───ANGELINA JOHNSON didn't understand why life had to be so cruel and there was no one there to give her the answers she needed. The 24th of June was proving to be one of the worst days of her life, besides the 20th of March.  Both dates were those where she had lost someone near and dear to her, the first being her mother in March when she was only eight years old and just recently in the month of June, she had lost Saros Malfoy. Just saying his name, even in the privacy of her mind was enough to bring her to tears and when she thought about him and her mother at the same time, she would break down completely.

Both of them had been taken from the world too soon, but Saros especially as he hadn't even entered the Wizarding World on his own. He hadn't even finished his education at Hogwarts and he wouldn't be able to because his life was stolen. And the worst part of it all was that it had all been so sudden and Angelina felt like she would never be able to give the proper goodbye. The last exchange between the two of them was just her wishing him good luck with a kiss on the cheek. She wished she had said more to him or something else, she wished she had better prepared him for the task, she just wished she had done more.

But what could Angelina have done in order to prevent Saros coming face to face with You-Know-Who? According to Harry Potter, Voldemort had returned and during all the commotion, he had managed to say that Saros had been hit with the Killing Curse by Voldemort himself. When it was asked what had happened to Saros' body, Harry couldn't come up with an answer, believing that the body had been destroyed as the only thing left had been his prosthetic. It was hard to question Harry, who appeared more than traumatised from the experience, but it was enough that Saros Malfoy didn't turn up anywhere that even the Ministry of Magic was going along with the idea that he was dead. 

There was a memorial service held at Hogwarts and even a funeral, however, there wasn't a body to bury. Burying an empty casket seemed so bizarre to Angelina, but she had been crying so much as of a late that it was hard for her to think straight most days. After Saros was presumed dead, it was the way that people looked at her that made everything even worse. Her closest friends had been incredibly supportive, being there for her whenever she needed them. But the way her other peers would look at her or whisper in the corridors during the remaining days at school, left her feeling even worse.

She was suddenly the poor girlfriend of the boy who was killed and rather than being sorry for the loss of Saros, they were all feeling sorry for her. It made her angry, it made her feel even more broken than before, and it made her just want to hide away. However, it didn't matter because even if there weren't people staring at her or whispering around her, it was like there were constant reminders of Saros everywhere.

And while it pained her to hear his name being whispered throughout the corridors or written in news articles throughout the Daily Prophet, Angelina didn't want it to stop either. She didn't want people to stop talking about Saros because she didn't want people to forget him. She would never forget him, but she wanted others to keep him in mind. He wasn't just a Triwizard Champion as the news articles put it, he wasn't just a Malfoy either. Before his death, Saros had set out to do so many great things.

He wanted to break away from the hateful beliefs of his family, he wanted to function without people always worrying about him due to past injuries, and he wanted to live a life that would not only make him happy, but proud as well. Fortunately for Angelina, she had been able to witness his progress. She was able to witness him stand up to his parents and while it had been a painful process for him, he still remained strong. Things that he didn't think he could ever do, he at least tried, like Quidditch and Apparating.

Saros was on his way of becoming one of the strongest wizards Angelina had ever known and magic had nothing to do with his power. It was his strength and will to do the right thing, even if it didn't come across as easy. He brought down stereotypes that had long embedded themselves in the minds of generations and he was on his way to make the world a better place.

But all of that was over now and Angelina didn't know how to cope with such a loss.

No one really did.

Before the memorial service occurred at the castle, Draco Malfoy was pulled from the school. The Malfoys didn't make any sort of appearance at either service but Angelina either assumed that they didn't care or they were holding their own services in private. However, she knew that Draco had to be grieving, she had seen it all over his face when Harry Potter returned, claiming that Saros was dead.

No attack from any creature (hippogriff) or any jinx could make Draco cry as hard as he did in the stands. He demanded that Harry tell him where his brother was, but Harry didn't have an answer for him right away. And to make matters worse, Saros didn't have a message for Draco, instead, he had left a message for Angelina as the idea of him dying had presented itself to him.

During his final moments, he wanted Harry to relay the message that he was sorry that he wasn't going to make it to the end of the maze.

That message haunted Angelina every night in her dreams as Saros would come to her in various scenarios and each time, he would start with an apology. Guilt settled heavily in her chest as she realised that she had been the one to make him promise that he was going to make it to the end. That he was going to come out of the maze unharmed or she threatened to kick his arse. Believing that had been one of the last things on Saros' mind before meeting death had made her feel terrible.

And every night when she woke from a nightmare, she would find herself in the darkness of her room, apologising to Saros. Maybe he could hear her, maybe not, but if there was an off chance that he could, she just wanted to let him know that she was sorry. Maybe if there was an afterlife, they could meet up once more and she could tell him to his face. And she could only hope that he would forgive her.

Until then, it was going to be a very long start to the summer as she had to face it, knowing that every summer plan they had planned together would not be taking place.

───HARRY POTTER itched at the bandages wrapped around his head that also covered his ears. The majority of the sounds around him were muffled due to the cotton plugs but it had allowed him to rest. For a couple of days, he had been observed for any further trauma after he had been brought in. He had barely been conscious when found by an elderly man and he had sustained enough head trauma that his ears had been bleeding. And yet, as doctors and medical staff examined him, it was difficult to tell just what had plagued the boy.

The large bite wound in his leg was unlike any animal bite they had ever come to witness over the years and when they searched for any bruising or signs of where blunt force might have been used, there was no such thing. Oddly enough besides the boy's injured leg, there weren't really any other injuries. Although his body was reacting as if he had entered a state of shock under no visible circumstances. They withdrew blood to further examine, but so far, there was nothing coming up.

He was certainly the talk of the hospital, a boy of mystery as they called him. He had claimed the name of Harry Potter, but the police investigation showed that there was no one reported missing by the name. And the only thing Harry Potter seemed to know about himself was indeed the name he provided and nothing more. Capable of speech, he was willing to talk to the medical staff and police, but he wasn't able to provide them with any useful information.

His usual answer had become "I don't know" rather quickly.

When he had woken up for the first time since being brought into the hospital, it had become a complete circus as Harry entered in a panicked state around the medical equipment. He appeared terrified around it, attempting to push it away. Things as simple as a television seemed so foreign to him, and yet, when he spoke, he came across as well-versed and educated. It was a baffling mixture which left the majority unsure of how to approach or how to proceed.

Doctors could only wonder what sort of hell the boy had been through, showing up out of nowhere with a missing leg as well. The injury appeared old and at least, properly taken care of so that there wasn't an infection or anything of the sort. But their concern was leading the police to believe that it was a case of child abduction. They didn't believe that his name was Harry Potter, even though he strongly believed that it was. Nothing else came to mind except for the name so he was sticking with it.

But police assumed that perhaps it was a name given to him and there was no telling what his real name was. They would have to go through a database of missing children to try and find a match. It didn't help that Harry didn't seem to know anything, he couldn't even give any other name. That was when the psychologists were called in and many were eager to just get a few minutes in with Harry to hear what he had to say. The best they could come up with at the time was a severe case of retrograde amnesia, possible psychogenic amnesia that was caused by whatever trauma he had sustained prior to being found.

Perhaps Harry Potter was a real person that the boy before them knew and could only recall the name. It had basically become a guessing game with him as they tried to figure out who he was and what had happened. The only thing found on him at the time besides his clothing was a carved piece of wood and no one knew what to make of that. It seemed random and unimportant but as they tried to take it away from him initially, he cried for them to give it back. He couldn't describe what it was or what it meant to him, but he said that he felt like it was important and wanted to keep it.

The only person who obliged without passing any judgemental looks was a woman by the name of "Jo" that would come to look after him daily. Harry would be in her care eventually when he left the hospital, but for the time being, she would come to check on him every day to see how he was doing. She would make sure he was comfortable and answer his questions as he would point things out in the room and ask what they were.

"Who's Angie, Harry?"

Opening his eyes all the way, Harry turned his head so that he could see that Jo had arrived for the day and was sitting at his bedside. "What did you say?"

"I asked you who was Angie?" she replied, a twinkle in her blue gaze that held a sort of curiosity as she waited patiently for his answer. "You spoke her name earlier when you were sleeping. Did you recall someone?"

Over the last few days, according to the medical staff, Harry had been saying all sorts of things in his sleep, but mostly things that they had deemed nonsense. Words such as "lumos" or "accio" and something along the lines of "abracadabra" if they were making it out properly. But whenever they asked Harry about it, he had no recollection of what they were talking about. He didn't remember any sort of dreams. When he fell asleep, he only found himself surrounded by darkness.

"Angie," he repeated as he rested his head back on the pillow and tried to think, " I don't know. Did I say anything else?"

"You said you were sorry," Jo continued, " do you know what you were sorry for?"

He stared up at the ceiling, but his mind continued to draw a blank, which was leaving him more frustrated than ever. Nothing ever sounded familiar when they brought up something he said and not being able to remember even a single face from his previous life just made things worse.

"No," he answered finally, " I don't know who Angie is and I don't know why I would be sorry. Maybe I did something wrong before I was found...what if I'm a bad person? Do you think that's possible?"

"I think everyone is capable of making mistakes," Jo told him, " but it doesn't necessarily make them a bad person. Let's not jump to conclusions without definite answers first. I'll be right back, I'm going to tell one of the nurses that you're awake and to bring you something to eat."

"I'm not hungry," Harry answered, but Jo started to complain that he didn't eat enough as it was. He didn't have much of a choice at that point, the doctors weren't going to like it if he dropped any more weight. Pretty much outnumbered, Harry settled back in his bed as he was left alone in the room, peering out the window by his bed.

He felt like dozing off until the nurse arrived with his food but as he started to close his eyes, he saw a shadow flicker against the wall, bringing him to open them once more. As he peered over, he was surprised to see an owl sitting on the opposite side of the window. It appeared to have something in its beak, perhaps an envelope of sorts.

There was a loud bang in the corridor outside of his room, bringing him to look away from the window, only to see that one of the medical staff members had dropped their clipboard and when he looked back at the window seconds later, the owl was gone.

Reaching his hand up to touch his head lightly, Harry felt like he was possibly losing his mind, at least, what was left of it. And as he laid there in the hospital bed, he had to wonder, if he was apologising to this Angie person in his sleep, how many others were waiting on his apologies?