Disclaimer: You know the drill.
AN: Okay, so here I am again writing a spin off from one of ChoCedric's works. This one is a spin off of her fic No Laughing Matter, using her OC Cindy. Set appropriately during chapter 55.
AN2: Football in this fic is what is known as soccer in America.
AN3: Cindy is approximately the same age as Harry, give or take a few months.
"Dudley told me about all the mean things you do," she told Harry and her five year old self was proud that she had stood up to a meanie bad boy. "Stay away from me Harry. I don't want to be friends with a meanie like you."
There was a look of disappointment on Harry's face. Disappointed and sadness. Cindy felt a wave of regret pass over her, followed confusion and the feeling that someone was disappointed in her. It was odd. At the time, she hadn't felt anything, but now? Now she was feeling things she didn't recall. It was…odd to say the least.
The edges of her vision began to blur and fade and another scene took its place.
This time she was maybe seven years old? She wasn't entirely sure. It was a little vague and Cindy's memory of the event was a little distant.
He was all alone.
They were on the playground. At one end, a group of boys had started to play a game of football. An improvised pair of goals made up of discarded jumpers and a well used ball bounced between them.
Cindy and her friends were playing a different game. What it was, she couldn't recall, but like most playground games, it was energetic.
And at some point, she had noticed Harry Potter sitting alone, watching the game like he wanted to join in.
Unfortunately Dudley was in the game and that seemed to be an effective deterrent.
A wave of regret washed over her. Regret that she hadn't invited him to play with her and her friends. Regret she hadn't stood up to Dudley and his bullying friends at the time.
She hadn't thought that at the time. It barely even registered in her young mind. She had simply dismissed it as a result of Harry Potter being a meanie. Why was she remembering those thoughts and feelings as if she had?
The memory faded away and soon she was looking at another memory.
It was her eleventh birthday and despite being in school, Cindy was feeling happy. She had a birthday party to look forward to when school finished.
Dudley and his gang of bullies were loudly running around the school, shouting and thumping as they left the dining hall. Cindy pulled herself back into a classroom. The last thing she wanted on her birthday was a run in with Dudley Dursley and his gang. The last encounter she had was bad enough. (Having gum stuck in your hair was not nice.)
A movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention and she saw Harry Potter ducking into a cupboard.
"Where's Harry?" Dudley half shouted to his friends and Cindy pointedly looked away from the cupboard.
"I saw him go outside," she said and a grin crossed Dudley's dumb face.
"Let's get him!" he shouted and the boys ran to the playground doors. Cindy watched them leave, then glanced at the cupboard Harry was hiding in. A wave of pity washed over her and for a moment, she considered inviting him to her birthday party. It was a silly idea really and he obviously wouldn't be allowed to go, but still…
Harry poked his head out of the cupboard and looked at her with a grateful expression.
"Thanks," he said before quickly rushing out of the classroom.
The memory faded away and was replaced by…something else. Something she didn't remember and knew that she had never seen before.
It was a train. An old fashioned steam train of red and black with the words Hogwarts Express on the front. A platform materialised around her and soon she was on an unfamiliar platform.
She looked around. The platform was empty and devoid of sound. Even the train seemed to be eerily silent.
Somewhere in the distance, someone materialised. Or possibly moved into sight. It was hard for her to tell really.
"Hello?" she called out, but the figure didn't appear to notice her.
"Hello!" she shouted again and she moved closer.
The figure ignored her, looking and moving with little apparent purpose. She moved closer and let out a gasp of surprise.
It was Harry Potter!
She didn't know what he was doing or why he was here, but he seemed…distracted. Or lost perhaps? It was hard to say. But she had a feeling that he was…lost. More lost than her.
He turned to look at her.
Cindy woke up.
Cindy sat up sharply in her bed with a gasp. The first rays of sunlight were slowly creeping over the horizon, but it was still far too early to be getting up. Cindy sat in her bed, thinking about her dreams. And memories. They were so vivid and strange and out of the blue. She hadn't seen or thought of Harry Potter in years. His family lived miles away from where she lived now. So why on earth was she remembering and dreaming about him now?
She sighed and laid down, trying to return to sleep. Harry was long gone from her life and attending…Stonewall High? Or was it somewhere else?
She shook her head once more. It really didn't matter. It was just a strange dream that mixed memories with…something else. Just like a lot of her dreams lately. And every time she woke up with a gasp and a racing mind.
She turned in her bed with a grimace. Why did she keep dreaming of Harry Potter? Why couldn't it have been about Christopher Parker, the good-looking golden haired boy in her year? She saw him most days after all and she had fantasised about kissing him. Why did it have to be Harry?
She turned in her bed once more. She had a feeling that Harry was in some kind of serious trouble. But it was little more than a feeling. Nobody would listen to just her feeling that something was wrong. They would need proof and that was something she didn't have. Nor did she have any idea how to obtain proof, even if it existed.
So instead she laid in her bed, trying to get back to sleep. (And maybe dream of Christopher Parker. A girl can dream after all!) She had school in the morning and she didn't want to be sleeping through her classes.
And like the answers to her questions, sleep eluded her.
AN: What exactly is going on with Cindy is anyone's guess. It could be some sort of psychic ability for Cindy or that Harry's mind is wandering into hers (and others) while he remains unconscious. Or maybe it's just a dream. Take your pick.
