A/N: Hi! Geez, it's been a while. Sorry! Really and truly. I've been busy.
Ok, check out my new story Freakshow. Please. I'm heartbroken, I spent a
long time making that a very long chapter (uncharacteristic for me) with an
original plot and I only got two reviews! (BLESS RAVENCLAW DROPOUT AND
WHITE GLITTER! TO THANK U FOR THAT I MENTIONED YOU GUYS IN THE STORY!!!
LOL… I STARRED IT SO YOU WOULDN'T MISS IT! THANKS!)
I won a writing contest in my county so it renewed my writing spirit. Maybe I don't suck after all. Aren't I self-confident? Ha. Anyway, here's my disclaimer.
Diclaimer: I may be disturbed, but won't you concede, even heroes have the right to dream… And I, being Super Girl, can dream of becoming an author, right? Right. This stuff—not mine. :o(
"Come on, guys," Harry said despairingly. It was currently one in the morning and Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, and Nar Litkins were on a sugar high. Harry rolled his bloodshot eyes and turned over grudgingly in bed to block out the sound of their shrieks to no avail. "Honestly, can't you do that tomorrow?"
"Well aren't you the wet blanket," Nar said, stumbling off of Seamus's bed (which he had been bouncing on for the past ten minutes) and falling dizzily to the floor. "What's up your arse, Potter?"
"Nothing," Harry yawned, squeezing his eyes shut even harder until they hurt.
"Aw, widdle 'Arry 'as girlie problems, doesn't 'e?" Dean cooed mockingly.
"Shove it, Dean," Harry mumbled.
"Geeze, fine," Dean replied, falling exasperated onto the floor beside Nar. He landed a bit too rashly, clunked his head, and sat up to rub his visibly growing bruise. "Touchy, touchy," he scowled.
"You've become so boring," Seamus said as an aftethought to Dean's complaint.
Harry bolted upright and glared at Seamus, Dean, and Nar through his red, drooping eyes. "Dean, you fancy that 5th year Hufflepuff, Willow, who in your diary is code-named White Glitter*, and have a secret passion for Potions class. Seamus, your accent is fake, considering you're nationality is Irish but you really grew up in Nottingham. Nar, your full name is Narcissus Lawrence Litkins, but it makes you sound like a girl so you haven't told anyone, and your sister, Leila, is a Ravenclaw dropout**. And you all are as immature as that sprout we planted in Herbology yesterday."
If Harry had hoped for silent, stunned faces, then he must have been pleased. Momentarily anyway. Seamus turned to Dean, and in an accent that was clearly not Irish: "You like Potions???"
"Oh dear God," Harry groaned, flopping back down. Was there any fazing these boys? No wonder he loved spending so much time with Hermione, she, as a girl, was high above this unsophisticated behavior.
A slow creaking was coming from the door and it slightly roused Harry's curiosity. Dean, Seamus, and Nar were still fooling around like eight-year-olds on the floor, but otherwise every other boy in the dorms was in bed and asleep. That is, with the exception of…
"Ron?" Harry squinted, his lack of glasses making it hard to make out the figure that had sneakily crept into the dorm. All he could see was flaming red hair, and that was solid enough evidence for Harry to assume the identity. He did, for reassurance, feel around the dresser until his hands closed on his spectacles and Harry roughly shoved them onto his face. Sure enough, there was Ron, scowl and all.
"Uh huh," Ron replied briskly, brushing past Harry rudely.
"Where were you?"
"None of your business," Ron said.
"Who's touchy now, Dean?" Nar teased, and was pushed from the bed that he and Dean had climbed up on to the floor once more. "Well, well. What WERE you doing, Ron?"
"If you must know," Ron said smugly, "I was meeting a girl."
This caught Dean, Seamus, and Nar's attention. "Who? That skinny Ravenclaw? Melissa, right?" Dean asked eagerly. He was clearly the leader of the three currently hyper boys.
"No!" Ron scowled. "Like I would ever have anything to do with Melissa Corridge." He turned his nose up ever so snottily.
"That's not what I heard," said Dean, just as pompously. "I heard that you asked Liss out, and SHE turned YOU down."
"All in the past," Ron quickly mumbled under his breath. "Anyway, want to know who?" Ron shot a hard look in Harry's direction. Harry looked away and buried himself into his pillow.
"Obviously!" Dean practically screeched. He was always one for gossip. "You were gone for SO long." Dean's seemingly innocent exclamation was not as innocent as it seemed; the three chuckled boyishly and Ron grinned, ear to ear.
"I know," Ron replied, and suspicions were affirmed. Dean, Seamus, and Nar were apparently in awe of Ron, with their respectfing jaws down to their knees.
"Oh, come on, who?" Seamus uncharacteristically asked.
"You'd never guess," Ron insisted, enjoying every minute of it.
"Then tell us!" Dean demanded. His curiosity had turned irate.
"Hermione Granger," Ron said, voice dead serious. No one spoke for a monent. Dean, Seamus, and Nar all had blank expressions lining their incredulous faces. Harry had peeked out from under the pillow and was looking at Ron curiously, face set.
Finally, Nar whispered, "Seriously?"
"Oh yeah," Ron grinned.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" was Harry's battle cry as he propelled himself off of the bedsprings and lunged onto the unexpecting Ron. He landed on top of the redhead and started pummeling Ron with fists. "I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!"
In the subsequent minutes following the attack, it seemed that all five boys had been wiped of their memory of being wizards and began handling the situation as Muggles would. The first thing that happened was that Ron got over the initial shock of being attacked by Harry, who had appeared to fly at him after levering himself off of the bed. Ron would probably have been too stunned and confused to have done anything at all, at least for several minutes. Instead, Ron's dust allergy (as he was on his back on the floor) kicked in and there was minimal warning before Ron's head rocked forward and he sneezed in Harry's face.
Harry was blind with rage, but the snot splattering onto his face was a good calming point. He froze for a moment, giving Seamus and Nar ample time to pin his arms against his back and drag him away from Ron.
Dean took advantage of the moment by propping Ron up before the youngest male Weasley could retaliate and examed Ron's bloody nose, swelling lip, and bruising skin. Ron pushed Dean away and barely touched his nose with his right index finger when he immediately yelped in pain.
"I think it's broken," Ron whined shrilly, letting his guard down. He quickly regained it and turned his burning eyes towards Harry and spat, "Happy, Potter? You broke my fucking nose! Potter broke my fucking nose!"
Meanwhile, since the moment that Harry had landed on Ron with his cry of, "I'll kill you," every single boy in the dormitory had slowly stumbled out of their beds rubbing their bewildered, curious eyes.
"What's going on here?" Guy Wimsdon asked, furrowing his thick unibrow. His blue eyes opened wide as he saw Ron's displaced nose and the blood, along with Harry's infuriated expression as Dean and Nar pinned him back.
"None of your business," Ron snarled, although slightly embarrassed. "Go back to bed! All of you!" However, not a single boy heeded his proclamations and only moved closer to encircle the area where the five boys crouched on the carpet.
"What's going on?" a short, awkwardly skinny Gryffindor that Harry could have sworn he'd never laid eyes on before asked. How self absorbed I've become, Harry inwardly groaned.
"All that I've gathered is that Harry 'fucking broke' Ron's nose," Guy replied, greatly resembling a sportcaster giving the play-by-play. Neville audibly gasped at the profanity, and Nar snickered.
"Take Ron to the infirmary," Dean commanded of Seamus and Nar; the two dropped Harry's arms and he slumped to the ground.
Harry quickly scrambled to his feet and icily glared at Ron as Ron was dragged away. "I'm not going to forget what you said, Ron! That wasn't funny! You'll pay for this!"
"I heard you," Ron smirked quirkily as he disappeared and the door swung shut. "You''ll kill me, you'll kill me. I heard."
Unbridled anger surged like dark blood through Harry's veins and he had to bite his lip in fear that he'd publicly foam at the mouth. "Harry," Dean said calmly, eying Harry as you would a ticking bomb. "We all know Ron was kidding. He hates her, and she's a sweet girl. You know that."
"I know," Harry mumbled grudgingly, "but it wasn't funny."
"It was a joke," Dean replied, the sugar gones from his bloodstream as he pulled the covers back from his bed and climbed between the sheets. "You need to de-stress yourself, okay, Harry? Take it easy."
He'd be a whole lot harsher if I didn't have a near-death experience last year, Harry growled silently. Why did everyone have to be so calm with him, as if they were talking to a child? How could they not expect resentment from him when they treated him like an imbecile?
Adrenaline pumped through Harry and he sprang out of bed, pulling a pair of sweatpants over his boxer shorts. Other than that, he wore a white sleeping thank.
"What're you doing, Harry?" Dean murmured into his pillow.
"I'm going," Harry said coldly, "away." *Up up and away from here…* Harry thought grimly.
"Oh… kay…" Dean was half-asleep, practically snoring right then and there.
Harry cursed as he stepped on a sticky blood spot on the carpet and then resumed his quick pace. Why he was walking so fast, he had no idea. He just needed to move, get going, go… anywhere.
"…didn't see it coming from anywhere… crazy, I tell you, he's… yeah, but he started…"
Harry groaned as he realized that he had caught up with Ron, Seamus, and Nar as he heard Ron's annoying voice. It was 1:30 in the morning, and Harry felt all too sick of it.
"Maybe you desrved it," Harry cut in, voice like a sleek steel knife. The three whipped around, surprised to be snuck up on, but no one more so than Ron.
"Don't you think you've caused enough damage for one night?" Ron shot.
Harry didn't reply; he stubbornly looked away and quickened his pace until he was past them by at least fifteen yards and rounded the corner. But, he stopped. He needed to say something. Dani's words were flowing in Harry's head, crossing and mixing themselves.
"Ron!" Harry called, stopping and stalking even more quickly towards the three which he had surpassed in speed.
"What?" Ron snapped.
"What's the matter with you?"
"Huh?" Ron blinked repeatedly.
"What is wrong with you! Why does it have to be my fault?" Harry struggled to keep his voice together and collected. Why did Ron have to remain so blank? "Why? Why punish Hermione? Why act like such an arse to me? Why be friends with Malfoy? Why?" Answer me!"
Ron just stared, and the silence made Harry even more angry. "You don't have a good answer, do you Ron? No! You don't. Why? Because there is none! You just needed to blame someone and there I was Ron! There I was! Because I was there for you! Please forgive me for always being there for you." He spat the last part sardonically, feeling venom secreting from his blackened heart.
Harry saw the speechless look on Ron's face and stormed off, feeling alleviated. He still blamed himself for what happened, yes… But why must Ron? If it was true, that it wasn't his fault, then why did Ron seem to insist without saying it that it was? Was Harry simply the scapegoat?
Harry flinched as he closed his eyes and remembered.
Harry hastily tossed his usually prized Firebolt IV aside as he pumped his legs, running as fast as those scrawny limbs could carry them. *Must save Ron, must save Ron.* His breath was short as he pounded on the door of the Burrow; it, however, creaked open on its own.
Harry gulped, taking this as a bad sign, but didn't waste time as he burst into the entrance, which in the Burrow's case was the kitchen. His breath caught in his throat and suddenly Harry couldn't breathe; he felt an unmatched, unselfish fear seize him and he couldn't move. *Snap out of it* he ordered himself, but he couldn't blink. It was too surreal.
The moment was frozen in time. In that split second, Voldemort, the Dark Lord, was hovering over two lifeless bodies as he retreated his wand into his robes. Ginny was kicking and screaming as a heavy, burly man crushed her limbs against him to prevent her efforts of breaking free. Ron was lying unusually still on the floor, taut from the Body Bind, but his brown eyes were beyond terrified and small tears were erupting from the wells of the corners of his eyes. Percy, Bill, Charlie, Fred, and George were not home, off at college. But the two dead, cold bodies on the floor were unmistakingly Mr. And Mrs. Weasley. Unfortunately, they were not the last corpses Harry would see in the future.
The moment died, and Voldemort swirled around quickly. Harry would never forget how the cape flew up and then settled back onto Voldemort's back dramatically as he turned. Their eyes locked, and Harry screamed. His scar was throbbing like a salted wound, only a hundred times worse. The pain made him feel like ripping his scar off, right then and there.
"Hello, Mr. Potter," Voldemort drawled in his hideous, bittersweet tone. "What took you so long? I grew tired of waiting, and so I busied myself in the meantime." Voldemort made a sickening gesture to where Mr. And Mrs. Weasley lay and pulled his wand from his robe. Harry felt around for his. "Let bygones be bygones. Crucio!"
Harry didn't have time to clutch his own wand; he fell to the floor, writhing in pain that made his scar seem like a papercut. Colors, brilliant hues of white and red, were flashing through his head like an endless flipbook. The seering pain was growing numb, and Harry wondered if he was dying.
*Must apparate…* Harry moaned inside his head, which felt as if it were breaking in too.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Harry felt an unearthly scream rupture his vocal chords and fly from his grieving mouth. A flash of unsurmountable pain washed through his body, hitting every cell, vein, and artery in his body. But amazingly, it was true. His life began flashing through his head.
"It's a boy, Mrs. Potter."
"James! Harry's first step! Come quick!"
"…but we can't bring Harry into hiding. It's not fair for him to grow up in such an evironment. Lily, tell the Minister that. We just can't."
"NOOOO! Not Harry! Take me instead!"
"It's alright 'ere, 'Arry. Them Dursleys will take good care of ya 'ere."
"Promise me, Petunia. We'll never tell anyone, not even the boy, that he's one of those foul creatures. Promise me. Understand?"
"You're a wizard, 'Arry."
"Welcome to Hogwarts School of Wizardry!"
"Alright, if not Slytherin… I guess it'd better be GRYFFINDOR!"
"WE WON THE HOUSE CUP! WE WON THE HOUSE CUP!"
"Harry, I'm your godfather."
"Aw, come on, Harry. I know you like Hermione like that. You're always talking about her, I don't care if you insist that she's just a friend. When it's us three together, you can't tear your eyes away from her."
"Let bygones be bygones. Crucio!"
"Avada Kedavra!"
Harry suddenly realized that the pain was subsiding, and was reluctant to open his eyes. Had he died? Would he open his eyes and see Heaven? Or worse… Harry's lids fluttered open and he gasped.
The memory ended. Harry was still in the corridor, having just stomped off from Ron. He had forced himself not to remember… not to remember that horrible day and those unspeakable words of the past that flew back to him as he died.
But he hadn't died. When he had hesitatingly opened his eyes, Harry had surprisingly found himself in the Dursley's driveway. At first he figured it to be Hell, but when Dudley came romping out of the house wearing his skivvies and had spotted Harry, the shrill shriek Dudley omitted assured Harry that he was still very much alive, although he ached all over.
Later he would find out that he had only felt the Avada Kedavra curse, but had not died, for he had apparated before it took its full effect. Harry quickly apparated (illegally of course, but Harry knew how and these were emergencies) to the Helga Hufflepuff Memorial Hospital and was entered into intensive care as he blacked out in the waiting room.
Harry tried to push his thoughts to the back of his mind, but this time he couldn't. They always resurfaced, so why not deal with them now? Harry couldn't stop visualizing Ron's eyes as he lay still on the floor—full of dread, horror, hate, frustration, and hurt. These feelings had been directing towards the Dark Lord… but now, Ron seemed to just send them to Harry. And, wheenver the chance arose, Hermione.
Hermione, Harry groaned. He had forgotten for a moment that he had completely insulted and crushed her heart just hours earlier, and a fresh wave of guilty knocked him in the stomach. He stopped suddenly, realizing that he had wandered off and was uncertain of his location, as it was pitch black, and he had not brough his wand to perform the Lumos spell. He'd apparate back to his dorm, but since it was not a dire emergency he could be expelled and, besides, apparition was not capable on Hogwarts grounds. Instead, he kept walking, hoping soon he'd be able to make out and recognize his surroundings.
Fifty idle minutes past, and Harry's eyes had adjusted to their fullest in the darkest and still could not see all the doors and corners. It was two a.m., and Harry felt as if he hadn't slept in days, which was more or less true. He couldn't keep his eyes open, and was so damn frustrated that he felt like crying. He felt something against the wall, but he pushed past it and fell onto thick carpet. Harry willingly let himself relax as he collapsed and drifted off into a deep, much-needed sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
*Thanks so much to White Glitter/Black Eyeliner! You're the best!
**Thanks Ravenclaw dropout! Your name worked well in the story, lol.
Well, this isn't quite as long as the other chapters. It is, but it isnt, seeing that the memory lines took up a lot of space. Enjoy. Sorry this took so long. I'll prob be updating my poetry next and then Road trip, which I'm having a mental freeze over. Thanks for your overwhelming response—22 reviews, I believe! Find your name in the clump below.
Shout out to:
Spazzy, EMILI POTTER, bookworm, HARRYNZ, draco's princess, SSJGUYVER, meg, ACHILLES, nikkiwealey, ( ), melly08, HAZELEYEZ, sailor sol, FLENEBEAN, me (curse u katie! Curse you!!!), WHITE GLITTER (aka black eyeliner. Update shades right now!!!), shining star, ORI, miss spinn (the spanish isnt necessary. If it is important or relative to story I will translate), RAVENCLAW DROPOUT
I'd comment on everyone but right now I'm busy. I'll prob write responses to all reviews l8r, or maybe tomorrow (Friday) night. See ya then.
And I'm out…
I won a writing contest in my county so it renewed my writing spirit. Maybe I don't suck after all. Aren't I self-confident? Ha. Anyway, here's my disclaimer.
Diclaimer: I may be disturbed, but won't you concede, even heroes have the right to dream… And I, being Super Girl, can dream of becoming an author, right? Right. This stuff—not mine. :o(
"Come on, guys," Harry said despairingly. It was currently one in the morning and Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, and Nar Litkins were on a sugar high. Harry rolled his bloodshot eyes and turned over grudgingly in bed to block out the sound of their shrieks to no avail. "Honestly, can't you do that tomorrow?"
"Well aren't you the wet blanket," Nar said, stumbling off of Seamus's bed (which he had been bouncing on for the past ten minutes) and falling dizzily to the floor. "What's up your arse, Potter?"
"Nothing," Harry yawned, squeezing his eyes shut even harder until they hurt.
"Aw, widdle 'Arry 'as girlie problems, doesn't 'e?" Dean cooed mockingly.
"Shove it, Dean," Harry mumbled.
"Geeze, fine," Dean replied, falling exasperated onto the floor beside Nar. He landed a bit too rashly, clunked his head, and sat up to rub his visibly growing bruise. "Touchy, touchy," he scowled.
"You've become so boring," Seamus said as an aftethought to Dean's complaint.
Harry bolted upright and glared at Seamus, Dean, and Nar through his red, drooping eyes. "Dean, you fancy that 5th year Hufflepuff, Willow, who in your diary is code-named White Glitter*, and have a secret passion for Potions class. Seamus, your accent is fake, considering you're nationality is Irish but you really grew up in Nottingham. Nar, your full name is Narcissus Lawrence Litkins, but it makes you sound like a girl so you haven't told anyone, and your sister, Leila, is a Ravenclaw dropout**. And you all are as immature as that sprout we planted in Herbology yesterday."
If Harry had hoped for silent, stunned faces, then he must have been pleased. Momentarily anyway. Seamus turned to Dean, and in an accent that was clearly not Irish: "You like Potions???"
"Oh dear God," Harry groaned, flopping back down. Was there any fazing these boys? No wonder he loved spending so much time with Hermione, she, as a girl, was high above this unsophisticated behavior.
A slow creaking was coming from the door and it slightly roused Harry's curiosity. Dean, Seamus, and Nar were still fooling around like eight-year-olds on the floor, but otherwise every other boy in the dorms was in bed and asleep. That is, with the exception of…
"Ron?" Harry squinted, his lack of glasses making it hard to make out the figure that had sneakily crept into the dorm. All he could see was flaming red hair, and that was solid enough evidence for Harry to assume the identity. He did, for reassurance, feel around the dresser until his hands closed on his spectacles and Harry roughly shoved them onto his face. Sure enough, there was Ron, scowl and all.
"Uh huh," Ron replied briskly, brushing past Harry rudely.
"Where were you?"
"None of your business," Ron said.
"Who's touchy now, Dean?" Nar teased, and was pushed from the bed that he and Dean had climbed up on to the floor once more. "Well, well. What WERE you doing, Ron?"
"If you must know," Ron said smugly, "I was meeting a girl."
This caught Dean, Seamus, and Nar's attention. "Who? That skinny Ravenclaw? Melissa, right?" Dean asked eagerly. He was clearly the leader of the three currently hyper boys.
"No!" Ron scowled. "Like I would ever have anything to do with Melissa Corridge." He turned his nose up ever so snottily.
"That's not what I heard," said Dean, just as pompously. "I heard that you asked Liss out, and SHE turned YOU down."
"All in the past," Ron quickly mumbled under his breath. "Anyway, want to know who?" Ron shot a hard look in Harry's direction. Harry looked away and buried himself into his pillow.
"Obviously!" Dean practically screeched. He was always one for gossip. "You were gone for SO long." Dean's seemingly innocent exclamation was not as innocent as it seemed; the three chuckled boyishly and Ron grinned, ear to ear.
"I know," Ron replied, and suspicions were affirmed. Dean, Seamus, and Nar were apparently in awe of Ron, with their respectfing jaws down to their knees.
"Oh, come on, who?" Seamus uncharacteristically asked.
"You'd never guess," Ron insisted, enjoying every minute of it.
"Then tell us!" Dean demanded. His curiosity had turned irate.
"Hermione Granger," Ron said, voice dead serious. No one spoke for a monent. Dean, Seamus, and Nar all had blank expressions lining their incredulous faces. Harry had peeked out from under the pillow and was looking at Ron curiously, face set.
Finally, Nar whispered, "Seriously?"
"Oh yeah," Ron grinned.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" was Harry's battle cry as he propelled himself off of the bedsprings and lunged onto the unexpecting Ron. He landed on top of the redhead and started pummeling Ron with fists. "I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!"
In the subsequent minutes following the attack, it seemed that all five boys had been wiped of their memory of being wizards and began handling the situation as Muggles would. The first thing that happened was that Ron got over the initial shock of being attacked by Harry, who had appeared to fly at him after levering himself off of the bed. Ron would probably have been too stunned and confused to have done anything at all, at least for several minutes. Instead, Ron's dust allergy (as he was on his back on the floor) kicked in and there was minimal warning before Ron's head rocked forward and he sneezed in Harry's face.
Harry was blind with rage, but the snot splattering onto his face was a good calming point. He froze for a moment, giving Seamus and Nar ample time to pin his arms against his back and drag him away from Ron.
Dean took advantage of the moment by propping Ron up before the youngest male Weasley could retaliate and examed Ron's bloody nose, swelling lip, and bruising skin. Ron pushed Dean away and barely touched his nose with his right index finger when he immediately yelped in pain.
"I think it's broken," Ron whined shrilly, letting his guard down. He quickly regained it and turned his burning eyes towards Harry and spat, "Happy, Potter? You broke my fucking nose! Potter broke my fucking nose!"
Meanwhile, since the moment that Harry had landed on Ron with his cry of, "I'll kill you," every single boy in the dormitory had slowly stumbled out of their beds rubbing their bewildered, curious eyes.
"What's going on here?" Guy Wimsdon asked, furrowing his thick unibrow. His blue eyes opened wide as he saw Ron's displaced nose and the blood, along with Harry's infuriated expression as Dean and Nar pinned him back.
"None of your business," Ron snarled, although slightly embarrassed. "Go back to bed! All of you!" However, not a single boy heeded his proclamations and only moved closer to encircle the area where the five boys crouched on the carpet.
"What's going on?" a short, awkwardly skinny Gryffindor that Harry could have sworn he'd never laid eyes on before asked. How self absorbed I've become, Harry inwardly groaned.
"All that I've gathered is that Harry 'fucking broke' Ron's nose," Guy replied, greatly resembling a sportcaster giving the play-by-play. Neville audibly gasped at the profanity, and Nar snickered.
"Take Ron to the infirmary," Dean commanded of Seamus and Nar; the two dropped Harry's arms and he slumped to the ground.
Harry quickly scrambled to his feet and icily glared at Ron as Ron was dragged away. "I'm not going to forget what you said, Ron! That wasn't funny! You'll pay for this!"
"I heard you," Ron smirked quirkily as he disappeared and the door swung shut. "You''ll kill me, you'll kill me. I heard."
Unbridled anger surged like dark blood through Harry's veins and he had to bite his lip in fear that he'd publicly foam at the mouth. "Harry," Dean said calmly, eying Harry as you would a ticking bomb. "We all know Ron was kidding. He hates her, and she's a sweet girl. You know that."
"I know," Harry mumbled grudgingly, "but it wasn't funny."
"It was a joke," Dean replied, the sugar gones from his bloodstream as he pulled the covers back from his bed and climbed between the sheets. "You need to de-stress yourself, okay, Harry? Take it easy."
He'd be a whole lot harsher if I didn't have a near-death experience last year, Harry growled silently. Why did everyone have to be so calm with him, as if they were talking to a child? How could they not expect resentment from him when they treated him like an imbecile?
Adrenaline pumped through Harry and he sprang out of bed, pulling a pair of sweatpants over his boxer shorts. Other than that, he wore a white sleeping thank.
"What're you doing, Harry?" Dean murmured into his pillow.
"I'm going," Harry said coldly, "away." *Up up and away from here…* Harry thought grimly.
"Oh… kay…" Dean was half-asleep, practically snoring right then and there.
Harry cursed as he stepped on a sticky blood spot on the carpet and then resumed his quick pace. Why he was walking so fast, he had no idea. He just needed to move, get going, go… anywhere.
"…didn't see it coming from anywhere… crazy, I tell you, he's… yeah, but he started…"
Harry groaned as he realized that he had caught up with Ron, Seamus, and Nar as he heard Ron's annoying voice. It was 1:30 in the morning, and Harry felt all too sick of it.
"Maybe you desrved it," Harry cut in, voice like a sleek steel knife. The three whipped around, surprised to be snuck up on, but no one more so than Ron.
"Don't you think you've caused enough damage for one night?" Ron shot.
Harry didn't reply; he stubbornly looked away and quickened his pace until he was past them by at least fifteen yards and rounded the corner. But, he stopped. He needed to say something. Dani's words were flowing in Harry's head, crossing and mixing themselves.
"Ron!" Harry called, stopping and stalking even more quickly towards the three which he had surpassed in speed.
"What?" Ron snapped.
"What's the matter with you?"
"Huh?" Ron blinked repeatedly.
"What is wrong with you! Why does it have to be my fault?" Harry struggled to keep his voice together and collected. Why did Ron have to remain so blank? "Why? Why punish Hermione? Why act like such an arse to me? Why be friends with Malfoy? Why?" Answer me!"
Ron just stared, and the silence made Harry even more angry. "You don't have a good answer, do you Ron? No! You don't. Why? Because there is none! You just needed to blame someone and there I was Ron! There I was! Because I was there for you! Please forgive me for always being there for you." He spat the last part sardonically, feeling venom secreting from his blackened heart.
Harry saw the speechless look on Ron's face and stormed off, feeling alleviated. He still blamed himself for what happened, yes… But why must Ron? If it was true, that it wasn't his fault, then why did Ron seem to insist without saying it that it was? Was Harry simply the scapegoat?
Harry flinched as he closed his eyes and remembered.
Harry hastily tossed his usually prized Firebolt IV aside as he pumped his legs, running as fast as those scrawny limbs could carry them. *Must save Ron, must save Ron.* His breath was short as he pounded on the door of the Burrow; it, however, creaked open on its own.
Harry gulped, taking this as a bad sign, but didn't waste time as he burst into the entrance, which in the Burrow's case was the kitchen. His breath caught in his throat and suddenly Harry couldn't breathe; he felt an unmatched, unselfish fear seize him and he couldn't move. *Snap out of it* he ordered himself, but he couldn't blink. It was too surreal.
The moment was frozen in time. In that split second, Voldemort, the Dark Lord, was hovering over two lifeless bodies as he retreated his wand into his robes. Ginny was kicking and screaming as a heavy, burly man crushed her limbs against him to prevent her efforts of breaking free. Ron was lying unusually still on the floor, taut from the Body Bind, but his brown eyes were beyond terrified and small tears were erupting from the wells of the corners of his eyes. Percy, Bill, Charlie, Fred, and George were not home, off at college. But the two dead, cold bodies on the floor were unmistakingly Mr. And Mrs. Weasley. Unfortunately, they were not the last corpses Harry would see in the future.
The moment died, and Voldemort swirled around quickly. Harry would never forget how the cape flew up and then settled back onto Voldemort's back dramatically as he turned. Their eyes locked, and Harry screamed. His scar was throbbing like a salted wound, only a hundred times worse. The pain made him feel like ripping his scar off, right then and there.
"Hello, Mr. Potter," Voldemort drawled in his hideous, bittersweet tone. "What took you so long? I grew tired of waiting, and so I busied myself in the meantime." Voldemort made a sickening gesture to where Mr. And Mrs. Weasley lay and pulled his wand from his robe. Harry felt around for his. "Let bygones be bygones. Crucio!"
Harry didn't have time to clutch his own wand; he fell to the floor, writhing in pain that made his scar seem like a papercut. Colors, brilliant hues of white and red, were flashing through his head like an endless flipbook. The seering pain was growing numb, and Harry wondered if he was dying.
*Must apparate…* Harry moaned inside his head, which felt as if it were breaking in too.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Harry felt an unearthly scream rupture his vocal chords and fly from his grieving mouth. A flash of unsurmountable pain washed through his body, hitting every cell, vein, and artery in his body. But amazingly, it was true. His life began flashing through his head.
"It's a boy, Mrs. Potter."
"James! Harry's first step! Come quick!"
"…but we can't bring Harry into hiding. It's not fair for him to grow up in such an evironment. Lily, tell the Minister that. We just can't."
"NOOOO! Not Harry! Take me instead!"
"It's alright 'ere, 'Arry. Them Dursleys will take good care of ya 'ere."
"Promise me, Petunia. We'll never tell anyone, not even the boy, that he's one of those foul creatures. Promise me. Understand?"
"You're a wizard, 'Arry."
"Welcome to Hogwarts School of Wizardry!"
"Alright, if not Slytherin… I guess it'd better be GRYFFINDOR!"
"WE WON THE HOUSE CUP! WE WON THE HOUSE CUP!"
"Harry, I'm your godfather."
"Aw, come on, Harry. I know you like Hermione like that. You're always talking about her, I don't care if you insist that she's just a friend. When it's us three together, you can't tear your eyes away from her."
"Let bygones be bygones. Crucio!"
"Avada Kedavra!"
Harry suddenly realized that the pain was subsiding, and was reluctant to open his eyes. Had he died? Would he open his eyes and see Heaven? Or worse… Harry's lids fluttered open and he gasped.
The memory ended. Harry was still in the corridor, having just stomped off from Ron. He had forced himself not to remember… not to remember that horrible day and those unspeakable words of the past that flew back to him as he died.
But he hadn't died. When he had hesitatingly opened his eyes, Harry had surprisingly found himself in the Dursley's driveway. At first he figured it to be Hell, but when Dudley came romping out of the house wearing his skivvies and had spotted Harry, the shrill shriek Dudley omitted assured Harry that he was still very much alive, although he ached all over.
Later he would find out that he had only felt the Avada Kedavra curse, but had not died, for he had apparated before it took its full effect. Harry quickly apparated (illegally of course, but Harry knew how and these were emergencies) to the Helga Hufflepuff Memorial Hospital and was entered into intensive care as he blacked out in the waiting room.
Harry tried to push his thoughts to the back of his mind, but this time he couldn't. They always resurfaced, so why not deal with them now? Harry couldn't stop visualizing Ron's eyes as he lay still on the floor—full of dread, horror, hate, frustration, and hurt. These feelings had been directing towards the Dark Lord… but now, Ron seemed to just send them to Harry. And, wheenver the chance arose, Hermione.
Hermione, Harry groaned. He had forgotten for a moment that he had completely insulted and crushed her heart just hours earlier, and a fresh wave of guilty knocked him in the stomach. He stopped suddenly, realizing that he had wandered off and was uncertain of his location, as it was pitch black, and he had not brough his wand to perform the Lumos spell. He'd apparate back to his dorm, but since it was not a dire emergency he could be expelled and, besides, apparition was not capable on Hogwarts grounds. Instead, he kept walking, hoping soon he'd be able to make out and recognize his surroundings.
Fifty idle minutes past, and Harry's eyes had adjusted to their fullest in the darkest and still could not see all the doors and corners. It was two a.m., and Harry felt as if he hadn't slept in days, which was more or less true. He couldn't keep his eyes open, and was so damn frustrated that he felt like crying. He felt something against the wall, but he pushed past it and fell onto thick carpet. Harry willingly let himself relax as he collapsed and drifted off into a deep, much-needed sleep.
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*Thanks so much to White Glitter/Black Eyeliner! You're the best!
**Thanks Ravenclaw dropout! Your name worked well in the story, lol.
Well, this isn't quite as long as the other chapters. It is, but it isnt, seeing that the memory lines took up a lot of space. Enjoy. Sorry this took so long. I'll prob be updating my poetry next and then Road trip, which I'm having a mental freeze over. Thanks for your overwhelming response—22 reviews, I believe! Find your name in the clump below.
Shout out to:
Spazzy, EMILI POTTER, bookworm, HARRYNZ, draco's princess, SSJGUYVER, meg, ACHILLES, nikkiwealey, ( ), melly08, HAZELEYEZ, sailor sol, FLENEBEAN, me (curse u katie! Curse you!!!), WHITE GLITTER (aka black eyeliner. Update shades right now!!!), shining star, ORI, miss spinn (the spanish isnt necessary. If it is important or relative to story I will translate), RAVENCLAW DROPOUT
I'd comment on everyone but right now I'm busy. I'll prob write responses to all reviews l8r, or maybe tomorrow (Friday) night. See ya then.
And I'm out…
