The Primrose Tree: A Harry Potter Story {COMPLETE}

Chapter 14: The Golden Angel

HARRY'S P.O.V.

My heart stopped dead in its tracks. I'd finally made it to where I saw her run to. I tore through the bushes and into the open area to find her lying on the ground.

Her body looked broken, her hands, hair, and face were still covered in bits of dried blood and mud. Her clothes were tattered and badly ripped. The blood and dirt were turning the symbols, pictures, and logos on her shirt different shades of brown and red.

My legs eventually gave way and I fell to my knees beside her. Aside from all the dirt and cuts crusty with blood that covered her face, she looked somewhat peaceful. I imagined her running through endless fields of white, rejoicing and reuniting with her loved ones, forever happy, knowing that any of her surviving loved ones would know she was shining down on them.

My first instinct was to scoop her up in my arms and run away, hoping and praying that someone would help me. But, I didn't.

I just sat there, knowing she was too far gone, and waited for them to take me, too.

"It should've been me," I whispered to her quiet form. "I should've gone, not you." I gently lifted up her head and, whether she could feel it or not, placed a soft kiss on her lips. A coppery taste of blood lingered in my mouth when I pulled away.

My eyes skimmed the length of the area until they came to a stop on a pair of beady yellow eyes. My first impulse was to run, but once I got a good look at the eyes, I recognized them.

"I was too late," I said to the eyes. "There's nothing I can do." The eyes came closer until I could make out a snout, ears, a head, a neck, paws, legs, a body, and a long bushy tail.

The dog walked over to me, whimpering with sadness as his eyes fell upon Cassidy. The tip of his nose touched hers, almost as if he was trying to say goodbye. He gave one of her cheeks a soft lick, ridding it of the dirt and excess blood. His tail drooped to the ground as he bowed his head. When he looked up at me again, I no longer saw the face of a dog.

"You did what you could," said Sirius.

"I didn't do enough," I said icily. "I could've stopped her from throwing her life away!"

"She threw her life away so you could live yours," he replied.

"But how can I live my life if it's already gone?" I asked angrily. Sirius's eyebrows frowned in confusion.

"I don't understand."

"She was my life! Cassidy was the world to me! She pulled me out of my deep depression pool when I first met her! She was the whole reason my entire personality changed...and Hermione was her best friend. If she found out, it would break her heart."

He patted my shoulder. "I know. But she was brave. So brave that she gave herself up for you. What more could you ask for?"

I tucked a strand of her hair back behind her head. "Nothing. There's nothing else I want more of in this world...except her."

"At least she died knowing you loved her," said Sirius gruffly. I nodded. That was true, and thinking about that made me flash back to the moment Malfoy had told me what she was planning to do.

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***My heart hammers wildly in my chest as I continuously call out her name.

"Cassidy!" I scream. "Cassidy!" My loud voice angers a family of birds in a tree and they flap their wings in fits of rage in my direction.

"Potter! Hey, Potter!" yells a voice coming up the hillside. I turn my head in the direction of the voice, knowing of course that it isn't Cassidy since the voice is so deep.