"Think it'll be… Y'know… A battleground?"

"It's happened before, but only one way to find out."

We cautiously exited the train once the door slid open, and made our way towards the boats. Everything seemed normal so far, but I realized I was walking on eggshells. I don't want to see all that death again, I never want to dream about it again, that's why I started taking Dreamless Sleep…

Harry must've picked up on my anxiety, because he laced his fingers through mine, offering me a careful smile.

"Look, if things turn nasty, just imagine me naked, alright? I'm sure your subconscious will make quick work stripping me, and that's gotta be enough to distract you, right?"

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't fight a grin.

"Right."

We boarded an unmanned boat, and it carried us silently across the water. Eventually, the castle came into view, and everything looked… Pristine. No bodies, no carnage, no destruction. It was then I realized we'd changed into our robes. Harry glanced between us and chuckled.

"Apart from being exceptionally boring, this scenario you've brought us into isn't that bad."

"No, but…" As we stepped onto the docks and started up the stairs toward the Great Hall, the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. "It's eerie how quiet it is."

Harry hummed in assent, casting his gaze 360 degrees around us.

"Still, I'd rather have to deal with nobody than certain people."

I winced, hoping he hadn't jinxed it. Thankfully, we arrived at the doors to the Great Hall without incident. The enormous double doors swung open to allow us in. Everything in here looked untouched, too. Uninhabited, even.

"This is weird…" My discomfort at the emptiness was slowly mounting.

"I wonder if there's something here we're meant to find?" Harry wondered aloud as he dropped my hand and headed toward the changing staircases ahead of me.

All the portraits on the walls, usually bustling with animated characters, were empty, save for the backgrounds. The unsettling hush persisted as even the staircases seemed frozen in time.

"Harry… Something isn't right here…"

"No kidding. Surely there's somebody somewhere?"

He pressed on, nearly jogging down the corridor until he turned a corner and descended the stairs into the courtyard. I trailed behind him, feeling an increasing sense of panic. What am I so afraid of? There's nothing and no one here.

"Huh… Any ideas?" Harry turned to face me, and I swallowed.

"I, uh… No clue," I concluded as I wrung my hands together anxiously. Harry approached me to take my hands in his.

"Maybe… You have latent anxieties about being alone?"

"Yeah, maybe…" I glanced around again, grimacing at the unnatural stillness.

"Hey," he called my attention back to his softly smiling face. "You know you're not actually alone, right? Do I count as no one?"

My anxiety eased slightly as I returned his smile.

"Definitely not."

He leaned in to kiss me, and my tightly wound anxiety relaxed even further.

"Thank you for being here."

"Of course! After glimpses into your head, how could I resist a full tour?" He grinned at me playfully, and I returned his playfulness with a weak shove.

"So that's what this is all about! You just wanted more dirt on me!" He laughed at the obvious sarcasm in my voice and shrugged.

"What can I say? I want to know everything about you."

I swallowed at this, and Harry sobered.

"I'd spend the night in your mind over mine any night."

Sitting in the grass, a question came to mind, and in my unconscious state, it seemed to voice itself.

"What else… Do you dream about?"

Harry sat across from me, but I couldn't look up at him. I shouldn't have asked that. Damn my curiosity!

"You sure you want to know? Here, in your head?"

My answer spilled from my lips before I had time to reconsider.

"If you get to know all about me, I want to know everything about you."

Harry seemed to consider this as I finally glanced up at his pensive expression.

"During sixth year… He'd finally figured out our mental link, and he used to… Insert himself into my dreams, kind of like I'm doing to you, only… He'd generally just use it to torture me." He swallowed. "The dreams I have about those dreams now are just an echo, but that bastard really got in my head. Made me think we shared similarities, and that everyone only does what's best for themselves, and that I should, too. I mean, I was sixteen at the time, and the thought of killing or dying was enough to scare me shitless. So… I guess, now those dreams are more about whether he was right."

I frowned.

"But… Clearly he wasn't."

"I know how heroic my actions seem from the outside, but it took far too many deaths to force my hand. I was unwilling, I was scared, I wanted to disappear and let the chips fall where they may." He ducked his flushed face, and when he spoke again, it was barely a whisper. "When I woke up, it was like no time had passed, but… I spent hours dead on the other side, trying to force myself to come back."

How can he feel ashamed about that? I don't care if it took him YEARS, because he did come back. He did vanquish the Dark Lord, and he saved the rest of us, as undeserving as some of us were…

"Harry…" I took his hand, drawing his uncomfortable gaze back up to mine. "You are nothing like him." The half-smile he offered me in return didn't satisfy me. "You were terrified and you still did the right thing. Over and over and over and over again."

Harry's lower lip started quivering, and I took his other hand.

"You didn't kill all those people, it's not your fault." His eyes and nose reddened.

"I could've prevented it, though, if I'd acted sooner and more decisively."

"Stop. That's nonsense. What exactly were you supposed to do? Murder a powerful, evil, adult wizard when you were thirteen?" He gave a shaky laugh as a tear streaked down his cheek. "Speaking from experience, fretting about what ifs is an exercise in futility." Harry gave a choking laugh now.

"I should be telling you that."

"And another thing! You're still just a teenager, why hold yourself to such high standards?" I could see 'because I'm the Chosen One' forming on his lips, and hastily interrupted that thought. "Some crazy old witch predicted you'd vanquish evil, and for some reason that means you're without flaw? Bollocks. What, are you Jesus Christ?"

Another strangled laugh coughed out of his lips.

"No… No, I'm… Just a kid…"

"A bloody powerful wizard, but yes. You're just a kid. So am I. But here we are, having survived a war, and about to start our adult lives." Harry sniffed. "We could use- no, we deserve a break."