Hi people! This is the edited chapter 1 (10/16/16). Good reading!
Fanfiction: Love's Void
Author: Jasmine Green
Main Pairing: Harry Potter/Tom Riddle
Warnings: Mature content. No further warnings apply (wink).
Summary: Harry Potter has no recollections of his life but him falling from the sky with the Dark Mark on his chest. Now as Hogwart's Champion, he may find more than only eternal glory within the Triwizard Tournament... if his actions don't doom Hogwarts forever, that is.
TO SEE THE CHAPTERS WITH PICTURES, READ IN ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN'S SITE. Fanfiction net doesn't allow me to put the pictures, unfortunately.
Love's Void
Chapter One
The Fall
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
The Road Not Taken
Robert Frost
I'm falling with speed, the wind rushing through me in strong waves. The sky is disappearing, giving space to a star-full ceiling while I'm falling through it. There's no sound. Only a feeling as if I lost something. As if I'm yet losing it. It feels as if the air itself is disappearing and in its instance, people appear. Faces and faces and faces I don't know, looking at me and whispering in rushed tones. Yet I can't understand a single word.
There's a man in front of a goblet. He holds a piece of paper. His face is white.
L. V.
I opened my eyes and the first thing I saw were completely white walls. It was dark, so I couldn't see much more than the bed I was in and much more surrounding me... until my eyes adjusted to the darkness, that is, and I saw shadows of people coming near. I had a nagging feeling they came for me - other possibility didn't feel right. As, um, I'm the only one around here.
I tucked myself better under the thin white blankets, trying to ease my pounding heart. When the shadows were already at the Hospital Wing's door, I closed my eyes. Praying they wouldn't notice I'm awake.
I wasn't quick enough.
A pair of twinkling blue eyes caught my gaze before I closed my own.
"It seems he's awake."
I don't want to open my eyes just to see his twinkling blue eyes again. Yet it was pointless - they already knew I'm awake. And didn't they come for me? Probably they needed me awake, so I slowly opened my eyes. Unexpectedly the blue-eyed old man stood right in my front, alongside a stiff looking, elder woman. I tried speaking to them. Uttering any word - yet none came to me quickly enough. The old man pointed his wand right at my head in a flash.
"You must rest, my boy." His face was severe before his wand released a dark blue light and I shut my eyes. I waited for the feeling of impact, the spell's effect. None came.
It feels as if the spell never quite reached me in the first place. But that's ridiculous... it touched me!
I heard footsteps. Apparently, the pair hadn't noticed anything wrong, like me being wide awake...
"Is it true, Albus?" The woman's voice echoed through the Hospital Wing, it faltering in the old man's name.
"I'm afraid so, Minerva." His tone was quiet, barely audible. It gave me chills.
"What will be done? This form of magic... I have never seen it before, in all my life. The way Harry appeared... If he has lost it, how will we ever know what happened to him in all these months?" She waited for an answer for a millisecond before rushing in her words. "How can we counter the curse bound in him? Albus, do something. Merlin, the Dark Mark..." Her voice faltered again. "The Dark Mark was plastered all over his chest! How can you-"
I heard a gasp for breath as if someone was trying to suppress emotions with all might. Then the woman's voice reached my ears once again, in a whisper. I strained my ears and concentrated really hard to overhear her words. Immediately I wished I didn't.
"We can't let him die, Albus!"
Silence.
After a few moments, where I did my best to stay still, Albus spoke again.
"Not if we have any say in this, my dear friend. Our time may be short, yet we won't let the mark be. We won't let it win. We'll keep Harry alive, no matter what. Now we must let him met his friends once again, they were worried-"
"Merlin knows they were." She said in a bitter tone.
"- and in them shall we rest our faith, as a mind wiped of memory will only find true rest among what was once dear. He's strong, Minerva, don't doubt him a moment. We may yet be surprised by the outcome of this matter."
"So you think it's possible then, Albus? You think it's possible that he'll remember?"
Apparently, the silence was answer enough to her question, as she spoke again.
"It's impossible, Albus! Completely, utterly ridiculous!"
"Not impossible, Minerva." I heard a sigh. "Merely unheard of."
A few moments of quietness stilled a tense atmosphere. It must have been minutes in total silence already. Even if I couldn't hear them, I didn't dare open my eyes - it was hard enough keeping my hands from trembling...
Harry. Harry Potter.
That's my name.
This is the Hospital Wing, a room inside Hogwarts.
Hogwarts… my home.
These people... they talked about me as if they knew me. Yet I don't remember them. I also don't remember any friends they talked about.
It's horrible... they are friends with someone who can't even name then...
Suddenly it sank.
What was all this talk about curses? About how I was when I appeared... about me dying?
What the bloody hell is happening?
My hands shook hard under the blankets and a sense of dread encompassed myself. They must have noticed me. No way they wouldn't notice someone trembling horribly right in front of their eyes. They would notice the spell had no effect and that I'm yet awake. That I overheard them.
Yet I only heard distant footsteps.
Daring to open my eyes just a tiny bit, fully expecting their shocked faces or more wands and spells at me... I was surprised. The pair was already by the door, a somber look on their faces.
I closed my eyes again, straining to hear their voices' echoes.
"There's a chance he'll remember everything, as small as it may be. We don't know the extent of this curse. Poppy doesn't know if he was obliviated or if her spell's results were just a temporary side effect from the curse. She said so herself."
"I hope you are right, Albus."
They left without looking back.
"arry! Ron, he's waking up!" A high-pitched voice shouted right next to me. I hadn't even opened my eyes properly before a horrible headache made itself known. I feel dizzy.
"Hey mate." A red headed boy sat on my left, looking amazed at me. Uh.
It took me an embarrassingly long time to notice he was talking to me.
"Hey... erm..." I heard someone calling Ron, right? "Hi, Ron."
His stunned expression was quite clear to me, despite he trying to make it disappear. The silence that followed my words was quite uncomfortable.
I noticed a bushy haired girl at my right. Her face was flabbergasted.
"Madam Pomfrey! He said Ron's name!" She glanced behind her towards a woman, who left whatever she was doing at a potion's cabinet to come rushing towards me.
"How are you feeling, Mr. Potter?" Taking a good hawk look at me and noticing my obvious discomfort, she directed a stern look towards my both sides. "You both, I believe it's better to rush to your classes. Leave him resting for now."
I saw the boy, um, Ron getting red in anger. He was already opening his mouth and I couldn't help cutting him off.
"No no, I'm... I'm fine." All eyes looked at me. Pomfrey's eyes were clearly unbelieving. "I'm just a bit dizzy."
Her eyes barely got softer before she spoke once again.
"Did you call him Ron?"
"...yeah?"
She shook her head and stared at me. She then looked at the girl, her jaw falling, as if struck speechless. However, the girl seemed to understand it and directed her gaze once again at me. Pomfrey was then walking towards a potion cabinet, fussing over something. The girl at my right cleared her throat and looked at me expectantly.
I stared at her right back.
She remained staring.
"Harry? Are you ok?"
"I…" She raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to continue. I was getting anxious once again, my hands trembling, and I reached for my clothes, fiddling with the fabric - until I wasn't touching fabric anymore.
Please, please, he knows my name. He can't have forgotten it. Me, Hermione… say it, Harry!
"Yeah, Hermione."
The expression on her face was priceless. It seemed that a huge weight left her shoulders with only two words and I refused to feel guilty. I knew she probably thought I remembered her now, and I couldn't lie forever, but… now it was the right thing to do.
Anyway, how did I know her name?
Why was her voice inside my head?
There is something in my pants' pocket that triggered it, but what... It was something round and warm to the touch.
Before I delved into such thoughts, Poppy said something about informing the headmaster and disappeared from the Hospital Wing in seconds, as if her legs were a snitch. Hermione was hugging me with such a force that I could hardly breathe and Ron made a face while looking at us, but said nothing. I could feel my white shirt getting wet, but Hermione didn't make any crying sound.
"You got no idea what you made us go through!" That's true, considering I remember nothing at all from you lot. She lifted her head, her voice coming surprisingly strong despite the tear tracks around her brown eyes. "You disappeared the day we would take the Hogwarts express to go back home… no one saw you for whole months... what…" She looked at Ron, who put a supporting hand on her arms. She reached for Ron's hand. "...what happened to you, Harry?"
No idea.
But I don't think this would be an "O" answer.
Anyway, thank you for conveniently informing me more about what's happening, even if you were most probably repeating the events surrounding my disappearance for your own rambling.
Now what to say, what to say…
The words from last night flashed into my mind and I tried for something that should be safe to say.
"It was horrible, Hermione. They…" I remember the woman saying something about a curse. Just play Mr. Obvious. "They cursed me." Make a face of complete sorrow. And for the best line of the night… or morning, whatever: "I don't want to talk about it."
How to say absolutely nothing to people who you don't know a thing about - classes with Harry Potter!
Or not, as it didn't work right.
"Harry, you can tell us!" The look of pity mixed with worry on their faces made me want to go back in time and eat my words. This girl had an 'I'm NOT letting you get away with this bullshit" face. Then she gazed out of the Hospital Wing's nearest window, and she said, her voice rough: "They thought you were dead."
The "we" hidden in the "they" wasn't hidden good enough. They both must have been worried sick, if they are my friends - what would explain why they're here instead of in class, especially Hermione, being the bookworm…
Bookworm.
What.
"YOU'RE A BOOKWORM."
Hermione jumped backward after my shout and Ron tried to get her before she could fall awkwardly on the floor. He barely managed it by throwing himself at my bed's other side. Now I screwed just right.
"I, I mean…" Quick, quick "You're here, even if you would most likely be in the library right now. Sorry for keeping you up and worrying you, I…" Ron left Hermione alone, who was fortunately still standing, and got out of my bed just as thunderous footsteps saved me from making an even bigger fool out of myself.
Or not, considering that the ugliest wizard I could never have imagined in my wildest nightmares walked into the room, with a fake eye and an air of suspicion all around him. And at his side, the bearded man again. Who perhaps is even scarier, if you look too much into his twinkling eyes.
POV CHANGE
The students in the Great Hall were loud as I have never seen them before. Each table had excited, nearly screaming kids. Of course, minus Slytherin and, in the case of Gryffindor, actually screaming-their-lungs-hoarse kids.
Now it would happen at any moment. You see, the Champions from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were already sorted: a young Veela, Delacour, and a bulky guy, Krum. Finally, it was time for the Hogwarts champion to be sorted. People were ecstatic, throwing the names of their favorite candidates out of their mouths. I heard a lot calling out Cedric Diggory, along with some other names from Gryffindor. Of course.
Dumbledore made a stupid show out of picking the folded paper the Goblet vomited. He stared at it for a while, and everyone got silent in a rush, waiting for their favorite candidates' names to be shouted.
"CASSIUS WARRINGTON!"
Silence.