A Stolen Past by nuw255
Chapter Notes: Harry’s two oldest friends write him back.
Harry Potter sat in History class - the last class of the day - waiting impatiently for the Professor’s dismissal. Hurry up, he thought as he glared at the clock on the wall. It seemed to have frozen in place with the class only half over.
Looking to his left, Harry saw Todd Wilkins, one of the boys who had tried to beat him to death a few months earlier, rolling his pencil back and forth on the top of his desk. Harry discretely pointed at the pencil and whispered, “Abigo,” causing it to clatter to the ground several feet in front of Wilkins. Wilkins gave the class in general a threatening glare, as though he somehow knew that it had not merely happened by chance, before getting up to retrieve his pencil.
Harry sighed. It had been a stupid, childish prank - one that required no imagination whatsoever - and now he felt bad for having done it. It wasn’t that he felt sorry for Wilkins; it was simply the fact that he knew he ought to be using his powers for something worthwhile.
As he left the History classroom half an hour later, though, Harry changed his mind about feeling sorry for having banished Wilkins’ pencil during class - the bully deserved everything he got and more. In the middle of the corridor, with boys walking all around, yet refusing to intervene, Todd Wilkins was holding an eleven-year-old high in the air by his collar. The small boy wheezed and kicked his legs, trying to get enough of a breath to call for help, but it was no use. Plenty of people could see what was happening, and nobody was making any sort of move to stop it.
“Hand it over,” Wilkins demanded. “I know your precious mummy sent you a ten pound note today, so just give it here and nobody gets hurt.”
Enraged at the injustice of the situation, Harry pointed at the sleeve of Wilkins’ coat and whispered, “Incendio!” Flames erupted across the other boy’s arm as shouts of surprise and horror - mixed with several expletives - filled the corridor. Wilkins dropped the boy and tore the coat from his shoulders, throwing it to the floor and stomping on it to smother the flames. The fire was out within seconds, and Harry - along with the small boy whom Wilkins had been trying to rob - slipped inconspicuously into the crowd of students who were heading to supper.
Supper that evening was a slow, unappetizing affair, as always, and Harry retired to his room early. It surprised him that the staff still hadn’t moved him back in with the other boys, although quite honestly he was glad for the security that his cell provided. Had he been unable to leave at will, as the staff believed, he probably would have hated the arrangement. As things really stood, however, he rather liked it.
Just as he had every evening since Hassseth’s return from hibernation, Harry finished his homework quickly (and rather sloppily), and then chatted with the small snake in between sets of his nightly workout. Although his muscles had long since recovered from the atrophy that came as a result of spending so much time in a hospital bed at the end of the previous term, he had grown accustomed to the exercises, and so continued doing them. Tonight, however, Harry finished his workout much more quickly than usual, and settled down on the floor to talk with his serpentine friend.
After chatting for some time about the uselessness of school and the difficulties of life as a snake in close proximity with humans, Hassseth inquired, “What’s troubling you, Harry?” She curled her body into a tight coil and raised her head up in the air so that she would be able to look him in the eye.
“Nothing,” Harry answered, trying to keep his voice even and calm. “Why?”
Hassseth suddenly whipped her head around to the right, flicking her forked tongue rapidly in and out of her mouth.
“Maybe I should be asking what’s troubling you,” Harry added.
“I smell a rat,” hissed the snake. “I’m hungry.”
Harry laughed softly, earning him a look of reproach from his friend. “Sorry,” he said quickly, “it’s just that, when a human says, ‘I smell a rat,’ it means they think something dodgy’s going on, or there’s somebody untrustworthy about. I’m not laughing at you being hungry, I promise.”
Hassseth nodded. “I’ll go hunting after you head out for the night,” she said softly. “But first, I want you to tell me what’s troubling you.”
Harry shrugged and sank even lower against the stone wall. “I sent a letter to somebody named Ron the other day. I tied it to Hedwig’s leg, and sent her off with it. I think maybe I’m going insane, doing something like that.”
The snake looked at him for a long moment with those glittering, lidless eyes before nodding slowly and saying, “I have heard of humans using birds to communicate. Why would that make you insane?”
“Well, it’s just that- I don’t even know who Ron is. I found a letter from him at my aunt and uncle’s house over the Christmas holiday, and I got this crazy idea to write him. But what if... What if he turns out to be an idiot or something? I’m all excited to get a reply, but I have no idea if he’ll really write back or not.”
Hassseth gave a soft, sympathetic hiss. “Don’t fret, dear. Go and see if he’s written you. After all, what’s the worst that could happen?”
“Is it late enough already?” Harry asked, checking his watch. Sure enough, the time had flown by as he talked with his friend, and it was already half an hour past curfew. Harry nodded resolutely and got to his feet. “Thanks, Hassseth,” he said. “Good luck with the hunting.”
The snake nodded and said, “Say hello to Tyler for me.” Then, as an afterthought, she added, “And the bird,” and slithered into a crack in the stone wall as Harry unlocked the door and headed outside.
The first thing Harry noticed as he slipped quietly through the large front doors of the school was Tyler jumping up and down under Hedwig’s tree, and whispering frantically. Smiling to himself, Harry raised his hand and magically caught the smaller boy in mid-jump, suspending him in the air.
After only a moment, Tyler called, “Hi, Harry. You can put me down now.”
Harry obliged, laughing quietly. “I was hoping to scare you,” he admitted. “I guess that’s not that easy.”
“Well, I was expecting you, and it’s not like anybody else around here can do magic,” Tyler reminded him. “Anyway, your ruddy bird’s got a big bundle tied to her leg, but she won’t come down for me to take it off.”
In response, Harry called out, “Come here, Hedwig,” and the owl soared down out of the branches and came to rest on his outstretched left arm. Tyler reached out to untie the small bundle from Hedwig’s leg, but she snapped her beak menacingly at his fingers, and he jumped back a pace.
“I think she’s trying to say that it’s for me,” Harry said with a laugh. Then, in a softer voice, he added, “Don’t worry, Hedwig; it’s just Tyler. He’s not going to steal anything,” and began awkwardly untying the parchment bundle with his free hand.
While Harry was occupied with the knot that was binding the parchment to the owl’s leg, Tyler asked, “How come you were so late tonight? I was about to go back inside and pound on your door when you finally showed up.”
“I was talking with Hassseth,” Harry said as he fiddled with the knot. “She said to tell you hello. And you, Hedwig.”
“I don’t know what you see in that thing,” Tyler grumbled as he tried unsuccessfully to suppress a shudder. “Gives me the willies.”
“She’s my friend,” Harry said with a shrug. “She’s loyal and easy to talk to, and she gives good advice. I don’t know what you have against her.” The parchment finally came loose, and Hedwig fluttered up to perch on a low branch of the tree.
“She’s a snake!” Tyler exclaimed, as though he were making an irrefutable argument.
“That’s true,” Harry replied. “She’s also kind, and fun to be around, and she has a great sense of humor.”
“Yeah, and I suppose she’s a great kisser, too,” Tyler said sarcastically.
“She- What?” Harry asked, suddenly looking at his friend as though he had completely lost his mind. “Are we talking about the same Hassseth? The one that’s a snake?”
“I don’t know anyone else with a hiss for a name, do you?” Tyler raised his eyebrows and eyed Harry expectantly before continuing, “You sound like you want to bloody ask her out.”
Harry laughed. “I promise you, Tyler, we’re completely platonic. The girl I’d like to go out with is very different from Hassseth - well, she’s human anyway.”
Tyler’s eyebrows rose even further, almost disappearing into his light brown hair. “So, Potter’s got a love-interest,” he teased. “Is it anyone I know? It’s not Davies, is it?”
Harry shoved him and said, “Of course it’s not Davies! That would be wrong on so many levels.”
“Well, who is she then? What’s her name?”
“I don’t know,” Harry said quietly. When Tyler just continued to stare at him, he added, “I’m not even sure she exists. I’ve dreamed about her, but I don’t think that counts as proof.” Remembering the parchment in his hand, he began unfolding it and realized that there were two pages, rather than just one. Ron must be quite the writer, he thought.
“At least tell me what she looks like, Harry,” Tyler pleaded.
“Alright. I’m not sure exactly how tall she is, but she’s shorter than I am. She’s got the most beautiful face I’ve ever seen, and I think I could stare into her brown eyes forever without getting bored.” He stopped suddenly and looked down at his shoes, feeling his face flush.
“Hair?” Tyler prompted.
Harry shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said truthfully. “The only time I saw anything other than just her face, she was wearing a knit cap that completely hid her hair. For all I know, she could be bald.”
Tyler stifled a snort before asking, “So are you going to read that letter or not?”
“Oh! Right,” said Harry as he finished unfolding the parchment. Tyler moved to where he would be able to read over Harry’s shoulder, and their eyes ran down the page, taking in the scribbled words as quickly as they were able.
Dear Harry,
You’re lucky. I was going to send a Howler, but Dumbledore and Hermione wouldn’t let me. All I can say is, What in the (at this point, Ron had written something very offensive) is the matter with you? You disappeared ten months ago, and all you could think to write was, “I’m sorry I didn’t write sooner”? Why the (another expletive) didn’t you tell us where you are, so we can come and get you? And what’s all this rubbish about school going okay? You know bloody well that you go to school here with us, so what in Merlin’s name are you on about?
To answer your question, things are going fine ‘on my end,’ other than the fact that I’m trying to figure out why my best mate has been missing for almost a year, and why he’s acting like such a complete prat!
Write back soon, or else.
Ron
“Well, he sounds nice,” Tyler observed.
“Yeah,” Harry mused. “He’s obviously really angry about me ‘disappearing.’ But I don’t even know where I’m supposed to have disappeared from.”
“You’ve got a few clues now, though, don’t you? I mean, he did say you were best mates, so that’s something. And, apparently, you used to go to school wherever he is, not here at St. Brutus’s. That would explain why nobody really remembers you.”
“True,” Harry muttered, still examining the letter. “What about the part where he says, ‘what in Merlin’s name...’?”
“Well, that’s obvious, isn’t it?” Tyler said matter-of-factly. “He’s a witch - er, wizard - too. Merlin must be really important to wizards; that’s why you thought he was the center of the Camelot Legends back at the beginning of the year. What’s on the second page?”
“Oh! I forgot there were two pages,” said Harry. He pulled the second sheet of parchment to the front, and began to read.
Dear Harry,
I’m going to try and be reasonable, since I know Ron is probably trying to figure out how to make his letter hex you. I’m sure you know he doesn’t mean anything by it, though - it’s just his way of trying to express that he misses you and is worried about you. I realize you’re probably under a lot of stress and everything, but you do need to understand the kinds of problems that have been caused by your disappearance.
The day we first discovered you were missing, everyone was distraught - especially Mrs. Weasley. She fussed and cried, and wouldn’t let any of us out of her sight. It was a nightmare even trying to get her to let me go home to see my parents. The Order has had to spend most of its time and energy searching for you, meaning that other things - like intelligence-gathering - have had to be neglected. On top of all, that, everyone you know has been affected emotionally - I know of at least three couples that broke up as a direct result of your disappearance: Susan and Terry, Ginny and Dean (actually, Ron was really happy about that breakup), and Seamus and Padma.
I’m sorry, Harry, I just re-read that last paragraph, and it sounds like I’m ranting at you. I really didn’t mean to do that. I just wanted to make sure you know we all care about you and want you to come back. Please, just tell us where you are so that someone can come and get you. Write back soon.
Love from,
Hermione
As soon as he finished reading the letter, Tyler said, “Now I know they’re wizards. Look, it says Ron was trying to figure out a way to make his letter hex you. Nobody but witches and wizards would write something like that.”
“That’s beside the point,” said Harry. “What I want to know is what all this other stuff is about. Who are these people who were so distraught about my disappearance? What’s this ‘Order’ that’s been searching for me, and yet hasn’t been able to find me at home or at school?”
“I don’t know, mate,” Tyler replied as they headed back inside, “but I doubt you’ll get any answers without telling them you’ve lost your memory. Do you trust them enough to do that?”
Harry shrugged as he pushed the door shut. “I don’t know,” he muttered. “I don’t know.”