Little Memories

When the students arrived at Hogsmeade, they were permitted to leave the train in groups. They were filed out of the train, according to house and seating arrangements and had to sit in the carriages in the same group they were in the train. Charlotte caught a glimpse of Draco in one of the carriages behind her and she let out a heavy sigh. She’d yet to see Theodore and break off their “engagement” but it was something she certainly wasn’t looking forward to doing. Sometimes Theodore could be a bit demanding, though she knew no real harm could happen to her. Even if she couldn’t protect herself, which she doubted, she had Gregory back on her side, Draco, and Jackson. However, she knew not to easily brush this feeling of unease aside. It was there for a reason, even if she was clueless as to why.

After being told to change into uniform, the students were herded, not much unlike soldiers or cattle, into the Great Hall and told to sit in the same order they had put them in on the train. Normally, the Great Hall was busting with talk of the Christmas holiday and what new things they received as gifts or exciting news. However, the place was completely silent as everyone took their proper spots, daring not to talk or step a toe out of line. The Carrow’s stood on either side of Headmaster Snape with broad smiles on their faces. Snape was sitting in the gilded, golden chair that was occupied just a year ago by Professor Dumbledore, his inky black eyes roaming the silent room emotionlessly.

“As you may have heard,” his silky voice started as he slowly stood from the chair, his pitch black robes flowing around him rather heavily, “there were certain…events before your holiday. Certain events that I will not allow to happen again.” He glanced around the room once more, Charlotte tensing a bit in her seat as his eyes landed on her. “It is because of these events that the governors of the school and I feel it most productive and prudent to keep you separated by houses, years, and last names. That way…we can easily keep track of you all when in large groups. Any student or Professor,” Charlotte noticed Professors Flitwick, McGonagall, and Sprout shift a bit uneasily at her words, “caught disobeying these new rules will pay severely.” Those eyes of his raked the Great Hall once more, every single one of the students looking back at him with a mixture of fear and confusion on their faces. “That is all,” he finished slowly, sinking back into his chair as the food appeared on their plates.

It took some time after his speech that the students talked once more, and even then, they kept far away from the topic of what was going on and how much they disliked the dark place that Hogwarts had become. They knew with the new Headmaster came new rules and ways of doing things, but they had never imagined things would be taken this far. The dinner passed by quickly, but in that time, Charlotte had managed to find Theodore in the crowd, looking curiously at her. She glanced to Jackson, who sat not too far away from where she was, to her brother, and to Draco, hoping she have given them enough hints that they knew what she was about to do.

She swallowed hard as the “Aurors” and the Carrow’s guided the students, by house, to their Common Rooms. Once the Slytherin Common Room door rumbled shut behind the students, they finally felt they could relax a bit, but they still knew that eyes would be watching them where ever they went. They had to be careful of what they did or said, because they could be the next ones to get into serious trouble. The students, the Slytherins at least, openly welcomed the comfort of their Common Room and it’s dark, black and green décor. It was something constant for them, something not even those dreadful Carrow’s or even Snape could change.

“So, how was your holiday, Jackson?” Charlotte asked softly, noticing that Theodore, for whatever reason, was keeping a distance between the two of them, even after they were permitted to mingle together. Jackson merely gave a shrug and shook his head a bit.

“I was as good as I could have expected it to be,” he murmured softly, yet didn’t return the question. It was obvious that he had heard about what happened to her parents and didn’t want to bring up such a sore subject with her. He merely offered her a small smile and nodded a bit. “Are you excited about Quidditch starting back up again?” He asked. Charlotte smiled genuinely over at him.

“Oh definitely,” she said softly, thankful for the switching of topics, “especially now that…” She let her voice die off a bit and merely let out a small laugh, shaking her head a bit. Jackson frowned a bit in confusion and carefully looked over Charlotte’s face.

“‘Now that’ what?” He asked slowly, cutting his eyes at her. Before Charlotte could dodge the question or coming up with a disguise for her joy at finally being back on speaking terms with Draco, Daphne came storming into the Common Room, sobbing hysterically. The room hushed suddenly as she stopped in front of Charlotte, sneering at the blonde through her tears.

“You slut,” she hissed, pointing a finger at her. Charlotte noticed the bracelet, her bracelet, was missing from the girl’s wrist. “I hope you’re happy,” she spat before turning on heel and marching out of the room, presumably to go cry it out in her dormitory. Draco casually waltzed into the Common Room only moments later, cradling a rather red looking cheek in his hand, while a platinum bracelet dangled in the other. He shot a look to Charlotte, who merely returned the look with a bashful sort of smile before turning and looking back at Jackson. The boy glanced between the two of them and his jaw dropped a bit.

“Wait a tick, you two? You…you…” He stumbled for his words a bit, shaking his head as he realized what had gone on over their Christmas holidays. “You didn’t, Charlotte,” he said softly, almost sounding a bit disapproving of her decision. Charlotte let out a heavy sigh and merely nodded, knowing exactly why he sounded so disappointed with her.

“I know, I know,” she said softly, looking over at Jackson, “but now I’ve got my end of the deal to uphold and everything will become so much easier when I do.” Jackson merely shot her a look, not saying a word. Charlotte offered him a small smile and nodded a bit. “I promise, Jack. It’ll work out just fine,” she added in a whisper, wanting to believe the words herself but the moments the word left her mouth, the slight discomfort she had for the situation flared.

Theodore made damn sure that Charlotte got no where near him the next couple of days, barely even making eye contact with her. It was as if he knew what was coming and was holding off on greeting it. Charlotte thought it was quite cowardly, but she really couldn’t blame him. She’d done the same thing on a few occasions. However, it was keeping Charlotte from being officially single once more. She was itching to put that charm bracelet Draco had given her back on and the ring that Theodore had given her only a month or so ago was weighing heavily on her finger.

The next few days revealed just how awry things had gotten at Hogwarts. The students were escorted from class to class, marching in single file lines down the hallways. What once was free time had been changed into silent study hours and Quidditch practices were being strictly monitored. Worst of all, Charlotte thought, was that if a student was given a detention, the Carrow’s were put in charge of it and a few select students were given the chance to inflict the Cruciatus Curse on the offending student. To think that a poor first or second year who had merely been out of sorts and naïve had been given that sort of punishment made Charlotte’s stomach turn uneasily.

Finally, one night, the Slytherin Common Room, which was a safe haven of sorts for the students, cleared spare Charlotte and Theodore. They were at opposite ends of the room, working on the deluge of homework the professors were piling on the students in the hopes of keeping them busy and out of trouble. Eventually, Charlotte looked up from her work and noticed Theodore was staring directly at her. The look he had in those turquoise eyes of his would haunt her forever. Her body moved on it’s own accord, her mind screaming at her to stop and remain seated. Those long legs of hers propelled her forward and over to the couch he sat on. His eyes remained locked on hers as her heart thumped hard in her chest, as if it were screaming to be in another body, to belong to someone else. It was like it wanted to be in the body of someone sweeter, someone who didn’t break someone else spirit, someone who didn’t have to kill to stay alive. Charlotte stopped in front of him, her arms resting limply at her sides as the fireplaces crackled on.

“Theodore,” she started in a soft voice, afraid of what his reaction was going to be to the news she was about to deliver. “I-” Theodore merely gave the smallest, imperceptible nod, stopping her words right there. He held a shaky hand out toward her and Charlotte let out a heavy sigh, her heart still up in her throat and protesting against any sort of movement she was going to make. Slowly, Charlotte reached her other hand to the ring finger on her left hand, pulling off the beautiful ring that Theodore had given her and wordlessly placed it into his palm. He merely looked down at the ring and brought it back to him, holding it between his index finger and thumb. Suddenly, he let out a bitter, unexpected laugh.

“It’s funny, Charlotte,” he said softly, shaking his head as the ring glittered in the dim light provided by the green lanterns in the room, “the way one’s heart will betray the mind.” He shook his head a bit and looked up at the beautiful woman that stood before him. She had placed a hand over her heart, her brow furrowed sympathetically as her eyes bore into his. “It was just a prank when we started this, when I gave you this ring,” he murmured, placing the ring back into his pocket before bringing his eyes back up to hers. “I really hadn’t intended to fall in love with you,” he whispered, his eyes growing a bit watery. Charlotte swallowed hard as her own eyes filled with tears.

“I…I had even,” he shook his head, letting out a watery laugh, “I had even imagined us growing old together, starting a family, getting away from England for a while.” Charlotte shook her head a bit squeezing her eyes shut as tears dripped slowly down her cheeks.

“Don’t,” she breathed, a frown inevitably curling those clover-shaped lips of hers downward, “please don’t make this any harder for me than it needs to be, Theodore.” He drew in a shaky breath of air and shook his head a bit; pursing his lips as he looked away from her, feeling like he didn’t know what he’d do if he looked at her again. He seemed to be thinking things over for a moment or two before giving a small nod, as if conceding to something.

“I hope he can make you happy, Charlotte,” he said softly, slowly bringing his eyes to hers. “I hope he can give you the family you want. I hope he can love you as deeply as you love him.” Instead of letting Charlotte say anything in return to him, he merely gathered his things, placed them into his side bag, and silently left the room. Charlotte watched his back thinking that another chapter had closed in her life. Another would be opening soon, but she wasn’t sure if it was going to be as pleasant as she hoped it would be.