The Battle is Over, but the Pain Just Started (Dramione)

Chapter Fifteen

   Hogwarts, a History was just as ghastly as I remembered it being. Of course, it was my favorite book, but when you've read it more times than you remember the pages become dull and misleading. I flicked through them and scanned every header, looking for an interesting topic. Finding none, I sighed, throwing the book onto my bed and looking out my bae window down to the city below.

   Winter break was supposed to be a time of relaxation and fun, though ever since the ball the only thing I'd been thinking about was what Draco had told me.

   "Blake will betray you, you cannot stop him."

   I groaned. I had turned my knowledge inside out thinking about what in Merlin's name he meant. It had kept me awake at night and made me so frustrated I could scream. Blake would betray me? Betray me for what?

   I sighed again. Running a hand through my hair, I reached for the photo album I kept stored away at the bottom of my alcove seat. I opened it and smiled at the first picture on the page.

   Bill and Fleur's wedding. I smiled as I stared down at Fred and George, most likely planning some mischief in the corner. I gazed at the happy couple, looking into each other's eyes like they'd never seen beauty before they saw each other. Molly Weasley stared at them with a joyful expression as her husband Arthur placed a hand on her shoulder.

   I turned the page and looked at a picture of the Order. Mad-Eye Moody stood like a giant in the back row, his usual scowl set upon his face. Fred and George smiled full blown grins. Tonks and Remus smiled, holding hands at the bottom of the picture. And Sirius, looking devilishly handsome in his usual biker leather jacket and tattoos, smirked at the camera with a little wave.

   I smiled down at the picture. I felt a silent tear run down my cheek. Godric, what has happened to me. Hogwarts changed me but the moment I get back home I'm back to being a blubbering idiot?

   I need some fresh air.

   I stood up, whisking away my single tear as fast as I could, closing the book quickly, trying hard not to look at another memory. I opened my balcony door and stepped onto it, gazing out to London below.

   I always hated the breaks. When they used to be a time of annoyance for me due to not studying as much as I'd liked, now they were a time of anguish; suffering. It wasn't all that bad. I got to see my parents and we are patching up my faults everyday, but there's something excruciating about breaks now a days. I'd narrowed it down that it was due to the fact that I'm alone with my thoughts for two weeks, and that was truly terrifying.

   Whenever I'm alone, I always thought of my losses. Fred, Alister, Lupin, Tonks, you name it. It made me spiral into what felt like a never ending cycle of depression and anxiety, and until this year I realized that Hogwarts kept my fear away. Godric, these two weeks were going by so slow!

   I looked up at the foggy morning that set over east London. I used to love foggy days. They weren't too hot, they weren't too cold. They were just right. They made for a perfect day out in the park reading or in the meadow looking for wildflowers.

   Oh, how I miss what it was like to be young and to be innocent.

   I turned to the right and sat on my patio furniture. I had an over stuffed plush chair that was my designated reading chair. when I was younger, I would sit outside on a cool afternoon and read in this chair for hours. I read Hogwarts, a History for the first time in this chair. Now, I sat in it, waiting for information to flow through my brain.

   Think. Think. Think. Come ON Hermione! What was the first thing Amos said to you about his dad?

   His dad is an ambassador to the Ministry of Magic from America. He worked as an Auror first, but moved positions. Ugh! If only I had some way of knowing what he was doing to help the Ministry.

   I cry ripped through the air above me, and I gazed a the sky, placing my tea on the small coffee table and leaning over the railing to gaze over my roof.

   Was that, Pidwidgeon!?

   A brown speckled owl flew through the air. As it approached I saw the letter in its beak. As I examined closer I confirmed it was indeed Ginny's poor bird.

   He flew onto my balcony before dropping a dirty piece of parchment in my hands. I pat his head, gently stroking his feathers before he let out a squawk and flew away.

   I examined the half-burnt paper I held in my hands. It had a seal with a gnome and house on it. The Burrow. But why would Ginny be writing to me?

   I cautiously opened it, sliding out the letter inside slowly. I opened it with even more precaution, and started to read the messily printed penmanship.

Hermione,

I know you want answers. I have questions. If you want to know valuable information about Blake, come to the Burrow this Christmas.

- R.W.

   Ron? But why would Ron want to help me?

   Nevertheless, I sprinted back into my room and flung open my suitcase.

   I'm going to the Burrow.

A/N

Whaaaat? Bet you all forgot Ron existed didn't ya?

- Sarah