Phantom Thoughts

It had been almost a week since his attack on Draco, Crabbe and Goyle and Hunter was sitting in the Room of Requirement smoking a cigarette. He heard that Draco had only suffered a broken nose and had been released the same day. Crabbe and Goyle however hadn't so lucky and Madame Pomfrey still had not released them from the Hospital Wing.

Hunter just took another drag from his cigarette not really caring if she released them or not. He had other matters on his mind at the moment. Namely a certain chaser who had been wandering the halls after hours searching for him.

"God she's more stubborn then Erica was." He says to the empty room. "Why won't she just leave me alone and move on to someone else?" Hunter crushes out his cigarette into the ashtray and lies down on the bed. "Damn it Erica things would be so much easier if I could have just stayed in America. Then I never would have met Katie Bell."

Hunter's mind is swimming with thoughts and emotions and he doesn't know how to even begin to sort them all out. Back in his old school things were simple. He would attend classes during the day, serve detention in the evening and hangout with Erica at night. Now he had no idea what was going on any more.

He had only spoken a few words with Katie, the last being a rant telling her how fucked up he was before saying goodbye. He'd hoped that she would listen to the message and move on to someone else. She hadn't and now it was messing with his head.

Hunter didn't know why she was affecting him at all. He barely knew the girl and certainly didn't care about her. Least he kept telling himself that he didn't care about her. "I loved Erica, I don't even know Katie."

Not a dry eye in the house. After love's curtain comes down. Listen and you'll hear the sound. Hear the sound of a heart breaking...

Hunter closes his eyes and allows his mind to wander back to the few happy memories he still has. He remembers Erica and how he felt every time they were together. He recalls with perfect clarity the first time they met and how her long raven hair had gently flown in the autumn breeze.

I can still see you standing there, midnight wind blowing thorough your hair. Remember, kisses sweet in the salty air when love was forever.

He remembered their nightly chats in their House's Common Room and how they often fell asleep on the couch. Her head resting on his chest while his jacket covered them. That had been their routine for three years until her death.

Turn the page and we fade to blue. The scene has changed, now I'm without you. Well you just walked away when the act was through and the dream was over.

Hunter recalls the day he read about her death in the paper and how he felt when he realized he would never see her again. It was as if the last piece of his soul had been ripped out of his chest.

It was almost like a movie, the way you said goodbye
You must have spent a lot of time, rehearsing each and every line

Hunter's thoughts wander to his fourth year and how he gone through the entire year in a depression as thoughts of suicide filled his every waking moment. The only thing that kept him going was the fear of going to hell and never seeing Erica again.

Now there's not a dry eye in the house. After love's curtain comes down. Listen and you'll hear the sound. Hear the sound of a heart breaking, breaking. Not a smile left on my face. The ending's just too sad to take. And there's not a dry eye, not a dry eye in the house.

Hunter had never been one for religion but Erica had. He knew she was looking down on him from a Heaven she had told him existed and that if he took his own life he was doomed to the Hell she had warned him about.

The greatest story was you and me. We had it all, we had everything. But now the story's done, it's just history. The last act is over.

They had been very close and she confided in him the things her father had done to her. He wanted to murder the man for hurting her but she wouldn't allow him to do anything. A small smile appears on his face as he recalls their last night together. It was the only night that they had taken their relationship beyond the realm of simple friendship.

Your every line had the sweetest sound. Your every touch turned my whole world around. But then the lights came up and my world crashed down. End of show, it's over.

It had only been one night but for him it had been a promise of so much more. A promise that was never kept but a promise he never regretted making. He loved her then and still loved her now. But what are these feelings I'm having for Katie?

It was almost like a movie. Those nights we touched the stars. Time stood still for you and I. Now it's sad enough to make you cry.

Katie Bell was too stubborn for her own good and would only find heartache if she continued down this road. "What am I supposed to do Erica? How can I keep living like this when all I want is for it to be over?"

Now there's not a dry eye in the house. After love's curtain comes down. Listen and you'll hear the sound. Hear the sound of a heart breaking, breaking. Not a smile left on my face. The ending's just too sad to take. And there's not a dry eye, not a dry eye in the house.

His thoughts wander again taking him through his life with Erica. He sees himself at eleven sitting beside a scared girl his own age. Her raven hair hanging as it flutters around in the wind. She shivers in the cold night air and taking pity on her he takes off his jacket and wraps it around her.

Act One: The story's just begun.

Now they're alone in the common room and he's playing his guitar singing a song he wrote for her. She's sitting on the couch wearing his jacket smiling at him. Though they are only twelve years old he knows that he's falling for her.

Act Two: I fell in love with you.

He recalls their last night together and how soft her bare skin felt as he caressed her body. The taste of her lips, the new sensations running through his body as they expressed their true feelings for each other.

Act Three: Knew it was meant to be.

His entire world came crashing down that day he lost her. He locked himself in his room and cried himself to sleep every night until he had to return to school. The last of his emotions washing away with each tear he shed until they had all finally ran dried.

Act Four: You don't love me no more...

He had given himself fully and completely over to love once, only to have it brutally torn away from him. He had vowed to never again allow anyone in, to never again suffer the pain of loss that came from caring.

Not a dry eye in the house. After love's curtain comes down. Listen and you'll hear the sound. Hear the sound of a heart breaking, breaking. Not a smile left on my face. The ending's just too sad to take. And there's not a dry eye, not a dry eye in the house.

Now he found himself thinking of HER, thinking of Katie. How could someone he barely even knew effect him so much. How could this girl cause him so much confusion. What exactly was he feeling? Why, after all this time, was he feeling anything at all?

Not a dry eye in the house. After love's curtain comes down.
Listen and you'll hear the sound. Hear the sound of a heart breaking, breaking...

For the first time in over a year; for the first time since losing Erica he cried himself to sleep.

Not a dry eye in the house. Not a dry eye in the house. Not a dry eye in the house.