AN: Hi. This is a special birthday edition of Forgotten Heart. So, our dear Marie has reached Hogwarts. Yeah, now the fun begins. ::Walks off singing Happy Birthday to me.::
Harry: Excuse her folks she's had just a little too much cake!
As they steeped out of the carriage, Marie found that she agreed with Ron. Hogwarts was a place that just couldn't be described. It was beautiful. Even the Forbidden forest didn't seem so forbidden to her. In fact she found that simply by touching the ground more memories seemed to float back to her, memories from her childhood. They were memories of being to young to go to Hogwarts, but of having spent years here with her parents. They were both very powerful magicians. Her mother had taught a course called magic and society, and her father… well her father… Marie was becoming very annoyed about not being able to remember anything about her own father. This is ridiculous she thought to her self as she looked back at the front doors of the castle. Harry and Ron had been standing behind her silently while she looked around, and she hadn't even noticed the two women standing at the threshold of the door.
Suddenly, the taller and older one of the two ran forward and embraced Marie in a hug. This Marie knew was Professor McGonagall. Marie returned the hug, and breathed in the professor's scent. She had always smelt of school. She was a combination of chalkboards, textbooks, and the occasional detention or two. Slowly, she pulled back away from the older woman who had tears in her eyes.
"Good morning, Professor." Marie said trying to sound cheerful.
"Oh, you remember me?" the professor asked with a nervous expression.
"Professor McGonagall, I could never forget you. At least not for very long." Marie replied with a wink. At this Marie thought she saw the black-haired woman begin to cry again, but instead she just had more to say.
"Now, Marie, dear, you're going to have to stop calling me Professor McGonagall. You're no longer one of my students. You passed my class almost two years ago now. You'll have to call me Minerva just like your mother used to."
"All right, Minerva." Marie replied meekly as she watched Harry and Ron pass with her trunk between the two of them. Ron had her duffel bag over his shoulder, and Marie thought she saw Harry wink at Hermione as he they walked into the entrance hall. Now it was Hermione's turn to address her friend.
"Those two!" she said with a sigh. "You do remember me don't you Marie?" Hermione asked sounding just a little worried.
"Well," Marie responded jokingly, "Let's see. I seem to remember a girl with buckteeth and frizzy brown hair, but I don't remember you. No you're much to pretty to be anyone I know." Marie finished with a weak smile. At first Hermione looked like she might hit her, but instead she just ran up and threw her arms around her friend's neck.
"Same old, Hermione." Marie said laughing.
"Same old, Marie." Hermione replied releasing the taller girl from her grasp. They had been friends since their first day at Hogwarts. Unlike the other Gryffindor girls of their year both Hermione and Marie had preferred being who they were over impressing boys, a stance that got them in trouble about as many times as it keep them out of it. Marie walked the way back to the Gryffindor common room with Minerva on one side of her and Hermione on the other. Both of them were trying to fill her in on the latest happenings at Hogwarts. Things like who the new teachers were and what had happened to old students were common enough topics, and for the first time in a long time Marie felt like she was finally living the life she was born to lead. This was the life she had dreamed of, one filled with magic and friends. Of course it wasn't perfect for nothing ever truly is, but it was home.
As Marie neared the Gryffindor common room, she felt very warm and safe. She felt like she was coming home after a long, long trip. She looked up at the portrait of the fat lady, and forgetting how long she had been gone yelled out the password.
"Pixies!" The fat lady turned to look at Marie and then at Professor McGonagall.
"Is this some kind of joke?" she asked haughtily. "I haven't used that password in almost three years now. Marie took a step back looking suddenly abased, and turning red.
"Now, now, Gryffindor guardian," said Minerva in a very controlled voice, "don't tell me you don't remember one of your own. Especially, one who you always encouraged to make something of herself." For a moment the portrait stared at them all dumbfounded, but then her eyes seemed to widen with recognition.
"Marie!" she screeched. "Oh, Marie! You're back! Well finally we'll have some people with some real brains around this outfit. Sorry Miss. Granger! You're pretty smart too, but when the two of you put your heads together it's like magic." The portrait said giggling as she opened to allow them to enter the common room. When they were all inside you could still hear her talking to herself on the other side of the wall.
Harry and Ron had already seated themselves in two of the most comfortable chairs they could find, but when the three women entered they stood up quickly to leave. Harry gave Hermione a quick peck on the cheek. And Ron came over to embrace Marie in a hug.
"It's good to have you back." He whispered before he and Harry silently walked out the portrait hole. For a moment Marie stood there looking around the empty common room. Hermione seemed to be waiting for her to say something. Suddenly, Minerva gave Marie one last hug, and turned to walk out the portrait hole.
"Well, come on. We have to get you cleaned up." Hermione said cheerfully before grabbing her hand and pulling her up the stairway to the girls' dormitories.
An hour later Marie was felling better than she could remember having felt in her whole life. All of her things had been in the seventh year girls' dormitory, and Hermione had helped her unpack before practically shoving her off to the showers so that she could freshen up a bit.
Once Marie was clean, she changed into a set of red robes that suited her just as well as the green had. Strange, she thought, that the colors of two houses that so often conflicted with each other both looked so good on her. As Marie put her necklace back on Hermione walked into the room, and offered to help her dry her hair. Marie, who still couldn't remember any hair drying charms, immediately agreed.
"Such beautiful hair." Hermione commented with a sigh once she had finished. "Listen, Marie, I'm real sorry, but I'm going to have to leave you here. There's some food set out for you in the common room, but I have to do some things. I'll come looking for you at about two. Okay?" Once Marie had nodded okay, Hermione slipped out the door and ran down the stairwell.
Marie was a bit grateful for this chance to be alone. She loved having Hermione around, but she wanted to study a little before this staff meeting took place. She didn't want to look like a complete muggle in front of all of these witches and wizards. Opening her trunk Marie pulled out her charms book, grabbed her wand, and walked back down to the common room. She set the book on one of the tables that were scattered throughout the room. As she looked around she noticed that a large plate filled with sandwiches and some fruit had been left on a table for her. Suddenly, very hungry she picked the plate up, and walked with it back over to the table. She sat down, and propped her feet on the sill of a window that was close to her. The light from the already risen sun was more than enough for her to read by. Marie spent the next hour studying charms, and munching slowly on an apple. By the time she was finished she was famished. She looked down at her watch to she that it read nine o'clock, and sighed. She was sure that she had spent more time studying than that.
Grabbing a sandwich from the plate, Marie decided to stop studying for a while. The last thing she wanted to do was spend the rest of the day cramped up in the common room. Walking over to a window, Marie looked down on the grounds bellow. From here she could just she the edge of the Forbidden Forest. She looked out at Hagrid's hut, and saw a man who she instantly recognized as being Hagrid. He was immense in size, and seemed to be happily pulling weeds the size of Marie leg out of the ground. As Marie returned her gaze to the forest, she thought she saw something move. It was a man, no an animal. It was like nothing she had ever seen before. It had the upper torso of a man, but the rest of its body comprised of the front and hindquarters of a horse. A centaur! Marie was amazed. She remembered reading about them in her Greek mythology books, but this one seemed less surreal. It was almost as if she knew him. Firenze? she wondered to herself. She blinked, and he centaur vanished.
Felling a bit adventurous, Marie decide to explore the castle on her own for a bit. She took her wand, but left the rest of her things sitting on the table. Stepping through the portrait hole she sighed. The castle smelled of summer, and Marie breathed in deeply as she walked down the deserted corridors. She wandered into some empty classrooms looking for something interesting, but found absolutely nothing.
Eventually, Marie found herself wandering to the bowels of the school. It was cold down here even tough the stiffening heat of summer could be felt in the rooms of the floors above. An overwhelming feeling of peace came to Marie as she walked down these long corridors. She was safe. She was home. She walked all the way down into the dungeons, and was about to open one of the doors when something told her not too. Marie thought she heard a noise coming from behind the door, so she put her ear against it to listen. Someone or something was inside the room humming. Marie listened for a while the soft humming was lulling her into sleep.
Abruptly, the humming stopped and Marie could hear the swishing of robes as someone approached the door. As quickly as possible Marie turned to run. She didn't want to be caught where she wasn't supposed to be. It was a shame that she hadn't hesitated a moment longer for as she turned the corner a face that would have been familiar to her popped out. The person watched as the last of her red hair ducked around the corner. They smiled and began humming to themselves once more.
Marie ran with all her strength back up to the higher levels of the school. She would have to be more careful in the future. She had almost been caught that time, and she didn't want to get in trouble her first day back. Marie ran as far away from the dungeons as she could, before realizing that she was completely lost. She looked around; trying to find something that looked familiar, but nothing seemed to tell her where she was. For a while she wandered aimlessly. Marie looked down at her watch it read 9:30. Surely more time than that has passed Marie thought, but decided to fix her watch later when she wasn't hopelessly lost in a castle that she hardly knew.
Marie was just about to start panicking when she saw a door. She tried to push it open, but it was stuck tight in place. Marie felt frustrated. She wanted to know what was beyond that door. Suddenly, she ran towards the door and threw her self against it. With a groan it opened under her weight to reveal a small circular chamber. It was a room filled with portraits. All of them were of the teachers at the school. Some of them stood alone while others were shown with their families and friends. Marie was shocked to see a portrait of herself, her mother, and her father hanging on one of the walls. Everyone was right of course. She did really look a lot like her mum, but it was her father who shocked her. He was smiling not looking forward, but instead his eyes drifted over his wife and daughter. His long black hair laid flat against his head, and his black eyes stared intensely at his wife and daughter. Slowly, Marie backed away from the picture. She didn't really want to leave it, but she had to find out where she was, and how she would get back to the common room. Slowly, Marie opened the door and left the room, all the while her thoughts seemed to move in circles around her head.
AN: Uh oh. Who could it be? It isn't James Potter I'll give you that much. Don't worry. You'll find out in the next chapter. I promise.
Harry: Morgan stop lying. Sorry folks it's the sugar again.
Roll Call For Forgotten Heart:
Everyone: Sorry I had wanted to write to each individually, but seeing as how school is back in I don't have time. Thanks for reading! Keep reading! I love to hear what you guys think.
Roll Call for They Took Her From Me:
Everyone: Thank you all for reading that! It was one of my monologues and there will probably be more. Hopefully they won't be as sad. Oh, and Buffy, I am also a Merlin order first class, and I have met Dumbledore. He says hi.
