Begin Again - Dramione

Reminiscence

"We-we'll start now Harry. ." I stuttered, nervousness making it difficult for me to talk.

Harry's face seemed to age in the few minutes he took to figure out what to say.

"Well. . To be very honest. . . this wasn't my tale to begin with. It was the war between two completely opposite school of thoughts that could ever exist. It was a war between personal greed, misplaced hate and self-obsession which had turned into a maniacal need to enforce one's vision on everyone. . . and whosoever disagreed or tried to stand up to it. . would get killed." He paused. I could tell he was trying his best to phrase his words in a way that would not showcase his vulnerability.

"It so happened to be my parents who stood up to this barbaric way of living. Me? I was just another obstacle in the way. . but that's the point where this tale took a turn for the unexpected. The next seventeen years were spent plotting, getting thwarted, being denied the satisfaction of killing, stealth, And so much negativity.. Eleven years of which, I spent without having a single clue about any of it. For all I knew, my parents had died in a car crash." He gave a rueful smile. I couldn't place the humor behind his words, but perhaps on a very twisted, grotesque level it did seem sort of amusing.

"The first year at Hogwarts was when I became fully acquainted with my past, my reality, my home. The same year, I came face to face with the world's most fearsome wizard of all times. Lord Voldemort. It seemed his greed to achieve immortality had reached some serious levels of desperation. He tried to steal the Philosopher's Stone through our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Quirrel." He stopped again as we all were escorted back to the memories of that eventful first year. It was kind of amazing to think taking a troll down in the girl's bathroom had been the incident to bring us three together.

"Second year, the tale of the Chamber of Secrets was brought to life. Voldemort tried yet again to claw his way into Hogwarts and enforce the whole world to let him terrorize them as brutally as he could. This time though, it was a memory. For the first time, I..." he struggled to put his thoughts into words. I nodded my head in encouragement. Draco meanwhile kept scribbling silently, which surprised me. I hadn't really imagined him taking this task seriously.

"For the first time, I saw him up close.. It was a memory, yeah.. but seeing his younger self, the most human he'd ever looked.. that face.. it made me think about myself. I had questioned my placement in Gryffindor. I'd been told many times how similar I seemed to be, to him.. and the thought just stuck with me. What bothered me even more was, how a fifty year old preserved memory could cause so much terror and chaos. I wondered then what it would be like if he really came to power." He stopped then, taking a deep breathe. I felt slightly uncomfortable then, recalling my second year. The way Lucius Malfoy had sneaked Riddle's Diary into Ginny's cauldron. It seemed like Harry was thinking the same thing as he gave me an uncomfortable look.

"Get on with it Potter, we don't have all day for this," we both snapped out of our little moment. Clearing his throat awkwardly, Harry continued.

"Third year, for the most part I was put under the illusion that a convicted mass murderer was on the lookout for me. Combating dementors, hearing my mother's scream as Voldemort murdered her.. it was all very overwhelming. It took Buckbeak's execution to reveal the truth. It so happened to be that the person everyone had believed to be a murderer wasn't actually guilty. It was Ron's rat. An animagus. Peter Pettigrew was behind the murder of the muggles all those years ago. Moreover he was the one who had betrayed the whereabouts of my parents to the Dark Lord. Hope bloomed through my chest then , standing shoulder to shoulder with my God father- for once I thought I had a future, with what little was left of my true family. But somehow, Pettigrew managed to escape that night."

There was a slight knock on the door and I was startled out of my thoughts which, without my permission had shifted to the time I had spent sitting outside the shrieking shack as we'd waited for our past-selves to emerge out of opening under the whomping willow. It all seemed to have happened so long ago. I slowly got up and walked to the door, turning the rusted knob with shaking hands.

Aberforth's striking blue eyes gazed down at me kindly and I smiled, wondering how we could've ever overlooked the vivid resemblance between him and his brother.

"Thought you would want something to eat." He said, while clicking his fingers. I looked back in time to see warm, freshly cooked food appear on the coffee table and my stomach growled. I blushed as everyone looked at me.

" Th-Thank you." I stammered, embarrassed. He smiled and disappeared from the doorway. I shut the door once again and took my seat.

"I'm kind of famished." Harry said before picking up a plate of pancakes. I realised then that none of us had eaten anything since dinner last night.

"Sorry for keeping you guys from breakfast. I kind of forgot about that while planning this meeting." I apologised feeling guilty.

" It's alright 'Mione." Harry offered with a mouthful. I rolled my eyes at his display of table manners, or lack thereof. He grinned and went back to wolfing his food down. I looked around and found Draco sitting with his head bowed. I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. He hadn't said a word throughout the whole time we'd been here except for reminding Harry to hurry up with his talk.

I was curious to know what he was thinking but I knew he would probably hex me if I dared to ask. Dropping the thought for now, I picked up a plate of fresh berries and started munching on them,

Draco Malfoy would have to wait for later.

A/N : You guys are amazing. Thank you for your comments, votes and such. I hope you haven't gotten tired because there's still a long way to go ;)

Quick question; What's your favourite part from the story so far? Do lemme know, kbye x