Harry and Amelia Potter

6.13

The room teems with students celebrating Gryffindor's victory. It feels like Mardi Gras. Or a mosh pit. Or a riot. And Ron is right smack in the middle of it.

"Weasley! Weasley! Weasley!" The crowd chants.

Harry takes his backslaps on the periphery, smiling as he sips a Butterbeer and enjoys Ron's turn in the spotlight. I come up to him.

"Ron seems to be enjoying himself."

"Yep. Apparently it's his lucky day." He winks at me. Hermione heads and comes up beside us.

"You shouldn't have done it, Harry."

"Yeah. I suppose he could've just used, I dunno... a Confundus charm?" I say to her. Her eyes widen, realizing she was caught.

"That was different. It was tryouts. This was an actual match-" She stops. Harry dangles the vial. The sealing wax is unbroken, the bottle full.

"You didn't put it in?" She asks. He shakes his head.

"Ron only thought you did?" I laugh out the question. Harry grins and nods. Hermione pops him playfully on the arm when whistles and catcalls rise. We turn to see what the commotion is about and find, smack dab in the center of the room, Ron and Lavender. In a clinch. Kissing. Harry and I stare, blink, then turn back... to no one. Our eyes shift, tracking Hermione as she bumps through the crowd toward the portrait hole.

Harry starts to go after her, but I stop him. "Give me a minute." He nods and I follow after my best friend.

I leave the roar of the party for the quiet corridor. Ahead, a door stands ajar. Then I hear a faint sound of birds chirping.

Hermione sits atop a desk, a small ring of twittering birds circling her head. The birds change color as they orbit, from sunny yellow to a dark, angry scarlet.

"Charms spell. Just practicing." She says, wiping her eyes.

"I see, they're getting quite good." I take a seat next to her. "Talk to me."

"How am I suppose to feel?" She asks. "We're not together, but..." she trails off.

"You want to be." I finish for her. She nods her head slowly. "I'm sorry, Hermione. You don't deserve this."

"It's heart breaking. I care about him so much, but he doesn't even know-" her sobs stop her from finishing the sentence.

"Have you heard of the saying, 'If you love something, set it free'?" She shakes her head. "Well, if it's truly yours, it will find it's way back to you, if it's not, then you'll know it's not meant to be."

"That's not making me feel any better, Mia."

"What I mean, is that if you and Ron are meant to be in the end, then it will work out. I know it hurts now," I place my arm around her shoulder, "but that pain will go away. I know better than anyone."

She looks to me, realizing I was talking about Cedric. She knew how much he meant to me, and the pain it caused me when he was killed. She was there with me through it all. And she knew that I would be here with her here, and now.

Then Harry comes down the stairs, wanting to check on one of his best friends.

"They're really good." He says, gesturing to the birds Hermione made.

"How does it feel, Harry? When you see Dean with Ginny?" He gives her a confusing look. "I know, Harry. You're my best friend. I see how you look at her."

"I'm sitting right here." I say to her and she gives me a smirk, nudging my body. "But she's right Harry. We know you better than anyone."

Just then the door bursts wide open and Ron rushes in, pulling a giggling Lavender by the hand. They stop. Take inventory.