Martyr
Summary: Really dark fic from the point of view of the last Marauder. Why does the wizarding world feel the need to force a boy into the role of playing the hero? Just a bizarre rant about martyrs, haven't a clue where it came from, I was meant to be writing something else at the time but this came out instead. Sometimes I really scare myself…
It was his funeral today, half the wizarding world came out to see it. Needless to say, he, the man they are all supposedly here to honour would have hated it. The press, the crowds, full of people who didn't even know him…But it will serve its purpose, another propaganda victory for the light. How ironic is that? The funeral of 17 year old boy is a propaganda victory. It makes me sick to even think it. Here we are burying a boy who hadn't even begun to live, who spent his whole life fighting to stay alive, the last of a proud line of wizards, my last link to the past… and we are actually celebrating, as though we have won something!
Don't they even care that a young man has lost his life to bring them the freedom that they so savour? I doubt it somehow.
Did they ever really see Harry, or do they still only see the mask? 'The boy who lived', 'the man who conquered', Quidditch star, eligible bachelor and any other nickname the Prophet pinned on the poor kid over the years. Did they ever see the boy who never got the chance to live, the lost child behind the façade of heroism? Or do they still only see a symbol? The golden boy who took on the darkness when they were too afraid. The 17 year old child they threw to the wolves as though it were his duty to save them. A boy dead before even being old enough to drink, dead before man hood…Question is will the history books remember the real boy, or the legend?
His friends know the real truth, and as for everyone else… it is easier to praise his heroism if they don't realise that he was just a person with hopes and fears like everyone else. They don't want to know the real Harry, because then they would have to accept that the end of this war wasn't really a victory, but a defeat, the end of innocence and of a life barely even begun.
Who really wants to know the back story of a martyr? A life of abuse at the hands of his relatives, of hounding by the press, and then accused of enjoying the attention, as if he ever wanted to be famous for something he knew he hadn't done! Thrust into danger from age 11, forced to play the hero whether he wanted to or not and then vilified for doing exactly that, speaking the truth when they refused to hear it and for doing what they themselves were too afraid to. A life of more pain and adversity than most grown men could stand thrust into the hands of a child, manipulated by those around him, afraid and untrusting, a wonder really that their own 'weapon' didn't turn against them…
It is easier to believe the fairy tale than face reality. They pushed him to this with no concern for his welfare but they don't care, we won, and that's all that matters. Let us all toast a victory to the 'man who conquered', and pray that we have now learnt enough to avoid another war, or shall we martyr another child instead because we ourselves are too afraid to fight?
Oookay… now that you all think I'm completely mad please review and tell me what you think. Myself I really don't know what to think, I really didn't intend to write this, I just physically couldn't stop myself, it just all came gushing out in like less than an hour… weird. Anyway please, please, please can I have some feedback. I really want to know what people think. Have I actually lost it this time? Probably, please tell me!
Anyway, thanks for reading, now please review!
XXX