Disclaimer: Only the plot is mine. The rest belongs to JK and the lyrics are from Fountains of Wayne's song, Troubled Times.
Breaking Point
Chapter 2
Troubled Times
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How she loved you
All you imagined
Fit so well into your plans
Maybe one day soon
It'll all come out
How you dream about each other sometimes
With the memory of
How you once gave up
But you made it through the troubled times
Harry Potter sat staring into the fireplace in front of him. The firelight was reflected in his eyes, making them appear as if they were flickering on and off. He sat listlessly watching the flames dart around, licking the sides of the fireplace. His shoulders were slumped and his body was thin and angular from lack of appetite. Shaggy, dark hair fell across his forehead, in need of a good trim and his face had a hollow look to it. His skin held little pigment as if he had been hiding away inside for many years.
He didn't know why he had agreed to come here in the first place. He supposed it was the pained look on Hermione's face that had caused him to come to this Ministry gala. Or maybe it was for lack of anything better to do. His life had long since lost the meaning it once had. Even in the days during which he was tracking down Voldemort's soul, he at least had a sense of purpose. Now he spent his days shut up in his flat. Every day was the same. Apathetically waiting one day out, then moving onto the next. Someone had gone and turned off the sun, leaving him stumbling through the dark in continuous circles, not sure where to turn or what to expect.
Behind him, people wearing their finest clothes walked around talking to other important looking Ministry officials and drinking glasses of wine. Luckily, no one seemed to notice him sitting morosely in the chair by the fire. He felt his head begin to pound, as laughter bubbled up from a corner of the room and the monotonous drone of conversation continued ceaselessly.
He reached a hand up to rub his throbbing temples, but quickly dropped it. Something had caught his eye.
At first he thought he must be hallucinating. It couldn't be her. She couldn't be here. He hadn't seen her in years. And yet, there she was.
The time they'd been apart did not seen to have taken away her beauty. If anything, it had made her even more beautiful. Or perhaps time had taken a toll on him instead, and he'd forgotten what she looked like.
Her hair was a bit longer, though the exact shade he remembered. It glistened brightly in the candlelight, like a thousand rubies. She wore a silky midnight blue dress, which complimented her elegant figure perfectly.
And then she turned around.
His heart plummeted and he was sure he felt a cold sweat break out across his forehead. She was staring at him. At first it was with a look of shock, her eyes wide and unbelieving. Her dark eyes traveled across him, taking in his brooding expression, disheveled hair, and lanky form. She was giving him such a piecing look her eyes seemed to be burning holes into him.
Harry felt his head begin to swim and his chest constricted painfully, like a fist tightening rapidly. Suddenly he felt extremely light headed and it wasn't from the wine.
He couldn't take it anymore, his head was aching fit to burst and he was on the verge of feeling nauceous.
Pining away every hour in your room
Rollin' with the motion
Waitin' 'til it's opportune
Sittin there watching time fly past you
Why do tomorrow
What you could never do
How she loved you
All you imagine
All the shit you put her through
Rushing to open the backdoor, not caring if he was seen, he stumbled out into the rain gasping. He felt as if someone had been holding his head underwater too long. He flopped down on the wet grass, taking great gulps of the cool outside air, pulling his emotions back into check once again.
She was there. God, she was there. She was really there. And he'd almost lost it completely. He should have known he'd see her again eventually. Just not when he'd least expected it. She'd caught him completely off guard and in that split second their eyes met, it all came flooding back. Overwhelming him, drowning him in memories.
The waves bearing down on him, a great torrent of reminiscence. He was undone, and now he was out here, lying in the moist grass, soaking into the back of his shirt, cooling his burning skin, and lowering his rapidly beating pulse.
Harry sighed heavily, as the wind picked up, ruffling his hair, and water dripped down from the canopy of trees above him, spattering across his face. Continuing to take deep calming breaths, he stared up at the dismally grey sky as the rain continued.
She had caught him unawares, that's all. He had left her ages ago and therefore had no more feeling towards her. Especially affection. The reason his heart had begun to pound so hard was purely due to the fact that she startled him.
With these calming thoughts, he lay back in the grass, as the rain beat a gentle tattoo onto him, pooling onto the ground around him.
And it takes a lot of nerve
To ask how she is doin'
Start with a weak foundation
You will end in ruins
The way the days and hours pass
You never understand
Fallin' like rain through your hands
One day soon
It'll all come out
How you dream about each other sometimes
With the memory of
How you once gave up
But you made it through the troubled times
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A/N: So what did you think? Too much description?
This story is giving me a harder time than any of my previous ones so I probably won't have chapters posted as fast as I used to. I'll do my best to get one out once a week.
Please review, I greatly appreciate your comments!