PHANTOM FIGURES | harry potter

SUMMER OF '95

     Aunt Margaret noticed the second Aspen stepped off the Hogwarts Express that something had happened.

     She wasn't sure what - Aspen didn't speak much - but she recognized that her niece was acting differently.

     For starters, there wasn't the annual phone call from Micah Ramirez-Moore where Margaret could hear him screaming through the telephone. (Aspen suspected Jasmine prevented him from doing so).

     Aspen also spent a lot of her time holed up in her bedroom, only coming downstairs to eat meals or use the television. She had dark circles under her eyes as if she hadn't slept in weeks (unbeknownst to Margaret, she hadn't), and she never seemed to sit alone with her thoughts, there was always either a book shoved in her face, music blasting in her headphones, or the television playing from across the coffee table. On the rare occasion where Aspen didn't have anything to keep herself occupied, she would find herself slipping into the black hole known as her mind. She tried to distract herself as much as possible, because every time she thought about the third task she wanted to crawl into a hole and never exist again. All of her memories from that night felt like weapons used against her.

     Within the first week of being back in Windsor, Aspen was granted the gift of a new neighbour. Apparently the house was on the market since the end of April and was only just sold in early July, the previous owners struggled getting any interest.

     A couple in their early fifties moved in along with their only son, who luckily for Aspen, was around her age. Margaret was eager to greet them with a home cooked meal since their appliances weren't working yet. Whilst the adults were discussing the neighbourhood and nearby schools, Aspen took it upon herself to speak with their son.

     His name was Alexander and even though he was considered an adult in the Wizarding World (a community which he was not aware of), he still had the maturity of a fourth-year. His personality made it easy for Aspen to convince him to come over and hang out with her despite being two years younger.

     Alexander was a nice guy, he played football, helped around the house, but he was also incredibly cocky. He liked to spend his time playfully flirting with Aspen, to which she would always roll her eyes at. He was used to getting all the girls he ever wanted and found it exhilarating when Aspen acted the complete opposite of them, he viewed it as a challenge.

     Aspen viewed Alexander as a sort of diversion to her thoughts. After returning from Hogwarts she had done a lot of self reflection. She realised she might have developed a tiny crush on Harry throughout the school year. Alexander and Harry were very different. Alexander had slightly outgrown buzzed blond hair and entrancing dark blue eyes paired with his fair skin due to his Scandinavian background.

     Alexander was drawn to Aspen the moment she stood on his doorstep next to her aunt. She had this haunting, mysterious look to her, like she had really seen some things, that paired well with her exceptional beauty. She also went to a fancy board school that she refused to give him the name of and didn't put up with his antics.

     After many days Aspen now understood what Jasmine meant when she said 'friends who occasionally kiss each other's cheeks' (and maybe a little more.)

     Aspen didn't send many letters, and when she did, they were mostly to Harry since she knew he was feeling the same way as her. One particular day, she was sitting in Alexander's sitting room with him whilst his parents were away at work. His hand was resting on her thigh as her pen met paper (the relief of switching from quills to pens is unreal, Aspen would like to note).