Disclaimer: Oh come on… You know I don't own Tom Riddle and anything Harry Potter… I'd love to mind you 'cause I'd be rich but, since I don't, just… enjoy the sonfic… lol…
A/N: Ok… I thought it was about time that I did an update on this one… And guess what… IT'S ANOTHER SONGFIC CHAPTER!!! Woot!!! Lol… Well, partially… I think I might try to make the whole thing a bunch of songfics… This chapter is also in the same format as the last… Well… Hope you enjoy…
(Repost: Ok… I'd like to thank Kitty for pointing out a flaw on my part… It's now fixed and I hope you enjoy the revised version… Sorry about that…)
Why the Memories?
The window was chill as Dana rested her head against it. Her thoughts flew back to that day so long ago when she had confronted the only man she thought she'd ever love and had said goodbye to the only place she thought she'd ever call home. She never in a million years thought it would have been as hard as it was and now she was going back to face what she'd left behind.
The train gave a sudden lurch, waking her from her reverie and making her aware of her surroundings. She gave an involuntary shiver, fearing what came next, before lifting herself from her seat and grabbing for her luggage. Her legs wobbled as she dismounted the train and stepped onto the platform that was so familiarly strange to her.
"Ms. Stradahan?" a familiar grubby voice asked.
"Er… yes?" she questioned looking up at a giant man. "HAGRID!" she shouted in surprise.
"Do I know ye miss?" he questioned looking curiously at her.
"It's been a long time Hagrid. It's me Dana." She said looking up at Hagrid, her eyes full of hope.
"Blimey! Dana, is that REALLY you? My how you have changed!" he said looking down at the girl he had once considered a younger sister. "It's so great to see you, 'specially in times like these. Well, I best be gettin' you to McGonagall, she'll be wantin' to take you to Dumbledore."
She nodded and was led to the carriage where she mounted it. "It was good seeing you again Hagrid" she shouted out the window of the carriage as it lurched forward. The big man waved to her as the carriage rolled away from him and disappeared in the distance.
~**~**~**~
The carriage came to soft stop just in front of Hogwarts. Dana stood once again upon wobbly legs and dismounted the carriage taking no more than three steps before gazing up at the huge castle. It was just as it had been when she left it... big. She was once again back with her true love, the school she would always consider her home.
"Welcome back Dana." said a familiar voice.
"Oh… Professor McGonagall! Thank you." She replied gratefully.
"I'll take you to Professor Dumbledore." She answered, a smile gracing her lips as turned to lead the way.
"I remember stormy weather
The way the sky looks when it's cold.
And you were with me, content with walking
So unaware of the world."
The steps were hard under her feet and the sweet scents that wafted through the door of the Great Hall filled her nostrils once more. She was truly home once more. No longer did she hide away in that torture-like house that was forced upon her. The place where the walls were bare and no voices rang out in the air.
"Please let him let me stay." She hoped as she followed McGonagall through a hallway she remembered with great pain.
"Please don't drive me home tonight,
'Cause I don't want to feel alone.
Please don't drive me home tonight,
'Cause I don't wanna go"
A vision of the Head Boy Tom walked out into the middle of the hallway as he had her first day ever at Hogwarts and greeted her. "Hello and welcome to Hogwarts. I'm Tom Riddle, if you need anything don't hesitate to ask." He had said.
She had gained a blush of deep red, as a small crush began to develop within her. She never thought that anything would come of it. How naïve she had been. She should have seen him then for what he was and now it was too late to take back the heart she had given to him. She was his from the moment he had said "Hello".
The vision disappeared leaving her with memories of the afternoon she had had with him that day getting to know him as no one else ever had or ever would. "Why had he opened up to me? Why was I so special?" She couldn't help but question. "Nothing, that's what." She answered herself. "I was just another girl who looked weak and vulnerable. I just happened to be there, giving him an opportunity to take advantage of me."
"Tuesday morning in the dark
I was finding out who you are"
"Dana?" McGonagall's voice broke through to her.
"OH!!! Er… Sorry… just, you know… the memories of this place." She said with a face that was fighting between two emotions.
"Ah yes…" McGonagall replied looking to the floor unable to look at the girl before her without wonder of which moments she was thinking. "Unfortunately," she started again. "We really should be getting to Professor Dumbledore. Come along."
Dana nodded and followed closely behind each step flooding her mind over and over again with memories of the past. One however stuck out to her the most. Tom appeared once more as she passed the cushioned bench of her memory. His body lay draped the length of the bench with his eyes darting here and there under the veil of his eyelids as he dreamed of things that no one would ever know he dreamed of…except her.
She had just learned how to make her pictures move and having an opportunity such as catching Tom sleeping in the hallway was priceless since he barely ever let anyone see him at a weak moment. She sneakily held up her camera and took the shot before lowering the camera back down to dangle by the cord around her neck. He strayed back to Tom on the couch. He looked so peaceful and innocent. What people said about sleep being a great disguise of the actual person was evidently made true by Tom. It was memories like this that made her think that Tom wasn't always evil but, of course he had to have been.
After being mesmerized for several more minutes by his sleeping form she left to do other things. However, these other things made her continually walk post Tom on his bench. "Maybe it was then." she thought. "Maybe it was in that very moment that I fell in love with him and if it had, was there anyway I could have avoided my falling for him? Would I have wanted to?" Her memory slowly began to fill her mind with so many questions, questions to which she did not have any answers.
"I took your picture while you were sleepin
And then I paced around the room
If I had known then that these things happen
Would they have happened with you?
Oh"
They were slowly nearing Dumbledore's office. It seemed to Dana the walk of eternity as the memories continued to flood her mind. Tom just wouldn't leave. Her mind flew to the room she's once had in this school and the night Tom had comforted her after a most unfortunate incident. Her grandmother had just died and she was the only person in the family who had ever truly been able to give Dana advice.
Tom had stayed that night in Dana's room to hold her close as she slept and to let her know she wasn't alone. She thought that he was in a way telling her that he loved her although he'd never say it aloud.
"Please don't drive me home tonight,
'Cause I don't want to feel alone.
Please don't drive me home tonight,
'Cause I don't wanna go"
For a good part of the night she had laid there, wide awake, her tears trickling down her cheeks with her head resting upon Tom's chest; the gentle beat of his heart ringing out in her ears. Her mind raced with quiet questions which she could not answer. "Do I love him? When had I started loving him if I do? What if he doesn't love me?" she wondered.
"Tuesday morning in the dark
I was finding out who I was"
After getting of splitting headache from the thought in her head slipped out of the grasp of the sleeping Tom and got out of the bed. Now of the other girls had returned that night, figuring they'd let her stay alone in her sadness. She walked over to the window and gently opened the clasp that held it shut. Then, taking careful steps, she walked off to flat surface just before the ledge of the roof and sat to watch the Sun come up in, sending a flood of colors across the sky. Tendrils of her hair gently blew upon the wind which gently caressed her neck and face, calming her after the storm that had raged inside of her.
Tom had remained quiet for some time before awaking and to find himself alone in Dana's bed, the scent of her still on the pillow and sheets. Noticing the window open, he soon began a frantic of the rooms that Dana could only faintly hear through the window. Finally, accepting that she was nowhere in the room he ran to the window and poked his head out, looking and looking down as if he suspected she had jumped.
"Morning Tom!" she shouted while smiling mischievously.
Tom nearly jumped out of the pajamas he had changed into before seeing Dana the previous night. "DANA!" he shouted in relief.
"Who else were you expecting?" she questioned giving him a sly smile.
"No one" he said before carefully stepping onto the roof and becoming extremely nervous. He slowly made his way over to her and sat beside her.
The two had sat quietly, watching the sun come up and being marveled by the beautiful colors that had shot across the skies. She'd never forget that morning as something she'd have never expected happened. Taking opportunity of beautiful scenery, Tom sneakily wrapped his arms around Dana's waist causing Dana to look at him. Her eyes locked with his and she saw things no one had ever seen, deep within him, things he'd never let anyone see. He slowly leaned in and gently caught her lips with his own, giving her, her first real kiss of her life from someone other than her parents.
"And if you turned around to see me
And I was gone
Should have looked outside your window
'Cause the sun was coming up
The Sun was coming up"
"Ms. Stradahan?" McGonagall's voice shook Dana from her thoughts. "Are you alright? You look rather pale, are you ill?"
"No, Professor, I'm fine thanks." She replied attempting to smile.
Professor McGonagall nodded to her. "We're here. Professor Dumbledore is ready to see you." She said smiling slightly and opening the door that led from the waiting room to Dumbledore's office for Dana. "Er… Thank you." Dana replied kindly before stepping through the door into Dumbledore's office. The door gently clicked as it finished slowly swinging closed behind her.
His wise and seemingly magical blue eyes looked up at Dana from the mess of papers on his desk. "Hello, Ms. Stradahan." He said smiling warmly and waving her over to a chair which she gladly took.
"Hello, Professor. It's good to see you again." Dana replied smiling back at him in the same manner. "You said you wanted to see me with a proposal?"
"Yes, Dana, I did." He said, a twinkle shining brightly in his eye. "Dana, I would like for you to take up the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for this year. The students haven't really been taught by very capable teachers in the past so, you'll have your hands full and…" he began to add leaving a dramatic pause before telling her what she was sure his true intentions of her teaching were.
"And what Professor?" she inquired taking the bait.
"And you can help me, and others like me who wish to face Lord Voldemort, by joining the Order of the Pheonix." Dumbledore finished.
This announcement nearly shocked Dana off her feet. After the day she'd left Hogwarts, she thought she'd never have to face Tom again and now, Dumbledore stood before her and he wanted her to face him again. Her mind reeled but in the end she knew what she had to do. She looked determinedly to Dumbledore, "I'll do it. Thank you Professor."
"No, no Dana. Thank you. You are doing the right thing." Dumbledore said giving her a reassuring smile.
She nodded her head slightly.
"Please don't drive me home tonight,
'Cause I don't want to feel alone."
~**~**~**~
"Do you think she'll be ok, Albus?" McGonagall inquired as Dana walked down the hallway away from Professor Dumbledore's office.
Professor Dumbledore's eyes shimmered with hope. "She'll be just fine."
~**~**~**~
She was beginning to feel queasy as she turned and left the office. After walking through several halls she was soon able to here noise coming from the Great Hall and memories flooded her mind once more. Her brain pounded and her legs gave out causing her to slump down to the base of the wall she had been using for support.
"Ex-excuse me, miss…" enquired the voice of a boy. "Are you alright?"
She looked up through the pain and saw a familiar face. However, this face was not that of Tom but, "James?" She asked in barely a whisper. The resemblance was amazing. This boy reminded her so much of James Potter, a man who had been part of the Order of the Pheonix while attending Hogwarts and who had attempted to convince her, one who knew Tom's every weakness to join the order. He had been so determined to get her to join and no matter how many times she had turned him away, he just kept coming back. He had, beyond the shadow of a doubt in her mind, gained her respect in that time.
"Sorry miss. I'm not James." said the boy.
"No, no of course not." She replied remembering having heard that James and his wife Lily had been killed some 17 years ago now. "Well, then. Pardon my being rude but, who are you?"
"I'm Harry. Harry Potter." He said his eyes showing a gleam of sadness at the mention of the name James.
"Oh, dear… I'm sorry." She apologized feeling extremely guilty for calling him by the name of his deceased father.
"It's alright. You didn't know who I was." He replied remaining with that small sad gleam.
The memories had left her mind and her thought were filled only with concern for the emotions of the boy. She was slowly able to lift herself up from the floor to talk to him.
"Well, I'm Dana Stradahan. Soon to be Professor Stradahan to you, I'll be your new DADA teacher!" she said smiling happily and extending a hand to Harry.
The boy seemed shocked at this revelation. Dana gave a soft chuckle before saying, "I promise to teach you and be as kind as I possibly can while teaching you as long as you promise to try and learn."
Harry smiled before looking down again. "Professor…"
"OH, call me Dana." She said cheerfully. "I'm not your Professor until tomorrow."
"Alright… um… Dana."
"Yes dear?"
"How did you know my father?"
Dana's cheerful smile turned from cheerful to more of a grime smile. "He… er… Did some business with me, you could say."
"What was he like? I've been told by some of his friends and his enemies but, you don't seem like you belong in either of those groups and you seem like you might be able to tell me." He finished a gleam of hope in his eye.
"Well, that my friend is a lot to tell." She said placing a hand on his shoulder and leading him outside that they might talk in the glorious day that surrounded Hogwarts. "I guess where I'd have to start is… Your father was a man I really respected above all else and he was always VERY determined…"
"Tuesday morning in the dark
We were finding out who we are
Tuesday morning in the dark
We were finding out who we are
Who we are
Who we are
Who we are
Who we are…"
~**~**~**~
A/N: Well, that was chapter 2… Hope you liked it!!! That song was "Tuesday Morning" by Michelle Branch. You can find the song off her new CD if you want. I just bought it this weekend and so far it's great!!! Please Read and Review!!! ;)
(Again this IS the reposted version, I'm sorry for the confusion. Not much has changed but, I have the ages right and I'd like to thank the Harry Potter Lexicon for being such a great source of information because otherwise I'd have been dead in the water… lol… Well, thanks for reading and I really appreciate your reviews and your help. Keep it up!!!)
