I wrote this oneshot a long time ago and wasn't sure if I should post it…but, here it is. It's short and yet another Harry Potter crossover. HP crossovers seem to be my favorite types of stories on here.

I don't own anything

He wasn't always like this. He didn't always slick his hair back so it doesn't stick up everywhere. He didn't always wear three piece suits and talk in a level manner. Hell, even his accent is different. It's different because he wants it that way. Everything about him is different because he wants it that way.

He knows the price for being careless, for being reckless, for going into a situation without all the facts…without a plan. He's seen it firsthand. As an adult, he plans on never seeing it again. He'll prepare so much that people call him obsessive and he'll look at the facts and endure being ridiculed by guys like Eames if it means he can keep everyone around him from dying horrible.

It's not much of a life, the one he builds as an adult, but at least it's a life. He has, at least, one person that will be there. Cobb has his ghosts, his nightmares(he doesn't need Ariadne to tell him what they are) but so does he, so does Arthur.

His are different, of course. Cobb only sees Mal, only sees his dead wife. Arthur sees a ghost of a boy that he's made sure shouldn't exist anymore. A little British boy with messy dark hair, round glasses, and a desperate look in his eyes.

Sometimes the boy's clothes are torn and dirty, like he's just came from a war. Sometimes, he's running towards another recklessly. Sometimes, he's screaming for people lost. Always, Arthur watches him and wants him gone. He feels separate now.

Separate. He's a completely separate person now. He definitely doesn't feel like Harry Potter any longer. He thinks maybe Harry Potter is dead now. Always, Arthur is trying to convince himself of that. Sometimes, he thinks he might succeed.