Memories...

[kris]

Kris looked up towards the sky as if watching the stars. But actually Kris didn’t see the stars, nor the Forbidden Forest looming close by nor eve the mist that had fallen onto the ground. All his thought were turned inside and nothing else mattered. Today the life of a 10 year old had been shattered to pieces. Mind-pictures flashed through his head. His father teaching Kris how to swim, how to ride a bike, how to run so it wouldn’t take too much energy, teaching him how to carve wood, how to fence, showing a young kid how to place his fingers on a guitar. Fragments of all the times Kris had shared with his father flashed through his mind. And the empty and cold void inside him hurt after recalling each some memory fragment.

Kris’s hands that had been strumming a lullaby on his guitar and now his fingers took a sharp accord which seemed to upset the little silvery vixen curled up at his feet.
Kris murmured softly and slipping into a different song sang softly to calm the small animal:
”Take the ribbon from your hair, shake it loose and let it fall,
Layin’ soft upon my skin. Like the shadows on the wall.

Come and lay down by my side till the early morning light
All I’m takin’ is your time. Help me make it through the night.
I don’t care what’s right or wrong, I don’t try to understand.
Let the devil take tomorrow. Lord, tonight I need a friend.

Yesterday is dead and gone and tomorrow’s out of sight.
And it’s sad to be alone. Help me make it through the night.
I don’t care what’s right or wrong,
I don’t try to understand.
Let the devil take tomorrow. Lord, tonight I need a friend.

Yesterday is dead and gone and tomorrow’s out of sight.
Lord, it’s bad to be alone. Help me make it through the night.”<br>

It had been one of his fathers favorite songs. One he had used to sing Kris to sleep at evenings. Kris still missed his father. Missed him more than words could ever say, even though it rarely showed.
Kris looked around himself, not minding the silvery rain that was washing down on him. The vixen was curled up at his feet, the thestrals sleeping around.
Everything in the whole seemed to be holding it’s breath and completely still. Even the giant squid didn’t move in the lake. Kris sighed – he had gone to classes today and with crossed teeth had bared them all even though he had snapped at absolutely everyone today for no obvious reasons. And Kris knew he wouldn’t catch any sleep tonight, even though it was already midnight. Today he would watch the night, as an old saying went. "Help me make it through the night," Kris whisered the last line of the song tiredly.

Kris groaned and pushing his fingers into his hair rubbed his eyes and temples tiredly. He would go on in the morning as if none of the heart-ache he felt this night had ever existed. At least he would never show any of it to others. But right now his mind was at turmoil and Kris hated it. He couldn’t help it, but he hated the feeling none the less.

[rosewood]

The grounds were lit only by the light from the stars as Julie walked across the grounds to the same place she and Harry had had their little adventure at the beginning of the year when they had run across the grounds with the rain falling down on them. It had been the first time she had begun to feel something for Harry, the first time for her to actually feel that way about a boy in her whole life. But today, as she walked on the grounds all be herself, with only her thoughts as a companion, she wondered if that really was a blessing or not. True, Harry had mad her change in ways no-one else had been able too, had made her feel stronger and braver and the way he made her feel safe and protected was wonderful. But her father's letters had scared her. He had told her to be careful around Harry and that everyone who got close to him usually got into danger. But Julie had replied that she wasn't scared, and that being with someone like Harry was worth getting herself into danger. Today though she wanted some time by herself away from everyone to think, although there was one person she would have liked to talk to. That person was her mother.

Julie hadn’t missed her mother for a long time. She was a cheerful person by nature and after all her mother had died when she was four, so she didn’t remember all that much about her. Her father was a kind and loving man who had chosen not to marry after her mother's death, and had doted constantly on his daughter giving her all his love and care. She and her father and her maternal grandmother lived together and both of them had loved her very much and Julie had never felt like she was missing much or that the absence of her mother from her life had made her life more difficult than everyone else. But this year so much had happened and she didn't feel comfortable discussing all of it with her father. She was angry at herself because there had never been any secrets between them and that was why she had chosen today to walk on her own in the grounds and think a bit without the chatter of her friends or anything else to distract her. More than anything she was confused at this strange illogical yearning for her mother.

As she walked on and reached the place she heard the sound of a guitar and the sound of someone singing not far from where she was standing. She listened till the singer finished the song, enthralled by his raspy voice and the words of the song. It was strange how much she felt she could hear the same yearning in it that she felt in her heart. She was touched when the boy repeated the last line in his normal voice and decided to join him. She walked up to him trying to make a little noise so he wouldn’t be startled by her sudden appearance. She stood beside him and smiled. "Hello," she said in a low voice. "You have a lovely voice, and that was a lovely song. I've never heard it before," she said. Some people might think she was being too forward, but that was Julie. She said what she thought and wasn't shy around people she was meeting for the first time. She also felt the boy might be glad to have someone to talk to after she heard what he had said after finishing the song.

[kris]

Kris stared out on the lake. It was still rather early or late, whichever way it would be looked at– a good couple of hours would still be left before morning came. Kris shifted himself to sit in a more comfortable position and leaning his head back against the tree.
Kris became aware of someone approaching him a couple of moments later and his head snapped towards the girl who had approached him at the same moments she addressed him. Kris’s face turned into an emotionless mask as he took in the girl coldly. “Did you want something?” Kris asked harshly glancing towards the vixen who shied under his knees and the thestrals who stood up at Kris’s tone. Kris wondered with a smirk if the girl could see thestrals – if she did it might have been quite freaking to see the huge animals crowded around you.

It was a quiet voice from Dana, who was curled up and sleeping under Kris’s cloak with only some strands of black hair showing that made Kris lower his voice a little. The tone stayed icily acid though: “As far as I recall you weren’t invited were you. And I wouldn’t take a step back right now, if I were you. The thestral really hates being stepped upon.”<br>Kris raised his hand and petted the nose of one of the females as the stallion behind the girl’s back made a high-pitched noise.
Kris glanced at the girl with a sneer on his face. He hated showing when he was hurt or tired and today Kris was confused. And even hurt a small voice whispered in his head, even though Kris pointedly ignored it.

The girl seemed somehow familiar. Wasn’t she… “You’re that girl who hang around Wonder-kid,” Kris sneered coldly. Recognizing the girl didn’t make her company any more pleasurable. And if she hadn’t guessed Kris’s house by now, then this comment most surely would get her leaving.
Pulling a ferret Kris invited the stallion from behind Julie’s back to him, so the girl would have free way to leave.

[rosewood]

"No I didn't, I just wanted to stand here by the lake, I like it here," she said, carefully keeping any sarcasm out of her voice. She was slightly taken aback by the boy's gruff manner that eerily reminded her of Savannah. Not for six years though had she been Savannah's friend without learning something: a lot of people's barks hurt much more than their bites. Julie's father had always told her she was like a duck in the rain, insults just rolled off her back without hurting her. Julie was also given to trusting people too much and always giving them the benefit of the doubt. The boy was sulky and she was in a similar mood herself, only she didn’t want to take it out on people, and that was why she had come out here by herself at this hour, so she could think things over for a while in the stillness and feel better about it the next day. Besides, she had just heard him sing. She knew better than to think he was mean because it was his nature, perhaps he was just sad.

"I don’t think I stepped on it, if I had it would have certainly bitten me," said Julie. "Thanks for letting me know there are Threstrals here by the way," she added. She jumped and walked over so she was standing nearer to the lake, startled by the sudden movement of the Threstal which she couldn’t see. "For your information it's a free country and a free school, so why not give yourself a break and stop trying to make me leave? Girls can come up with a lot of babble that bores boys to death, so you're better off not trying to make me leave because I came out here to enjoy the quiet in a place I like very much and I don't intend to leave," she said. All this was said in a matter-of fact voice with no annoyance evident in it at all. Julie was a very even-tempered person and her temper had a very long fuse.

His next words made her hackles rise though and when she next spoke it was not with the same tone as before. A glint entered her eyes and she crossed her arms across her chest as she looked at the boy in the eye. "Yes, I do hang a lot around Wonder-kid, is that a crime? People tend to enjoy spending a lot of time together when they like each other, perhaps you have not been so fortunate to like someone or have someone like you?" she said with a raised eyebrow. It wasn't like Julie to be so quick on the defence but he had touched a nerve. She pushed angrily at a strand of her long hair that had come lose when she jumped. No-one had ever insulted Harry in front of her before and he was in her mind at the moment but still her reaction startled her a little. She hadn’t been aware how much it might annoy her if someone said something insulting in front of her about Harry. She wondered where on earth the boy had come up with the stupid name. Harry had to put up with enough as it was, why couldn’t people see how much he cared about his community and was trying to save it?

[kris]

Kris stared at the girl. She was correct about one thing – her never-ceasing babbling was grating Kris’s nerves. Kris finished feeding the ferret to the male thestral and patted it’s long neck as it stood next to him. The animals were surprisingly smart – and this little herd was loyal as well. They had practically adopted Kris as one of them and right now the stallion was eyeing the girl warily, even though the foul and females turned back to sleep.
“I didn’t let you know to help you actually. I just didn’t want the animals to having to put up with you,” Kris sneered arrogantly at the girl as her tone changed, causing Kris to smirk, “Oh, did I hurt your feelings?” Kris smirked – the girl had stressed the word Wonder-kid, amusing Kris. He hadn’t even came up with the name himself – his cousin had. Because they didn’t know Potter personally they couldn’t really call him Harry. And Dana had stated that calling him Potter had made her feel too much like Snape. So out came Wonder-kid.
But as the word had seemed to annoy the girl – Kris didn’t have a clue what her name might be – Kris decided to use the name Slytherins usually used about Potter: “Maybe you should just run along back to the castle now? Wouldn’t want the-boy-who-just-wouldn’t-die get all heroic and come rescuing you know, would we?”<br>
Kris eyed the girl moodily. She had picked a bad day to approach him and Kris most certainly wasn’t part of Wonder-kid’s fan club. Maybe his words had been hurtful enough to make the girl stomp away. It would actually be rather amusing if she would tell Wonder-kid, so he would try to protect her against harmful words.

[rosewood]

"I wouldn't expect you to even begin to understand about feelings, like I said it seems as if someone like you could never find someone to like them or even feel love for someone else. I wondered why you were sad when I came here, but I'm not surprised you are. Someone like you probably spends most of their life miserable," said Julie with her eyes narrowed. The boy hadn’t finished though and once again he mocked Harry infuriating her even more.

"Oh, and what exactly do I need him to protect me against? A boy with an insolent attitude who comes up with stupid names and thinks they're going to hurt people? Or perhaps the boy who thinks he owns the grounds and no-one can stand next to him even if they don't say a word? Because you know neither sound like they need protection from. And Harry doesn’t protect me and other people from just anybody – he protects us from Voldemort as I'm sure you know even if you won’t admit it," she said heatedly. Her usually calm voice was loud and filled with fury and sarcasm, which was again very unlike her. Insulting her boyfriend certainly had driven her to do something she usually never did, and that was to try to hurt and cut someone. She stared at him for a minute after she finished, breathing heavily. Why did he have to bring Harry into this?

In the moment of silence she thought of all she had said, and how she had just met a person for the first time and then judged him and told him she thought he wasn't someone anybody could like. She lowered her eyes from his. "I'm sorry," she said suddenly. "No, I'm not," she said contradicting herself when she saw the emotionless expression on his face. "At least, I said a lot of things I might not have meant, and I'm not going to stand here and continue arguing with you. It's not something I like doing. I'll go now," she said, shaking her head confused by the whole situation, disappointed at herself and not too happy at how the fight had ended. She walked across the shore slowly with the wind blowing at her hair; she walked that way instead of straight ahead so she could make sure she wasn't going to end up bumping into a Threstal on her way back to the school.

[kris]

Kris smirked as the girl started lecturing him about feelings. It was because of feelings Kris was out here tonight. The memories of his father still haunted him from time to time. A quick glance towards Dana softened Kris a little – the Ravenclaw was practically a sister and as such Kris adored her.
“Who said other people need protection from Voldemort?” Kris asked with an icy whisper. He would never join Voldemort’s Death Eaters himself, but that didn’t mean Kris would help Wonder-kid and his side as well. Wonder-kid really was too… Gryffindor-ish for Kris’s taste. And his behavior was reckless more often than not.

Kris watched the girl go without any sad feelings. The meeting would have been awkward if not less, if Kris had been in tolerable mood. But right now Kris was glad to watch her go. Except for the fact that she was heading away from the castle.
“Don’t forget it’s full moon today and werewolves are dangerous,” Kris stated calmly after the girl’s back and added with a lazy drawl, “Wouldn’t want you to bother me again with screaming. Besides blood is too bothersome to get out of silk as would be talking to Dumbeldore should you be hurt.”<br>
Turning his eyes back to the lake, Kris’s fingers found the guitar strings once again, making the instrument sing out.
“She was trying to help you know,” Dana’s voice was muffled by yawns and Kris’s cloak over her, “No reason to be so harsh. And remind me to kill you when I can move again. Sleeping on bare ground is murderous. I’m sure to have bluish-black spots all over my side.”<br>“I AM a Slytherin for a reason. And nobody forced you to come outside,” Kris answered quietly his fingers strumming a lullaby on the guitar to help Dana fall asleep again. Kris knew that it wouldn’t be nice if too little sleep would force a Ravenclaw to miss classes. Especially with O.W.L.s coming.
Kris looked out to the lake somehow feeling a bit better. Life went on as it should. Kris grinned lightly – he wouldn’t get any sleep tonight, but with the midnight having already passed, he slowly started to feel better.
And of course – that annoying girl wasn’t chirping around anymore either. Kris really wasn’t up for any company today.

[rosewood]

Julie turned and looked at the boy who still had things to say. When she had heard him out she wished she hadn't. Everything he said surprised her; she had never seen someone who could think like that. Someone who was so ungrateful and proud he didn’t know how much Harry had suffered and what it is like to have to face Voldemort. How could he think people didn’t need protection from him? There was no wizarding family that had not lost beloved ones at the hand of Voldemort and his followers, no family that had not suffered because of his cruelty. Did that not mean something to him? She stared at him with surprise and hurt in her eyes and then realised what she was doing and looked down.

His words had rendered her speechless. She wished she had never come out here in the first place. She turned away from him and whoever he had been talking to as she heard him whispering something to someone next to him and walked straight ahead on her way, wanting to run but not wanting to appear weak so compromising and just walking briskly. When he said she should watch out for werewolves Julie wanted to look back and ask him what on earth was he talking about, there were no werewolves at Hogwarts anyway, but thought better of it. He would probably have something nasty to say had she done so. She wondered why someone hurt lashed out at a girl he didn’t even know. Even if he was a Slytherin, she had complimented his singing and only wanted to talk to him as he had said he wanted to be able to pass the night. She had thought he wanted company but she knew now she had been mistaken. Even his companion was fast asleep and maybe she should try and get some sleep herself. She wished she wouldn't be able to hear him as she went on her away but the stillness made his voice echo so that she would be able to hear him quite clearly if he addressed her again.