Day 236: Always

Day 236: Always

“After all this time?”
“Always.” — Severus Snape

Today, the rain came softly—the kind of rain that doesn’t demand anything of you.

The kind that lets you remember.

I found myself back inside a story that once saved me: Harry Potter.

Back to the stone halls of Hogwarts, the flicker of candlelight in the Great Hall, the friendships that were unbreakable even in the face of darkness.

Back to the place where magic was real—and more importantly, where love was the strongest magic of all.

And somewhere between the pages of that world and the corners of my own memory, I found something else:

Hope.

Hope—the person, the feeling, the belief I fought for in my darkest days.

Hope—the stubborn whisper that life could still be beautiful, even after everything I lost.

Hope—the dream that love could still find me, that home wasn’t something you found by accident, but something you built, one fragile step at a time.

Today reminded me:

The things we carry forward—the people we love, the dreams we hold onto, the faith we refuse to let die—they don’t disappear just because time passes.

They change. They grow. They live inside us.

Even when the world tells us to forget.

Even when the road feels endless.

Even when doubt tries to dim the flame.

After all this time?

Always.

I am still that boy who believed there was more.

Still that heart that refuses to close.

Still that traveler fighting for a future not yet written.

And if you’re reading this, maybe you are too.

The magic isn’t gone.

The story isn’t over.

The light still waits for us—just beyond the next page.

One Step. One Punch. One Round. 🌹

—Your Fellow Traveler