After You Left
"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live"
- J. (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone)
He was laughing and then he was crying. He saw a shape in the darkness, but he couldn't make it out. It kept fading away and as it did he felt a panic rising in his chest. He tried to tell it not to go, he wanted it to stay, whatever it was. He opened his mouth to tell it so but no words came, still the unknown shape halted, like it had heard him say the words in his mind. He crept closer as it stood there: still as an old oak tree. His heart was beating fast and when there were only a few more steps dividing him from his goal, he could finally make it out, it was a tall man with freckles, a long nose and ginger hair. He put his hand out to touch him but suddenly he was dragged backwards, pulled as by an invisible rope. He reached in his back pocket for his wand, but it wasn't there. He kept going backwards and he tried to scream, but no sound came. He could just see the silhouette in the distance, he was sure, that soon, anytime now, he'd be saved. But no help came, no sound, no light and no Ron.
Harry Potter suddenly woke up in a pile of sweat, his heart racing from the dream he's just had, and his cheeks were damp from the tears. His eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness of the room and they landed on Rons bed, it hadn't been slept in for weeks. The single bed was situated in the left corner of the room and it was now accommodating a pile of school books. Harry felt anger rising in him again, eating away his grief.
The marauders map was lying next to Harry's bed: he'd been looking at it when he fell asleep, expecting to see Rons name appear any day now, however, yet again, the only Weasley the map showed him was Ginny.
Harry bolted himself out of the tent, wanting to escape it's claustrophobic walls.
As he stepped outside, his entire body was hit by freezing coldness, but Harry didn't care, instead he kept on running, further into the darkness, not even thinking to bring his fathers invisibility cloak with him. He kept on going until he no longer knew where he was, thinking about how much he missed Ginny and Hogwarts, the only home he'd ever had. He ignored the fleeting images of Ron in his head, as he made his way through the white wilderness.
Harry had been walking around for almost two hours, until finally, he'd found his way back to the tent, and there, coming through the other side of the forest, he saw Hermione, still dressed in her pyjamas.
When Harry got close enough to see her face properly he could tell that she'd been crying, and when their eyes met hers widened. Hermione launched herself forward, her arms stretched out, hitting Harry hard, making him fall backwards.
'Where - were - you!?' she screamed whilst sobbing viscously as she punched every inch of his chest with her shaky, freezing hands. Harry tried to cover his face.
'You left without saying a word! Not one word!' Her trembling voice echoed throughout the woods.
'I wake up in the middle of the night, finding your bed empty! How could you? I thought you had left me — or gotten captured — or.. or killed? Have you any idea how terrified I was? Don't you understand Harry? You're all I got — now that… Ron's gone. I can't survive without you, I can't, I simply can't'
And then she stopped hitting him. Harry looked up and saw Hermione, her hands covering her face as she cried furiously.
'I'm sorry Hermione, I got lost. I wouldn't leave you, — you know I wouldn't!'
When she showed no sign of giving him a reply, he lifted her up in his arms and stepped back into the tent. He laid her gently upon her bed. He then started gathering all the blankets he could find, he chucked his wet shoes off and climbed up onto the bed, pulling her close, covering them with the blankets.
He held her like that in his arms, covered in multicolored wool, listening to the fading sounds of her sobs; until darkness came and he finally fell asleep.