Glimpses

Is this what it feels like? Is this how it's supposed to happen?

Images flash before my eyes. Are they memories or are they real? I can't... I can't wrap my mind around them. My head is throbbing with the effort. Something is wrong. What is happening to me?

There's a letter in my hands. Addressed to me? But I never get letters. I have no friends, no relatives who would actually write to me. The parchment is rough under my trembling fingers as I pull it from the envelope. What does it mean? A large, imposing man smiles at me proudly, but I don't know him. He seems... familiar, and yet his name is just out of reach. What is he telling me? His words are blurred, and now so is his face, as though I were looking at him through a rain-streaked window...

I'm sitting on a train across from a lanky, ginger-haired boy. He stares, transfixed, at my forehead. Why? What is so fascinating about me? But even in my confusion, I can tell he's a friend. He gives me an odd look when someone else enters the compartment - a girl with a bossy look and loads of bushy hair. I don't recognize her, but she seems to know me...

Lightning flashes above me. Shouts in the distance reach my ears, but I cannot make out the words.

I'm flying. Soaring through the air, chasing something... but what? I'm looking for it, waiting for a glimpse... I stretch out my hand to catch it. Just a bit farther, just a tiny bit farther...

A giant chess set. The bossy girl is screaming, the ginger-haired boy is falling...

There's something in my pocket. Something heavy, something that wasn't there a moment ago. I carefully, quietly reach into my pocket... a stone. What is it for? The man in front of me wants it with blatant desperation. He's shouting at me, reaching for me... but suddenly his face... his face...

The shouts are getting closer, more urgent. Who are they?

Someone is missing. No, someone has been... taken? But where? And by whom? She's in trouble, and I have to find her. I have to help her. The ginger-haired boy is with me again. He looks scared, but determined...

A snake. A giant, bloodthirsty snake. It's chasing me, hunting me. I can't get away, I can't run fast enough, but I have to. I have to save her...

Rain begins to fall. I reach up to wipe it from my face, but my arm won't move. Why won't my arm move? What is the matter with me?

Someone is handing me a newspaper. There is a man on the front page, a man with a wild look. They tell me he wants to kill me, but why? What have I done to him? I can't remember, but I feel as though I should remember...

I'm in a house of some sort, but no house of mine. It looks as though it may fall apart at any second. That man, the wild man, is pointing at me, shouting something. He's going to kill me and I can't do a thing about it. But wait... no. He's yelling something about a friend... his friends? Or mine? I don't understand. Suddenly another man is beside him, a man I feel I should know. They're telling me something, explaining...

I'm running through a forest, trying to keep up with the girl in front of me. We're trying to save someone, but we're running out of time. Time... there's something I should know about the time... Dozens of enormous, black-cloaked and hooded creatures are descending upon us... I'm shouting...

Shouting. So much shouting. My head pounds as I try to open my eyes without success. Where am I?

A man with a long white beard is standing in front of us. There is an air of excitement around me, but why? There is a large cup in the middle of the room, spitting blue flames into the air. A name is called... and another... and another... and another...

There is a dragon... a fire-breathing dragon... but I must get the egg. I must succeed...

They've taken something from me. I must get it back, but what is it? How can I look for something when I don't even know what I'm looking for? Water surrounds me, trying to drown me, but I can breathe... I must find what is missing...

A race of some sort. I'm running alongside another boy. He's taller than I am, stronger. He's going to win... No, together. Together. But suddenly... where are we? The stench of death surrounds us... a flash of green light... cruel words in a high voice... Pain. So much pain. I'm screaming with the agony. He's back... who is back? Something, someone evil. I'm fighting, I'm running...

Footsteps sound in my ears, running, running.

My hand is bleeding. I shouldn't tell lies... but I didn't. I didn't lie. It's true. Why should I be punished for the truth? The anger rises inside of me. Why won't they believe me? It's true... it's all true...

They've got him. They've got him at the place where it's kept... They're trying to convince me that he's fine, that it's a trick, but I know. I know something is wrong. I have to go; I have to find him... We're fighting, all of us. Not just the three of us, but more... six. Six of us fighting for our lives, for his life. Masked enemies trying to kill us, but we have it. We have the weapon... More have joined us, joined the fight. He's there... he's alive... No. No, he's falling, falling...

Rain on my face. Tears? I can't tell. It hurts. It hurts.

A girl. Smiling at me...

A kiss. The most wonderful feeling...

Betrayal. A sallow-skinned man shouting hateful words. A flash of green light... a man falls. A man I know, a man I admire and trust and love. No. No! Don't go... I need you... What do I do? I need you to tell me what to do...

Shouting. Light. Footsteps. Help me. Please help me.

We're searching. The three of us, waiting for a clue that will bring us to the last few things we need... the things we need to win. To triumph. We're so close... we've done it. We've discovered the secret, the key to our victory...

It's over. We've won.

A hand on my arm. A gentle voice coming from somewhere... somewhere beyond my reach...

"Harry. Harry, please, no. I need you. I need you."

She's crying. Why is she crying? I'm trying to tell her it's alright... the words won't come...

"He's gone, Ginny. It's over."

Another voice. Whose? What is over? I can't think... I can't remember...

"Harry. Please, Harry. Don't leave me. Don't... I love you."

I won't leave you. I promise. If I can just open my eyes. If I can just tell her...

Crying. Screaming. My head explodes with light and color... Pain. The pain...

"Harry..."

If I can just tell her...

"Come back to me, Harry. Please. Please."

If I can just tell her good-bye.

FIN