Memories

-----Prologue-----

Many think that I’m too involved with the past. They say that I live there rather than the present. Perhaps they’re right. But they don’t know. They don’t understand why I do. Maybe, just maybe, if I told them what happened, I could break myself of that endless circle of the past and face my future. Maybe…

Where else to start but the beginning? I was born in 1961 to Seamus and Anne-Marie Bryant, the youngest of three. My brothers, Kevin and Andrew, adored me and were very protective. We lived in a small wizarding community similar to Hogsmeade. The only Muggles were those who had magical children or spouses. It was a typical village with picturesque homes and shops, even grand mansions. My family was wealthy enough to afford one, but Mum insisted that we lived as normal as possible. So we lived in a cozy home with friends and family living nearby. I loved that house. Mum’s presence filled it, making it seem safe and loving. I can never remember it with out her there. Dad wasn’t home a lot during the day, but when he was home, the real fun began.

Like many children, I had my own circle of special friends. We called ourselves the Marauders. Felicia McMillian was my greatest friend. We had met in grade school (Mum thought that I needed to be taught the “basics of survival”) and we soon were inseparable. I always remember her as having short brown hair just this side of black. She had dark brown eyes that always crinkled around the edge when she smiled.

Arabella Figg was another of my closest friends. We had lived diagonally from each other for as long as we could remember. She was somewhat tall with THICK brown hair. Her eyes were hazel and seemed to change color depending on what she wore.

Peter Pettigrew lived directly across the street from me. Our mums had been old school friends and consequently, I saw him every day of my life. He was a coward that played tag along often. He had hair that seemed to be balding by the age of 10. He was a wee bit chunky, but we never held him up to it.

Remus Lupin lived on the other side of Peter’s house. He was the nagging conscience that asked, “Now, guys, let’s think about this…” every time we wanted to do something, but most of the time, we were already halfway through whatever it was by the time we heard it. He was of average height with sandy blond hair and smoky blue eyes. Not very many people knew it, but he was in actuality a werewolf. I myself didn’t know it until I was 12. Those are the kind of things you just don’t discuss in public.

Severus Snape lived next door to me. We had been friends since we had learned to talk. He was a genius at not getting caught when ‘working’. He looked mean, with semi-greasy black hair and imposing form, but he had a heart of gold.

Sirius Black and his incredible eye for trouble moved in when we were four. Right from the off, I could tell he wasn’t very normal. I was right. He was pretty tall, but not too much so with floppy black hair and brown eyes that twinkled with mischief all the time. He and his family lived across town in a large mansion called appropriately ‘Black Manor’.

James Potter was…Jimmy was special. He was my cousin, but then again, he was something more. We had been “joined at the hip”, of sorts, since early infancy. Not a day went by that we didn’t at least owl each other. I loved him more than any other. Not romantic love, mind you, but something deeper and more impenetrable. He was half my soul.

Ah, how I long for the old days….




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-----The Letters-----
Eleven-year-old Ciara Bryant slowly woke up. It was only 8 in the morning, but today was special. Today, she and her friends were going to have their annual “Quidditch World Cup” in the huge field behind her house. Excitement coursed through her as she darted out of bed and threw her clothes on. A faint smell of cinnamon came from downstairs, enticing her to the kitchen, where her mum was pulling cinnamon biscuits from the oven.

“You may have 2 after they’ve cooled a bit. After all, a world class beater needs all the strength she can get!” Mrs. Bryant said cheerfully.

”Mum! You shouldn’t raise her hopes like that! You know she’ll lose today!” 16-year-old Andy said as he appeared in the kitchen.

“Andrew, be nice. She and her friends fly laps around your rag-tag team.” Mrs. Bryant scolded as Ciara scooped up 3 biscuits onto her plate and sat at the table. She quickly ate one and silently hoped no one had seen. Unfortunately, her oldest brother, Kevin, had seen from his seat next to her and grabbed one off her plate.

“Stealing’s bad, munchkin. Only 2.” he whispered as he ruffled her hair. Ciara glared and hissed, “To you and Andy, it’s called borrowing.” Kevin rolled his eyes and leaned back. He was going to play Chaser on the team made up of the older brothers and sisters on the street.

A soft tapping on the door made every one jump.

”Ciara, go and get the mail. And take those sickles on the counter to pay for the paper.” Mrs. Bryant commanded.

Ciara leapt up and dashed to go get the mail and had to quickly dash back to grab the small bronze coins. She flung the door open and allowed the owl to land on her arm after dropping the mail and paper on the ground. She put the sickles in the owl’s small change pouch and watched him fly off for a moment before pouncing on the mail. In it were a few letters from various friends and even a few belated birthday greetings for Ciara’s birthday only 4 days ago. But what was at the bottom made Ciara’s heart leap.

”MUM!!!! I GOT MY LETTER!!!!!!” she shrieked as she jumped up and down in excitement.

“Really?!? That’s great! Bring it in here!” Mrs. Bryant said. Ciara dashed into the kitchen and jumped onto Andy.

“I get to go with you to school!” she said excitedly. Andy groaned.

”There goes my chance of a normal school year…” he muttered before eating a biscuit. Mrs. Bryant came around the counter and embraced her youngest. Kevin grabbed her immediately after his mother released her and tossed her into the air.

He put her down gently then ruffled her hair. “You do realise that you have a reputation to live up to,” he said sternly. Ciara nodded exuberantly. “I won’t let you down, big brother,” she said solemnly.

Excited voices soon came from the front lawn. “CICI!!!!!!!!!!” James called from the front door as he pounded. Ciara ran to get the door and soon 7 excited 11-year-olds were dancing around in joy. Sirius joined his friends as quickly as he arrived. Things were looking up for their little gang.


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-----Diagon Alley-----

The Leaky Cauldron buzzed with activity as Hogwarts students and their families bustled in to get to Diagon Alley. Ciara and James sat with their parents at a table waiting for their friends to arrive. Ciara stared into space, oblivious to all her surroundings as James’s eyes roved everywhere. He had never been to London before and was fascinated with the natives.

“Ciara! Jimmy! Over here!” Arabella waved from across the pub, dragging her parents along. Ciara jolted back to the present and waved to her ‘sister’. Arabella hurried through the crowds and sat at the table behind the Potters and Bryants.

“Where’s everyone else?” she asked.

”Fi and Sirius are coming together, and Sevvy should be coming soon, but Peter’s visiting his grandparents and Remus couldn’t come. His mum said his grandfather’s sick again.” Ciara shrugged. “Seems to me like his grandfather should be dead now…”

“Really. How fascinating.” Severus said as he sat down next to Arabella.

”Shut up Sevvy. I’m worried about his granddad. Seriously, no one gets sick that often yet lives every time.” James said.

”You do. If I remember correctly, you got the flu four times last winter.”

“I’m special, that’s why. Get used to it.”

Ciara rolled her eyes. “Aaanyways, are you guys ready to go yet? I wanna go!” she said between gritted teeth.

“Mum, can we go ahead and go already?” James begged his mother.

Grace Potter looked thoughtful for a moment. “How about no?” she said.

“Please Mum? We’re bored!”

“Harry, will you take them?” Grace said to her husband. He gave her an ‘are-you-insane-giving-those-terrors-to-me?’ look. She gave a deep sigh. “We’ll go as soon as the Blacks and McMillians come. Deal?”

James sneered then turned back to his friends. “We’ll be here forever. Meme’s ALWAYS late,” he muttered under his breath. Meme was the name the children had given Mrs. Black after she insisted to be thought of as a second mother.

After about 10 minutes of intense discussion of their huge triumph at the ‘Quidditch World Cup’, Sirius and Fi slipped into chairs.

”Took you long enough,” Ciara said.

“Sorry. You know Mum and her ability to make everybody late even if you’re starting an hour earlier,” Sirius said exasperatedly.

“We know. You’re worse.” Severus retorted. Sirius stuck his tongue out at his friend.

“Hey, are we going to leave anytime soon?” Ciara whined to her mother.

”Ciara Jezebel Bryant, have more patience,” her mother said before returning to her conversation with Fi’s mother.

“Maman… il est trois heures et demi! Nous n’avons pas beaucoup de temps!” Ciara whined again. ((Mum! It’s three thirty! We don’t have a lot of time!))

“Ciara, nous avons deux heures pour faire de shopping. Arrête de te plaindre.” ((Ciara, we have two hours to shop. Stop complaining.))

Ciara sat back down in a huff. Severus quickly assessed the situation, and then got the scheming glint in his eyes.

“Guys, are we the Marauders or not? When the leeches aren’t looking, make a dash for the back. We can follow someone else into the Alley,” he whispered.

James grinned like an idiot as Ciara clapped her hands in glee. Fi giggled and began looking for a family to connect herself with. All 6 discreetly watched their parents. Finally, a small distraction came from the other side of the pub as two very drunk wizards attempted to duel. The Marauders quickly jumped the opportunity and slipped with a small family with two girls. The parents looked a little shocked but smiled at the Marauder’s hurried hushes. They arrived at the back alley and the younger looking girl walked up to the wall.

She said, “Lily Evans, witch,” and the passage opened. The parents looked a little shocked at the magic, but Ciara just grinned at the girl.

“You going to Hogwarts, right?” she asked boldly. The frightened girl nodded. “C’mon then. I’ll show you where to go. After all, you saved us from the leeches we call parents.”

“Um… ok. I’m Lily. These are my parents, and my older sister Petunia,” the girl said, pointing to each in turn.

“I’m Ciara, but we need to hurry if we’re gonna get away completely,” and with that, she turned and began to wade through the large crowds. Ciara’s fellows Marauders introduced themselves, then followed Ciara. Within moments, they had approached Gringotts.

“You have Muggle money, I’m assuming,” Ciara smiled at the Evans.

”Er…Muggle money?” Mr. Evans said uncertainly.

”Non-wizarding money.”

“Yes, we have that. Do we need to exchange it?”

“Bien sûr, monsieur.” Ciara mock bowed and strolled into the building. Inside, goblins hurried about their business. She motioned for the Evans to follow her. She approached a desk and cleared her throat.

“Pardon me but we need to exchange some Muggle currency,” she asked calmly. The goblin gave her a scrutinising look, but complied.

After the transaction, he asked, “Anything else?” Ciara nodded.

“I need to make a withdrawal from vault 65, please. I believe it is a Terran vault.”

“Do you have your key?” the goblin asked suspiciously.

“The key is in the blood, not in any earth metal.” The goblin gave a strange smile and signalled for another goblin.

“Please escort Lady Bryant to her vault.” The goblin smiled the same strange smile and beckoned them to follow.

Ciara pointed at James and Fi and motioned for the others to stay. “I’ll get enough money for all of us and you can pay me back later.”

* * * * *

About ten minutes later, the three friends re-emerged from the vaults with three very full moneybags. When they caught up with their small group, they headed to Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. Inside, dusty piles of boxes lined the walls.

“Lady Bryant. Mister Potter. I’ve been expecting you,” a soft voice said from the back. An old man looked at them, his pale eyes shining.

“Hullo again, Mr. Ollivander. I guess it’s my turn for a wand,” Ciara said calmly, even though every hair on her body was at strict attention.

“Yes. If you follow your family’s pattern…” he muttered as he searched for a certain wand. “Here it is..” he murmured as he opened the box and handed it to Ciara. “ 9 inches, birch, dragon heartstring.”

Ciara took the wand and gave it a wave. Sparks flew from the tip and swirled around her before disappearing. Mr. Ollivander nodded to himself and muttered, “Just like her brothers.”

The others took their turns and when all was done and paid for, they headed to Madam Malkin’s Robes for all Occasions. After nearly an hour of shopping, they finally settled down at Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour.

“You like our world so far, Lily?” Ciara asked over her ice cream. Lily nodded emphatically.

“CIARA! THERE YOU ARE!!” Mrs. Bryant ran up and embraced her daughter. “Où as-tu été? J’ai cherché partout et vous avez été nulle part!” ((Where were you? I looked everywhere and you were nowhere!))

“Mum! I’m fine! All my shopping’s done and I’ve eaten!” Ciara tried to calm her mother down, but to no avail. Mrs. Evans, sensing the tension, stood up and offered her hand to Mrs. Bryant.

“I’m really sorry about the misunderstanding. Ciara’s been helping us around and if it weren’t for her, we would be in a lot of trouble. I’m Rose Evans and this is my husband John and our daughters Lily and Petunia,” she said kindly. Mrs. Bryant looked a little confused, then smiled.

”I apologise if she’s been any sort of trouble…” Mrs. Bryant began.

“Oh, no! She’s a dear!” Mrs. Evans laughed. The two mothers continued to chat while the children held their own conversations. Soon the other parents joined and they talked until the sun began to set.

“So sorry, Rose dear, but we need to be getting home. I expect we’ll see you on the first?” Meme said as she stood up and gathered her belongings.

“Of course, Lucy!”

“Bye, Lily! See you at the station!” Ciara waved and quickly followed her parents. They had almost reached the barrier when disaster struck. Ciara accidentally ran into a tall boy with a pointed face and pale eyes.

“Excuse you, *Lady* Bryant,” the boy sneered.

“Thank you, *Master* Malfoy. Why don’t you help stop global warming and shut your mouth.” Ciara retorted and turned to exit Diagon Alley.