Moira | Harry Potter

Chapter Thirty Six

Story: Moira
Chapter Thirty Six: In Limbo

The sudden silence which greeted him when he woke up was really soothing. It almost seemed like soft notes of music to his ears: the peacefulness. Basking in the feeling, he tried to feel around for where he was as his eyelids were still heavy. He felt the hard marble floor beneath him but could not feel any solid thing like a rock.

Turning to lie on his back, he took in enormous amounts of fresh oxygen: the one thing which his body was craving madly for.

When it finally got what it wanted, everything rushed into his brain: the graveyard, Voldemort and most importantly, Ginny. He didn't even know if he was dead, or perhaps he was in hell for all the crimes and murders he had committed in a lifespan of seventeen years. But the floor was not burning hot or threatening to swallow him as whole. The inevitable question popped up: where was he?

Feeling the determination to find the answer to his own question, he opened his eyes and sat up, only to realize he was naked. Feeling rather ashamed, for the first time in his life, he wished to clothe himself.

Whatever magic happened, he did not know, but a set of Wizarding robes popped up a few feet away from him. He quickly robed himself and looked around for his missing glasses; not that he needed them anyway.

"Harry." A feminine voice preceeded the closing of a door and he turned around to face a red haired young woman with beautiful, bright green eyes. Behind her, another man emerged from the door, looking just as same as him but with hazel eyes. They smiled warmly at him but Harry could not help but notice the faint trace of sadness in that smile.

"James? Lily?" Harry croaked out. This time, the sadness showed as they nodded and they did not bother to conceal it. Harry cleared his throat, sheepishly realizing that he was the reason for the melancholy. "I'm truly pathetic, ain't I?"

"No son. You did a great job down there," James complimented.

"Am I dead?" The childish question slipped out of his mouth before he could stop it. His parents exchanged looks of apparent confusion.

"It's up to you, sweetheart," Lily replied.

"Up to me? So you mean I can go back? To the mortal world?" Harry asked. Lily nodded. "Well then, brilliant." He made to look around for a door to get to the mortal world but his mother spoke up.

"We know." Harry turned to face them with narrowed eyes. "We know you are angry at us for leaving you. I think it is safe to say that that's the only way we differ from your godfather."

"Explain," Harry said.

"We never truly wanted to leave you, Harry." Harry snorted. "We only thought that if Voldemort would kill us, you will be free to live rather than die along with us," James explained. "We never intended your life to go down the way it has. If we knew about it we would have –"

"You would have what?" Harry asked. "Agreed to him and do the same thing as Sirius? Why doesn't anyone understand! I'd rather die than stay alive, trying to control the damned sorcery I have learnt!

"I know that these past few months; after meeting Ginny, my life at least had a ray of hope. But was it really worth after years of suffering? Just a few weeks, not even the entirety of a month, when compared to sixteen years of silent torture?!" Harry shouted. James and Lily exchanged looks. "And what about Ron then? Even he has suffered! Are all parents this careless? Rather, are all guardians this careless?"

"Harry, we –"

"Nobody," Harry swallowed. "Nobody asked if I was okay."

Lily could take it no more. She could not see her only son break down in front of her. Letting her motherly instincts take over and without caring about what he would say or think, she ran forward and hugged him. His silent sobs filled the atmosphere as James wrapped his arms around his wife and son. Nothing much muttered to the three for several minutes before Harry made to break away from the embrace. Lily and James obliged.

"We are truly sorry, sweetheart," Lily apologized. Harry wiped his tears away harshly, ashamed to have broken down, and shook his head. "I wish I could have done something to heal your pain but Moira and Death prevent us from doing anything."

"What?" he whispered.

"They are the ones who sent us here, son."

"They? They are living mortals?"

"Guess you could say something like entities or was it deities, Lils?" Lily glared at him through her misty eyes. Harry forced back his chuckle. James grinned and continued. "We have never truly seen them."

Harry nodded, unclear about everything yet accepting what his parents had to offer. He could not comprehend why he felt truly warm when he was in his parents' arms. Now that he came to think of it, he truly would have appreciated their presence with him.

"You must go now, before Death changes his mind. Remember that you are still in Limbo," James warned, breaking Harry out of his reverie. He looked up and deep into the bright emerald eyes of his mother.

"You are so like James," she said, cupping his cheek affectionately. He tried to suck in as much warmth as possible from her hand as he leaned in to her palm.

"Except the eyes, Lils. Neither yours nor mine, you see?" James replied cheekily.

"Oh shut it, James. I'm sure his eyes will return to its original glory when he is fixed."

Harry could not understand what they were talking about; his mother's loving hand had swallowed his brain along with the feeling it was giving to his heart and his senses.

"Stay close to me," Harry whispered as he backed away and looked at his parents. They smiled in response and hugged him in turns, finally bringing down to another group hug.

"Until the end," James said. Lily smiled widely at him and added her own line.

"Always."

________________________

When Harry opened a mystery door, he spotted two people in front of him, their backs towards him. When they heard of the new entry, they turned to face him and the door behind him shut itself on its own accord.

Harry's eyes widened and a sinking feeling of despair settled at the bottom of his stomach. The two people in front of him, he just could not make himself believe, were dead and in limbo with him.

He could have given anything; his own life perhaps, to save them but the nabbing feeling that it was not possible ate hungrily at his insides for it was the two people he loved the most: Sirius Black and Ginny Weasley.

Dun dun dun! Cliffhanger! How do you like it? I know you hate me for this. ;

Also, don't hate me for the last line. Harry loves Ron and Draco as friends too but Sirius and Ginny are at the top of his list.

Also, you might ask how he can love if he tried to defy it because of Voldemort. Well, the only answer is that he is the son of James and Lily; unlike Voldemort who can't feel love, he can feel love.

I'm so sorry for the late update!

Thank you for reading!

Miyoko x