It was nearly the end of his 6th year and Harry Potter was not ready to go home. This time of the year was always the worst for him. With spring came impending dread, after ten months spent in his favorite place on earth he was forced with the reality that he had to leave and that he had to go back to the Dursley’s. He hoped that this year he would only have to stay there for a short time.
Harry was walking along the lake by himself thinking about how the year had gone. He couldn’t help but remember how lonely he felt for a huge part of it. Sirius had died about a year ago and Harry couldn’t help but miss him. He found him self wishing for someone to talk to who wouldn’t just patronize him and feel sorry for him. He had Ginny, Ron and Hermione, but he was never able to open up to them, especially Ron and Hermione who were so caught up in their own lives. This year was definitely hard for him, but he got through it and was glad. Lately he had been feeling a lot better and was pretty much back to where he had been before the Ministry, but still he was missing something.
Harry stopped by the side of the lake and decided to take off his shoes and socks and test the waters before Charms; after all, it had been a while since he had taken a dip in the lake. He rolled up his pant legs and stepped a few feet from the shore. He shuddered from the cold that shocked his whole body. The water was not quite as icy as the last time he was in it, but it was close, even in May. He just stood there taking in his surroundings, barely able to believe that he would soon enter his last year at Hogwart’s. Ever since his 11th birthday Harry had been living in a dream and a lot of it had to do with his school, he knew that he would be sad to leave Hogwart’s, but was excited also, as all teenagers are when they consider graduation.
As he was about to turn and leave something caught his eye. It was a clear potions bottle stopped with a cork. Harry took out his wand and muttered “accio bottle” and the bottle flew from the water into his outstretched hand. Inside the bottle was a largish piece of parchment that appeared rather old. Curious, he tried the cork and it came out easily. He unrolled it and as he began to read it his eyes widened, it read:
To A Stranger,
I am in love with you, deeply, passionately, completely. You may be saying to yourself that I am crazy and asking yourself how I would ever know who could find this old bottle in the middle of a lake. But I’ve known you my whole life. I always knew that there was someone out there, someone who was made for me, a person that would be my other half. Ever since I was a little girl, I felt that you were out there somewhere just as lonely as I was. Everyday of my life I have felt your presence just beyond my consciousness. I know you, but not what you look like. I know what you would say to make me feel better, but not the voice with which you speak. I know how it would feel for you to touch me, but not the texture of your skin. I dream of you every night, but to me you have no face. I see you in everything around me but I can’t take hold of something that is not there. I yearn to look upon your face and to feel your strength as you hold me close.
Every day I lose a bit of myself knowing that I am not with you. Every day I lose a little hope, thinking that I will never find you. But I had to get my feelings out in the open, and since you found it now we know that we are at least both at Hogwart’s, or were. For all I know ten years have passed since I have written this, or even thousands. Who’s to say that we didn’t find each other the first time around and have now cycled back into existence? I think to best express this feeling that I have, I will use the words of a muggle, lord knows my father would be ecstatic if he ever learned that I actually found use for all of the muggle things he forced on me as a child. Walt Whitman surely had a way with words, no wonder the muggles are mad about him. This poem expresses my feelings in a way I cannot myself.
Passing stranger! you do not know how longingly I look upon you,
You must be he I was seeking, or she I was seeking,
It comes to me as of a dream,
I have somewhere surely lived a life of joy with you,
All is recalled as we flit by each other, fluid, affectionate,
chaste, matured,
You grew up with me, were a boy with me or a girl with me,
I ate with you and slept with you, your body has become not yours
only nor left my body mine only,
You give me the pleasure of your eyes, face, flesh, as we pass, you
take of my beard, breast, hands, in return,
I am not to speak to you, I am to think of you when I sit alone or
wake at night alone,
I am to wait, I do not doubt I am to meet you again,
I am to see to it that I do not lose you. *
For my sake, and yours, I guess, I hope that we are both here now, because knowing that you are out there and that I couldn’t ever meet you would kill me. Maybe we have met, just passing strangers, or maybe we are friends. I don’t know, but I do know that I love you and have all my life and that I will forever. Again you are probably wondering how, and the truth lies with this bottle. I do not know how I happened to be the one to come across it, probably much like you did. Currently I am in my fourth year, but who is to tell how much time has passed. I found the bottle by the side of the lake and picked it up. Inside was a piece of parchment so I opened it and read the note. It said that this was a magical bottle and appeared of its own free will to those that it felt worthy. The writer said that he was a student at Hogwart’s years ago and created it himself, he seems arrogant, or funny, I can’t quite tell which, but he said that this bottle was a pure stroke of genius and clearly his greatest feat. Anyway, this bottle is really quite extraordinary. Once the finder writes their letter upon this parchment and places it in the bottle it will seal itself until that person’s perfect match tries to open it. So, you see, this is how I know that I love you, this is how I know that you are the one that is meant for me.
If this does indeed work, I will know, for the bottle is connected to me somehow and I will sense when it has been opened. Because I am not able to put absolute faith in the magic of the bottle I feel that I cannot reveal my identity to you. I do not know when we will meet, or how, but I believe that we will know in our hearts when the time is right.
For now,
Your beloved one.
As he finished reading the letter, Harry felt something inside of him change. It is hard to explain, but he felt warmth spreading throughout his body, like a life long ice age had ended and the thawing was just beginning. Little did he know that there was a girl across the school feeling the same exact way.
*"To A Stranger" by Walt Whitman
A/N: Reviews would be greatly appreciated seeing as this is my first fic ever and I could really use the encouragement and feedback. Thanks!