BEAUTIFULLY UNDONE

The war had been over for almost a year.

To everyone else, Harry Potter was supposed to be getting better.

The Chosen One had survived.

The Dark Lord was gone.

The world was rebuilding.

Everything was supposed to be fine.

Harry hated those words.

Supposed to be.

Most days, he couldn't remember the last time he'd slept through the night.

Every time he closed his eyes, he saw faces.

Friends.

Enemies.

The dead.

Especially the dead.

The newspapers loved to print photographs of him smiling at charity events and Ministry ceremonies. They called him a hero. A symbol of hope.

Harry had become very good at smiling.

He had become even better at lying.

Because nobody wanted to hear that the hero was falling apart.

Nobody wanted to know that he spent most nights wandering the streets of London because he couldn't bear being alone with his thoughts.

Nobody wanted to know that he felt more lost after the war than he ever had during it.

The truth was simple.

Harry Potter had survived.

But he wasn't sure what came next.

And that terrified him.

Rain poured from a dark sky as Harry walked aimlessly through the city.

His hood was pulled low.

His hands shoved into his pockets.

People passed without recognizing him.

For once, he was grateful.

The cold didn't bother him.

Nothing really did anymore.

His thoughts drifted.

Back to Hogwarts.

Back to the war.

Back to all the people he couldn't save.

A sharp laugh escaped him.

The newspapers called him a hero.

If they knew how broken he felt, they would probably change their minds.

A car rolled past.

Then another.

Harry didn't notice.

He never noticed.

Not the way someone else did.

SMUT WILL BE INCLUDED