Carol of the Bells
A/N- This piece is set on Christmas Eve of the trio's sixth year and was written for The next Padfoot's Christmas Spirit Competition on the HPFC forum. My prompt was the song "Carol of the Bells". I hope you enjoy it and please let me know what you think. Merry Christmas! Lella x
Hark how the bells,
sweet silver bells,
all seem to say,
throw cares away
When Hermione Granger had been a little girl, long before she had found out she was a witch, she had believed in magic. It was a different kind to the magic she now worked so hard to study, but it was no less real. She could still remember the crackle of excitement in the air on Christmas Eve, as the bells of the nearby church rang joyfully through the village.
This Christmas seemed different. Hermione would like to have said it was because of the war; that the reason she could not throw away her cares in favour of Christmas shopping and carolling, as she usually did at this time of year, was because her worries were so much greater than they had ever been before. Everyday there were more attacks and disappearances reported in The Daily Prophet, and no one knew who would be next. The Muggles outside made their way through the street to the church, their words of good cheer filling the air, utterly oblivious to the danger that could strike at any time.
But Hermione knew that what was truly bothering her was far more trivial.
Of course, she had known for a long time that Ron was insensitive and had the emotional range of a teaspoon, but she didn't think she'd ever be able to forgive him for this – Lavender Brown of all people! In their fourth year, after the Yule Ball, Ron had accused her of fraternising with the enemy and betraying Harry by helping Victor in the tournament when she had done no such thing. Now the filthy little hypocrite spent most of his time trailing after a girl who had spent the first couple of months of last year telling all who would listen that she thought Harry was an attention-seeking liar. But, Hermione thought scornfully, Ron probably couldn't even remember back to last year – he certainly seemed to have forgotten about her.
She knew she was being petty; she'd even resorted to using that awful McLaggen to make him jealous. That had certainly backfired. And yet Hermione could not get the sickening image of Ron entwined around Lavender, like some hideous octopus, out of her mind.
Frustrated with herself, Hermione pulled out her half-complete Transfiguration essay and a stack of books and forced herself to concentrate. She wished those bloody bells would stop ringing!