When You're Strange: Never Forget {Harry Potter}

Chapter Fourteen; Defeat.

My wand is nowhere to be found.

Frantically, I dig through my sheets, checking under my bed and any place I can think of. As I reach beneath my bed, my fingers land on a small box, the size of a shoebox. Quickly, I pull it from under my bed.

The lid on the box is on very tightly, so I struggle to open it. I can't help but to let out a fearful groan as my hands continue to shake. I keep glancing at the door, waiting for Voldemort to break through at any moment, killing me on the spot.

The lid breaks off, clattering to the ground loudly. In the box, I gasp as I find my trustworthy wand. It's been months since I've seen it. It's almost like looking upon a dear friend after losing them for a long period of time.

But the wand isn't alone in the box. After removing the wand and putting it safe on the ground beside me, I pull out the other contents of the box. My fingers still trembling in the slightest I see a worn-down letter that I could recite without even looking at it. Snape's perfect calligraphy fills the paged, looking slightly rushed, but perfect, nonetheless.

After folding that piece of paper and placing it safely in my robe pocket, I pull out an envelope; the last of the items in the box.

Dipping my fingers in the envelope, I pull out several photographs. I shift so the moonlight shines in through the window, just hitting the photo in the correct way.

If I thought my heart was pounding quickly before, now it's doubled that speed. A small gasp leaves my lips and my hands shake, making it almost impossible to gaze upon the photo in front of me.

My eyes land on a photo of Ron and I. It's as if someone had taken this without either of our knowledge. It's from New Year's Eve. The night we shared our first kiss on the balcony. I can see the tension in both of our bodies. We definitely weren't expecting that. I distinctively remember fleeing from him, absolutely terrified of the way he made me felt.

Sadness crashing over me like a tidal wave, I flip to the next picture. It was a photo of Draco and I. We're deep in the forest and he's bent over me. I instantly place the memory on the last day I saw him. That fateful day in the forest, months ago. This was just right after Bellatrix had flown me against a tree.

Despite Draco's unbreakable bond with the Death Eaters, I can't help but to miss him. I grip the picture tightly, seeing the concern in his eyes. And this was after he found out about Ron and I.

A loud explosion sounds just outside my dormitory. I shove the photos in my robe pocket and pick up my wand, ready for Voldemort to burst through those doors. As I my fingers wrap around the familiar ivy-wood, it feels as if my arm is complete again. I feel slightly more comfortable to be able to depend upon my trustworthy weapon.

The dormitory door bursts open and I don't even flinch, waiting to stare into Voldemort's lifeless eyes. But a gasp leaves my lips as I stare into a different pair of eyes - these ones full of much life.

"A-Aaron?" I choke out, not seeing my brother until I was arrested.

His eyes scan the room, but land on me eventually. Tears are falling down his face as he bounds across the room, eliminating the distance between us. He throws his arms around me, holding me close to him in an embrace. A gesture I can't remember the last time we shared. I haven't hugged my brother since... before I started Hogwarts.

I can feel him shaking as I wrap my arms around him, holding him just as tightly. He breathes in short shallow breaths, obviously full of fear.