Disclaimer: I only own Cecilia Claine
Chapter 2
After a while Cecilia began to become one of Harry's best friends, besides Hermione and Ron. She was a like a girl-Ron, with more sensitivity though. She liked jokes and risks and Harry bet that if she met George and Fred she would make them her mentors. She had straight dark brown hair and hazel eyes, with a tanned complexion and a friendly grin. Hermione liked her presence especially, claiming that she was tired of boys' stuff and crazes like Quidditch. It turned out Cecilia liked Quidditch immensely too, but in respect for Hermione kept her raptures out of Hermione's earshot. Cecilia proved to be a better student than Ron and Harry, always doing homework properly and participating in class. However, Harry had the feeling that there was more to her that met the eye.
For instance, once Harry had caught her crying like her heart was breaking on the couch in the common room, late at night. Not wanting to embarrass her, he began to tiptoe upstairs. He put his foot on the step-
"Harry? Is that you?" came the husky voice. Unable to avoid her seeing him, Harry turned around.
"Er.yeah, just heading to bed now. Goodnight." He turned away before she could say anything more and jogged upstairs. When he was safely under his covers, he just realized something. How did she know I was there?, he thought. I was very quiet and I didn't make a noise. He chose to believe that she had just turned around at the exact moment and seen him.
The next morning, nothing was mentioned of it. Harry seemed to think that she didn't want to bother, so why should he? Cecilia signed up for Quidditch and was accepted as a Chaser to replace Angelina Johnson, who had left the year before. For a rookie at Hogwarts she was extremely good, almost surpassing Katie and Alicia. She claimed that she had lots of practice in America, though she never made the team. "Never made the team?", Ron exclaimed, "What do you mean? You're fantastic! Some people in Hogwarts just don't get how to fly, no matter how often they're taught. And here you are, flying like you were born to fly, and claiming you'd never joined a team!" Hermione seemed slightly hurt. "Oh, of course some people are good at flying Ron, but who do you mean exactly by those some people who just don't get how to fly?" she said icily. "Erm, well. Neville's never been much of a Quidditch player, and there's still.." "Please don't give me that Neville excuse." Hermione snapped, and walked a bit faster. "Ron, you'd better apologize before she gets worse." Harry said. Ron shrugged. "Honestly, the way she acts, you'd think I was mentioning her personally.", he grumbled, but stalked off to apologize anyway. Cecilia laughed. "The way those two behave, like they can't leave it at rest.", she giggled. "Yeah," Harry agreed, "I'm just waiting for the day they'll actually fall for each other, then they'll start ripping each other apart." They both laughed at the imagination of Ron and Hermione falling for each other. Then Harry spotted Cho Chang walking down the corridor. He groaned inwardly and averted his face. Cho never blinked an eye or showed any sign of recognizing he was even there, and walked past daintily. Cecilia was watching the scene with amusement on her face. Once Cho had walked out of sight, she asked Harry, "An ex of yours?" He didn't grasp what she meant, so he said, "Huh? What is it?" "An ex-girlfriend of yours?" she said, straining the "ex-girlfriend". This time Harry caught on and blushed a deep crimson. "Something like that, yeah.", he grunted miserably. He no longer liked Cho, but meeting her was still a pain. After all, it was not his fault they had broke up, he insisted to himself. Cecilia was eyeing him with a smug air. "I knew it. Tell me what happened.", she inquired nosily. Somehow her nonchalance inspired Harry to tell her the tale more than the concern Hermione had shown or the fit of giggles Ron had displayed when they asked for a full revelation. So he told her what happened with the DA and her friend who was actually a betrayer, also the way Cho had insistently stood up for Marrieta (her friend's name) and called Hermione mean for setting up the jinx on the signed piece of parchment. When Harry described that the jinx functioned to form the word "sneak" in big, blotchy, red dots, Cecilia burst out laughing. "That's a really clever jinx Hermione performed. And anyway, Marrieta deserved what she got.", Cecilia said. "Hey, Harry! Wanna practice some Quidditch?" A voice called. It was Lee Jordan, the twins' old pal. He was the new beater to replace the poor substitutes for Fred and George Weasley. Of course, the team was looking for another beater, but they would have to settle with one for the time being. "Good idea, Lee. You wanna come?", Harry asked Cecilia. "Sure. No harm in it." , she said in her American accent. Harry sometimes found this accent hard to ignore. She was catching up fast with her British accent, but at times she forgot to use it. Not to mention she had a different diction. Just yesterday she called Ron "dude" and she usually swore with "Crap!". Harry now understood the full meaning of the words she used, but they were still foreign to his ears. It reminded him of having the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students over. He laughed to himself, remembering Viktor Krum, an international Quidditch player, trying to say Hermione's name properly. It never worked, and he settled with " 'Ermee-o- ninny". When they arrived in the Quidditch pitch ten minutes later, they started to fly immediately. Harry even challenged Cecilia to a contest of who could catch the Snitch first, while Lee practiced whacking Bludgers. Harry and Cecilia had a tight game, but Harry easily outstripped her in the final dive and caught the Snitch first. "You're good.", she commented simply but like she really meant what she was saying. Harry beamed. "Thanks.", he answered, then said, "Hey, why don't we start a game with Lee?" An hour later they abandoned the game, because darkness was falling quick. Lee and Cecilia went to the change rooms to get changed, but Harry wanted to get changed in his dormitory, so he waited outside in the setting sun. Drowsily, Harry looked around him: the stadium, the forest, the castle. How he felt at home here. How safe and happy he felt here. With all his friends in substitute for the Dursleys, Harry was content. Then he spotted the place he had seen Sirius in dog form a long time ago, when he didn't know Sirius was his godfather. Immediately a world of darkness fell on his heart. He couldn't stand this any longer, he said to himself. And oh, the pain he felt! It was much worse than when his scar was hurting or when the Dark Lord himself had applied the Cruciatus curse on him, and now he understood why. All those things were physical pains, and they would heal after a while, but this, this was his heart, his very soul. A sound of running feet came from behind him, and before the person reached him, a presence of comforting entered his feelings, trying to soothe his ruffled and hurt spirit. Silently, he heard, no, not heard , Harry thought, but felt a something say, "I can't do anything for you, but please don't think about those you can't bring back too often. You pain me as equally as you pain yourself." He was not aware of it, but Cecilia's hand was on his shoulder, shaking him gently, saying, "Harry, are you OK? Say something, Harry!" He was also kneeling on the damp grass and his eyes were streaming. As soon as the something had finished speaking to him, he felt a degree calmer and wiped his face, looking into the face of Cecilia. There was something in her eyes more than sympathy, he realized. Then a weird revelation came to him. She knows, Harry thought. She knows exactly how I feel. How this came to him he didn't quite understand. After all, the look she gave him was one of pity, not understanding. But her eyes spoke it loud and clear. "Have you ever lost someone you really care for?", he asked her impulsively. Her mouth formed an O, but just then Lee appeared. "Ready? Let's go back.", he said, and trudged in the direction of the castle. Cecilia nodded and followed at a slow pace. Harry noticed something else strange. Cecilia was only half out of her Quidditch attire. Her boots were still on and so were her shin guards. It was as if.she had come outside to a calling of emergency. He tried to brush away this thought, but it remained firmly lodged in his brain. Could this Cecilia really be something else? Something.other than an innocent school girl? Harry shook himself mentally. Stop it, he said to himself. That's ridiculous. Even so, he couldn't help to still doubt himself all night long.
Chapter 2
After a while Cecilia began to become one of Harry's best friends, besides Hermione and Ron. She was a like a girl-Ron, with more sensitivity though. She liked jokes and risks and Harry bet that if she met George and Fred she would make them her mentors. She had straight dark brown hair and hazel eyes, with a tanned complexion and a friendly grin. Hermione liked her presence especially, claiming that she was tired of boys' stuff and crazes like Quidditch. It turned out Cecilia liked Quidditch immensely too, but in respect for Hermione kept her raptures out of Hermione's earshot. Cecilia proved to be a better student than Ron and Harry, always doing homework properly and participating in class. However, Harry had the feeling that there was more to her that met the eye.
For instance, once Harry had caught her crying like her heart was breaking on the couch in the common room, late at night. Not wanting to embarrass her, he began to tiptoe upstairs. He put his foot on the step-
"Harry? Is that you?" came the husky voice. Unable to avoid her seeing him, Harry turned around.
"Er.yeah, just heading to bed now. Goodnight." He turned away before she could say anything more and jogged upstairs. When he was safely under his covers, he just realized something. How did she know I was there?, he thought. I was very quiet and I didn't make a noise. He chose to believe that she had just turned around at the exact moment and seen him.
The next morning, nothing was mentioned of it. Harry seemed to think that she didn't want to bother, so why should he? Cecilia signed up for Quidditch and was accepted as a Chaser to replace Angelina Johnson, who had left the year before. For a rookie at Hogwarts she was extremely good, almost surpassing Katie and Alicia. She claimed that she had lots of practice in America, though she never made the team. "Never made the team?", Ron exclaimed, "What do you mean? You're fantastic! Some people in Hogwarts just don't get how to fly, no matter how often they're taught. And here you are, flying like you were born to fly, and claiming you'd never joined a team!" Hermione seemed slightly hurt. "Oh, of course some people are good at flying Ron, but who do you mean exactly by those some people who just don't get how to fly?" she said icily. "Erm, well. Neville's never been much of a Quidditch player, and there's still.." "Please don't give me that Neville excuse." Hermione snapped, and walked a bit faster. "Ron, you'd better apologize before she gets worse." Harry said. Ron shrugged. "Honestly, the way she acts, you'd think I was mentioning her personally.", he grumbled, but stalked off to apologize anyway. Cecilia laughed. "The way those two behave, like they can't leave it at rest.", she giggled. "Yeah," Harry agreed, "I'm just waiting for the day they'll actually fall for each other, then they'll start ripping each other apart." They both laughed at the imagination of Ron and Hermione falling for each other. Then Harry spotted Cho Chang walking down the corridor. He groaned inwardly and averted his face. Cho never blinked an eye or showed any sign of recognizing he was even there, and walked past daintily. Cecilia was watching the scene with amusement on her face. Once Cho had walked out of sight, she asked Harry, "An ex of yours?" He didn't grasp what she meant, so he said, "Huh? What is it?" "An ex-girlfriend of yours?" she said, straining the "ex-girlfriend". This time Harry caught on and blushed a deep crimson. "Something like that, yeah.", he grunted miserably. He no longer liked Cho, but meeting her was still a pain. After all, it was not his fault they had broke up, he insisted to himself. Cecilia was eyeing him with a smug air. "I knew it. Tell me what happened.", she inquired nosily. Somehow her nonchalance inspired Harry to tell her the tale more than the concern Hermione had shown or the fit of giggles Ron had displayed when they asked for a full revelation. So he told her what happened with the DA and her friend who was actually a betrayer, also the way Cho had insistently stood up for Marrieta (her friend's name) and called Hermione mean for setting up the jinx on the signed piece of parchment. When Harry described that the jinx functioned to form the word "sneak" in big, blotchy, red dots, Cecilia burst out laughing. "That's a really clever jinx Hermione performed. And anyway, Marrieta deserved what she got.", Cecilia said. "Hey, Harry! Wanna practice some Quidditch?" A voice called. It was Lee Jordan, the twins' old pal. He was the new beater to replace the poor substitutes for Fred and George Weasley. Of course, the team was looking for another beater, but they would have to settle with one for the time being. "Good idea, Lee. You wanna come?", Harry asked Cecilia. "Sure. No harm in it." , she said in her American accent. Harry sometimes found this accent hard to ignore. She was catching up fast with her British accent, but at times she forgot to use it. Not to mention she had a different diction. Just yesterday she called Ron "dude" and she usually swore with "Crap!". Harry now understood the full meaning of the words she used, but they were still foreign to his ears. It reminded him of having the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students over. He laughed to himself, remembering Viktor Krum, an international Quidditch player, trying to say Hermione's name properly. It never worked, and he settled with " 'Ermee-o- ninny". When they arrived in the Quidditch pitch ten minutes later, they started to fly immediately. Harry even challenged Cecilia to a contest of who could catch the Snitch first, while Lee practiced whacking Bludgers. Harry and Cecilia had a tight game, but Harry easily outstripped her in the final dive and caught the Snitch first. "You're good.", she commented simply but like she really meant what she was saying. Harry beamed. "Thanks.", he answered, then said, "Hey, why don't we start a game with Lee?" An hour later they abandoned the game, because darkness was falling quick. Lee and Cecilia went to the change rooms to get changed, but Harry wanted to get changed in his dormitory, so he waited outside in the setting sun. Drowsily, Harry looked around him: the stadium, the forest, the castle. How he felt at home here. How safe and happy he felt here. With all his friends in substitute for the Dursleys, Harry was content. Then he spotted the place he had seen Sirius in dog form a long time ago, when he didn't know Sirius was his godfather. Immediately a world of darkness fell on his heart. He couldn't stand this any longer, he said to himself. And oh, the pain he felt! It was much worse than when his scar was hurting or when the Dark Lord himself had applied the Cruciatus curse on him, and now he understood why. All those things were physical pains, and they would heal after a while, but this, this was his heart, his very soul. A sound of running feet came from behind him, and before the person reached him, a presence of comforting entered his feelings, trying to soothe his ruffled and hurt spirit. Silently, he heard, no, not heard , Harry thought, but felt a something say, "I can't do anything for you, but please don't think about those you can't bring back too often. You pain me as equally as you pain yourself." He was not aware of it, but Cecilia's hand was on his shoulder, shaking him gently, saying, "Harry, are you OK? Say something, Harry!" He was also kneeling on the damp grass and his eyes were streaming. As soon as the something had finished speaking to him, he felt a degree calmer and wiped his face, looking into the face of Cecilia. There was something in her eyes more than sympathy, he realized. Then a weird revelation came to him. She knows, Harry thought. She knows exactly how I feel. How this came to him he didn't quite understand. After all, the look she gave him was one of pity, not understanding. But her eyes spoke it loud and clear. "Have you ever lost someone you really care for?", he asked her impulsively. Her mouth formed an O, but just then Lee appeared. "Ready? Let's go back.", he said, and trudged in the direction of the castle. Cecilia nodded and followed at a slow pace. Harry noticed something else strange. Cecilia was only half out of her Quidditch attire. Her boots were still on and so were her shin guards. It was as if.she had come outside to a calling of emergency. He tried to brush away this thought, but it remained firmly lodged in his brain. Could this Cecilia really be something else? Something.other than an innocent school girl? Harry shook himself mentally. Stop it, he said to himself. That's ridiculous. Even so, he couldn't help to still doubt himself all night long.