Purple Rain.

Chapter Seventy-One.

To say that being alone in a dark void was quite scary would be an understatement. (Y/n) never feared the dark itself, but rather the unknowingness it held. Luckily for her, (Y/n) was not alone but she was not there either. (Y/n) was extremely proud that she had been successful in shutting off her mind before Voldemort could erase it, but she did not expect to now be trapped in her own head.

It was like watching a movie: Voldemort's retreat and escape with Bellatrix; Harry's break down through which he was just barely able to get the retelling of all that went down after (Y/n) and Harry left the Department of Mysteries; Harry being forced to go back to Hogwarts; Remus's refusal to leave (Y/n)'s unconscious form; The Aurors discussing what she had been struck with; Dumbledore's eventual disappearance as the Death Eaters were made to be brought in to Azkaban; Two lifts bring up two groups of the same people to the atrium; Ginny's horrified scream as Tonks just barely caught her from falling; Another retelling of all that was happening; The others being forced back to Hogwarts via the Knight Bus whilst (Y/n) and Hermione were brought to St. Mungo's on stretchers.
(Y/n) watched it all go down without her. She was but an outside force, somehow separate from her body. Time passed with nothing for her to do. A couple of hours turned into two days. Hermione had awoken and after some checkups, she was made to return to Hogwarts and stay in the medical wing for some time. (Y/n) always had someone by her side— whether it be bringing a gift of flowers or balloons or a card or a stuffed animal, someone would always stop in to pay her unconscious form a visit yet there was nothing she was able to do to pass time.
Remus and Olivia had been there most often, usually sitting in sad silence. Lily and Penny had pulled many strings to be able to be (Y/n)'s nurses for the time being. Lily had been in daily, sitting in the chair right next to (Y/n)'s bed. Each time, she would close her eyes and try and enter (Y/n)'s head. (Y/n) tried and tried to give her access but she never did it. There were often one-sided conversations that she could return but they could not hear her. 

Dumbledore had been right. There were worse things than death.

"You think?" a voice called. For a moment, (Y/n) believed Tonks had been talking to someone (Y/n) was not able to see. But that was not Tonks's voice, it was Cassius's.

(Y/n) whipped around, which she really didn't need to do, for Cassius was standing beside her, looking at the very scene she was. There were two others that had settled on (Y/n)'s other side. The woman, who had a very similar face to (Y/n), smiled softly at Remus before also looking at her as the other two had. 

"Mum... Dad... Cass..." (Y/n) murmured, nothing short of confused. (Y/m/n) (Y/l/n) had not aged a day since (Y/n) last saw her. If anything, she looked younger though that would be expected when the only access of viewing her mother that (Y/n) had was through pictures. (Y/n)'s dad, on the other hand, seemed to be practically a stranger to her, which had been quite ironic considering she was closer to her dad when she was younger. Outside of wedding photos and pictures of (Y/n) growing up, there were no remaining pictures of her dad. (Y/n) had almost forgotten the fact that Cassius did once have colour to him due to her growing used to seeing him in his silvery ghost form.
"Are you here or is my mind playing tricks on me?"

"What makes you think your mind would play tricks on you?" (Y/m/n) mused. "It only wants what is best for you, no?"

"If it did, I would not still be trapped here," (Y/n) said. The three smiled at her.

"Perhaps," Cassius said.

"So it's all a dream, then?"

"Who's to say a dream and reality are any different?" (Y/d/n) asked. "Can you not make a dream into reality?"

"If my dreams were reality, we would have swapped places by now," (Y/n) stated.

"You reckon?" (Y/m/n) smiled. "If given the chance right now, do you think you would be able to go back and change the outcome of it all?" (Y/n) remained silent to which (Y/m/n) hummed in amusement. "Would you be willing to swap places right now?"