Remember Me

Harry…

The disembodied, snake-like voice wove its way into the dream. The darkness rose, surrounded him as he searched, uselessly for the way out, to escape…

Listen to me Harry…

And the voice was louder than anything he had heard before, battering his eardrums, pressing the words deep into his brain.

Harry, have you realised all I can give you? All you ever wanted…

Harry fought, uselessly at the dream, willing himself to wake up, struggling not to become hypnotised by the hissing voice.

All you have ever wanted, and all you will ever want, I can give you…You will be a son to me, a family…we have never known family, have we…

The voice caught hold of Harry, and he was trapped in the coils of a large snake which was speaking softly into Harry’s ear. No, Harry thought, struggling in his prison. No, you don’t know…you’ll never know. Pain was building up all around him, all consuming pain.

People you trust lie to you Harry, they do not tell you everything…I would never do that…I would share everything with you, and we will not be like those fools…fools believing in the prophecy…

Nothing was making sense anymore, the pain was too great and he cried out in agony, and still the snake did not let him go.

It will stop, all the pain you have ever known will stop if you just tell me the prophecy…

Prophecy? The word stirred in his brain, he knew it was important…

Yes, yes…just tell me…just share with me, and no one shall be harmed. I would never hurt anyone you love again…you will be like a son to me, I shall be as a father, the family you never knew…just share with me Harry…share the prophecy…

A family. He had never had one. The idea shone through the burning, terrible pain. A family…people to love and guide him…

Just say yes Harry, all you have do to is say yes…and everything you want, everything you dream will be true…

And the snake didn’t seem to be a prison anymore, the scales felt soft and comforting as Harry rested his cheek against it.

And there was nothing in his mind, nothing but the soft, gentle, caressing voice that echoed inside.

Let me in Harry, tell me the prophecy, and everyone shall be saved…

Everyone shall be saved. Yes…wasn’t that what he wanted, in the end? The prophecy meant nothing to him anymore. If he told it, then Ron, Hermione, the Weasley’s…they would be safe for ever.

But…safe from what?

It was as if a small, subdued voice was screaming at him from the deepest depths of his brain, and Harry tried to drown it out, it was annoying in the soothing darkness.
And the snake was slithering in the darkness, spare coils gliding over the floor.

Slithering.

The small voice was screaming it, but it didn’t make sense.

Slithering.

And the hypnotic voice broke and Harry screamed as everything came rushing back to him. Slithering…Slytherin…Snake…Voldemort…

The soothing caressing voice exploded in fury as Harry battered against the darkness with all his might, and suddenly the snake disappeared and other images came to Harry in the darkness.

Ron’s body, covered in blood and torn…Hermione, pale and still, a trickle of blood falling down her forehead…Ron screaming and writhing in agony…Hermione unconscious, a silver blade at her throat.

“No…”

Ron and Hermione, blood pouring from their bodies
.
“No…No…”

Tell me the prophecy…

“I WON’T!”

The dream shattered as Harry wrenched himself awake. His scar throbbed painfully as he stared, wild-eyed around the dormitory.

Ron, Seamus, Dean and Neville were clustered round his bed, looking worried as Harry lay there panting.

“Harry,” said Seamus. “Are you alright?”

Harry could only look at Ron, feeling relieved that he was healthy, trying to ignore the picture that he had just seen of his best friends.

“Fine,” he muttered, rubbing his scar. “Sorry…bad dream.”

As they drifted away, Ron bent his white, scared-looking face towards Harry.

“What did you see? Was it You-Know-Who again?”

Harry nodded.

“So what did you see? Anyone we know?”

Harry could understand Ron’s concern, his fear that Harry would one day see Voldemort hurting a member of his family. But he shook his head. “It…I dunno, it wasn’t like that.” He shivered as the memory of the great snake that had held him came back. “He was…speaking to me.”

Ron’s blue eyes grew wider. “Speaking to you? You-Know-Who?”

Harry pushed his face into his hands. “He wants to know the prophecy. He knows I know it, and he’s trying to get the information out of me.”

They were both silent for a while. Harry was shaking.

“Harry…” said Ron slowly.

“I’m not going to tell anyone,” he replied, looking up again. “They’ll just make me do more Occulmency lessons, and a fat lot of help they’ll be.” Ron looked unconvinced and opened his mouth, but Harry swung his legs out of bed and headed to the shower room.

I can give you everything you ever wanted Harry…

Don’t think about it, he told himself. Don’t worry…

*

“Cassandra, are you alright?”

Cassandra blinked sleep out of her eyes and focused on Hermione.

“What?”

“You were yelling.”

It was just like being with Debbie again. Cassandra sighed inwardly as she sat up. “Bad dream. It’s nothing.”

Hermione sat down at the end of her four-poster, looking unconvinced. “You were screaming last night too. Is everything okay?”

Damn.

Cassandra gave a laugh and changed the subject. “You’re too nice, Hermione. If Voldemort came round to your house, you’d probably invite him in for some shortbread, and he’d be so surprised he wouldn’t do anything. But then he’d kill you in the end, cause it turns out he doesn’t like shortbread and only eats Ginger Newts.”

Hermione shook her head, half-laughing, half-frowning. “What are you going on about?”

“Don’t worry.”

Cassandra got ready and climbed out of the portrait hole for breakfast.

Hermione was right. She had been having the dream again. The dream where anger filled her up, burning her body with rage. And then…it went. And loss and hurt took its place.
At least she knew now why Hermione had made friends with her, she thought, walking down the marble staircase. Cassandra had overheard Hermione arguing with Harry and Ron about her, saying how they should show a better example to others and help Cassandra settle in. Ron hadn’t seemed very keen, and Harry took his side.

Still, once they had started talking, she found that she and Hermione got on really well together.

One friend she had made in this place.

Debbie kept writing, asking her all about Hogwarts. What could she say? Explain about all the lessons? Most of them were either boring or really hard work. Potions especially, that slimy-nosed Professor sneering at the bubbling surface of her potion, without even bothering to help or say what should be done to it.

What a brilliant teacher he was.

Cassandra entered the Great Hall and saw Dean and Seamus, devouring sausages at the Gryffindor table, beckoning to her.

“Hey, Cass.”

“Hi Dean,” Cassandra replied, pulling a bowl of muesli towards her. Anything to eat healthily.
“Are you still aching from last Defence class?” asked Seamus. “I am, look.” He pulled up his robe sleeve and showed her a purple bruise on his elbow. She looked at it, unimpressed.

“That’s nothing, when Hannah did the jinx to me I flew straight into the wall. Got a huge lump on my head and everything.” She grinned at Seamus. “I think that beats your bruise.”

He shrugged, and started waving at two people that had just entered the hall. They sat down opposite Dean and Cassandra held back a sigh when she saw who it was.

“Okay, Weasley, let’s get this over with,” she said, pushing her bowl of cereal away and raising her eyebrows at Ron. “Just insult me or ignore me, because frankly, it’s getting pretty boring now and I’m sick of it. And all this ‘she’s not there’ business is really annoying and shows that you have absolutely no feelings at all because otherwise you wouldn’t be doing it. So start and let’s get it over with.”

Ron glowered. “I’m a Prefect you know!”

Cassandra froze, her silver-grey eyes resting on him for a moment before she threw back her head and laughed. Ron’s hands curled into fists and his ears turned pink.

“So what are you gonna do, give me a detention?” Cassandra giggled.

“I could.”

“Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I’ve already got a detention. With that Potion’s master person.” She turned round to speak to Dean. “I said he looked like one of the pictures in my Defence Against the Dark Arts book. Look, that one,” Cassandra took her textbook out and showed them the page. Their laughter echoed around the room. Cassandra flashed Ron a grin and said, “Ron looks like…”

But she couldn’t finish her sentence or show them the picture as the post caused a disturbance, the owls soaring around the hall, one of them landing in Cassandra’s unfinished muesli.

She turned back to Ron, her cloud of blonde hair whipping Dean around the face. “I am so sick of you Ron. If you won’t accept my apology then I wish you’d just leave me alone!”
Cassandra stood up, and then did one of her starling changes into politeness. “See you in Charms Dean. Bye!”

“Blimey,” whispered Ron to Harry, watching Cassandra storm away. “Blimey…it’s not as if I actually did anything.”

Harry watched Cassandra’s bright head bobbing up and down as she left the hall, and had to agree.