Till The End | h.p

dream or reality

Harry stumbles out onto the castle grounds chasing after Snape, Draco and Bellatrix. He fires spell after spell at them.

"Draco, get the girl!" Bellatrix shouts.

Harry turns around frantically and sees Malfoy grab Sam and drag her kicking and screaming into the Forbidden Forest.

"No!" he tries to rush after her, but Snape knocks him flat onto the ground.

Something flashes before him and he's standing in front of Sam, who is tied up and gagged. Voldemort walks around her in circles.

"They left you to die, foolish girl!"

He uses the Cruciatus Curse on her repeatedly. She cries out in agony and her eyes flash bright green in determination and rage. Harry tries to interfere, but his feet are firmly planted to the ground. It's as if days turn into months, but they pass by in minutes as he watches Voldemort torture her day in and day out. He watches her body deteriorate and the light in her eyes grow more dull until it no longer exists.

Suddenly they're both standing in a large house. She looks at him, but it's as if she doesn't recognize him.

"Sam!" He shouts.

Realization dawns on her and her eyes flash green as sparks fly from her hands, "You left me! You let them take me! You promised till the end! They killed me, Harry! You killed me!"

He begs and pleads with her, but the scene changes again. He's standing in the courtyard at Hogwarts, but the walls are broken and bodies lay scattered around the grounds. His eyes meet hers once again, but he doesn't recognize them. She looks lifeless as her magic pulses from her hands. She kills students that run by and tears the castle down brick by brick. The light that once illuminated her eyes, was gone. He grabs her as his own tears fall.

"Sam, please! Please! I'm so sorry. I tried to stop them! I searched for you! I never stopped looking for you! Please, come back! Come back to me!"

He shakes her and her eyes finally meet his, but her expression is completely blank, like she's not even human anymore.

"I love you," he pleads as his voice cracks.

Her eyes shift from his to something on the ground beside him. He follows her gaze and his eyes land on the Sword of Godric Gryffindor. Their eyes meet once again and he realizes.

"No, no I won't. Please, don't make me. Please, love, please. I need you... just come back to me."

A single tear falls from the corner of her eye, but her expression remains blank. The sword lifts from the ground and into Harry's hand. She gives a small nod. He screams and shouts.

He sobs out finally, "Please, don't make me lose you. Don't make me do this. Please."

She wraps her hand around his at the hilt and guides him to her stomach. Seemingly out of his control, he plunges it into her and rips it back out. He drops the sword in shock and horror. Her knees buckle and pain etches across her face. She begins to fall to the ground and he wraps his arms around her body as he falls with her.

Tears fall from her eyes as she stutters, "Why?"

Her eyes flutter closed as she takes her last breath. Harry feels his heart lurch forward and shatter. He screams out in agony as he rocks back and forth, holding the body of the love of his life, the girl he killed.

"Sam!" Harry jolts upright from his bed as sweat drips off of him, "Sam! NO!"

Ron jumps out of the bed next to him and turns on the light before grabbing onto Harry's shoulders, "Sam is fine! What's wrong?"

"I killed her! I left her and then I killed her!" Harry shouts as he buries his head into his hands.

He feels a hand cup his chin and pulls his head up. His eyes widen upon seeing Sam. She gently pulls him into her as she sits down on his bed.

"Shh, you're okay, love. I'm okay. I'm here," she consoles as she looks towards Ron in confusion.

He only shrugs in response but looks at Harry in concern. Harry holds Sam tight, petrified that if he lets her go, she will be taken. She tries to pull away, but he panics.

"Harry, wait. Just tell me what happened?" Sam asks in worry.

"I- they took you. He tortured you. I had to kill you," Harry stutters out.

"Look at me, Harry. I'm here. I'm okay," she assures him.

Ron looks at Sam and rests a hand on her arm, "I'm going to go get Hermione to brew another sleeping potion and make some tea."

She nods in response and as Ron exits the room she pulls away, "Harry, I'm going to go grab you one of my potions, okay?"

"No, just- stay, please," he asks as he begins to calm down.

She looks at the door apprehensively, but nods and climbs into the bed with him.

"I'm sorry," he says, "I don't mean to-, I just can't lose you too."

"It's okay. I'm not going anywhere," she smiles as she settles on her side.

He pulls her back into his chest and rests his arm around her protectively. She's never slept in the same bed with him before, so at first, she's nervous and slightly shaky. But when she remembers it's Harry, all her worries wash away. He won't let anything bad happen to her. When Ron and Hermione enter the room, they're both fast asleep.

Ron turns to Hermione, "I don't know how I feel about this-"

"He might be able to get some sleep, though," Hermione insists, "These dreams have been plaguing him almost every night. This isn't romantic, Ron. It's just Harry trying to keep her safe."

"Yeah, but she's safe here," Ron argues.

"Friends would do this too, Ronald. Imagine if it was you and me. If you had a terrifying dream that someone took me and tortured me for months, you wouldn't be worried about my well being? It's traumatizing."

He stutters and rubs the back of his neck, "We should uh- see you in the morning."

She blushes slightly, "See you in the morning."

She takes one last look at Sam and Harry and gives a small smile before shutting the door.