The Gift of Peace
A One-Shot Story
Authored by Britishrocmysocz
Rated K
Disclaimer: I do not own the lovely characters that Rowlings came up with but the plot of this piece of fanfiction is mine. Thankz
The soft wind once again blew through the open window causing the papers laying about the room to flutter around. Harry Potter lay awake, watching, unable to sleep. He groaned in protest, wishing to drift off into dreamland but found his mind filled with thoughts, fears, hopes, dreams and visions of tomorrow. He was incapable of calming his mind down enough to sleep.
He sighed dejectedly and got up to go get a glass of water, something to clear his head. The floorboards groaned beneath him as he walked across the ancient wooden floor. As he opened the door, the hinges gave a low creek. Harry froze and quickly looked behind him to see if Ron had awoken, but Ron continued to let out growling snores that could wake the dead. Harry shook his head and smile as he slipped out of the door and into the darkened hall. The house was very creepy at night and it seemed to hold part of the dark qualities of the previous owners.
Harry gave a small warm smile has he passed the room where Hermione and Ginny slept in, hearing Ginny spout gibberish in her sleep. As he came to the stairs, he paused trying to remember which stairs Fred and George told him creaked or rather creaked the most and thus be avoided. He gently started his way down, concentrating on where he stepped. He winced when he stepped on a particularly loud step and waited with baited breath to see if anyone had been aroused by his nighttime excursions.
After a minute or so he continued on. When he made it to the bottom of the stairs he let out the breath he had been unknowingly been holding. Memories filled his mind as he walked past the living room where the last meeting of the Order of the Phoenix had been held. Voldemort was growing stronger and many more lives had been taken in the last couple of months. Faces of people lost flashed before his eyes; Percy, Shacklebolt, Mundungus and many more he didn't know. He leaned against the wall as a wave of nausea hit him. All those people lost; husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, friends, the list goes on and on.
He blindly trudged on to the kitchen, a glass of water was definitely starting to sound good, might make him feel better. The clock in the kitchen blinked on and off, momentarily blinding Harry with its light. 2:07 am, so much for a good nights rest. He walked over to the mahogany cabinets and took out one of the glass cup.
He pondered as he filled it with water from the sink. There was so much to be done. His eyes clouded over as he once again thought of his responsibility and weight he carried on his shoulders. He was 'the chosen one', the one everyone depended on. Harry felt so overwhelmed, he was only fifteen.
Water pouring over his hands broke him from his thoughts. His glass had started to overflow. He quickly turned the faucet off and shook his hands of most of the water. Harry leaned against the counter as he sipped his water, letting the coldness of it numb his mind. A light breeze tousled his hair. Harry closed his eyes and let the bliss overtake him when the thought formed in his mind, Wind?
Harry slowly turned around and found the back door open. His shoulders tensed and he took out his wand. He slowly inched toward the door until he could just barely see out of it. When his eyes had finally adjusted to the dark he saw a lone figure spread eagle on the scrubby lawn. He inched a couple feet closer in an effort to see who it was. Long shaggy black hair… Harry's eyes bulged as he recognized his Godfather and gasped. Sirius immediately sat up upon hearing the gasp and looked around.
"Sirius?" Harry whispered.
The mentioned relaxed when he recognized Harry's voice and beckoned Harry over to him. As walked the ten feet to his Godfather, he couldn't help but worry about his safety. When Harry sat down, Sirius again lied on his back. Silence engulfed the duo for several minutes before Harry spoke up.
"What are you doing out here! It could be dangerous!"
Sirius smiled ruefully, "I needed to clear my mind." Sirius gestured for Harry to lie down beside him.
When Harry had made himself comfortable, Sirius point out several constellations, "That over there is the Big Dipper, that's the Little Dipper and sorta above it is the North Star. That's Sagittarius, that's Scorpio, that's Orion and beside him is his dog and if you look closely you can see the star that forms the nose of the dog, that's me, Sirius." All was quiet as they took in the wondrous beauty of the stars. When Sirius spoke again, something was different, there seemed to be a nostalgic note in his voice.
"Ever since my seventh year at Hogwarts, I've always seeked refuge under the stars." Harry waited for Sirius to continue but when he saw he wouldn't, he was quiet. What was so special about his seventh year? What changed? Harry couldn't stand it anymore. He was just to dang curious, Hermione must have rubbed off on him.
"Why?"
Sirius turned toward Harry, "Why what?" Harry rolled his eyes.
"Why did you start to like the stars in your seventh year?" Sirius smiled slightly.
"Oh." Harry watched as his Godfather's eyes glazed over. Sirius took a deep breath and plunged into his story. "During my seventh year, Voldemort was coming to the height of his reign of terror. Mass murders were everyday occurrences and no one knew who to trust. Friendships grew strained and many were broken forever. It was a dark and perilous time. I was finding it very hard to concentrate as I was worried about my friends. Lily and James had just started dating and were slowly falling in love. James, as Lily's official overprotective boyfriend, took it upon him to reexamine everyone, looking for faults or other reasons not to trust them.
It was the last month of the school year when he finally came around to examine our friendship. It hurt a lot to know James wasn't sure if he could trust me. I withdrew within myself as a turmoilus storm raged within my head. I could find no peace or clarity of mind. I had no idea what to do.
That's when she approached me. The Silent Ravenclaw, The Eyes of Hogwarts and The Observer were just a few of the names she had acquired. She wasn't social in the least. I was actually surprised when she spoke, I wasn't sure if anyone had ever heard her voice before. She stood in front of me for several minutes just staring at me until I was forced to break eye-contact. She seemed to see into the depths of my very soul. When she spoke, she spoke in a quiet whisper yet I could hear her perfectly.
"You're troubled." She had summarized me in only a couple of words. I was stunned. "Come; let me clear the stormy clouds in your mind." I dumbly nodded, not trusting myself to speak. It was in the middle of the night when she took me up to the roof of the tower. I had been brooding in the common room when she found me. I wasn't the least bit surprised that she knew the password. Rumors said she knew everything.
The sky were crystal clear that night, without a cloud up there. She had led me through several mazes and secret passageways to get me here. We were on the highest tower in the entire castle. The view was absolutely amazing. I could see for miles around even if it was dark. When I finally pulled my eyes form the wondrous view I saw she had taken the liberty of conjuring up a blank on the stone floor. She took my hand and led me over to it, having my lie down beside her. She stared up at the night sky before speaking.
"These are the miraculous heavens." She was absolutely right, they were miraculous. After several minutes of silence as we stared at the stars, she again took my hand and pointed to the heavens, showing me different constellations, nebulas, and even the Milky Way. I was in awe. I never knew such beauty existed. I had always taken for granted the night sky, never stopping to admire its beauty, at least until now. I remember feeling a great since of security before drifting off the sleep.
The next morning I woke up with her in my arms. Her murky bluish green eyes open and staring at me. I was surprised at how I felt, instead of finding her staring at me creepy, I felt the sense of security I had felt last night wash over me. She had kept watch over me, she made sure I was safe, she cared.
She blinked and smiled before standing up and stretching like a cat. She extended her hand to help me stand. When I was on my feet, she vanished the blanket and pulled me down off the roof but not before I had taken in the gorgeous sunrise. As she lead me through the various labyrinths I couldn't help but wonder if she was an angel because she had surely done miracles for me. I felt like a new man, as if the breath of life had again been blown into me.
When I was finally pulled out of my thoughts, we were in the Gryffindor common room. She was staring at me again with a slight smile caressing her angelic face. She leaned in and kissed me twice, once on each cheek before disappearing.
I never saw her again and I never learned her name but what she gave me I will never forget. The gift of peace."
Sirius looked over at his precious godson to see his reaction but found him sound asleep, a smile playing on his lips. He couldn't help but smile. Her gifted had been past on along with the love and hope she gave him.
Thankz for reading. I would like to apologize to all those who started to read my first story… I doubt I'll ever finish it. I don't have the patience to do a long story, which is why I did this one-shot. Please forgive me grovels at the feet of the readers
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