mirrorball

chapter fourteen

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

When Clara woke up the next morning, Hermione had somehow already left the bottom bunk. 

Clara pulled the blankets off of her and made her way slowly to the kitchen. She yawned as she took a seat at the table and watched Hermione come out from the bathroom. "Good morning," said Clara as her head fell into her hand.

"Morning, sleepyhead," replied Hermione. "I'm going to make breakfast and then I thought I'd join you outside for a bit. Your shift starts in twenty minutes."

"Sounds good. I'll just..." Clara trailed off as she got up from the seat and pointed towards the bedroom and the bathroom at the same time. As quickly as she could, Clara gathered her clothes and went into the bathroom. After a short shower, brushing her teeth, and changing, Clara went outside and sat down in one of the empty chairs. 

"Right on time," said Ron, as he got up from poking at the fire with a small stick. He handed the stick to Clara and gestured to the fire, "She's all yours."

Clara hummed and let Ron walk away before she tossed the stick into the fire. She sat down and let the silence of the woods wash over her. Clara smiled, taking in the calmness and savoring it as much as she could. She knew the rest of the day wouldn't be this beautiful.

Hermione came out of the tent carrying two plates of scrambled eggs. She handed one to Clara and took a seat next to her. They ate breakfast in silence, neither of them daring to look at the other yet. Clara finished her eggs after Hermione and set her plate on top of hers, which was currently resting on the forest floor. 

Clara cleared her throat and looked at Hermione, "Do you want to yell at me now?"

"I suppose so," she replied. Hermione gave a large sigh and turned to face Clara, "How could you?" she shouted, her voice raising almost as loud as it had been last night, "I was begging Ron to stay and you just left with him! Do you know how hard it was here without you, how miserable I was? For weeks you just disappear and leave me completely stranded! We are supposed to be friends, Clara! And I know we're not best friends, and I know that we will never see things exactly the same, but you don't do that to a friend of any kind!"

"I know. I'm so sorry, Hermione." said Clara. Hermione nodded and stared back into the fire. "Is... is that it?"

"That's it." said Hermione, she sent Clara a small smile, her eyes laced with pity, "I thought I'd go easy on you since Harry will probably rip you to shreds."

"Right," sighed Clara, "Thanks for that. Godric, I missed you, 'Mione."

Clara pulled Hermione into a tight side-hug and rested her head on her friend's shoulder. The girls stayed like that for a moment, just letting the outside world lull them into another moment of peace. The moment was quickly broken however by someone exiting the tent.

Harry stood next to the girls and cleared his throat. Hermione and Clara turned their heads up at him. "Uh, Ron needs some help with the dishes, Hermione."

"No he doesn't," said Hermione, but nonetheless she scooped up the plates on the ground and stood up. "You could at least be honest, Harry. You're here to yell at Clara."

Hermione ducked into the tent and Harry rolled his eyes. He took a seat next to Clara and looked at her for a moment. Clara shifted her legs uncomfortably as Harry continued to examine her face closely. "Where'd you get that?" he asked, pointing to a small scratch on her forehead.

"Erm, the pond, I think. Scraped myself on some ice on my way down."

"Hmm," said Harry. He held Clara's eyes for a moment before clasping his hands together and letting out a large sigh. "Alright, then. Let's hear it."