Right after my birthday, autumn seemingly disappeared without a trace. The cool October chill breathed the promise of winter much to the chagrin of my friends who were constantly practicing quidditch for the upcoming November match.
Today was Halloween and I was happily awaiting the celebratory feast that was set to take place later this evening. We just had to get through Potions first which I actually didn't mind despite the Potions master who was a character all in himself. He was constantly reprimanding any Gryffindor for the most trivial things. Last week Lee had lost five points for sneezing.
"Today you will be brewing a Sleeping Draught. If any of your incompetent brains can brew this potion adequately, it is typically strong enough to have lasting effects for six hours. However, body size does take into account. For example, larger built individuals, such as Mr. Flint, would only be put out for five hours whereas scrawny little things like Miss. O'Hara would be put out for seven. This is to be taken into account upon administration which is especially important in a hospital setting where this potion is regularly administered by healers," Professor Snape finished with a sneer.
I could also see Flint smirking at me from across the room.
"Also remember to crush the wormwood, not cut it. Anyone who does this will be missing their eyebrows, and probably their nose," Snape commented snidely while looking over to the side of the room where the Gryffindor's sat.
After successfully stifling myself from rolling my eyes at Snape's insinuation I paired off with Angelina while Katie paired with Alicia and the twins with each other. Lee often partnered with Kenneth Towler who was a boy in their dorm. He was friendly enough, but he often became a target for the twin's antics, which was probably the reason he didn't hang out with us much outside of class.
Ninety minutes later Ange and I were handing in our phial of Sleeping Draught which I felt met Snape's adequate standard. It had been difficult in the end due to the effects of the potion which gives off a wafting yellow cloud to indicate its completion which also causes mild drowsiness. As we were finishing up the rest of our friends had already submitted their potions and were now cleaning their stations.
"Oi Marnie, I'm famished here!" Lee exclaimed as the rest of my friends were now making their way for the door to head to the Great Hall for dinner.
"I'll be right behind you guys," I waved as Fred and George gave me a meaningful look.
I knew they were still hesitant about ever leaving me alone but I waved them off again since I still had to collect all my belonging and Lee was now exaggeratedly chewing on his own arm.
"Go, I think Lee needs you more than I do right now," I said before turning back to collect my things.
The twins hesitantly followed Lee and the girls out as I put the last few of my things into my rucksack. After I was sure I had collected everything I made my way towards the door before stopping at the sound of an angry voice. Outside the classroom I could hear Professor Snape chastising a student.
"Mr. Flint, you imbecile. I am taking ten points from Slytherin," Snape remarked coldly while I could hear Flint start to protest.
"Do you think I enjoy taking points from my own house? I would have hoped by now you would have learned to read and follow simple instructions," Snape replied.
I angled myself so I could see their interaction without giving myself away. This was in time to watch Flint give Snape one last glare before storming off.
I stood rooted in place waiting for Snape to hopefully leave for the Great Hall.
"Five points from Gryffindor Miss O'Hara. For eaves dropping," Snape added without even looking at me before taking his leave.
Despite losing more points for my house I stood smirking at what I had heard before going off to catch up with my friends. I guess those precious Slytherin's weren't all great at potions, even compared to us lowly Gryffindor's.
When I got to the feast I could see Fred become more visibly relaxed as he saw me approach.
Taking a seat between Lee and Katie I looked at the assortment of food which all looked phenomenal. Candied apples, cauldron cakes, pumpkin-pops, black forest cake, spiced plums, apple crumble, poached pears and fig tarts were all laid out among other dishes that weren't placed right in front of me where I sat down. My stomach started rumbling in anticipation.
We sat and stuffed our faces until an hour later when we retreated to the common room where we fell onto the first available chairs. The amount of food I had eaten put me in a sluggish state where I found myself closing my eyes and listening to my friend's easy chatter. The familiar hum of their voices soon lulled into a light sleep.
All of a sudden I was walking through the Great Hall determinedly towards a group of students I found unfamiliar. As I approached them I sat down in the seat I had seemingly been heading towards in between a girl with dark brown hair and a taller blonde boy. Looking over to the boy who greeted me I was taken aback.
"Dad?" I said aloud but knew he hadn't heard me. It was like my voice was an echo, unheard by the people around me.
"Penn, have you written to Joss today?" I felt my mouth move and was surprised to hear these words come out and be acknowledged by the boy.
"Not yet, I know it's been a couple of days but I've been busy preparing for tomorrow's quidditch match against Gryffindor," the blonde boy replied.
"Well he's been writing to me every day wondering about you. You should really write to him," I spoke again, realizing I didn't recognize the sound of my voice as my own.
I reactively lifted my hands to my lips and was even more surprised to see that my robes were adorned with yellow instead of red. This caused me to anxiously grab for my mother's pendant which always gave me comfort when I felt nervous and saw that the gem was amber instead of the ruby I was used to. I was really starting to panic.
"Lena, are you going to help me with the Potions assignment? Professor Slughorn is expecting the assignment tomorrow," the girl beside me asked which made me turn to look at her.
She had shoulder length, dark brown hair and big brown eyes. Even though I had only seen her as an adult, she shared those eyes with her son. This was Alice Fortescue, Neville's mother. I fought the urge to cry as I saw the life and awareness in the young Alice's eyes. The panic I felt then started to escalate, causing me to stand up from my seat and head for the exit.
"Lena, what's wrong?" the younger Alice asked from behind me but I had already started retreating.
Soon I noticed that my surroundings had started to blacken. The blurry scenery of the Great Hall then changed to show the hospital room which housed my mother, but I was looking at it from down on the floor. I noticed my body was laying in weird angles and there was something inhibiting me from calling out for help. Every time I tried to cry out it was like my voice was gone. All I could hear was my own soft whimpering before a healer I knew by the name of Mr. Poke entered and gazed down at me with worry.
"Marnie, are you ok?" I heard the healer ask me in a different yet familiar voice.
"Hare, wake up," he said which made me more confused and my surroundings went blurry again.
"Wake up!" I heard someone shout and startled me awake.
I looked around me anxiously and saw my friends all watching me with concern. Thankfully, I realized I was still sitting in the chair I had nodded off in after the feast.
"You were having a nightmare Hare," Fred said worriedly.
"Yea, you kept murmuring something about a girl named Alice," Ange said quietly as the others nodded.
"Oh, that's strange," I replied in a whispered voice before standing up.
"Must be all that sugar from the feast. I think I'm going to call it a night," I said, already turning to go towards the girl's staircase.
"Yea I'm going to call it too," Katie said, following me up the stairs.
I could feel all of their stares on the back of my head as I walked away. I think only Ange knew I got nightmares since she often woke me up from them. I had never confided in anyone about my frequenting nightmares including the twins or my father. This one however had been different. Usually, they were just filled with smoke or mist with jets of colour shooting around. Or blurry, unfocused backgrounds and my mother's crumpled body. They were always horrible, especially with the sounds of my mother screaming, but I had never had flashbacks of my mother's life. I didn't even know how that was possible, especially since I obviously hadn't been there when these events took place. I hadn't even been born. From the looks of it my mother and her friends had been in their fifth year. My parents hadn't even started dating until the end of my mother's sixth year despite them being friends for years before that.
I laid in my bed quietly with my eyes closed so that the others wouldn't question me further. After a while I fell into a fitful sleep plagued by my regular nightmares only to be startled awake in the wee hours of the morning by my mother's screams.
That morning I was the first one down to the Great Hall, not being able to sleep anymore despite my level of exhaustion.
My friends joined me twenty minutes later, all looking nervous about the quidditch game against Slytherin which was set for today. None of us ate very much, except for Lee who was piling on the bacon and eggs. As I sipped at my tea I heard screeches from the owls which indicated the daily post arrival. I saw a peppered white and black owl approaching me which I knew belonged to my father for his editing business. This owl's name was Caelum and he had belonged to my father for years, and frequently brought letters to me from him. So I wasn't surprised when the owl arrived with a letter tied to his leg. I gave him a piece of toast to eat as a show of affection before I went to open the letter. I also pet the kindly bird who nipped at my fingers playfully.
I un-scrolled the letter to see my father's hasty handwriting.
Marnie,
Your mother injured herself last night somehow when getting out of bed. Healer Poke has informed me that she has a broken leg and sprained wrist. I am headed for St. Mungo's right now and Augusta has also informed me she has already checked in on her today. There is no need to worry, I promise to send an update tomorrow. You know this isn't the first time your mother has injured herself unsupervised. She just gets confused at night and sometimes doesn't know where she is. I don't want you to panic Marnie and I promise to tell you if anything else happens.
I love you so much Little Badger,
-Dad
The letter ended with the nickname my father had given me from the time I was born and only really used when I was upset. Obviously, it had come from my mother being a Hufflepuff.
I felt tears sting my eyes in fear and worry for my mother. How could I have seen this? Last night I had seen my mother hurt and lying on the floor with her broken leg. In the dream it had been me, but it had been a dream. How had I seen something that happened in real life? This was impossibly absurd and was making my stomach become nauseated as a result.
"Hare, everything okay?" Fred asked, bringing me out of my spiraling panic.
"It's my mother, she broke her leg," I replied as Fred and the rest of my friends dawned worried gazes.
"Marnie," Angelina said quietly, "you've never mentioned your mother before," she continued in a soft tone before I looked up at my friends feeling even more overwhelmed.
I couldn't explain my mother right now as I tried to frantically piece together what seeing my mother in my dream meant. It hadn't been a prophecy since I had probably seen it happen in real time. Plus, seeing my mother's memories was not part of the Seer repertoire. But I didn't think any of this merited anything good; sane people should not be able to see thoughts and scenarios play out hundreds of miles away from someone else's mind.
"Hey Hare, look at me," Fred said as I started to feel dizzy.
"Hare, I need you to look at me," Fred said a little more sternly while I forced myself to look him in the eyes.
Fred brought my hand to his chest.
"Breathe with me Hare," he said, as I somehow feeling the rise and fall of his chest.
I eventually matched his calm breathing and realized mine had been quite elevated. I could start to feel the anxiety subside but my mind was still reeling at the unfolding reality of what happened. I didn't even know whom I could tell since this seemed so unprecedented. What if it meant I was insane? Or dangerous? Maybe my mother wasn't the only one I could see? Or worse what if I had had something to do with my mother getting hurt?
"I'm sorry," I said, suddenly too overwhelmed to be around anyone.
I stood up abruptly and ran out of the Great Hall. I could hear my friends shouting after me and half expected them to follow, so I quickened my pace. I couldn't face having to explain myself right now or anything about my mother. I decidedly headed towards the hidden passageway that would lead out to the lake but stopped just before the exit at the other end. I then sat down in the opening of the passageway where I could see the lake through the rocky camouflage. I remained in the enclosure to avoid running into anyone, even though most people were now heading out to the quidditch pitch. I felt guilty that I wouldn't be cheering on my friends who had been practicing vigorously to be able to beat Slytherin, but I just couldn't face seeing anyone at the moment.
After a while I could hear the cheering from the pitch as well as Lee's faint commentary of the game.
"Weasley hits the bludger towards Pucey who drops the ball," I could hear Lee between my swirling thoughts.
What if I was crazy?
"Bell catches the quaffle."
What if my friends didn't believe me?
"Spinnet scores the goal."
What if I was responsible for hurting my mother?
"Johnson takes the penalty shot."
How would my father react?
"Weasley sees the snitch."
Would Fred still want to protect me?
"Gryffindor wins!"
What am I supposed to do?
I could hear the sounds of most of the school returning to the castle. Thirty minutes later I also heard two sets of footsteps approaching my location from within the hidden passage. The twins sat down on either side of me without saying anything. Soon after George put his arm around me which seemed like the last delicate straw. I broke into sobs.
"Hare, what happened?" Fred asked gently while George rocked me back and forth.
"I'm possessed. You shouldn't be near me. I might be dangerous," I blurted out between sobs.
"Marnie, what in the name of Merlin are you talking about?" George asked incredulously.
I tried to calm my breathing down and fight back the sobs to try and explain my thoughts to the twins. Once I had somewhat calmed down I described what had happened in my dream and how I had seen my mother's friends. I also explained how everything had changed and I was transported to my mother's hospital room to see her hurt and trying to call for help. The constant throughout the dream had been that I had taken my mother's place in both scenarios which could be how I caused her to get hurt. Maybe my running had moved her in real life, causing her to fall and break her leg.
Once I confessed everything I went quiet and tried to catch my breath.
"Hare, you actually believe you hurt your mother?" Fred asked dubiously.
"And you think you have the potential to hurt us or others?" George added in a careful voice.
"Well yea," I said wearily.
"Hare, that's not true. You have to believe us when we say that's just not possible," Fred said earnestly.
"But how do you know? It's not like I wanted to hurt my mother but I could have unknowingly," I retorted.
"We know because we're your best friends. You couldn't have hurt your mother, it's against your nature Marnie. You're fiercely protective and braver than you know; especially when it comes to your family," George said confidently.
I paused, taking in their words.
Sensing my hesitation Fred moved to sit in front of me and looked me in the eyes.
"One day you're going to realize why you were sorted into Gryffindor. You're going to see what George and I see without reassurance. But until then, George and I are here to tell you that you don't have the capacity to hurt anyone. You're fair and fierce and strong without having the intolerable ego. Your reason for being here is to protect the ones you love, not hurt them. And you will always succeed in that, which is why we feel the obligation to protect you in return," Fred said seriously.
I immediately started thinking about what the Sorting Hat had told me the year before; about being inwardly brave and having to build my confidence in order to protect myself and the ones I love. It was almost eerie to hear similar words coming from my best friend. What was I missing that was seemingly obvious to those around me?
"Okay," I said to Fred before wrapping my arms around him.
I stayed in his embrace for a few drawn out moments as I felt his grip tighten over me. It was a comforting gesture and made me actually calm down for the first time since reading the letter.
"I'm sorry I missed the match," I said sincerely. "I really wanted to see it."
"We understand Marnie," George answered with a smile.
"I heard you won," I said which caused them both to smile.
"Yea, we were loads better!" Fred said enthusiastically.
"All that practicing thankfully paid off!" George added.
"I'm sure Ange and the others are pleased," I said before my smile dropped.
"Hare, we talked to them about your mother," Fred said knowingly.
"We just told them not to bring it up until you felt ready to tell them yourself," George continued which made me return a small smile.
"Thank-you. You really are the best friends I could have asked for," I said trying to fight off more tears.
"Yea, we couldn't have you running around with those quaint little Hufflepuffs," George teased. "Or the house-elves," he continued as I jabbed him in the ribs.
"On second thought, you two are just a couple of hopeless prats who need me to save you from yourselves," I remarked with a smirk. "Or just save everyone else from you," I added as George went to swat me before I ducked and started running down the tunnel.
The twins followed me all the way to the Great Hall where we sat down with our friends for dinner. I sat between Ange and Katie to save myself from the twins' reckoning.
Once I was seated I saw Ange give me a worried look before I put my arm around her reassuringly. She leaned her head onto my shoulder in return. I was grateful that Ange and I could communicate through non-verbal cues. She knew I would tell her everything later, but I just wasn't ready yet.