Before
By Cuthbert the Pure
A/N: I've wanted to write this for a while now, and I figure I deserve time to think about my next chapter of Harry Potter and the Eagle's Flight. So, I wrote this one day while it was raining. It just sort of flowed from my fingers to the keyboard. It's my first angsty little fic, so please go easy on me. Enjoy.
Harry stood watching the black veil flutter in front of him. After so many years of waiting, he was finally going to see them again. He was going to see Sirius. He was going to see Ron and Ginny. He was even going to see his parents.
He remembered a time when life was simple, easy. That was before the war. It was before his best friend had died at the hands of Voldemort before his very eyes. It was before his nightmares were haunted by Sirius falling through this same veil, night after night. It was before Albus Dumbledore had fallen from the battlements at Hogwarts. It was before Neville had tortured Beatrix Lestrange into insanity with Crucio. It was before Hermione killed Snape. And it was before he had killed Lord Voldemort.
He was revered, admired, treated like a king. And it had all led to this. 23 years after the war, Harry stood watching a black veil flutter in a nonexistent wind.
He made to take a step towards the veil, but a voice stopped him. "Harry!" It called. He turned, hope shining in his eyes. There was no one there…just an empty set of large steps leading down to him. It was an imaginary voice he heard. One that belonged to a fifth year girl that he had stood with in a lone corridor once…kissing her. That was gone now.
He turned back to the veil, his mind set. He took another step closer, close enough to feel the veil touch his cheek. He could hear the voices clearer now. He could hear them calling his name. Smiling, he stepped forward.
His last thoughts were of many things. Of Ron. Of Hermione. Of Ginny. Of Sirius. Of his parents. But the thought that stood the most clearly in his mind where the words "I think I did alright."