barnaby lee x y/n
requested by amytheist
"are you sure you want to go in?" asked rowan, as you, her, tulip and barnaby stood outside the entrance of a recently discovered cursed vault.
"yes, we can't turn back now" you said with determination.
the 4 of you entered the vault, carefully taking in all of your surroundings.
"what's that?" gasped barnaby, pointing at a large pillar-like thing in the middle of the room.
you all started to investigate it, running your fingers along its smooth edges, but you still couldn't work out what exactly it was.
"i have a horrible feeling in my gut" whispered rowan.
"yeah, so do i" said tulip, "what do you think-"
she was cut off by a loud noise and then the appearance of lord voldemort.
all of you seemed to be lost for words.
then suddenly, before you could do anything, 3 voldemorts were around you and each one had a threatening wand pointed at your friends.
it was after seeing this that you realised it was just a boggart.
"y/n.." barnaby croaked, struggling to breathe from the spell that was being used on him.
you instantly snapped back to reality and cast the riddikulus spell on each of the boggart voldemorts, freeing your friends.
just when you thought that this was the end of it, a final boggart voldemort stood in front of you.
"you could never defeat me, y/n y/l/n" it hissed, and the voice sent chills down your spine.
"depulso!" you screamed, and the boggart stumbled onto the ground.
the boggart voldemort got up from the ground, and cast an unknown spell at you.
it hit you right in the chest, and then all you could hear was a loud ringing in your ears. everything around you seemed to become a blur, and before you knew it you were slipping away... into the dark abyss.
as soon as you were out cold, the boggart turned into merula who was coldly telling tulip about how she will never have any real friends.
"riddikulus!" shouted tulip, turning the boggart into a sweet version of merula.
"y/n!" screamed barnaby, running over to your lifeless body, "please wake up"
"we need to get her to the hospital wing" said rowan, "tulip, go and get madam pomfrey and professor dumbledore"
a day later
"how is she?" asked barnaby and rowan, as they stood outside the hospital wing with madam pomfrey.
"i'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but miss y/l/n has been put into a coma. the spell that was fired at her is still unknown, and i haven't seen anything like this before" said madam pomfrey, with a sincere look on her face.
"but will she get better soon?" asked barnaby.
"i can't be sure, mr lee" she replied.
"oh my god, this is all my fault" he whispered, running a hand through his hair and looking extremely stressed.
"none of this is your fault, barnaby" said rowan softly, resting a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"of course it is!" he shouted, "i came on this cursed vault mission because of my toughness and i was the protecter. i should've saved her, but i just stood there and watched!"
tears were forming in his eyes and both rowan and madam pomfrey felt very sorry for him.
"mr lee, it is not your fault that this has happened" said pomfrey, "i suggest you get some rest or take a walk to clear your head a bit"
"no, i want to see her" he demanded.
"i highly doubt that seeing her would help you in any way" she said.
"are you serious? i love her!" he blurted out.
both rowan and madam pomfrey stood there in shock.
but barnaby's head was gone, and he pushed past pomfrey and stayed by your side for the rest of the night.
this continued for months, he would spend days and nights by your side, violently sobbing to himself. the pain he felt in his chest was something he couldn't describe. it was like there were millions of heavy rocks stuck in his chest and throat, and they were weighing him down and stopping him from feeling free to breathe. he wouldn't even eat and he refused to go to lessons, nothing mattered to him anymore except for you.
the rest of your group often tried to talk some sense into him, telling him that things would get better as long as he got some help, but he isolated himself from everyone and everything, and dedicated all of his time to you.
it was 3 months after the boggart voldemort attack, and barnaby's depression had gotten so bad that he had started abusing alcohol, taking daily trips to hogsmeade to meet up with dodgy drug dealers, and smoking whenever he got the opportunity in order to feel numb.
the pain of losing you was so bad that he would've done anything to feel nothing.
six months later
the hogwarts staff had realised that you were not waking up, and had decided to refer you to st mungo's hospital to be properly cared for.
this made barnaby's depression even worse if that was possible, because he had to spend everyday at school alone, without you.
4 years later
it was the group's 7th and final year at hogwarts.
a lot had happened since the boggart voldemort attack. the cursed vaults had been found and so had your brother.
you still hadn't woken up, and it had finally hit everyone that you were never coming back to hogwarts, though you would have been proud of the group for completing your unfinished business.
in fact, the group missed you very much, but had learned to accept over the years that you were not coming back, and had started to move forward with their lives.
apart from barnaby. not a day went by where he didn't cry over you. he still missed you more than anything in the world, and it was starting to hit him too that you were probably gone forever.
he sat at one of the tables in the slytherin common room, and pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill.
dear y/n,
it's been 4 years since you were awake and with me. i know you will probably never wake up and read this, but i miss you more than anything in the world. i am so sorry that this happened to you; it's all my fault. i should've protected you but now it's too late. it drives me insane that i didn't even tell you how i really felt. i love you, y/n. i always will. which is why i'm going away. i don't exactly know where, but i just hope that wherever it is, i will see you again. i've been hard on the group too, but i hope they understand. i just wanted you to know that i will wait for you forever.
from barnaby.
he made sure he stopped by st mungo's hospital to leave the letter at your bedside.
he kissed your forehead softly, and wiping a tear from his eye, he left.
that was the last anyone had heard from barnaby. he didn't leave a letter for anyone else, and said no goodbyes. people tried to search for him but he could not be found.
and the truth is, barnaby didn't really know where he was either. all he knew was that he couldn't live without you, and he hoped that he would see you very soon.
————
i'm sorry if i made you sad.
also, i'm sorry to amytheist if this didn't turn out how you wanted.
but thanks for reading <3
