▬▬ seven; the thestrals
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HARRY WALKED DOWN THE STONE STAIRS TO HAGRID'S CABINET ON HIS OWN. The scars on his left hand had already started to fade away but it still burned sometimes when something touched it. He thought about the letter he had sent Sirius, and he felt bad for the way he had just walked away from Hermione and Ron when they had been worried about what Umbridge had done to him.

Walking to the doorstep he saw the black creature fly above the forest before diving down, it made him curious. Instead of knocking he followed where the creature had disappeared, and after a few minutes of walking he saw a blonde girl gently stroking the horse-like thing.

"Hello, Harry Potter," she said as she heard his presence. He walked up to her and admired the black creature with her before he looked down and saw her bare feet.

"Your feet. Aren't they cold?"

"Bit", she shrugged. "Unfortunately, all my shoes have mysteriously disappeared. I suspect Nargles are behind it."

Harry nodded and then changed the subject, "What are they?"

"They're called Thestrals. They're quite gentle, really, but people avoid them because they're a bit. . ."

"Different," he finished for her. "But why can't the others see them?"

While they began walking closer to a female Thestral and her foal Luna explained, "They can only be seen by people who've seen death."

"So you've known someone who's died, then?"

"My mum," she said and Harry felt slightly ashamed that he had asked. "She was quite an extraordinary witch, but she did like to experiment. . . and one day, one of her spells went badly wrong. I was 9."

"I'm sorry."

"Yes, it was rather horrible." The girl didn't seem too sad about it, she didn't even grimace, she just shrugged it and held a very steady tone. "I do feel very sad about it sometimes, but I've got Dad. We both believe you, by the way. That He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back, and you fought him. . . and the Ministry and The prophet is conspiring against you."

She smiled as the foal began eating the apple she had rolled to it.

"Thanks. It seems you're about the only ones that do."

She shook her head, "I don't think that's true. But I suppose that's how he wants you to feel."

"What do you mean?" Harry frowned, turning to look at her.

"Well, if I wereYou-Know-Who," she began tilting her head slightly making her long blonde hair drop from her shoulder. "I'd want you to feel cut off from everyone else because if it's just you alone. . . you're not as much of a threat."

She looked up at him and gave him a reassuring smile. He liked her, he liked how honest the lonely girl seemed to be. It reminded him of Lauren. And then, on his way back to the castle for dinner, he almost sobbed when he suddenly understood how much he missed his friend. And he couldn't help but worry about her.

Lauren Diggory had always been a bright girl, sure, she never turned down some mischief but she always had good intentions. She always stayed with him at school while everyone else went home during holidays, she always found a way to cheer him up, she never pressured him in to talk about his feelings but she held his hand and made sure he knew she was there for him. Lauren always knew how to comfort him.

That's why he considered her one of her best friends. And he would be lying if he said that he had never felt more for her. She always thought she was beautiful, and her passionate and impulsive soul really stole his attention—but after the one time he tried to kiss her during the beginning of the third year had thrown all that away. It was too weird. She really was his sister, and it was all he needed.

Lauren was a piece of the puzzle, she was the fourth member of their group and things had changed now that she wasn't there anymore. That's why Harry awkwardly walked to Ron, Hermione, and Ginny that had begun eating by the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall.

He knew that he obviously was allowed to sit with them, he knew nothing was wrong between them, but he still asked, "can I join you?" Because not having Lauren there was weird and uncomfortable for all of them, not just himself.

—

"Dear Padfoot. . . I hope you're all right. It's starting to get colder here. Winter is definitely on the way. In spite of being back at Hogwarts, I feel more alone than ever. I know you, of all people, will understand," Sirius read from the letter that had arrived just a minute ago. It was from Harry, so Lauren listened carefully. "I hope Lauren is doing well, let her know I'm here for her. Hermione and Ron as well, of course."

"I feel bad for him," Lauren sighed when the man in front of her put the letter on the table. "He's not alone, I hate that he thinks he is."

"Sometimes, loneliness works as a cure. When you have no one else to take care of you can only take care of yourself." Sirius put her in silence, letting his statement sink into her skull so that she wouldn't forget it. "Anyways, have you seen that cookery book Molly left for us? I suppose it's dinner time soon."

Lauren sighed and furrowed her eyebrows trying to remember, "right, it's on my bed. I ran out of books to read."

He chuckled shortly before walking out of the living room and she heard his footsteps wander up the stairs. She leaned back into the couch and stared into the lighted fireplace. The flame's heat lingered around her bare arms and chased away the coldness. It was way too quiet for her liking. Lately, she had stared into the shadows wondering if someone stood there watching her. She had listened to the wind hit the roof or the floor slightly creaking when a mouse ran over it, and she'd been thinking that someone was coming for her.

This feeling of being followed kept her up all night, made her unable to close her eyes for more than a second. She knew no one was following her, and no one that meant harm would get into this house that now was her home—but she still didn't feel safe. Her own hands felt unfamiliar when they constantly reached for objects that she didn't intend to touch. Her own reflection in the mirror was a stranger.

A quiet thump sound woke her up from a trance and looking around in the cozy room she felt this uncomfortable feeling sneak up her spine. She turned her head against the windows, watching how one of the curtains moved slightly without any wind, and only the left one. Turning to the doorway without a door she could imagine someone standing there, but it was empty.

"Cedric," she whispered. "It's Cedric," she repeated to herself. He was watching out for her, that's what she told herself. The odd things that happened around her, the pillows that flew from one armchair to another by itself, it was Cedric showing her he was there—or maybe it was someone else. 

"Lauricella, are you alright?" Lauren turned to her left again and met the old woman from her dream sitting just beside her on the couch. The girl jumped up and her brown long curls became even messier than before.

"What are you—?"

"Lauren?" Lauren turned around abruptly, meeting Sirius Black's worried eyes as he had the open cookery book in his hands. "You alright?"

Glancing back into the living room seeing the empty couch and not a trace that anyone else but herself had been in there she looked back at him and nodded, "y-yes. I'm just a bit tired. I'll go take a nap, I'll help you set the table later."

Without leaving him space to answer she practically rushed upstairs and jumped into her room, closing the door behind her and leaning her back against it. She sank to the floor and brought her knees to her chest as soon as she saw the lady dressed in a long gray coat and matching hat standing by the window.

The old lady turned around and looked at Lauren, and there was nothing that made her think that this woman meant any harm. She seemed like a lovely and kind grandmother, and she probably was very kind, but Lauren knew that it was all a trick that her head was playing on her heart. She was caught in a war. 

"Who are you? Why are you here? Why are you in my head?" Lauren whispered, realizing that she was quietly sobbing. Why was she crying? Why did it feel like the walls were caving in? Why were her lungs getting smaller?

The short woman sat down on the neatly made bed and tilted her head at the girl on the floor that was crying through a confused expression. 

"Little dear, why are you crying?" The woman asked, ignoring Lauren's questions. Not until this moment had Lauren noticed the french accent in the old lady's voice, it was so obvious. 

"You're French. . ."

"Aren't you?" 

Lauren shook her head and chuckled, but it sounded like a dry sob, "I can't say a single word in French, neither make an accent. I know you're not real, but why would I creat you?"

"Maybe something inside you is trying to wake you up?" The French accent that lingered in her voice was so strong that Lauren couldn't understand how she hadn't noticed it before. "Lauricella—"

"That's not even my name!"

"Dear little thing, don't be so tense. I am only an imagination, what I do, what I say, it's all your command," the lady said and smiled faintly, her eyes almost getting hidden by wrinkles. 

"Then I command you to leave," Lauren said. She closed her eyes and when she opened them the old lady was replaced. The girl flew up from the floor and screamed and scrambled to the corner while the figure of white skin and a long black cloak sat on her bedside.

However, the image of the monster who had destroyed so much was erased when her door burst open and Sirius rushed inside looking at the shaking girl in shock. "Lauren what's—"

"He was. . . He was right there and. . ." she kept rambling while the room was spinning, she felt dizzy. When it all stopped, and she could find balance in her own legs she saw him again. She ignored Sirius's try to reach her and she stared at the middle-aged man by the window. 

The man staring back at her from the other side of the room wasn't a monster, not yet. He wore a black suit with a maroon shirt underneath. Half his brown hair was covered by a black hat that all men wore back in the days. His skin was pale and his eyes showed the tired man that was hiding beneath the expensive clothes.

"Who did you see, Lauren? Cedric?" Sirius stood in the doorway and looked at the girl in trance.

She shook her head, "Tom Riddle." She said because the man she was looking at hadn't become the monster yet. The men she had locked eyes with, the man only she could see, he wasn't Lord Voldemort, not yet.

Sirius Black worriedly gazed around the empty bedroom, he wondered what she was looking at. No, he wondered who she saw. "Tom Riddle is dead, Lauren. Voldemort is not here."

"He's still alive, somewhere, barely," she simply replied looking away from the ghost by her window. She met Sirius's eyes and he didn't see the sweet teenager he was taking care of. He saw a pair of tired eyes that was lit by a spark, a dangerous spark. "The lady, Tom, they're trying to tell me something."

"What are you on about?" He asked, getting more and more uncomfortable while Lauren became more and more passionate about what was happening.

"They want me to know something, something that I couldn't know when Cedric was here. That's why they're all around me now because he's not here," she kept on rambling about what they could possibly want. What did the old lady, Stella Beauchêne and Tom Riddle have in common that involved Lauren Diggory? "The lady, she told me to go home. . ."

Something in Lauren said ding and she rushed past the man in a navy blue suit and sprinted downstairs shouting, "I need to find her! I need to go home, she told me to go home and I bet she's there waiting for me. Or there's something in my house, like a clue—"

"Lauren, stop!" She stopped halfway out the door with a little too big jacket over one of her shoulders. She turned around and met a confused and upset man looking at her. "Sit down for a moment? I hear you crying and screaming and talking to the curtains,  you're not well."

She shook her head, "I'm fine, no, well I'm a mess. But I won't be able to rest until I found out what they want me to find out."

"Who are you talking about?"

"I'm haunted. By, I don't know who they are but they won't. Stop. Haunting. Me."

▬▬ author's note ▬▬

a little messy but i still feel like the story is going forward. it's getting a bit confusing but also exciting? i'm kinda' into this plot i've made for this book, it's gonna be lit if i just don't lose passion or the ability to write. also, sorry this chapter is a few days late.

[ last updated; 19/05/20 ]
stay tuned, thank you! <3