Teenage Tragedy

“Harry…”

“Harry, wake up… please…”

“C’mon, mate. Get up.”

Harry felt a tear hit his cheek and then a tap on his shoulder. He moaned and rolled over. Why couldn’t these people leave him alone? He was perfectly happy where he was. Where was he, again?

“Oh, thank Merlin! He’s… I thought… Oh, Merlin, Merlin…” a soft voice cried. Somebody wrapped their warm arms tightly around his torso. It hurt; Harry gasped against the pain. It felt as though someone had thrown a Bludger at his chest, full speed. The arms pulled away quickly, scared.

Pain overwhelmed him; Harry squirmed and moaned, unable to scream; every time he tried, it turned out as a gurgle in his throat. Tears leaked from his eyes and stung his cut face as it trailed down his cheeks. He doubled up as another wave of agony swept over him. Many hands grabbed his bruised shoulders, but he pulled away. Finally, somebody with very cold hands pushed him down onto his back, ignoring his yells. They slipped a bottle to his mouth and poured a liquid down Harry’s throat. Peace engulfed him almost instantly, and the pain numbed. Harry stopped yelling and screaming as the icy hands laid him back down; Harry fell back asleep on the fluffy pillows. Subconsciously, he heard a girl cry his name…



~*~



“Harry Potter. How’s your girlfriend?” a cruel, high-pitched voice teased.

“Leave her ALONE!” Harry shouted, lunging at his archenemy. He pulled back quickly when Voldemort suddenly had a wand to the girl’s neck. Harry stopped, unwilling to attack while he had her hostage and that close to an enemy wand. He looked Voldemort straight in his red eyes. “Let her go. Now.”

Voldemort laughed. “Do you think simple words will stop me, Harry?” He looked down at his captive’s red head. “Pretty. Hmm…don’t worry; I’ll make your death as painless as possible, for you anyway,” he stage- whispered to the girl.

Ginny’s frightened brown eyes dashed toward Harry’s fierce green ones. “Harry…” A single tear fell down her face, splashing onto the dark, cave ground.

“Avada- ”

“NOOO!!!!!!” Harry suddenly ran at Voldemort again, this time, knocking him down. Ginny fell down onto a pile of bones which crunched under her light weight. Harry heard her screech, but he jumped up to face his foe. “You. Will. Not. Touch. Her.”

Again, the pale, snake-faced figure chuckled. “Crucio!” He bellowed, his voice echoing through the cave.

Harry braced himself, pushing all thoughts away except one: Ginny. Harry knew the pain was there, but he was concentrating too hard on the beautiful, red haired girl to feel any pain. He closed his eyes, trying to block out all other feeling from his mind. When he felt the curse lift, he opened his startling green eyes on to Voldemort. He glanced at Ginny, who was staring wide- mouthed at him. He smiled a little reassuring grin before facing Voldemort once more.

“Interesting. You’ve learned a lot since we last met, Harry. A lot. But, I wonder, can you withstand these?” He smirked at Harry.

Silently, he cast a spell that came out with a bright yellow light. It hit Harry hard in the chest and slammed him into the stone wall behind him. He set his jaw, trying to stop the stars from dancing in front of his watery eyes. Slowly, with a huff, he pulled himself back up. Harry took a deep breath; looked at Ginny, who had her hands over her mouth, quickly to make sure that she was okay; then back to Voldemort.

Voldemort looked stunned. “No matter, I’ll work on that. You are such a good lab mouse, Harry. Do you mind trying this one out?”

Once more, Voldemort sent a curse, this time purple, straight at Harry, who was bracing himself. On impact, he fell to his knees, ignoring the pain in his knees, as the searing fire inside him drowned it out with a stronger force. He knew he was screaming, he could feel it rip his throat, he tasted the blood, but he could not hear himself. The anguish was too much; he felt his energy recede rapidly. His muscles were already sore and felt like jelly. He was growing a pounding headache that drummed in his ears. Harry's mind grew foggy and then dizziness forced him to collapse sideways. He slammed his shoulder down, then his head. He tried to think of Ginny again, but that was impossible; all he could comprehend was his pain. This was too much to ignore.

Voldemort cackled and Ginny cried. The curse was removed, but the pain remained, a harsh reminder of Voldemort’s power. Still, Harry gasped and shouted. When he heard his name, he opened his eyes slightly to Ginny’s frightened face held in Voldemort’s white hands.

“No-” Harry sobbed hoarsely, trying to get up, to save her, but he stopped as Voldemort smiled again.

Another silent spell left Harry dazed and out of focus. A flash of green light, a red haired woman crying his name, and then silence. Harry was having trouble breathing. No, this was impossible. It was a lie. A dream, a very, very bad dream. ‘Wake up, Harry,'  he told himself. 'If this is a dream, why aren’t I waking up?!’ Ginny was limp on the floor by Voldemort’s feet. The nightmare in black robes came over to Harry’s wet face. “Goodbye, Harry.” Was this the end?



~*~