353 My legs are dangling off the edge

Harry slowly and cautiously enters the astronomy tower, the breeze immediately giving him a sense of relief. His emotions are roiling as he rubs his eyes and tries to look around but barely see's anything at all. The only thing he can make out is the parapet of the tower, he begins to slowly step towards it an expression of fury and sadness marring his face. He doesn't think about what he has, instead continues wallowing in self-pity at what he has lost.

He remembers Sirius, his parents in the mirror, Peter Pettigrew who betrayed them, the ministry that seeks to control him and Dumbledore with unclear intentions. "Enough." he mutters to himself as a single tear slides down his face, "I've had enough, I need this to end." he says stepping up on the ledge overlooking the huge drop below.

He closes his eyes and imagines how quickly it'd all be over, he starts to lean forwards slightly having to push against the howling wind, suddenly a voice shouts from behind him. "What are you doing!"

Ciri has just arrived at the roof of the tower and saw an angry looking Reima standing not too far away. She sighs and walked over to him.

Reima "Ciri, did you put my name in the Goblet?" he asks.

Ciri looks at the ground before glancing back up at him, "No..."

Reima "Why? You do understand why I'm doing all this right? To fix the mess your created!"

Ciri "I didn't want to stay in the first place! It's not my fault the man jumped onto my blade, nor would it be my fault that the world would be destroyed by this "Dark Lord", I've got my own problems and I can't just keep waiting around until something happens!"

Reima "You know that we're not just waiting around, that's an excuse! What's the real reason you didn't put my name in?" he presses.

Ciri grumbles, "You were holding back, and I wanted to learn faster." he states with her arms crossed.

Reima "You think I'm holding back? Why?"

Ciri "All you're teaching me is Pyromancy, what about your physical abilities? How did you obtain those?"

Reima is about to reply to her when they hear steps coming from the staircase of the tower, he quickly pulls her against a pillar to hide them against whoever is coming up here, last thing he needs is for a teacher to find them "doing something" in the astronomy tower. Their fears appear unfounded however as a small figure stumbles in, arms stretched out in-front of them as if they're blind.

Reima recognises them as Harry Potter but feels something is seriously wrong, the boy looks sad but furious at the same time and is muttering things about it being "Enough", he looks down at Ciri who he holding against him and lets her go. "Say something before this kid jumps off!" he frantically whispers as Harry steps onto a ledge and starts peering over it. She nods at him and runs forward, "What are you doing!" she shouts, not knowing what else to say.

Harry turns and can vaguely make out her ashen white hair, "Oh, Ciri... Why are you here?" he says dully.

Ciri "That doesn't matter, all that matters is what YOU'RE doing here!"

Harry "I.. I'm going to end it." he states simply.

Reima hears this and feels pity for the boy, how had he been pushed so far? He looks over a nearby ledge and casts the Patronus charm before giving it a message and telling it to find Hermione Granger, one person Reima could count on putting Harry in his place.

Ciri continues to try and talk the boy down, "Why? What about your friends?" he says, knowing full well the boy doesn't have any family left.

Harry "What friends!?!" he shouts, "Ron's a jealous bastard who only looks out for himself and the rest of the school hates me!"

Ciri "What about Hermione!"

...

Harry trembles when he hears the name, "Hermione?"

Ciri "What would she be thinking if you continue? That it's her fault? That she could have done something? Why put her through that!" she shouts, latching onto something he seemed to still care about.

Harry "It's my life, why should she affect my actions?"

Ciri "Because she's your friend? Who would she have left if you jumped?" she asks.

Harry thinks this over and comes to a sad conclusion, "No one..." he says, the only people that actually hang out with Hermione were Ron and Harry. The former only because of Harry's own presence. A sad smile overtakes his face when he thinks about the girl he'd saved from a troll in his first year, how would it effect her if he left? Come to think of it, why was he listening to Sirius murderer? Like she would know what he's been through, how he's suffered. These conflicting thoughts continue to run through his mind as he stands there on the ledge, silent, contemplative. That is, until a familiar voice calls out to him in shock.

Hermione "Harry!?!"