Harry Potter and the Gift of Memories [Harry Potter Fan Fiction]

Chapter XXIII: A Not Very Happy Halloween

I don't know when it happened, that moment I stopped considering Lisa to be an annoyance. I sat at my desk, not paying attention to my teacher's lecture, pondering, trying to discern the moment Lisa became my... friend. Yes, that was the word. I failed, unfortunately. I couldn't pinpoint any specific incident when I began to think of her as something more, something important. All I know was that it happened.

When the bell rang and class ended, I left the room with the other students. Many said goodbye to me; some did not. I didn't particularly care, but for the sake of being polite, said goodbye back.

Lisa was waiting for me outside.

“Hey, Harry!” She greeted me with undiminished enthusiasm. I tried hard not to smile.

“Lisa, how was class?”

“Boring!” She sang.

“Ha... boring, you say?”

“Really boring,” she confirmed.

As we began our walk to the school entrance, I tried convincing the girl about the importance of education. I feel like most of my words flew over her head. That, or she just wasn't paying attention. Either way, she didn't seem to understand why learning and school was so important.

“So, Harry,” Lisa said as we walked outside, the bright sun bearing down on us from the clear sky overhead.

“Yes?”

“I was wondering.” Lisa wasn't looking at me anymore. She twirled a strand of hair between her fingers, looking away. I frowned. “Would you be interested in having dinner with my family this Saturday?”

I blinked.

“Dinner?”

“Mm.”

She nodded, still not looking in my direction. I thought her offer and, well, I couldn't see any reason not to accept her invite. Dinner with Lisa sounded infinitely more pleasant than dinner with the Dursleys. Still, a part of me felt reluctant. Hadn't I been avoiding making friends because I would be going to Hogwarts when I turned 11? Why form bonds when they would eventually break? Better to not befriend anyone than become friends and leave them later on. Those were my thoughts.

And yet, as I looked at Lisa, I wondered. Would it really be so bad? Surely, I could allow myself to befriend at least one person. I'll admit, books were nice, but I still felt lonely. Even sparring at the dojo didn't change this. I felt isolated, alone, much like when I lived in that broom cupboard underneath the stairs.

I'll also admit, if only to myself, that I did actually like Lisa. She was bright and cheerful, a ray of sunshine breaking through clouds of monotonous gray; a breath of fresh air, refreshing and crisp, blowing away the staleness that had become my life. That was Lisa Crawft.

“Sure,” I agreed, and the cheerful expression on Lisa's face let me know that I made the right decision.

XoX

News of Harry becoming the new Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team spread quickly. The very day after try-outs in fact. It seemed the Hogwarts rumor mill had been working overtime with anything concerning him. Harry had once more been the subject of much talk among the student population, and even more gawking than he had been subject to before.

This didn't bother Harry like it had back when school first started and people gawked at him like he was some circus freak show. At the beginning of school, when everyone stared at him, it had been annoying. Now he actually enjoyed them, because unlike before, the stares and admiring glances and envious looks he received were because of something he did; something he had accomplished with his own skills and abilities; not because of something that happened to him when he was a helpless baby.