Shadows of the Past

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shadows of the Past

 

 

 

Chapter One: One Death Begins It All

 

In a perfect world, there is no pain, no sorrow, no hunger, no loss. It is a utopia, where peace spills her warm rays of sunshine upon every creature. Much as it probably was in the Garden of Eden. But man is greedy, prideful, and wanting of power. Thus, even in the best John Lennon song, war erupts, and all is cast back down to this state that is known as living….and dying.

“Harry Potter!”

Harry awoke with a start, realizing that, once again, he had dozed off in Divination class. He quickly wiped the drool off his chin, ignoring the giggles that Lavendar Brown and Pavarti Patil were letting out in the front of the classroom. “I’m sorry”, he said quickly. Leaning towards Ron, who was trying hard not to laugh, he asked, “Did I miss another death prediction?”. Ron, in his best Professor Trewlaney impression, widened his eyes, and said in a far-off voice, “Young midgets wearing glasses should be wary of boring professors in the heat of Spring….”. Stifling laughs, the two best friends quickly put their books away, as the bell rang, signaling the end of yet another day.

“I’m starved – wonder what’s for dinner?”, Ron said, taking the stairs down the North Tower two at a time. “I hope Hermione isn’t still mad at me for copying her Transfiguration homework – I really need to see her notes for Professor Binn’s class!”

Harry rolled his eyes at Ron in mock frustration – when didn’t Ron try to copy Hermione’s homework? Though, now that he thought about it, perhaps she could help him with coming up for new death scenarios…..he grinned, trying to imagine his girlfriend willingly allowing him to cheat. They reached the bottom of the stairs, and were heading for the Great Hall when a voice stopped them.

“Harry! Ron! Wait up!”

Harry turned around, in time to see Hermione trip on the last step and, quite literally, fling herself into his arms.

“Nice catch, handsome”, she said, kissing his nose. Ron looked away and muttered something about PDA. Harry caught Hermione’s eye, and they quickly stifled a laugh as they broke away from each other. Just one week ago, Ron had been caught kissing Padma Patil in the owlery. It’s funny, the way things have changed, thought Harry, as the Trio (as most people referred to them) entered the Great Hall, a year ago I never would have saw this coming.

It was true, though. Ever since the beginning of their fifth year at Hogwarts, Harry and Hermione had taken a definite interest in each other – though both adamantly denied it. It had taken Ron and Ginny playing Cupids to finally bring the two together last Valentine’s Day – by using Polyjuice Potions, no less! It was a rocky start, especially for Ron, who had to deal with being the “third wheel”, but things took a definite improvement when Padma, no longer upset with her former Yultide Ball partner, took a liking to the tall, gangly freckled-faced redhead, and now the Trio was back to their usual selves.

Now in their sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy, and, more importantly, in their Spring term, they, along with the rest of their classmates, were busy preparing for their upcoming O.W.L.S., and Hermione was already working on her N.E.W.T.s. “Nutters, she is. I can’t even think past June!”, Ron had confided to Harry a week ago, as she chided them for playing Exploding Snap in the Gryffindor common room. “When I think of how much study time the two of you are wasting……” But it was with an evil smile that she slammed her book shut, and beat them 3 times..

* * * * *

After dinner, Harry rounded up the Gryffindor Quidditch team for their evening practice. Having been elected Team Captain last year, he found himself training just as hard as his former Captain, Oliver Wood, had. In a narrow win, Slytherin had won the Quidditch House cup, and Harry vowed that it wouldn’t happen again this year. So far, they were in the lead, and as long as they beat Ravenclaw in two weeks by at least 60 points, then they were guaranteed to win. The team had gone through many changes since Harry had become Captain – he and Katie were the only ones left from when he first started playing. Katie, along with Sarah Tucker and Ginny Weasley were Chasers; Seamus Finnigan and Lee Nguyen, Beaters; and Ron (much to Harry’s surprise) had become a formidable Keeper.

“Good block, Ron!” Harry yelled, as Sarah tried to get the Quaffle through the posts unsuccessfully. “Be sure you double up next time with Katie or Ginny – good element of surprise – let’s make the other team try and figure out who’s really got the ball!”

An hour and a half later, the team trampled their way up to the Gryffindor common room. Harry quickly spotted Hermione, bent over the table by the fireplace, reading through her Arthimancy notes and looking extremely stressed. He walked over to her, sat down, closed her book, and pulled her into his lap. “Hogsmeade trip tomorrow – surely you can find time for us somewhere in there?”, he asked, massaging her neck lightly. “Well, it’s so hard, I have a very important date with my History of Magic book….” , she began, but seeing the pained look on his face, quickly added, “but I’ll cancel!” They spent the rest of the evening playing Wizard Chess and watching a group of first years imitate Professor Snape, the Potions Teacher. When it was time for bed, Harry walked Hermione to her room, gave her a soft kiss on her lips, and said goodnight.

Harry took off his glasses, and flung the sheets to his four-poster bed back, thankful that he could sleep in in the morning. He fell asleep, never knowing that a note, written in dark red, had fluttered down under his bed.

Gone I may be, but dead I am not

Though galiantly, yes, you may have fought

Be warned on this night you breathe your last breath

For there is something in store far worse than death.

* * * * *

 

Harry, Ron, and Hermione left after breakfast for Hogsmeade. Harry was looking forward to spending a day away from the castle and the approaching OWL exams – all of their Professors were assigning so much homework right now, he couldn’t see straight. Poor Neville had been forced to stay behind, and work with McGonagall on his Transfiguration spells. Even Draco had subsided in his usual snide remarks, though Harry thought this might be due to the 180 – 0 score of their match with the Slytherin team 3 weeks earlier.

Their first stop was Honeydukes, where Ron and Harry filled up on all the sweets they could buy. As they were getting ready to leave the store, Padma walked in, and Ron suggested that they four split up for a while.

“Meet you for lunch – butterbeer on me!”, Ron yelled, as he and Padma walked hand in hand towards the Shrieking Shack.

“Hmm..well, this just leaves you and me to entertain ourselves until dinner”, Harry said, trying to sound shy and naïve. “Any ideas?” Hermione grinned, and put her arms around his waist. “I’m sure I could come up with something”, she said, mocking his voice.

They walked past the neat rows of houses, and towards the Hogsmeade Lake. Hand in hand, they tossed stones into the water, watching the ripples get wider and wider until they disappeared. Harry grabbed Hermione, and pulled her down into his lap.

“Knut for your thought”, she said, playing with his hair absentmindedly.

“I wish we were just a few years older…” Harry began, feeling awkward and nervous as he looked into her big, brown eyes.

“Oh, why? So you would already be done with your exams?”, Hermione teased. Test taking was never Harry’s strong point.

“Well, yeah, that’s a good one…but I wish we could be sitting here, staring across this lake, with Voldemort gone, and me asking you to…uh, marry me” He couldn’t believe he’d actually said that! Way to go, Potter. Make a complete fool of yourself!

He looked up, and found Hermione on the verge of tears. “Oh, Harry, that’s so romantic! You know what I’d say if you asked?”

But he never got a chance to respond. Before they knew what happened, a hooded figure apparated in front of them. Hermione screamed, as Harry went for his wand, and pushed her aside into a nearby bush.

A gnarled voice came out from under the hood, “you were warned Potter. And now, you will pay. Adava….Kahdahvra!” Before Harry had a chance to block the stranger’s spell, a blue bolt of lightning hit him, and sent him into the side of a tree. His vision fogged, and he felt himself being pulled, by some imaginary force, into a deep abyss. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was the stranger disapparating, and Hermione running to him. There was a gut-wrenching scream, and then no more.

 

 

Hermione kept gasping for air, trying to hold back the sobs that crawled into her throat. She looked up and found people running towards her – Ron and Padma in the lead. They skidded to a halt as they saw Harry’s body laying there, and Hermione, her face tear-stained, holding him. “Please…get help….attacked. Please help!”, she cried out. A couple of villagers turned around, and parted as Dumbledore came running up.

“I heard”, was all he said as he leaned over Harry’s pale body, and placed two fingers on his neck. It seemed like a lifetime before he looked up, shaking his head.

“He’s dead. I’m sorry.” And then he collapsed.