Chapter Ten: Explanations in the Library
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Ha, as if!
A/N: Sorry about that little cliffy back there folks. YouÕll find out what happened in due time. Thank you to all the reviews, I really appreciate it. Okay, enough from me, on to the story.........
"Reagan!" Lane called to her. Reagan locked eyes with her friend and caught the Quaffle out of the air before the Slytherin Chasers had a chance. Reagan flew towards the Slytherin goals, rolling to the left as a Bludger came up behind her. Smiling, she faked a throw to the left, throwing it into the top most goal when the Keeper went to the left.
"Ten points to Gryffindor!" Jerry Papworth, the third year Gryffindor cried. "That shot was made by Gryffindor Chaser, the lovely Reagan Potter, and the Slytherin Keeper, Drayton Flint, doesn't look too pleased about it. Gryffindor leads 50-10."
"Reagan, to your right!" Logan called. Reagan turned to look in the direction of the warning. A bludger was coming directly at her. She instinctively flattened herself onto her broom, and braced herself for the impact. But one never came.
"Careful, Reagan," Darenn called to her. She opened an eye and saw her brother sitting to her left, holding his bat and looking triumphant.
"Thanks Darenn," Reagan called, realizing he had saved her from the Bludger. He smiled and flew down to the other end where a bludger was headed towards Josie who was in a steep dive.
Reagan blinked. A few feet in front of her best friend was a little thing, gold and glittering.
"Go go go go!" Reagan cried. She flew towards that end of the pitch and caught the Quaffle from Logan. Keeping an eye on Josie as she pulled up out of her dive, four seconds after the Slytherin Seeker had, Reagan threw the Quaffle effortlessly into the Slytherin goal, scoring seconds before Josie closed her hand over the fluttering wings of the Snitch.
"Josie Malfoy catches the Snitch! One hundred and fifty points to Gryffindor!" Jerry cried. "Gryffindor wins!"
Reagan flew to her best friend and threw her arms around her.
"Yay! You did it you did it!" Reagan cried, hugging Josie.
"Good job!" Lane cried.
"Yeah!" Darenn said, hugging both Reagan and Josie. "Thank you thank you thank you!"
Josie looked uncomfortable. "Uhm, your welcome?"
"Sorry!" Darenn laughed and let go of them.
"Darenn!" Avery called, running across the pitch. Darenn ran towards her and they collided in a tight embrace. Reagan thought she saw her brother kiss her cheek, but her view was blocked by energetic Gryffindors. "Come one team, showers and then lunch!" Darenn yelled.
Reagan and Josie followed the team towards the showers, still excited about their win.
"Where do you think Cal is?" Josie asked, turning around and walking backwards to look for him.
"We'll see him after our showers," Reagan said. Josie nodded and followed Reagan into the girls locker room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Josie!" Cal cried as Reagan and Josie walked out of the locker room. Josie ran and gave Cal a hug and Reagan came up next to them.
"That was an awesome catch," Cal said to Josie and she tried not to blush, but her fair skin made it even more apparent.
"Thanks," she replied.
"You did great too," Cal said to Reagan.
"Thanks Cal," Reagan said.
"Yes you did do well," Professor Lupin said, walking up to them. "You are a thrill to watch, Reagan."
"Thank you Professor," she replied.
"Hey!" James cried, walking up to them. Reagan glanced around for Erika and saw her talking to her sister a little ways away. "I'm glad you stuck around," Reagan said, hugging her eldest brother.
"You did a great job," James replied. "I had forgotten how you can fly. That was brilliant!"
"Thanks," she replied.
"Good job, Reagan," Erika said, leaving her sister. "I always loved watching you fly. It was the coolest thing to see all three Potters play Quidditch. Two is almost as good!"
"Thanks, Erika," Reagan said.
"Reagan!" Trevor called and Reagan turned around and saw him walking towards her. She shot James a look for him to be polite, and smiled at Trevor as he got closer.
"Hi Trevor," Reagan said. "This is my brother, James. James, this is Trevor Daniels."
"Hello," Trevor said. "Its nice to meet you."
"Its nice to meet you too," James said, a bit apprehensive. "This is my girlfriend, Erika."
"Hello Trevor," Erika said, stealing a glance at Reagan.
"Hello," Trevor said, shaking her hand.
"Erika and James came up last night and they stayed to watch the match today," Reagan explained.
"It was quite exciting," Trevor said. "You did an excellent job, Reagan."
"Thanks." Reagan was now the one fighting the blood rising to her cheeks. "I wasn't alone though, Josie's the one that caught the Snitch."
Josie jumped when she heard her name. She and Cal had been standing beside Reagan, watching the events with curiosity.
"That's right," Trevor said. "It was an excellent catch, Josie. And that dive, I was quite impressed."
"Thank you," Josie said.
"Are you two staying for lunch?" Reagan asked James and Erika.
James glanced at his girlfriend. "We've actually got to get back."
"I'm really sorry, Reagan," Erika said.
Reagan shrugged. "Its all right, we can do it some other time." She gave Erika a hug and then her brother and then walked towards the castle, leaving Erika, her brother and her uncle on the Quidditch pitch.
"You all right?" Trevor asked Reagan. Josie and Cal were a little ways ahead of Reagan and Trevor.
"I don't know," she replied. She didn't think she needed to tell him about what had happened the night before. But she felt compelled to.
"Reagan?" Trevor asked.
"Can you come to library with me?" she asked.
"Um, what about lunch?" he asked.
"We can nick something from the kitchens later," she answered. "Please, I... I need to talk to someone."
Trevor looked seriously at her and nodded. "All right."
They walked into the library and found a table towards the back of the room. Reagan got up and got a book of the shelf, The Connection of Three and How it Pertains To Me, and handed it it Trevor.
"Have you ever heard of the Connection of Three?" she asked him and he nodded.
"You have one, don't you?" he asked.
"Yes, I do," she replied. "How did you know?"
"Common sense," he replied. "You have two older brothers and you're really good at everything."
"The reason I'm good at everything isn't because --"
"You're a Potter," Trevor interrupted her. "Reagan I know, I wasn't saying it was completely because of your Connection."
"Both James and Darenn are good at things too," Reagan said. "And they don't have one of these stupid things."
"Why is your Connection stupid?" he asked.
"Because it is," Reagan answered. "It...gets out of control."
"What do you mean?"
Reagan paused. She knew she could trust him. "At first it was fine, well except for I could hear my dad's thoughts in my head. Once we learned how to control it, it was better. Until this year. When either of us gets out of control or our emotions run wild, then stuff, leaks out. I've heard my dad's memories and last night..."
"What happened last night?" he asked.
"I..." she stopped again. "My father's parents died on Halloween. Thats when he got his scar. And then after he finished at Hogwarts his godfather was tortured and murdered. My Uncle Fred, Aunt Emma and my cousin Kate also were murdered on Halloween. Its sort of a day of morning for my family, and thats why James and Erika came up. Darenn, James, Erika, Professor Lupin and I went to dinner last night and--"
"Why did Professor Lupin go?" Trevor asked.
"He's my uncle," she replied. "Well, not by blood, but he was best friends with my dad's dad, they were like brothers. So we just always called him Uncle Remus. I think my dad even thinks of him as an uncle. So we went to dinner last night and we came back and went to the trophy room. There are placards on the walls with all the students names who have attend Hogwarts since Hogwarts was founded. And I was looking at him name and...."
~~~~~~~ The Night Before........ ~~~~~~~
She was falling, like the floor beneath her opened up and she fell straight down. She tried to scream, but either her voice wasnÕt working or she couldnÕt hear her voice. There was no sound.
Suddenly Reagan's feet hit the ground and she stumbled backwards. She was outside Hogwarts, but not the Hogwarts she knew. Stone was falling from the side of the castle and people were running around. She ducked as a curse flew at her, though no one seemed to notice she was there.
"Reagan," a voice said. She turned around and saw a tall man. She didn't say anything, but just stared at him.
"Don't worry, no one can see you. You are in a memory, like diving into a pensive. But this is not your memory."
"Who's is it?" she asked.
"Your father's," he replied and gestured to a boy running by them.
"Thats my dad?" she asked. He looked so young.
The man laughed. "Yes, thats him. You'd be surprised at how much you are like him."
"I know we're alike," she replied. "Everyone knows that."
"But there are some things you don't know," he said. "Did you know that your father had dreams during his fourth year that told him of things to come?"
Reagan shook her head. "Is my dad a Seer? Is that how I can do it too?"
The man laughed. "No, Harry is defiantly not a Seer. But he did have a scar that connected him to Voldemort and he was able to see things."
"Then how come I can do it?" she asked.
"Because of your Connection with him," he answered. "Your Connection allows you to be incredibly perceptive of things around you. You know people very well when you first meet them. You are also very good at your book studies because you soak the knowledge in quickly and well. Your magical ability is not terribly effected by your Connection, but by your bloodline. You are a Potter and that is what makes you strong. And your dreams, well when you dream about things your mind picks up on the time waves in the air. Time is a continuum and in a way, your mind is able to see what will happen or what has already happened and you see these images as dreams."
"Is this a dream?" she asked. "Did I fall asleep?"
"This is not a dream. You are in your father's memory. His last memory of me."
"Of you?" she asked. "Then y-you......you're Sirius Black."
"In the flesh," he replied. "Or in the spirit if you will."
"But I saw you die once," she said. "In a dream, so how can this be the last memory he has of you?"
"This is one of your father's last happy memories of me, and ironically enough, it was in a battle," he replied.
"But we're at Hogwarts," she replied.
"Many of the battles were at Hogwarts," he replied. "This one was a week before I died."
"Why was this a happy one?" she asked.
"I'll show you," he said and she followed him.
"Sirius, thats out of the question," she heard her father say.
"Harry don't make me pull rank on you," Sirius said to him.
"You are arguing," Reagan said. "How is that happy?"
"Just wait," he replied.
"Harry, I don't want you to do anything stupid," Sirius said. "You have Ginny, and you can't sacrifice that."
"But if you go then you won't be here," Harry said. "I can't let you go and die!" Reagan could feel the painful emotions coming from her father.
"Harry I won't die," Sirius said. "I may have missed the first thirteen years of your life, but I won't miss the next thirteen years, or any more after that. Trust me, I'll be there."
"You said you'd be there," Harry's voice said and Reagan and Sirius turned around to see her father standing behind them. "Way to keep a promise."
"Well I didn't die doing what we are discussing over there," Sirius replied. "My death was something completely different."
"Dad?" Reagan asked.
"Hi Reagan," he said to her. "Welcome to my memory."
"How did...?" she asked, not able to find adequate words.
"He fell through the same time you did," another man answered, coming up beside her father. He was as tall as Harry was, with the same messy hair that her brothers had inherited from her father. They looked incredibly alike, and James looked just like them.
"I was there, like Sirius was for you," the man said.
"Reagan, this is my father," Harry explained. "Your Grandpa James."
"This is too much," Reagan said. "How come you two are dead but you were here when we fell into this...memory?"
"Once you die, Reagan," Sirius said. "You are virtually free to go anywhere. You know whats going to happen, so you can be anywhere at any time."
"Why did we come to this memory?" Reagan asked.
"I was thinking about Sirius at the same time you were," her father explained.
"Because of your Connection, you were both pulled into this memory," Grandpa James explained.
"How do we get out?" she asked.
Harry shrugged. "We have to wait till its over."
"Wait till its over?!" Reagan cried. "Dad that could be days!"
"Reagan, do you remember all of your breakfast today? Or just bits of it?" Harry asked.
"I guess just bits of it," she replied.
"Exactly," Harry replied. "I don't remember this entire battle in full detail. Thats why some things are blurry. I'm sure that whatever I do remember is about up. Besides, you get an opportunity to meet Sirius and my father, one I never though you would have."
"But this isn't real, this is like a dream," Reagan replied.
"This is as real as you or me, Reagan," her father replied. "You're not a school anymore and I'm not at home, our bodies basically appeared in this dreamlike memory state."
"But dreams are in our minds, our mind creates or translates them," Reagan said.
"Thats where your Connection came in," Grandpa James said. "Because of your strong lineage, and your Connection of Three, you two were thrust back to the time when the memory was made. You are watching as everything happens. You only see what Harry remembers."
"So when it ends where do we go?" Reagan asked. "Do we just appear somewhere?"
"Probably back where were were before," Harry said.
"Why does this kind of stuff keep happening?" Reagan asked.
"Its a combination of two things," Sirius said. "One is that as you get older, Reagan, your magical ability grows and changes, especially because you are learning more. So your connection changes. You can't always wear the same pair of school robes, right? You have to get new ones or adjust the ones you have. So as you get older, you two will have to find different ways of closing your minds, a door won't always work."
"The other reason your Connection is essentially leaking out, is because you have been suppressing it so much and so strongly. Its been growing and gaining power, and it doesn't have room to expand. You two will have to come up with some way to release and keep your guard down to basically let it run free from time to time. Each time it has leaked out its been worse and worse. Reagan you heard a memory last, and now you are in one. After your magical ability essentially stops growing, then it won't be as much of a problem."
"So now that we have instructions from the, erm, afterlife if you will, what do we do now?" Reagan asked.
"We wait," Harry replied. "We don't have much time, though. Sirius and I are almost done talking."
"This is so weird," Reagan muttered. "But I am glad I got to meet you, Sirius. I've heard a lot about you from Daddy and from Uncle Remus. And there are pictures of you at home."
"It was nice to meet you Reagan," Sirius said and bent down to her. "When you're dead, one of the things you can do is watch and see how everyone carries on when your not there."
"We've watched you from the time you were born, Sirius, your Grandmum Lily and I all have," Grandpa James said. "We've been your guardian angels in a way. Please know that we are always with you. If you ever want to talk to someone, talk to the air, we always hear."
"I will," Reagan replied and gave each of them a hug. "Thank you."
"Well, Harry," Sirius said, standing up. He shook her father's hand before pulling him into a hug. "I never said good bye before, and I really don't want to say it now."
"I know, Sirius," Harry said. He shook his father's had and hugged him too. "Tell Mum that I send my love."
"I will, Harry," Grandpa James said. Reagan had the feeling that her father had met his parents before, but she knew that wasn't possible. They had died when he was one year old, there was no way he could have known them.
"Well Padfoot old friend," Grandpa James said to Sirius. "We'd best be going."
"You're probably right, Prongs," Sirius replied. "Good bye you two."
"Reagan?" she heard her name. She opened her eyes. Her father was gone, Sirius and Grandpa James were gone, the battle was gone. She was standing in the trophy room with her finger one Sirius' name.
"What did you say?" Darenn asked. Reagan turned and looked to him. James and Erika were along the side wall, looking for Harry's name and Professor Lupin was standing in the doorway, watching her.
"What?" she asked, finding her voice.
"You said something a moment ago," Darenn said.
"Oh," Reagan replied thinking back. She had been in that memory for at least ten minutes, but no time had passed when she had returned. "I um... 'When in doubt, wag your tail'."
"Whats that mean?" Darenn asked.
"It says it under Sirius' name," Reagan replied, blinking a few times to regain herself.
"All seventh years are asked to give a quote that means something to them, something of a goodbye quote," Professor Lupin explained.
"Mine was 'It is our choices in life that show us who we really are, not our actions.' Dad said it to me once," James said.
Professor Lupin glanced at his watch. "Well, Darenn and Reagan, I've got to get you back, or McGonagall will have my head."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Do you think I'm terribly weird now?" Reagan asked Trevor. He smiled at her.
"Reagan I though you were terribly weird before I knew all of this," he answered. "But this just makes you even more incredible."
Reagan didn't even fight down her blush this time.
"Thank you," she sighed. "For listening to me ramble."
"I told you I was here if you ever needed me," he said.
"I know, I just never took you seriously."
"Does Josie or Cal know about any of this?" he asked.
"Nope," Reagan said, shaking her head. "Josie doesn't fit in very well with the rest of her family, and I'm afraid that if I told her I had this Connection then it would make her realize that she doesn't have one. It would be another way she would think she doesn't belong in her family."
"I was surprised when she went to Gryffindor," Trevor said.
"She's nothing like her brothers or the other Slytherins. Well she has the mean streak if you get on her bad side, and she's sly and sneaky sometimes, but she's defiantly not a Slytherin."
"Reagan, I'm a Slytherin."
"I know, but you don't act like the other Slytherins either."
"I'm not cunning and sly and manipulative?"''
"No, and your not rude or self absorbed and you don't hate Potters," Reagan paused. "Why is that? Why don't you dislike my family?"
"Lets leave that story for another time, shall we?" he laughed. "We don't have time for that one."
"All right," she replied and stood up to leave.
"But I do have something to ask you before we go to the kitchens. Wait, do you know where they are?"
Reagan grinned. "Yes I do. But its a secret."
"Oh do tell."
"I'll have to get something from my dormitory first to properly show you," she said.
"Can I ask you something first?" he asked.
"I've just told you one of my deepest secrets; you can ask me anything."
"Will you go to Winter Ball with me?" He looked at her, and she felt her heart fall to her toes. She stared back at him for a few moments before allowing her face to break into a grin.
"Really?" she asked and he nodded. "Yes, yes! Of course!"
"Really? You really want to?" he asked, matching her grin.
"Yes I do," she replied, nodding.
"All right then," Trevor said and they walked out of the library.
That night, after the Gryffindor victory party, Reagan thought of what Sirius had said to her, but she had left it out of what she had told Trevor.
"You're probably right, Prongs," Sirius replied. "Oh and Reagan, you can trust the dark haired fellow, even if he is a Slytherin."
"Trevor?" she asked.
"Yeah, and he might have some of the same type of secrets that you have," Grandpa James said. "Trust us, we know."
Reagan nodded. "Okay, thanks."
"Bye you two," Sirius said.
Reagan snuggled into her bed, pulling her down comforter over her. She slept soundly and woke the next morning with the vague memory of her dream where she was dressed in a big white gown, looking at a man with dark hair and wondering why Josie wasn't standing beside her.
A/N: Ya'll got another long one from me. It wasn't as long as the last one, but its longer than normal. Hmmm, do I smell a bit of romance blooming in the library here? Just so you all know, you won't see Reagan and Trevor as a couple in this fic, and maybe not ever. Sorry, I haven't quite decided. But I would like to know what you think, especially about the little pairing of my own characters. Leave me a review so I know what you think!!! ~EE
