another love; harry potter

twenty

\ wherein she finally has a family/

I WOKE UP TO Hermione shaking me violently and saying repeatedly, 'it's just a dream!'

"What's just a dream?" I yawned, pushing her away, but Hermione sat firmly on my bed and handed me my glasses. 

"What do you mean what's just a dream?" she huffed, "you were crying in your sleep! So forgive me if I wake you up because that isn't a normal thing." I gently touched my face to find it was tear-streaked and damp, and remembered the dream I had been having about my mother's death, about my father sobbing over her years after, how we both mourned for her together.

"I'm so sorry!" Parvati said, tears flowing down her face. I blinked.

"What?"

"Your mum! You didn't deserve it!" Lavender wailed. I pursed my lips.

"Sorry?"

"Pheobe- are...are you okay?" Hermione repeated gently. I forced a small smile and shook my head. 

"Of course. Hermione, it was jut a small, stupid nightmare. Sorry for waking you all up." Hermione studied me carefully for a few seconds, clearly hesitant, as I checked my clock. "SHall we go down for breakfast?" She nodded finally and got off my bed. The four of us got dressed and ready, but I could tell they were all still being overly cautious around me. 

If I told them, none of them would even understand. I'd lost my mum, and the only people who truly understood were miles and years away.

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫*.

"Morning," Ron yawned as he and Harry sat in the seats opposite me and Hermione at breakfast in the Great Hall. 

"Morning," I said, serving myself some eggs, before realizing I wasn't really hungry, however Hermione was acting as if I was a porcelain doll so I made myself eat it anyways. 

"...is something wrong?" Harry asked after a few seconds, "you both seem weirdly quiet today."

"Nothing's wrong," I said calmly, however Hermione had a look in her eyes that screamed 'she's been like this all morning.' I sighed to myself, knowing Hermione told them both about my strange wake-up, and shoved an apple into my pocket. 

"I realized I have a shit loa of homework to do, I'm going to go and finish it. I'll see you lot later, yeah?" Without waiting for a response, I walked off, passing dozens of students on my way to the courtyard. It was raining heavily, so there wasn't anyone in there, which just made it better. I settled myself underneath a large tree that provided some safety from the storm and watched a large tentacle rise up from the lake, giving me a bit of a wave. 

"Hello, Octavian," I smiled, "how're you doing?"

and then, the most absurd thing ever happened. 

he responded. 

The more important question, said a deep, wobbly voice, is how are you doing. I froze.

I'm hallucinating, I'm hallucinating, I'm hallucinating. This is it, this is where everything ends. I have finally gone insane. Goodbye life, hello mental hospital-