Return To Hogwarts

Back To Reality

You woke up early the next morning, your body aching from the night (and day) before. Ron snored peacefully next to you. Sitting up, you watched him for a minute, before climbing out of bed and pulling some comfy clothes on. You were sore, there was no denying it, so you opted for a loose pair of joggers and an old Hufflepuff jumper. It had almost been worn to death, but it was still the most comfortable item of clothing you owned. It attracted alot of attention from Muggles, asking questions about what Hufflepuff was. You'd smile softly, telling them it was from a film. Every so often, youd get a nudge, or a wink from someone in a cafe, or someone would smile knowingly at you on the train. You'd even had someone shake his head at you. Slytherin, you told yourself.

You pulled on your jacket and left the flat quietly. Since there was no food, you'd go and get Ron some breakfast. He was due to be starving after his performance. You smiled to yourself as your heart started racing again.

As you walked, you couldnt help but notice a spring in your step. You hadn't been this happy in a long time. There was a small bakery a few streets away, you were sure it was run by a witch. You could have sworn you'd heard her call a difficult customer a muggle under her breath once. And on the run up to a big Quiddich final, alot of the cakes and biscuits were decorated in yellow and black. The next day, when the Wimbledon Wasps had lost, the decoration was back to normal, and she was in an awful mood for the next few weeks.

You arrived back at your flat soon after, with a selection of baked goods and two large coffees.

"Do I smell coffee?" Ron asked as he walked out of the bedroom. You nodded, smiling at him. "Brilliant" he walked towards you, took a coffee, kissed your cheek and went to sit on the couch. You watched him switching on the tv and making himself at home. There was something so satisfying seeing him there. It was like your small flat had been missing something all these years, and now he was here. The missing piece.

After you put all the food you had bought on a plate, you joined him on the couch, cuddling close to him as you both enjoyed your breakfast.

You barely moved for the next few hours. Ron insisted on watching crappy muggle Christmas films, predicting the story line of every single one.

"What do you do for Christmas?" he asked, looking around. You had some decorations, but no Christmas tree. You didnt see the point in having one if no one was going to see it.

"I usually work," you admitted "mum and dad hardly ever come home, so at least at work I have some company" you laughed, trying to hide how pathetic that sounded. Rons face softened as you spoke. "What do you do?" you asked, desperate to get the attention away from your sad life.

"Mum likes a big Christmas'," he told you "everyone comes home, Bill, Charlie, the twins, Percy. Gin takes whoever she happens to be seeing at the time home too. Harry sometimes comes aswell, depending what he's up to. Hermione and Luna too." he nodded.

"Hermione and Luna?" you ask.

He smiles, "Yeah, remember Loony Lovegood? I mean...Luna Lovegood..." he corrected himself.

"They're...?

"Together, yeah. Weirdest thing. Not really sure how it happened either. But they are dead happy together" Ron shrugged.

"Thats great!" you say, unable to hide the surprise in your voice. You couldn't picture the two of them together. They had been on complete different ends of the scale. Hermione had been a studious Gryffindor. She was very serious, you cant remember ever seeing her without a book in her hand. Luna, however, was bonkers. She had been in Ravenclaw. Most people avoided her, she was always muttering to herself, staring around like she could see something the rest of the school couldnt. But you had a lot of time for her, and enjoyed listening to all her stories. Part of you envied her, she had such a carefree outlook. She didn't care what anyone thought of her.

You spent the next few hours discussing your old classmates, Ron filling you in on what everyone was up to. Clearly he had kept in better contact with people than you had. You didnt have a clue what anyone had done since you left school, you hadnt seen any of them. Although you swore you once saw Draco Malfoy in Diagon Alley, but before you could look twice, he vanished into the crowd.

There was a quiet tapping at the window, you both looked up to see Evie standing with a letter attached to her. You felt a pang of guilt, you hadn't even noticed that she hadnt come back from Ron's til now.

After you let her in, you took the envelope from her, opened it, and saw there were two pieces of paper, one for Ron and one for you.

You handed him his one and opened your own

"Y/n,

Your owl is cute, we let her rest up here and gave her some food.

See you soon. Wink Wink

Fred and George"

You smiled, folding up the letter and giving Evie some attention after her long flight. She stood, allowing you to stroke her for a minute, then flew to her cage where she soon fell asleep.

"What does yours say?" you asked Ron, feeling curious.

"Nothing," he shook his head, laughing. You reached over and snatched it out of his hand. He was right, there were no words. Just a drawing of a giant penis. You laughed too, handing it back to him. He ripped it up and put it on the table.

"I think I'm going to have to go soon," he yawned "I've got to leave on a job first thing and mum will go spare if I dont see her before I go"

You frowned, your heart sinking. You didnt know what you were expecting, he couldnt stay here forever, as much as you wanted him to.

"Thats ok, I've got work tomorrow too"

He could hear the disappointment in your voice. Pulling you close, he kissed your head.

"I dont really want to go. But..."

You nodded, you understood.

"I'll write to you though, every day" he promised "and I'll come see you the second I get home, whenever that is" he sighed.

"Great" you forced a smile and kissed him "this has been...the best" you finished.

He nodded in agreement, "I'm so glad we ran into each other"

He stopped at Evies cage, and whispered goodbye to her. She opened one eye, hooted at him then fell back asleep again. You followed him to the door, he turned, wrapped his arms round you, and kissed you one last time. You kissed him back with all your might, then watched him leave before closing the door.

Sighing deeply, you hoped it wouldnt be long before you could see him again and taste his lips on yours.