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Author's Note: These stories are all one-shot, 1000-word responses to the Summer Writing Series Challenge, so each one is not related to
the next.
Summer Writing Series Challenge (July 2)
Challenge: Non-songfic songfic!
Challenge Conditions: Take a song, any song, that you have the lyrics to and transcribe those lyrics
into a 2,000 (or 1,000) word ficlet. The lyrics shouldn't appear unless you have them spoken by a character but
otherwise, try to describe the song through your story!
Title: Remember Me
Word Count: 2,045
The night air at number twelve Grimmauld Place was unusually crisp, even for winter. The wind was blowing in cold,
sharp spurts, but the sky was clear of clouds and any threat of snow. Muffled noises inside the house gave away the
festive mood of the guests, some who were decorating the Christmas tree and others who were singing carols.
Harry, on the other hand, was sitting alone on the back lawn that once belonged to his godfather, looking at a letter with his lumos-tipped wand. Neat, fancy letters adorned the old piece of parchment, which had been surprisingly well-preserved. He'd already read it several times, but for reasons he couldn't explain, he just kept reading it again and again. One particular line continued to resonate in his mind.
"Remember…I will still be here, as long as you hold me in your memory."
Harry closed his eyes and tried to picture her face; his own green eyes and a beautiful smile, surrounded by long red hair. He really only knew it from the photos he'd collected over the past five years, and the few other times he'd seen her image magically - in the Mirror of Erised and when her echo emerged from Voldemort's wand - but he'd had dreams as a child that he now knew were of her.
Over time those dreams had ended, and haunting though they were - with flashes of green light and screams - he missed them in a way. He missed the connection with his mother. But he fought to keep the memories alive, knowing that their distance of space and time could be transcended if he just remembered her.
He glanced back at the letter and ran his fingertips over the paper, as if feeling the raised letters would give him a hint of how it felt to touch his mother's face, or to be hugged by her. It was only a brief glimpse at her personality, but it was perfect; just how he had imagined her. She was tender, and caring, and Harry knew that she would have easily rivaled Mrs. Weasley in the amount of love that was possible for one person to share. He felt much closer to her now because of this piece of parchment, which she'd apparently left for Sirius to give him.
A burst of laughter emerged from the house behind him. Harry sighed and looked up to the sky, searching for the constellation that Hermione had pointed out to him just weeks ago - Canis Majoris.
"You see Orion's belt?" she'd asked. "Now look to the left…see that star? That's Sirius, the brightest burning star in the night sky, also called the Dog Star after the Egyptian god Osiris. Twenty-three times brighter than our sun, and twice the mass," she'd spouted out like a talking encyclopedia before she softened. "I know it sounds silly, but I like to think maybe he's up there, watching over us."
Harry didn't think it was silly at all, though. In fact he really hoped it was true. On more than one occasion he had stayed awake in his room, looking out to the night sky and watching until the starlight faded into the rising sun. He knew Sirius was gone, but he couldn't help feeling that his presence was still here with him. The whole thing had happened so quickly, so suddenly…and it was so unfair.
"Don't worry," Harry whispered, looking up to the star. "I won't let you die. I'll tell your story, and everyone will know the truth. You're not what they said you were. You were a true friend…a hero."
He looked at the letter again, rereading the line that he kept hearing in his head.
"Remember…I will still be here, as long as you hold me in your memory."
A gust of cold wind came billowing through the air and Harry shivered, but it wasn't from the chill. It had happened again. He hadn't told anyone about it, but from time to time when the night was still and quiet, he would swear that he'd heard a whisper of his mother's voice, calling out to him. He knew it was her because he'd heard her in his dreams and the night that Cedric died.
He liked to think she was reaching out to touch him in some way, maybe just to be sure he was alright, or to let him know she was with him. Either way, he was keeping her alive, if only inside of him…her, his father and Sirius. He had to. He owed them that much.
"Remember…I'll never leave you, if you will only remember me."
Harry's eyes moved to the top of the page once more, and he started to read.
21 October, 1980
My Dearest Harry,
I've been sitting here for several minutes, staring at the blank page before me, not quite knowing how to start this letter to you. There is so much to say, and not enough parchment in the world to write it on. It is my deepest desire that you will never need to see this letter, or even know that it existed. But I fear that won't be the case.
I should first say that I am so, so sorry. I'm sorry I'm not there with you now. I'm sorry I missed watching you grow. I'm sorry I missed your first steps, your birthdays, the arrival of your Hogwarts letter, and your first broom ride. I'm sorry I missed sharing in your joys and triumphs, your pain and your suffering. Most of all, I'm sorry I'm not there to tell you how much I love you.
It's a strange thing, the love a mother has for her son. When I was young I'd always dreamed of having a family and I knew that I would love them unconditionally. But when you were born, the love I felt was like nothing I'd never felt before. Of course I love your dad very much, and he loves you too. But this was different. I can't even begin to explain it. I want you to know, though, that as much as I wish I could be there with you now, I do not regret for a single moment that my time was cut short, because I know that you have lived on, and you will grow to be a good person. I'm so very proud of you, Harry.
I truly hope that someday you'll have the chance to experience the joys of being a parent; then you'll understand how much it hurts me to write this, and even to think that the impossible might happen. But, sadly, it is not impossible. In this day and in the state of our world it is quite possible, and even probable, that we may be taken from you. Please know that everything we've done was for you, because we love you and want the best for you. And remember that I will still be here, as long as you hold me in your memory. I'll never leave you, if you will just remember me.
Maybe that thought is in vain. I hope that you'll be able to remember us, the mother and father who loved you more than anything in the world. But I am so afraid that if someone doesn't stop him soon, our time will be over before you've reached your second birthday. If this happens, you'll have little more than some photographs and this letter to remember me by.
I can't begin to imagine how you feel at this point in your life, or what you've gone through in your lifetime. I hope it has been a time of peace and that your childhood was happy. I hope you've enjoyed growing up with that crazy godfather of yours. Merlin knows why I let your father talk me into choosing him! I suppose it was because I saw it in his eyes the first time he held you; he loves you, nearly as much as your father and I, even if he won't say it out loud. He'll take good care of you. I've asked him to give this letter to you when he felt you were ready.
I don't doubt for a second that Sirius has shared a few wild tales about our times in school and his antics with the Marauders, as they called themselves. I'm sorry to say that they're probably all true, as well! They had great fun, and as your father and I were falling in love, I grew to love each of them in their own crazy ways as well. I suppose I had to, or else I would have probably hexed your godfather into oblivion, as much as he enjoyed teasing me…particularly when I was pregnant with you. Still I hope you have gotten to know each of them, and that they've become your second family.
What Sirius can't tell you about, however, is the look on your dad's face when you were born. I'll never forget it. James Potter, the arrogant young man who eventually won my heart, was literally in awe. I'd never seen him cry before, but as he held you for the fist time I saw the tears in his eyes. He kissed you and whispered something very quietly to you.
"Harry," he said, "I promise that I'll do everything I can to be a good dad. I'll buy you ice cream and take you to the park. I'll teach you to fly and how to play Quidditch. And I'll always love you, even when you've lost my invisibility cloak or crashed your new broom. It won't matter, because you're my little boy."
We are proud of you, Harry, and we love you very, very much. I don't know what I hoped to accomplish with this letter to you, but I suppose I just needed to be sure that no matter what happened to us you would never go without knowing that much. Remember me, Harry. If you're sad, or lonely, you can always talk to me, and I'll hear you. I'll be there with you. I'll live forever. Just remember me.
I love you always,
Mum
Harry looked up at Sirius again. "I hope you're having fun up there with them. Don't tease mum too much, ok?" he said with a half-hearted smile.
"Harry?" Hermione said softly from somewhere behind him. "Who are you talking to?"
"No one," he replied, blushing in the darkness. He folded the letter and put it in his pocket. A second later he felt her hand rest gently on his shoulder and he closed his eyes, feeling her warmth near him. He hadn't realized how cold he'd gotten.
"Everyone was looking for you," she said. "They were hoping you'd come put the star on the tree."
"Ok. I'll be right in.
He felt her lean closer and wrap her arm fully around his shoulder.
"I'm sure he heard you," she whispered.
Harry nodded, and as she pulled away from him to go inside, he already missed the warmth she'd given him. Something Dumbledore had once told him suddenly echoed in his head.
"It doesn't do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that."
He turned and watched Hermione open the door, stepping into the house. She really cared about him, and had really been there for him since they'd lost Sirius. In truth, she'd done more for him in the past five years than anyone else had done his whole life; she'd helped him without question on so many occasions, she never doubted him even when the rest of the world thought he was crazy, and she'd been by his side in both the good times and the bad. In the past few months she'd given him his space, but he was afraid the space between them would grow if he wasn't careful. Harry had a funny feeling that this was exactly the thing Dumbledore was talking about.
He stood up and made his way to the door, preparing himself to go in and meet the cheerful crowd of his friends. He was just about to step inside when he stopped and looked back up to the sky one last time.
"Goodnight, Sirius. Goodnight mum and dad."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A/N: Ok, here's my song. Listen to it on Windows Media Player here.
Remember Me
Performed by Josh Groban & Tanja Tzarovska
From the Troy soundtrack
Remember
I will still be here
As long as you hold me
In your memory
Remember
When your dreams have ended
Time can be transcended
Just remember me
I am the one star that keeps burning so brightly
It is the last light to fade into the rising sun
I'm with you whenever you tell my story
For I am all I've done
Remember
I will still be here
As long as you hold me
In your memory
Remember me
I am that one voice in the cold wind that whispers
And if you listen you'll hear me call across the sky
As long as I still can reach out and touch you
Then I will never die
Remember
I'll never leave you
If you will only
Remember me
Remember me
Remember
I will still be here
As long as you hold me
In your memory
Remember
When your dreams have ended
Time can be transcended
I'll live forever
Remember me
Remember me
Remember me