Such Sweet Sorrow

Two

Eloise Waldorf

It felt weird being on the Hogwarts Express again. Almost like a dream or a flashback.

There were a lot more familiar faces on the train than I thought there would be. The first person I saw was my fellow housemate, Luna Lovegood. I don't know how she did it, but it seems her skin was even more translucent than the last time I saw her. She still had that curious little twinkle in her eye, and I'm sure not a touch of her odd and quirky personality has faded.

"Luna," I smiled in relief, pulling her into a hug.

"Hello, Eloise." Her chirpy voice rang by my ear. "You look like you haven't slept in ages. Perhaps you have a Nargal infestation."

"Still just as wonderfully blunt, I see." I pulled away from her and chuckled at her confusing yet comforting comment.

"Bye Ellie!" Jackson blew past me and down to a car full of his friends.

Jackson was a Gryffindor, just like our father. I was a Ravenclaw, just like our mother. Sometimes I wish we were in the same house, so I could keep a better eye on him. Make sure he wasn't getting into trouble. But at the same time, I knew we both liked having our own separate bubbles. Something that was uniquely our own. I still made sure to check in on him from time to time, but I knew he was a good kid. I was just overly anxious sometimes, is all.

Luna led me down the narrow path outside of the train cars, until we got to the one, we always sat in. The 8th one to the left.

My heart swelled as I was greeted with a cluster of familiar faces.

"Ellie!" Hermione was the first one to stand up, as per usual, and grasp me into shockingly strong hug. "How have you been?"

Hermione was my first friend I made outside of Ravenclaw, which meant that my second and third friends were Ron and Harry. The three of them were constantly joined at the hip. The Golden Trio.

I had to admit, I used to be very intimidated by them, based on what I heard from whispers in the hall and gossip in the Ravenclaw common room.

If you would have told me during my 2nd year that this brown haired, wide-eyed, scarred little boy was going to be the one to bring down the dark lord, I would have believed you. That's why I think I was so intimidated by him and his two best friends. I always knew that there was something spectacular about Harry.

Hermione was brilliant. Ron was fiercely loyal. Harry was the chosen one. Who wouldn't be intimidated? But, as soon as Hermione and I were assigned as partners together our first day in potions class out second year, all of that fear went out of the window.

I admired them more than anything. My friends literally saved the world, and I helped...if you can even call it that. Who knows where we would be if it weren't for them? I was eternally grateful.

"I'm good. I'm good. What about you? How have you been?" I pulled back from her right after she gave me one last squeeze.

"Better, I think. Slowly but surely." She sighed heavily, but still managed a smile. I'm glad she was doing better.

My eyes widened as I saw the red hair sitting behind her.

"Ron?" I exclaimed, shocked to see that he voluntarily returned. He wasn't like Hermione in the way that he didn't hold his education to a particularly high standard, but after their coupling after the war, I had a feeling he would follow Hermione anywhere.