Invisible String

Chapter 06

AMANTHA
It was wonderful weather outside, the sun was high in the sky, and all the other children were already playing outdoors. The summer was unexpectedly warm, without any rain. My hand ran over the dusty shelf filled with my old jewelry. I grabbed them thoughtfully. I left them here in the hope that maybe people wouldn't judge me. And they didn't. This was my old life, in the Muggle world, without friends except Laurie. I didn't miss it, magic is something so special I would die for. Well, this is exaggerated. I hoped that there's a way to prevent myself from my biggest fear- dying. But no. I put my old jewelry back in its usual place. Maybe nothing has changed at all, but also everything. I walked to my desk, which is also covered in dust, and opened the drawer. It's rusted, so I needed more energy in my grip. Finally, it opened after a while with a little more shaking. I took out the notebook the school social worker gave me when I was 8. A slight laugh came out of my throat. I put the classroom on fire after Bobby came into a fight with Laurie- of course because of my magic. The social worker, of course, thought I have aggressive tendencies- oh, the poor orphan who can't behave. I sat there for hours talking to this woman I didn't want to. In the end, she gave me this notebook to release my feelings in another way than hurting others. It lay there for years now, untouched. I sat down at my desk while opening it; unsure if it would help. For the last weeks, I had more often these nightmares. The woman's and Laurie's screams are still haunting me, even at daytime. Is this woman our mother? Just nightmares, just nightmares, Ara. Don't overthink it. I took a pen- oh, how much I missed writing with one- and scribbled everything I remember from this dream down. Both settings were dark, night, I assume. The dream with the woman was settled in something that looked like a dungeon, some chains underlined this. Laurie laid in a dark and empty room. Why do I have the feeling that they won't be the only nightmares? I breathed in deeply. It'll be alright. I took a look at my watch and oh, I'm running late. I grabbed my already packed trunk and a bag for the train ride. As fast as possible, I tried to get down the stairs. I always hated them, but today with this heavy trunk it's even more difficult to not fall down. Laurie already stood there with his arms crossed, staring somewhere, lost in his mind. He did this often during this summer. His hair is perfectly cut short, probably Mrs. Brown's work. I remember when he tried to cut it by himself at Hogwarts- it looked terrible. Finally, I reached him and my brother snaps out of his thoughts. "Ready for a new year?" He smiled and I nodded in agreement. Over the summer we made a deal to stop digging for our parents. They're dead, nothing will change that. I'll need to accept that. "Are you ready going back to your weird school? Do you even have any friends?" Bobby's face came into our view. I'm definitely not gonna miss him. "You know, I made a deal with Dylan." On his face appeared a cryptic smile. "What deal?" Laurie asks bored, before I could. Bobby leans in and tries to whisper mysteriously: "You'll see." This kid gets on my nerves. He probably didn't make a deal at all. I just rolled my eyes and grabbed Laurie's arm to signal him that we'll just leave now. "Wanker," mumbled Laurie under his breath. Immediately I stopped. "Since when do you use such words?" Laurie never cursed, this is new. He just shrugged with the explanation that he deserves it. Shaking my head over him, we wait for Mrs. Brown, who's looking for her car keys. "Found them!" Mrs. Brown's head appeared around the corner and she proudly holds the keys high. "Come on. You don't want to be late!" She already walks out of the door, so we follow her swiftly. Hopefully this won't be a deathly car ride. Maybe Voldemort should try to kill Harry with one of Mrs. Brown's car rides. That would be more successful.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

"No, why would I sit next to them?" I exclaimed, while Laurie crossed his arms. "Because you—" he jabbed a finger at me, "made me sit next to your friends, who, I might add, don't particularly fancy me. So now you're stuck sitting with me and my... companions." I couldn't miss the judgmental undertone in his voice. "But do you even like them? It seems to me you're not exactly friends. Oh, and didn't you complain about how annoying they are?" Now it was my turn to cross my arms. We had been having this argument during the car ride and now on the train. We were the only ones not in one of the compartments. "I realized that I couldn't be friendless all my life. So, do me the favor, please." He stared at me with an unreadable expression, knowing full well that I was going to say yes. He wasn't wrong, and that frustrated me. "Fine," I finally conceded through gritted teeth. Laurie simply nodded and started walking to look for their compartment. My anticipation sank more than I had expected. After we walked in silence, Laurie stopped and opened one of the compartments. "Hello, Draco. Grabbe, Goyle," Laurie greeted the Slytherins and sat across from them. "Hello," I greeted them while avoiding eye contact. "There you are. I was wondering where you were, Lawrence," the Malfoy boy greeted my brother. I slowly sat next to my brother. "We had a little discussion," Laurie explained. Thankfully, they completely ignored me. The blonde-haired boy proudly recounted his summer. I wished we had a family like his. "That was it. Besides some dinners with the minister and other members of the ministry, it was quite boring. How was yours? You didn't even send an owl!" Laurie began to tell him about our summer, without any fancy dinners, while I took out my book. Unlike Laurie, I'm not that academically competitive, so I just read for enjoyment. The Malfoy boy interrupted my thoughts. "What's that?" He pointed at my book, trying to catch sight of the cover. "A book, Malfoy. Never seen one, I assume?" I heard Laurie trying to stifle his laughter with a cough. "You might be surprised, but I have. Is this a Muggle book?" I didn't miss the slight disdain in his voice. "It is. Is there a problem?" I knew I was provoking him, but I couldn't help finding it amusing. His two guardians followed our conversation cluelessly, probably not even knowing what a book was. Laurie, on the other hand, wore a small smile. "Why are you reading a Muggle book when there are books from our world?" I never expected to have a normal conversation with him. "Because, Malfoy, as you may know, we didn't grow up in this world. And I appreciate gifts, so I use them as often as I can. So, this book—" I held it up to his face, "is one of my favorites, and I'll read it until I die. Even though it is a Muggle book." I opened the book again and sighed. This conversation was tedious. Why couldn't I just read what I wanted. "So, Lawrence, do you want to join us this year? It would be fun." Finally, the Malfoy boy turned to my brother, and I could read in peace.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Back in the Gryffindor common room, Hermione and I exchanged our summer experiences. Harry and Ron weren't at the feast, and Hermione told me she couldn't find them on the train either. We started to worry but decided it would be best to stay here and wait. The portrait opened, and Harry and Ron walked in. "Where were you? We started to worry!" Hermione stood up and glanced at them. "Is everything alright? You two look quite horrified," I asked softly. The boys muttered something under their breath. As we sat near the fireplace, they began recounting what happened. "So when we tried to run through the wall, it was hexed or something. Like a normal wall. We couldn't get to the train, and it was already late. Ron had the idea to come here with his father's car. We landed in the tree, you know, the one that moves." Harry explained. I frowned. Why would the wall be hexed? As if someone didn't want them to go to Hogwarts. "Well, it kind of wanted to kill us," Ron said, his voice full of horror. "And it destroyed my wand! Look!" He pulled out his wand to show us. I grimaced at the sight of it. "I think you'll need a new one, Ron," I commented. It was more than just damaged; it was completely ruined. "Mom would kill me!" The Weasley exclaimed. "I think that will be our smallest problem," said Harry more to himself. "And then what happened?" Hermione asked, her disapproval evident. "Well, we wanted to go to the feast, but Snape caught us and scolded us. Thanks to McGonagall and Dumbledore, we didn't get expelled. But now I have detention with Lockhart," Harry sighed. "At least you didn't get expelled!" Of course, Hermione gave them a glare. "Now, I'm going to sleep. I want to be ready for Lockhart's class. Are you coming, Amy?" I nodded, waved goodbye to the boys, and followed Hermione. Unlike her, I doubted the abilities of our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

The first week went by in a blur, and it turned out I was right: Professor Lockhart was not cut out to be a real teacher. Laurie thought the same, so he would study everything by himself. Smart. Laurie and I were sitting together in the library. He was focused on one of his books, his forehead slightly wrinkled, seemingly lost in a different dimension. And I was just staring at the bookshelf, eagerly awaiting Harry's return. His detention with Lockhart seemed to drag on longer than expected. "Come... come to me... let me tear you apart... let me tear you apart... let me kill you." I turned around. „What?" Laurie and I asked, shocked. I glanced around, but all the other students seemed to ignore it, or perhaps they hadn't heard it at all. "What was that?" I asked Laurie, but he just shrugged, equally puzzled. "Something wants to kill..." He stared at the wall behind me. "It was a voice, like a human. But no one here seems to hear it like we did." I whispered to him. Laurie nodded, lost in thought. "I'm going to ask Hermione. Harry must be done by now, I suppose. Maybe they'll know." Laurie nodded and bid me goodbye as I left the library to search for my friends. I spotted Harry a little further away. "Harry!" I called out, and he turned around quickly. "Amy!" As I reached him, I was out of breath. "Did you... Did you hear the voice?" Harry asked me. Slowly, I nodded. "It wants to kill." Now it was Harry's turn to nod. "Lockhart didn't hear it, though." Strange. Harry and I made our way back to the common room. "None of the other students in the library seemed to notice it either. Why can we hear it, but they can't?" It was the question of the hour. Harry seemed lost in thought, so we walked in silence. Perhaps we were all going mad or something.