for editing

~ trauma time ~

Oona's eyes widened and she yelled out, but the words were incomprehensible as Harry dived into her deepest memories.

He saw a Hogwarts acceptance letter, the faces of those around him crumble from confusion to anger, hatred... A cross above a door... A single frame of a family: one woman with long, dark hair and a man with a confident smile, their Poloroid being ripped in half by a woman with nothing but venom in her beady eyes....  A tall man in Wizarding robes and a long silver beard, Professor Dumbledore, entering through a barred metal door... A necklace: a red jewel with green embellishments, hung with a gold chain.

The silhouette of Hogwarts castle... The Sorting Hat screaming "GRYFFINDOR" into the Great Hall...

The scenery sharply shifted, and Harry was standing in the Hogwarts corridors. This was perplexing to him: There was no way he had already come out of her memories.

But then he heard her, recognizable through the chattering of students around.

"No, Colin, don't bother him," said Oona, though her voice was much higher and quieter.

Harry glanced around to look for her and had to bend his neck all the way down to see Oona and a boy with his back turned. She was a first-year, tugging on the boy's arm, her schedule and a torn map of Hogwarts in her other hand, trying to pull the boy back from where he was clearly attempting to run off to.

"It's him, Oona. Right there! Look!" said the boy, his tiny finger pointing out across the corridor.

Harry let out a gasp at the sight: It was him, so young and small he was almost unrecognizable, but there was no mistaking the startling green eyes and jagged scar, visible under his shaggy hair, no more manageable than it was now. His body seemed to start miles under his robes, knobby knees and tiny fingers with a quill almost as large as his forearm.

Harry was walking beside an equally young Ron, both scribbling down the last of their homework before they arrived at their class, Hermione looking very irritable to the right of Ron. She still had rather large front teeth, which Harry had forgotten about since she had them removed four years ago.

Oona watched the younger Harry with a raised eyebrow. "You mean Harry Potter?"

"Yes!" exclaimed the boy. "He's really here! Don't you remember? Our Prefect told us he was in our house, but I never would have imagined..."

"Why is it such a big deal?" said Oona, frowning. "He's a year older than us — it makes sense that he would be at Hogwarts."

"But it's Harry Potter, Oona. He's a hero!"

"It's not that cool," said Oona. "I mean — he was a baby, right? It's not like he performed some sort of awesome spell or anything, it just happened."

The boy turned to face Oona, and Harry, with the feeling of his heart falling into his stomach, saw the mousy face and beaming smile of Colin Creevey. He still had his camera slung around his neck, his finger hovering above a button, poised in Harry's direction.

Colin Creevey opened his mouth to argue with her, but Oona started before he could speak.

"Dumbledore said if anyone recognized me, it would be a huge deal too," said Oona. "I don't want that to happen, and I don't think Harry does either."

"Professor Dumbledore said that?" asked Colin. "Are you famous too?"

Oona suddenly paled and averted her eyes from him. "No."

"Yes you are!" exclaimed Colin, his smile widening and beginning to fumble with his camera. "What are you famous for?"

"I'm not," said Oona fiercely. "I — I was kidding. Of course Dumbledore didn't say that to me."