Down the memory lane

It was a long and tiring day. One could easily say that Aryaman was drowsy but his happiness wouldn't let him sleep. He kept twisting and turning in his bed. His mind was filled with thoughts of a certain somebody.

The date for their engagement ceremony was fixed. He was happy, happy that finally he had someone to love, someone to spoil, someone just like 'her' or maybe even better.

All this years he had been searching for a girl but to no avail. Whenever he saw his friends all lovey-dovey he felt the green-eyed monster rising inside of him. Remorse would gulp him as a whole and he kept asking himself why he had let 'Ella' go. How could a person be able to affect another one just in mere span of three days?

He had spent three days, three freaking days with her and he couldn't even find her real name, let alone other details about her. Well all thanks to her stupid theories and her stupid deal. But that is how they met right?

Back in his college days his college once played host to the Kala Bharti organisation's annual painting competition called 'Malhar'. The organisation held this competition every year to give aspiring talents a chance to rise and shine. The winners got hefty prize money along with paid internship with Kala Bharti's well-known artists. Being associated with Kala Bharti meant a promise of a bright future.

The competition consisted of three rounds along with a three days carnival, a music concert on the second night, closing ceremony followed by a party on the third night.

He had willingly volunteered himself for the administration team. Him being an admirer of art, he wanted to contribute in any way he could. The first day went by pretty good with the opening ceremony, and the participants making a painting based on the theme provided to them randomly. Round one was over and people had been roaming around.

While passing through the garden he heard a girl cursing and speaking to no one in particular.

"Merlin's boggy pants. Why does it always happen to me? Why did you do this to me huh?" Her back was facing him and he couldn't help but wonder whom was she talking to because he couldn't figure anyone out except for her.

"Just two more minutes. Couldn't you just last for two bloody minutes till I could have heard her out completely. Now I just have to wait and feel nervous if things are fine or not. Yo-you stupid phone. Stupid battery." She huffed.

A chuckle left his lips when he realised that she had been talking to her phone. She turned to meet his hard yet warm gaze.

"What?" She asked him sternly. When he just shrugged she said "Has it crossed your mind that you are invading someone's privacy."

"Sorry I didn't mean to eavesdrop on you. I was just passing by and became curious as to whom you were talking." He said still chuckling but he raised his hands a little in front of him in surrender.

"For your kind information curiosity can kill a cat." She feigned annoyance.

He took out his phone and handed it to her saying- "but satisfaction can bring it back. Anyways, here, you can use mine."

She hesitantly took it. "Um..o-okay." She dialled a number and paced around the corner of the garden waiting impatiently for the person to pick up.

"Hey, it's me. You were saying something. Is everything okay?" She asked worriedly.

By the looks of it she was worried sick but still she was doing her best to act calm and composed. "N-no don't tell them. They have already helped us many times. You remember we saved some money for her education fund. Use that. We will sort the rest things once I come back."

"It's fine. Just use that money for now. It should be enough. Go open my old suitcase. You will see a black shoe box in it with some other stuff."

"Yup. The very same box. Below the pictures there is a small silver box. Don't worry just use that money. Don't panic. Everything will be okay. Got that? Take care and call me if things go wrong." She said the latter half in a gentle tone as if she was trying to console a child.

She walked towards him and handed him his phone back. "Thanks a lot." She said with a forced smile. Something was off and from what he heard it was some sort of financial issue.

"Please, you don't have to do that."

"I have to do it. If not for you things would have gotten messed up pretty badly." She replied feeling grateful.

"By the way I am..." he was interrupted by the girl. Her worried expressions had somewhat disappeared.

"Stop." She said. her eyes that were dull seconds ago, now were twinkling.

"Huh?"

"One second." She came one step closer to him and mimicked as if she had a remote controller in her right hand. "Pause. You will tell me your name. I will tell you mine. We will become friends, know what we do, where we live. Then will say "Oh wow. Small world." You'll behave decently. I'll behave decently. Decently? In Malhar? Even if I haven't forgotten about all my worries still I won't like to spoil the fun I could have here." She said as if a train had been accelerated from very slow speed to two hundred km per hour.

Aryaman was totally bewildered with this sudden change in her demeanour. First she was talking to inanimate object acting like a crazy person, then she acted like a normal human being but again she showed some hints of being a crazy and at last she completely became a bossy girl ranting on and on. Little did he know that he was yet to witness the complete psychotic side of her.

"No way in hell I would act decently. My banana brain has always been fried so why not I sprinkle some spice on it and enjoy banana chips. " she paused for a second. A devious smirk playing on her lips she said- "I am Bellatrix Lestrange, the most loyal servant of the dark lord. Now now be a good boy and tell me have you seen that disgusting potter boy or his filthy little mud blood." She stated like a maniac, just the way Bellatrix would speak, crazy yet scary. Helena Bonham Carter would surely appreciate her performance

Was this girl for real or had she come from an alternative universe? The answer to this question was a mystery to him. He could even write a novel about her titled as fifty shades of a strange girl. he already could imagine the book being a bestselling one. One thing he was sure about was that the it would be fun to be around her so he decided to play along.

" Well, well, well Bellatrix you might have mistaken me for a young boy due to the glamour charm. Don't you forget that I ordered you to find him. I will kill him myself. Ah how good will it feel to shatter him to pieces with my very own hands." He brought his left hand to his face and closing his eyes dramatically he inhaled.

She instantly bowed and sat on a knee with her head hung low, gaze fixated on the ground. "My Lord." She said in submission. " I heard that the mud blood was spotted in the carnival. "

"You may rise." He stated with a heavy voice even if he was failing to imitate Voldemort pretty badly. He then broke out into fits of laughter. She too laughed hard clutching her stomach and falling on the ground again.

"That...was...hilarious." He said trying hard to control himself. On becoming sober he gave his hand to the girl who was still lying on the ground laughing. She accepted his hand and got up dusting her clothes.

He started running towards the exit of the garden dragging her with him. She asked while trying to match his speed- "where are we going?"

"To capture the boy who lived." He said while jumping across a bed of flowers. She too followed the suit.

Holding each other's hands they ran, occasionally jumped, and laughed all the way grabbing the attention of people around. But it was the last thing bothering them. For Aryaman the girl whose hands he was holding was something he had always hoped for, the joy that didn't revolve around materialistic things instead the joy he himself created, the joy that he would rarely had a chance to experience. For her, it was the time to be totally herself, the happy her, the insane her, the 'real' her who had gotten buried deep down the earth's crust due to the weight of responsibilities.