Authors Note: First of all, thanks goes to you all for even taking your time to look at my story. I have good things in store for this and I hope it goes over well. This chapter is a rather short one, but the others will be longer, I promise. I wouldn't suggest reading my other stories, I'm not too proud of them. Although, I would greatly appreciate it if you could review after you read. After all, if you hate it, your suggestions can make it better. ;) And if you love it, I'd be overjoyed to recieve some lovely comments. :) So, with no further ado, on with the show.
Disclaimer: Only the plot I own. Everything else belongs to the wonderful J.K. Rowling.
Unchained Memories: Chapter One: Phantasma or Permonition?
Why was he running away from her? Pushing his way through a crowd of complete strangers. These people he was trudging his way through, certainly were an odd bunch. About 300 people all cramped in this little hall, donning evening wear. "Excuse me", this girl repeated every time she squirmed her way through the crowd. She was surprised that nobody responded, but that wasn't what mattered now. What did matter was getting to him. She didn't know why, but he was leaving her alone with these odd people. Why would he do this? He knew that it's such a risk to single out your friends at times like this, he's usually so protective of her. It seemed as if she reached a dead end. The crowd was still there, but something was keeping her from going ahead. He's not that way. A little voice inside her head, (instinct, perhaps?), told her. Where do I go then? She turned around as much as she could muster, as she was squished in between a pudgy lady with red hair nicely done in a bun and an old man with a cane. What she saw amazed her. A different way. And none of these quiet people were on this path. Rickety, gray, dusty stairs in this elegant hall were certainly out of place, they even seemed a bit unsafe to go upon, but that thought was wiped from her mind as a splash of red was seen through one of the banisters. Quickly, the girl traipsed through the sea of vegetables, manners forgotten, she might've even knocked someone down, but why should she be the one out of hundreds to help him? This boy was the only person that mattered now. Finally she reached the stairs and knew she had to hurry, he had a head start. It was odd, really. She thought she was running, but she wasn't tiring, and she wasn't moving her legs. She was gliding. Odd, she thought. But if this benefited her very much so, why should she complain? Time was going too slowly, for who knew what kind of maze or complicated path these stairs led to? But time halted for how long, she didn't know, when she saw her desideratum laying face down on the ground. "Ron?" She ran, (really ran) towards him, kneeled down, and flipped him over. Something was wrong and she knew it, but when his face tore into a smile, her heart melted and she knew that everything would be all right. "Oh, Ron. I love you so much." She cradled his head and hugged him, but something was going terribly wrong. He was stiffening and not hugging her back. Had she been too straightforward? "Ron? I am so sor-" she started to say as she was lessening her grasp. She halted for the most disturbing thing she would ever witness was about to ensue her. Ron, was…he was disintegrating. He was still smiling, but his teeth started to rot and decay. His eyeballs were rolling uncontrollably in their sockets, as if they had somewhere more important to be. The hand that the girl was now holding was shriveling up. The life was getting sucked out of him. The girl gasped and backed away, what was happening? Why was he dying? How was he dying? In desperation the girl looked over the banister to the crowd of people and screamed "Help me! Somebody please help!" In unison all of the inhabitants of the room snapped their head upward and stared at the girl. They all bore the same appearance that Ron did now, and the broke into the same crooked smile. The only difference is that these people meant nothing to her. What does it matter what happened to them, Ron was dead. This was indeed terrifying, but when the girl looked at the woman she previously bumped into, she bore an uncanny resemblance to Mrs. Weasley. The girl broke into an earsplitting scream.
Thousands of light years away Hermione Granger sat upright in her bed, beads of sweat drenching her night robes, the memories drenching all common sense.