Here's to Youth | The Marauders

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Harry was shoved into his small bedroom by his uncle, almost bumping into the wooden drawer. Another day of getting yelled at relentlessly. He had been tending to the garden all day long upon his aunt's request. Well, it was more so a command. He had to remove the weeds from the garden as well as water the plants. It was a lot harder to do with the hot summer sun firing up his body. Needless to say, Harry was dead tired.

He climbed into bed, his limbs aching. He only had a few more days and he would be off to Hogwarts, away from this wretched place. Harry let out a sigh and rolled over to his left, trying to get comfortable. He wished that he could be with his parents. He always imagined what it would be like to have them both here. They would've probably gone on family trips. Harry could've had siblings. He envied Ron and Hermione, especially Ron who came from a big family. Molly and Arthur were kind of like parental figures to Harry but not quite the same. He wanted to wake up every morning to the smell of his mother's cooking. He wanted to have father-son time with his dad. Since he lost them when he was a year old, he had no memory of them which was painful of course.

"Mummy, dad, I miss you. Wherever you are," he whispered, imagining the two squeezing him while hugging. The only response that he got was the sound of Hedwig's feathers ruffling about.

For the rest of that night, Harry lied there wide awake. He could still hear the T.V. from downstairs, no doubt it was Uncle Vernon watching the news. He wanted to go to sleep, to rest after the load of work he had to do, but his brain just wouldn't cooperate. His stomach wasn't making the situation any better either. The only thing he had for dinner was a small portion of fish and a slice of bread. Neither of which were very good but Harry couldn't complain. He'd be lucky to even get a crumb.

It had to be about ten o'clock at night when Harry's eyes finally started to droop, indicating that it was time to settle down now. He tried to think of anything else other than the loneliness in his heart...and his stomach as well. He always hoped for better days. Those only seemed to come whenever he was with his friends though.

Gripping his pillow closely, Harry began to drift off to sleep. Thoughts of his mother started to flood through his head. At least he was able to remember her face from the pictures that he's seen of her. They shared the same iridescent green eyes, filled with courage and life. He then thought of his father, who seemed like a witty man with more than one trick up his sleeve. After discovering the Marauders map last school year, he wondered just how much trouble his father got into back in the day. He could only imagine.

Harry was almost asleep but still aware in a way. He could see a flash of bright white light as it blinded him. He didn't know what was going on nor could he move around to stop it, but his body began to shiver, tingles traveling up and down his spine. He could feel his fingers and toes twitching, the room spinning. Shapes began to form in his vision although he couldn't quite make them out. He no longer heard the T.V. from downstairs but instead, a loud dinging noise. From then on, the shapes that had appeared in the bright light formed into five different animals.

First, a stag, made of nothing but stars. Its hooves made a soft clattering noise as it trotted away, not even staying in Harry's peripheral vision long enough. Second, a dog made out of the same stars, standing proudly on its four legs. Next, a small rat, and then a doe, and then a werewolf, howling into the blank space. It wasn't a dream. It couldn't have been a dream. It all felt too real. Harry felt like he was actually there.

He wanted to escape whatever was happening but something was holding him back as if telling him not to make a move, telling him that he needed to be still. Just before his vision went blank, a second doe appeared. This one seemed to have a bit more of a sorrowful aura to it. It was as if Harry could feel whatever it was feeling. Instead of the doe moving on with the other animals, it stayed there, staring in one direction. And then, everything stopped. The room wasn't spinning anymore, the tingles and twitches were no longer there. Harry couldn't see the animals anymore. Everything was black.