Just Beyond the Castle

Anthony had sent a letter to Elise at breakfast this morning, asking if she wanted to meet up to explore the grounds and to catch up. He hadn't planned on letting her memory loss affect their friendship, so he had a lot of lost time to make up on, and a lot of lost memories.

He sat on the steps of the castle and waited for the Hufflepuff to arrive. From then, he wasn't sure where'd they go but he hoped that they'd be better friends because of it.

Elise was slowly walking up towards the entrance of Hogwarts. Earlier in the morning she had received a post from Anthony McGuire, and was thrilled at the letter. She couldn't wait to "catch up" and explore the grounds of her school (even though she knew she had been there before).

A small smile tugged at her lips. The loss memory wasn't that bad if all her past friends were like Anthony. He was a nice guy to even have bothered to befriend her again.

Once she reached the entrance hall Elise was able to spot the Ravenclaw's figure sitting on top of the steps. Elise purposefully made her footsteps louder rather than her silent movement so he wouldn't be freaked out if she popped next to him.

"Hey," she called out, "Thanks for the invite."

Andy didn't have to wait very long. He turned around and grinned.

"Hey!" he said, rather chipper despite the weather being less than perfect. He had a feeling that he would rain later, but hopefully that could get the best of the weather. "No worries. It's a good way to get to know each other again and we can explore the grounds as we go."

He was rather interested if she was having any sort of memory re-call at all. If certain things triggered anything. It was a long shot, but maybe seeing the grounds would give her something back that she didn't have now.

"Ready?" he asked her.

"True," Elise replied as she stepped up next to him as if challenging him; a bad habit she had picked up every time she was around boys her age. She blamed it on her competitive nature, and the need to prove that girls can be just as good as guys in any field.

"So... Where to?" She asked looking around the vast land that was the Hogwarts grounds.

Elise was excited to go exploring, and if anything, she hoped that if she saw something familiar then her memories would come rushing back or something. Maybe it was too much for her to ask since even the Healers at St. Mungo's couldn't get her to remember anything. They had brought her loads of familiar things, but Elise just couldn't seem to pinpoint why they felt that way.

Even her pet raven to which she didn't even know the name of was a complete mystery to her.

Andy had a quick glance around. "Well, I suppose we can just walk, and see where that takes us. Maybe towards the lake first?" he asked.

Andy stepped down the few steps that led to the glass of the grounds. He was happy to be outdoors, something that took some time to come about, and he smiled down at Elise. In first year, they were roughly the same height, but Andy had a growth spurt of the summer holidays.

"How has it been? To be back here?" he asked. He didn't want to add in the words, without your memories, but it was as though he had already said it. He couldn't imagine how hard that would be.

"Sounds good," Elise nodded and followed him down the steps.

Standing directly next to him Elise hadn't noticed how tall he was. Idly she wondered if they had been around the same height in their first year. It was only logical to think so; no child would have hit puberty that early. But now that they were thirteen Anthony's height shouldn't be surprise.

Elise waited for Anthony to guide her since he knew the grounds better. Then she shrugged at his question, "All right, I suppose."

She smiled a bit, "Even though I know I've been here before, everything I see is like... It's like experiencing everything for the first time."

Andy nodded and he started to walk, not fast, but not at a dawdle either towards the lake. He glanced at her as she spoke, still amazed at what happened to her.

"That's a plus side to an awful experience, I guess." As they neared the lake, the glare caused his eyes to water slightly, but he assumed that he'd get used to it. He really needed to invest in some sunglasses though. "I don't mean to pry, and just tell me if I'm overstepping the line, or whatever, but how did it happen?"

He really was interested in what caused the memory lapse in his friend. "Have you been in St Mungo's the entire time?"

She was glad to be walking in a leisure pace because she hadn't wanted to miss any of the scenery (even though it was just all trees, grass, and whatnot).

Elise turned her head and took in the beauty of nature; it was always something she loved though it was a bit too girly in her opinion. But nevertheless she reveled at the sight of the tall trees in the distance and the sun shining from above.

"Haha! True. Everything is just so... magical here," she admitted before shaking her head.

She didn't mind him asking her, they had been friends before after all and if anything Elise felt ready to trust him implicitly - something that she found odd and a bit concerning.

"Don't worry about it. I don't mind," Elise sent him a reassuring smile. "I really don't know actually except that the Healers told me I got hit with a really bad memory charm to the forehead."

Elise brought her hands to clasp behind her, "That's where the frontal lobe is, and just a bit below it is the temporal lobe. The part that controls all recent memories and stuff."

She shrugged it off, "So yeah... That's where I've been. They tried loads of things to try to get me to remember but nothing worked."

Andy was glad that she seemed to trust him with what happened to her. He would have completely understood if she didn't want to say anything though.

Suddenly, Andy was glad that he took an interest in Muggle medicine and read a few things about it, so the words Temporal and Frontal Lobe didn't completely go over his head. They were part of the cerebral cortex. He had read about a Muggle accident in which a man's frontal lobe was damaged and his personality was permanently altered. He hoped that wasn't the case with Elise, though it didn't seem to be.

"I'm really at a loss for what to say about that," he replied honestly. "Memory charms are difficult to manage at the best of times." He did wonder how she was placed in a situation where she was hit with a memory charm, but if she couldn't remember what happened, then she wouldn't remember that.

"So, is it just your Hogwarts memories or ones from before school started?" She did say recent memories and she seemed to remember her name. Andy was just curious, something that often led him into trouble. He hoped he wasn't prying too much into Elise's condition.

Despite a piece of mind telling her to be cautious, Elise was only too happy to be spending her day with a 'friend.' When she had entered the train station of Platform Nine and Three Quarters, Elise had been nervous and didn't want her temporary guardian, Healer Hamilton, to leave - at all.

Healer Hamilton was Elise's primary caretaker while she had been in St. Mungo's, and the woman was absolutely amazing - a picture perfect role model for all young girls in Elise's opinion. She was polite but stern as well as fun to talk to. And Healer Hamilton even gave her a few lectures on the wizarding world when Elise would get bored from time to time.

"Not to worry about it," Elise said, "It's been done and I'm not going to keep feeling cobbed out about missing memories."

She turned her body so that she walked backwards next to Anthony, "Besides... I'm making new memories to compensate for the old ones."

Elise sent Anthony a grin all the while being alert about her surroundings; she wouldn't want to fall and embarrass herself after all. Truth be told Elise did worry about her loss of memories. She wondered about the people she had met and thought many times at what they had talked about. Like her first meeting with Anthony.

"Er... The Hogwarts memories, for sure, are gone and... some time after it I guess."

Andy smiled at her attitude towards it all. If it were him, he'd be in a mood for all eternity. He hated not knowing things and having the situation where he couldn't even remember things that had happened to him, would cheese him completely.

"Exactly," he said, still smiling. "Hopefully these new memories will be as good, if not better than the previous ones."

He watched her walk backwards and laughed. Same old Elise. She was always doing crazy things, like trying to climb trees in the park.

"So I guess you don't remember when we met," he asked, even though he already knew the answer. The thought about her trying to climb the tree reminding Andy, sadly, that he was the only one that remembered that now.

"We first met in the Leaky Cauldron. A pub in London. We didn't talk much then, but the next day we ran into each other again, at the park this time. You were trying to climb a tree and I offered advice, even though I hate climbing trees."

He smiled at the memory. He had explained Quidditch to the girl that day too. He had been so excited to try out for the Ravenclaw team back then, and now he was a third year and still hadn't done it.

Her heart fluttered with with excitement as she listened to Anthony's short story version of how they met. And she could really see it happening. With her stubborn nature she was sure that the tree she was trying to climb must have been a good one.

"I always did have a thing for climbing trees," Elise laughed. "It was probably a huge one too, wasn't?"

Something flashed in her mind and Elise was able to picture the tree they were currently talking about.

It had lasted only for a millisecond before Elise began to spout out the details in with a smile on her face, "Really tall like... up to fourteen plus feet, and then really thick too! You'd have three to four people hug it. Oh! Oh! And it also had a hole in it for a bird's nest or something."

Her green eyes lit up as she continued to picture the tree, "It would be so epic if a tree like that existed!"

Andy nodded and was about to describe the tree that she had tried to climb when she beat him to it. He grinned at the memory of that tree and then blinked. What just happened? He stopped walking abruptly and stared at her.

"It would be so epic if a tree like that existed!"

Andy blinked a few times. Did she not know what she was describing? he wondered.

"Elise," Andy said, grinning. "It does. Exist, I mean. That's the tree you tried to climb! You haven't been to the park before the memory loss have you?" He continued to stare at her. If she could remember the tree, did that mean that she would regain her other memories as well?

"It does?" She asked, the information not sinking in yet.

Elise had stopped walking backwards when Anthony did and was only a few steps ahead of him. Her expression was sort of arranged in a 'what?' fashion, before her eyes widened with realization and then with mirth.

She began to rock (or rather) jump on the front ends of her feet, "I mean... it does! Oh Merlin, it does exist!"

Then she couldn't keep her enthusiasm inside her any longer. Elise literally skipped to Anthony and gave him a quick hug. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You helped me get my memory back!"

Granted it wasn't the memory of their entire meeting, but it was one piece of her past that assured her that she really did meet Anthony and other people before.

"Wow..." She said sounding a bit dazed, "I really did remember something. You know what... I don't think I'll ever forget that tree! Like... ever!"

Andy nodded enthusiastically, watching on as she seemed to figure this out. He laughed and and returned her hug, exceptionally happy that she was beginning to remember her past.

"My pleasure," he said even though he didn't intend to cause a flashback by mentioning the tree. He wondered if just talking about their first year friendship would cause some other memories to resurface. "It's a huge tree but I guess it made more of an impact on you, than our friendship did." He said, teasing her that she could remember the tree and not the year they were friends for.

She grinned in return to his teasing. It was all light-hearted for her so she let it pass. At least it wasn't like when she was in the martial arts tournament and the guys were teasing her in a not-so-fun-and-friendly way. But Anthony was safe and a good friend.

Elise let out another laugh and went with his teasing, "Of course it did! It's a magnificent tree after all. Ooh! Do you think it's the King of Trees, or something?"

Her light adrenaline rush slowed down and Elise felt herself beginning to calm. It was no wonder that she couldn't remember anything at St. Mungo's! All she needed was some things to trigger her other memories.

"So, did we talk about anything else?" She asked before frowning as she remembered a certain piece of her previous actions, "Oh... And can you not tell anyone I skipped?"

Elise didn't have anything against skipping, but it just seemed a little too girly and happy for her taste. And it probably made me look like an airhead. She mumbled moodily in her head.

Andy scratched his chin, thinking about her question. What else had the two of them spoke about for an entire year. A lot.

"Well... It's pretty hard to pinpoint a couple of things we spoke about, but..." Andy then grinned. "Quidditch! We spoke a lot about Quidditch. Ringing any bells?" he asked. Elise was a Muggleborn, and Andy was more than happy to explain the concept of Quidditch to the girl again. She had even signed up for Flying lessons with him in first year. Andy wondered if he could get her to try and fly again.

Andy laughed. "Sure. Cross my heart and hope to die?" He screwed up his face. "Is that right? Such as strange saying. I don't really hope to die... but I won't tell anyone that you're partial to skipping." He grinned cheekily.

"Oh! Yes, I've heard about Quidditch! Healer Joyce, my first caretaker at the hospital, had told me a few bits and pieces about it," Elise brightened at the mention of the sport before deflating slightly. "She didn't seem so happy or excited about it though. I don't think she really likes the sport. You think there's any reason why she wouldn't like it?"

Quidditch, Elise thought, had sounded to so bland and boring when Healer Joyce was explaining about it. She didn't like that healer compared to Healer Hamilton. Even though Healer Joyce was nice and a great worker, she complained about Quidditch every chance she could.

"Partial to skipping?" Elise scoffed a little before laughing a bit. "And I don't think it's such a strange saying."

Then again she was a Muggleborn and she grew up with it.

Andy wasn't annoyed that she hadn't remembered him explaining Quidditch to her first. That was a different time for both of them. He was glad, however, that she seemed to have somewhat of an idea about the game, even if it did sound slightly negative.

"Oh! Nah! Quidditch is amazing! You'll see. I'll take you to a game. In fact, Slytherin are playing Ravenclaw this Saturday. We should go down and watch!" Andy didn't want to mention the fact that the sport could be highly dangerous. He didn't want to cloud her views about the game anymore than her Healer Joyce supposedly had.

"Yeah. Sure. Partial to skipping," Andy said, half smiling as she seemed to laugh at his word choice. "What would you like me to say instead? Skipping takes your fancy? Likes the occasional skip every once and a while?"

Elise's preconception of how bad Quidditch would be was slightly being hammered down once she saw how Anthony was excited and happy about the sport. It didn't sound so bad now. Even with just one word about something, Anthony managed to open her views.

"Really? Would you?" Elise's widened at the thought of actually seeing a real game. "Wait... Are we allowed to seat in another house's bench?"

The only thing she saw about Quidditch were pictures of one celebrity flying around and grinning at the camera. It wasn't really something that pumped up her adrenaline like it did when she practiced the moves of martial arts or playing some other physical sport.

Then she lightly pushed Anthony before sticking her tongue playfully, "Fine. I'll stick to partial. Skipping to my 'fancy' sounds like I love it."

Andy grinned. "We'll just disguise you as a Raven. No one will know the difference!" he said, cheerfully. He didn't recognise half the people in his house, so Elise would fit in fine. He hoped she wouldn't feel like she was betraying Hufflepuff for the duration of the game, but it wasn't as if Hufflepuff were playing. That'll be a different story.

Andy laughed as Elise shoved him. "Oh! Well, from what I just saw, perhaps I should recant my statement. Seems to be that was exactly what you were doing. Skipping out of love for it." He drew out the word love, teasing her with it.

"Are you sure?" She asked a bit skeptically. "How are we going to do that? I don't have anything remotely Raven-like in my dorm."

Elise really wanted to attend the match with Anthony, but if her 'disguised' wasn't perfect than other Ravens would surely notice. They weren't the house for the smart for nothing. And when they were smart that usually meant that they were highly perceptive, and could probably pick up on details that stick out. What if she said something dumb? That would surely get her kicked out.

"Oh yeah? Maybe you would love it if I pushed you into the lake with the Giant Squid, hmm?" Elise copied Anthony and drew out the 'love' word.

Andy waved his hand at her. "Don't stress! We'll get you a Raven tie, and I have a spare scarf you can borrow. Come to think of it, I probably have a spare tie too. Piece of cake!"

He could tell she was nervous about going under disguise and he smiled. "Seriously. They'll be too focused on the game to even notice someone who doesn't look all that familiar. It'll be great!"

Andy poked his tongue out at her. "Like to see you try," he said, laughing as he started to jog away from her, conveniently away from the lake. Andy wasn't a slow runner by any stretch, but Elise could probably match him in speed. His only advantage was his height and (hopefully) his ability to stand his ground.

A sigh of relief escaped her as she was assured that it wouldn't be a problem at all. A piece of cake as Anthony had said.

"All right," Elise conceded and smiled brightly. "I'll hold you to it then."

Yes! A Quidditch game with someone she knew. Even though she heard many of her housemates were attending the match and even invited her to go with them, Elise had decline on the notion that she would have been the odd one out. The group that asked were older and had been friends since they started Hogwarts.

"I'll take that as a challenge," she whooped in joy as she began to walk faster and then eventually began running as opposed to Anthony's jog.

Elise was shorter, yes, but she could run if she wanted to and only for a short time.

Andy laughed as Elise ran after him. He sped up slightly as she was catching up to him rather quickly. This fact didn't deter him from teasing her, however.

"Come on then, slow poke!" he called, using one of the Muggle sayings his father often said around the house. He didn't really understand them, but they made him laugh and it was something he could say around Elise and not have the problem of her staring at him like he had two heads; something that James would definitely do.

Andy, kept running, careful to keep a distance, albeit a small one, away from Elise, as a trip into the lake was not on his to-do-list for the day. The weather was far to brisk for that.