Tearing herself away, Harmony ran down the hallway, her mind whirring. All she could hear was Fennec calling after her, her feet hitting the ground as she ran, and the pounding of her heart. She ran all the way up the stairs, as many staircases as it would take her up, and found a corridor no one was in. Harmony pressed her face into her knees, trying desperately to silence the sobs clawing their way out of her throat. It wasn't fair. None of it was fair. The fire, the nightmares that had kept her up for months, they weren't her memories. They were Delilah Malfoy's memories. The baby she wasn't. She remembered all of it. She felt all of it. How could something that felt so real be a lie? //There. See?// Harmony thought desperately. //I'm just upset. That's all. Fennec has put this ridiculous idea into my head, and now I'm imagining things.// She dragged in a shaky breath. But now something about the memory had felt wrong. Not false, exactly. Borrowed. A chill crept down her spine. "No," she whispered. The word sounded horribly small in the empty corridor. A sharp pain suddenly lanced through her skull. Harmony gasped, clutching at her temples. For a second, the corridor disappeared. She was somewhere else. Darkness. Damp earth beneath her back. Cold air against her skin. She couldn't move, couldn't speak. A baby was crying, somewhere near. There was a figure standing above her. Tall. Cloaked. Its face hidden in shadow. A thin beam of light appeared between the figure's wand, blinding Harmony. Silence. The crying stopped. Harmony felt something tear through her chest, something cold and unfamiliar, and a voice whispered directly into her mind. //Live.// She screamed. The vision shattered. Suddenly, she was back in the corridor, sprawled against the stone statue, her hands trembling so violently she could barely hold them still. For several seconds, she couldn't breathe. It hadn't been a memory. It couldn't have been. She'd never been there. She'd never lain in the dirt, never heard a baby crying beside her, never seen a cloaked figure standing over her. She was imagining it. She was a Malfoy. She was a Malfoy. Footsteps echoed from the far end of the corridor. Harmony scrambled upright, wiping furiously at her face. She didn't want anyone to see her like this. She didn't want anyone asking questions she couldn't answer. Especially not Fennec. But the footsteps grew closer, unhurried and unmistakable. A familiar voice cut through the silence. "Harmony?"
sorryyy for the wait everyone I think I might pre-write some more chapters so I can just smash them out, sorry!! hope you're enjoying, sorry it's such a short chapter <33 as always, ~Harmony xx
