Don't Ever Forget

XXXIII.

[Update]

Hey all, I'm so sorry for leaving you hanging for so long. I had a lot of homework and assignments to complete in the last week and I didn't have any time to spare for writing. I missed writing so much but I kept checking my story every few days and watched it slowly go up to 1000 reads! Thank you everyone for reading and I hope my story is at least a little bit entertaining for you guys. 

P.S. How do you guys feel about Fred and George? I came up with an idea for another story I could possibly write after finishing Don't Ever Forget so let me know what you think.

Okay, back to the story.

My eyes flutter open as my body suddenly becomes aware of the cold. It only takes a moment for all the pain to rush back and I groan. The subtle ache from sleeping on the hard ground paled in comparison to the stabbing pain in my chest. I turned over on my back and stared up at the sky. How much time has passed while I was asleep? 

Oh god. I sat up quickly, realizing where I was and where I was supposed to be. I immediately apparated back to my room and, to my disappointment, my bedroom door was wide open. As if they were alerted by the quiet pop of me apparating, two pairs of footsteps stomped towards me. 

"Y/A!" Matthews scolds when he sees me standing in the doorway.

"Where were you?" Collins asks. He looks me up at down, noticing my dishevelment. Grassy clothes and my eyes probably still red and puffy from crying. 

"I- I just needed some alone time." It was a partial truth, at least. Collins only nods his head but Matthews isn't as forgiving. 

"You do realize we are here for a reason, right? Someone could have killed you and it would have been our fault!" he raises his voice and I wince. He was right, if something did happen, they would suffer consequences from the Ministry. It wasn't something I thought about beforehand. 

"I'm sorry. But I'm here, right? No harm done," I reply. I plop down to sit on my bed and sigh. Despite the fact that I just woke up, I still felt exhausted. I had no energy to talk or move and it was getting harder to force myself to. 

"We just don't want anything bad to happen to you," Collins gives me a worried smile and Matthews rolls his eyes. 

"Don't make our job harder for us," Matthews finishes before walking out of my room. Although I feel a little guilty, I'm glad he left me alone for now. I look up to Collins who's lingering the doorway.

"He's upset now but you should've seen how worried he was. He had no idea what to do," he chuckles, "We were both scared that something had happened. I was scared." He gives me a meaningful look but I just smile politely. 

"Well... it seems that you're worn out from whatever you were doing while you were away. If I leave you here alone do you promise not to run away again?" he asks teasingly. I let out a sad excuse for a laugh, one that sounded empty.

"I promise," I say and he smiles before closing the door behind him. I don't even get to fully close my eyes before I hear the faint sound of three pops at the foot of my bed. 

"Y/N, it happened again," Hermoine says, sitting beside me where I lay. 

"What? What happened?" I asked, confused. Harry and Ron walk out of my bedroom door, towards Collins and Matthews. A chill goes up my spine as I recognize the familiar urgency in their steps. I look back to Hermione with wide eyes, finally understanding.

"Someone else has been killed," she says. 

I'm standing in the living room with Hermione, Ron, Harry, Matthews, and Collins. 

"Well, your guys' time is up anyways. I'm sure they need you back at the Ministry now," Ron says to Matthews and Collins. This is usually how the auror cycles would go except this time was heavy with the knowledge that another muggleborn was killed. 

"We'll see you soon, Y/N," Collins tells me before disapparating. Matthews follows him without a word to me. He must still be upset. Once the two are gone, Harry turns to me.

"Matthews mentioned that you left earlier today. Where did you go?" he asks, curiously. I'm surprised at the lack of anger or scolding in his voice so I decide to be honest.

"I tried to find Draco," I admitted. 

"Did you find him? Where has he been?" Hermione asks and I shake my head.

"I did find him but...," I pause, trying to decide how much I should tell them, "He said we shouldn't see each other anymore." 

"That... that cockroach!" Hermione says, her own anger seeping from her words. I let out a small laugh at her word choice but it quickly dies in my throat.

"Maybe it's for the best," Harry suggests and I turn to glare at him. 

"I know you didn't exactly like him, Harry, but can you at least show me a little empathy?" I snap and he looks away. There's an awkward silence before Ron speaks up. 

"That's not what we are here to talk about anyway," he says, gesturing towards my kitchen table. I sigh and take a seat along with the others.

"Since, the muggleborns have been dying the Ministry hasn't done much to help. The only person who's really done something is you, Y/N, by making the plan to help defend the muggleborns. But the Ministry is not on the offense," Hermione rolls her eyes at Ron's subtle use of Quidditch vocabulary. 

"We think it's time to go on our own now, like old times," Harry says, letting out a chuckle. I exchange glances with Hermione, who is equally as surprised as I was.

"And exactly when were you going to tell me about this plan you two were making?" Hermione asks Ron. 

"Well it was only an idea at first..." he shrugs. 

"I think it's a good plan," I blurt out and the three turn to look at me. 

"I know I wasn't around for a lot of the bad stuff that happened at Hogwarts, but I'm ready now. I want to help," I continue and Harry smiles.

"It's settled then. We'll be investigating the incidents ourselves, outside of our work with the Ministry," Harry states and we all turn to look at each other in the eyes. A silent agreement. We know what's at stake.

"Yes! Us four against the world!" Ron cheers and Hermione laughs.