All I Ever Wanted Was the World

chapter 38

Run- I've got to run, Harry thought as his shoes slapped the ground and carried him over the grounds of Hogwarts. His heart was thudding loudly in his ears and he could feel it try to jump out of his chest. His lungs were on fire and he searched- his eyes looking everywhere as he moved, dodging debris, spells, and fire that were thrown from all directions.
Dead bodies littered the ground and he felt his breath hitch.
Laying face up on the ground was Remus Lupin. A devastated sound left his throat and he tore his eyes from sight, trying to burn away the memory of a bloody and mangled face that looked back at him in horror. He ran away and the cold, dead eyes of his former professor; his slashed face was ingrained in his mind as he blinked away the ash and dust.
Tears welled in his eyes and, if he wasn't having trouble seeing before, he definitely was now.

He rubbed his eyes hard and ignored the sting.
He skidded to a stop as he came across a large crater in the ground. When he did so, Harry had someone managed to slide on the dirt and, in his excursion, nearly fell into the crater but had just managed to grasp onto the ledge. His eyes wandered down and he let out a terrified scream at the sight.

Tom lay in the crater. His dark brown eyes were half-open and glassy, but they were looking at Harry. His face was contorted in pain and his dirty, matted hair was flung around his head in the pit. His normally already pale face was ashen, and his body was covered in blood. Blood was splattered on his face and he had a large gash on his head that oozed the red fluid. His leg was bent at an awkward angle, it was completely impossible-
He was still. Unmoving.

Harry let go and slid down the dirt wall.
He crawled as fast as he could to Tom, and tears were already falling from his eyes and slipping down his cheeks as he got closer. His chest wasn't moving, and something overtook Harry in a way he had never felt before.
A cry escaped his lips, and his hands clutched onto Tom's shirt, pulling the fabric taught beneath his fingers.
"Tom!" He croaked, and a sob racked his body as he heaved the body onto his lap, pulling the boy as close to his chest as he could. He nursed his head in his arms and stared into the fixed eyes that seemed to stare away from Harry, looking off into the distance now that he was closer.
"Tom- Tom please!" He was breathing hard and he couldn't see anymore, his vision completely obstructed by tears and dirt.
He buried his head into Tom's mess of hair. It was normally smoothly styled into soft waves, with curls on the ends, but now-
Now it was covered in blood and dirt and it was tangled, something that looked so utterly wrong on him.
The metallic smell drifted into his nose and he let out a noise, gripping onto Tom as tight as he could-

"Harry!"

The raven-haired boy rolled and slipped from the bed, his wand now in hand and his arm raised, aiming at the source of the voice. He blinked, his blurry vision obstructing a clear view of the individual.
"Harry." The voice said slowly and he felt his nerves ease as he recognized it. He lowered his wand arm and let out a breath, pressing a free hand to the his chest and feeling his rapid heartbeat.
Harry was breathing hard.

Tom was sat up in the bed and propped against the headrest, his hair mussed and looking horribly worried.
"Come here," he beckoned, extending a hand out to Harry, who slowly trudged his way over to the boy.
"You were crying," he said slowly, and he was eyeing Harry, "you were screaming my name."

Harry rose a hand to his cheeks and wiped at the tickle. He took notice of the dampness under his eyes and on his cheeks. He could feel his lashes clump together. He took hold of Tom's hand and was pulled onto the bed.
"I did." He murmured, and his throat felt dry and tight as he sat on the bed, scooting closer to Tom. A hand was on his shoulder and was pulling him close to the warm chest belonging to the other teen.  He buried his head into the pale stretch of neck and breathed, trying to control the pounding in his chest.
"What happened?" Tom's voice was uncharacteristically soft and ghostly fingers whispered through his hair, and he felt a pleasant tingle in his scalp when his nails scraped the skin.
"I-" he inhaled sharply and turned his head, resting his cheek on Tom's shoulder so that his voice would be audible. "I was running through the grounds again...I saw...there were bodies everywhere. I saw Lupin and there was a crater. You- you were in it." He managed to get out, and he shut his eyes before quickly opening them, reminding himself that the image was practically seared into his mind. He didn't want to close his eyes more than he had to.