Disturbing memories
Snow fell from the sky during the night and the morning that she awoke, the ground was invisible, covered by the white snow.
She yawned and stretched, a smile spreading across her face. He was going to come see her today, he was going to come pick her up and take her into town.
It was February 16, 1312. The snows came in late the previous year, but early that year. The weather�s been pretty odd lately, if she actually thought about it, there was a lot of rain, even during times that it usually doesn�t even start raining.
Her family was asleep inside, each one glad that it was the weekend and they wouldn�t have to spend much time in the fields. They would have workers to farm for them that day.
She heard it coming even before she saw it. She imagined the two horses pulling it, the dusty brown of the wagon, and the handsome man in the wagon. She smiled at the very thought of him.
When it pulled up to her, she was greeted with a warm smile that crinkled up his amazingly young face. He was only two years older, her at the age of seventeen, turning eighteen in a few more months.
�Amber, sorry I am a bit late,� he apologized. His eyes showed his apology and she smiled, glad that of all the girls in town, she was the one he wanted, the one he wanted to love and be loved by.
He climbed down and took her gloved hands, helping her onto the wagon. When she was seated, he climbed on and they began their journey towards town.
Before the farm was out of view, she turned back to look at her home. It was a comfortable little place, but the forest behind it made it gloomy. Amber shivered at the thought of it. That forest has always scared her, even as a child before she heard all that went on in it.
�What is the matter, Love?� he asked, using the name for her that tingled her spine. �You are shivering.�
She shook her head, pushing aside the tales that she�s heard so many times when she and her younger siblings would sit around the fire and their pa would tell them stories. �Nothing, Demetri. I just cannot wait to spend my whole day with you.�
He grinned and took her hands in his, sending a shock up her arm. She laid her head, full of dark curls on his shoulder and sighed. He turned his head and gave her a kiss before returning his attention to the road.
When they reached town, Demetri got off first and offered a hand to Amber. She took it once again with her gloved hand. She gave him a warm smile and they started off towards the little shops where she would search for whatever she wanted.
They stopped in front of a little store shack and went inside. She went to the books section, since she loved to read so much. Demetri chuckled and helped her pick out one. He loved it when she read to him.
After they picked one out, Demetri went up to pay for it while she lingered behind. She saw an opened door in the back and her curiosity got the best of her. She began towards it; her eyes slightly squinted in curiosity.
�There is nothing back there, Amber,� a voice said from behind. She turned to see William, a boy the same age as her. She loved his dark hair, and his amazingly green eyes, but not more than she loved Demetri.
�Why is there nothing back there?� she asked.
He grinned and pulled the door closed. �We just stored a lot of things back there. My father has lots of trash; you knew that. He just could not find any place for it, so he put them all back there. Can I help you find anything?�
She shook her head and looked towards Demetri who was coming towards them. She smiled before saying, �I already found what I wanted. Thank you anyway. I will see you around, William. Good Bye.�
Demetri gave him a nod before taking her by the hand and leading the way out. She turned back one last time to wave at William, but she did not see the admiring look he gave her after she turned around.
* * *
Her eyes opened in wide shock, staring around at all the faces that hovered above hers. She blinked a few times before coming to focus and found half the class over her.
Somewhere, she heard a boy say, �she�s come to,� but she didn�t know who. Professor Flitwick�s face was the one she could see the clearest and she asked, �what happened?�
He shook his head and shoved a cup of icy cold water into her face in which she shook her head to. He said, �I don�t know either, Miss Daily. When we performed the waking up spell again, you did not come to.�
�Dean over there almost had a fit,� the redhead boy named Ron said. �Thought he did something wrong.� Dean glared at him and jokingly pushed him aside. To her surprise, he fell over.
�Well, I�m glad you�re up,� Professor Flitwick said. �Now everyone, back to work. Remember, this spell is not to be used lightly. I did not teach it for you to use on anyone you want for anyone reasons. The Ministry of Magic wanted me to teach you this, just in case it might come in handy.� With that said, he glanced at her and smiled, as if he knew something that she did not.
Amber looked down and she thought back to the peculiar dream. This one was so different from the others. It did not show of death to the girl. Not to mention, she knew the girl in that dream. She saw her face and that made her gasp, though not aloud.
Also, the girl had a name. She had a name, but Amber could not recall. The boy did too. She thought hard, but it only made her head ached. She sighed and when class ended, she rushed out, afraid that questions might be asked.
In the halls, she bumped into someone, but she didn�t apologized. She rushed on, ignoring every eye that was on her.
* * *
Ginny Weasley gasped in surprise as a girl ran into her and left without apologizing. She frowned, but made nothing much of it. The girl wore the same robe and colors as she did.
She continued on, searching for her brother and the others. It didn�t take long, but she was surprised to find that Harry wasn�t with them. Hermione spotted her and waved her over. She rushed over, asking, �where�s Harry?�
Hermione shrugged, pursing her lips. She glanced at the book in her arms and held it out to Ginny. �I found this in the library yesterday. It should help you very much on that tree. What was it called?�
�A weeping willow,� Ginny answered. She flipped through a few of the pages in the book until she found a page with a very large tree with what looks like vines trailing down. She read, �The weeping willow, named for its vines that travels down like a stream of tears. When the wind blows, it brushes against one another as if it were weeping. It stands deep in the heart of the Forbidden forest, once called the tree of promise by villagers in the early 1300s.�
Ginny looked up and closed the book with a thud. She juggled it with the other books she had and waved at them before starting off. She needed to start on that essay as soon as she could.
* * *
Harry sat by the window in his dorm. He stared outside as thunder roared, lightening flash against the sky, and heavy drops of rain splattered Hogwarts. He was confused, it doesn�t rain around Hogwarts until October at least and it was only August.
He shook his head and thought of tomorrow�s event. After Oliver Wood left Hogwarts, Harry was chosen to be captain of the quidditch team. He was very pleased, but choosing new people isn�t something he liked.
In his sixth year, after the Weasley twins, and the girls on his team left, he had to appoint new people. That was very hard. Now, he had to appoint more new people since two people left too.
He finally stood up to bed, but was met by a spasm of dizziness. He staggered and tried to hold onto something. What he saw confused him, yet it saddened him at the same time.
When the scenes were over, he breathed hard and staggered to his bed. He parted the curtains and fell onto his bed, still breathing hard.
While lying there, Harry thought about what he saw. It was for sure that they came in flashes, but he couldn�t recall what they were. All he remembered was a young girl with dark curls and a man who walked with her. He saw flashes of a store, a wagon, a letter in a trunk, a very dark forest, and a huge tree.
* * *
Hermione struggled with her assignment for Professor Gray. Usually, by now, she would have been done. But it seemed like she just couldn�t find enough information to write anything. Something crossed her mind, but she brushed it aside. It couldn�t be. But even as she tried to push it aside, it was there.
Something, or someone, doesn�t want you to finish it. She shook her head and brushed that thought aside. She had no idea where it even came from.
After admitting that she was only keeping herself up with something that didn�t even need finishing until late into the next year, she put everything away and went to bed.
She was lying there for a while before she began to doze. Pictures began flashing in her mind, but she couldn�t make out any of them to be sure of what they were about.
Hermione sat up in bed, gasping. She stared around her closed four-poster bed as if someone was in there with her. When satisfied that there was no one, she got out of bed. She truly could not sleep.
Down in the common room, the fire was still ablaze. She spotted someone on the couch too and went to sit by him. �Harry, what�s the matter?�
He shook his head to her without even looking up. For the moment, she had a desire to take his chin by her fingers and turn him to face her. To slowly have their faces pulling closer and closer together. But she blinked herself back to reality and asked again, �Harry, what�s the matter?�
Harry finally looked up and stared at her, his green eyes sad. She flinched at the pain she saw, wishing that she never asked. He furrowed his brows and whispered, �Do you really want to know?�
She hesitated to nod, but did so anyway. He was her friend; only her friend and he needed her. �I�ll always be here for you, Harry,� she answered him.
He closed his eyes in pain and she thought she saw him shiver. She reached behind herself for a blanket and covered him with it. He began. �So much has been happening, Hermione. I�m so sorry that I pushed away so many of the important people in my life in the past. I just didn�t know how to deal with it. I thought that if I tell them the truth, they�d only end up hurt. So I kept to myself and to my surprise, I did it myself. I stopped Volder�er�You-Know-Who,� he added when she winced. �I stopped him and I thought that perhaps I did something great, but I didn�t.�
Hermione looked at the ground, confused. She finally averted her gaze to his and asked, �but it was something great that you did there, Harry. Something magnificent. You changed the whole world, you made it safe again.�
Harry shook his head and looked away. �That�s what I thought at first, but now that I think about it, I never should have pushed away so many people. Look at how much I�ve lost because of what I did.�
She shook her head again, and this time, she found the courage to take his chin by her fingers and turn him towards her. He wouldn�t look at her eyes, but she waited until he did. �Harry, you pushed people away, that was true, but none of them ever went away. No matter how much you pushed, they all stayed by your side. They all stuck by you, whether you knew it or not.�
�And they�ve been by your side ever since,� a voice said from behind them. They both turned around in surprise to find Ron with his blazing red hair in the dark. He grinned at them and took a seat by Harry�s side.
�Harry, we�re all friends here,� he said. �We�ve always been friends and we�ll always be friends. Friends stick together, through thick and thin, that�s what we�ll do, what we�ll always do.�
Harry grinned at his two friends and although he didn�t say anything, Hermione knew he was himself again.
After the boys went up to bed, she stayed behind. She sat alone in the room until she knew that she was no longer alone.
Hermione turned around to find herself staring at a face she knew all too well, with long dark hair, brown eyes, and full lips. �Amber, what are you doing up?�
The girl shook her head, coming around to take a seat. After she did, she laid her head on the couch. Hermione stared at her curiously. �What�s the matter?�
Amber closed her eyes the way Harry did in a painful gesture and once again, Hermione winced. She helped Harry, why couldn�t she help a new girl who looked lost here in a new place?
�Look, I understand how it feels to be alone,� she started. �I always had Harry and Ron, but it wasn�t always. There were times when we separated due to our differences and its those times when I�m at my worst. Without friends to support us, we�re nothing. We�re no one.�
There was silence until Amber finally said, �but has any of them betrayed you? Has any of them went throughout the whole school, calling you crazy?�
When Hermione didn�t say anything, she let a disbelieved smile spread across her face. �I knew it. How could you possibly know how I feel when you�ve never been betrayed? It hurts so much,� tears began to pour from her eyes. �It hurts so much to put your every trust into someone just to have them rip it apart and throw it on the ground like it was nothing.�
Hermione�s eyes saddened and she pulled Amber into a hug. She let the confused girl cry until there were no tears left. Then she said to her, �Amber, trusting is very hard, I know that. You were wrong though; I was betrayed. In my first year, I thought that Ron was my friend, but I overheard him tell Harry how much of a nightmare I was. It hurt so bad, I hated him for it. But it was people like Harry who made me trust again. He proved to me that friendship is worth taking a chance.�
Amber pulled away and stared at her. �He did? But how could you have trusted him like that again? How could you still go on today as if nothing happened?�
She shrugged, �because I gave him another chance. I gave my friendship with him another chance and it proved to be worth it. I mean, he still is a pain in the arse, but he�s my friend. We have our differences, but we always find ways to work around them. You have no idea how many times I�ve been mad at him, but I always forgave him in the end. Friendship just isn�t worth giving up without a struggle. Not to mention, friendship just isn�t friendship without a little argument.�
Amber smiled for the first time at Hermione and she saw a dimple. Not dimples, but dimple, one deep dimple on the right side of her cheek. �Thanks, Hermione. I was wrong about friendship. I guess I never should have let the past interfere with my future.�
Hermione smiled at the girl and they went up to bed, a yawn erupting from her mouth. Once in bed, there was no question about how long it�ll take them to fall asleep. They were already asleep.
* * *
His studies are done. Although it took him two years, he was finally done. Now he can go to Hogwarts, even before the Christmas ball.
Perhaps he can even join in on with the little quidditch captain on deciding who will be on the team. He hasn�t seen the quidditch captain for a while now. And when he�s there, he�ll make sure that she gets on the team so it won�t be so hard to keep an eye on her. He had it all planned out.
__________________________________________________________
Author�s Note: Wondering whom this guy up there is huh? Well, he�s someone you all know, that�s for sure. His identity should be revealed by the next chapter for he will be at the quidditch tryouts. And there are many clues in here about who this Demetri guy is. Trust me, he�s in the school with the girl he loved in the past. Any ideas who he is? Well, please review.
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