Icarus
By: Rominion
Disclaimer: I would just like to state that I am not a multi-million dollar making author and I am in fact making no money at all from my postings.
The Burrow glowed with excitement, and with reason. Today, it was the sixteenth birthday of their youngest son Ron's best friend. His name was Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived and the Weasley family had as well as adopted him as one of their own. Red-heads were running back and forth, congratulating the birthday boy and trying their hardest to prepare for the feast that was to come. In the midst of all the hustle, no one noticed the special guest slip out of the backyard to go for a walk in the woods surrounding the house. Well, almost no one.
It took awhile for Remus to catch up with the black-haired teen that he was following. For all that he looked skinny and underfed; Harry sure could walk fast when he set his mind to it. If not for the fact that the green-eyed young man had stopped, and was now resting under a tree, the werewolf might not have been able to catch him at all. Remus lowered himself onto the ground near the teen. Harry's green eyes came up to meet the werewolf's amber. In them, Remus could see much pain.
"Do you want to talk?" Remus asked. Harry shrugged.
"Yes… no… I don't know." Harry sighed and lowered his head to his hands. "I just don't understand! Sirius is dead because of me!" Remus waited as Harry paused. "Why did I have to fall for Voldemort's trap? Why did Sirius come after me? Why couldn't Dumbledore have done something? Why did he have to die? He just stood there while Bellatrix mocked him, he must have been able to do something!" Harry balled his hands into fist and pounded at the ground. "He did nothing." He repeated. "Nothing. He let her kill him. If he had been paying attention, he would have been able to block that stunner. It's all my fault! If I hadn't gone to the ministry he wouldn't have come after me! Why am I so stupid? It's all my fault. Everyone has every right to hate me and never talk to me again. It's all my fault!" Remus watched in silence as tears leaked down the teens face. When Harry had stopped sobbing, he spoke.
"May I tell you a story? I think it will help." Harry slowly nodded. "Along time ago there lived a man named Daedalus. He offended his king and was locked up in a labyrinth as punishment for his offence. With him was imprisoned his son, a boy called Icarus."
"Now, Daedalus loved his son, and tried his best to teach him many things. Chief among these was the knowledge of his craft, for he was a builder and given the proper materials could build anything. But Icarus refused to be taught for he was headstrong. Daedalus was discouraged but he kept on, trying to teach his only child the skills he'd need later in life. But Icarus was only interesting in learning the things that he wanted to learn."
"One day Icarus came up to his father and demanded he teach him how to carve creatures out of the wood lying around the maze."
"'Why do you want to learn of this?' Daedalus inquired. "It shall do you no good while still inside this labyrinth'"
"'And if we leave this labyrinth, what shall happen then?' Icarus inquired. Daedalus looked at the boy."
"'It cannot be done' He replied 'The king has guarded every door. We cannot make it out.' But Icarus refused to be persuaded."
"'What if we flew out?' He asked his father. His father stared at him. 'I've seen the birds from outside my window, flying on the sea.' Icarus told Daedalus. 'You are a master craftsman and we have wood, feathers and wax. Can you not build us some wings so we can fly?' The petulant child inquired. Daedalus said it wasn't safe and he wouldn't, but Icarus was persistent. Icarus was bored and tired of being imprisoned and convinced his father to make him a pair of wings. Eventually Daedalus gave in and made a pair of wings for the each of them, and they decided a day on which to leave"
"The day they decided to go on soon came to pass. Before Daedalus and Icarus left, Daedalus shared words of caution with his young son."
"'Do not fly too close to the ocean, Icarus.' Daedalus said 'Water will weigh your wings down and you will fall. I know you cannot swim.' Icarus nodded impatiently. Daedalus continued. 'And do not fly to close to the sun. The heat will melt the wax holding your feathers in place and you will fall. Do you understand, Icarus? I would hate for something to happen to you.' Again Icarus nodded, before climbing out of the window and launching himself over the sea. His wings caught the air outside and he soared, his father going out after him."
"'Be careful, Icarus.' His father warned. 'Stay by me and I will protect you.' But Icarus wasn't paying attention. His eyes had caught sight of a goose, flying over the sea. He flapped his wings up to fly with the goose, high above his father. He ignored his father's words and flew higher and higher until he was even with the goose. He flew too close to the sun though, and slowly it melted all the wax off his back. With a cry, he fell as his wings disintegrated. He hit the ocean with a splash and drowned. His father was remorseful and blamed himself for his son's death." Here Remus looked at Harry.
"But was it his father's fault, Harry?" He asked the teen. Slowly, Harry shook his head.
"No" He told the werewolf. "It was Icarus' fault. Daedalus told him not to go up to close to the sun and he did anyway. It wasn't his father's fault at all!"
"I'm glad you realize that Harry" Remus said. "Did you ask Sirius to come rescue you?" Harry shook his head. "And do you think Sirius knew the possible results of rescuing you?" Slowly Harry nodded. "And yet he did. Sirius loved you, Harry. And I know that this is the way that he would have liked to go. You are no more at fault for his death than Daedalus was for Icarus'. Do you understand?" Harry nodded before giving a weak smile. Remus smiled in return. "Well, then I believe we have a birthday party to get to." And, with that, Remus and Harry walked back, Remus' arm slung around Harry's shoulder.
A short distance away, a family of red-heads and a few others put the finishing touch on the party, before realizing their honored guest was gone. A frantic search took part before Hermione sighted Harry and Remus at the edge of the forest. She and Ron went dashing over to their friend, glad to see a spark back in his eye. Remus drew back when the trio came together.
"Are you alright, Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah. I'm fine. Remus and I were just talking about Sirius and this crazy fellow named Icarus, who tried to fly and failed." With a smile, Harry threw an arm over each of his friends and headed back to the party. From a distance, Remus cold hear Ron asking about what type of broomstick he used, and Hermione trying to fill Ron in about the story. But mostly the werewolf's eyes were attached to the son of one of his best friends, who was at this moment digging into a cake with a smile on his face. Yes, he still missed Sirius, but the reason for all of his happiness was just starting a cake fight to celebrate his sixteenth birthday. Life was good.
A/N: Just a story I wrote when I thought about how Harry might blame himself for Sirius' death and how Remus could help him. I figured that Sirius is like Icarus and Harry is like Daedalus, even though age wise it would be the other way around. Hope you liked it. Please review and tell me your feelings. Thanks.