**Back in the hospital wing. The Mental Attack**

Sirius froze as he met a sight that stole his breath that was powerful enough to feel the blood run cold in his veins.

Harry had his wand raised against Ron with fierce rage and despise spread throughout all his features. Ron was shaking violently, out of pain or fear he didn't know. Ron was slowly backing away with his eyes firmly closed, not wanting to have sight of being attacked by his best mate.

But Harry would never hurt his best friend --that he was sure of --no matter what. He's too much of a Potter to fall for that.

With that in mind, Sirius approached Harry cautiously, without a single word uttered. Drowning in waves of panic, Sirius tried to tame his breath that was racing around faster than his heart.

"Back off Sirius, back off," came Albus' voice, ringing with determination and panic. Sirius stopped in his tracks though he didn't know the reason of doing so, but for once he did as he was told.

Harry spun his head at the voice of his old headmaster, his eyes flashing with beyond fury and hatred. Spotting a new prey and a way better one, Harry traced his fingers around the phoenix wand a number of times before pointing it directly at the headmaster.

"Dumbledore. How wonderful to see you again, but this time, I assure you, you'll be dead before you can say 'Merlin's beard,' Harry hissed with as much venom as possible.

Realization crept on the eldest's face as his theory was being proven true now just in front of his eyes. Helplessness was all he felt; the darkness inside Harry was determined to kill him, and he, Albus, couldn't even fight back in fear of hurting Harry. He was doomed, that's what his mind told him.

"Harry," Sirius breathed unsure of what to do, his heart beating at a crazy pace just like drum rolls. A pair of eyes burning with malice was what he got next.

"Black," hissed Harry, sounding like he was wrestling someone. His eyes were red with hatred and despise and his voice cold, so unlike himself.

Sirius didn't have a moment to think over that, since before a second had passed Harry waved his wand at his godfather with the cruciatus curse.

Sirius' eyes scrunched shut as he gathered all his willpower to block the shooting pain. As he tightly clenched his fists out of the stinging stabs, Sirius felt his fingertips dig into his palms.

Screams of agony sharpened the air, as his body convulsed in violent shaking as unbearable pain became all he knew... making it seem as though million needles were piercing every inch of him at the same time.

A few moments had only passed by for the curse to lift, but it felt like so... much... more. A piercing silence rang out through the walls of the room around those being in a shocked stupor, speechless and motionless.

Sirius glanced upward to meet his godson's gaze, only to be stabbed in the heart by the satisfied cold smirk spread across Harry's face. It reminded Sirius of the hatred and disgust Harry had for him back in his third year when his godson wanted to kill him, wrongly accusing him as the traitor.

But still, this time it was much more, it didn't even seem like him. That's when it hit him like falling bricks. This wasn't Harry, wasn't the Harry he knew, it never would be. Sirius had to get his Harry back, no matter what that would cost him.

"Harry," Sirius whispered with intense desperation and pain ringing in his voice. He was panting shakily on the ground, as he'd fallen on his knees, his forehead pressed to the floor. Sirius felt two arms-- belonging to Ron and Remus-- holding him from each side, helping him stand again.

"I can't," Harry's voice was weak and constricted as if someone was holding his throat tightly, chocking the life out of him.

Harry would never want to do this, he couldn't do what his mind told him to commit, murder it was. He won't do it --he just couldn't, especially to the ones in front of him now-- even if his life depended on it... he told himself or what he thought was himself, quite firmly.

"Harry, I know you are still in there somewhere. Don't let him get to you. Your soul is much more pure. It isn't how you are alike, it is how you are not," Albus said, determined to empower Harry to fight it off himself- simply because there was no other way out of it. As cliché as it sounded, Dumbledore had a strong feeling it would work or at least he hoped so.

***
Harry felt dizzy, having difficulty catching up with the words, as the reserved voice sounded far away coming from a tube. He released his tight grip on his wand, dropping it to the ground.

Before Harry could even hear his own screams of pain that were held back, he heard another scream... a scream he knew very well, a scream of the woman who sacrificed her life for him under the name of love... a scream that broke free from his mother's lips before she fell to death's open arms.

Adding to that, Harry heard his father's panicked yet determined pleas --"Lily, it's him. Take Harry and go, I'll hold him off" --echo in his ears and his entire being.

Suddenly, Harry gave a strangled cry and fell to the ground on his knees. Holding his head, he whimpered in pain. His scar turned red and raw as if being burned. As his eyes --red as blood-- snapped shut, a soft whimper escaped his lips.

Opening his eyes again, Harry was no longer in the hospital wing but in the graveyard, where it all started again for the second time. He saw the jet of green light strike Cedric straight in the chest as he fell motionless with a thud, unseeing wide eyes staring blankly.

Harry felt his lips scream, "Nooo," before the scene changed once again back to mere minutes in time. He saw his godfather convulsing in pain from the curse he, Harry himself, had inflicted on him.

Harry felt as though these tormenting memories, rushing into his mind all at once, were breaking him from the very core with their combined overwhelming effect... pounding on him just like a hammer on a nail.

Pain shot like sharp double edged knives, unwillingly snapping the life out of him. Harry gave another scream of agony, as the veins on his neck, becoming prominent, seemed ready to pop.

Remus knelt to the floor, shaking Harry while muttering soothing words, in which he very well knew they were unheard by Harry. He tried to stop Harry's body from trembling that much but had no idea how.

It was as though Sirius had lost control over his limbs, just standing there, stuck, glued to the ground. It seemed like his whole world had come crushing down, and he had nothing in his hands but to watch it fall apart. Watching Harry in so much pain killed Sirius from the inside, even more agonizing than the cruciatus curse he was just screaming from.

***
The images flashing in Harry's mind took a different turn of direction now. His gatherings with his friends, mainly Ron and Hermione, filled with laughter, repetitive plans on what needs to be done, small talk giving the core essence of their conversation and, most importantly, the bond they had together of irreplaceable friendship.

Harry remembered the remarkable feeling of warmth and love he felt when his parents embraced him, for the very first time, and how its after-taste sealed the hole in his heart.

His godfather came next, all the support he was gifted by knowing that someone had his back. His mind-eye pictured Sirius beaming at him and hugging him close.

He could even visualize Remus helping him all the way through casting the Patronus charm, a stag that was so like his father's.

His mind shifted back to the first day ever spent at the Burrow, along with all the Weasleys, and how he felt a part of the family... like being one of them.

Every single detail and show of affection that had once drawn a smile on his face, all of equal importance to him, had been always held so dearly for his own well-being. And now he was determined to make great use of it... that's what gave him the power to push the dark entity off his entire being and free himself from its influence.

It was as if the dementors were inside him, forcing him to relive his worst memories, and he had no other option to free his soul but to cast a strong Patronus charm with powerfully -equally intense- happy memories.

Just when Harry thought he was actually a step away from death, the pain gradually began to recede. He gathered all his remaining strength as he tried to get up on his feet again. The world was drifting in and out of focus before he finally settled into the bliss of unconsciousness.

Suddenly, his body went limp and swayed dangerously, and his eyes -back to green- rolled backward and closed. The last things Harry was aware of were the distant yell of his name and being caught in a pair of arms, before feeling cold and seeing nothing but darkness taking over every bit of him.

Sirius reached for him and Harry fell in his arms like a dead weight, looking deadly pale like a white sheet. Unknowingly, Sirius let out a strangled breath as his shaky hand removed the sweaty bangs from Harry's eyes.

"What the Bloody hell was that all about!" Fred and George's identical voices broke the dead silence.

"Oh, shut it, you two," snapped Arthur in a weak voice, as he reached forward to help Sirius support Harry's body to the nearest bed.

***
"That's what I feared," Albus whispered to no one in particular. His eyes, no longer twinkling, along with his entire face aged a couple of years in the last few minutes.

"If you knew this would happen, what did you do to stop it then?" Remus' tone converted from suspicion to accusation, with his gaze fixed at Dumbledore.

When the headmaster hesitated and chose to remain silent -out of guilt he presumed- Sirius took it from here, unable to hold it back anymore.

"Nothing, he did absolutely nothing. YOU kept a distance away from him all year long, shunning him away, instead of protecting him. You put his fate, in shielding his mind, in the hands of the very person who hated him. That's all what you did. And you thought it would end well, I ask you!" Sirius' voice was bitter and conveyed zero empathy. Face lined with badly constrained fury, he was far more disturbed by this than he was letting on.

"Harry... he believed he was alone, having no one to turn to. I-I couldn't even be there for him; I was forced to remain in the dark, even when he needed me most." Sirius felt his heart clench tightly in his chest as he voiced out these words.

Guilt was cutting through Albus like a knife. He truly blamed himself not only for distancing himself from Harry but also for hiding the truth about the prophecy. Both mistakes, of his own, are what led to today's traumatic events. But he had Harry's well-being at heart, caring more for his safety and happiness. Good intentions, yes. But still he took the wrong pathway, and for that he would never forgive himself.

"Sirius, I couldn't argue against that. I dare say it is an old man's mistake. I won't be offended if you don't accept my apology, at least for now," said Albus, his eyes at the ground, the lines of his face becoming more significantly vivid with every word.

Sirius glared at the headmaster, not trusting his voice any longer. If looks could kill, Voldemort would have been on top of the world now, as he finally would get an end to Albus Dumbledore once and for all.

"Oh, come on, just tell us now what's wrong with Harry and save that for later." Ron snapped in a failed attempt to keep it as polite as possible, impatience and worry getting the better of him.

Everyone realized he had a point and the tense atmosphere of the argument --so thick it was, that could have been cut with a sharp knife-- faded away, at least for the time being.

Hope you liked it ! If so, don't forget to vote and comment your thoughts about it. You have no idea how much it means to me to know you enjoyed it.

This chapter is dedicated to @RoseLupin27 for being the very first one to break the rule of silent reading here. Thank you for your words of encouragement.

Also, which death of any of the characters you just can't get over till now and could never forgive JK Rowling for ??

This specific question is very important to me because it could be of some help in the unfolding of events. So please don't scroll over it.