quietly rejoiced, thinking about how he could lay there forever, since he was no longer required as a pawn or a weapon, he was proved wrong.
"Potter…?" The unintentionally whispered word reached Harry's ear as if it had been shouted through a megaphone. That voice… He knew it… Low and quiet… His brain groggily paired it with faces, until it landed on dark eyes and a menacing sneer. Snape. Severus Snape had found him like this… Harry would have groaned if he had the strength. The man's opinion of him couldn't sink any lower, but still… Out of anyone to see him this way, it had to be Snape?
The exhausted teenager made an attempt to lift his head as he racked his half-sleeping brain for an excuse as to why he was sprawled on the floor of the Astronomy Tower. The simple motion, however, was too much for the nutrient deprived body and the sleep-starved brain, so the brain did the only thing it could. It made everything go black as Harry's disheveled form thumped back against the floor, operating only to take shallow, slow breaths and keep his heart beating.
The last thing Harry noticed before his vision was swallowed by black was a pair of black orbs filled with surprise and concern.
The title comes from one of the amazing songs from my favorite Broadway show, Next to Normal. If you've never heard it, I suggest you look it up on YouTube. You may not understand it if you don't know what the plot of Next to Normal is, but still, a great song.
I don't know about this. I may continue it? Really not sure. I know it is extremely short- I am at home, sick, so this was pretty much all I could manage. Just wanted to write it up before I forgot all about it. Let me know if this is worth working on, updating, etc.
writinggiveslife