HPOV
Flashback 3rd year
"It has happened before." Hermione informed me, after a weird 3 month span of time where she steadfastly avoided Bella. It was during the summer after our third year and Bella transferred in right at the end of the school year. Ron chalked Hermione's behavior up to being poor with other girls, Ginny said she thought Hermione was jealous of Bella's easy relationship with Ron, but I was convinced Hermione knew something, or was on her way to figuring something out. It happened while we were sitting under the old oak that had to be at least as wide as the immediately Weasley family, and had several low branches. Hermione and I were sitting on one of these branches while Ginny and Ron were teaching Bella the basics of being a Chaser- her old school was apparently not interested in the sport but she was obsessed as soon as she heard it was played several feet up in the air on brooms. She claimed it gave her a rush Hermione simply turned to me and said three words that changed me.
"She doesn't know."
I had no idea if she was talking about Ginny or Bella so I just kept my mouth shut.
Hermione kept speaking. "People are planted in their new lives with no memories, and a false history of their story. It is rare that they are found out and even more rare that they remember."
She had lost me, completely. What on earth was she talking about and more importantly 'who' was she talking about. "'Mione, you've got to give me a bit more to go off of here… what are we talking about?" I asked.
Exasperatedly she replied "Harry, what magical school doesn't have a quidditch team, better yet what magical community doesn't discuss quidditch like their lives depended on it- honestly, it is the only thing all witches and wizards can actually all talk about! Think Harry! She shows up right after we figure out Snuffles is your godfather. Dumbledore places her in the care of the Weasleys after all this time, when her parents were killed years ago? There are too many parts moving for this to be a coincidence." She fiercely whispered to me.
I wanted to agree with her. I did. But there was something about Bella that seemed so familiar and safe that I couldn't distrust her. "Alright 'Mione, we'll watch 'er. But we've got to be fair about it."
Hermione seemed like she was going to argue with it, but decided to let it go.
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Hermione only told Bella what we told Ginny, she kept Bella at an arms length, but Bella wore her down. Bella was emphatic in her studying for OWLs almost rivaling Hermione's mania and they were often together in the dorms discussing things that only people you live with hear from you. Hermione soon cared for her like a sister. During the tournament in their fourth year Bella was one to pull Ron's head out of his arse (with Harry and then again with the whole Krum situation). They all worked together to plan out Harry's survival and hopeful success in the Tournament. When Harry was too oblivious to think of Ginny for the ball it was Bella who suggested it, to Ron's chagrin.
Hermione and Bella became 'too close for comfort' as Ron put it and they would often disappear for 'girl talk' and come back in fits of giggles. They even began to prank Forge after the boys interrupted Bella's date with one of the Durmstrang gents at the end of 4th year. The twins' hair was green for a week and the boys' skin looked like carrots, the girls even enchanted a garden gnome to follow each of them and bite at random intervals. Together they were terrifying.
Harry never forgot though, that Hermione once believed Bella to be 'planted' among them. Hermione isn't usually that wrong or that far off base, and that fact bothered Harry quite a bit.
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Soon though Hermione, Ron, & Harry pulled her into the fold. She was told about year one and the Philosopher's stone one night after a particularly violent game of wizarding chess where she and Ron were equally matched. Ginny and Hermione told her about the Basilisk when we were all studying one evening and Ginny's Herbology text book was consulted for a spot busting salve, apparently mandrake leaves are also used for spot treatment.
They even confided in her about Sirius after Trelawney read her leaves after class one fall afternoon. Bella was quite shaken and missed dinner that night. Her head had been pounding fiercely after the tea. She attempted to beg off from Professor Trelawney but the professor held her in place with a light hand and lighter voice. "The grimm and swan will meet answering to both. Time knows not the bounds of either pole. Ice in veins with hearts aflame the grimm and swan will meet." The boys laughed it off and recalled her last grimm prediction and what actually happened. She went to bed uneasy that night, but was back to normal the next day.
Fifth year was upon them in what seemed to be a flash. The ministry and all its horrid doings, sham hearings, Umbridge, the DA, Gwap, The Centaurs, and the Hall of Mysteries.
The Hall of Mysteries, she was terrified that night.
They all were, but Bella's fear began while they were still at Hogwarts. She could see the Thestrals, as always, but what she didn't know was that no one else could except for Harry and Luna. She never knew that the other students couldn't see them, the carriages weren't exactly a common topic. But when they arrived in the forest her life changed. She thought of the remeberball from earlier in the year, it's red smoke filling the glass. She wouldn't forget something like this… would she? She had seen someone die… and forgotten it. Was this the thing the rememberball was eluding to?
Harry didn't exactly have time to consult with who could see the Thestrals and why, he presumed Bella had witnessed her parents death and went on with it. Sirius was endanger and he needed to go. NOW.
Once they arrived they realized they were tricked. It was an impressive battle of teens against wizards and witches much older and much darker. The Order arrived while Bella was tending to the blitzed Ron. She heard Harry's scream from the atrium. She was attempting to floo Ron to St. Mungo's, instead she was locked in the atrium to mind a barely conscious Ron with Dumbledore, Harry, and Lord Voldemort. She watched him duel Dumbledore and possess Harry. She had no idea why he ignored the two of them. Perhaps her shield charm had worked better than she thought. Harry's struggle with Voldemort was horrifying and for a brief moment they locked eyes. Harry's eyes were red and she was back in a room of mirrors undergoing the worst pain imaginable. Harry shook Voldemort after locking eyes with Bella, she reminded him of his happiest memories and of the Mirror. Voldemort escaped and the rest is history. It took Harry a long time to come around after Sirius's death, but he did.
She broke him out of the Dursley's often and they just sat. Sometimes she would break in only to sit with him. Ron and Hermione couldn't stand to see him like this, but Bella knew he needed it. She, again couldn't remember why or when, but she knew that this was what his heart needed- to shut down, to feel nothing, for now.
A few weeks into summer she pulled him outside to Sirius's motorcycle. She needed to see his spark back in his green eyes, the flat dead color had recently become unnerving. She said nothing, handed him a helmet and waited. He climbed on, she scooted in back and they took off. It was a close as they could get to flying when they were in muggle areas. She loved it, and Harry felt something for the first time since Sirius died.
They became ridiculous. Skydiving in Newbury, surfing in Thurso, mountain boarding in West Sussex, coasteering in Pembrokeshire, and got drunk at muggle and magical pubs alike. They went to raves, took MDMA once and almost exposed the wizarding world (luckily everyone was shooting sparks that night) and sometimes they hiked up impossible cliffs with sticking charms from the elder Weasley Brothers and would just sit atop a cliff face. The 'adrenaline' as Bella and Hermione called it worked to distract Harry and the drinking let him open up more than he had before. Sometimes Ron and Hermione would join them, but often one of them needed to cover for Bella. Ginny was a frequent companion on the less dangerous items but would beg off before the pub. Harry healed, through hangovers, bruises, and ragers. It wasn't always healthy, but it was working.
