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( the waiting )
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━━ "Mister Weasley, Miss Lovett, it seems Mister Potter and Miss Granger have managed their journey here."
"Looks like our better halves have arrived," Mila muttered to Ron. He looked at her, unsure whether he should be laughing or worried.
"Mister Malfoy is here also," Dumbledore added.
Mila blinked.
Draco was here?
She didn't think that they would actually invite him. The stress she was feeling doubled. She had only seen Ron, and she was already overwhelmed. She has tried to avoid thinking about how her departure had affected her friends: all that led to was a guilt she didn't think she should have to feel. It was different when it was someone who, most likely, hadn't known the truth about her. Draco and Harry, they were both innocent in all of this. But it was hard to separate her emotions. It was even harder to be confronted with them.
Ron could feel her tense up beside him, "Do you mind if we have a few more minutes?"
Dumbledore nodded, and, once again, left the two of them alone.
"Do you want to see them?" Ron asked.
Mila didn't know. This morning she had woken up with a plan to steal more money to extend her motel stay, and now she was here. She was back at Hogwarts, back where this whole mess had started.
"I'm not sure," she whispered. Her head was shaking of its own accord.
If Ron had held any anger towards her for leaving, he wasn't showing it. Instead, he watched his friend concerned.
"I──I should see them," she said.
She was trying to convince herself more than anything. It had been a long time, she'd missed them so much, but she knew she couldn't get them back. Especially Hermione. Everything was too twisted now. Seeing them would prove that without a doubt.
"Mila──"
"I'll see them." She was a Gryffindor. Brave. She never thought she would need Gryffindor courage to see her friends.
Ron nodded, "I'll go get them."
She just needed them to see she was okay, Mila reminded herself, then she could be alone. She could go lock herself away somewhere. This was on her terms: not Dumbledore's, hers.
