Purple Rain.

Chapter Seventy-One.

(Y/n) stared at her mother and breathed a, "Yes."

"To die is to forget and leave your living life behind," (Y/d/n) said warningly.

"Are you sure you want that risk, (Y/n)?" Cassius asked. He was being far more gentle than (Y/n)'s own parents were. 

"I do," (Y/n) mumbled. They stared at her for a moment, not at all satisfied with her answer.

"All right then," (Y/m/n) said. They disappeared and reappeared further away from (Y/n). "Come get it."

The moment (Y/n) took a step forward, it seemed that whatever she was standing on began moving the opposite direction s though discouraging her from merely walking. So, she ran toward her parents and Cassius.

(Y/n) had a near heart attack when six running figures ran in the opposite direction. There was a space between them as though someone was meant to be running with them. (Y/n) knew well enough that this had been on the night that she, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, and Luna had broken into the Ministry. She looked over her shoulder, watching them go. She didn't seem to make any progress toward her parents and Cassius. This, however, only encouraged her to continue on, so very desperate to switch their places and have them back even if she was to pay for it.

After the six had disappeared, new figures were there, again running in the opposite direction with a space between them. Fred and George grinned down at what (Y/n) was sure would have been her had she been running in the same direction.
Fleur ran through the morning streets of Muggle London, a smile on her pretty face. Followed by the Fleur was Remus surrounded by snow, smiling as he walked beside, again, what (Y/n) assumed to have been her. (Y/n) glared forward at her parents and boyfriend. Why couldn't they have made things easier on her? All she wanted was to steal their fates.
After Remus was Harry, Ron, and Hermione running back from Hagrid's hut with snow falling all around them. They were grinning ahead of them. Next, came the members of the Strange Women Society, their hoods drawn and their lanterns raised, jogging to go and welcome past members. (Y/n) wove between them, finding her group of Slytherins reaching out for her. This night had been burned into her month for the past year: The night Cassius died and took a piece of her with him. It was this moment that (Y/n) realized she was running backwards, against time.

It was poetic in a way, the sad kind of poetry. Everyone else was running forward, moving ahead, yet here she was running against them, running backwards in time. It was easy for them all to move on but she couldn't. She was trapped in the past.

After the Slytherins was a frantic Angelina jogging after (Y/n) with a video camera in her hands. She looked quite mortified. There were multiple instances of Cassius running by himself, grinning down at where (Y/n) should have been. Clad in their Yule Ball clothes, Cedric and Cho beamed back at thin air. Behind them came Parvati, Padma, Lavender, Dean, Seamus, and Neville, also all clad in their Yule Ball wear. Then there was the Beauxbatons crowd, casting weary looks at one another. Fleur's face stood out, beaming ahead of her where Madame Maxime walked. There was the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione, all dressed in the clothes they wore to the Quidditch World Cup— they all had their faces painted.
Then, (Y/n) was back in her fourth year, running against Harry, Ron, Hermione, Sirius, Remus, and Peter Pettigrew. Remus and Ron had Peter chained to them with Sirus and Harry behind them, talking. Hermione was looking down at the blank space meant to be (Y/n).  There was the sight of Mattheo and Draco Malfoy scrambling away from what (Y/n) knew to be a car.
Again, there was Harry, Ron, and Hermione running to Hagrid's hut and after that, there was a black dog running to (Y/n)'s right and then Cassius running through the rain. Cho was giggling, her hand intertwined with thin air. Cassius's arm was stretched behind him on their first date, where he would have been leading (Y/n) to their secret place. There was Hermione and (Y/n) crossing paths during the one year Hermione had used her Time-Turner.

(Y/n) grew more and more emotional with the more memories she passed. Regardless of how scary some of them might have been, being with the people she adored the most made them less heavy.

Then, (Y/n) was back in her third year, watching as the second-year Lavender, Parvati, and Padma ran full-speed past her. Harry and Ron were running from what (Y/n) would have known to be spiders. Then (Y/n) was walking with her old Quidditch team, the peak of her time on the team. The older boys were ruffling Cho and Roger's hair and the team captain had his hand midair where (Y/n) should be. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were speedily walking away from Headless Nick's party.
She was back in her second year, running past a first-year Ron and Hermione, who were running back through the chambers in order to get help. Again, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were running to Hagrid's hut. Fred, George, and Lee were jogging and grinning down at (Y/n) and she knew at once she was being teased for her broken nose. There she was again with her old Quidditch team, though Cho was not present this time. Harry and Ron had their hands raised, holding up the Invisibility Cloak. An even younger Luna Lovegood led (Y/n) along, clad in the dress she wore to Marlene and Dorcas's wedding. Luna wound up leading (Y/n) straight into her first year.

Tears were now openly leaking down her face and it took great strength to continue running against her own memories.

Cho had her hands held up as though covering someone's eyes, Penelope Clearwater was pulling at thin air, and Marietta walked hurriedly beside the blank space. A seventh-year Tonks excitedly burst through a door, dragging someone behind them. A laughing Merula Snyde, Blair Blues, and Ben Copper were walking with a bawling Cho, who held a towel full of kittens. Olivia was walking backwards with (Y/n)'s Defence Against the Dark Arts Class jogging after her. Her hands were outstretched, pulling what would have been (Y/n) along at the front of the class. The Weasley siblings, all clad in matching attire, were jogging through a door into the room that held (Y/n)'s old safe place. Leanne, Anthony, Cho, Marietta, and Katie all ran through the snow, decked head to toe in winter attire. Lee, Angelina, Alicia, Fred, and George were all running through the fall festival, prizes in their arms. Bill Weasley, his hands clasped behind him with a grin on his face, led on the first years and second years whom he taught an extracurricular subject to. Katie, Cho, and Marietta ran down to the greenhouses, frantically talking about how late they were. Professor McGonagall walked hurriedly with the class of 1997. all still wearing grey versions of their uniforms due to not being Sorted yet, jogging to keep up with her.

There were multiple instances in which (Y/n) had nearly stopped but what had really got her was seeing her first-year self, running through the barrier to Platform 9 3/4 for the very first time. 

No. She couldn't do this. (Y/n) spent her whole life thinking she had no home but had she not entered the magical world, she would never have met the people she knew today. Her shoulders drooped in defeat and the floor stopped moving against her. Ahead, she could see a frantic Charlie Weasley with his arm around a girl, seemingly guiding her forward. Charlie had been the very first wizard (Y/n) met. The image of Charlie had vanished, revealing her parents and Cassius smiling knowingly at her. 
Magic was always something (Y/n) could relearn, but memories were not something she could make again, only keep.

"You're allowed to let us go and have a new family, you know?" Cassius asked softly.

"You do not have to feel bad for moving on," (Y/m/n) added. (Y/n) sobbed loudly, bringing her hand to her mouth and crouching down. Her parents and Cassius sat cross-legged in front of her.

"I feel so lost," (Y/n) choked out. "Wherever I go, I'm lost and something's always missing. I can't find a home like that... I don't want to forget you."

"And you will not need to," (Y/m/n) assured. "Do you remember what I used to tell you?.. There is no such thing as forgetting, only moving on."

"He messed with my memory," (Y/n) said bitterly. "I'm going to wake up and everything's going to be gone. I don't want that."

"You closed your mind," Cassius reminded (Y/n). "Maybe the things you learned as a witch will be gone, but from the looks of it, you chose your memories."

"I don't understand."

"It may take time," (Y/d/n) said, "but your memories will come back... Something's bound to trigger them, that's how things work."

"But—" (Y/n) flew to her feet and quickly tried to follow her memories. "Give them back!" She watched as the furthest memories faded as though they were dust. She threw herself against the invisible barrier that was separating her and her memories. "No, no, no! I don't want to forget!" (Y/n) sobbed. She wheeled around, expecting sympathetic smiles from her parents and boyfriend but they were gone. 

It was just (Y/n) now.