Flash

Fortunately enough, Harry found out hours later that Cadence was okay. He had been told to return to his bed, but it was as if he couldn�t move from the spot he was rooted in. He didn�t notice that Dumbledore, McGonagall, Madam Pomfrey, and a few other professors had slipped into the hospital wing.

Why were they there? They didn�t need to be there! He did, he needed to be at her side and make sure she was all right.

He was shooed away so many times that he had lost count. It was almost as if he was standing in a daze and couldn�t be awoken until he saw Cadence again. Finally, after so long of staying in the same place, not answering anyone, Dumbledore reappeared from the room and spoke to him softly.

�Would you like to see her, Harry?�

Harry looked up at Dumbledore as if he was staring right through him. He nodded absentmindedly.

�She is sleeping right now,� he answered quietly. �She�s going to be just fine, you can ask her what happened later. Professor McGonagall is going to explain it to her as soon as she is conscious and aware enough to understand. It is up to her discretion to tell you. Would you like to go in now?�

Harry walked forward, his arms hanging stiffly at his sides. He felt like some kind of machine, moving with rigid movements, almost as if he were hollow.

He opened the door to the room and paused. He looked up at Dumbledore, as if to ask him how he knew that that was what he was there for. Dumbledore said nothing and only nodded.

Harry entered the room and walked up to the bed quietly. Seeing Cadence lying in the bed paler than the sheets only wrenched his heart and he sat down in the chair set next to her bed, as if it was just for him. He took her cold, limp hand in his own, kissed it softly and then stared at her.

�I love you so much,� he whispered to her. �Don�t leave me now, I can�t lose you.�

She stirred in the bed and he kissed her hand one more time. He let a tear flow down his cheek and then he wiped it away as he headed out.

It was only two days later that Harry received word that Cadence was finally awake. He had visited her every day like before, and asked to be informed the minute Cadence woke up. It was during his Defense Against the Dark Arts class that Madam Pomfrey stood outside the classroom, requesting a word with him.

He got up and walked out anxiously. �She�s awake,� she whispered to him.

His eyes lit up and relief took over his face. �Can I see her?�

�Yes, come along quickly.�

Harry thought nothing more and left with Madam Pomfrey. They arrived at the hospital wing within minutes and Cadence was sitting in her old bed, her head laying backward, looking at the ceiling.

She looked up just in time to see Harry happily bounding into the room. A smile she didn�t think she�d smile again burst upon her face.

�Hi!� she greeted cheerfully, slowly pulling herself up.

�Oh don�t do that on a count of me,� he said, kissing her forehead as he sat down, taking her hand. �So� how are you feeling? Are you okay? What hurts?�

Cadence laughed whole-heartedly, tipping her head back to do so. Her mouth glittered when she did that and it made Harry�s heart dip into his chest.

�You worry too much, calm down. Now, what are you doing in here already? I just woke up!� she said, definitely delighted to see him in there almost immediately.

Harry�s face was bright with a smile that he knew would never go away now. �Well, I was there when everything happened, and I didn�t leave until I got to see you. I asked Dumbledore if they�d tell me right away when you were awake so I could see you right away. Here I am.�

Cadence stared at his handsome face and knew that everything she had been missing since her parents had died was now staring at her. He was there and she hoped with every fiber of her being he never left her side.

�I love you,� she whispered.

Harry leaned in, kissed Cadence, and smiled. �I hope you�re not in here for too long.�

�Me either.�

It was mid December before Cadence left the hospital, and when she was, Harry was the one to help her get back to her dorm. She was greeted joyously. It was as if no one had seen her before. She glowed with a new light and smiled constantly. Everyone had noticed how she had kept quiet, yet as soon as she was removed from the hospital wing after being in there for at least a month, she was a different person.

Cadence and Harry never missed the opportunity to be around each other, and whenever they could, they were with their friends as well.

Cadence had missed her Care of Magical Creatures class immensely, and Hagrid had told her that he thought she knew enough of unicorns to understand that he had to stop giving her independent study. It was unfortunate that she would no longer get to learn about them and spend time with Hagrid, but the open two hours could be spent with Ginny.

She missed talking to Ginny so much. Ginny had come up to see her a lot and always recapped her when she dropped off the homework Cadence had to do, and they talked like nothing had happened. Yet she missed seeing Ginny�s face after school each day. Ginny was now studying for the O.W.L.s like crazy and it was pointless to go out and fly around on the Quidditch field when Cadence was already on the team and had practice every night.

She talked to Ginny in her first class back and Cadence�s best friend promised her that as soon as she was done taking the O.W.L.s, she was going to spend all the time in the world with her.

This gave Cadence an extra two hours after classes to spend time with Harry. She had already started brewing up things to get him for Christmas, but she was blanking in a way no one had ever done before. She was starting to become frustrated with it, but fortunately, she came across something one day that solved all of her problems.

In the midst of all of the madness of having Cadence back, Harry had completely forgotten to ask her what had really happened that night in the forest. He was scared to ask, but he knew better than to be scared of anything anymore. The scariest thing had almost happened already. He had almost lost her.

Harry and Cadence decided they were going to devote their time to each other while they still had it. He wanted to ask her what had really happened, but he wasn�t sure how to bring the words from his mouth.

Their day together was going to begin on a Friday� precisely the Friday right before Cadence would leave for Christmas break from Hogwarts. It really hurt her to spend time away from Harry, but she needed to be with her family as well. She had hadn�t seen her grandmother in what seemed like years. She and Harry decided to exchange presents the day they were going to spend together, and Cadence was fortunate enough to have found and made the perfect present for him. Harry was also confident in what he had gotten for Cadence.

They met up after classes in the Common Room and decided that for two hours, they were going to walk the actual campus of Hogwarts. Cadence had not actually seen the entire site of the castle.

They walked hand in hand as Cadence stared in awe at all of the things Harry showed her. He smiled and enjoyed her enthusiasm, squeezing her hand whenever he thought something she said was worth hearing. He stared at her profile as her jaw dropped and her dark eyes glittered. She had not seen most of these things in her few months at Hogwarts.

They talked as they walked, holding each other closely and occasionally stealing a kiss.

Harry even showed her a secret passageway that he had used in his third year to sneak into Hogsmeade when he had no permission to. It was almost as if Cadence knew him up and down because she didn�t need to be reminded of all of his adventures. As soon as they came across the hallway, Cadence knew where they were.

He took her outside and they stood outside the Forest, staring in. Harry knew this was his opportunity because he saw the pained look on Cadence�s face. He looked down at her hand and rubbed it soothingly and then looked back up into her eyes.

�What happened that night in the Forest?� he whispered.

Cadence quickly stole a glance at Harry and he saw a flash of tenderness lingering in her eyes. �I�ll tell you Harry,� she whispered after consideration.

He said nothing. He let her begin.

�I only remember what happened vaguely. I remember running like mad, I remember holding onto you, thinking that my life was over, and then I remember something sharp and painful sting my side, and I felt warm liquid gushing onto my hands. I knew that I was hurt for real and then� it all just kind of faded. I saw you and then it was gone.�

Harry looked at her side and smiled. It had been so long since the accident had happened that he wasn�t sure whether or not she was hurt anymore. She never mentioned it.

�After you left, Professor McGonagall came in to talk to me and told me about all of it. She told me that even though students were forbidden, we had gotten special permission from Hagrid therefore we were allowed to be in there. That way she wasn�t going to take any points. She said that the Forest was starting to become a dangerous place for the two of us to be in and that we could no longer go venturing out there on our own accord. Then she explained to me why when I tried to protest.

�Harry� that necklace you found� like I had told you, it used to belong to my mother. Your mother was the only other person who owned a necklace like that, but it was lost when� on the night� well you know� And there were only two of a kind. These were special necklaces apparently; they were so big because they held enough room for a spell of any kind. That�s all McGonagall told me about it� and I know there�s more. I just can�t figure out what it is. She said that if these special necklaces were to fall into the wrong hands, the spell within no matter how wonderful and light would be tainted.

�She explained that not only were there these two necklaces, but also a special key that opened the spell within. Apparently there was one holder of the key, but the holder of the key went spoiled, became vengeful, and wanted to get his hands on the surviving necklace.

�So when whoever this was learned that I had the missing necklace, they came back with the key and decided that they were going to well�� she sighed. �This is where I might lose you Harry.�

�What are you talking about?� he asked, surprised at the steadiness of his voice. The story was shocking, but he remained calm the entire way through it.

�Whoever it was wanted to kill me, so they poisoned the key and made sure to hit me while we were out in the forest� Whoever this could be is out there right now.�

Harry bit his lips and looked out at the forest. He felt himself brewing inside. Whoever wanted to take Cadence away from him was an automatic enemy.

Somehow though, standing in the cold, red nosed and chapped lip, standing as close to Cadence as he was, it didn�t matter. Nothing did. It was only Cadence and Harry.

He smiled at her, and whispered, �Somehow� I don�t think anyone has control over you being with me anymore. Except for me.�

He kissed her then on the cheek, took her hand, and led her away from the Forest. He cast a wary glimpse behind his shoulder when he was sure she wasn�t looking. They headed into the Common Room to open the presents they had for each other.

They sat down close together by the fire and talked for a few minutes until Harry finally smiled. �Okay. What did you get me?�

Cadence tipped her head back and laughed the way Harry loved watching her laugh. Open mouthed, eyes sparkling.

�Well let me show you,� she said, getting up from her seat on the floor and pulling up a large box from underneath the huge Hogwarts Christmas tree. She put the box beside him and smiled as he opened it in curiosity.

He gasped as he pulled out a fairly big box of chocolate. �This,� Cadence explained, �is thanks to Ron. He explained to me what chocolate kind of does, so I decided that when I�m not around� you can have this chocolate with you to make you feel as good as you make me feel.�

Harry�s eyes glittered and he smiled at Cadence. �Thank you.� He set the box down and reached in and pulled out a green sweater.

�I know what you did,� she whispered. �And I knew this was your favorite sweater. So I got another one.�

As if completely amazed by her, he barely moved. He smiled sweetly at her and then reached into the box for his final present. Cadence�s smile slipped as he opened it and as the last of the wrapping paper fell limply from his hand, he breathed, �Oh� wow.�

�I found this in that box of pictures I have,� she said, walking up behind Harry and staring at the moving picture.

�Is this�?� he asked, touching it lightly.

�Yes it is. I found a frame that resembled the one you liked so much of the picture of my parents and put this picture in it. I had no idea that they were friends.�

�It makes sense,� Harry sighed, looking at Cadence and then back at the picture.

He would never have guessed that his and Cadence�s mothers had been best friends at Hogwarts. They were wearing the matching necklaces in the picture, and it was obviously Halloween. They were outside the Great Hall, one was wearing cat ears and the other devil horns. They were laughing and play fighting, yelling �Take the picture!�

�This is wonderful Cadence�� he whispered.

"I thought you�d appreciate it more� I knew what my mother was like. I figured this would give you a better idea.�

Harry stared at her for a second and then kissed her on the cheek. �Thank you so much. It�s wonderful.�

He continued to stare at the picture and then Cadence brought him back to the present by saying, �So what did you get me?�

Harry set down the picture next to his other gifts and stood up. �Well� it�s nothing I could wrap, but here,� he told her, handing her a card.

She frowned at him. �What do you mean?� She opened up the card and nearly dropped it as she read it.

�So?� Harry asked with a sly smirk on his face.

I couldn�t wrap your present, but your baby unicorn will be waiting in Hagrid�s hut. You can go and visit her after you read this card.

Love, me

Cadence put her hand to her chest. �How� when�what�?�

�Hagrid told me that as soon as a unicorn gave birth, I could claim one of the babies for you. I figured you�d appreciate that more than anything I could ever give you of a material nature.�

�Oh Harry�� she breathed, staring at the card. She surprised both Harry and herself by screaming for joy, leaping up, and jumping onto Harry, covering his face with kisses. They laughed together for a few minutes and then Cadence popped up, grabbing her cloak.

�Well let�s go see my unicorn!� she exclaimed.

Harry laughed and joined her lead. They surprised Hagrid and went in to visit with the unicorn. Cadence couldn�t believe her eyes. It was so beautiful. It was small and gold as babies usually were, and it warmed up to her right away. She smiled, petting it and loving it.

�So Cadence,� Hagrid said cheerfully. �What dya think yer gonta name it?�

Cadence smiled up at Hagrid and then back at her unicorn. She stared at the face of her small treasure and then looked back at Harry. �Flash.�

�Flash?� Hagrid and Harry said in unison.

�Yeah,� Cadence answered. �Why not?�

�I don�t know. I think the real question is why?�

Cadence laughed at Harry. �Because it was only in a flash of a minute that I realized whom I was meant to be with.�