(A/N: My second Harry Potter fic. Much angst, prepare yourself. This fic takes place in year two.)
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It was a cold day in November, much like the one that will be talked about later in the story, Harry and Ron had just woken up when Ron spotted the frost on the window and cursed himself.
"Stupid me," he said angrily. "I let Fred and George borrow my gloves and they hexed them to make me shake hands with everyone I see!" The red-headed young wizard sighed. "Harry, have you got a pair I can borrow?"
Harry looked up from having just put on his new pair that he'd gotten earlier in Diagon Alley. "Just in case," the woman at the store had said. "You'd best buy a pair. Gets cold up there at Hogwarts, I remember my days..." That was about the time Harry paid and walked out of the store to let her reminisc in peace.
He took them off and tossed them to Ron with a smile. "If I'm not mistaken," said Harry. "I have an old pair in the bottom of my trunk. I'll grab them, just wait up for me. You can be my witness to tell McGonagall why I was late for Transfiguration."
Ron nodded and pulled the dark green gloves on. "Thanks," he said.
"No problem," came Harry's muffled voice from behind the lid of the trunk. After a few moments he stood up holding a rather tattered pair of blue-grey gloves. "Got them from Dudley," he said, sticking his tongue out in mock disgust. "But, they'll do for now. Maybe you can ask your mum to knit you some later."
"Yeah." Ron said in agreement. "Maroon, no doubt."
Harry laughed as he pulled on one of the gloves and flexed his fingers to make sure they fit alright. As he pulled on the other one he felt something cold and yanked his hand back out with the metallic object hanging on his hand.
Almost immediately, his eyes bugged out in surprise and he nearly dropped it. Ron, curious, stepped over beside Harry and got a good look at what his friend held. Harry simply stared, mouth agape.
"It's a charm bracelet," said Ron. "Don't girls usually wear those, Harry?"
"Yeah..."
"Why do you have one?"
"I...uh...we're late for class, Ron, let's go." Harry shoved the bracelet into his pocket and pulled on the glove. He grabbed his bookbag and notioned for Ron to hurry before running down the stairs to the common room and out into the hallways of Hogwarts castle.
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"...and to answer your question, Miss Granger, Animagi's do not have to register themselves twice if they become and caterpillar and then a butterfly," Professor McGonagall droned on. "They can just register under 'caterpillar/butterfly'. Though, I don't see why anyone would want to become an insect, being stepped upon doesn't sound like the honorable way to go. Or as an exhibit," she added with a shudder. "Any other questions?"
Most of her students were paying attention, including Hermione of course. Harry, though, simply stared at the Professor to make it look like he was paying attention, but actually he had his mind on other matters.
'I can't believe it,' he thought. 'All this time...why didn't I remember it was in there? Didn't I see what I was packing last summer?'
Memories of his childhood, well, his younger childhood, came flooding back to him. Back before he'd ever come to Hogwarts, even before he began recieving letters, there was something else in his life. To be precise, there was -someone- else. It was his first real friend, a real person.
As the class went on, Harry sunk deeper and deeper into thought. He absently stuck his hand in his pocket and felt the bracelet there. He remembered the charms and named them by feel. The teddy bear, the star, the horse...there were ten in all.
Ron spotted Harry's dazed expression and nudged him lightly in the ribs. "Are you okay?" he whispered, a look of worry on his face.
"Yeah," Harry said. "Just thinking."
"You look like you're off in space."
"Just passed Saturn."
The boys snickered and earned themselves a glare of 'one-more-time-and-it's-detention-for-you' from Professor McGonagall. They stopped and quickly wrote down something to serve as notes to make her think they'd been paying attention the entire time.
After a few minutes, Harry was once again off in his own world. He was thinking of back then, not too long before his Hogwarts letters, but long enough for his memory to be hazy. For some reason, though, he hadn't forgotten a thing of what had happened. It had been pushed out of his mind until that morning when he found the bracelet again.
The bracelet brought everything back to him in a haze of memories good and bad.
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(A/N: First chapter was a little short, yeah...sorry 'bout that.)
----
It was a cold day in November, much like the one that will be talked about later in the story, Harry and Ron had just woken up when Ron spotted the frost on the window and cursed himself.
"Stupid me," he said angrily. "I let Fred and George borrow my gloves and they hexed them to make me shake hands with everyone I see!" The red-headed young wizard sighed. "Harry, have you got a pair I can borrow?"
Harry looked up from having just put on his new pair that he'd gotten earlier in Diagon Alley. "Just in case," the woman at the store had said. "You'd best buy a pair. Gets cold up there at Hogwarts, I remember my days..." That was about the time Harry paid and walked out of the store to let her reminisc in peace.
He took them off and tossed them to Ron with a smile. "If I'm not mistaken," said Harry. "I have an old pair in the bottom of my trunk. I'll grab them, just wait up for me. You can be my witness to tell McGonagall why I was late for Transfiguration."
Ron nodded and pulled the dark green gloves on. "Thanks," he said.
"No problem," came Harry's muffled voice from behind the lid of the trunk. After a few moments he stood up holding a rather tattered pair of blue-grey gloves. "Got them from Dudley," he said, sticking his tongue out in mock disgust. "But, they'll do for now. Maybe you can ask your mum to knit you some later."
"Yeah." Ron said in agreement. "Maroon, no doubt."
Harry laughed as he pulled on one of the gloves and flexed his fingers to make sure they fit alright. As he pulled on the other one he felt something cold and yanked his hand back out with the metallic object hanging on his hand.
Almost immediately, his eyes bugged out in surprise and he nearly dropped it. Ron, curious, stepped over beside Harry and got a good look at what his friend held. Harry simply stared, mouth agape.
"It's a charm bracelet," said Ron. "Don't girls usually wear those, Harry?"
"Yeah..."
"Why do you have one?"
"I...uh...we're late for class, Ron, let's go." Harry shoved the bracelet into his pocket and pulled on the glove. He grabbed his bookbag and notioned for Ron to hurry before running down the stairs to the common room and out into the hallways of Hogwarts castle.
------
"...and to answer your question, Miss Granger, Animagi's do not have to register themselves twice if they become and caterpillar and then a butterfly," Professor McGonagall droned on. "They can just register under 'caterpillar/butterfly'. Though, I don't see why anyone would want to become an insect, being stepped upon doesn't sound like the honorable way to go. Or as an exhibit," she added with a shudder. "Any other questions?"
Most of her students were paying attention, including Hermione of course. Harry, though, simply stared at the Professor to make it look like he was paying attention, but actually he had his mind on other matters.
'I can't believe it,' he thought. 'All this time...why didn't I remember it was in there? Didn't I see what I was packing last summer?'
Memories of his childhood, well, his younger childhood, came flooding back to him. Back before he'd ever come to Hogwarts, even before he began recieving letters, there was something else in his life. To be precise, there was -someone- else. It was his first real friend, a real person.
As the class went on, Harry sunk deeper and deeper into thought. He absently stuck his hand in his pocket and felt the bracelet there. He remembered the charms and named them by feel. The teddy bear, the star, the horse...there were ten in all.
Ron spotted Harry's dazed expression and nudged him lightly in the ribs. "Are you okay?" he whispered, a look of worry on his face.
"Yeah," Harry said. "Just thinking."
"You look like you're off in space."
"Just passed Saturn."
The boys snickered and earned themselves a glare of 'one-more-time-and-it's-detention-for-you' from Professor McGonagall. They stopped and quickly wrote down something to serve as notes to make her think they'd been paying attention the entire time.
After a few minutes, Harry was once again off in his own world. He was thinking of back then, not too long before his Hogwarts letters, but long enough for his memory to be hazy. For some reason, though, he hadn't forgotten a thing of what had happened. It had been pushed out of his mind until that morning when he found the bracelet again.
The bracelet brought everything back to him in a haze of memories good and bad.
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(A/N: First chapter was a little short, yeah...sorry 'bout that.)