When she pulled back, Harry was bright red. "I see you're feeling a little better."
"Well you just make me feel happy I guess." Roxie giggled. Ron rolled his eyes, but Hermione beamed brightly at the two of them. Hermione quickly explained that they were to be repotting the dragon's breath plants. Roxie turned to the pot in front of her and filled it with dirt. She then dug the breath from where it was sitting in the tray and she placed it in the new pot, patting the dirt firmly around it.
"So did you talk to them?" Hermione asked casually. Roxie looked up quickly. Her face paled. How did she find out? Did I say something without meaning to? Or maybe in my sleep.
"Erm… Hermione have you told anyone else?" Roxie whispered, leaning toward Hermione.
"About your aunt dying?"
"No about… well you know." Why is Hermione playing dumb?
"No I don't Roxie. That's why I am asking you."
"What did you say before?" I swear.
"I said 'Did you talk to your parents?'" Roxie let out the breath that she had been holding. She doesn't know. My secret is still safe. "What were you talking about?"
"Oh nothing. I was just really confused. I guess the death has affected me more than I thought." Hermione still looked skeptical, but she turned around when she was showered with dirt.
Ron stood next to her, a sprig of dragon's breath clutched in his hand and dirt all over him. "I guess I pulled a little too firmly." Roxie exploded with laughter.
"Here let me show you how to do it," Hermione sighed and then moved over to Ron's tray. The rest of the class period was spent with the constant flirting between Hermione and Ron and Harry and Roxie. After Herbology, they had a couple of hours before lunch, so Hermione and Ron made their way to the library and Harry and Roxie walked to the common room. They were sitting on the couch together, Roxie leaning on Harry. Harry had his arms wrapped around her. She felt safe.
"They seem to be spending a lot of time in the library lately," Roxie observed.
"Yes they do," Harry replied simply. "So are you all right? Because I understand that death is hard, especially with someone you love." Roxie looked up at him. He does understand. After all, he did lose his godfather. And his parents. Roxie sat up and she looked at him. Why hide it?
"I can hardly believe that she's gone. I'm not even going to be able to go to the funeral. My parents don't want me to come home. I guess it's hard on them too. I mean it's unbelievable that I will never see her again and I can never go to her for advice or anything. I'll never hear her laugh or…" Roxie burst into tears. They streamed down her face. She tried to wipe them away, but they just kept coming. Harry pulled her into him. He wrapped his arms around her and rocked her back and forth.
"I know…I know. It's hard. And for the first few months all you'll want to do is cry. And then you can't cry anymore. You've shed all the tears that you have, so you go through a solitude period. When you don't talk to anyone and you like to be alone. And then it gets better. Sure you still miss the person, but you don't feel like crying as much. Someone once told me that the people you love never truly leave you. They stay with you, in your heart." Roxie made a noise halfway between a sob and a laugh. That's so sappy. But at least he's trying. And I guess it really is true. "It was hard for me too, when Sirius died. I didn't really want to deal with the death, so I retreated to being alone and not talking to anyone. People tried to help but…" Harry trailed off. Roxie looked up and she saw tears glistening in his eyes. "It's still hard to talk about sometimes."
"Oh Harry!" Roxie flung her arms around him and then she began to cry again. They sat like that for a while. Cradled in each other's arms and crying. "We're pitiful," Roxie sniffed and they both laughed.
"I guess we better go down to lunch now," Harry said.
"Yeah." Roxie stood up and followed Harry out of the portrait hole. As they were about to enter the Great Hall, Harry grabbed her hand and gave it a small squeeze almost as if for reassurance. I'm so glad that I have him. He understands what I'm going through. And Roxie smiled, in spite of the terrible news that she had received that morning, her life was still pretty good.
Snow was falling outside. The castle was picture perfect with a fresh blanket of snow covering every inch and the windows frosted over. Most of the students were tucked warmly in their beds, but Roxie was sitting by the window, watching as each snowflake fell to the ground. She was still vividly remembering the day before when she had spent a pleasant afternoon with Harry, curled up by the fireplace and just being together. She smiled out the window and, as if in return, the snowflakes seemed to twinkle in the sunlight. "What are you doing up so early?" a groggy Hermione had awoken.
"It's Christmas! A better question is how you slept so long!" Roxie said, jumping down from the window seat and padding over to her roommate. "Merry Christmas to you!" And she gave her a big hug.
"I guess we better go downstairs, all of the presents are down there."
"And plus you want to wish Ron a Merry Christmas!" Roxie grinned devilishly.
"Yes that too, but you can't tell me that you don't want to see Harry too!"
"True." The two girls laughed and then they threw on clothes and went down the stairs. Ron and Harry were waiting for the girls at the bottom of the stairs. When Roxie and Hermione reached them, Roxie pointed upwards. "Mistletoe, I guess you have to kiss me," she instructed Harry.
"How will I survive that?" Harry laughed and then he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. She leaned into him and the world seemed to stop. When they pulled apart, she looked to her left and saw that Hermione and Ron were…preoccupied, so she and Harry sat down in chairs and started to unwrap their presents. The first was from her parents, new cloaks. The others were from various relatives and friends, most of them were a variety of candies. Roxie pulled the last present to her. A small note was taped to the top. Roxie pulled the note off carefully and opened it. Her face fell, as she recognized the writing. She had been given instructions in the same writing the previous summer. The note read:
Do not open this. It contains a cloak that should speed up the process of our little task. I won't go into full detail as I know you teenagers have the attention span of a toddler. Give this cloak to 'dear' Harry as a Christmas present. I bet he has never received a gift quite this powerful before.
There was no signature, but Roxie didn't need one. She knew who it was from. Ok so now I've got to give this to him. Easy right. Ok, here goes. "Erm Harry I think this one's for you."
"Thanks!" Harry reached for the present and, hesitantly, Roxie handed it over. Roxie watched as Harry began to rip the wrappings from the present. Roxie tried to convince herself that she could let this happen. She could do exactly what Voldemort wanted her to do. He means nothing to you. He means nothing to you. He means everything to you.
"Harry no!" Roxie shouted and she pulled her sleeve, down over her hand. She knew what she had to do. She leaped from her chair and grabbed the package back. A cloak slide from inside the paper and into Roxie's hands. All of the sudden Roxie felt cold and empty. "Get Madam Pomfrey," Roxie said and then she fell back and everything went black.
"I'm really worried about her. It's been three days and Madam Pomfrey says that she still hasn't showed any signs of recovery. What if she never wakes up?" a voice above Roxie was speaking. Another voice answered the first.
"Way to stay positive Hermione. Stop being such a worrier! Can't you see that it just makes Harry worse? He's worried enough as it is without you telling him that his girlfriend may never wake up!" A third voice then spoke.
"Guys I would appreciate if you wouldn't talk about me as if I'm not in the room. Besides I'm fine, just a little worried about Roxie, that's all." Harry's here! And he's worried about me! But why? Roxie fluttered her eyes open. She saw Ron and Hermione over in a corner bickering. Harry was sitting right by her bed, holding her hand. When he saw her he gave a small gasp of surprise and then he said, "Hey! You had us all worried you know." Ron and Hermione turned at the sound of Harry's voice and they looked down at Roxie. The two of them burst into smiles and Hermione rushed over and hugged Roxie.
Roxie smiled. "I'm really sorry. But why am I in the hospital?" Roxie looked around and she racked her brain, trying to remember what had happened to her, so that she had to be put in a hospital.
"You don't remember?" Harry asked. Roxie shook her head. "Well do you remember anything else, like who we are?"
"Of course. I remember everything up until Christmas morning, then it's all black."
"Well, mate, I guess you need to share the story with the class," Ron said to Harry and then he turned to Roxie. "He hasn't told us what happened either. All that we know is you told him to get Madam Pomfrey and then you collapsed. So please Harry, share."
Harry looked hesitant, but then he seemed to have made up his mind and he began to tell the story. "We were unwrapping presents, just the two of us because Hermione and Ron were in the corner together." Hermione blushed, but Ron beamed as if with pride. "And then you picked up this one package and you looked kind of odd. Then you told me it was mine. I was opening it and I was about to lift the cloak out when you yelled at me not to and you grabbed the package. The cloak fell out, but you had a sleeve over your hand, so it didn't touch your skin. Later, Madam Pomfrey told me that it was a cursed cloak and if it had touched either of our skins we would have died. How did you know not to touch it?" Harry asked. Ron and Hermione turned their heads to Roxie, as if they were watching a tennis match.
"I...I…," Roxie didn't know what to say. Now she remembered exactly what had happened. She remembered reading the note from Voldemort telling her that the cloak would speed things up a bit. She remembered handing the package over to Harry, knowing that it would probably kill him or at least do him a lot of harm. She remembered her internal argument, wondering if she should have given it to him or not. And then she remembered deciding that he was worth too much to her, so she pulled the cloak back. Then she remembered thinking that she was going to die, but she didn't want to die, so she ordered Harry to get Madam Pomfrey, then she blacked out. Roxie looked up and realized that three pairs of eyes were on her and their owners were waiting, patiently, for her reply. "I'd seen one of those cloaks before. I knew that it was cursed and that it would probably kill." Roxie looked down at her bed sheet and began to pick at a stray thread. Are they going to believe me or will they ask more questions?
"I think we'll be leaving now. Leave you two alone," Ron stated and then he grabbed Hermione's hand and they left the wing.
Hermione's voice could be heard though, saying, "Tactless Ronald, tactless." And then it was just Harry and Roxie.
"Rox…" Roxie looked up, happy. So I guess he's not mad at me at least he's using his nickname for me. And I guess he bought my story. Roxie was given hope. "I just want to thank you."
"For what?" Roxie was a little confused.
"For saving my life. If you hadn't stepped in, I wouldn't be here right now. I would have touched that cloak and then be lying dead on the floor."
"I wouldn't have left you there though," Roxie joked.
"Thanks, that's…comforting in a way." Harry leaned in and kissed Roxie lightly on the lips. He looked at her with an odd expression on his face. He opened his mouth, as if to speak, and then closed it. He ran his hand through his hair and he shifted in his seat. "Umm… I have to go now, go find Ron and Hermione, you know." Why is he leaving, and why is he so nervous? Roxie tried to stop him, but he was already halfway to the door. He turned back though. Shook his hand and rolled his shoulders, as if trying to prepare for something. "I can't just walk out of here. I need to tell you something." He walked back to Roxie's side and cupped his hand under her chin, pulling her face up so that she was looking straight at him. "I love you. I've pretty much loved you ever since I met you and I understand if you don't feel the same way, but I just had to let you know how I feel." Roxie leaned in and kissed him.
She pulled back and whispered, "I love you too." Harry beamed. He kissed her on her forehead.
"I really do have to go though. I have a lot of homework to catch up on before we go to class on Monday. I'll see you later. Try to rest and get out of here." He kissed her and then left the wing. Suddenly, Roxie's forearm burst with pain. He knows. He knows and he's not happy. Roxie looked down, she was still wearing her school robes, which meant, Roxie put her hand in her pocket and retrieved a vial. She poured the orange powder into a ring around the bed and then looked around quickly. No one was there. The wing was silent. Roxie pressed her fingers to her mark and then she was rushed to Lord Voldemort. I better make this one quick.
"Just the girl I've been wanting to see." Voldemort smiled cruelly. "You've disobeyed me. And disobeying comes with consequences. Crucio!"