Chapter 68. Among the Stars
Harry gestured for Jeanne and Mash to be prepared for any possible events, while he cautiously reached for the door of the old, dusty cupboard. His heart raced furiously, a sense of inevitable danger squeezing his chest like an iron band. Then, as if fate teasingly fulfilled his secret thoughts, the Room of Requirement filled with a hissing sound. Waves of hot wind hit his face. Voldemort shouted a curse:
"Avada Kedavra!"
A bright green light flashed, and suddenly, Harry was engulfed in darkness, with only his mother's dying scream echoing in the void.
Harry opened his eyes and sat up in bed, gently pressing his palms to his chest. He couldn't believe this was possible. Professor Dumbledore, wise and cautious, surely anticipated all the risks. And Voldemort would never risk himself like that again. Memories flashed before Harry's eyes once more: a summer night, a graveyard bathed in soft moonlight, Jeanne standing among the Death Eaters, gripping the sword that pierced Voldemort's chest. He would no longer lead from the front lines. Now he had loyal followers he could rely on.
Unexpectedly, a noise interrupted his thoughts. Harry listened closely and detected the sound of approaching footsteps. Opening his eyes slightly, he caught a glimpse of movement in the room. His hand, almost automatically, slid off his nightshirt and brushed against the bedside table where his glasses usually rested, but they weren't there. Without understanding what was happening, he felt as if someone had placed the sought-after item in his hand. Harry put the glasses on his nose and looked around. The movement he had recently noticed belonged to Jeanne Alter.
"What are you doing here?" Harry whispered, barely audible, addressing her.
Jeanne answered matter-of-factly, with a smirk, "Just watching the Boy Who Lived not sleep."
Harry sensed the mockery in Jeanne's words.
"And I almost forgot about your ability to walk through walls," he retorted.
To that, Jeanne chuckled mockingly. "And I will soon forget that you're not a guppy fish."
Her face was adorned with her usual self-satisfied smile. With a single swift motion, she pulled the blanket off Harry.
"Get up, lazybones. Let's take a walk," Jeanne said, instilling Harry with her confidence and determination. He furrowed his brow, trying to understand what she meant.
"Now? In the middle of the night? How about you tell me where we're going instead," Harry asked, somewhat bewildered.
"Don't worry. I'm not leading you into a burning village," Jeanne smiled at him affectionately, as if she knew something special.
Harry stopped blinking, staring at her with his mouth agape.
"What if we just go out and look at the stars on a clear night?" Jeanne suggested, opening her eyes and looking at Harry expectantly.
He paused for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts. He suddenly realized that they could get caught by Filch or Mrs. Norris.
"Jeanne, I don't think that's..."
"Oh! Our hero, bravely fighting dragons and challenging the Dark Lord himself, suddenly afraid to go out of the tower at night?" Jeanne interrupted him, with a slight mocking tone.
"But it's risky..."
"When have you ever been afraid to take risks? You do it every year without me, Harry."
Harry felt a flush of embarrassment on his cheeks and hesitated on the bed for a while. Then he put his feet on the floor and stood up. Slowly, he took out his father's old invisibility cloak from the nightstand, reached for Jeanne, and looked into her eyes.
As soon as he took off the invisibility cloak, Jeanne appeared before him as if out of thin air. Gracefully, she declined the cover, shimmering in the moonlight.
After a brief pause, she said, looking into his eyes:
"What do you choose, to take the risk or not? Answer that yourself."
Harry cautiously glanced at her, puzzled, and then looked at the sky. The dance of stars caught his attention, and he suddenly realized that he wanted to see this beautiful picture.
Harry gasped, his heart beating faster, overcome by the courage inspired by Jeanne. He nodded at her, and a silent agreement formed between them.
They silently sneaked through the castle corridors, passing by the sleeping guardians of knowledge and past great teachers of the past. Finally, they reached the familiar Astronomy tower just as the moon emerged from the clouds and opened the gate of its light before them.
Jeanne smiled and reached out her hand to Harry. Together, they ascended the covered staircase leading to the stars. They found themselves on a magnificent platform surrounded by astronomical instruments and stars scattered across the sky. Harry looked up, dazzled, and shivered.
"Unexpected but very pleasant," he whispered, forgetting about the possible dangers and the words failed him.
"Great, now I suggest we dance," Jeanne declared, her voice piercing the night's silence and sounding like crystal glass.
Harry couldn't resist her proposal. They pressed against each other, moving to the rhythm of a starry tango, creating the magic of their own moments.
And suddenly, under the starry night sky, Jeanne began to sing. Her voice was so tender and soul-stirring that it seemed like she was summoning not only the stars but also the deepest emotions and feelings. She became a constellation herself, radiating an unknown and beautiful power. The surrounding ordinary faded away in that moment - only they and the stars remained, shining millions of tiny lights silently acknowledging their admiration for this flawless sound. Her voice soared into the night, ascending like a bright constellation of unknown light.
Suddenly, a magical star lit up in the infinite sky, high above the heads of ordinary people. Its light, brighter than the brightest gemstones, caressed the eyes and penetrated the deepest corners of the soul, creating an atmosphere of mystery and beauty. Each flicker, like a secret dancing particle, framed the world around them with an enchanting glow, enticing them to explore the magical boundaries of the universe. Harry and Jeanne were taken aback, losing their balance, and only then did Harry notice an intriguing detail in the sky.
"Look, this constellation looks like an hourglass!" he waved his hand towards the sky.
"I think it looks like a sad person, cutting through time," Jeanne laughed.
They continued their dance, diving into uncharted depths of joy. Their hearts beat in unison with the pulsations of the stars, and when they finally stopped their dance and knelt down to rest, Harry realized that this magical moment would live in his soul forever.
The dark blue sky enveloped them as they gazed into the depths of the cosmos, losing track of time. Suddenly, one of the stars slid and fell to the ground somewhere beyond the horizon. Harry and Jeanne exchanged glances, their hearts filled with inexplicable joy.
"We will be star-bound forever," Jeanne whispered, her face suddenly becoming unusually serious, and... sad?
They remained sitting, staring at the beautiful sky, forgetting about their worries and dangers, knowing that their hearts continued to beat in harmony with the magic of this world. Together, they ignited the stars and created their unique moment in time, which shone brighter than the brightest constellation.
Among the stars, among galaxies, among gigantic galactic superclusters, a man in a white coat rushed, tears piercing his gaze, and his heart, scarred and burning, yearned. He tirelessly tore his chains with his hands, as if his life depended on this momentary liberation, and clenched the broken clock in his fist, desperately hoping to be in time, to save someone from imminent death.
"Harry, my boy!" interrupted his distressing journey through the imaginary universe the voice of Professor Slughorn, who unexpectedly appeared from around the corner of the corridor and glanced shamefully at the bedraggled hero. "I have called you a hundred times, and you are completely out of it, forgetting about important matters."
Harry landed on the ground of reality, feeling somewhat relieved that his dream world had turned to dust.
"Really?" he whispered, trying to reconnect with reality.
"Yes, of course!" exclaimed the professor, trying to smile friendly, though his eyes sparkled with worry. "Come to my office this evening. And don't hesitate, you can bring a friend or a companion, I don't mind," his voice sounded slightly louder than usual, realizing that Harry was not alone in his distress.
The professor's gaze briefly glanced at Mash, who sat nearby, engrossed in preparing for the next lesson. On her shoulder, seemingly unaffected by everything happening around, Fou calmly dwelled, emitting a little squeak when the professor's gaze lightly touched him. The gaze of this white and blue creature seemed puzzling to Harry.