[Lake] Stand Beside Me

[Carrieanne Darke]

Picking through her dinner at the staff table, Carrieanne had lost her appetite due to the recent events that took place. Her stomach was tied in knots and there was no way that she was able to eat. Excusing herself from the table, she got up and walked through the passage to the side of the table and out into the Great Hall. Placing her hand against the wall, she took a couple of deep breaths which made her feel a little better, what she needed was fresh air. A good walk to the lake would be good. Exiting through the side entrance in the Hall and walked outside into the warm air, Carrieanne made her way through the courtyard with a slow paced stroll.

After seeing Dan in the Hospital wing made things really hard on her, the tension between them wasn't good. She thought of him as an ungrateful and selfish man. But part of her still felt something toward him, but most of her feelings were for Archi. It made things difficult for her, then seeing him at dinner made it worse. What the two of them had together meant nothing, but she truthfully it was a lie on her part. She had felt something for him. Why was she even thinking about this? Especially after she and Archi spent so much time together, she enjoyed being with him because he made her feel like she meant everything to him. Her head spun with the wonderful memories that she and Archi had.

The only thing that Carrieanne could never figure out was why every now and then Dan would pop up in her thoughts like he did on this night. She didn't even want to think about him anymore, for all she cared at that point was that he could go live his life with Dia. She didn't hate Dia, in fact she thought the woman deserved better than Dan. But it wasn't Carrieanne's place to say anything. She found herself nearing the lake by the shimmering reflections of the night sky that danced upon the surface. Sighing to the beauty of the lake, she walked over toward the tree and sat down at the base of it. Scanning the area merely enjoying the beauty of the scenery wishing that Archi was there with her to enjoy it with her.

Ok, call her a hopeless romantic all you want because it was true. She is one. Folding her hands in her lap, she sat there and closed her eyes for a moment to relax her nerves. They were practically shot by seeing Dan eyeing her most of the evening or whenever she looked up. "What am I going to do?" she asked herself quietly. The moon shone brightly over the lake and the stars as they sparkled in the night sky, at this point she felt so alone. Thoughts raging through her mind. She still cared about Dan and didn't know why and she had fallen for Archi big time, now she's stuck. It was a nightmare, she wanted it to be over and done with. Why couldn't she just not have anymore feelings for Dan and give all of her feelings to Archi?

Why couldn't things be that easy, of course nothing in life was easy, especially not for her. Carrieanne brought her legs to her chest and folded her arms over her knees and rested her head upon her arms. She couldn't take the confusion and it practically gave her a headache. The thought of whether she should tell Archi or not lingered in her mind, or maybe finding a potion to get rid of her thoughts of Dan. That would be more to her liking, to get rid of her thoughts of him. However, there were risks involved. She decided that tomorrow she would go to the library and research it or something close to it. Interupted from her thoughts by the sound of footsteps, she lifted her head up to see a silhouette standing in the shadows.

[Archibald Nish]

It had been a difficult time in recent days for Carrieanne and Archibald could always tell when Carrie was having a hard time. It broke his heart to know that Carrie was going through hard times and as always Archi tried to be there for her, to be a shoulder she could dry on if she ever felt it necessary to do such a thing. Archi couldn't handle crying people but he knew that if Carrie began to cry he would be the right man to comfort her. He wouldn't trust any other after the fiasco with Daniel Hubbles.

The Charms professor was notorious for such behaviour, having heard from many students that he broke the heart of the one woman he truly loved in much the same way. Archi had also heard that the giant squid demanded ritual sacrificing of first years and dwarves so it was always tricky to decided whether or not to put credence into what one heard from students.

It had been Archi's turn to baby sit the infirmary while Carrie got to eat her dinner in the Great Hall. As Archi sat at his desk in his office, a plate of food untouched sitting with in arms' reach, an uneasy feeling came over the healer and his mind began to wonder to Carrieanne. Where was she? Was she still hurting? Archi couldn't tell anymore if being with her was what she needed but even if it wasn't what she thought she needed, Archi was there at any time.

His hand absent rubbed the gradually thickening stubble that was forming on his face. Archi began to wonder if he should simply shave it off and then another wonder came to him. What would Carrie think about it? Dropping his legs and leaning on the table, his arms crossed, Archibald began to drum his fingers, the most annoying nagging in the back of his mind about Carrie. He made the decision right then that he would go for a walk, try and clear his mind.

Leaving his Fedora hat on the hook, Archi took his long jacket and made his way out of the castle slowly. His mind began to calm as the cool night air got into every part it could. He didn't like the cold but this was precisely what he needed. Nish simply followed his feet, he didn't pay attention to where he was going and only made sure he didn't fall over an up turned root or something like that.

It felt like hours later when Archi realised he was walking within the tree line of the forest. Heading to open area, Archi could see the glistening waters of the lake sparkling ahead of him through the trees. After taking a few steps away from the trees, Archi noticed a person sitting nearby, arms wrapped around knees. Taking a few steps towards it, Archi's face broke into an easy smile when he saw that it was Carrie.

His smile faded quickly thought when he saw her expression. "Carrie?" he said questioningly, as he approached, "what is it? What's wrong?" Archi sat down next to the beautiful woman, concern clear in his blue eyes.

[Carrieanne Darke]

Carrieanne thought about pacing or taking a long walk around the lake to help her, but at this point nothing could help her get rid of her thoughts and feelings for Dan. Sure she hated him for what he did, but there was a part of her that wanted to find out why he did what he did to her, to her of all people. He knew she was vulnerable to things like that, she even told him that in their deep over night conversation in the Room of Requirements. Why would he attack a weak spot of hers? Ugh, it upset her so much to think that her friend at the time and more or so she thought would do such a thing. Unfortunately for her, Carrie was wrong, dead wrong. Everything was all wrong, she should have never fallen that quickly and her instincts were right about Dan all along, but she paid the price for it well beyond any means. The fact that she was still torn from it was getting to her.

Glancing over at the lake, she stepped forward a few steps and looked down into the mirrored image of herself. Her arms folded into her chest and her eyes focused upon the woman that she saw. Herself. Staring absent-minded, Carrie's thoughts moved on to Archi and how he was there for her from day one. Her image faded as his appeared onto the surface of the water, it was interesting how peoples minds played with them. Except this time, it was a good thing because the person she saw was the person who she truly cared about the most. The sound of an owl hooting off in the distance distracted Carrie from her thoughts, sighing gently, she strolled slowly over to the tree. Taking a seat and scanning the area, she thought about Archi again. It's funny how when someone is thinking about you, that you begin to think about them too if that were the case or if it happened to be true or not.

Arranging herself in an awkward position, one she hasn't tried since in her teen years, Carrie rested her head upon her arms as many thoughts began to drift through. She began to think about if she should tell Archi, but decided against it whole heartedly. She didn't want to bring Dan up to him anymore nor did she want to pester him with anymore of her problems either. Closing her eyes as not only confusion but a headache had settled in. Questioning herself about what she was going to do, she really had no clue. There had to be something to keep Dan from entering her mind, there had to be.. Then it dawned on her, either a memory charm to make her forget all her memories.. But then that would leave her without memories of her time with Archi. "No. I can't do that.." she whispered to herself. Another idea had entered her mind... A potion.

Carrie was a healer and she remembered using one of those tampered memory potions on someone before back when she worked for another school. There were risks involved in it though, temporary memory loss but if used correctly, it should make you forget certain memories that someone didn't want. Of course she would have to further research it but that was part of her job. The sound of footsteps made her head raise up with an empty expression upon her face. At first she couldn't tell who it was until the bustled clouds moved passed the bright moon. It was Archi. Still with a blank look on her face, she was in fact stunned that he had come out here especially since he didn't like the cold much. Though seeing his smile fade and his concern in his tone and eyes made her snap back, she glanced down at her arms an long sigh was released from her lips.

"Just thinking about a few things, that's all." she replied rubbing her hand softly over her forearm, the tone of her voice sounded depressing for one to hear. Turning to face Archi, she opened her mouth as if she were going to say something but froze closing it once more. Maybe she should discuss her decision about the memory potion with him, he was much more experienced in the field than she was. "Archi..." her tone sounded a bit lightened but it was more of how she said his name in an inquiry. Turning to face him and looked into his eyes filled with concern for her, she just couldn't bring herself to ask him. Then again, just the way he was looking at her made her unsure if she wanted to do such a thing. If it hadn't of been for Dan, she and Archi would probably have been one of those known by association kind of relationship if one could call it that. Carrie certainly didn't want that.

Come to think of it, maybe she could steer her thoughts away from the potion. "How would you go about..." she sighed unsure of how she wanted to ask this particular question, but the concern in his eyes told her something more than just a friendly concern. "I don't know. I'm just having a rough day I suppose." she said glancing out at the lake. Well maybe she could ask about the potion but play it off as it not being her that's wanting to do this, but that someone else. "A friend wants to use a tampered memory potion to forget about one person in her life so that she can move on with this other person she met and fell hard for. What would be your suggestion?" she asked turning back to him. "I know it's risky.. I already explained that. But really what does it do to a person?" inquiring once more. Maybe he wouldn't guess it was really her, but then again, she wouldn't put anything passed him knowing that he was a very intelligent man.

[Archibald Nish]

The distant and misty look that clouded Carrie’s face shocked and worried Archi, more then he would ever have admitted. He had seen the same look on his foster mother’s face when she was told that her husband, the man who had been such a supportive father to Archi all his life, had a small number of weeks to live. He was certain this had nothing to do with death, as that was too morbid a thing to worry Carrie for very long. Archi had noticed a change in Carrie and it was not a recent thing.

Taking a step towards where the woman was seated, Archibald watched her closely, searching her face with his blue eyes for anything that might betray the wall she had put up to keep everyone out. It had become painfully clear to Archi that Carrie put up her wall whenever she feared more hurt would come of her sharing her thoughts and worries. He had never found the words to say that locking everything up would never help anyone.

Carrie spoke and Archi sat beside her. He was nearly as tall as she was when they sat shoulder to shoulder like this. It helped for looking into Carrie’s beautiful eyes, though the pain that Archi was certain he could see behind them dug a chunk out of his heart. He wanted to take away her pain, he wanted to make it all as it had been before the fiasco with Daniel Hubbles. Nish didn’t know how to do that, he was good with physical wounds, not emotional ones.

Her explanation was unsatisfactory. It was plainly clear that she was thinking. “Think any harder then you are and your head might explode,” the good doctor warned with a half joking laugh after. It was meant to be funny but with Carrie’s melancholy mood Archi didn’t see anything seeming funny to her. Archi continued to look at Carrie hoping a crack would form in the large wall she had built around her, anything that would let him help her. He wanted to help, why wouldn’t she let him help?

She said his name … softly, as though she were a patient just waking in the Infirmary after having been unconscious for days. Archi turned his torso a little more and looked at her a hand absently running through his hair. It was getting long, his beard too. He still wondered what Carrie would say about it but now was not the time to enquire about it. Archibald waited patiently for Carrie to pose the question that he could tell was bugging her but the question that came was unexpected.

Sitting back slightly and straightening, Archi looked over the lake and though. Why would she want to use a memory potion? he wondered. He wasn’t going to come right out and ask, not a chance. He would run with it a bit to see where this was going. But who would she want to forget? he wondered to himself. For a moment he though himself but then his brain switched on and the answer was all too obvious. Looking back to Carrie, Archi spoke as gently as he could, “I hope you explained to your friend that it’s an extremely dangerous way to go to try and forget someone. I wouldn’t suggest it.

“What it does is it,” he began thoughtfully, “travels through the memory part of your brain-“ Archi waved his hand indicating which part “-and eradicates memories of the specific person in question. The danger comes in where the blanks are formed. Carrie, I don’t need to tell you how damaging it is to mess with your brain. If it goes wrong you could loose all higher brain function, most of your memory, even leave a person paralysed.”

Archi was now talking to Carrie and not about her supposed friend. He hoped she didn’t catch that. He so wanted to discourage this drastic measure. “Instead,” he said after a brief pause, “you should encourage your friend to speak to the person she wants to forget, get closure and move from there. That would be my advice if she asked me.”