Annabel one more examined her extremely pale reflection in the mirror of the Royal Opera House dressing room. She still couldn't believe that she was there and that she had just performed the role of Myrtha from the ballet Giselle for her final graduation performance. She knew that she had been lucky to get this role; Marianne, her classmate who was supposed to play the role, unfortunately, had fallen victim to a very serious injury to her knee one month prior to the performance, and it was obvious to the doctors and the teachers that she wouldn't recover in time for the big day.
It was just the way of the ballet world: one person's downfall was another's chance to shine. Despite the fact that Annabel enjoyed Marianne's company, she couldn't deny that she had been very thrilled with the opportunity to perform an important role for their graduation day. She had really worked hard at the rehearsals, making sure that she performed all of the movements with the perfection required by a Royal Ballet student. She also didn't want to disappoint the teachers who had trusted her with such an important task. To make this opportunity even more significant, important people from academies across the world would be there in the audience, paying close attention to the students' movements, judging each one, deciding who had the potential of becoming a new promising star.
The bright light from the spotlights, plus the adrenaline she had to focus in order to perform her part with perfection, made it very hard for her to identify anyone in the audience. While she cleaned her make-up, she couldn't stop herself from wondering who from her family and friends would be there to see her. From those, there was only one person she hoped would be there more than anyone else – Harry.
The truth was that since his last few visits to her house on last Christmas break, she hadn't really heard anything from him. She had even asked her grandmother to ask the Dursleys how the boy was doing, but no real answer had been obtained. Despite the distance and the lack of communication, she still considered herself to be his girlfriend, and she missed him deeply.
His absence hurt her so much that the first thing that she put back on when she was rid of the Myrtha costume was the locket that Harry had given to her on Christmas Eve. The locket was made of gold, and it portrayed the figure of a doe on the front and the crest of the Potter family on the back. Inside, there was one picture of her and another picture of Harry. He had told her that night that his father had given the piece of jewellery to his mother on their first wedding anniversary.
At first, she hadn't liked the fact that he had given her something which was clearly of such great sentimental value for him. However, she couldn't deny that having the locket always by her chest made her feel somehow much more connected to him, despite their distance. It constantly reminded her that wherever he was, he still loved and cared for her.
In fact, she knew the only thing that prevented him from going down on his knee and asking her to marry him was probably the fact that they were too young to be allowed to do so. Also, Annabel knew that Harry realised that she probably would end up rejecting the proposal anyway. Although she had no doubt of her love for him, she still had problems accepting the idea of married commitment. She believed that fairy tales with romantic endings were just truth in fiction, not in real life. She and Harry already had a perfect dynamic, and she didn't want to spoil it with the everyday routines that came with such a commitment.
Once she was completely dressed in her own clothes, she waved a farewell to her colleagues who were still there, and she walked to where she had previously agreed to meet her family. The first thing she noticed was her mother's presence, which really shocked her. Previous disappointments with her constant absences had convinced Annabel to not count on her mother's presence at special events. She smiled and hugged her grandmother who had also been waiting for her with a beautiful flower bouquet. Her cousin Jess was also there with her mother and brother, as were Geoffrey and his father. Matthew's parents were just behind him talking to their son. However, there was no sight of the person that she had been hoping to see the most. Where were Harry and his godfather? She looked at her grandmother who understood her question before it left her lips.
"He is not here, my darling," she said with pity. "He went back to Petunia's three days ago, but I haven't seen him ever since he walked through their front door. It's weird; he usually comes by my house to have a cup of tea and say hello when he is back from his studies."
Annabel couldn't hide the disappointment that filled her at that moment. She had given him the tickets for the play just after he had given her the locket. He had then promised he would be there with his godfather… but neither of them was there.
"You… you were beautiful, Bel," Geoffrey said shyly; no sign of mocking on his voice. "You looked like an angel…"
"Er, thanks, although I was supposed to be looking like an evil, vengeful ghost. I'm glad that you enjoyed the play."
"I really liked your solo. Your figurine was so amazing!" her cousin said with a bright, big smile.
"Bebelz!" Her best friend Matt came running in her direction. "What an amazing performance you had!"
"You did amazingly too, Matt. I really enjoyed killing you! We should do this more often," Annabel said playfully after hugging her friend.
"You technically didn't kill me! You ordered Leanne and Clarice to kill me instead," he joked.
"Whatever… it's the same result in the end, isn't it?"
"Come on, the big boss wants to see us!" Matt said, grabbing her hand.
"Re-really?" Annabel asked in shock. 'The big boss' was their private nickname for the art director of the company. "Guys, I'll be right back." And without thinking twice, she followed her friend.
"Do you know what this is about?" She could only think that they either had done something very good or very bad.
"No idea, but that meeting is in twenty-five minutes. I'm sorry for stealing you from your family, but he is here, and I need you to do that favour for me," he asked her with pleading eyes.
"Oh, that!" she said, remembering what she had promised to do.
"Do you want me to explain the situation to Harry?" Matt asked, worried about the consequences it could have on her relationship.
"No… he didn't come," she grumbled sadly.
"Oh…" he said, feeling bad for his friend. Matt knew how badly she has been missing the owl guy.
Despite his young age, it wasn't news to anyone in his family that Matthew Harrison was a homosexual. Being raised in an open-minded family, he never really had to hide what he was. However, after falling in love with Alan, the son of an army man, Matt had been exposed for the first time to what was like to live a secretive life.
The problem was that Alan's parents had started to get suspicious of the newly flourished friendship between their son and the ballet boy. Matt and Alan decided to implement a plan that would nullify the suspicions of his family. They decided to find Alan a 'fake girlfriend' who was also a ballerina; they hoped this would give them a nice alibi for Alan's friendship with Matt, who in this little production would play the role of the friend who had introduced the loving couple.
It took some persuasion to get Annabel to accept participating in their plan. Initially, it was because they had warned her that Alan's parents might want her to introduce them to her family, and everyone in her family knew that she was with Harry. The second reason was Harry himself. She knew how jealous Harry could get sometimes, but at the same time, she couldn't see why he would mind that she was pretending to date a gay guy. It wasn't like she was doing anything wrong… she was only helping a friend out, right?
"Look, here they are!" Matthew pointed out a skinny boy that she had met a couple of times during their classmate hang-outs.
"Er... right," she said, looking at the boy who was supposed to be her boyfriend for the night. She tried to look happy to see him, but she undoubtedly wasn't doing a very good job because Matthew immediately whispered in her ears.
"Christ, Bebelz! Could you please look a little bit more excited? Just imagine that it's Harry waiting there for you, right?"
And so she did. She grinned at him and started to walk on larger steps. However, it was hard for her to hide the surprise on her face when Alan grabbed her by the waist and gave her a small peck on her lips. She wasn't really expecting to have that kind of interaction with him… they hadn't mentioned that in the deal. She quickly looked at Matthew, who looked like he wanted to grab her by her hair and roll with her on the floor. She considered her possibilities and finally decided that the best she could do was just go with it.
"Mum, Dad, I want to introduce you the girl I've been talking so much about. This is Annabelle, my girlfriend," he said, smiling from her to his parents, his hands still applying firm pressure to her waist.
"Hmm, so you are the famous girl who has stolen my little boy's heart!" his mother said, analysing her figure. "You have a pretty face, but you are too thin. Don't they feed you properly at this ballet school of yours?"
Annabel opened her mouth but shut it straight away as she couldn't find an appropriate response to the woman's comment.
"Hold your tongue, woman; can't you see that you are embarrassing the poor girl?" It was Alan's father who had spoken this time. "I'm Jeremy, Alan's father. I'm very happy to finally meet you… I don't know why it took our boy so long to set up this meeting."
"It was probably my fault. I've been so busy rehearsing for this presentation that I've barely had time to see your son."
"Well, I've heard that it's your school's half-term next week, right? I know that you two little lovebirds have made plans for almost every single day of the week!" Jeremy said with a grin.
"I insist that you come to our home to have lunch on one of those days. You need to eat well and add some shape to your figure," Alan's mother said, pointing to her breasts and bum.
Annabel felt her cheeks redden. She couldn't wait to be far away from this woman. Annabel vowed to herself to kill Matthew Harrison…again.
"Are your parents here? I would love to have a word with them…" Jeremy said casually.
"Oh, her parents are coming later…" Matt said, taking the pressure off her shoulders. "We're having a meeting with the crew in a few minutes that probably will take a couple of hours. I know that you work tomorrow, sir. Maybe it's better to leave that for another day?"
"I'm not leaving until we at least arrange a meeting so we can get to know you better, hun." Alan's mother proved that she wouldn't give up so easily.
"Er…okay." Annabel felt as if spending more time with Alan's parents would be the last thing she would choose to do with her free time. However, Matthew was her best friend, and his pleading face was enough to make her decide to make that sacrifice.
"Why don't we let Anna decide which day, time, and place are best for her? This is a nice way to guarantee that she won't back out at the last minute again," Alan suggested.
"How about we all have a tea together at my grandmother's? I will let Alan know the date as soon as I know which time will suit her better, okay? Now, if you could please excuse me and Matt… we are a bit late, and we have a meeting to attend," Annabel said in an attempt to try to get rid of their company as soon as possible.
"Sure, baby… my parents need to go home, but I will be here waiting for you, okay?" Alan said, tenderly touching her face.
"You'd better be," she said, aiming to give him a kiss on his cheek, but Alan turned his face so that she ended up kissing his lips. The boy tried to transform the small peak into a proper kiss, but she discreetly gave him a strong pinch on his shoulder, making him stop the attempt straight away.
After giving Alan's parents a quick farewell that seemed to take forever, Annabel and Matthew went back to the part of the theatre that was reserved for the ballet crew. Both friends decided to sit down on a couple of steps far away from the big crowd of students.
"Matthew! What the hell was your boyfriend thinking? Trying to kiss me like that! Christ!" she said in an accusative voice.
"I don't know!" Matthew said, frustrated. "He is going to have to explain himself."
"Of course I'm happy to help you guys and everything else…you know how I've been one of the biggest supporters of your relationship and all… but imagine if Harry had come today and seen this! I told you how jealous he is…" Annabel bit her lip.
"I will talk to Alan," Matt answered with a sigh. "Though, despite my immense dislike of the whole scene, I must agree that the little pecks do add a bit of reliability to your 'relationship.' However, I agree that that last kiss he was trying to give you was extremely excessive."
"And you'd better be with me whenever his family comes around mine for this bloody tea! I'm definitely not facing them on my own!" She looked intensely on his eyes as if she was daring him to declare that he wouldn't be present for the occasion.
"Don't worry; I will be by your side!" He gave her a comforting tap on her shoulders. "So, your grandmother is in Surrey, right?"
"Yes; I was planning to spend as much time as possible with Harry before my flight," she said, sadly looking down her feet.
"Does Harry know that you are going to leave the country?" Matthew asked, trying to comfort her.
"No… we haven't spoken since Christmas," she said, looking to the wall. "I… feel so bad that he didn't come here tonight! He knew how important today was to me…"
"I'm sure he has his reasons. Maybe that horrible family of his locked him in again…" Matthew said, trying to cheer her up.
"Or maybe he got himself a new girlfriend at that school of his…" she said seriously.
"Don't be silly! That guy is crazy for you!"
"So why is he not here?" she complained.
"Something must have happened to him," Matthew said as if it was the most obvious thing on Earth. "Whatever it is, I'm sure you'll find out tomorrow." Matthew looked down at his watch. "It's almost time for our meeting, by the way."
While she walked side by side with Matthew, hoping to hear some good news at this meeting, she tried to move her thoughts away from Harry Potter.
It had been only a couple of days since Harry had arrived on Privet Drive. Because of the threats that the members of the Order had scared the Dursleys with when they came to pick their nephew up at King's Cross station, he had been excused from helping with any household chores this summer. Had they done this any other year, Harry would have felt very happy, but now it meant that he had almost no reason to leave the boredom of his bedroom.
Of course, Harry would come down to join his relatives during meal times. He also would leave his room whenever he needed to pop into the loo. But apart from that, he would spend most of his free time locked up in the small bedroom without prompt, having Hedwig as his only companion. He didn't complain. It was nice to have silence and peace to try to digest the horrible things that had happened at the end of his last school term.
Sirius Black was dead. Sirius Black was dead, and he wasn't coming back. Sirius was dead, and it was all Harry's fault. If he had only taken Snape's Occlumency lessons more seriously… if he had opened Sirius's wrapped package containing the small mirror that his godfather had given to him… if only he hadn't been naïve enough to fall into Voldemort's trap…
This feeling of guilt was consuming him. He was looking forward meeting up with Annabel once again, hoping that being near his girl would make him feel a bit more cheerful. It had been fifteen past midnight when Harry had seen the cab that had left the girl and her grandmother at the elder's house. He only hoped that she would forget his absence at her big performance. It wasn't his fault after all. Sirius had promised him last Christmas that he would find a way to take Harry to the theatre. But now Sirius was no longer there to keep his promises, and no one else from the Order seemed keen on helping him go on this little excursion into muggle London.
In fact, he had been stopped by Kingsley as he was trying to sneak out of Little Whinging to see Annabel's play. The knowledge that the Order members were still guarding him didn't make him feel any better. Although he disliked this over-protection, now that he knew about the prophecy, he at least could understand the reason for it to be this way.
The first rays of light of the new day invaded his window, letting him know that he had not slept at all that night. Hoping that this day would be better than the previous one, he got out of his bed after a long yawn. Despite all his sorrow, he couldn't wait to see Annabel once again. And the fact that it would happen sooner or later that day meant that this morning was the most promising Harry had had in a while.
Annabel was washing dishes from the breakfast that she had had with her grandmother only a few moments ago. She had asked her nan to teach her how to make poached eggs and her special hollandaise sauce. The eggs weren't very hard to make, but because of the amount of butter involved in its making, she would have rather not learned how to make the hollandaise sauce after all. Now that she knew, she would never be able enjoying eating it again.
She was in the middle of scrubbing off the frying pan when she felt a pair of hands blocking her sight. Her heart started beating fast, and she could feel his body hugging her from behind. It was impossible not to let a smile escape from her lips when she placed her still-wet hands over his.
"Harry," she whispered.
Unable to wait any longer, Harry released her eyes and turned her face to his, immediately catching her lips in a long, desperate kiss. She responded to the kiss with even greater intensity. Her hands roamed his body under his t-shirt, while his hands were gently stroking her hair. At that moment, she forgot everything; she forgot that she was supposed to be mad with him for not attending her graduation performance; she forgot that her nan was in the house, only a few rooms away from them.
"How did I survive without you for such a long time?" he whispered in her right ear, causing her let a small moan escape while she carved her short, but well-manicured, nails into his skin.
This was enough to make him even more excited. He placed her on the table, and he decided it was his turn to explore her body. As he touched her thighs under her skirt in a way he had never done before, she decided to open her legs slightly, a clear sign of invitation for him to be even more daring and cross even more boundaries. At this moment, the small part of Harry's brain that was still conscious tried to figure out how he could get Annabel to take the potion that was given to him by Madam Pomfrey earlier that year.
However, the noise of footsteps coming in their direction was enough to make them break apart just as quickly as they had started the snog. Annabel jumped from the table so fast that it looked to Harry as if she had apparated. Harry noticed that her lips were extremely bruised, and her hair was probably messier than his own had ever been.
"I found the recipe book from your granddad's mother, which has…" Mrs Morelli entered her kitchen, and her eyes went from one teenager to the other. The smirk on her face made it clear that she had guessed what had been going on between the two of them before her abrupt arrival.
"Good morning, ma'am," Harry said, trying to sound neutral.
"Good morning, Harry. It has been a long time since I last saw you. Why haven't you visited me like you usually do?"
"I… I've been busy with some things," he lied.
"I was surprised to not see you at the Opera House. Yesterday, I went to Petunia's to see if you wanted to go with me, but she said you weren't home…"
"I had some problems with my journey," he said, thinking about Kingsley demanding him to get back to his relatives' safe house on the previous night. "Believe me, I feel very bad for having missed it… I really wanted to see your performance, Bel," he said, turning back to his girlfriend.
"Well, you missed your chance," she said a bit dryly. "I got lucky at the last moment and ended up landing a major role."
"Which role?" Harry asked, curious.
"I was a ghost named Myrtha," she answered him casually.
"I know a ghost named Myrtle. She haunts the girls' toilet on the second floor," Harry said without thinking.
"Oh, let me guess! It was her birthday party that you went to?" Annabel said in a mocking voice. She clearly didn't think that Harry had been serious.
"No, it was Nick's party that I've been to. And it wasn't a birthday party; it was more like a death anniversary party…"
"That sounds a bit morbid!" Mrs Morelli answered instead of her granddaughter.
"Oh Nan, Harry's imagination can be a bit too much sometimes…" Annabel said with a smile.
"You two must have so many things to catch up on. Come on; let me finish this, my dear," Mrs. Morelli said, taking over the washing up. "It's such a beautiful day! Why don't you two go to talk in the garden?"
Annabel opened her mouth to protest, but she was silenced by her grandmother's glare. Before either of the teenagers could think, they were both sitting down under a tree in her grandmother's garden, Harry's head comfortably placed on her lap. Harry felt a bit embarrassed when he thought that they were probably being watched by someone from the Order.
They remained quiet for a while, doing nothing more than purely enjoying the presence and the touch of each other. Harry analysed her figure more closely and noticed that her appearance had changed a lot since last Christmas. She looked much more like a woman and less like the little girl that he had once met. He closed his eyes while he enjoyed the touch of her hands stroking his hair. A peaceful feeling that he hadn't felt in a long time invaded his chest.
"Why couldn't you come to see me yesterday?" she asked, not louder than a whisper. "I know that you weren't completely honest with my Nan earlier on."
Harry opened his eyes and sat up beside her.
"I wasn't allowed to go," he said simply.
"But… if your aunt said you weren't home…"
"I was probably trying to get to the train station at that time. But, as I said, I wasn't allowed to go," he said with a sigh.
Annabel looked deeply into his eyes; she knew that he was being as honest as she could hope for. She knew that he kept an infinite number of things from her, but she had long decided to accept that mysterious side of him.
"I was just really looking forward to seeing you there, especially because you were finally going to introduce me to your godfather. You talk so much about him… what is his name again? It's Sirius, isn't it?"
Annabel said this, hoping that the mention of his godfather would make Harry ease back into the relaxed state he had been before she had queried him about his absence last night. However, his reaction turned out to be the complete opposite of what she was expecting it to be. Immediately after hearing the mention of his godfather, Harry turned his back to her and moved few centimetres away from her. A bitter, sorrowful expression appeared on his face, and if she wasn't wrong, she could see a little bit of guilt as well.
"Harry," she said, moving her body where he could see her, "What is wrong?"
He didn't answer her question immediately; instead, he tried to turn his face once again to avoid her, but she softly turned it back.
"Harry? What's wrong?" Her pretty doll eyes stared into his green ones, full of concern.
Harry remained silent. It felt like saying the bitter truth loudly would somehow make it even more real. After all, he hadn't really talked about Sirius with any of his friends yet. The nearest he had gotten to actually talking about him was when he had rushed to ask Headless Nick about his godfather's whereabouts. However, the Gryffindor ghost had been adamant when he had said that Sirius wasn't going to come back. The wound was still fresh, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to share his pain with anyone.
"Harry?" Annabel tried again, placing both of her hands on the contours of his face and touching his forehead with her own. She could hear him breathing out of sync, his tired eyes from the lack of sleep beginning to get watery; these actions showed her that whatever had happened to him, it was undoubtedly something very serious. Since she had known Harry, she had never seen him cry, not even when he was just a little boy who had been beaten up by his terrible relatives; Harry had always been a tough boy, and he had never presented any sign of weakness. However, now he was breaking down, threatening to fall apart in her arms, all signs of his seemingly impenetrable armour vanishing before her eyes.
"It's ok to feel sad, Harry. You can cry," she said no louder than a whisper.
That was all it took for him to hide his face in her chest and crumble in silent tears. He didn't make a sound, and if it hadn't been for the feeling of his tears on her skin, she wouldn't have known that he was crying at all.
They stayed there, alone and in complete silence, for what seemed to be a very long time. While the reason for his crying was still a mystery to her, Annabel knew that Harry needed that moment. She stroked his hair and gave him little kisses on his forehead in an attempt to comfort him. Once he was feeling ready to face her again, he dried his tears on her cardigan in an attempt to hide them from her. However, he could not disguise the redness in his eyes. She held back the urge to ask him the reason for his unexpected breakdown, kissing his lips tenderly instead.
"He is dead," Harry said very quietly. "Sirius is dead."
Annabel bit her lips, not knowing what to say. Harry then hugged her so strongly that he almost hurt her.
However, her heart hurt even more than her body when he whispered into her ear, "He is dead. He is dead, and it is my fault, Bel," he said just before moving his head to her chest once more.
Annabel remained quiet, not knowing how to react. After all, what he had said was worse than anything she could have imagined. Not only had he lost his godfather, but for some unknown reason, Harry felt like he was also responsible for his death. She knew that she would have to find a way to make him feel better.
After learning about the latest events in Harry's life, Annabel couldn't help but feel very sorry for him. She knew that he didn't want or need her pity, but the truth was that his godfather had been the closest thing to a real family that the boy had ever had. More than anybody else, she knew about all the bullying and agony that her boyfriend had suffered years ago at the Dursleys' hands. No matter how many times Harry had tried to cover it up or tell her that he was okay, she knew that their abuse and mistreatment had left scars that only he knew how deep they were.
After all, trying to get Harry to confess something he did not want to reveal had always been an almost impossible mission. After he had managed to calm down a bit, the girl had tried to inquire about the circumstances surrounding the death of Sirius Black. However, all she could squeeze from his nonsensical speech was that Harry had fallen into a trap, and that was the main reason why he believed that his godfather's death was his responsibility. The grounds and events that had led him to be deceived and fall into this trap still remained a complete mystery to Annabel since Harry was reluctant to give her any extra information regarding that.
"Harry, I just can't see why are you feeling guilty for have fallen into a trap. You told me that Sirius was murdered by a mad woman. She is the one to be blamed, not you!" she tried to argue with him.
"It's not only that. There are things that I could have done to avoid that, but I ignored them," Harry said, thinking about the two-way mirror and the Occlumency lessons with Snape.
"Like what?" she asked, crossing her arms in a clear sign of annoyance.
"I… it's complicated," he said with a sigh. "Look, why don't you tell me about your performance last night?"
She didn't reply his comment. If she hadn't known that he was emotionally shaken up because of his recent loss, she might have gotten really upset by what she saw as signals of him avoiding her questions. Why would he insist on avoiding talking about the secretive life he lived when he wasn't with her?
"Please Bel… don't be upset with me. Look, it's not my fault that I can't tell you! I didn't write the law, right?" he said, frustrated.
"Which law?" she asked, confused.
"Doesn't matter," he said, running his hand through his hair in frustration. He had probably said more than he should have. He needed to change the subject before he revealed something much more serious. "Why don't you tell me about how the rest of your school year has been?" he asked in an attempt to change subjects once again.
"It was all right. One of my classmates got injured almost a month before our final presentation. That's how I end up getting a major role in the – Harry! What hell is that thing on your hand?" Her eyes were wide, looking at the scar on his hand that said 'I must not tell lies'; despite the fact that it had already healed, it still looked a bit spooky.
"That's… nothing really," Harry said, trying to hide his hand from her sight. "It's only a punishment given to me by a sadistic old woman of whom I had the misfortune of being a student."
"Harry, that's horrible," Annabel said, biting her lip. "You should have told another adult. They could have contacted social services."
She knew that he probably wouldn't want to give her any details about that either. It had been like that when Harry had been bullied by his relatives, and surely it would carry on being like that now. After all, the teen had always been so secretive with her about the things that happened around him anyway.
"Believe me, that evil woman got what she deserved the end of the year. Besides, she is not coming back to my school. Not now that everybody knows that I'm not the liar she claimed I was being after all."
Annabel opened her mouth, thinking about asking him more questions in relation to this particular episode, but she ended up repressing her urge before the words could pass her lips. She realised that asking him anything related to an event that had occurred at his school this year would be pointless. Besides, he always seemed to end up revealing more information about his other life when he wasn't being pressured to talk about it anyway.
Seven days had passed since Harry and Annabel had finally been reunited after their long seven months apart. It wasn't a surprise that they had barely spent any time far away from each other. Some of this time they spent in Annabel's grandmother's garden or in her living room. Despite her immense sympathy for Harry, the old woman seemed to be doing her best to keep the teenagers from being left alone in her home, and she would insist that Harry go back to his relatives' any time she needed to go out.
The rest of the time, Annabel had managed to sneak into Harry quarters without any of the Dursley family noticing. Despite Harry having successfully slipped the contraception potion into the girl's apple juice about five days ago, they hadn't really done anything more than innocent kisses and patting whenever they had the opportunity to stay alone. At least, according to Madam Pomfrey, they would be protected during the next two moon cycles.
Perhaps it had something to do with Annabel respecting Harry's recent loss, or perhaps it was because she was subconsciously afraid of Harry's reaction. But the truth was that Annabel ended up forgetting to mention the relationship she was pretending to have with Matthew's boyfriend. In fact, she had spent so much time enjoying her own relationship that she had forgotten about tea with the boy's parents on Saturday afternoon once her grandmother had left for bingo with Mrs Figg.
She and Matthew had agreed that she would tell them a story about an emergency that prevented anyone from her family to be present – and hopefully make this meeting as brief as possible. Both teenagers agreed that it wouldn't be right to involve the adults of her family in their plot, but Matthew pleads to have at least Geoffrey by their side.
"At least having your brother there will give some reliability to the story!" Matthew begged while they arranged everything on the phone.
"Matt, he is my step-brother. Can't you ask any of your other friends to pose as my brother? Your cousin Geoffrey is a pain in the ass when he wants to be," Annabel replied, uncertain.
"Anyone trustworthy is on holiday, Bebelz. Don't worry about Geoffz. I have my ways of making him behave like a true lord," Matthew promised.
"If you say so… okay, I will receive Alan's parents at half past three, but they must be gone before my nan comes back from bingo, all right?"
Because of Mrs Morelli's recent insistence of not allowing Harry and her granddaughter be alone whenever she had to leave her house, the boy didn't find it suspicious when the old lady asked him to leave after they had all finished having lunch together, as she had to prepare herself to go to bingo.
Harry, who knew the old lady's routine, already knew what to expect on that sunny afternoon. However, he had desperately hoped that Annabel would try to smuggle herself into the Dursleys' garden's once her grandmother was out. In order to facilitate her access into their household, Harry had decided to position himself at a strategic spot in the Dursleys' garden while he read a defensive spells book that he had gotten for Christmas last year. He knew that his aunt wouldn't be able to see him from inside the house, but Annabel could easily see where he was from hers. However, it wasn't her beautiful, tiny waistline that he saw as he turned his face up, having heard the quick approach of footsteps in his direction.
"How have you been, Scarface? It's such a beautiful day, isn't it?" Geoffrey grinned in his direction from the other side of the wooden fence.
Harry immediately stood up and slammed the book down so strongly that he could feel his hand throbbing.
"What are you doing here, Gooberfrey?" Harry grunted to the boy that reminded him Malfoy so much.
"I was at Dorothy's residence, kindly helping my dear stepsister serve the afternoon tea to her lovely boyfriend when I saw your sad figure from the kitchen window. I couldn't resist the temptation to come here and ask you: How does it feel to be dumped so badly?" the teen asked with a stupid grin on his face.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Harry growled angrily while he tried to resist the urge to get his wand.
"Of course you don't know! The betrayed is always the last to know… but I have a clean conscious as I have warned you before that your precious girl was never a woman of only one man." Geoffrey smirked, really enjoying seeing the anger and confusion on Harry's face.
"If you are trying to get me to start another fight with Bel, you're wasting your time," Harry said, trying his best to control his temper.
"It's like they say, isn't it: The worst kind of blind is the one who refuses to see. Why don't you turn around and see it with your own eyes? Even a visually impaired person like yourself would be able to see that your lovely girlfriend is hosting a tea party for her new parents-in-law."
Harry couldn't help but turn his head to the girl's grandmother's house. He couldn't see it very clearly, as they were all inside the house, but a large number of shadows walking around the living room made it clear that something was going on.
"So, little Bel didn't ask you to join us on this joyful gathering? How rude of her; let me make up for her behaviour: why don't you come with me so you can see it better?"
He knew that he shouldn't trust the spoiled brat, especially when Geoffrey looked so pleased with himself. But curiosity had always been one of his weak spots. There were definitely some visitors at the house, though he had seen Annabel's grandmother leaving the house earlier on. After considering his options for a brief second, Harry ended up deciding to jump the fence and follow the other teenager. After all, Harry was certain that everything that Geoffrey was bragging about was unfounded rubbish. And it was with the mentality of proving Geoffrey wrong that he decided to go see what his girlfriend was up to.
Nobody in the house noticed when both teens snuck in the house through the back door, which was located in the kitchen area. The unrecognizable voices that were coming from the living room confirmed that, in fact, there were other people present in the house. Geoffrey placed his index finger to his lips, asking for silence, and pointed to the door which led to the hall between the kitchen and living room. Harry rolled his eyes in annoyance, but he followed the other boy anyway.
The first person in the room that Harry noticed was Annabel's school friend that he had met during her mother's wedding. The teen immediately acknowledged Harry's presence, and he couldn't deny that the boy was shocked, almost scared, after the two of them exchanged glances. It was then that Harry saw Annabel sitting on the lap of another guy while they had a friendly chat with an older couple whom Harry had never seen before. Annabel and the guy's position didn't allow them to see that Harry had just entered the family room, but the guy's parents could see him clearly.
"So Mum, Anna and I are thinking about going on a short romantic holiday during this summer break; just me and her, nothing very far. We're thinking about Cornwall, isn't that right, honey?" The guy said this last word looking straight into Annabel's eyes.
"Yes, my love, that's right! We've been dreaming about it for quite a long time," Annabel said, stroking the guy's arm in a way similar as she usually did to Harry.
"As long as her parents also agree, I don't see why you young lovebirds shouldn't go for it!"
"Hey, Bel! Look who I found wandering around who has kindly agreed to join us!" Geoffrey grinned cheerfully.
There was nothing that could describe Annabel's face as she turned to find Harry standing in the hallway near Geoffrey. Harry looked back at her, hurt and disappointed; he felt like he wanted nothing more than to be able to disappear from that room. Without waiting any longer, Harry turned on his heels and dashed away from her house before anyone had time to say anything to hold him back.
Annabel watched Harry walk away from her grandmother's house, completely paralysed. This couldn't be happening; it had to be a nightmare.
"What was that all about?" Alan's mother asked, confused.
"That was… a catastrophe," Matthew answered.
Annabel, who was feeling too guilty to carry on pretending anything at all, stood up with some difficulty before she realised that she was actually shaking; she then glared, full of rage at Geoffrey, who still had that silly smile on his face. But his grin faded away immediately after he noticed that her anger had been turned in his direction.
"I'm going to kill you, you twat!" Annabel growled and started to run in his direction with closed fists ready to attack him. However, Matthew, noticing her uncontrolled temper, was faster and held her in order to avoid the physical attack.
"Matt, let me go! Let me kill this idiot!" the teenager girl screamed, and she struggled like a fish out of the water while trying to get rid of his grip.
"My dear cousin, why don't you do yourself a favour and disappear from our sights before I decide to join Bebelz instead of holding her back!" Matthew said harshly to Geoffrey.
Geoffrey, who noticed that things weren't going to get any better for him any time soon, left the house just as Harry had left a few moments before him. Alan's parents, who remained ignorant of the reason behind this entire scene, exchanged some worried glances between them. Realising the danger, Alan quickly suggested to his parents that it was time to make a move, and after a brief farewell, they quickly left, leaving Annabel free to cry on Matthew's shoulders.
Harry couldn't stop shaking with rage. How could she have done that to him? After all the good moments they had shared; all the years of friendship, confessions and cuddles; all the dreams that he had nourished of a bright future for them. Then she had to go and stab him in the back. He could feel his heart crumbling into a thousand pieces.
He knew he had not been a very present boyfriend, but she could at least have been honest with him and ended their relationship before moving on and starting to date other guys. 'Yes, my love, that's right! We've been dreaming about it for quite a long time,' her voice kept echoing in his head. My love – was that what she had called that other guy; 'we've been dreaming about it for quite a long time;' how long was 'a long time'? Would they have already started dating when Harry went to spend Christmas at her house in London? How could she slyly disguise it so well?
Just when he was finally starting to recover a little from Sirius's death, she came and pushed him down even further. With his heart full of sorrow, Harry stumbled through his bedroom door before collapsing on his bed. He knew that being stuck in Little Whinging had never been as painful as it was going to be now.
"Hey, Dursely!" Annabel called to Harry's cousin as she saw him walking near her house. "I need your help again."
"What have you done to Harry, girl?" Dudley asked her in an accusatory tone. "He's been locked in that room since he returned from your place, and he didn't come down to dinner yesterday or breakfast this morning."
"She has done nothing wrong, mate," Matthew stepped in, defending his best friend, "and she needs your help to make him realize that."
"Please, Dudley, it's very important for me to talk to him. I need to fix things between us before I go back to school," she begged, targeting Harry's cousin with pleading eyes.
"Can I trust that you haven't done anything wrong to Harry?" Dudley asked suspiciously.
"Of course I haven't!" Annabel told him, feeling offended. "Besides, since when do you care about Harry's feelings anyway?"
"I told you that she has done nothing wrong. All she's done is help me and my boyfriend out with something."
"Boyfriend? Oh, so you are…" Dudley widened his eyes.
"Dudley! Are you going to help me out or not?" Annabel asked firmly.
"Okay. I can get you into his room, but please don't be very loud because my parents are in the house, and you know how Dad can get when he is angry…"
When Annabel entered Harry's room, she found him sitting at his desk, surrounded by old-looking books. He was concentrating extremely hard, writing with a feather onto a large piece of parchment. He didn't seem to acknowledge her presence until he heard the door behind her being shut.
After realizing who had invaded his room, Harry frowned and immediately took precautions to hide his work, covering all the contents of his desk with a blanket. Then he stood up, adjusted his glasses on his face, and spoke with a very calm and controlled voice.
"What are you doing here?"
"I needed to see you before I return to school."
"Good. You saw me; now you can go." Harry pointed to the door.
"I know you think that you saw something yesterday, but what you saw wasn't what really happened. If you'd just let me explain…"
"Explain what? Explain how you have been playing with my feelings for God knows how long? Explain why I have been naïve for letting myself believe that you could be happy being only with me? Why, Annabel, why? Why didn't you break up with me before starting another relationship?"
"Harry, that's the thing: there was never another relationship! Everything you saw yesterday was nothing but an act!"
"Oh sure, I saw how comfortable you were playing your part!" Harry's voice raised slightly. "Your brother Geoffrey was right – you'll never be a woman of only one man."
"So now you're listening to Geoffrey's brilliant thoughts about me instead of hearing what I have to say?" Annabel asked, starting to get angry as well.
"There is nothing that you can say that will change the fact that I saw you sitting on that guy's lap, talking to his parents, and planning a holiday together."
"Yes, I won't deny that it happened, but if you'd make an effort to understand the circumstances behind what I was doing, maybe you could see that what I did wasn't as much an act of infidelity and betrayal as you claim it to be."
"So tell me then; what were the circumstances behind your act?" Harry challenged.
"I… I think you should go down with me and talk to Matthew about that; after all, it's not my secret to share." She blushed.
"Matthew? Your friend from school? What does he have to do with it? Is he also a part of your secret harem?"
Annabel was disgusted with Harry; she could barely keep herself from slapping him after that insulting suggestion.
"How… how dare you! How dare you insinuate something as ridiculous as that!" she growled with anger.
"Yesterday, you completely broke my trust. I trusted you with all my heart, and you lied to me!"
"You're saying that I've lied to you?" Annabel laughed incredulously. "I've never lied to you! You, on the other hand…"
"I on the other hand, what?" He furiously dared her to answer.
"You have never not lied to me! Don't you dare deny it! You always keep things from me …"
"That is completely different! Believe me, I would have told you those things ages ago if I had been allowed. But unlike what you did, the things I've been keeping from you weren't things that would hurt your feelings, break your trust!"
"But it did hurt! Having you ask me to trust you blindly, let you be involved in whatever has been happening over the last few years, has been excruciating on me! However, the only time I ask you to give me a small bit of trust, you deny me that!"
"Well, what do you want me to believe? You want me to believe that you weren't sitting on that guy's lap when I entered that room? Or do you want me to believe that you didn't say the things I heard you saying….?" Harry said sarcastically.
"I told you that it was an act, for GOD'S SAKE, HARRY!" She was starting to lose her temper.
"Who were you acting for? For me, the stupid, love-sick boyfriend?"
"Of course it wasn't for you! I was pretending to have a relationship with Alan so his parents would go easy on…look, if you'd just go downstairs and have a quick talk with Matthew, you'll see how unreasonable you are being!"
"Whatever you two have to say, I'm not buying it," he said sceptically
"I can't believe you are going to let your pride and stubbornness destroy everything we had like this!" She looked at him, angry and disappointed.
"It wasn't my pride and stubbornness; it was your irresponsible lack of commitment, your immature way of playing with other people's feelings that have destroyed everything."
Annabel took a deep breath before carefully removing the chain that Harry had given to her the previous Christmas from around her neck and placed it on his bed.
"If that's what you think…well, at least I have a clean conscience that I've done nothing wrong! I hope you also feel the same about the things you've kept from me during all these years."
Harry opened his mouth to say something, but he decided against whatever he was about to say when he noticed that she was about to leave the room.
"I wish you all the best," she said just before shutting the door, avoiding his eyes.
Silent tears cascaded from her eyes as she walked down the stairs. She was so upset that she couldn't avoid bumping into Harry's uncle, who let lose a string of curses, forcing her to flee the Dursleys' residence even faster than normal. If she hadn't been so disturbed, maybe she would have found it strange that Dudley and Matthew –two more different people she couldn't name– were still having a very engaged conversation by her grandmother's house.
When Matthew saw that Annabel had left the Dursleys' and noticed his best friend's poor demeanour, he stopped talking to Dudley to give her a warm hug.
"Oh no! Don't tell me he didn't listen to you! This is all my fault…"
He had felt incredibly guilty for what had happened the previous day, and he really had hoped that his friend and the 'owl guy' would have worked everything out before they had to return to school.
"It's not your fault, Matt! The problem is that your cousin Geoffrey is a selfish idiot, and Harry has managed to be even more stubborn than I am at my worst."
"Still… I shouldn't have involved you in my problems. I will find a way to fix it somehow."
"It's pointless to try and make him see the reason right now," Annabel said sadly.
"Well, that may be, but I want to have a go! Dudley, my dear, could you help me into your house to have a word with your cousin?" Matthew turned to ask the favour of his newest acquitance.
However, before Dudley could give him any answer, Annabel cut him off.
"No! Don't you dare talk to him behind my back, Matt! This is between Harry and me. I'm going to call a cab to take us back to school," she said firmly before going back into the house, leaving the two male teenagers alone. When Matthew was certain that she couldn't hear him anymore, he turned to face Dudley and asked him in a very low voice.
"Dudley, mate, I need to ask a very important favour of you."
"I'm not usually the kind of person who gives away free favours to people, but because I believe that I owe this to Harry, and I do sympathize with you, I think I can make an exception. Tell me what you need, Matthew."
A couple of days later…
Harry couldn't believe that Dumbledore had indeed kept his word and had come to fetch him from Privet Drive. Now that the headmaster had already told his relatives everything he had come to tell, they were waiting in the hall while Harry was trying to find his invisibility cloak in middle of the clutter in his school trunk. After it was safely stuffed inside his pocket, Dumbledore had sent off all of his luggage to the Burrow, and they were just about to leave, they were caught by surprise by Dudley, who was calling his cousin's name from the other side of the hallway.
"Dudley? What do you want?" Harry asked, surprised.
"I… I'm sorry; I should have given this to you before, but my printer ran out of ink," Dudley said, handing a thick brown envelope to his cousin.
"What is this?" Harry asked, intrigued as he took it from Dudley's hand.
"It's an e-mail from Matthew, a friend of that Morelli girl that you are so fond of. As you don't have an e-mail address, he asked me to print this and give it to you."
Harry's face immediately darkened with the mention of 'that Morelli girl.'
"Sorry, dude, but I'm not interested in it," Harry replied and tried to give the envelope back to Dudley, but he refused to take it back.
"You really should read it," Dudley insisted.
Harry was about to open his mouth to protest, but he was interrupted by Dumbledore.
"Harry, my boy, I apologize for interrupting you, but I think that it's time for us to make our move and pursue that flighty temptress called adventure," Professor Dumbledore said with a grin.
"Bye, Dudley; see you next year," Harry said before following the headmaster out of the house.
While he walked side by side with the headmaster, Harry felt his mood had worsened since he had been cornered in the hallway by his cousin. Having Matthew's printed letter with him made him feel like the open wound on his heart had just been poked with a sharp object. After the row he had had with Annabel, he was determined to move on and forget everything about the girl. He was sick and tired of all the drama, and he really didn't want to listen to anything that she or her friend might have to tell him.
"Troubled mind, Harry?" Dumbledore, who hadn't been as oblivious as Harry had thought, asked with a kind smile. "Or should I say, troubled heart?"
Harry felt his cheeks burn. 'Of course', he thought, feeling a bit a bit embarrassed, 'if the Order was still keeping one eye on me, Dumbledore might have heard some things about it.'
"Er… yes, sir. I think you can say that" Harry told him before crushing the envelope without even opening it.
"Are you not curious to see what your friend might have to say?" Dumbledore asked him casually.
"No," Harry said heavy-hearted. "There is nothing in the world that can justify what she did," and without thinking twice, Harry threw the crushed letter into the first public bin they walked by. Dumbledore looked intrigued by the teenager's gesture.
"I thought that by now, you would know better than anyone else that the logical, most obvious explanation is not necessarily the correct one; that's why we should remain open-minded to every source of information before we reach a conclusion, even to the ones that are considered unreliable to many… Anyway, you should keep your wand ready, Harry. Just in case…" Dumbledore said calmly.
Harry couldn't come up with an answer for the headmaster's commentary, so he remained quiet while he tried to understand what he had told him. Was the headmaster perhaps suggesting that he should have read the letter instead of just getting rid of it without giving it any attention? However, shortly after, Dumbledore apparated Harry away from Privet Drive. This left him no time to give the matter any consideration or to change his mind on that particular aspect.