Valentine's Day
This was it, this was the day he would finally ask her to be his. He put on his dark jeans and cream jumper, the one she liked wearing. They were going to lunch and Darren had done everything he could to make her feel special. He stood styling his hair perfectly, Angie would have called him an idiot for even attempting to tame his dark messy locks.
For the first time in a long time, he felt like he could handle the low-level ringing in his ears, he could handle the occasionally flashing images of gruesome acts of cruelty. He could handle himself.
Darren raced down the stairs to the kitchen where his mother was resting after a long weekend fighting in the south of England, his father was wrapping another blanket around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head.
‘Well, look at you.’ She said, smiling. Darren just laughed and grabbed his long black coat. ‘Today the big day?’
‘I hope so.’ He smiled and kissed his mother gently.
‘Good luck, son.’ His father hugged him so tightly. ‘I’m so happy for you.’
‘I’ll let you know how it goes.’ Darren winked and rushed out the house, throwing his coat around his shoulders and apparating to Diagon Alley, just outside Clara’s flat. He felt his palms getting a little sweaty as he knocked on the door.
Remus felt an ache in his chest as he woke, it was Valentine’s Day and he should have been spending it with Angelina. Though it was school day, he should at least have spent the weekend with her, but instead, he would be teaching all day and then sitting miserably at the usual feast. Remus debated not going, but then once again he may have been noticed by his absence.
The last letter from Angelina had his mind in a daze, he’d heard that phrase before from the sorting hat. The hat had said that she would be the one to tip the balance as well but was uncertain in which direction. Remus felt a responsibility to ensure she makes the right choices, Angelina was a good person, she didn’t need guidance on the right choice, but she had spent so long in so much pain that she might have found one option easier than the other.
He wasn’t sure what to do, he couldn’t talk to anyone about this, save her friends, but they didn’t have the whole story, they probably didn’t know what she was really doing in Tibet. Remus decided to leave replying to the letter until a little later in the day when his head was clearer.
Most of the students were very loved up, the ones that were in relationships anyway. The ones who had crushes were finally coming out and saying it and some were met with acceptance, others were met with rejection. Remus tried not to get too involved in his student’s affairs, unless they asked him specifically for advice and only then would he offer some meek form of wisdom.
‘…right, last question of the day and we’ll have an early finish.’ Remus quickly looked at the description in his book of a few dark creatures he had introduced to his sixth years. ‘What spell could you use to repel Inferi?’
Very few hands went up, but Remus was glad to see at least some of them had studied before the class, however, the majority were female. Remus felt a groan in his chest.
‘Millie, enlighten us.’ She was a safe option considering her involvement with Nathan.
‘Firestorm?’
Remus would have preferred it if she hadn’t asked it, but she was right all the same.
‘Correct. Firestorm is an incredibly difficult spell to master, but it would fend off enough Inferi for you to get away.’ Remus nodded and snapped the book closed, throwing it gently onto his desk.
‘Can you do it?’ She had suddenly asked. Remus blinked.
‘I can. I haven’t needed to for a long time now, but I have in the past.’ Remus frowned, wondering where she might have been going with her line of questioning. She didn’t press the subject any further though. ‘It’s not a common spell one usually performs and is only reserved for life threatening situations… I think that’s all for today, please ensure you read the necessary chapters on the unforgiveable curses and we will continue next week. In the meantime, happy Valentine’s day and I hope you all have a good weekend.’
Remus leaned against the desk at the side of his classroom as usual and waited for the students to leave. He could feel his mind going back to the war, the memories overwhelming him for just a few moments, before he took a deep breath and decided he needed to relax properly in the shower.
Angelina,
I told you before, you have all of my patience. I can’t deny, I’m a little agitated that you didn’t write for so long, but I trust that you have good reason, if you say you were meditating, then that’s good enough for me.
I didn’t want to say this through a letter, but I think given your position, it needs to be said. Angelina, you are different. I’m sorry, but that’s just how it is. You were born with a burden you didn’t ask for, your intelligence rivals Dumbledore’s, you have qualities very few people possess and all of this makes you suited for a much harder life than you anticipated. I’m so sorry that life has chosen you, but I can’t think of anyone better to live up to these responsibilities than you.
Angelina, I think you should trust in these people a little more, they are saying things that make a lot of sense. No one in their right mind believes that Voldemort is truly gone and with many of his followers still at large, it would be wise to prepare for a war should one come. You are extraordinary and he will see that as a weapon, please don’t make any rash decisions, if it doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t. Remember the maze, you got through on instinct, the horntail, your wit saved you and the lake, a good heart goes a long way.
I’m sorry my advice isn’t what you wanted to hear, but I have growing fears that something big is coming, we can all feel it. I just ask that you come back to me in one piece, safe and happy.
Work hard, Angelina, the sooner you understand their teachings, the better off you will be.
I love you
Yours
Remus
I wasn’t sure what to think, what did he mean, a weapon? I wasn’t a weapon, how could anyone see me like one?
I sat in my same meditating spot and thought for a while, Remus knew something that he wasn’t telling me, it was too quick a turn around for him to go from worrying about my safety to encouraging me to learn how to prepare for a war. I didn’t know what it was I was supposed to do.
‘Lack of direction is hardly a reason not to try.’ Tenzin said, sitting beside me. I smiled up at his aged face, he was really my only friend in this place. ‘Well that’s very flattering, but more pressing matters require our attention. You remember you said you saw a room with something you couldn’t explain? Well, I want you to picture it for me so that I may see it for myself.’
I closed my eyes and did as he asked, I tried to remember the details of the room, the red patterned rug that sat beneath the pensieve with it’s clawed, white stone feet. It sat in the middle of a room that had red wood walls and white marble floors. There were a few cracks on the walls, but nothing of note.
‘Hmmm.’ I heard Tenzin thinking out loud and it momentarily distracted me. I opened my eyes and watched as Tenzin went into his own meditation for a few moments. ‘I think we should look inside, I will be your tether.’
‘Wait, what?’
‘Concentrate Angie, we will do this together. Leave no room without knowing exactly what is inside it. That is the way to enlightenment.’
Tenzin didn’t wait for me to say yes, he took me back to the desert and we carefully navigated through the outlines of memories towards the temple, I was almost running to keep up with the young teacher. We finally reached the room and the black pensieve sat exactly the way it was when I left it.
Tenzin was already sealing the door as I stepped up to the pensieve. I wasn’t exactly sure of what the pensieve would show me once I activated it.
‘Angie, I will hold them back, enter the pensieve, but do not spend too long in there.’ Tenzin said and immediately I heard a loud screeching from beyond the door. ‘We might not have the time right now.’
I could feel a panic building in my chest. What was inside the pensieve? And why wouldn’t we have enough time to explore it? Surely, if this was inside my soul, then this was me, my memories.
I stepped up to the pensieve and did as Tenzin asked. The temple began slipping away and was replaced by what looked a lot like the base of the Alban Hills. It was summer, but I couldn’t quite feel the heat of the sun or any sort of breeze on my face. There were people everywhere, dressed in slightly dirty tunics and sandals, most of them were trading with each other or laughing and drinking outside, what was presumably a pub.
As I wandered a little further outside the settlement, I had the feeling like some kind of rope was attached to my waist. It must have been the tether Tenzin was talking about.
Something was pulling me out of the settlement and so I followed the path that led to outskirts. I could hear a faint sobbing noise coming from what appeared to be a shallow river running past the village. I navigated my way towards the sound of the sobbing and saw that a young boy, around six years old with thick, curled, blonde hair was crying, his leg looked badly injured and a stream of blood was pouring from it.
He looked up and past where I was standing to another little boy who looked exactly the same. He was rushing over to where I was and looked very worried.
‘Remus! What have you done?’ He said and bent down splashing some cool water on the wound to clean it. ‘I’ll get mother, just wait here.’
‘Hurry Romulus! It hurts!’
The boy called Romulus ran back the way he came to find his mother and left Remus sitting on his own, still splashing water over his leg, trying to keep it clean. He was clearly in pain and I hated to see it. I looked to where Romulus should have been coming back, but he was nowhere in sight. Remus was alone for the longest time, crying.
I looked up once more to see if Romulus was coming back and thought I saw something strange in the distance. A big black figure running very fast towards me, it didn’t exactly feel like I was in any danger, but I worried for the young boy.
The invisible rope around my waist began tugging hard and before I could get a good look at the black figure, I was being pulled back out of the pensive and into the temple again. It was just in time to help Tenzin push back the tar enemies from the temple doors and send them away.
Tenzin sat down exhausted on the steps of the temple and tried to catch his breath.
‘What did you see?’ He panted.
I shook my head. ‘It wasn’t my memories, it was his. From when he was a child, Remus grazed his knee and Romulus went to get their mother.’
‘Did you see her?’ I shook my head again and Tenzin sighed. ‘I am sorry, I held them back for as long as I could.’
I frowned for a moment. All this time I had thought that the creatures who attacked the temple were built especially for me to practise fighting. ‘What are they?’
‘The brother, trying to infect you.’ Tenzin didn’t even hesitate to tell me. ‘Angie, have you not worked it out by now? The more you resist him, the more you build here and the more you ignore him, the less of a hold he has on you. The brother will try again and again to latch onto parts of your soul, parts you can’t see and try to control you. It is so important that you learn to see what is already in front of you.’ Tenzin seemed to struggle for a moment. ‘We are running out of time, it has taken a lot for me to bring us here, but I will explain something else for you to think on… that pensive is your way to understand both of the brothers, it is as I suspected. The pensive sits within your soul not his, this must be how he is able to communicate with you so easily and I imagine your own brother is the same.’
‘Darren.’
‘Angie, I’m sorry, but we must leave. Do not speak of this out loud, I will teach you a new way to communicate without alerting the brother to what you now know. I imagine you already know that he can only access what you see and hear, not your thoughts. Those are safe, for now.’
‘For now?’
‘Angie, we must go.’
Before I could question him any further, I was opening my eyes, smelling the mountain air. It was once again peaceful for a precious few seconds, before the screaming of the brother pierced my ears, louder than it had ever been. I clasped my ears, trying to drown it out, but it just got louder and louder. I didn’t even know that I had begun screaming as well, somehow thinking it would help.
I found myself waking up once again to a sharp ringing in my ears. It wasn’t the screaming from before, but it was still a little painful. I didn’t feel as bad as I had done since arriving in the village, I was just a little tired and groggy. My head was pounding and all I could think about was the little boy beside the river. I sat up in bed and saw that once again Pema had put fresh flowers in the vase next to my bed.
I could just about hear the sounds of people talking, and I suddenly remembered what Tenzin had said about the brother only being able to hear and see what I do. Tenzin. I got up with a little stiffness in my joints and tried to get outside my room as fast as my body would let me.
Nothing looked out of place. Pema was gardening over the far side and the warriors were training the same as they did every day. I turned towards the monastery and saw that Yonten was discussing something with a few of the other Oracles. It looked like there was some kind of disagreement between them. Tenzin was nowhere to be seen.
The Oracles began heading back into the monastery and I knew I couldn’t follow, it was a sacred place to them and could only be entered when invited. So, what exactly was it I was supposed to be doing? Maybe another letter to Remus would have cleared my mind a little more? Maybe not?
Remus,
I can’t say much just now. But I’m making progress. I will tell you everything when I can, but right now, it’s not safe. I’m okay, but this form of communication is a little dangerous. I’ll explain when I can.
I hope you are well and I understand what you were saying, I believe you and I am still working towards the future.
Yours
Angelina
I didn’t believe for a second that the brother could not see past my cryptic message, Remus wasn’t his concern, I was.
I sat in my usual spot looking out at the mountains and thought about what I saw inside the pensieve, the memory itself was a little off, I couldn’t really feel anything, the sounds of the people in the village were hazy and I couldn’t feel the heat of the sun. Memories could be altered, I knew that much, but then what reason would the brother have to alter it unless he knew I would see it. He had no access to my safe place, no way of knowing exactly what it was I did there, so he couldn’t know that I’d found the pensieve.
The only two options about whose memory it was left me no further forward. Either Remus genuinely didn’t remember the details or Romulus had fabricated some aspects of that day. Both were plausible, both were possible and both left me still with the questions, which brother did I play host to?
‘He’s feeling better.’ A voice came from behind me. Pema. ‘Tenzin will be fine in the morning and then the two of you can meditate once again. He has asked me to pass on a message, he says: “do not enter without him, time is not on our side.” If you ask me, I think you should listen to him, we humans are dangerous creatures, most especially to ourselves.’
Pema left before I could respond and I wondered what exactly had happened to Tenzin, whatever it was, I wouldn’t get his help anytime soon. I had asked to rest so many times before and this may have been one of the few days I would actually get to myself.
Tenzin had said he would teach me a new way to communicate and I had been wondering how else I might speak with other people, maybe there was a way to talk to Darren without alerting the brothers. Maybe we could finally put an end to all of this together.
I missed Darren, he had asked Clara to marry him and I was so happy that she said yes, they fit so well together and I hoped that she would be for him what Remus was for me. I remembered the word Tenzin used. Tether.