Her trunk was nearly completely packed. She took the last pile of books and spare sheets from her otherwise empty deskwhen an envelope fell to the floor. One short look on the address was enough to recognize whose letter it was. The handwriting wasshaky and a bit messy. She seated herself on her already emptied bed and reread the letter for what felt like the hundredth.
My lovely Jane,
I'm so sorry for the loss of your parents. I really wish I would have been able to meet them. Or that, at least, I could be with you right now as your partner should be in times of need. I wish I could just pack my stuff and travel to Austria to be with you, even if it's just for a few days. It's been too long since I last could make you smile and actually hear you giggle. But I just can't leave my family and friends right now. I don't know how bad it is where you live or how much news you get about the battle that's going to come here, but You-Know-Who and his followers are getting stronger and they've even taken over Hogwarts. Harry, Ron and Hermione are still missing, but I know they'll come back.
I hope you understand that and that you're willing to wait a little bit longer. I promise you that I'll visit you as soon as all this is over and then I'll finally take you back home to introduce you to my family.
I love you.
He had forgotten to add his name at the bottom, but the handwriting couldn't be mistaken for somebody else's. Jane whiped a tear from her cheek and put the letter back in the envelope. The letter was dated 13th February 1998 and it was the last one she'd received. At first she thought that he was too busy or simply had forgotten her, but after the Battle of Hogwarts, she had seen an article in the Daily Prophet listing the names of the fallen witches and wizards. She hadn't expected to see anyone she knew and skimmed over it while reading the other headlines, but somehow she had recognized his name while skim scanning the page. At first she had thought her eyes had been misleading her, but his name was right there, there at the bottom of the list. At first she hadn't wanted to believe it, she couldn't believe it. She had gotten on with her normal life for the first few days but suddenly, while sitting at home drinking tea and rereading the list, truth had hit her and she realized she'd never see boy she fell in love with again.
She had still gone to university every morning and locked herself in her flat for the rest of the day. It seemed like she had been living in a sort of trance ever since. She couldn't even really cry any more as there weren't any more tears left. About a week ago she had decided that it couldn't go on like that any more. He wouldn't have wanted her to live a life like that. So she had sent a letter to Hogwarts as her parents had always told her to when they were still alive. Her family had to move to Austria as they weren't save any more in Great Britain during the first up-rise of Voldemort. Her father has always been ashamed of the fact that he had to leave his friends behind but he had known that it was the only way to save his family. He still hadn't stopped fighting Voldemort's followers, though, as there were also some spread across the European mainland, which had cost him not only his life, but the life of her mother as well.
Before their deaths, she had been educated by her parents at home for six years, they had always wanted her to take her N.E.W.T.s in Hogwarts when she was older. They had even gone so far as to discuss her studies with Albus Dumbledore, the previous headmaster of Hogwarts, prior to them leaving the country. He had assured them that there wouldn't be any problems She had decided otherwise as she wanted to study at a Muggle university in Austria to become a teacher. But now after all that had happened she had decided that she had to change something in her life.
With her parents' wishes in mind, she had written a letter to Professor Minerva McGonagall, the new Headmistress of Hogwarts. She had asked her if she could do her final year at Hogwarts to do her N.E.W.T.s. She hadn't thought McGonagall would accept. It had been many years since her parents and Dumbledore spoke of the arrangement, so she wasn't sure that McGonagall would know anything of the plans and after all, term was starting in just three short weeks. But two days ago her black owl had come back from Hogwarts with a letter. It was the same acceptance letter magical children usually get when they are eleven years old. Her parents had told her a lot about their time at Hogwarts and had even shown her the acceptance letter they got shortly before their eleventh birthday. The envelope bore the Hogwarts emblem: The letter "H" surrouned by four animals, each displaying one of the four Hogwarts houses. A lion for Gryffindor, a badger for Hufflepuff, an eagle for Ravenclaw and a serpent for Slytherin. Each house represents different values and every first year students is sorted in to one of the houses by an old magic hat. She didn't remember all the stories her parents told her about Hogwarts when she was a child, but she had never forgotten how the sorting works as she had always been wondering which house she would have gotten sorted to if she went to Hogwarts. The envelope contained the acceptance letter telling her that term would start on September 1st and a list with things she'd need.
She had immediately quit university and packed everything she owned and thought useful in her trunk. She'd have to get most things in Diagon Alley anyway, like her school robes or books. Her stomach twisted at the thought of Diagon Alley. Tomorrow she'd be standing on the same spot where she'd met him more than a year ago. In front of the same shop window she had been admiring before he'd asked her if she needed anything. She remembered every second of that moment. The embarrassing moment, when she'd realized that she was just looking at his stunning smile, smiling back at him but not saying a single word... She forced her thoughts back to her room, she didn't have time to think about the past now, as her flight would depart in three hours time. So she closed her trunk, took the empty owl cage (she had already send her owl to Hogwarts as she didn't want to have any problems at the airport), grabbed her tickets and left her flat. Leaving it all behind wasn't really hard as she didn't have anything or anything left at "home", but she was still anxious about what awaited her at Hogwarts. Would the other students accept her or would she remain the new girl? What will it be like standing where he stood, walking where he walked, when all she wished for during the last year was to be there with him together? She sighed. "I guess I will find out soon enough."