Recovering Memories (Sequel to Dan and Phil in Hogwarts)

Chapter Four

(phil)

"What are you two doing here?" I asked them. I hoped I hadn't sounded upset, because that might cause more suspicion than they might have already had.

"Visiting from Brighton, obviously," Pj answered. "What, not pleased to see us?"

"No, I just didn't expect you honestly," I replied. I opened the door and allowed them to enter. Chris and Pj said hello to Dan, before the four of us sat in our lounge.

"So while we're here, we should probably record a collab!" Pj stated.

Dan nodded in agreement. He still seemed a bit upset with me, and I wished I could tell him where I'd really been. I looked back to Chris, who was looking at me with a strange look. I looked away, worried as to why he looked that way.

"So what are your plans for today?" I asked the couple.

"We don't have any, really," Chris answered for both of them. "Just hang out your place, probably."

"We could play Tokaido?" Dan suggested.

"Oh, I love that game," Pj encouraged.

I nodded before standing and walking to the spare room in our flat to grab the game. I had just grabbed the game when I turned around and my eyes met with a pair of hazel ones.

"Chris? Are you okay?" I asked him.

"I think so," Chris answered. "After all, it happened eight years ago."

"What happened eight years ago?" I asked innocently.

"Phil, don't play dumb. I'm not mad about it anymore," Chris answered. "I do wish you hadn't done the memory thing, though I see why you did it."

I looked at Chris and sighed. "I'm sorry," I started. "But it was best for the three of you. Plus you threatened Dan, and I wasn't going to let anything happen to him."

"I know," Chris replied. "I don't blame you. I would have done the same thing if you had threatened Pj."

"Does he remember too?" I asked Chris.

He shook his head. "Don't think I want him to, honestly. He got it worse than me, maybe worse than Dan."

I shook my head. "No one got it worse than Dan."

Chris frowned, then nodded in agreement. "I guess you're right. You do know the spells won't last forever, right?"

I nodded. "He's having dreams already. I'm debating on just removing the charm completely."

"If you do that," Chris warned me, "You need to tell him what he did before he remembers it. It would be too much to just spring it on him."

"You're right. What if he doesn't want to remember though?" I asked Chris.

"What if who doesn't want to remember?" I heard a voice ask from behind me. I recognized the voice, and was a bit worried to turn and face him.

Chris must have sensed my reluctance, as he asked, "What are you doing here Dan?"

"I came to see what was taking you two so long," Dan answered. "But you were just having a chat, no worries."

Dan turned and walked back down the stairs towards the lounge. I looked at Chris and asked, "How much do you think he heard?"

"Probably just the last bit of it. Nothing that would make him remember it all."

I looked at the spot from where Dan had just disappeared. "If Dan remembers, we have to tell Pj too," I reminded Chris.

Chris grimaced and nodded. "I know," he said.

"Should we tell him?" I asked Chris, unsure of whether I really wanted to hear what his answer would be. What if he thought we should?

Chris frowned and looked at the ground. "No," he breathed. "I don't think so. Not yet, anyway."

I released a breath I didn't know I had been holding. "Do you.. Do you want to remember it? Or do you want to forget?" I asked. I know he didn't like being put under the spell against his will, but I wouldn't blame him if he wished he never remembered.

"I want to remember. As awful as what happened was, it's an important part of my life and I don't want to replace it with a muggle life."

A sudden thought occurred to me. Would Chris quit YouTube? I asked him, and he replied that under no circumstances would he quit YouTube. I smiled and nodded. He may remember everything that happened at Hogwarts, but at least he would keep his life as it was now.

"Do you still talk to.. what's her name?" Chris asked me.

"Lily?"

"Yea, that's it! You still talk to her?"

"She just moved into the flat below us actually. Her and her girlfriend are our neighbors," I admitted.

"Did you ask her about her opinion on the memory thing?" Chris asked.

"She doesn't want Dan to remember," I told him. "She's calling in her cousin from America to see if there's a reason the spell wore off the way it did."

Chris nodded, then gestured to the doorway. "We should probably go back down, they're waiting to play Tokaido."

•••

(dan)

Pj had won Tokaido, as he did whenever the four of us played it. I couldn't help but notice that Phil and Chris had started acting different around Pj and me. I wondered if it had something to do with their conversation. I decided I would ask Phil later tonight.

"We should probably get going," Pj admitted.

"What about the collab you suggested?" I asked him.

"We'll be back tomorrow," Pj promised. "We're just staying at a hotel for the time we're in London."

Pj and Chris stood from their chairs and walked to the front door. They told us goodbye and that they'd see us tomorrow, and then they left. As soon as the door closed, I turned to Phil, who was staring blankly at a wall. He was probably lost in thought.

"Phil?" I asked him.

His gaze immediately switched from the pale white of the wall to me and he nodded. "Yea?"

"What were you and Chris talking about earlier?"

Phil, who was an awful liar and he knew it, paled. What could be so bad that Phil was worried to tell me? I mean, there were a few things that I could think of, but I never saw Phil as the type to cheat.

"We talked about your new obsession with Harry Potter," He said. He didn't look like he was lying, and he seemed to become less pale once he said it.

"'New' obsession. I've always been obsessed, I only just started rereading the books," I reminded him. "But that's not what you talked about, is it?"

Phil's blue eyes, which had been avoiding my brown ones, finally met mine. I saw an emotion in there that I didn't expect to see. I saw fear. Why was Phil afraid? Had I frightened him?

"Dan," He whispered. "There's, uh.. there's something I need to tell you."