Black Roses

A Single Tear

I plonked myself down next to Ginny and stared at the floor, trying to ignore the stares that were burning into my back. They were buzzing with even more questions than before, I knew they were. I braced myself for the onslaught.

Thankfully, I was saved by the announcement that lessons were about to begin. Moving faster than I'd ever moved before, I zipped out of the hall and headed back to the Gryffindor common room. In all the rush, I had completely forgotten my books.

Rushing into the dorm and out again in double-quick time, I managed to grab my Herbology book and arrive just on time to the lesson.

I barely concentrated during the lesson, and only just managed to avoid deafening the entire class with a mandrake root that I accidentally pulled out of its pot.

Luckily, Neville was speedy and level-headed enough to grab the writhing thing from my grasp and thrust it back into the soil where its cries were muffled.

I looked up at him to say thank you, and the taller boy shuddered involuntarily. My face red, I looked away.

He had never been able to look at me without shuddering. I couldn't blame him.

After all, I did look terrifyingly similar to my sister. The sister who tortured his parents until they descended into madness.

Following that disastrous lesson, I had a free period. I could have studied, but there hardly seemed any point. NEWTS were over. In less than twenty four hours, I would be riding the Hogwarts Express for the last time.

But where to? I had no home. My holidays had always been spent at school, or with a friend. Usually Parvati.

But I was an adult now. A fully grown witch. What would I do?

Once my books had been safely deposited back in my dorm, I felt a desperate urge to get away. It seemed as if wherever I went there were stares and questions and whispers they thought I couldn't hear.

I needed somewhere secret. Somewhere that no one else knew about.

Working independently of my body, my legs began to take me briskly towards the one place I least wanted to see, but, however hard I tried, I couldn't help but keep walking.

When I finally arrived, I just flopped down into the flowers and lay there, staring unblinkingly up at the blue sky. Far away, I could hear students laughing and chatting.

I closed my eyes. A single tear threatened to creep out from under an eyelid and trickle down my alabaster cheek, but I suppressed it. I wouldn't cry.

That last night, I didn't sleep. Parvati and Lavender were up all night, telling everyone that they would miss them and hugging eachother before finally having a breakdown at about one o' clock in the morning and crying into eachother's shoulders.

Even Hermione was sheepishly handing out boxes of chocolate cauldrons, insisting that they were 'just a little something'.

When she presented me with my box, she held it out at arm's length, as if I was some kind of beast that might rip her arm off. I took the box with a forced smile, but I wasn't really in the mood for chocolate.

At last, when everyone was finally asleep and silent apart from gentle snores in the darkness, I still lay awake, gazing out of the window.

Because I knew that he was doing exactly the same.

The next day felt like a whirlwind. Standing on the platform waiting for the train, chattering students around me, professors trying to get them in line.

I almost missed the train. I was gazing up at the imposing castle I had come to call home over the years, reminiscing, when the Hogwarts Express began to pull away. Ginny reached out of the door and grabbed me just in time, landing in an untidy heap on the floor, tangled up with my baggage.

"Were you trying to get left behind?" she puffed grumpily, standing up and brushing herself off. Then, unexpectedly, she pulled me into an awkward hug and we headed off to our compartment.

I didn't speak for the entire journey. I had nothing to say. Hermione tried to prise a conversation out of me, but to no avail. Eventually, she gave up and started chatting to Ginny in hushed tones.

Eyes heavy with lack of sleep from the night before, I began to doze off, my head leant on the window, watching the world rush by in a blur of muted browns and greens.

This was the last time I would ever ride this train. This was the last time I'd see my friends for a long time.

I forced myself to sleep and forget about all the other things I'd never see again.