❝𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲?❞
❝𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦.❞
𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗬 𝗣𝗢𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥 had a few, perhaps a little or more than a palm of qualms in his life. First up was the whole "The Boy-Who-Lived" shenanigans, then there was an ungodly am...
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XCII. SOLACE
━━━━━━
"Oh, there's a long way to go
I don't believe that time will change your mind"
HARRY KNEW THIS FEELING WAS not permanent. He was acutely aware that the sinking feeling within him would occur more as time passed, but it didn't make it any less painful.
Death.
Grief.
These were the sole reasons for this uncomfortable feeling he had in his stomach. It was like waking up from an old nightmare. Weirdly enough, it made him recount the feeling of bringing Cedric's body back from the graveyard — it also made him recall when Sirius went through the veil when he saw Dumbledore's body after falling off the tallest tower at Hogwarts when Moody was declared dead... It was a familiar feeling that Harry wanted to believe he was getting used to, but he wasn't sure he was doing a good job at it as he stared at the tiny body curled up on the grass, pierced by Bellatrix's silver knife.
But for some reason, although it was familiar, this one felt different. It felt as if it was wrenching on his heart for some reason as he found himself saying, "Dobby... Dobby..." even though he knew that the elf had gone where he could not call him back.
Grief was weird. Death was weird.
After a minute or so he realised that they had, after all, come to the right place, for here were Bill and Fleur, Dean and Luna, gathering around Marjorie and him as they knelt over the elf.
"Hermione?" he said suddenly. "Where is she?"
"Ron's taken her inside," said Bill. "She'll be all right."
"Joy, you okay?"
There was a hesitant look in her eyes. "I-I'm fine —" her words were cut off by her cry of pain. Her adrenaline had worn off as she leant against him in pain, paler than ever.
"Can someone take her? Get her fixed?" Harry asked.
Bill stepped up, "I'll —"
"But Dobby —" Her body was aching, and her shoulder blade was pulsating.
"Joy, I'll take care of Dobby," said Harry, his voice so quiet. "Get yourself healed first," he urged. "Please,"
Harry was pleading — begging even as his eyes flickered to the blood that was seeping into the fabric of her gown. He didn't know how long it'd been, or how bad of an injury it was, but he couldn't afford to lose another. Noticing this, Marjorie pursed her lips before she reluctantly nodded and allowed Bill to hoist her off the ground. She winced with every movement, but she didn't take her eyes off Harry.
