Chapter 12
Flash
Fortunately enough, Harry found out hours later that Cadence was fine. He had been told to return to his dorm, but it was as if he couldn't move from the spot he was in. He didn't notice that Dumbledore, McGonagall, Madam Pomfrey, and assorted professors had slipped into the hospital wing.
He was shooed away from the wing so many times that he lost count. It was like he was standing in a daze and couldn't be woken until he saw Cadence. Finally, after a long period of standing in the same place, Dumbledore reappeared and spoke to him softly.
"Would you like to see her, Harry?"
Harry looked up at Dumbledore as if he were transparent. He nodded absentmindedly.
"She is sleeping right now," he answered quietly. "You can ask her what happened later. Professor McGonagall will explain it to her as soon as she is alert enough to understand. It is up to Cadence's discretion to then tell you." Dumbledore stepped away from the door, allowing Harry access.
He walked forward, his arms hanging stiffly at his sides. He felt like some kind of machine, almost as if he were hollow. He opened the door to the room and paused. He looked up at Dumbledore, as if to ask him how he knew why he was there. Dumbledore only nodded.
Harry entered the room and walked up to the bed quietly. Seeing Cadence lying in the bed, paler than the sheets only wrenched his heart. He sat down in the chair next to her bed. He took her cold, limp hand in his own, kissed it softly and stared at her.
"I love you so much," he whispered. "Don't leave me now, I can't lose you."
She stirred in the bed and he kissed her hand one more time. He let a tear flow down his cheek and wiped it away as he headed out.
It was only two days later Harry received word that Cadence was finally awake. He visited her every day like before, and asked to be informed the minute Cadence woke up. It was after his Defense Against the Dark Arts class that Madam Pomfrey appeared outside the classroom.
"She's awake," she told him.
His relief took over his face. "Can I see her?"
"Yes, come along quickly."
Harry left immediately with Madam Pomfrey. They arrived at the hospital wing within minutes and Cadence was sitting in her first hospital bed, her head propped up on the headboard, surveying the ceiling. She looked up just in time to see Harry happily bounding into the room. A smile she didn't think she'd feel again burst upon her face.
"Hi!" she greeted cheerfully, slowly pulling herself up.
"Oh, don't do that on a count of me," he said, kissing her forehead as he sat down. "So. how are you feeling? Are you okay? What hurts?" he asked, taking her hand eagerly.
Cadence laughed whole-heartedly, tipping her head back to do so. Her mouth glittered and made Harry's heart excitedly dip into his chest.
"You worry too much! Calm down! Now, what are you doing in here already? I just woke up!" she said, delighted to see him in there so soon.
Harry's face was bright with a smile that he knew would never go away. "I was there when everything happened, and I didn't leave until I got to see you. I asked Dumbledore if they'd tell me right away when you were awake so I could see you. Here I am."
Cadence stared at his handsome, grown up face and knew that everything she had been missing since her parents had died was now staring at her. He was there and she hoped with every fiber of her being that he never left her side.
"I love you," she whispered.
Harry leaned in, kissed her, and smiled. "I hope you're not in here for too long."
"Me either."
It was mid December before Cadence left the hospital, and when she did, Harry helped her get back to her dorm. The other students in Gryffindor were surprised with her changed demeanor. It was as if no one had met her before. She glowed with a new light and smiled constantly. Everyone had noticed how she had kept quiet, yet as soon as she was removed from the hospital wing, she was a different person.
Cadence missed her Care of Magical Creatures class immensely, and Hagrid told her that he thought she knew enough of unicorns to stop giving her independent study. It was unfortunate that she would no longer get to spend time with Hagrid, but the open two hours she could spend with Ginny. She missed talking to her very much. Ginny had come up to see her a lot and always recapped her when she dropped off the homework Cadence had to do. They usually talked like nothing had happened. Ginny was studying for the O.W.L.s like crazy, so it was pointless to go out and fly around on the Quidditch field when Cadence was already on the team and had practice every night.
This gave Cadence an extra two hours after classes to spend time with Harry. She had already started brewing up things to get him for Christmas, but she was blanking in a way no one had ever done before. She started to become frustrated with it. Fortunately, she came across something that solved all of her problems.
In the midst of the madness of having Cadence back, Harry had completely forgotten to ask her what really had happened in the forest. He was scared to ask, but he knew better than to be scared of anything anymore. The scariest thing had almost happened already. He had almost lost her.
Harry and Cadence decided they were going to devote their time to each other while they still had it. He wanted to talk to her about it, but he wasn't sure how to get the words out of his mouth.
Their day together was going to begin on a Friday. precisely the Friday right before Cadence would leave for Christmas break from Hogwarts. It really hurt her to spend time away from Harry, but she needed to be with her only family as well. She hadn't seen her grandmother in what seemed like years. She and Harry decided to exchange presents the day they were going to spend together, and Cadence made the perfect present for him. Harry was also confident in what he had gotten for Cadence.
They met up after classes in the common room and decided that for two hours, they were going to take a romantic walk around Hogwarts. Cadence had not actually seen the entire site of the castle. They walked hand in hand as Cadence stared in awe at all of the things Harry showed her. He smiled and enjoyed her enthusiasm, squeezing her hand whenever he thought something she said was worth hearing. He stared at her profile while her jaw dropped and her dark eyes glittered. They talked quietly, held each other close and occasionally stole a kiss.
Harry even showed her a secret passageway that he used in his third year to sneak into Hogsmeade when he had no permission to. Cadence knew Harry so well she didn't need to be reminded of any of his adventures. As soon as they came across the hallway, she knew where they were.
He took her outside and they stood by the Forest, staring in. Harry knew this was his opportunity as he saw the pained look on Cadence's face. He looked down at her hand and rubbed it soothingly and then looked back up into her eyes.
"What happened that night in the Forest?" he whispered.
Cadence quickly stole a glance at Harry and he saw a flash of tenderness lingering in her eyes. "I'll tell you, Harry," she whispered after consideration.
He said nothing. He let her begin.
"I only remember what happened vaguely. I remember running like mad and holding onto you. I thought my life was over, then I remember something sharp and painful sting my side. I felt something warm on my hands. I knew I was really hurt and then. it all faded. I saw you and it was gone."
Harry looked at her side and smiled. It had been so long since the accident that he wasn't sure if she was hurt anymore. She never mentioned it.
"After you left, Professor McGonagall came in to talk to me. Hagrid gave us special permission to go into the Forest, so she wasn't going to take any points. She said that it's become a dangerous place for the two of us to be in. We can no longer go venturing out there on our own accord. She explained to me why when I tried to argue.
"Harry. that necklace you found. like I told you, it used to belong to my mother. Your mother was the only other person who owned a necklace like that, but it was lost when. on the night. well you know. And there were only two of a kind. These were special necklaces apparently; they were large in size because they're supposed to hold a spell of any kind. That's all McGonagall would tell me about it. and I know there's more. I just can't figure out what it is. She said that if these special necklaces were to fall into the wrong hands, the spell within no matter how wonderful and light would be tainted.
"She explained that not only were there these two necklaces, but also a special key that opened the spell. Apparently there was one holder of the key, but the holder of the key went spoiled, became vengeful, and wanted to get his hands on the surviving necklace.
"So when whoever this was learned that I had the missing necklace, they came back with the key and decided that they were going to." she sighed. "This is where I might lose you, Harry."
"What are you talking about?" he asked, surprised at the steadiness of his voice. The story was shocking, but he remained calm.
"Whoever it was wanted to kill me, so they poisoned the key and made sure to hit me while we were out in the Forest. Whoever this could be is still out there."
Harry bit his lip and looked out at the Forest. He felt himself brewing. Whoever wanted to take Cadence away from him was an automatic enemy. Somehow though, standing in the cold, red nosed and chapped lip, standing as close to Cadence as he was, it didn't matter. Nothing did. It was only Cadence and Harry.
He smiled at her, and whispered, "Somehow. I don't think anyone has control over you being with me anymore. Except for me."
He kissed her then on the cheek, took her hand, and led her away from the Forest. He cast a wary glimpse behind his shoulder when he was sure she wasn't looking. They headed into the common room to open the presents they had for each other.
They sat down close together by the fire and talked for a few minutes. Harry jokingly broke in, "Okay! What did you get me?"
Cadence tipped her head back and laughed the way Harry loved watching her laugh. Open mouthed, eyes sparkling. "Well, let me show you," she said, getting up from her seat on the floor and pulling up a large box from underneath the huge Hogwarts Christmas tree. She put the box beside him and smiled as he opened it in curiosity.
He gasped as he pulled out a fairly big box of chocolate. "This," Cadence explained, "is thanks to Ron. He told me why you liked it, so I decided that when I'm not around. you can have this chocolate with you to make you feel as good as you make me feel."
Harry's eyes glittered and he smiled at Cadence. "Thank you." He set the box down and pulled out the next gift, which was a green sweater. "I know what you did," she whispered. "And I knew this was your favorite sweater. So I got you another one."
He smiled sweetly at her and then reached into the box for his final present. As the last of the wrapping paper fell limply from his hand, he breathed, "Oh. wow."
"I found this in that box of pictures," she said, looking over Harry's shoulder.
"Is this.?" he asked, touching it lightly.
"Yes it is. I found a frame that resembled the one you liked so much and put this picture in it. I had no idea that they were friends."
"It makes sense," Harry sighed, looking at Cadence and then back at the picture.
He would never have guessed that his and Cadence's mothers had been best friends at Hogwarts. They were wearing the matching necklaces in the picture, and it was obviously Halloween. They were outside the Great Hall, one was wearing cat ears and the other devil horns. They were laughing and play fighting, yelling 'Take the picture!'
"This is wonderful, Cadie." he whispered.
"I thought you'd appreciate it more. I knew what my mother was like."
Harry stared at her for a second and then kissed her on the cheek. "Thank you so much. It's wonderful."
He continued to stare at the picture. Cadence brought him back to reality by saying, "So, what did you get me?"
Harry set the picture next to his other gifts and stood up. "Well. it's nothing I could wrap, so here," he told her, handing her a card.
She frowned at him. "What do you mean?" She opened up the card and nearly dropped it as she read it.
"So?" Harry asked with a sly smirk on his face.
I couldn't wrap your present, but your baby unicorn will be waiting in Hagrid's hut. You can go and visit her after you read this card.
I love you!
Me
Cadence put her hand to her chest. "How. when.what.?"
"Hagrid told me that as soon as a unicorn gave birth, I could claim one of the babies for you. I figured you'd appreciate that more than anything I could ever give you of a material nature."
"Oh, Harry." she breathed, staring at the card. She surprised Harry by screaming for joy and jumping onto Harry, covering his face with kisses. They laughed together for a few minutes and then Cadence popped up, grabbing her cloak. "Let's go see my unicorn!" she exclaimed.
Harry laughed and followed her lead. They surprised Hagrid and went in to visit the unicorn. Cadence couldn't believe her eyes. She was so beautiful. She was small and gold as babies usually were, and warmed up to Cadence right away. She smiled widely
"So, Cadence," Hagrid said cheerfully. "What dya think yer gonta name 'er?"
Cadence smiled up at Hagrid and then back at her unicorn. She stared at the face of her small treasure and then looked back at Harry. "Flash."
"Flash?" Hagrid and Harry said in unison.
"Yeah," Cadence answered. "Why not?"
"I don't know. I think the real question is why?"
Cadence laughed at Harry and said quietly, "Because it was only in a flash that I realized whom I was meant to be with."
Flash
Fortunately enough, Harry found out hours later that Cadence was fine. He had been told to return to his dorm, but it was as if he couldn't move from the spot he was in. He didn't notice that Dumbledore, McGonagall, Madam Pomfrey, and assorted professors had slipped into the hospital wing.
He was shooed away from the wing so many times that he lost count. It was like he was standing in a daze and couldn't be woken until he saw Cadence. Finally, after a long period of standing in the same place, Dumbledore reappeared and spoke to him softly.
"Would you like to see her, Harry?"
Harry looked up at Dumbledore as if he were transparent. He nodded absentmindedly.
"She is sleeping right now," he answered quietly. "You can ask her what happened later. Professor McGonagall will explain it to her as soon as she is alert enough to understand. It is up to Cadence's discretion to then tell you." Dumbledore stepped away from the door, allowing Harry access.
He walked forward, his arms hanging stiffly at his sides. He felt like some kind of machine, almost as if he were hollow. He opened the door to the room and paused. He looked up at Dumbledore, as if to ask him how he knew why he was there. Dumbledore only nodded.
Harry entered the room and walked up to the bed quietly. Seeing Cadence lying in the bed, paler than the sheets only wrenched his heart. He sat down in the chair next to her bed. He took her cold, limp hand in his own, kissed it softly and stared at her.
"I love you so much," he whispered. "Don't leave me now, I can't lose you."
She stirred in the bed and he kissed her hand one more time. He let a tear flow down his cheek and wiped it away as he headed out.
It was only two days later Harry received word that Cadence was finally awake. He visited her every day like before, and asked to be informed the minute Cadence woke up. It was after his Defense Against the Dark Arts class that Madam Pomfrey appeared outside the classroom.
"She's awake," she told him.
His relief took over his face. "Can I see her?"
"Yes, come along quickly."
Harry left immediately with Madam Pomfrey. They arrived at the hospital wing within minutes and Cadence was sitting in her first hospital bed, her head propped up on the headboard, surveying the ceiling. She looked up just in time to see Harry happily bounding into the room. A smile she didn't think she'd feel again burst upon her face.
"Hi!" she greeted cheerfully, slowly pulling herself up.
"Oh, don't do that on a count of me," he said, kissing her forehead as he sat down. "So. how are you feeling? Are you okay? What hurts?" he asked, taking her hand eagerly.
Cadence laughed whole-heartedly, tipping her head back to do so. Her mouth glittered and made Harry's heart excitedly dip into his chest.
"You worry too much! Calm down! Now, what are you doing in here already? I just woke up!" she said, delighted to see him in there so soon.
Harry's face was bright with a smile that he knew would never go away. "I was there when everything happened, and I didn't leave until I got to see you. I asked Dumbledore if they'd tell me right away when you were awake so I could see you. Here I am."
Cadence stared at his handsome, grown up face and knew that everything she had been missing since her parents had died was now staring at her. He was there and she hoped with every fiber of her being that he never left her side.
"I love you," she whispered.
Harry leaned in, kissed her, and smiled. "I hope you're not in here for too long."
"Me either."
It was mid December before Cadence left the hospital, and when she did, Harry helped her get back to her dorm. The other students in Gryffindor were surprised with her changed demeanor. It was as if no one had met her before. She glowed with a new light and smiled constantly. Everyone had noticed how she had kept quiet, yet as soon as she was removed from the hospital wing, she was a different person.
Cadence missed her Care of Magical Creatures class immensely, and Hagrid told her that he thought she knew enough of unicorns to stop giving her independent study. It was unfortunate that she would no longer get to spend time with Hagrid, but the open two hours she could spend with Ginny. She missed talking to her very much. Ginny had come up to see her a lot and always recapped her when she dropped off the homework Cadence had to do. They usually talked like nothing had happened. Ginny was studying for the O.W.L.s like crazy, so it was pointless to go out and fly around on the Quidditch field when Cadence was already on the team and had practice every night.
This gave Cadence an extra two hours after classes to spend time with Harry. She had already started brewing up things to get him for Christmas, but she was blanking in a way no one had ever done before. She started to become frustrated with it. Fortunately, she came across something that solved all of her problems.
In the midst of the madness of having Cadence back, Harry had completely forgotten to ask her what really had happened in the forest. He was scared to ask, but he knew better than to be scared of anything anymore. The scariest thing had almost happened already. He had almost lost her.
Harry and Cadence decided they were going to devote their time to each other while they still had it. He wanted to talk to her about it, but he wasn't sure how to get the words out of his mouth.
Their day together was going to begin on a Friday. precisely the Friday right before Cadence would leave for Christmas break from Hogwarts. It really hurt her to spend time away from Harry, but she needed to be with her only family as well. She hadn't seen her grandmother in what seemed like years. She and Harry decided to exchange presents the day they were going to spend together, and Cadence made the perfect present for him. Harry was also confident in what he had gotten for Cadence.
They met up after classes in the common room and decided that for two hours, they were going to take a romantic walk around Hogwarts. Cadence had not actually seen the entire site of the castle. They walked hand in hand as Cadence stared in awe at all of the things Harry showed her. He smiled and enjoyed her enthusiasm, squeezing her hand whenever he thought something she said was worth hearing. He stared at her profile while her jaw dropped and her dark eyes glittered. They talked quietly, held each other close and occasionally stole a kiss.
Harry even showed her a secret passageway that he used in his third year to sneak into Hogsmeade when he had no permission to. Cadence knew Harry so well she didn't need to be reminded of any of his adventures. As soon as they came across the hallway, she knew where they were.
He took her outside and they stood by the Forest, staring in. Harry knew this was his opportunity as he saw the pained look on Cadence's face. He looked down at her hand and rubbed it soothingly and then looked back up into her eyes.
"What happened that night in the Forest?" he whispered.
Cadence quickly stole a glance at Harry and he saw a flash of tenderness lingering in her eyes. "I'll tell you, Harry," she whispered after consideration.
He said nothing. He let her begin.
"I only remember what happened vaguely. I remember running like mad and holding onto you. I thought my life was over, then I remember something sharp and painful sting my side. I felt something warm on my hands. I knew I was really hurt and then. it all faded. I saw you and it was gone."
Harry looked at her side and smiled. It had been so long since the accident that he wasn't sure if she was hurt anymore. She never mentioned it.
"After you left, Professor McGonagall came in to talk to me. Hagrid gave us special permission to go into the Forest, so she wasn't going to take any points. She said that it's become a dangerous place for the two of us to be in. We can no longer go venturing out there on our own accord. She explained to me why when I tried to argue.
"Harry. that necklace you found. like I told you, it used to belong to my mother. Your mother was the only other person who owned a necklace like that, but it was lost when. on the night. well you know. And there were only two of a kind. These were special necklaces apparently; they were large in size because they're supposed to hold a spell of any kind. That's all McGonagall would tell me about it. and I know there's more. I just can't figure out what it is. She said that if these special necklaces were to fall into the wrong hands, the spell within no matter how wonderful and light would be tainted.
"She explained that not only were there these two necklaces, but also a special key that opened the spell. Apparently there was one holder of the key, but the holder of the key went spoiled, became vengeful, and wanted to get his hands on the surviving necklace.
"So when whoever this was learned that I had the missing necklace, they came back with the key and decided that they were going to." she sighed. "This is where I might lose you, Harry."
"What are you talking about?" he asked, surprised at the steadiness of his voice. The story was shocking, but he remained calm.
"Whoever it was wanted to kill me, so they poisoned the key and made sure to hit me while we were out in the Forest. Whoever this could be is still out there."
Harry bit his lip and looked out at the Forest. He felt himself brewing. Whoever wanted to take Cadence away from him was an automatic enemy. Somehow though, standing in the cold, red nosed and chapped lip, standing as close to Cadence as he was, it didn't matter. Nothing did. It was only Cadence and Harry.
He smiled at her, and whispered, "Somehow. I don't think anyone has control over you being with me anymore. Except for me."
He kissed her then on the cheek, took her hand, and led her away from the Forest. He cast a wary glimpse behind his shoulder when he was sure she wasn't looking. They headed into the common room to open the presents they had for each other.
They sat down close together by the fire and talked for a few minutes. Harry jokingly broke in, "Okay! What did you get me?"
Cadence tipped her head back and laughed the way Harry loved watching her laugh. Open mouthed, eyes sparkling. "Well, let me show you," she said, getting up from her seat on the floor and pulling up a large box from underneath the huge Hogwarts Christmas tree. She put the box beside him and smiled as he opened it in curiosity.
He gasped as he pulled out a fairly big box of chocolate. "This," Cadence explained, "is thanks to Ron. He told me why you liked it, so I decided that when I'm not around. you can have this chocolate with you to make you feel as good as you make me feel."
Harry's eyes glittered and he smiled at Cadence. "Thank you." He set the box down and pulled out the next gift, which was a green sweater. "I know what you did," she whispered. "And I knew this was your favorite sweater. So I got you another one."
He smiled sweetly at her and then reached into the box for his final present. As the last of the wrapping paper fell limply from his hand, he breathed, "Oh. wow."
"I found this in that box of pictures," she said, looking over Harry's shoulder.
"Is this.?" he asked, touching it lightly.
"Yes it is. I found a frame that resembled the one you liked so much and put this picture in it. I had no idea that they were friends."
"It makes sense," Harry sighed, looking at Cadence and then back at the picture.
He would never have guessed that his and Cadence's mothers had been best friends at Hogwarts. They were wearing the matching necklaces in the picture, and it was obviously Halloween. They were outside the Great Hall, one was wearing cat ears and the other devil horns. They were laughing and play fighting, yelling 'Take the picture!'
"This is wonderful, Cadie." he whispered.
"I thought you'd appreciate it more. I knew what my mother was like."
Harry stared at her for a second and then kissed her on the cheek. "Thank you so much. It's wonderful."
He continued to stare at the picture. Cadence brought him back to reality by saying, "So, what did you get me?"
Harry set the picture next to his other gifts and stood up. "Well. it's nothing I could wrap, so here," he told her, handing her a card.
She frowned at him. "What do you mean?" She opened up the card and nearly dropped it as she read it.
"So?" Harry asked with a sly smirk on his face.
I couldn't wrap your present, but your baby unicorn will be waiting in Hagrid's hut. You can go and visit her after you read this card.
I love you!
Me
Cadence put her hand to her chest. "How. when.what.?"
"Hagrid told me that as soon as a unicorn gave birth, I could claim one of the babies for you. I figured you'd appreciate that more than anything I could ever give you of a material nature."
"Oh, Harry." she breathed, staring at the card. She surprised Harry by screaming for joy and jumping onto Harry, covering his face with kisses. They laughed together for a few minutes and then Cadence popped up, grabbing her cloak. "Let's go see my unicorn!" she exclaimed.
Harry laughed and followed her lead. They surprised Hagrid and went in to visit the unicorn. Cadence couldn't believe her eyes. She was so beautiful. She was small and gold as babies usually were, and warmed up to Cadence right away. She smiled widely
"So, Cadence," Hagrid said cheerfully. "What dya think yer gonta name 'er?"
Cadence smiled up at Hagrid and then back at her unicorn. She stared at the face of her small treasure and then looked back at Harry. "Flash."
"Flash?" Hagrid and Harry said in unison.
"Yeah," Cadence answered. "Why not?"
"I don't know. I think the real question is why?"
Cadence laughed at Harry and said quietly, "Because it was only in a flash that I realized whom I was meant to be with."