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HARLOW OPENED HER EYES, she squinted at the light that streamed in from the window. her eyes were slowly adjusting to the light. she looked around the dorm room, she was alone, not one person was there. not anthony, not zacharias, and not cedric.
cedric. the name ran through her head. she had remembered last night. her arrival on her doorstep late in the night, him wiping the tears off her face, and the gentle kiss of his lips on her forehead
the door opened, cedric walked in, he saw harlow sitting up in his bed. his grey comforter that wrapped around her waist and covered her legs. in his hands he held coffee and a bagel in his hand.
"hey," he greeted.
"hi."
"so, how you feeling?" he asked.
"better." she replied.
he handed her the coffee and the bagel he had in his hand, harlow put them on the side table next to cedric's bed. "do you wanna tell me about it? did anthony do something? i swear to god i'll beat his-"
harlow grinned at him, "no. well, not entirely."
"then what?" he inquired.
"did you know what yesterday was?" she asked.
he's face dropped into a frown, "i didn't want to mention it-"
"so yes?" she asked, he hesitated but nodded.
"i had a dream." she told him, "about the night my parents died."
"lo-" he reached out his hand and rubbed her upper arm for only a moment.
"the thing was, looking back at it, it felt as if it was more of a memory than a dream."
he furrowed his eyebrows and locked eyes with her, "how so?"
"i remember everything from that night, ced. every horrifying part." harlow said looking down.
"id talk to dumbledore about it." cedric said.
"i don't know, maybe." she took a deep breath, "ced?"
she looked back up into his eyes, "yeah?"
"i'm sorry." she apologized.
"for what?"
"i should've listened to you about anthony, you were right. i saw him kissing another girl last night" she muttered, feeling embarrassed at admitting he had been right all this time.
"lo, i never wanted to be right about him," he comforted "but i know him, he's never not played a girl."
"i should've listened, though." harlow looked down again. "it was silly for me to think that he'd actually like someone like me."
"hey," he grabbed her chin, forcing her to look back up at him. "there is nothing wrong with being someone like you."
he let go of her chin, he could tell she didn't believe him. it hurt him to see her like this, he realized how broken she really was. how much she let what happened to her parents affect her, how much guilt she had for what happened, and how she never felt as if she was good enough.
"if it wasn't for dumbledore telling you to look after me, you wouldn't have even taken a second look at me." spat harlow.
"that's not true lo, anyone would be idiotic to not take a second look at you. i mean you're-" he paused. "you're brilliant."
their eyes were locked to each other's, she was silent. staring at him, cedric broke eye contact and looked at her lips then back up at her. tension building between the two of them.
she was beautiful even then, her lips slightly swelled from the tears she had cried the night before and her bare face that she had cried all of the makeup off.
he flinched back and laughed awkwardly, "so have any other unfortunate events happen to you?"
"well, to top things off i think my brother's been avoiding me." she told him.
"it's fine darling, you don't need him anyways, i'm much better." he joked.
harlow laughed and smiled, the smile lit up her entire face. he couldn't remember the last time he had seen her smile like that.
"anyways, where are your roommates?" she asked him "i wanna leave before anthony comes back."
he gave her a sympathetic look, "honestly? they're probably both shacking up with some random fourth year girl in their dorm rooms. that gives you a few hours."
"and why didn't you go to some random fourth year girl?" she asked.
"doesn't matter, I've still managed to get a girl in my bed, i'm just that good." he teased.
"sure you are," she laughed.
"yes, i am. it's all about manifestation love." he joked.
ϟ
harlow walked up to dumbledore's office door, she changed into jeans and a sweatshirt. the door opened up to see him and professor snape standing in the middle of the room, talking. they both stopped mid-conversation and stared at her.
"sorry, i can come back-" she said.
"no, no, miss potter come in." dumbledore welcomed. dumbledore took a seat at his desk and motioned for her to sit in the chair opposite to him. professor snape stood behind the door observing them.
"this may sound really strange, but i talked to cedric diggory about it and he suggested i come to you," she rambled.
he nodded, "about?"
"i had a dream last night," she told him, "about my parents death."
snape's attention peaked and he stared at her, although she couldn't see him. she could feel his eyes on her, as his gaze was going to burn through the back of her head.
dumbledore gave him a confused look, "a nightmare, miss potter? what assistance would you like me to offer you?"
harlow began to fidget with her sleeves, "but it wasn't a nightmare. it wasn't made up, it was like a memory. i remember everything from that night now."
dumbledore looked at snape for guidance, "you're saying that you think something made you remember that night?"
harlow shrugged, "i'm not sure, maybe."
snape walked towards dumbledore's desk and stood next to him, "i know a few potions that could have that effect." he paused, "i also know that if you remembered that night specifically, someone wanted you to remember it."
dumbledore furrowed his eyebrows, "you don't mean that someone would want harlow to remember that."
"actually, that's exactly what i mean. they could've slipped something in her food or water."
"is that possible, miss potter? could someone have put something in anything you were eating or drinking when you weren't paying attention yesterday."
harlow remembered last night, zoning out when seeing cedric. she remembered how she wasn't paying any attention to her drink or the people passing her buy.
harlow gave him a faint nod, "do you think this could be connected to the heir of slytherin and the chamber?"
"i'm not sure, it surely can't be a coincidence that someone slips you a potion weeks after mrs. norris gets attacked."
