Chapter 9
The day was bright and beautiful, one of the last true summer days before autumn rolled in. Harry blinked at the light that was flooding the room, the sun having no inhibitions considering the curtains were wide open. He vaguely remembered his mother coming, opening the curtains, and telling him he had slept long enough and that breakfast would be ready soon. Harry had mumbled something to show he had heard her and rolled back over, trying to go back to sleep. He was able to doze for a few minutes before the smell of bacon floated up from the kitchen downstairs. This caused a dilemma. Should he get up out of bed to enjoy the homemade breakfast that his mother and father had made, or he could enjoy his comfortable bed and sleep longer on one of the last days he was free to do so before school started. He knew the answer.
Harry grumbled as he literally rolled out of his bed onto the blush grey carpet below. Harry shook his head as he stood up stumbling to the bathroom, trying to avoid the edges of any pointy furniture which was hard, considering he hadn't put his contacts on. Once Harry was in the bathroom he quickly took a shower and put on his glasses, too lazy to shove things in his eyes, before descending the stairs. His mother was sitting at the kitchen table, set for four, with the newspaper open. She read intently, her auburn hair falling forward as she munched on a bit of toast. His dad was standing at the counter buttering one final piece of toast before carrying the plate over to the table where he sat, next to his wife, picking up a section of the paper Lily had discarded. Harry sat down at the table and grabbed some bacon and eggs before pouring himself a glass of orange juice.
Lily put down her paper and smiled softly at her son. "I'm glad you decided to join us. I just wish your brother would do the same." This last part she raised her voiced and looked overhead.
After she was done speaking there was some swearing followed by slow, deliberate footsteps that made their way down the stairs. Emerged was a slight 16 year old with bleached hair that was usually spiked meticulously but now fell flat from a night of sleep.
"Happy mom?" the boy muttered groggily, but in good nature.
"Ecstatic Draco," Lily responded.
At this point James looked up from his paper and glanced from one son to the other. "When are you going to get over this ridiculous rebellious stage and let your hair grow out?" James asked, not accusing, but more curious.
"Oh James, just let him be," Lily patted her husbands arm.
"I'm just saying he has really nice hair and I do not think it should be bleached."
"You're just saying that because it's like yours," Draco replied.
James shrugged, "handsome is handsome."
The family laughed and fell into the familiar breakfast routine, each talking about plans for the day and any interesting stories they had.
"Oh dad, I was wondering if you could take me into the city soon?" Harry questioned.
"I don't know. What do you need?"
"Well, Hermione's birthday is coming up and I want to get her something special." Harry had run out of normal ideas of presents, making her mix cds, giving her books and movies. He wanted to find something different.
"What are you looking for?" Lily asked.
"I don't know exactly. I want something special. I was thinking maybe a promise ring."
"That sounds like a good idea," Lily approved.
"Well," James though out loud, "I did have some stuff I needed to drop at the office this weekend. I could run there today if you wanted."
"I was going to hang out with Ron today. Could he come along?"
"Sure, why not? I can drop you two off downtown and I could go to work for a couple hours, then we could meet up somewhere to have dinner."
"I might join the group. I need to do a little shopping London as well. Do you want to round off the group Draco and join us?" Lily asked her youngest.
Draco shook his head. "I would but I actually have to get to work in a couple hours."
"Okay, well Harry why don't you ring up Ron and let's plan on leaving around one."
"Sounds good."
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"What about this ring?"
"Nah, too gaudy. What about this ring?"
Nuh-uh, that's too boring."
Harry and Ron were standing over a jewelry counter in a small shop in downtown London. James had dropped the three of them off and they made plans to meet at a small restaurant at five. Lily had left the two boys heading off in the direction of a bookstore. She was in search of a rare book that the library didn't have and she hoped some used book stores might have it.
Harry and Ron looked over the selection, walking down the counter, trying find a ring that would fit Hermione, however all the rings were either too flashy, expensive, or boring. Harry was about to give up when he saw a clearance table at the side of the store. On the table was a wooden case with a worn velvet interior that had rings poking from it. Harry glanced at the rings, a lot of them flawed in some manner which intrigued him. His eyes caught a silver ring that stood out at him. It had a small pearl in the center with the metal wrapping around the pearl in an intricate design. The reason the ring was with the clearance items was because the silver was dull and scratched. This did not dissuade Harry. The ring itself was stunning and Harry felt Hermione would like the oldness of the ring and how it had character. He purchased it on the spot, confident he had found her the perfect present.
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The rain poured down from the clouds that had suddenly flown in from the coast. The windshield wipers zoomed back and forth across the windshield, swiping water away that was completely replaced as soon as it was gone. Even with the dismal weather, the car was filled with the sounds of merriment, a classic rock station played upbeat music. Lily and James were in the front seats debating whether or not The Beatles music actually lived up to their fame. There was much laughing as each brought up more and more ridiculous arguments. Harry and Ron were listening from the backseat, laughing as they played a card game.
Out of nowhere the car was flooded with light and Harry blacked out.
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There were screams, but they were far away. Slowly opening his eyes, Harry looked around. His whole body was protesting in pain. Harry reached, feeling for the sourced of the blood that was trickling down his cheek. He had a gash on the side of his head, but all around there were no other signs of injury.
He looked forward and saw his mother leaning against the door. Harry didn't see her breathing. Looking over, Harry saw his father leaning forward, his head on the steering wheel. The right side was completely caved in from the impact of a large truck that had t-boned them. Harry looked over to see Ron slumped over, half laying down. There was blood everywhere, so much that it was hard to discern where it was coming from. Harry reached over to try to keep the blood from leaving Ron's body, but he couldn't find a specific wound. Harry stopped when he actually touched Ron's skin and felt how cold it was. Harry drew his hand up to Ron's neck and felt for a pulse. There was none.
A slam outside of the car drew Harry's attention to outside of the vehicle. Harry looked to see a man stumble outside of the truck that had smashed their own car. Harry did not know exactly what he was doing but he knew he couldn't let this man get away. Harry had to push all his weight into opening his door, but he was finally able to do so. His body was in a mass of pain, but he barely registered the pain. He stumbled to the front of the car where the driver was standing. He looked around as if debating what to do. He froze when he saw Harry.
Harry was taken aback by how inhuman this man looked. He was completely bald and his skin was sallow and pale under the harsh headlights of numerous stopped vehicles. What was most disconcerting was his eyes which were cold and gleaming red from the brake lights of a vehicle.
People were converging on the accident to try to help and there was the distant sounds of sirens rushing to the scene. Harry barely noticed any of this, all he could see was the blankness of the man's eyes. Then in a split second, something snapped and Harry lunged at this man, his hands reached out to grab a hold of the man's neck. The guy was taken aback by this action and fell easily to the pavement. Harry straddles the man and held on tightly to the man's throat. Once he smelled the alcohol on the mans breath, Harry put all his strength into strangling the man.
The man struggled some, he grabbed a piece of glass and tried to swipe at Harry. He was able to cut Harry's arm and jabbed the glass down Harry's forehead in a jagged formation. He wasn't able to do much before he started to lose consciousness. Harry felt throat muscles strain against his fingers and a pulse slow. Another few seconds and he would be dead and that suddenly dawned on Harry and he realized he was about to take a mans life in cold blood. Before Harry could think about this someone came up from behind Harry and grabbed him, pulling him off the man.
Harry struggled violently, trying to free himself. His eyes still locked on the guy and saw the man move and slowly struggle to his feet. He looked forward and met Harry's eyes and smiled a malicious smile. Harry wanted to finish what he started but the arms around him were too strong. He let himself he dragged back, and all of sudden his body felt weak from the exertion and the pain he was experiencing. He slipped from consciousness, with three thoughts consecutively going through his head. They're all dead, I couldn't defeat him, and now I am going to die.
A/N-I know some of you probably think I'm crazy, delusional you may say, but I knew that when I was writing this story. There will be more of an explanation in the final chapter, which I'm halfway done writing. Go ahead and flame me for how ridiculous this concept of Harry being delusional is, but it's my story and this is what I've had planned from the beginning. I will try to wrap everything up in the next few weeks. Please do tell me what you think, one way or the other. Constructive criticism is always helpful. Thank you so much for those who are sticking this story out. I appreciate your loyalty.
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