Disclaimer for all chapters: I don't any of these characters except for Ally.
A/N: These are all memories that Ally is reliving while she is a coma, except for the last half of chapter two. That is real.
Tender Beginnings
Walking and reading at the same time, Ally was frustrated. She had been trying to understand this stupid book, and she was already late for detention with McGonagall. So, needless to say, she was walking quite briskly.
"Oof!" she mumbled as she collided into someone, dropping her books. As she fought to get back on her feet, she said quickly, "Oh, I'm sorry. Wasn't paying attention where I was going..."
"It's all right," a dark-haired boy answered. "Wasn't watching whatever was in front of me, either..." He bent down, picked up her book, and handed it to her. "Here you are. Sorry about that."
Ally ran her fingers through her curly black hair. "Oh, it's not your fault..." she stammered, taking her book back. "Thanks." They nodded in acknowledgement of each other's apologies and continued swiftly on their way.
( Later that night ; in the Gryffindor Common Room )
Ally growled as she stumbled inside the Gryffindor Common Room. Never in her life had she felt so humiliated.
First, on the way to detention some stupid ghost turned on the sink in the bathroom as she passed by and somehow managed to spray her - and not just spray her, but drench her. Why the door was open, she didn't know...it didn't really matter to her, either, because all the water completely destroyed her book. Secondly, this Slytherin fellow decided to point out how soaked she was. He called her a wet dog, which was "even lower than a MudBlood", and more disgusting things. She hexed him: turned his hair bright pink and made him dance like those organ grinders' monkeys. But Snape witnessed it and gave her detention for two weeks. Thirdly, since she was incredibly late to detention with McGonagall, McGonagall gave her detention every night until Thursday. After detention, a stupid ghost called Peeves kept pointing and laughing at her. He even asked her if she had wet herself in the dark! And while he was taunting her, she was nearly hit by a flying bludger that went through the window. "Sorry, 'bout that," someone had called from the outside.
But now she was safe...hopefully. She was almost completely dry, and decided to sit on the big, red couch in front of the fire. Relaxing, letting her muscles relieve themselves, un-tensing her body, seemed like heaven to her. After a few precious moments, the dark-haired boy plopped onto the couch beside her.
"Hallo," he said kindly. "Sorry for bumping into you earlier..." he said slowly.
Ally turned to face him, too exhausted to smile. "It's all right..."
"You look like hell," he said, obviously shocked. "Oh, no, I didn't mean it like that...I was just...uh - "
"It's okay. I've just been through the worst three hours of my life. I don't expect that I look pretty right now." She leaned her back and inhaled deeply.
"Oh..." the boy said, seemingly at a loss for words. "Well, name's Harry. Harry Potter."
Ally jerked to face him. "Harry Potter? As in the Harry Potter?"
"Um...yes?"
Ally blushed and turned toward the fire. "I'm sorry. Just...er, got me by surprise, is all. After tonight I didn't expect to meet the infamous Harry Potter..." She looked at him; he seemed to be blushing, too, but Ally pretended not to notice. "Oh, um, my name's Ally. Just, Ally."
"Hello," Harry answered, giving her his hand.
Pain and Love
( Four months later ; in the Tower )
"Harry, what's wrong?"
"...Nothing."
"Well, obviously something's wrong. Otherwise, you wouldn't be up here, staring up at the sky."
"...Can't a guy just sit and watch the stars?" Harry answered with less anger than he had intended. He wanted to get the point across; he wanted Ally to leave him alone.
"Depends. Is the guy gay or straight?" she said.
"I'm not in the mood for jokes, Ally," he replied sternly.
"Neither am I. I just happen to be a very funny person. Making other people laugh is a gift, an incessant personality disorder, if you will."
"...leave me alone."
She knew that. She knew he wanted her to leave him alone. But she just couldn't find it in herself to. She wanted to help him, find what was bothering him and make it go away.
"...please."
"No," she answered quietly.
He turned and looked at her. She saw tears welling up in his gorgeous green eyes. And that was when he said everything: everything that was bothering him, making him sad...everything that had to do when Sirius died.
( Two months later ; beside the Lake )
"Let's go climb the tree," Ally whined. She was sitting on a large rock (quite contently, I might add), dressed in a carnation tank and jeans. "I'm bored..."
"But isn't the Lake beautiful?" Harry said. "And look. The sun's just rising. It's pretty."
Ally looked at him quizzically. "Won't we get in trouble? We're out of school...after hours."
"Well, the sun's up now. So, technically, it isn't after hours," he answered with a wide, gleaming smile. He sat down beside her on the rock. She ran her fingers through her hair, staring at him unbelievingly.
"You're incredible, you know that?" she said with a laugh.
"Well, of course..." he laughed. He watched her shake her head before saying, "Well, what'd I tell you? It's gorgeous, isn't it?"
Ally looked out. The sun was rising very nicely over the Lake; all the clouds dancing on the pretty pastels. Spring breezes swirled about her, about the trees, making the new leaves rustle. The sunlight was shining through the leaves, shining through every hole in the trees, reflecting on the water.
By now, Harry had gotten really close to her face. With his hand, he gently pulled her face closer to his and kissed her.
