1- The Girl from the Past
Harry Potter sighed and yawned, trying desperately not to fall asleep directly in the middle of the chapter assigned to him by Professor Binns. It was about Hogwarts, which made it more interesting than usual, but it was still deadly boring. So far it had been nothing but bla, bla, bla about the architecture of Hogwarts-describing every stone in the building! Harry got up to walk around the common room, hoping that it would keep him from falling asleep. He noticed that Ron was asleep and walked around the table to shake him awake.
Bang!
A huge portrait that had been laying in the corner for as long as he had been at Hogwarts flew up in the air, hovered there for a second, then crashed to the floor. "PEEVES!" Ron had woken up with a start, taken in the picture, and yelled for the poltergeist that was the most likely candidate for the job. No one answered. Harry picked up the remains of the portrait. It was a girl, about his age in an old, medieval style dress in brilliant colors, with her face slashed into thin ribbons of canvas. Ron pulled some of the shreds into place and whistled. The girl was quite pretty, mischievous green eyes glinting, and locks of red hair falling over her forehead.
"Never did like that picture." A voice behind them made them whirl. A ghostly pale image of the girl stood in the middle of the floor, surveying her work. She levitated about two feet off the ground. "I mean, the stupid person put me in color. Do I look colorful to you?" She spun around for inspection, her embroidered gown flaring.
Ron steadied himself on a table, an astounded look on his face. Harry found his voice. "Who are you?"
She swooped over and landed neatly on top of the frame. "Clara Rellim."
Ron sat down hard in one of the squashy armchairs. "Who?" he asked faintly.
"Darn it, I told you once and I'm not telling you again! Do you have ears?" Clara jumped down to the floor and disappeared right through it. She resurfaced a moment later, blushing silver. "I meant to do that."
Harry was inclined to laugh at the queer ghost, but the fierce scowl on her face prevented it. Instead he asked, "Why weren't you here before?"
Clara nodded. "I was here when the school started. I," she stated proudly, "was the first student to die here. But stupid Professor Vincent put a spell on me that made me trapped in that picture for a thousand years. Once I was out I slashed it, and you lucky people have to put up with me until I drive Peeves out." Harry looked at her with new interest. "How do you plan to do that?" Clara chuckled. In a deep, horse voice, she moaned, "Peeves, the Bloody Baron commands you to leave!" Then she added in her normal voice, "I'm not afraid of his Bloodiness the Baron." Ron giggled. "I have got to see that."
Clara swooped up to the chandelier and hung upside-down, swinging by her knees. "Oh, you will. Most of the school will. Probably early tomorrow." Clara let go of the chandelier and plummeted toward the floor, disappearing again. This time she came back up looking completely disgusted. "I really have got to learn how not to do that." She flew up to one of the windows, peering outside. "Are you people planning to get any sleep at all?" Harry yawned. "Yes, as soon as I finish this chapter."
"Then you better hurry, 'cause the alarm goes off in about ten minutes." Clara laughed and flew through a wall. Her voice echoed through the common room. "Catch ya later."
Hermione came down the stairs a moment later, rubbing sleep from her eyes. She stopped and stared at Harry and Ron . "Did you guys get any sleep at all?" she asked incredulously. Clara's voice echoed through the room. "No, they didn't."
Hermione looked around the room for the source of the voice. She advanced on Harry and Ron. "Alright, you, where did that come from?"
Ron turned Hermione toward the door. "We'll tell you on the way to breakfast."
Clara was true to her word. She showed up again at breakfast, floating cross-legged in the center of the Gryffindor table. Harry took his usual seat near the end of the table. Clara waltzed around a bowl of fruit to hover in front of Hermione.
"Who are you?" asked Clara, neatly stealing three hard-boiled eggs from a plate and juggling them. Hermione looked up in surprise.
"Um, Hermione. Are you that Clara ghost they were talking about?" Clara imitated a muggle game-show host, boomed "CORRECT! You win the grand prize of being the only three people I'm visible to when I cause my trouble! Let the games begin!" The last sentence was shouted as the rest of the school poured into the Great Hall. Clara flew off, still clutching the eggs. "I will never look at Peeves in the same way again," muttered Ron.
The other students and the teachers obviously could not see Clara, who was tossing the eggs in the air in front off the table. Harry choked as he saw what she was doing next. She sailed through the air and landed behind Snape. She picked a glob of gelatin and dumped it down the back of his robes, at the same time she cracked all three eggs on his head. Snape squeaked and excused himself from the table.
Hermione was staring, open-mouthed, as Clara moved on down the table. Next was Professor Trelawney-who got more gelatin and a glass of orange juice poured down her glittering dress. After that was McGonnagle-toast and jam on the head-then Flitwick-ketchup and hashbrowns-and then she got to Dumbledore himself. By now Dumbledore had figured out that something was going on. He stood and reached out, his hand passing through Clara as he did so. He frowned and muttered a few words, pointing at the spot where he had felt the poltergeist. With a faint pop, Clara appeared to the whole school. There were many gasps as she grabbed a hardboiled egg from the table and threw it at the crowd. She must have been a very good shot. It hit Malfoy right in the forehead.
Dumbledore pointed his wand at Clara and yelled "Gravitious!"
With a plop, she fell out of the air to the floor. She looked very out of place, sprawled on the floor in an medieval dress. Dumbledore frowned and looked the stranger over.
"Now, young lady, what is going on here?" He said, reaching for her arm. His hand passed right through. Clara winced and drew her arm out of his grasp.
"Leave me alone! I'm a poltergeist!" she gasped, backing away. She scrambled to her feet and looked at her hand. Clara's scream echoed through the Great Hall as a faint blush appeared on her cheeks, growing into a deep rainbow of color that spread throughout her body. Dumbledore raised one silver eyebrow.
"Well, poltergeist, you look pretty human to me."
2- The Second Life
Clara backed away. She was a very colorful person. Her hair fell past her shoulders in streams of red-gold, and her eyes sparkled a almost dazzling green that was accented by the dark blue dress that clung to her figure. There were admiring murmurs from the students as she turned towards them. "But…I'm dead! I've been dead for over a thousand years!" she said faintly, then buried her face in her hands.
Hagrid got up from his place at the table and waved a hand at Clara. "Scuse me, Dumbledore sir, but maybe it would be a good idea to carry this little drama on somewhere else."
Dumbledore nodded and motioned for McGonnagle to dismiss the students. The irate Professor, still crowned with the toast and jam, nearly chased the students out of Great Hall. Harry saw Clara again when Professor McGonnagle marched her into the common room after lunch. She was now dressed in the same black robes as everyone else. "Gryffindors, this is Clara. She's going to be joining the fourth years." She glared at everyone. "Since this is an mysterious occurrence, I will explain. "When Clara was fourteen, she died from a fall off the Astronomy tower. She became a ghost, but was trapped inside that picture over there by a teacher for a thousand years. Recently she, er, escaped from the portrait and caused a slight disturbance. Dumbledore used a spell on her that is meant for the likes of Peeves-not for ghosts. It, well, it had some odd side effects. So now she is here again, and will be a Gryffindor." McGonnagle turned and left, slamming the portrait behind her. Clara smiled cheerfully at all the Gryffindors. "Hey, aren't you the one that dumped food on Snape?" asked George, moving forward.
Clara nodded, her pretty grin growing wider. "Yes. Did anyone catch the look on his face? I was standing behind him at the time, and didn't see."
Clara was instantly a favorite among the Gryffindors, mostly because of her stunt in the Great Hall. The next few weeks passed quickly. Clara was always hanging out with George and Fred, Ron, Harry, and sometimes Hermione. Hermione's workload had increased over the summer, and she averaged four hours of sleep a night. On the week before Halloween, however, she lightened up, and for a good reason to…
"A dance." Ron said incredulously. "They are going to torture us with a dance."
"Not just any dance," George moaned. "A costume ball type of dance."
Clara, the only one of the group that looked exited about the dance, waved an invitation. "Look at this," she said, and stuffed it under their noses. In curly script, it read:
Attention All Students Fourteen and over: There will be a masked costume ball on Halloween for the students. Attendance is mandatory. Costumes will be provided. We hope to see you there!
Ron snorted. "They 'hope' to see us there? Attendance is mandatory! Think about it."
Harry looked up from his essay. "Are they deliberately putting us under pressure? Who are we suppose to take?"
Clara smiled sweetly. "I don't have to worry."
"Well us men do, so shove off for a minute," Fred snapped. Clara left in a huff. The boys leaned into a huddle, discussing who they were going to ask. Harry didn't realize he had been listening until he glanced down at his essay. He had written the dates of all his friends! Smiling, he added to it.
Fred might take Clara Ron wants to ask Hermione George is asking Katie Bell I think I want to ask Cho Chang
He tapped it with his wand and muttered, "Derrius!" The words faded away.
The Halloween Dance arrived very fast. Up in the girls dormitory, Hermione squirmed into her costume, trying to fix her hair. She was going as a fairy. One of the other girls helped her lace the ties in the back, and she glanced in the mirror. A tall, thin brunette stared back at her, dressed in a gauzy white gown with silver lace trim. A pair of silver wings were attached to the back, accented by silver eyeshadow and a white half-mask with silver trim. Parvati Patil stopped to stare at Hermione. "Wow, Hermione. You are really going to knock 'em dead, kid. May I make a suggestion?" she asked.
"Sure," Hermione said, fiddling with her hair.
"Wear your hair like this." Parvati pointed with her wand, and Hermione's hair pulled itself into a fancy bun.
Lavender Brown gasped at the effect. Lavender was costumed as a unicorn, and her appearance was perfect from her head-piece to her pearly slippered feet. "Uh, Hermione?" said Clara from behind the screen they had constructed, "I need some help here." Hermione stepped behind the curtain and gaped at Clara.
Clara was dressed as a Southern belle. A mass of red curls cascaded over her shoulders. Her dress was a full-skirted green satin dress that accented her green eyes, and to complete the effect, some fake emeralds set in lacy copper glistened from her hair and around her neck. Her mask was a light, frosty green set with the same type of jewels as her necklace. Hermione sighed enviously. 'Cute' was the best description she could hope for.
"Hermione!" she wailed, "I don't have any shoes! The dress didn't come with shoes!"
"You can't see your feet," Hermione pointed out.
Clara looked down. "Oh. I knew that. By the way, you look great." Hermione adjusted a wing. "Thanks. You look great too." They walked out from behind the screen. Half the girls sighed jealously as Clara emerged. Hermione and Clara did some last minute adjustments in front of the mirror, then began to descend the spiral staircase to the common room. The boys had gone down to the Great Hall already, and there were three other girls in the room: Alicia Spinnet dressed as a cat, Angelina Johnson (as a Nereid) and Katie Bell (Butterfly). Katie Bell ran over to Hermione and danced around in a circle. "George asked me to dance with him!" she said, her multicolored wings shimmering in the fireglow.
Angelina smiled wistfully at Katie. Her long, form-fitting dress clung to her tall, graceful figure. "I wish Oliver was still here. He asked me to dance last year."
Alicia did a back-flip. The black velvet of her costume elongated her short, compact body. "I don't care, I'm going to decide who to dance with when I get there!"
Clara twirled in front of the fire, making her dress flare out. "Let's go before all the Slytherins come and take the nice guys!" They laughed and began to travel to the Great Hall.
3- Dances and Confessions
The Great Hall was decked out in the usual pumpkins and live bats, but the tables had been moved aside to allow room for the dancers. Several couples were out there already, and a small group off to one side was learning how to square dance from the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Professor Davis.
Katie left them to find George, and Angelina went with her. Alicia led Hermione and Clara over to some friends of hers. Professor Davis pulled them over to a square dance mixer called the 'Pattycake Polka'.
Clara started with a Frogman but she ended with a masked boy that looked like the Zorro character. Hermione started with a red-headed dragon (Probably a Weasley) and ended with a tall blond boy in a costume that looked suspiciously like the bloody Baron. Hermione and the blond danced another mixer before ending up with the dragon again.
"Hi. Which Weasley are you?"
The boy laughed. "That's the third time I've heard that tonight."
Hermione was thankful for her mask, because her face was burning. "I'm so sorry, it's just-"
"My hair." He finished for her. Hermione nodded. He laughed, and neatly spun her around, expertly avoiding her shimmering wings. Hermione decided that this boy couldn't possibly be any of the Weasleys, because she was almost sure that none of them could dance as well as this boy. Meanwhile, Clara and the Zorro had finished their fourth dance. "You dance very well," he said, making a short bow.
Clara curtsied. "My family taught me," she said, ignoring the fact that the last time she had been taught was over a thousand years ago. Zorro guided her to the refreshments table, where there was some punch and cookies shaped like Halloween cats.
Clara poured herself a glass and drank most of it in one gulp, because the last dance had been very fast. The masked boy laughed as he watched her chug three glasses of punch. Clara stared at him, using the same frosty glare she used on her friends when they laughed at her.
"Well, if you were wearing this huge carnival float you'd be thirsty too!" she said hotly, downing another glass of punch. He shook his head, still laughing. "It's not just that, it's just so funny that you remember all the thousand-year old dance steps."
Clara adjusted her mask nervously. "How'd ya know it was me?" she demanded.
He tugged on one of the fiery curls spilling down her back. "There aren't many redheads like you, Clara." Clara blushed an amazing shade of magenta.
"Hey Clara," he began, "what's it like, getting to have a second life?"
Clara thought. "Well, I don't really know. I don't remember most of my past life. It's kind of like getting a second chance, but you're living a totally different life. I mean, it would be great to live my old life over again, because I would always know what to do."
The boy interrupted. "But you would also know when everyone was going to die, and all the bad stuff that was going to happen."
Clara played with a strand of her hair. "Yea, that's right. This is just like a play or something, because I keep thinking I'm going to wake up and find that it's all just a dream. In some ways this life is better, because there isn't as much sickness and poverty as there was a thousand years ago. I mean, I lost three younger siblings to the flu before I turned nine."
"Why is this life worse in some ways?" he asked.
"Well," she said slowly, "There's less death, but people die in such horrible ways, like Nick. And Vol- I mean, You Know Who-"
"Just call him Voldemort."
"Fine, I mean, Voldemort killed so many people. There wasn't anything like that in the three-digit-days. I guess this life is better, because I have really great friends, like Hermione, Ron, George and Fred, and Harry. They kinda make it easier to forget the old life."
She was puzzled that her friend would say 'Voldemort' without flinching. Most wizards these days were still cringing at his name. She was about to ask him about it, but he swept her onto the dance floor again.
4- The Unmasking
At about nine-o-clock, the music stopped. Dumbledore stepped up on the podium at the front of the school and announced: "Will the students please pay attention? It is time to remove your masks."
A chorus of moans arose from the crowd. Most of them were having perfect fun being someone they were not. Clara pulled of her mask immediately. Her partner already knew who she was, so she didn't have anything to lose. When she turned towards him, he was trying to untie the string on the back of his mask.
"Um, Clara? Do you think you could help me?" he asked.
Clara stood on the tips of her feet to try to undo the knot, but it was useless. "Hey, do you think you could bend over? You're too tall for me."
He bent over a little more. As Clara fumbled with the knot, she realized that Zorro's hair was as red as her own. The mask fell away to reveal…
"George!" she shouted. "I thought you were taking Katie Bell!"
George blushed. "That was Fred. He told her that he was me because he was so embarrassed."
Clara ran a hand through her hair. She looked at the ground. "Do you like me, George?" she asked, crossing her fingers and most of her toes. George was looking at the floor too. "Um, well, uh," he stammered, turning the same shade as their hair.
A red Hermione raced up, out of breath. "Clara, help. You know that blond boy dressed as the Bloody Baron?"
Clara looked at Hermione apprehensively. "Yea, what about him?"
Hermione's red face split into a huge grin. "He was Malfoy, you know, the boy you pegged with an egg on that first day, and he just found out he spent three hours straight dancing with Lavender Brown. The look on his face was so funny!" George cracked up. Clara giggled uncertainly. Amazingly, she had never really met Malfoy. Hermione grabbed her arm and pointed to another couple standing behind one of the pumpkins. It was Harry and Cho Chang, and the scene looked quite cozy. Clara's halfhearted giggles turned into full-fledged whoops of laughter as she watched them. Back in the common room at midnight, the normal group (Clara, Harry, Ron, George, Fred, and Hermione) plus Katie, Angelina, and Alicia sat around the fire, chatting about the dance. Katie and Fred were sharing a seat, and Hermione and the 'dragon' (Ron) were too.
Clara was sitting in front of the fire. She stretched, thankful to be out of her dress and back into her comfortable robes. "Well, people, what did you guys think of the dance?" she asked, teasingly poking Harry. "And who did you dance with?"
Angelina made a face. "Nobody. I just watched."
"I danced with Fred," said Katie, poking him in the ribs. Hermione and Ron both turned red and didn't say anything.
Alicia began counting off the boys she danced with. "Um, I danced with-" Hermione threw a pillow to silence her. Alicia had already recited this several times and everyone was sick of it.
Harry blushed redder than the flames in the fireplace. "I danced with Cho."
Fred looked at George, and they both chorused, "Harry and Cho, sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"
Hermione giggled. "Y'know, I think it's more like 'standing behind a pumpkin'.."
Harry open his mouth to say something rude, but Katie clamped a hand over his mouth. "Harry," she began gravely, "next time you make out with Cho, find a better hiding place."
Lucky for them they were the only ones left in the common room, because Harry let out a string of words that probably would have killed some of the first years.
Clara covered her ears and made a face. "Good lord Harry, you can chill. It's not like everyone knows-"
"Yet," finished Fred, who ducked as Harry swung at him. "Okay, I won't tell! Chill!" Angelina pulled Harry back into his seat. "I think it might be a good idea to go to bed." She said hurriedly. "We do have classes tomorrow, you know." Wordlessly Hermione ran upstairs, closely followed by Katie, Angelina, Ron (who was dragging Harry) Alicia and Fred. Clara was about to follow when she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was George. "Um, Clara, I never got to tell you.."
Clara froze. "Tell me what?"
George stared at the floor. "That, well, I like you and I think you're swell person." He kissed her on the cheek and turned up the stairs to his dormitory. Clara touched the spot where he had kissed her. "George?" she called, "I like you too!"
In her dormitory that night, she sat, thinking about George. This life is definitely better, she thought, turned over and went to sleep.