Chapter 4

Memories

The good news was that the dream catcher was fixed. Five girls were lying on the floor of the dormitory. The ceiling had collapsed and bruised and cut the girls. Slytherins were storming into the room. The girls gasped and one of the sixth years stepped forward.
"Someone, get Professor Blithe!" she told the girls behind her and a few of them left the dormitories.
"Drew!" the female Prefect, Larxy called out and rushed into the room, kneeing down next to her sister.
"D'you know her, Larx?" another girl asked.
"No, Sam, she's a total stranger and that's why I'm so worried about her", Larxy replied sarcastically.
"That doesn't really make any sense…" Sam replied and Larxy snorted.
"Of course I know her, she's my little sister!!"

"What happened here?!" Ethan Blithe had entered the room and had a shocked expression on his face.
"The ceiling collapsed, Professor…"
"Really? Well thank you Ms. Reven, I could not have figured that out myself!"
"Well, I think it's quite obvious, Professor…" Samantha Reven muttered, and received a glare from Professor Blithe. He took out his wand and created five gurneys and magically lifted the girls onto them.
"Everyone, go back to bed. I will request the house elves to clean this mess. Sleep well."
"Professor… may I join you…? She's my sister…"
"Ms. Leurc, there's nothing you can do, please return to your dormitory. You can visit your sister at the Hospital Wing tomorrow."
"Yes, Professor…" Larxy replied and watched the five girls float away after the Professor.

The racket caused by the explosion had carried to the boys' dormitory as well. Cole Malfoy had gone to see what had happened and saw Erica lying on a floating gurney, unconscious.

"Did you hear about the explosion?"
"About what?"
"What explosion? Where?"
"The Slytherin common room!"
"Ha! Serves them right! Damn Slytherins…"
"Did anyone get hurt?"
"I hear someone died! And some boy got his arm blown up!"
"Ewww, freaky!!"
"You better not be making this up, Dorian!"
"It's what I heard!"
"What was the cause of the explosion?"
"No one knows! Only thing I heard about that was that it started in the girls' dormitory."

Tracey Clancy had been listening nearby and now approached the group of gossiping
Ravenclaws. They seemed startled at first, but then grew relieved. Gryffindors had always been friendly with Ravenclaws. But today Tracey didn't feel the need to be friendly.
"Do you have any info based on facts, or are you just gossiping about my little sister for fun?"
"Your…?"
"My sister, yes. She was in that explosion and now she's lying in the Hospital Wing. There! Now you have something real to gossip about!" and with that, Tracey stormed away.

"Who was that?" one of the Ravenclaw girls asked.
"Tracey Clancy", the boy who had been spreading the gossip replied.
"And her sister? "
"Jane Clancy. I don't get what she was on about, though. We weren't talking about Gryffindors."
"Hey, wasn't there a Clancy in the Sorting Ceremony this year? Red-headed chick?"
"I'm… not sure. Was there?"
"Yeah. I think she was sorted into…"
"Lemme guess. Slytherin?"
"And now she's in the Hospital Wing…"
"Oh, this is good stuff. Excuse me ladies, I have to go inform everyone I've ever met!"

In just a few hours most of the students were aware of the incidents in the Slytherin common room and that it was most likely caused by the new first years. The name that was repeated multiple times that day was Erica Clancy. The other Clancy siblings were being constantly interrogated by curious students and the school nurse had to limit access to the Hospital Wing, allowing only those with a valid reason for visitation to enter.
"Some people are just too nosy for their own good…" Mark said as he entered the Gryffindor common room. He dropped his schoolbag on the floor and fell into a chair in exhaustion. The day was finally coming to its close, and the Clancy siblings couldn't be happier to see it end. All of them were as hungry for answers as the rest of the school, but being inquired about it all day long was really very tiring.
"Who was it this time?" Jane asked with a bored voice. She was sitting on one of the red chairs and was braiding Tracey's long hair, who was sitting on the floor, reading.
"Wendy Truken", Mark replied and sighed, "She was obviously sent by her friends and apparently thinks that one date makes us soul mates who share everything…"
"I hope you hexed her", Jane said and Mark let out a laugh which was more disappointed than happy.
"I didn't get the chance, Professor Ritt happened to pass by… I sort of used him as an excuse to get away from Wendy."
"Ugh, what a day!! I'm exhausted!" Anton joined in. "Did you write to Mum and Dad yet?" he asked Mark, who shook his head.
"I'd rather see Erica on her feet before worrying them… You know how they are when they worry. I shrivel at the thought of Mum hearing how Erica's in Slytherin, hanging out with Malfoy's Hell spawn and how she blew up her whole dormitory on her first night here."
"Ah… smart choice, yeah…" Anton replied and nodded.
"I wish I knew what happened to her… And… why the heck is our sister in Slytherin?!" Jane formed the question everyone had on their mind.
"The Sorting Hat has gone mad, it's as simple as that", Derek said bluntly.
"Ha-ha", Jane replied sarcastically, "you know as well as I do that the Sorting Hat doesn't make mistakes. There's more to this."
"I agree", Mark nodded. "All we can do now is wait for Erica to wake and talk to her…"

"And she still hasn't woken up?"

"No, father. It's been five days since the explosion and the Clancy girl's still in the Hospital Wing. Leurc and Yeeker are on their feet, though, people are treating them like royalty. I asked around, they don't seem to remember anything…"
"They're not important. You need to get close to Erica."
"But why, father? She's just an ordinary girl, why should I waste my time on her?"
"I don't need you to understand or ask questions! I need you to do as I say!!"

The boy stayed quiet and turned away from the fireplace he had been talking to.
"When she wakes up", the father spoke, "bring her to me."
"How am I supposed to do that?" the boy asked, trying to keep the arrogance to a minimum.
"You're a Malfoy. Improvise."

And with that, Draco Malfoy's head disappeared from the fireplace.

…

…bright….
Way too bright…
…that's better, much better…
…not too bright anymore…
someone's… holding my hand…
warm… so warm…
"Erica?"
A boy's voice… should open my eyes…
No… too bright again.
Bright green… green?
Like a flash…. Green flash…

…

"Peanuts!"
"…peanuts?" Cole repeated. Erica looked at him, a blank expression on her face.
"Cole…? What? Where am I?"

"You're in the Hospital Wing", he replied, while trying to force a serious face. Erica blushed. Had she really just woken up and yelled out 'peanuts'?
"Uh…" Erica looked down, still blushing. "What happened?"
"You don't remember?" Cole sounded disappointed somehow. Erica frowned slightly, trying to remember. But nothing seemed to come to her… She shook her head.
"No, I have no idea… How long have I been here? What happened, Cole?" Erica asked. Cole sighed and began to tell her.
"It's been seven days. You were found unconscious in your dormitory. The ceiling had collapsed and apparently something exploded in there… You were all in pretty bad shape…"
"'All'? The other girls, too? Are they okay?!" Erica felt panicked; she looked around the room to see if the other beds were occupied.
"Yeah, I think, they all woke up before you and were released yesterday. They don't remember anything either."
"Oh… I… see", Erica muttered, feeling relieved for her friends. She then realized Cole was still holding her hand and blushed again.
"I'm glad you're okay", Cole said and got up from the chair he was sitting on. "I have to go now."
"What?" Erica felt herself panic once more as Cole let go of her hand. "Where?"
"I have classes and Madam Lane will be coming back soon. I'm not allowed in here, you see. No family ties or anything…"
"You… you snuck in here to see me…?" Erica asked and felt her heart beating faster.
"See you tomorrow", he said and left.

When Erica was left alone, she did her best to remember the events in the common room, but it seemed as if her memory had been wiped clean. She could recall arriving in school, the Sorting and the glamorous welcoming feast afterwards…, the journey to the Slytherin common room and sitting on her bed in the dormitory. Unpacking and laughing with friends and then… a green flash and black after that…

"Oh my goodness, see what happens when I let myself be persuaded to eat in the Great Hall? You're awake, Ms Clancy, thank heavens, I was getting worried!" a young woman had rushed into the room and straight to her bedside. She was wearing a red dress and a white apron was tied around her waist. She had a white scarf tied on her head. Her blonde hair was tied in a knot, with a few strands of her golden hair loose, forming a vague fringe. She was examining Erica with a fussing attitude. "Just like the others", she said, more to herself than to Erica, "Perfectly healthy… how odd. And I don't suppose you remember anything, either?" Erica just shook her head as a reply. "Oh, dear me, I'm Madam Lane, the school nurse. And I hereby release you, you are free to go, my dear."

Erica changed back to her robe; she had been dressed into a white pajama, and then she went on her way. She felt… overwhelmed by something and she couldn't quite grasp what it was… She saw how a group of students were running her way, panting about being late. Suddenly they stopped running and stared at her. Or were they staring? Maybe Erica was just being paranoid… But why were they whispering? And what about?
Erica kept walking and passed them by. They kept whispering, which annoyed Erica. She turned to look and saw how they had started running again. Late… from what? Their lessons? Erica wondered which lesson she should be on right now. Where should she go?
Suddenly she realized just how hungry she was… No wonder, she hadn't eaten in a week! They probably have some ways to feed people in the same state… Where could she find food?
Erica was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't give any thought to where she was walking. She looked around and saw bookcases, which automatically made her realize she must be in the library. And quite an impressive library, too; there must have been a hundred, if not a thousand books there! The bookcases were so tall that there were ladders leaning onto them. Erica saw tables for study groups and gathered around one of them was a group of Gryffindors. And as Erica recognized one of them, that someone recognized her as well…
"…Erica!" Mark called out. Erica didn't know why, but all her instincts told her to leave. The rest of Mark's group had turned to look at her and Mark was already on his way to her. And then she realized she was running. Away from her brother, out of the library. She heard Mark telling her to stop, to wait, to listen. But she kept running. How could she face her family now? There was no way they'd understand!

"Ow!"
She had run right into someone, knocked her over and fallen down on the stone floor as well.
"Erica, watch where you're going!"
"Erica?"
"Erica!" Erica felt someone hug her and recognized her friends. Lucy had thrown herself to embrace her and then helped her get u from the floor. Then Lucy pulled Drew on her feet. There they were, all her friends, completely healthy. Drew had wounds on her head and arm, Dru and Lucy were bruised around the neck and Lauren seemed to have hurt her right foot.
"You're awake!" Drusilla smiled and hugged Erica as well.
"Haha, yup", Erica replied with a smile.
"When did you wake up?" Lauren asked.
"Just now, I mean, a while ago."
"Do you… uhm; do you remember what happened… that night?" Lucy asked in an avoiding manner. Erica just shook her head. "Yeah, neither do we…" she continued. "We've been trying to figure it out, but… nothing's popping up."
"It's SO frustrating!! It feels like someone stole our memory!" Drew complained.
"Yeah, like there's nothing there to remember!" Erica agreed.
"Exactly! We have to keep trying…" Drusilla said.
"Yeah… let's get back to the common room. They cleaned up our dormitory, too, though some of our personal stuff got ruined…"

The dormitory seemed good as new, like nothing had ever happened there. Except for the blown up items, such as Lauren's stuffed animals and Drew's burnt posters.
"What on earth could have happened here?" Erica wondered as she went through her ruined items. "I just don't get it!"
"Neither do we. Drusilla went to ask Madam Lane whether there's a way to bring back our memories magically, but…"
"What did she say, Dru?" Erica asked the brunette, who shook her head.
"There's nothing she can do", she replied and put on a fake smile and mimicked the school nurse, "'Believe me, dear, the headmistress is just as keen on knowing what happened as you are', she told me. Word to word. We just have to keep trying", Drusilla said and the rest of the girls sighed.

"Aren't we supposed to have classes today?" Erica asked.
"What's this all of a sudden? You just woke up, Erica; you can take the day off!" Lauren said in disbelief.
"But what about the rest of you? Won't you get in trouble?" Erica looked around the room, seeing how her friends exchanged amused looks.
"Well, we're taking the day off as well", Drew smirked. "Professor Blithe did give us our timetables but… we decided to go tomorrow…"
"What's our timetable like? Do we all have the same ones?" Erica asked, she was anxious to get started, after a week of sleeping.
"Relax, Erica! You'll be getting yours as well, probably at dinner tonight or breakfast tomorrow!"
"And yes, they're identical, all the Slytherin first years have the same classes. And depending on the school subject, we're with either Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff or…" Lucy paused and formed a disgusted expression on her face, "Gryffindor."
Erica nodded, she was indeed excited to get on her first lesson. She only hoped that she wouldn't be too far behind after sleeping for a whole week…
"Snap out of it, Erica! We're going to leave you behind if you don't!" Drusilla laughed and made Erica realize that everyone else had cleared out of the room.
"Where are we going?" Erica rushed after the girls.
"Do you ever listen?" Drew asked with a cocky attitude. "We're going to dinner, duh!"
"Yeah, Ree, you must be starving!" Drusilla said and gave Erica a smile. "I know I was when I woke up yesterday!"
"'Ree'?" Drew repeated. Drusilla nodded.
"Just trying on a nickname! You don't like it?"
"We should call her 'Ric'!" Lauren laughed.
"Oh please, if you want to give her a boy's name, just pick 'Eric'!" Drew snapped. "I think 'Rica' would be the best!"
"Hey, would you stop talking about me like I'm a dog?" Erica laughed. She was still happy to have her friends picking out nicknames for her.
"What would you prefer, Erica?" Lucy asked her.
"She can't pick her own nickname! That's just lame!"
"Let's just see what sticks, shall we?" Erica smiled as they entered the Great Hall.
"Ree it is, then!" Drusilla declared, victoriously.
"What! Why does your suggestion win?" Lauren asked with a slight frown.
"Because I was the first to come up with a nickname! Right, Ree?"
"Call me a pugmypuff if you want, I'm too hungry to care", Erica replied and followed Drew to one of the four long tables. It wasn't hard to figure out which house sat in which table, thanks to the colors of the houses. Slytherin was the one next to the east side wall, next to them sat the Ravenclaws, then Gryffindors and at the other end of the hall was the Hufflepuff table.
After taking their seats, Erica gave a quick look around the Slytherin table, trying to spot Cole. He wasn't there, so Erica gave up and started gathering food on her golden plate. As she was eating she let her eyes wonder around the hall. She saw two Gryffindors enter the hall and felt how the meat she had swallowed got stuck in her throat. She started coughing loudly, gaining unwanted attention from her fellow Slytherins and other students. The two Gryffindors noticed as well, recognizing their coughing sister. When Erica had coughed the piece of meat out, she hastily glanced back at the mahogany doors and to her horror she saw her twin sisters on their way to her!
"Oh no…" Erica mumbled in panic.
"What is it, Ree?" Drusilla asked. "Are you okay?"
"No, not okay… can we… go, please?" Erica asked her friends, receiving confused looks as replies.
"Go…? We just got here!"
"I know, but…"
"Erica…"

Erica sighed and turned towards the voice, seeing Jane and Tracey in front of her. Most of the Slytherins lifted their faces from their plate, even the Ravenclaws turned to see why two Gryffindors would approach a Slytherin.
"Do you know them, Ree?" Drusilla asked. Erica just looked from one sister to other.
"Do you know us, 'Ree'?" Jane asked in a mocking tone.
"Or did a week long coma make you forget your sisters?" Tracey continued. Erica sighed and whispering followed all over the hall.
"Sisters?"
"Yeah, Drew. Meet Jane and Tracey Clancy. I told you I had two sisters and three brothers. And as you pointed out, they're all in Gryffindor."
"Where you should be as well!" Jane said.
"Look, do you mind?" Drusilla spoke, "We're trying to enjoy our meal!"
"Whooh, these first years have attitude, that's for sure!!" Tracey said, surprised and sarcastic at the same time.
"Trey, calm down, we're not here to fight", Jane told her twin.
"We aren't?!"
"Erica, can we talk without the fan club?" Jane continued, ignoring Tracey's pretentious shock.
"Fan club?!" Drew rose to her feet and Erica pulled her back down.
"I'm with my friends now. Not really the best time for me", Erica replied coldly. Jane and Tracey seemed shocked and out of words. Jane turned to leave, grabbed Tracey's sleeve and they walked away. The other students continue to stare at Erica for a little while longer, and then one by one they turned back to their meals. Before her friends had the chance to pry and ask questions, Erica decided to leave.

Erica found her way back to the common room in the dungeons. As she walked past the pillars, she saw Cole sitting on one of the green sofas. Erica felt her mood lift and approached the boy. He didn't react or make any movement to acknowledge her presence, just kept staring at the fireplace and the flames dancing.
"I didn't see you at dinner", Erica said, casually.
"I wasn't hungry", he replied. There was an awkward silence, at least it felt that way to Erica. She sat down on the other end of the sofa.
"You should eat something", she continued. Then when she realized how much she sounded like her own mother she stuttered, "I mean, it would have been… nice to… see you there. You know. Eating. We could… Eat together sometime…" Erica went on, feeling more and more of an idiot by each word she let out. She heard Cole let out a boyish chuckle and lifted her head, looking at him. He was still looking at the other way, so Erica lowered her eyes back to her lap.
"How are you feeling?" Cole asked and this time Erica noticed that he was looking at her. She blushed and looked back at him.
"Me? Oh, fine, don't worry about me. I'm doing… great, yeah."
"You seem… troubled?"
"Ah? I'm… not. Well. Except for… but, it's nothing…" Erica paused and looked to her lap again.
"Yes?"
"My… my memory. I mean. It's bothering me that I can't remember what happened."
"There's a way to restore it", Cole said. He seemed serious.
"But Madam Lane said—"
"It's not a healing art, so she wouldn't know about it. It's… dark magic, actually. But it works, I heard it's very effective."
"Heard…? From who?" Erica asked curiously. She had always been warned about dark magic… but not knowing pained her and weighed on her… she didn't care about how the memory would be restored if it worked.
"My father", Cole replied shortly and Erica took a sharp breath. Draco Malfoy…
"Your father…?"
"He might be able to help you…"
"But how can he…? We're at school, he can't help me here…"
"We can get there. Through the Floo network."
"We can…? But we aren't allowed! Are we?"
"I'm not forcing you. But if you want to know what happened to you, we have to go."

Erica hesitated. Go ask Draco Malfoy to restore her memory? It sounded unreal, absurd, simply insane. Cole had his eyes fixed on Erica, he was waiting for an answer.
"Okay. Let's go", Erica said after a while and got up from the sofa. Cole gave a calm nod, but stayed put. Erica started to feel quite stupid, standing and waiting there. Cole kept looking at the fireplace. Erica felt her face getting warm and she sat back down quietly. "Um. Cole? Why aren't we…"
"We're waiting."
"Waiting for what?" Erica asked, confused. She waited. "..aren't we going to go---?"
"Go where?"
Erica looked towards the voice and saw her friends. Many students were flowing into the common room. Drew, Drusilla, Lucy and Lauren had approached the sofa and just as Erica was about to reply, Cole stood up.
"I'm taking Erica to see Professor Tonks", he told Drew and walked past them. Erica was smart enough to follow him.
"The Transfiguration teacher? What for?" Lucy wondered.
"Uhh, well, apparently I missed today's class so I have to go… talk to him about it", Erica continued the lie the best she could.
"Erica. Professor Tonks is a woman", Drew said.
"Yeah, and we didn't even have Transfiguration class today", Lauren continued. "If you had stayed in the Great Hall you would've gotten your timetable and you would've known that", she continued and walked closer to hand a piece of paper to Erica. She blushed and looked down at her timetable.
"What's going on, Ree?" Drusilla asked and Erica sighed. She was about to reply when Cole took her hand.
"You don't owe them any explanations, Erica, so let's just go", he told her and pulled her away.
"What? Wait! Erica!!" Drew seemed shocked from her behavior but she didn't turn back. She let Cole lead her out of the common room and from the dungeons.

"Here", Cole handed her a dark green silk pouch. It was tied with a silvery string and as Erica opened it, she saw it was filled with Floo Powder. She tipped some of it on her hand and gave the pouch back to Cole, who did the same. She looked at her, waiting. Cole had brought them to a room that probably belonged to a teacher. Erica couldn't help but wonder if the teacher in question was Professor Tonks, the Transfiguration teacher. On the bookshelves Erica saw shape shifters, artifacts that change from one form to another, and hanging on the walls there were paintings of different creatures turning into furniture. Erica turned back to Cole, who was facing the fireplace. "Do you want to go first?"
Erica winced and shook her head hastily. She wasn't keen on showing in the Malfoy Manor out of the blue on her own. She valued her life, thank you very much… Cole seemed amused at her quick and determined reply and nodded.
"I'll go first then. See you soon", he said and stepped into the fireplace. Erica took a hold of the sleeve of his robe and he turned back to look at her. "What is it?"
"Can we… go together? I mean, at the same time?" she asked quietly. She remembered asking her mother the same thing the first time she was going to Diagon Alley and she blushed. Cole seemed taken aback for a while, but after a short silence he sighed and nodded.
"Hold my hand tight, so we won't get separated", he said and Erica gave a slight nod, taking his hand into hers. They stepped into the fireplace together and Cole threw the Floo Powder;
"The Malfoy Manor!"
And in a flash of green, they disappeared from the castle of Hogwarts.