Harry Potter and the Cursed Heart ~discontinued~

Chapter 2

Alice would happily admit she had done plenty of stupid things in her life, but this had to be one of the dumbest. She liked to believe she had thought this through properly but she honestly hadn't, and so, she would do it anyway.

She stepped up to the edge of the tower glancing down at the large drop. She swallowed deeply, instead turning her eyes up to the stars that shone brightly in the sky and illuminated the world in the most ethereal glow. Alice felt peaceful as she watched the stars, finding a sense of calmness in the way she could name every star in the sky, and knowing those were the same stars in the sky in 20 years from now.

'Dying is how you got here, surely it would be how you return.' She let out a laugh at the idea, knowing that was the entirety of her thought process and it truly was probably her worst plan yet.

And so with that, she took the step off of the ledge, feeling the falling sensation again, she twisted her body as she fell, watching the stars grow further away, but knowing she'd see them again soon if this went to plan. She'd never stopped to consider what would happen if it didn't, deciding sometimes less thinking was better.

Soon enough, she felt her body hit the ground, expecting to feel the cold embrace of death, but instead, only feeling the soft grass beneath her fingers. She cursed internally when she realised she hadn't died and was in fact, still alive and kicking. She lay still a little bit longer, wondering if perhaps it death took a while to kick in, even if it was only wishful thinking.

A deep voice rung deep in her head, laughing at her. "I'm afraid, my dear, that I brought you here and I won't be taking you away any time soon."

"Umm excuse me," Alice began as she glared up at empty space, "would you mind just explaining that?"

"I am Death-"

"Naturally."

"-and I brought you here. I have the power to return you, but I won't, nor will I allow you try to return. So get comfortable, and please don't try to kill yourself again; it creates quite a lot of paperwork for me." The ringing phased out in her ears and she felt the lack of presence, knowing that the cosmic being had decided to just mess with her a bit. Because as a cosmic being, what else are you to do?

"This better not be the day I start seeing thestrals." It was only then that she became aware of the several sets of eyes fixed on her.

She turned lazily to them, her expression the picture of fed up. "Hey."

"Hi!" Peter waved. She gave him a small wave back before she dropped her hand back down to her side again.

"Uhhh- Do you- Are you- Should we take you to Madam Pomfrey?" Remus finally stammered out, staring at the girl with furrowed brows.

"Why? Do I look ill?" Alice asked, panic rising on her face.

"No! You look fine! It's just..." Remus' eyes danced between the girl and the top of the astronomy tower. "How the hell did you survive that?"

Alice shrugged at him innocently. "I have no idea. Believe me, if I knew how to survive, I would have done the opposite to that." She looked down at her current state, hating the look of red robes on her. "Would any of you dashing gentlemen like to help me up please?" Sirius went to move to help as he seemed the least phased.

Realising she would actually have to get up, Alice collapsed back into the ground. She waved a hand at the approaching Sirius, "Don't bother, actually. I'm kinda comfortable. And too lazy to move." Seeing them still watching her, she lolled her head to the side. "Go on with whatever the evil professor has planned. I'm not even here."