Harry Potter One Shots

JamesXReader The Ghost of the Forest

(Y/n's P.O.V)

Over the years, I have undergone a profound transformation, from a timid and lonely girl to a reclusive and disenchanted one. My name is Y/n Y/L/N, and I am widely known as the Ghost of the Forest, a notorious figure feared by all who enter its depths. Regrettably, no one remembers who I am, not even my family.

---Flashback----

I can still remember my first year at Hogwarts like it was yesterday. My heart pounding in my chest, I froze when my name was called, knowing that all eyes would be on me. Too terrified to walk up to the front, I slowly crept backward until I was at the back of the crowd of first years. People started to whisper, and I ran. I ran from the Great Hall, straight into the Forest, seeking refuge from the overwhelming pressure.

----End Flashback----

No one has seen me since that day. They hear me sing my melancholic songs late at night, but they never dare to approach the Forest I call home. I watch from the trees as people search for me, and my parents assume the worst after many months of searching. They slowly forget about me and stop coming. I watch as my classmates grow, talking about me only as the Ghost of the Forest, a legend shrouded in mystery.

During the school year, I avoid venturing out while students are at Hogwarts. I have learned to hunt and survive on my own, but every year when summer comes, and students go home, I sneak into the school and slip down to the kitchens, grabbing as much food as I can. I grab long-lasting food, not worrying about it running out since they have an endless supply. The only thing that knows I am still there is Hogwarts itself, until one rainy Saturday.

The sky is dark and foreboding, and rain pours down in sheets as I dance and sing below the canopy of the trees. The students are all inside, warm in their jackets, sitting next to the fire, cuddled up together. A boy around my age, whom I believe I remember from the sorting, his name is James, strays from the warmth of the common room. He trooped down to the Forest, cuddled up in his winter gear. I have watched James and his friends for years, always from a distance.

"Oh, Ghost of the Forest, show yourself to me," he calls out to me. The last time someone dared try to find me, all I had to do was sing, and they fled in terror.

"Deep in the meadow where the children play, the sun glows brightest,

Where the children play,

Deep in the Forest, where light never hits, the Ghost of the Forest plays, Where the Children Dare Not Go."

I expect him to have run by now, but he follows my voice until I stop singing.

"You have a beautiful voice! I hear it from the Gryffindor tower every night," he says to the trees.

"Leave, James Potter, to leave here at once and never return," I speak this time, keeping my distance.

"How do you know my name?" He asks, moving closer to me with every answer I give.

"I see all," I reply cryptically, still wary of his intentions.

As I say this, he comes around the tree into the thickness of the brush I have been hiding in.

"You're not a ghost!! You're a student. No house, and I've never seen you before," he observes. "Who are you?"

"I'm the Ghost of the Forest, as you nicknamed me. I'm more the girl who ran from the sorting ceremony and was never seen again... until now." I reveal my true identity to him, hoping he won't betray me.

He looks amazed at this statement, his eyes wide with wonder. As we talk, I begin to realize that maybe, just maybe, I don't have to be alone forever.