Chapter three! Yay!
There was no way Harry could ever find peace at this rate. He'd just watched his friends die right in front of him, not being able to do anything to stop their suffering. Sleeping draughts wouldn't help, no... the more you took in succession, the quicker they began to wear off. As far as Harry could tell, these nightmares wouldn't go away permanently with a potion.
He lay there for a while, pondering if he should back to sleep. On occasion, this worked out for him, and Harry was blessed with dreamless sleep, if only for a couple hours. Sometimes, though, he would have a shorter but just as fearful nightmare. Most of the time, sleep eluded him, and Harry stayed in bed with his thoughts until dawn.
This seemed to be one of those times. As Harry stared at the ceiling of his four poster bed, he could hear Ron's snores. Harry envied him for being able to sleep normally.
He figured out why everyone else had dreamless sleep. They all had someone else to talk to about anything. Ron and Hermione had each other, Neville and Luna had feelings arising in their friendship (which everyone appeared to know about except for Luna herself), Dean and Seamus were best friends as ever (they were actually together but they thought no one knew about it)... and Harry just had himself. Nobody else knew what it was like to walk into the forest, accepting his fate, choosing to embrace death. He'd beat it, though. He'd defeated Voldemort who ensured his date after destroying the Horcrux in Harry.
It was just... Harry felt he was too late.
So many people were lost before he sacrificed himself. Fred, Lupin, Tonks, Colin, and so many others lost their lives before he went into the forest. Harry didn't even know the names of most of them, but he learned and repeated as many as he could. It was the least he could do, and his mind cleared slightly when he did so, if only for a short while.
After he ran through the names again, Harry decided to change his routine. He pulled on his robe and grabbed his Invisibility Cloak, putting it on as he made his way down the stairs. Harry opened the portrait hole quietly and closed it, leaving the sleeping Fat Lady behind. He didn't plan on coming back before dawn.
The castle was wonderfully quiet at night. Harry turned into a random corridor, deciding to walk until the sun came up. He paused briefly to peek out the window and look at the stars. The moon was bright in the sky, a pretty crescent. The stars twinkled and Harry felt a pang in his heart. He stopped looking. Night reminded him of too many people.
He continued to walk in the halls, appreciating the silence that was so rare in Hogwarts. All of a sudden, though, the silence was broken.
Harry heard, strangely, piano music.
It was a fast piece but melodic and pretty. It seemed a little distant but fairly clear. Out of curiosity, he went off to find it.
Harry twisted and turned throughout the corridors. He wondered why nobody was waking up, but he supposed that he was simply in a part of the castle that perhaps wasn't in earshot of any of the common rooms. Harry kept walking, almost jogging, desperately curious to figure out where the music was coming from. It was no use, though; sometimes the notes would sound achingly close and sometimes they would be faint enough that Harry wondered if he was imagining it. Then, when he was going down a corridor where the music seemed clear but not close, it stopped.
Harry blinked, startled at the sudden silence. He sighed and sat down, leaning against a wall. Strangely, the silence wasn't as inviting anymore. It was… empty, almost lonely. Harry decided he'd sit a minute longer and then continue walking, knowing he'd never get the oddly calming music out of his head.
A minute later, though, as Harry made to stand up, the music started again, and he sat back down to listen.
It was a very different piece. The music was slow and the tone melancholy. Harry just sat there, drinking in every note of the piece. It seemed to resonate with him, almost sympathize with him. It settled his heart, banished his dark thoughts, and calmed him in a way Harry hadn't felt in a long time. Before he knew it, his eyelids felt heavy, and he drifted off.
His first thought was that his neck was stiff. Very, very stiff. Harry groaned and opened his eyes. The sun was up already. Harry's eyes widened and he shot off to the Gryffindor common room. Luckily, Ron was leaving for breakfast just as Harry skidded in front of the portrait hole. He tore off the Invisibility Cloak just as Ron was about to close it.
"Bloody hell," Ron started. "A warning next time? Where've you been, mate?"
"Went for a walk, dozed off," Harry whispered quickly. "Thanks!" He dashed off.
"You look pretty good!" Ron called after him.
As Harry pulled on a shirt, he took a look in the mirror and did a double take. The bags under his eyes had lessened and he looked less… hunched over than normal. That's when it hit him. It was about 8am.
Harry just had seven hours of dreamless sleep.
It had to do with the piano, there was no other explanation. By the time he finished changing, Harry made a promise to go listen to the music again, if it was there. This was a way he could find peace. This was a way he could heal.
I will try to post these chapters every five days as opposed to every week since I have a full outline for this story. See you soon!