Encore

It is peaceful being dead. I always hoped it would be so. My life was so bitter and painful from my first breath to my last that this soft, quiet, darkness is a pleasure beyond anything that I have ever known. I had hoped that I would see Lilly after death but then I suppose I would have to see Potter too so this is better, even though it is a bit lonely.

Slowly, I become aware of a sound, a steady drumbeat somewhere near me and then a bit later the sound of voices somewhere in the distance. Sometimes I think I recognize them. It is a man and a woman, the woman’s voice seems closer but both voices are muffled. Sometimes I hear other voices but most often it is these two.

I heard a lot of voices today as though a large party was going on in another room. It was annoying but not enough to get up and do anything about. Not that I could, I’m dead. Aren’t I?

Something is wrong! The drumbeat is faster now and louder. There is an almost painful pressure all around me, pushing me. Stop! Leave me alone! The pressure is unbearable now. I am being forced further from the drumbeat, down a long dark tunnel. I try to fight it but I can’t. I’m afraid; I don’t want to leave this peaceful place. Who knows what horrors await me at the end of that tunnel. I hear a woman screaming and then my senses are overwhelmed. There is bright light everywhere I turn and smells and sounds like I have not experienced since my death. I feel pain in the bottom of my foot as though someone pinched it and I cry out. I hear a woman’s voice, “Congratulations, Mr. Potter. It’s a boy.”

I understand now and I begin to cry harder. I have been reborn. Unfair, I didn’t ask for this. All I ever wanted was the peace of death. I thought we had a choice of when and where we were reborn; I don’t remember anyone asking me. If they had, I would have told them to keep their life, filled with pain and sorrow. Once was enough, why must I go through it again?