Dark Pasts { A Harry Potter Story }

Chapter 56 - A Dark Past

As soon as I had been allowed to leave the hospital wing, I left by myself and walked out of the school toward the lake. I sat beneath a large tree, sighing as the shade protected me from the heat of the sun. It was such a beautiful day . . . yet it might as well have been pouring rain, for I felt not the warmth of the sun inside me.

I could hear the distant sound of students laughing, walking about the school grounds without a care in the world now that the exams were over. I could not imagine how I had also waited for the moment my exams would be over so that I may myself wander carelessly to enjoy the warm summer air. It was a reality that seemed to be worlds away from what I was feeling right now. If anything, I wished I still had exams ahead of me, for that would mean that we had not yet rushed to the Department of Mysteries . . . that Sirius was still with us . . . that I had not let that filthy murderer get away yet again . . .

I felt someone sit down beside me and looked up to see Harry staring at the shining rays of light reflecting off the surface of the water. We gazed at each other for a moment, neither of us saying a word, yet I thought I understood exactly what he was not saying aloud. I saw a tear roll down his cheek as he looked down at his hands and frowned. Scooching closer to him, I slowly wiped the tears off his cheek and smiled hesitantly.

"How are you?" I asked with a voice I did not recognize as my own.

He shrugged, angrily wiping the tears that were still escaping his eyes. I turned back to face the lake and closed my eyes, feeling an odd but pleasant sense of relief as we simply sat together. Then I felt him staring at me and frowned as I looked at him questioningly.

"That man..." he said in a low voice, "the one who talked to you at the Ministry... who was he?"

His green eyes pierced my own, and I surprised myself when I let the words escape my lips. "Evan Rosier," I said and he frowned, the name obviously familiar to him. "He was one of the ten Azkaban escapees."

His mouth formed an 'o' as he finally remembered the Daily Prophet headline we had read months ago. "My dad's family, the Rosiers... they're purebloods, or at least they were... until me," I said.

Harry simply stared at me, not saying a word as he could see how hard it truly was for me to say this.

"I come from a long line of pureblood Slytherins," I said with a chuckle. "But my dad... he was sorted into Gryffindor. He was always different from his family... or so he told me. He disagreed with them on practically everything... but especially upon the fact that muggleborns really weren't so terrible."

I took a deep breath and stared at the opposite side of the lake, feeling the warm breeze caress my cheeks. "My dad... he fell in love with a muggleborn... my mum," I said, feeling a knot in my stomach. "His parents were furious, and they forbade him to see her again. Obviously, he didn't listen..."

"When V-Voldemort rose to power... my dad's relatives were delighted. That's what they wanted... for purebloods to be superior or whatever... My dad's brother became a Death Eater, and their parents expected my dad to do the same. They thought it was the right thing to do... but my dad stuck to his beliefs and ran away... He and my mum got married and had me and they never spoke to them again..."

I stopped talking, feeling as though I would start crying if I spoke again. Harry wrapped his arm around me and rubbed my back gently.

"That was your dad's brother... wasn't it?" He asked after a while.

I nodded. "Yeah... Evan Rosier," I said and took a deep breath. "He never stopped... even after V-Voldemort was gone, he was still loyal to him, still loyal to his beliefs. He was furious... felt like my dad had betrayed him. But he was a known Death Eater, the Ministry was after him. They never did get him, though..." I said in a low voice.

"People thought he was dead at one point... only he wasn't," I wiped my cheeks angrily. "I don't know how he found us... my dad says they'd placed a Fidelius Charm on the house, so I really don't understand how he did it..."

"But I remember it... I was at home with my mum. My dad was still at work, and we were preparing dinner when... when I h-heard a knock on the door. My mum d-didn't move... I heard the door burst o-open and then h-he was there..... I don't really remember what happened after that... they were scream-ming at each other... I think she was c-crying... and then there was a flash—"

"It's okay..." Harry said as he pulled me into a tight hug. "It's okay... I'm here... don't worry..."

I wept into his shoulder, soaking his shirt with my tears. I hated myself for doing so... for crying when I knew what he had just been through. he had just lost his godfather, the only family he had... and yet I was letting him comfort me.

"I'm sorry," I said after a moment, chuckling despite myself as I pulled myself away from him.

"Sorry for what?" He asked.

"For— you know..." I said as I gesture to my swollen red face.

"You don't have to be sorry about anything," he said as he squeezed my hand and offered me a small smile.

"Let's go," I said as I slowly stood up. "We still have to pack before leaving tomorrow."

But Harry did not move. He seemed to hesitate as he avoided my gaze and I frowned. "How come you hate Cho?" He asked, completely taking me off-guard.

"I—er—what?"

"Cho," he repeated, this time looking at me, "how come you never liked her?"

"Well, er... she was just, you know... annoying," I said as I shrugged.

"Right," he said, and I thought I saw the shadow of a smirk playing at his lips.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said, his smirk growing wider. "It's just that... thinking she's annoying is one thing but it doesn't really explain why you would smile whenever I said we'd been fighting..."

I gulped nervously and looked away, but he had stood up and quickly moved to face me.

"—Or why you seemed furious when I told you I had kissed her..."

I felt myself blush madly and looked away once more. This time he did not move.

"You're right, though," he said after a moment, causing me to frown, "she was annoying."

I laughed and turned to look at him, shaking my head. "Took you long enough to realize that," I said jokingly, forgetting all about my uneasiness as we smiled at each other. It felt good to laugh with him. The sun seemed warmer now as it began to set, engulfing the shade we had been in with a soft pink light.

"Yeah, well... not the only thing that took me a while to realize..." he said.

I frowned but began to blush again as he stepped forward and grabbed my hand. And then, before I had the time to understand what he was doing, he was kissing me. I was shocked for a second before I shut my eyes and melted into the kiss. I felt his body loosen and his hands graze my arms as he pulled me closer. I felt myself blush as we pulled apart, both of us laughing slightly, realizing how silly we had been and how odd yet natural this felt.