Quick as a Whip

A HariPo freeverse piece

by mew-tsubaki

Note: The Harry Potter characters belong to J.K. Rowling, not to me. This pairing is a Mew and Mor's Weird Pairing, which you may find in the M&MWP forum (see my profile for details). Check out and join the forum FUN! Read, review, and enjoy!

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"Like a pawn

on the eternal board

who's never quite sure

what he's moved towards

I walk blindly on"

—Depeche Mode, "The bottom line"

%%%%%%%%%%

You've done it

Finally!

You've done it

&& it's something

of which you can be proud

be very proud

very, very proud

You're in the limelight now, boy…

No…No, you're a

M A N

now

More…More of a man than your brother ever

could hope to be

because you went right to the source

With your cleverness, you solved the puzzle

&& completed a fraction of the

picture

So go on

Accept your reward

You've earned it

Go on home

Act as though nothing too

big

happened&

it'll all be

a l l r.i.g.h.t

Because she'll be the first one there

The first to see you

The first

first

fir—

Ohh…

It's hitting you now,

slowing you

killing…

Your mind's going fuzzy…

Wait! Get out of the bloody cave first

If he sees you there

If he sees you there…!

You know you won't stand a chance

Sure, there's not

much of one, even if

you return home

But at least if you leave this

a*c*c*u*r*s*e*d

place, then

you'll get to see her one more time

You both remember one last shared

moment

before you left, sure you'd

D I E

as soon as you arrived here

But that wasn't the case

It wasn't it at all

You weren't expected to be there

(at least He wasn't there)

But the barriers put up

couldn't stop you

You worked it out

History

Half-life

H!o!r!c!r!u!x!e!s

One by one

Seven of seven

(actually, one out of seven)

but still

You've helped the world

even if it was at the cost of your li…

Ugh, don't think about this anymore…

Just go home, go

She's waiting for

y o u

Apparate back…

Hmm, you didn't Splinch yourself

(a lucky bastard to the end, old boy)

The castle's in view

(but you have no need to see that place again)

You traipse through your favorite haunt—

Hogsmeade.

You're finally getting…

somewhere in life…

Might as well have a butterbeer…

To-To celebrate…

your…return…

No, no…

Forget it

Don't let her see you like this

Your former master's really cunning, you realize

Instant death is too

merciful

But this slow death…

as you try to get back to your love…

This is what really kills you

You can't bear to have her see you like this

But you want to see her so badly

(the first thought wins out)

You turn away, thinking

Maybe it'd be better…

Let her think you've died there

(as you both thought would happen

anyway)

…

too late…

She's found you

&& you've seen the one thing you regret the most—

her painful tears she cries for

you

So you give her the locket

Tell her to get it to Kreacher

&—

knowing you can trust

h_e_r

You let yourself find peace

& it clicks.

You fought to get home

&& you did,

Knowing that "home"

is that place

right in her

a~r~m~s

%%%%%%%%%%

O.O! I can't believe it… I mean, I have another idea to do about the last moments in Reggie's life, but this one was just perfect. This really sums it up, I think. And I could totally see this fitting into canon—don't you? :D

Thanks for reading, and please review!

-mew-tsubaki ;)

2017 note: Ahhh, I've written about Reg's final moments several times since 2010, but I still enjoy this take… Poor Ros, tho, having him return only to die in her arms… ;w;