All I Ever Wanted Was the World

chapter 30

The two had fallen back asleep, and the night became peaceful once more.

Harry was falling...and falling, and failing, and there was no end. His eyes refused to register anything except the quickly-passing blurry masses of objects race past his head as he went down.

He hit the ground hard and let out a sharp exhale at the contact, his body slowly turning over onto his side once he felt the breath knocked out of him. Gasping for air, the young boy struggled as he rose to his forearms and knees, resting his forehead against the cool ground.
Harry registered the freezing temperature of the ground that cooled his head upon impact, and it was then he realized that he was back in the forest he had been in before he woke up earlier that night.
He cursed under his breath and shut his eyes for a moment, gathering himself as he got off the snow-covered forest floor.
He heard the distant sound of spells being fired and gripped the wand in his hand, starting to jog in the opposite direction before letting out a stifled cry.
He stumbled and felt the spell hit the back of his calf,  the muscles within his leg stiffening and forcing him to limp.
With one working leg left, he dragged the leg against the snowy ground, using the trees to his advantage and pushing off them to move himself forward.

"Stupid boy, petrificus totalus!"

The high voice shouted out, and another spell was fired in his direction. He turned in horror as he saw the light come towards him.

The spell made contact with his shoulder and his hands slipped before falling from the tree.
As if he were in slow motion, he felt his body collapse on its side before he fell on his back, completely paralyzed and unable to do anything. His wand slipped from between his fingers and rolled  away from him.

The Dark Lord stood only a few feet away, his black cloak billowing in the wind. His pale face stood out against the dark bark of the trees but blended with the snow and Harry felt panic rise in his chest.
"No matter, for now, I have you." Voldemort said eerily as he advanced, his fingers playing with the white wand that was held loosely in his grasp.
"I will find where you are, Harry...and I intend to do what I tried to so many years ago."
He said in a whispery voice, and Harry could feel everything in that moment.
Everything was amplified, and the cold stung his cheeks as the wind picked up, the snow melted through his clothes and seeped into his back, and Voldemort-
Voldemort was close, far too close to him.
He approached the paralyzed body of Harry, his cloak moving like water around his form as he moved.
It was then he stood by Harry's head, and Harry could only see the terrifyingly snake-like, pale face covered in veins that looked down at him.
The red eyes peered into his own and Harry felt like his eyes were something that shouldn't be open.
He tried to shut them but found he couldn't, and it was then that Voldemort began to crouch down, and a skinny white finger reached out to touch his exposed scar.

He let out a scream that was muffled by his closed mouth.
It was as if his mind was being torn open.
Memories of what he and Tom had seen when walking to find a location for their tent popped up. The inside of the tent was exposed and the recollection of Harry panicking was conjured back in his mind.
He tried to think of something, anything else, and with a painful tear to diverge his thoughts, he turned to the remaining memories he had of Hogwarts. He thought of the feasts, thought of the House Cup, thought of Hagrid and Hermione and Ron-
He felt tears well in his eyes and he was successfully able to deter his previous memories, and it was then he ripped himself away from the dream he was having.

He rose from the bed in panic, his heart beating loudly in his ears.
The raven-haired boy got out of the bed and put on his glasses hastily, grabbing his wand from underneath his pillow before quickly getting dressed.
He changed into a jumper and his trousers before pulling on his trainers.
He didn't have time to decide on anything else.
He wiped furiously at his eyes that spilled tears, and he could hear the quiet noise as some met their fate on the ground below his shoes.