I was laying on my back in the cell, gasping for breath.
Water dripped on into eternity in the background.
Heavy footsteps marched towards me again and-
WHAM!
My body ragdolled back across the length of the stone chamber again and slammed up against the far wall.
Whump!
The white-masked deatheater trod towards me. When he was only a foot away, he crouched down next to me.
"What the bloody hell is up with you? Why do you keep fighting? There's nothing you can do."
I sputtered and struggled to get up.
He reached out and grabbed my shoulder. I cried out as he slammed me up against the wall.
"All your life you've been running into this pit, and now you're here. So what are you gonna do?"
"I'm going to keep fighting."
"For what?"
I looked up at Hermione from across the Gryffindor table.
"I dunno. For everything."
"That's a pretty vague answer, Harry."
"I know. But, I'll just take it as it comes, you know? That's how it's always been."
"Sure, but back then, you knew what would happen. You knew exactly what you were fighting for and who you were fighting, right?"
"Sure. I was fighting so I could defeat Voldemort."
"Why?"
I glanced at Derrin as I worked on a tattoo of a Hungarian Horntail on the back of some teenager.
"Because, if I don't win, people die. Innocent people."
"And you care about people you've never seen in your whole life, and probably never will see? People who could care less if you didn't exist?"
"Well, yeah. I mean, just because they don't know me, and I don't know them, it doesn't mean I should just leave them to their fate, yeah?"
"So they're the only reason you fight?"
"They're the only reason I have."
"That so?"
I was silent for a moment as I added a bit more detail to the left wing of the dragon.
"Yeah. I suppose."
"You don't fight for yourself?"
"Sure I do, but I'm not as important, you know? If I die, then I die. As long as Voldemort goes first."
"And why would you say that?" asked Dumbledore quietly from behind his desk.
Little magical instruments tinkled and buzzed and whirred all around the office. I stared into his calm blue eyes.
"Because all my life, I've been led toward this confrontation. You've been at the head of it all along. You've been manipulating me this whole time so I was fighting before I even knew I was a wizard."
I paused a second, then continued.
"I've been fighting for so long, I don't know anything else. So, if I die, I don't care. As long as the one I'm fighting goes first. I don't know what I would do in a peaceful, calm, safe environment. It'd be maddening. I'd probably go mental."
"Come off it, mate."
Ron shoved me as we walked down the dirt road by the Burrow.
"What?"
"There's so much more to live for than just the fight."
"But I have to win. If I don't, then all hell breaks loose."
"Yeah, I know that. We all know that." He shrugged. "But you have fun hanging out with me, yeah?"
"Yeah. You're my best mate. Of course I like hanging with you."
"And you like being around all your friends, yeah?"
"Yeah."
"You like playing Quidditch, yeah?"
"Yeah."
"And you're gonna just throw all that out the back door eh? All because you have to win, and you don't care what it takes?"
"……."
"You won't go mental when he's gone, mate. You'll be free. I think you're problem is that you don't know how to deal with that freedom."
We walked in silence for a few minutes.
"I can't let Voldemort win."
"You've already defeated him though, haven't you?"
I looked over at Sirius.
"What do you mean?"
We were sitting on the stairs in Grimmauld Place.
Sirius took a swig of his butterbeer, sighed, then said,
"You fought him already, Harry. You won."
"When?"
"In the graveyard up in Glasgow. You saved Ron and Hermione."
"I did?"
He laughed.
"Of course you did. Only time Voldemort's been truly scared in his life. Pity it didn't last longer."
We both sat in silence for several minutes.
"………."
"……..."
"………."
"………."
I looked over at Sirius. "Say, didn't you die?"
"Huh?"
"When you fell through that veil. Didn't you die?"
He paused a second, thinking. "I guess so. Why? D'you want me to leave already?"
"No. I was just wondering. Does that mean I'm dead?"
"Far from it. Allow a godfather to give his godson some helpful advice every now and then."
I laughed. "All right."
"So, what are you going to do now?"
I sighed. "I dunno."
"Why not?"
"Honestly, I never expected to live this long."
"Ah."
"Sirius?"
"Yes, Harry?"
"If I'm alive, and you're not, but we're talking, does that mean this isn't real?"
"This is as real as you feel it to be."
"But I'm gonna have to wake up sometime. When that happens, will I see you again?"
"I never really left, Harry. I was right here, all along. Waiting for you to come and say 'hi'. Took you long enough."
We shared a quiet laugh.
"How do you do it?"
"Do what?"
"You've always been so strong. Even when the whole goddamn world was against you, you stood your ground and you did what you thought was right."
"So've you. I'm not a prime example."
"Well, it's different with me."
"Yeah, I'm sure it is."
"………"
"How long has it been now?"
"Since what?"
"Since you were brought in here."
As I thought about it, I felt something kind of tugging at the back of my mind.
"No. Sirius, I don't wanna go. I want to stay here, with you."
"Not yet, Harry."
"But, Sirius!"
"Not. Yet. It's not your time. Stick with your friends, Harry. All of them. Even when you feel the most lost. They'll always be there for you, Harry. Just be there for them as well."
Something burned at the corner of my eyes and at the back of my throat.
"Sirius, please, don't go. Not again."
"Didn't you hear me the first time?" He shouted. It was like he was far away even though he was still sitting next to me.
Everything was fading away into the gray depths of oblivion.
"I never left you! And I never will! I'll be right here waiting, all right? Don't you forget, Harry. Don't forget your friends!"
"Sirius!"
"Goodbye, Harry. 'Till we meet again."
"SIRIUS!"
"Goodbye."
"……………..goodbye."
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….. "Harry?"
"………."
"Harry?"
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……. "Harry, can you hear me?"
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……. "Harry, we're right here. Come back Harry. Come on. You can do it!"
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………. "Go, Harry. See your friends. Live your life. Because now you have a life to live……"
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"I think he's waking up! Harry, come on Harry. Wake up. Come back. We're here."
A hand was gripping my own. Someone else's hand was on my shoulder.
"…..nnnnnngh…."
"He's waking up!"
People were whispering and murmuring all around.
"That's it, Harry. Wake up."
Mr. Weasly?
"Come on, Harry!"
Hermione…
The hand holding my own right one gripped a little tighter.
I became aware of a bright light filling the room or wherever I was that filtered in through my closed eyelids.
"…..nnngh….turn 'ff the light…"
"Haha! That's it, Harry."
"The curse?"
"They found an antidote. It's alright, Harry. You can open your eyes. You can see us."
"…but didn' I need to be awake for you to….."
"Oh, shut it, Harry." I could hear the hidden laugh in Ron's voice. "You'll spoil the moment."
"But…"
"We found a way around it. Simple as that, really. You don't need to worry about it, alright?"
"Sure."
I barely squinted my eyes open.
I smiled slightly. Tiredly.
" 'f you squeeze m'hand any tighter it'll fall off."
Everyone in the room started laughing and cheering.
It was a kind of loud and corny scene, but happy nonetheless.
"Welcome back, Harry." Ron beamed.
"…….I left?"
I noticed Ron, Hermione, and the Weasly's grouped tightly around my bed. Beyond them were the forms of Lupin, Tonks, Dumbledore, and of course, Hagrid.
"We were worried there. You were in a coma, mate. A pretty bad one."
"No I wasn't." I said quietly.
Everyone in the room was listening.
"I could hear you….feel you. It…..it was like, like I was just lying down. I was….awake…..but, I couldn't wake up."
Mrs. Weasly bent over me with tears in her eyes, and whispered,
"But you're back now. And that's all that matters."
She embraced my right side in a careful hug. Which reminded me….
"Mrs. Weasly?"
"Yes, dear?"
"…..My……my arm…….?"
"…………….."
Everyone in the room grew silent. It wasn't a happy silence either. I noticed none of them were looking at me.
I tried to lift my head, but I had no strength to do so. I tried moving my left fingers. I could feel them, but…..
"Wha's wrong….with my arm?"
Ron finally stepped forward, Hermione by his side.
"I'm sorry, Harry."
"The healers did all they could."
"They had to take it off."
I looked at them, not registering what they had said.
"Your arm, Harry. It kept getting worse." Hermione explained in a quiet voice. "They did everything they could, but it wouldn't get any better."
I could feel myself breathing a little bit faster.
"It got infected, and it was affecting your entire body, Harry. That's when you slipped even deeper into the coma. They had to take the arm in order to save your life."
"…..but……I can feel it….."
Dumbledore stepped forward. "Come now. We can worry about your arm later. There are thongs that we can do about it. Let's just be happy and celebrate the fact that you are once again with us, Harry."
"Here, here!" echoed Fred and George.
I looked over to Hermione, who had tears running silently down her face, and to Ron, who stood beside me, pale and tired.
"Remember your friends, Harry. They are the most precious things you'll ever have in your life."
I reached up slowly with my right hand and gripped Hermione's fingers. Both she and Ron looked at me. I smiled slightly.
"Everything will be alright."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I'm sure. Limbs are overrated."
They both smiled, too.
And for the first time in almost two years, I felt warm.
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Deep within the bowels of the Department of mysteries, there was a small, dark chamber. It was completely empty, save for the heavy, iron-bound chest that sat in the middle of the floor.
Every so often, a wisp of smoke could be seen rising from the crate towards the stone ceiling.
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A door creaked open, then shut again. Light poured into the room before getting cut off again. Footsteps could be heard, echoing through the chamber, before they stopped next to the crate.
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Cl-Click! Click!
Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!
One by one the iron bars were ripped off the chest and dropped onto the floor.
Finally, the chest stood, alone.
Well…almost.
CREEEAAAAAK!
The lid was pried open with trembling hands.
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A breath.
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………. "I'm here, master."
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The End.
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Holy shit on a cracker, it's done!
Thanks to everyone for sticking with me. You guys kept me writing. If anyone wants to take a stab at a sequel, just let me know.
Until later,
Peace.
-Kybo