Past!Tomlin Fic: Reed's Death
So I wanted to write (Okay, SHYMA really wanted me to write) how Reed was killed and so I did (because I actually did want to) and I really kind of like it. Also, sorry if me bopping on as Tomlin is kind of confusing if there's still a different one active. It's just super easy to keep track of all of his posts and stuff and I suppose it adds reference to the character if it's needed! But here it is in its longness.
No, it wasn't supposed to be this way. Alex felt so unprepared but he couldn't do anything but fight. Colors arced past his face; the beautiful splash of magic flying back and forth between him. That was the tragedy of magic, its beauty. He'd lost track of how long exactly he'd been battling death eaters on his school campus. He read stories of muggle wars and couldn't help but feel envious of them. At least with muggles it wasn't necessary for their children to fight and die to protect what was right. In only the few short hours he'd been fighting, he saw dozens of his classmates, most of them younger than he, fall victim to the killing curse, or worse. It wasn't supposed to be this way. A life ended by a beautiful green spark.
Alexander had made the decision to come back to Hogwarts for his seventh year because he felt as if he were abandoning his friends in their struggle to purify Hogwarts of dark magic. He turned eighteen the summer before and he felt that he was old enough to decide what part he would take in the war. His mother was safe. It didn't take him long to decide where he would go. The rumors were right and Hogwarts had changed. He went through the months before Potter returned as a ghost in the halls. He made no effort of resistance; not like the others did. He did all that the new administration asked. Alex was intuitive and smart. He watched other people and saw what happened if the Carrows sensed any dissent amongst the students. Alex knew how to blend in. Once in his defiled defense against the dark arts class, the death eater, Amycus Carrow, told him to spar a fourth year student, Alice, was her name. He felt like a coward and a monster for what he did to that poor girl. She could barely hold her wand by the time he was allowed to stop. He tried to hold off, only using the most harmless spells until he was threatened with the Imperius curse. What he would've done to her then would have been much worse. And even though he couldn't help what happened, his classmates still blamed him. It took them a while to come around, but they did.
The only one that was always on his side was Reed. His beautiful green eyed Reed. They'd been dating since their fourth year and it was more or less that way ever since. When Alex left during his sixth year, they wrote to each other and when he came back, they rarely left each other. He remembered not letting Reed leave his eyesight when all of the students were lined up in the great hall the night Potter made his triumphant return. He remembers that same night when the Dark Lord entered their minds and Reed had to hold him because he was so scared. And when the battle started, they were together.
It had only been a few minutes before Alex took his first injury. He was looking into the sky as all of the protection charms he'd worked so hard in helping create were shattered. At the time he didn't know why, but he knew that the worst was about to begin. With his face turned up, he didn't see the death eater's attack racing toward him. Reed did and diverted its path so only Alex's cheek was grazed.
“Thanks.” Alex said distantly. He was still trying to see if his charms would hold in the sky. Reed grabbed him by the arm and slammed him against a pillar.
“Al! Wake up. They're here. It's time to fight.” Reed was always so calm with him. The Ravenclaw was much more level headed than Alex had ever been and now was no different. The jolt worked and as Alex came out of his trance the sights and sounds that were once dull became vivid and important.
“Shit, Reed.”
“I know. We've got to help.”
“Yeah. Yeah, okay.” Alex looked into Reed's eyes and brushed his bangs from his already dirty face. “Stay safe?”
“Of course.” Reed said before turning to the battlefield. Alex had never seen Reed fight before. Not like this. He was beautiful. His face calm, his movements fluid and precise. He was a wonder and Alex was his equal.
He was beginning to get tired. He could feel it in his shoulders and in his bruised hands. His wand vibrated in his hand, hot with magic. He wasn't sure how much more he could take. But the enemy didn't care. He pushed himself to cast another stunning spell and resisted the urge to kill every single one of them. When his exhaustion finally won out and he collapsed on the battlefield, he felt safe in that everyone would think him dead. Better off, anyway. He allowed himself to lie there as a corpse for a moment. He looked to either side of him and saw the actual dead. Two of his friends from his own house lie dead next to him. He wanted to hold them and let them know that they did well. But now was not the time to mourn. It was either fight or die and nothing else. He stood up slowly and had to fight off a death eater and a spider before he could get off his knees. He had to find Reed.
The young Hufflepuff found his Ravenclaw tending to a wounded friend who wouldn't make it. When he passed, Alex grabbed Reed and held him to his chest to let him cry. But only for a moment. Reed was never one to let his emotions take over. The black haired Revenclaw had his eyes locked onto the death eater, Solomon Grislow, the one who had just killed that student.
Alex closed his eyes when it happened. He couldn't look and that was the biggest mistake he could have made. The torture of having to create the image of Reed falling to the death eater's killing curse a thousand times each day could have been avoided if he'd been able to keep his eyes open. But when Reed ran to the death eater with rage in his eyes, all Alex could do was scream in protest and let his eyes get swollen shut with tears and fear. The only thing that penetrated the blackness was the flash of green and the sound that replayed in Alex's head more times than he could count.
When his eyes finally allowed themselves to open, Alex found himself on his knees, sobbing. The death eater was gone and Reed's wand hand was still jerking, ready to fight. Alex crawled over to him and grabbed a fistful of Reed's shirt. He buried his wet face into Reed's still hot neck and chest. With a jerk and turn, he disapparated from Hogwarts Castle.
He wasn't sure where he was, but it was silent and there was no magic to be heard. Alex was still clinging to Reed's shirt, holding Reed's limp hand. He clutched both of their wands to his own chest and could feel their pulsing in his hands. He prayed that it was Reed's heart beat, but he heard the spell and saw the color and knew that it wasn't and reed was dead.
“I,” He choked on his words and whispered in a low sob. “I love you. I love you. Reed. I love you. I love you. Love you.” He repeated to the body. Wherever they were it was warm and they were inside. He might have heard the footsteps and he might have seen his mother run into his old bedroom, but he didn't notice or care. She screamed and fell to the floor in front of the two boys. She ran her fingers through Reed's hair while his head was finally starting to cool.
“Oh, my boy,” Calla Tomlin cried, kissing Alex's forehead and trying to pull him into her. He wouldn't go, so she just lay with him over Reed's empty body.