better left dead | harry

[Albus Severus Potter]

don't speak too soon.

THE OWL HAD NO SOONER COME BEFORE ALBUS left, his eyes deceiving him as he read the same line over and over again. He spent much of his time at home, but sometimes he stayed in the city when training followed soon after. This meant that he wasn't with his mum when Harry returned - rising from the dead like some kind of Phoenix. But, Albus didn't believe it. Not until he saw it with his own eyes. And so he apparated back home immediately, the parchment still gripped in his hand.

The lights inside his family home were soft and flickering. A contrast to the chaos that was surely contained within. Or, so Albus thought, for as he stepped across the threshold he was assaulted by an overwhelming silence. Just the crackle of a fire going and the lights all low, and muted. He couldn't hear his mother weeping, or Lily screeching. It was just silence. Albus made his way in to the living room first, finding his mother asleep on the sofa with a blanket draped across her person. He checked the kitchen next, sure that he would find nothing. That his mother had perhaps finally gone mad.

However, the moment he stepped in to the kitchen, he was assaulted by an unmistakable sight. His father's silhouette was lit only by a few errant candles. Obviously he was avoiding any strong light, for his mother had always been something of a light sleeper. But Albus had nothing to say. He looked upon his father and thought of nothing but a ghost, his body dangerously devoid of any particular emotion. "I thought mum had finally cracked it and gone mad," was the first thing Albus said, his voice strangely level. "But, it's true." He said, his nostrils flaring as it settled deep within his bones. "You're actually alive." 

HARRY JAMES POTTER

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Deleted]

These days Harry didn't sleep. In fact it had been many months since he felt any real rest. First he was up worrying about the artifact, then the was up on the move... Okay maybe it had been years, not months, considering the whole Elaine situation. He was glad Hogwarts didn't close with the first murders, though a little conflicted. The school didn't close down during his entire time there which was a miracle itself and maybe a bad choice. But he still felt deep in his heart, maybe foolishly, that Hogwarts was the safest place for his children. Also, not that he wanted harm on them in any way, but he learned a lot fending for himself there. Now Lily was left, he knew she could handle herself.

Albus was all grown up in the world, it was kind of sobering to come back home to a near empty house. James had been doing his own thing for a long time now so Harry was used to that. The missing pieces of Lily and Albus were hard to swallow. Technically he wasn't an empty nester yet since Lily was just in school, but it sure felt like it. Serendipitously while thinking of Albus, heard his son. He didn't say anything at first, knowing his son was the type to feel his feelings rather quickly. Harry wanted to give him a moment to sift through that. When his son did speak, he said he worried his mother had gone off the rails. Harry gave a slight smile, even though it couldn't be seen well. He stood and brushed off his shirt with his hands as spoke. "I think that is a sound theory, considering all the evidence." He cleared his throat, "I can explain, if you want to hear it."

Albus Severus Potter

[Albus Severus Potter]

don't speak too soon.

AL WATCHED AS HIS FATHER STOOD FROM THE chair and brushed the creases from his shirt. Such a familiar mannerism that it made him take a step back. It didn't feel right. Didn't make sense in his rational brain. Albus had just begun to come to terms with the fact that his father was never coming back. Unlike James, or even Lily, he wasn't the type to pine for something impossible. But, there he was, the Impossible, Infamous Harry Potter.

"That's it?" Albus said, his brows pulling together and his voice gruff. His posture was so stiff that he looked like a statue, arms limp and hands curled in to fists. "'I can explain?'" Albus's sterile expression broke and exposed something raw and crooked. His mouth pulling in to a sneer, lip curling as his nose wrinkled. "You've been gone for eight months..." As if Harry wouldn't know, but Albus had counted the days as he'd watched his family fall apart and then slowly, but surely, begin to mend itself in whatever way possible. "How can you explain that away?" And then he waited. How could he not?

HARRY JAMES POTTER

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Deleted]

Albus took a step back, which made Harry want to stop moving all together to prevent that from happening again, but he tried to stay natural. Then the words came out of his sons mouth, ones that he had expected... Harry's eyes fell to the fists at Albus's sides before looking back to his face. The anger seething through his son was piping hot, and Harry was ready to take it. Well, maybe not ready, but he had known it would happen. He stayed standing, letting Albus get all the words out. He didn't speak until he was sure Albus was ready for him to respond. He knew the benefit of letting someone say what they wanted to say. People hadn't always done that for him at his sons age and that made for a very bitter Harry at times.

”I'm not saying I made the right choice. I don't think I did,” he admitted, his voice very soft. There was a sort of pleading behind it, but he knew that wouldn't work. He wouldn't have given someone else the same mercy, at least not right away. ”I didn't know it'd be that long. I don't know how many details you want to deal with right now, Albus. But I can tell you that contact you would have ended in someone getting hurt and I don't want anything to happen to-” he swallowed the rock in his throat, then cleared it. ”I know you can handle yourself, you all can, but I couldn't risk something happening. This is an enemy you wouldn't have expected.”

Albus Severus Potter

[Albus Severus Potter]

don't speak too soon.

HARRY'S TONE DIDN'T HARDEN AS AL WOULD have preferred. It was devastatingly soft, pleading almost. This only made him angrier. He wanted a confrontation, to vent out all of his pent up emotions that broiled inside of him. But, his father's head dipped in something akin to shame and Al's lips trembled, his hands beginning to sweat. It hurt him, to see his father look so... defeated. But, that didn't matter and Al couldn't let his anger go. It isn't enough...

"You left us weak!" Albus snapped. his voice raising. There was a shifting in the other room and Albus lifted his wrist instinctively and the kitchen door shut behind them both, locking them in. "You can tell me whatever you want, tell me everything-" He had to know, but he wouldn't beg. "It wouldn't justify what you did." Albus wasn't so much mad that Lily didn't know, or even James. Deep down he was furious because his father hadn't told him. It was a wound that went a mile deep. His hands curled in to tight fists on the edge of thick wooden dining table.

"James ran after you like a little house elf and got lost," Albus began, the tirade wet on his lips, his cheeks blazing red. "Lily's failing out of Hogwarts and won't even touch a broomstick!" His eyes widened, almost to hysteria. "Mum barely even remembers our names, but she remembered you!" Spittle went flying and he lifted his hands, he didn't mention himself. That he'd been drinking more than ever, that he barely left the house except to work and forget and he'd almost blown himself up a handful of times making potions even the Half-Blood Prince would flinch at. He finished, panting, head drooping. "You co- could have told me..." He whispered, and his voice quavering with the urge to sob. 

HARRY JAMES POTTER

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!