Elizabeth might have left the Great Hall with every intention of sleeping, but that was the one thing she didn't do. Random images played like movies in her mind, as she struggled to remember the entire scene.
"When I'm feeling particularly emotional, I tell people I think it's my fault, but the truth is…I just miss him…" a voice sobbed in front of her.
Everything else after that was a little hazy, but then she recalled, with acute precision, the pressure upon her lips. She then noticed she pulled away, locked eyes with blessed green nothingness, then they got up and walked away, leaving her to think about what just happened.
Then, as though transported through time, she found herself and the person who had been sobbing before at the old, run-down house, talking and laughing. It was the same as the first time she remembered it, but only, after it was done, she had a flashback of being somewhere else.
This time, she was watching a couple sitting by a motionless Whomping Willow. The girl had orange-ish red hair, and the boy had scruffy black hair. 'It's really strange,' Elizabeth thought resentfully, 'how I can remember the faces of the people I didn't meet in real life, but the faces of the people in real life are blank.'
She watched as the redhead and the boy laughed and joked.
"Ha, ha, ha. You think you are so funny, Potter," the redhead said sarcastically. 'Potter…' Elizabeth wondered, 'That name sounds so familiar, like it was once a part of me. Maybe, I'm related to the Potters or something.'
"Oh, but I am," said the boy Elizabeth thought to be Potter.
"That's what you like to think," the girl said stubbornly.
Potter lifted an eyebrow before pulling the redhead into what looked like an earth-shattering kiss.
"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing, Potter?" girl asked in mock-outrage.
"Kissing you, of course," Potter said with no humiliation.
Elizabeth was spinning and found herself in another memory…
She was dueling with a particularly mousy adult, who didn't seem to want to be stunned.
She remembered shouting something along the lines of, "I love you," and then a flash of green light penetrated her body…
She awoke with a shout. She was bathed in sweat, breathing heavily. She didn't even notice she'd fallen asleep. As she wiped her face of the tears she'd unknowingly shed, she heard another screech. She vaguely remembered the staircase to the girls' dormitory would shriek if anyone of the male persuasion tried to go up it.
She got up and went to see what was happening. A voice in the back of her head said quietly, 'This is the third time he's done this…'
'Just like those other times,' Harry mused as he watched Elizabeth walk slowly down the stairs.
"You know, I think this is the third time you've done this," Elizabeth commented. Harry's eyes brightened as he thought she remembered the other two times.
"You've remembered?" Harry asked.
"Just barely. I don't remember exactly the other times you did it, but a voice in the back of my head told me this was your third time," Elizabeth explained honestly.
"Oh, well. I heard you shout. I tried to get to you, but, as you know, the staircase doesn't want anyone of the opposite sex going up it," Harry said. "So, are you all right?" he asked as she walked to his side like it was the most natural thing to do.
"I was attempting to remember a few more things, and memories became dreams. I think I dreamt of my death," she replied in a whisper.
"What happened in it?" Harry inquired.
"This man shot some green light at me. I think I shouted, 'I love you,' to someone, can't quite recall him, though, at least I hope it was a him, before it hit me. Then, right before it did, I woke up all scared," she answered in the same tone.
Harry felt like someone stabbed him right through the heart. 'How can she not remember me?' Harry thought hopelessly.
"That's what happened, alright," Harry commented as an afterthought.
"Really? You were there?" Elizabeth asked.
"Of course, I was there," he said.
"Then answer me this question, please. Why was I dueling with him?"
"I'm not sure, but I think he tried to hex me, so you tried to stop him."
"Did I do anything foolish before I died?"
"No. Not foolish. Never foolish," Harry answered achingly. He longed for the way she used to hold him when he was feeling particularly upset.
Elizabeth, not totally in the dark to the hurt in his voice, just looked at him sympathetically. "I'm not positive about what part you played in my past, Harry Potter, but I'll sure try hard to remember," she promised.
'Potter,' she mused, 'Was he the boy in the dream with the redhead?' An unpleasant emotion set in before Elizabeth could realize that he wasn't the boy in the dream. 'No, he couldn't be. His eyes are green; the boy in my dream had hazel eyes. What was that emotion? Jealousy? Now that's not reasonable…'
Then she briefly remembered an American movie whose main character, who lost his memory, also, said something similar to what Elizabeth had just said to Harry to the girl who was claiming to be his girlfriend or something.
She dropped the subject. The man in front her looked like he suffered so much, and she would hate it if she turned out to not be who he thought she was.
Harry managed a ghost of a smile before he went back to bed.
For a couple days, Elizabeth hadn't made any progress; just had disturbing dreams about floating into the sky went she wanted to stay on earth.
She got so frustrated with herself; she just had to know if anyone would help her. 'I feel like that's a big step for me,' Elizabeth mused, 'I guess I don' t like asking people for help.'
"Um…hey," Elizabeth called out to Ron hesitantly.
"What do you need?" he asked congenially as he turned to face her.
"Uh…I haven't been having much development with the recollecting deal. Can you help me?" she asked him.
"Hold on. I'll get Harry. He would need to help you, not me," Ron answered.
"Okay. Thanks," Elizabeth replied with gratitude.
He disappeared around the corner. Elizabeth sat down, realizing that if he were to get Harry, it might make her a bit more confused.
"Elizabeth," Harry said when he saw her, "You should read this…it tells you a lot…" He handed her an old, aging, yellow envelope.
Elizabeth took it and looked on its sides. On the front, it bore a seal of a lightening bolt inside a star, with the letters, S.W.M.L. underneath.
She turned it over, and read the words, 'To my love, in the untimely and unfortunate event of my demise.' Elizabeth's brows furrowed in confusion as she took out the contents of the letter.
The paper was wrinkled, and tear-stained. It looked like it was handled quite a few times.
'Dear Godric (laugh out loud),'
'I guess, since you are reading this, either I'm dead, I'm playing a trick on you to make you think I'm dead, or it's so far into our future, you wouldn't need it when I died, so I told you to look at it.
First off, as though you've heard it many times before, let me say, 'I love you. I'm in love with you. I'd die for your life to be spared.' I probably already have. I do NOT regret it at all! You are so important, not only to me, but to Ron, to Hermione, to Dumbledore, and to the rest of the wizarding world! Since, now you might get really deep bouts of depression, let me give you one last sign of my understanding about, and my love for, you. It's a poem I wrote while thinking about you, titled, 'Life.'
Life
Life seems so unfair,
When you don't know what to do,
It seems to be there,
Just to upset you.
But when Life throws you curveballs,
All you can do is swing,
And when life changes your notes,
All you can do is sing.
Even though Life has messed up your plans,
You can always count on me,
To be there, to listen,
Whatever your problem be.
So whatever Life has dealt you,
Play your hand 'til you succeed,
All you have to do,
Is play them right, and let Life take the lead.
I'm here for you when you toss in your towel,
Even though I have already thrown in mine,
I want you to know, to follow my advice,
And to understand that I will love you for all of time.
So I'm telling you, that there's no use,
In trying to control this beast called Life,
You'll find you'll never be able to do it,
Yet, once you start, you won't be able to give up that unbearable strife.
Here's my final advice on life,
Never listen to anyone who hasn't died to once again live,
Because the only advise they have,
Is not theirs to give,
For they have yet to die to once again live.
If you read this properly, you will notice the brackets I put around the lines pertaining to baseball. Where it mentions it, I want you to swing, Babes, and make a home run out of this curveball.'
So much love,
Elizabeth'P.S.- S.W.M.L. means Sealed With My Love. If you noticed, I etched the seal. I combined what I thought to be our symbols, a lightening bolt (for you), and a star (for me).'
Elizabeth's head spun as she read this. It told her inner feelings, she knew, but she struggled to remember exactly what she felt while writing this.
"Since when am I a poet?" Elizabeth thought aloud.
"You probably aren't, you were just feeling particularly emotional," Harry replied.
Suddenly, Elizabeth blacked out, and she found herself in a dream (or memory, she couldn't tell which).
A/N: I'll try to update more frequently, especially cuz this isn't worth waiting for months. (Terribly sorry, Tekvah Ariel!)
Tekvah Ariel: You find out about them a little later, but it's not all that interesting, except for the fact that Dumbledore wants to filet them…:-p Thanks for reviewing! Here's another chapter for ya!
Hazelle: Hope you got this far! I don't think you made it here just yet, what with 2 other stories to read. Thanks for doing so, and for keeping up with this story! :-p
Review, please. I need them.
