Immortal Memories -part one-

Chapter 4: My Own Eyes

Slowly opening her eyes, she saw above her the face of a Gryffindor boy. Remus Lupin to be exact. What was he doing there? She moaned lightly in question to avoid having to actually speak. Remus nodded and opened his mouth to reply, but closed it again. For some reason, he raised his hand to the side of his head, then placed it on the sheets next to him.

Sighing, he answered the girl’s unspoken question. “You know what happened. After that, I brought you here. It’s only fair that I make sure you’re alright before going back to my dorm.”

The girl sighed. She tried to move her head, but cried out in pain when the attempt failed miserably. Looking at her with concern, Remus saw that her neck had a deep gash in it. He was surprised she hadn’t bled to death. He wanted to ask but thought it might be awkward to get an answer, especially since she couldn’t, or wouldn’t, speak. He was puzzled about one thing though: how it had happened. It hadn’t been there when he brought her to the hospital wing that morning. He had to ask; he had to know. But she already knew what his question would be.

“I did it...to myself,” she said hoarsely.

Remus’ eyes widened in shock. Why would anyone want to indulge in self-mutilation? And how did she do it without a sharp object of some sort? Madame Pomfrey would never have let her do it, much less help. Apparently, she knew what he was thinking this time as well. She lifted a hand and brought it to rest on his arm before slashing his skin lightly with one of her fingernails. It didn’t even hurt, just felt like a tiny scratch. As a drop of blood oozed from the cut, Remus realized for the first time that what people said about her was true: she was very pale; so much so that she put Lucius Malfoy to shame. And that was saying something, as Malfoy was lighter than parchment. Of course, her extreme lack of color was probably a result of blood loss.

The girl smiled. She knew exactly what he was thinking. Oh, how little he knew. She didn’t want him to leave. She didn’t want to be alone. But he was in much better condition than she was, and he had to get back to class as soon as his strength would allow. She put her finger to her lips; she tasted the still warm blood that had come from Remus’ forearm. Sighing, she motioned for him to go. In response, he looked at her as if she were crazy, mentally thinking that he had to stay for some unknown reason.

She looked as if she would laugh. She was laughing softly inside and would have shaken her head if it didn’t hurt so badly. “Not...your friend. Go.”

Remus looked down at her sympathetically. He heard the pain in her voice and saw it in her eyes, but he also saw that she truly didn’t want him there. Maybe she didn’t like him, or maybe she didn’t want him to see her suffer. He didn’t know, but he knew he had to leave. He stood up slowly and walked toward the door, turning back to see a sad smile playing on her lips, and then he was gone.

He didn’t understand how she could have done that to herself without feeling. She had to be immortal after a wound like that. The only time he’d ever seen something that bad was when his cousin died of a wound almost identical to the one the girl had. Come to think of it, his cousin’s wasn’t even that deep. Remus didn’t understand, but he thought it had to be somehow possible, maybe even a miracle. He’d seen it with his own eyes after all.

The girl looked at the ceiling with guilt. She hated to give anyone a scare like that, especially the person who’d just saved her life, but it was necessary for her own healing. She could already feel the cut in her neck healing. She’d be back in class tomorrow, shocking Remus even more. She only hoped he didn’t have a heart attack.

“No, please Arthur, do not hurt me...I did not...”

Madame Pomfrey shook the girl awake from her dream. Not a nightmare, just one of those odd dreams when one ends up muttering in one’s sleep about what’s happening for no apparent reason.

“Darling, who’s Arthur?” the nurse asked.

Still half asleep, the girl replied absently, “The king, Arthur of Britain. We were friends when we were kids.”

The nurse laughed softly. “Yes, I’m sure that was something. Now dear, you must wake up; I need to take a look at that cut of yours.”

The girl shook her head. “No.”

“And why is that?”

“It is gone.”

As he glanced up he saw none other than the nameless girl who just hours before could barely speak. Now she was talking and laughing as if nothing had happened, though she did look a bit tired. He nudged James in the side and pointed this out.

“Yes, that is quite odd,” the boy replied. “Maybe it’s another one of those alien brainwashing schemes they use to try and take over our minds.”

“I’m not joking,” Remus chided. “I spoke to her a few hours ago.”

James smiled. “Cheer up would you? You’ve been so down and out lately; you need some comedy in your life.”

Remus shrugged. “I know,” he said. “I don’t know what’s gotten into me, but I feel fine. It could just be the events of the week, what with the moon and all.”

“Yeah, probably,” James replied. He patted Remus on the back and smiled. “Be happy! You’ll be fine.”

"Better already, sis?” Viktor asked in surprise when he saw his sister. He’d visited her in the hospital wing that morning when she had a deep cut on her neck. She could barely speak.

The girl nodded as she walked toward him. “Madame Pomfrey gave me some sort of potion to make it heal quickly. It is still a bit sore though.”

The boy suddenly became serious. He nodded once before speaking. “He came and saw you didn’t he?”

“Yes. He did save my life.”

Viktor laughed somewhat suspiciously. “Ha! As if you needed saving. If you keep going like this, he’ll end up knowing too much. You know what happened to my parents, and just because they knew too much. Why did your master tell you that’s how it has to be? It doesn’t you know, really it doesn’t.” He shook his head. “At least not to people you love.”

The girl sighed. “But it does have to be that way. Otherwise we would die. And how can you say ‘people you love’? I did not know your parents. I don’t know why I took you in, but I followed my instinct and let you live.” She held out her arm, to which Viktor came and sat down beside her. “Then as I got to know you, I became more attached and I could not take you then. I have even been considering...”

The boy hugged her, cutting off her words with his own. “No. Not now. I’m not ready yet, but maybe later.”

“I only said I was considering.”

They sat in each other’s arms for a while, before the girl realized that Viktor had fallen asleep on her shoulder. She smiled and kissed the top of his head. His hair smelled like strawberries, she thought. Then she leaned back and fell asleep too.