The Chronicles of the Forgotten Potter

The early March air was crisp and cool, a welcome feeling for the young couple who meandered around the school grounds. After being cooped up in the castle all day with classes and what not, they were glad to escape into the outdoors. They came to a stop, standing at a point that looked out over the vast Black Lake, searching to see if they could spot any activity from the giant squid that dwelled there. The girl clung lightly to the boy’s arm, her head leaning on his shoulder, taking in his warmth. He smiled to himself, savouring the feeling of her touch. His dark brown hair blew gently in the cold breeze as he turned his head to look at her, admiring the way her silky, black hair managed to shine in the cloudy light even as the breeze gently whipped through it. He kissed the top of her head, drawing her attention from the lake to him. A warm feeling spread through his body as his brown orbs connected with her green ones, earning a smile from the girl that he had fallen so deeply for.

“What?” she asked. “Nothing,” he murmured, his mouth turning up at the corners as he observed her amused and inquisitive expression. She shook her head before turning her gaze back to the lake and resting upon his shoulder once more. They stood like that, almost stoically, the wind drawing out occasional shivers from the both of them, causing the girl to grip his arm only slightly tighter than before. After a while, he felt her head leave the comfort of his shoulder and he couldn’t help but shiver when he felt her warm breath tickle his ear as she whispered, “Catch me.” Before he could react, he felt her warm, soft lips press themselves lightly to his cheek and she was off in a flash laughing brightly as she darted away from him. A large grin spread across his face as he sped off after her, laughing as he shouted, “You little cheat!”

The young couple tore across the grounds of Hogwarts as he attempted to catch up with her. She had reached the trees that bordered the shoreline of the lake and began to weave her way between them as they became denser, her cries of glee trailing her as she ran. She paused for a moment to catch her breath, sure that she had left him in her wake. She did not expect, however, to feel herself being gently pinned against a tree by the young man that she had dashed away from. Both were breathing heavily as he stared into her eyes. They stayed like that, both panting, allowing their breathing to even out, their noses barely touching. Then, without warning, he plunged his lips against hers, his hands cupping her face, one proceeding to entangle itself in her silky locks. Her hands lay on his chest, one making its way to his cheek as the kiss became more passionate.

They found it to be extremely difficult to pull apart for air. There was an urgency in this kiss that hadn’t quite been there before, an alien feeling so to speak, well, at least to him it had been. It was almost a primal feeling that had wormed its way into that moment, pure lust that had manifested full force. He leaned his forehead against hers as they attempted to regain their breath. Her cheeks were flushed pink, contrasting prettily with her relatively milky complexion.
Once they managed to regain their composure, the two began the long walk back up to the school. They knew full well to be back in before sunset, especially now that Umbridge had full control of the school since Dumbledore’s rather dramatic escape from the Minister of Magic’s attempt to put him in Azkaban.

His arm found its way around her waist as they made their way across the grounds. They chatted happily, both unsure of how to address their little moment by the lake, choosing instead to not discuss it at present. Their conversation died down as they reached the castle his arm releasing her as they made it about halfway across the bridge. They kissed one more time before assuming a comfortable distance from each other to avoid Umbridge’s wrath. Her Educational Decrees were congesting the walls of Hogwarts, many aimed at the DA, who was just barely managing to evade both her and her “Inquisitorial Squad’s” reaches. She had been interviewing students by the boatload recently, even using veritaserum to extract any information that she could. So far none had come forward and outed their meeting place.

Their fingers brushed every once in a while in the most discrete way as they made their way up to the Gryffindor common room, taking all of the secret passageways they could to avoid any confrontation. The last thing they needed was to be found by Filch or worse, Malfoy. He would be sure to make their lives a living hell, indefinitely bringing them to Umbridge for no reason. If she had still been with Malfoy things would have probably been rather different. He would probably be snogging and shagging her every chance he could in anywhere he imagined just for the sake of it being naughty. Now that she had fallen far out of his favour since her little outburst admitting to her relationship with Neville he was keen on getting her into trouble with the High Inquisitor. It was his little way of saying if I can’t have her, no one can.

They managed to weave their way all the way up to the seventh floor corridor and sneak into the Gryffindor common room without getting caught, both releasing breaths of relief as they crossed the threshold. “It’ll be dinner soon,” Neville said after a moment of silence between them. He looked at the girl, noticing her face had blanched of all colour with a distant look in her eyes. Worry instantly swept over him as he quickly managed to catch her before she collapsed to the floor. He had been in this situation only once before and he tried his best not to panic as he quickly lay the somewhat lifeless body of his girlfriend on the Gryffindor couch, turning to face the sound of feet thundering down the stairs to the boys’ dormitories. Harry and Ron came barreling out into the common room, a bewildered look on Harry’s face, knowing something was wrong with his sister.

Neville gestured wordlessly to the couch as the three of them rushed to her side. Harry had felt a short searing pain generating from the scar on his forehead accompanied by a sick feeling in his gut that usually only occurred when something happened to Kat. He quickly yet gently scooped his arms under her, picking her up and making his way out the portrait hole, with Ron and Neville close on his heels.

He needed to get her to the hospital wing, before this episode hit full force. He had witnessed one once when they were at the Dursley’s house. They had just completed their second year of Hogwarts and Kat had fainted in their living room area. Their uncle was kind enough to deposit the girl in their room, leaving Harry to “deal with whatever confounded problem his sister was experiencing.” She began to writhe around somewhat wildly, moaning out incoherent words, her body breaking out in a feverish sweat. The moaning and mumbling then began to escalate and form out coherent words and phrases nearing a level loud enough to be referred to as shouting. It frightened him to see her in such a state. Needless to say, he needed to get her somewhere where her screams and cries that came with these moments didn’t draw attention, for her sake.

Kat’s episodes could last for several days and could be very violent and demanding to her poor body. Harry couldn’t imagine what it was like to experience such graphic and horrifying dreams. This was her price to pay for surviving that night 15 years before, her connection to the terrifying recesses of the Dark Lord’s mind. “It’ll be alright Kat, I promise,” he whispered to her as they raced down the maze of corridors, “We’ll be there soon.”

They rounded a corner on the fifth floor passage drawing closer to the hospital wing when a sudden voice caught them off guard, “Oi, Potter!” A collective, barely audible groan seemed to have emanated from each of the three boys’ throats at the unwanted sound of Draco Malfoy’s voice. “Not now Malfoy,” grumbled Harry. “Where are you off to? What’s that you’re carrying?” probed the Slytherin prince, his signature smirk plastered on his face. The three of them turned around to face him with irritated looks, Ron looked about ready to hex the “esteemed” member of the inquisitorial squad to oblivion, ready to draw his wand from his pocket if need be. Neville, like Ron, was poised for a fight. Malfoy struggled to suppress the snicker that was trying desperately to release itself as he glanced at the two boys’ peeved expressions.

His cocky smirk, however, was wiped from his face when his gaze landed upon the form of the raven-haired girl that he still somehow cared for in Pott-head’s arms. There was a flicker of genuine concern in his eyes before he shakily resumed his typical arrogant behaviour, ”What? Did a spell go horribly wrong Potter? Was it Weasley? Hm? It couldn’t have been Longbottom,” he smirked, glancing at the boy who currently filled his post as Kat’s boyfriend, “He couldn’t hit the side of a barn.”
Neville was livid, “In case you haven’t noticed Malfoy, Kat’s passed out and needs to get to the hospital wing and you are in the way. Now, if you don’t mind, move or I’ll make you.” In any normal situation, Draco would have responded with some sort of cruel witty retort, however, for this one occasion, he was unable to formulate words. Perhaps it was the harshness in Neville’s tone or maybe even the dangerous spark in his eyes but he moved from their path, allowing them to proceed without any further hassle. His icy eyes followed them worriedly as they rushed down the halls, secretly hoping that everything was okay.

Both Ron and Harry had been taken aback by Neville’s sudden confident outburst. Of course, Ron wasted no time in commenting on it, “Wow, Neville, I didn’t think you had it in you? Well done mate.” Neville smiled somewhat sheepishly, “I didn’t know I had it either.” They pushed open one of the doors to the infirmary and hurried inside. “Madame Pomfrey!” called Harry, his arms growing tired from holding the dead weight of his unconscious sister. As if on cue, the older witch bustled out from her office, gasping as she quickly escorted him to one of the beds and was ordering him to place Kat down quickly and carefully.

She shooed him to the side with the other two boys, quickly checking the girl’s temperature and such. Kat’s breathing was soft and barely there. The deathly pallor of her skin unnerved him as he stared at her limp form. Beads of sweat had begun to form on her clammy skin and her eyes finally began to twitch and move, the first signs of life that they had seen from her. Madame Pomfrey swiftly urged the boys away from the area, drawing the curtains around Kat’s bed, muttering a silencing charm shortly after. She turned to Harry with a somewhat grim expression, “Good that you got her here so quickly, Mister Potter, Merlin knows what could have happened had she been left to suffer this on her own.” Her gaze shifted over the three worried-looking young men who stood before her.

“Can I go in with her?” Harry asked suddenly, not wanting his sister to go through this alone. The older witch eyed him warily, “I’m sorry, but I think it’s best she be left alone.” He said nothing, noticing the slight, faint glimmer in her eyes. The glimmer that only reveals itself when one is hiding something. He chose not to press the matter. He knew that Neville was fighting a mental battle, suppressing the urge to ask to stay by her side, knowing full well that if Madame Pomfrey denied Harry ‘s request to stay with his sister that she would do the same to him if he even tried. “I think you boys should go, you all look exhausted and it’s getting late. Go back to your dormitories. I’ll send for you when she wakes up.” The three of them exchanged looks of uncertainty before slowly turning to leave, casting concerned glances over their shoulders as they made their way to the large doors of the hospital wing, completely unaware of the shouts and screams that had been muted by Madame Pomfrey’s silencing charms.