Through All the Pain // N. Longbottom

Sixth Year // Chapter 14

The next couple of weeks went by rather quickly. The second term always seems to get quicker than the first but nothing does seem to go smoothly at the beginning of the year either. So it was now February 20th and a new notice was pinned up on the bulletin board that morning.

"Canceled?" Dean said from behind me. "Oh, Ron's not going to be happy when he reads this." I nodded as I knew why it meant so much to Ron.

"Not going to be happy about what?" Ron said walking over with Harry right behind him. "Don't tell me they canceled Quidditch again." Ron stopped in front of the board and whined before he got furious.

"Ron, calm down -" I said placing my hand on his shoulder.

"Calm down!? It was on my birthday!" he shouted. "I was looking forward to that!"

"Oh like I wasn't?!" I said glowering at him. "We are twins Ronald Weasley, or have you thought I was Ginny's twin born a year earlier than her?!" I slapped his shoulder before walking up the stairs to the landing between the boy's and girls' dorms and waved my wand up at the windowsill and it lowered a small rope that I managed to find last year one night. I climbed up the rope, pulled it up behind me, leaned up against the cold window, and watched as the wind blew things around.

"Lori? Lori, are you up there?" Ron's voice called from the landing. I didn't respond but Ron kept calling up to me. "Lori, I know your up there. Neville told me you found this place last year and use it to be alone."

"Which I want to be alone, Ronald." I snapped down peeking over the edge. "Now go away!"

"Lori, I'm sorry! I-I wasn't thinking when I said that down there." Ron said trying to explain.

"Oh please, this isn't even the only time you've treated me like scum this term," I said peeking over again. "At Quidditch Practice, I can't seem to do anything right for you, during class you pick on my every movement even though I got better O.W.L.s than you did, and the icing on the whole fucking cake is ..." I grabbed a paper from my pocket and chucked it at him. "Harry gave me that, last night!" 

Ron uncrumpled the paper, and read the note he had exchanged with Harry in the previous Charms class the day before. I watched as Ron's face went from manner to pure fear as he looked up and made eye contact with me.

"Lori, I didn't mean any of this."

"Really?" I slid down the rope and stood in front of him. "You've only said that one other time, and if it wasn't for Fred and George you would have been laying on your back in the middle of the pond!"

"Lori, we were what ... thirteen?" 

"We were actually sixteen Ronald! Sixteen!" I shouted. "You literally said it to me this summer before Harry and everyone joined us a The Burrow!"

"Lori, c'mon you know I can be an idiot."

"Calling you an idiot would be an insult to idiots everywhere." 

"Okay, I deserved that."

"You're bloody right you did!" I spat.

"C'mon I did not mean it!" 

"You wrote it you meant it!"

"Lori -"

"You said I should go join Percy at the bloody Ministry! You called me a traitor all because I told you the bloody fucking truth."

"That we're fighting a losing battle?"

"YES!"

"We aren't! Look, Mum and Dad trust Dumbledore,"

"Well, they shouldn't," I turned to walk away.

"I swear Percy just attached to your soul," Ron called.

"He has nothing to do with this, Ronald! I have seen and dealt with his manipulation first hand! Who do you think made me feel like I could try and save Sirius, so in hence made me realize I'm one of the most powerful witches in existence? Dumbledore. Who is forcing Harry into some pretty sketchy things? Dumbledore! He is taking the admiration we have for him and using it against us." I explained once again to Ron like I had tried the night I found out Dumbledore's plans. 

"Lori, you're wrong. Dumbledore would never -"

"HE IS! Ron, do you even care for a moment what I told you that night? Do you even care for a minute that he compared you to freaking Peter Pettigrew and me to this Serenity girl?"

"He probably knew someone was listening and made up some bullshit just to throw the person listening in, off of his real tracks."

"If you want to think that way then so be it," I said turning and walking to my dorm door. "However, I will be right in your ear the second I am right about Dumbledore and tell you I was bloody fucking right." I opened my door and slammed it in his face. I sat on my bed, picked up a pillow, and just screamed as loud as I could into the pillow for about two minutes. Granted my throat was sore afterward... but my anger needed to get let out before I punched a stone wall again.