Litha: The Longest Day.
Hermione couldn't believe it.
Intellectually, she knew that it was true, but she so wanted to believe that at any moment she'd turn a corner and see him talking and smiling with this fellow seventh years, safe and alive. But Cedric wasn't coming back and her best friend's already dangerous life was now going to be positively deadly. And she didn't know what she could do to help him. For all her reading and book smarts, she felt helpless for the first time ever.
Making her way down towards the Entrance Hall, Hermione took extra care to avoid being caught out after curfew when she heard hushed voices and the tale-tell sounds of muffled crying ahead of her, making her pause for a moment as she decided what to do. Move forward and see who it was that was crying; find a Professor and risk detention for being out after curfew herself; or leave whoever it was to their sorrow?
She was just about to turn around and head back up the common room when a soft voice caught her attention, stopping her in her tracks. It sounded vaguely familiar, and even with just a few words, she felt calmer.
"Oh, Astoria," the soft voice said. "You should all be upstairs in Ravenclaw tower, not loitering around in the Entrance Hall and sending ghosts with messages to me," she remarked.
"We were scared and upset," a small voice said, her words punctured by the occasional sniffle.
"Why didn't you talk to one of your House prefects? You heard Dumbledore at dinner, no one is to leave their common rooms after curfew," the soft voice remarked somewhat firmly.
"Astoria said that you always used to make her feel safe when she got scared when she was little," another small voice remarked, and Hermione could hear the slight note of hope in her voice.
"Well what has you guys so scared?" the soft voice asked, and Hermione deduced that it must belong to Daphne Greengrass given what she'd just heard. Peaking around the corner she could see that is was indeed the renowned 'Ice Princess' herself sat on the stairs of the Entrance Hall, surrounded by five second years, including Daphne's little sister Astoria, their robes trimmed in the blue of Ravenclaw house.
"Cho keeps crying and the other upper years are talking about halfbloods and muggleborns vanishing and dying," Astoria told her older sister. "I don't want Darcy or Kelsey or Hazel or Louis to disappear," she practically wailed, throwing her arms around Daphne and crying into her big sister's neck.
"Oh, Astoria," Daphne told her, rubbing her sister's back. "That's not going to happen, don't listen to those upper-class men," Daphne reassured her.
"But the bad guys are coming now," one of the other second years remarked and Hermione could see even from her hiding position at the top of the staircase, the fear the young boy had in his eyes. "Bad guys make people disappear. I don't want to disappear!"
Hermione could see Daphne sigh and close her eyes as she tried to think of something reassuring to say to the scared second years. After a couple of seconds Daphne opened her eyes and looked at her sister and her friends and offered them a comforting smile. "Have any of you ever heard of a Battle of Litha?" she asked them, nodding when they all shook their heads. "Well, a Litha battle is when the Holly King goes to battle against the Oak King to see who will rule the rest of the year. Now, the Holly King is a God of Light and rebirth, while the Oak King is a God of Darkness and death," Daphne told them, her smile showing her amusement when they all started to look slightly scared again. "Now, these two Kings battle it out against each other at least twice a year and when of them falls the other rises, just like the sun rises and sets in the day. As the Holly King falls the days become shorter and the nights become longer and darker. And when the Oak King falls, the days lengthen and the nights become lighter. But no matter what King is ruling, there will always be a new dawn to chase away the shadows of the night, it might just take longer for some of the shadows to disappear."
"Why are you telling us this Daphne? You're meant to be making us feel safer, not more scared," Astoria told her older sister. "How do we know what side we should fight with?" she asked.
"The Holly and the Oak King's are two sides of the same coin and it's jut natural that every once in a while, someone will come along and try and upset the balance of things, it's happened in the past and we've survived and I don't doubt it'll happen in the future. But it doesn't mean should be scared of that," Daphne explained to them. "And you don't have to choose sides if it does ever come to a battle. You guys are twelve years old, there are older and stronger people here that will protect you," she reassured them with a soft smile. "You just need to remember that the sun will always rise on a new day and light will always triumph over the darkness, you just have to be patient and sometimes let things run their course," she added, hoping that they were all wise enough to understand what she was trying to say.
Hermione watched as the five second years took in everything that had been said to them, and they all seemed to accept what they'd been told and much to her surprise, they all seemed calmer now.
"But, even if you are scared, that's okay too. Being scared just means you have a healthy respect for life and that's nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, do you know what we're going to do?" she asked them with a hopeful smile. "We're going to go out to the lake and Rose wishes. Now come on, everyone on your feet and follow me," she told them before standing and leading everyone outside, her arms wrapped around Astoria and the young boy who had voiced his fears earlier.
Hermione stood and watched the six students leave the Entrance Hall to make their way down to the boat house by the lake. She only stood in the Entrance Hall for a couple of moments before following after the six students towards the lake, where she watched as they each dropped a rose into the lake before it was carried across the black surface by the wind, only for each and everyone of them to disintegrate into a shower of blue and green sparks that floated into the inky blackness of the night sky, what ever they'd wished for floating away with them.
When she was finally alone by the edge of the lake, Hermione watched as the last sparks vanished amongst the stars, she closed her eyes and conjured up her own rose to make a wish herself. "I wish that this war ends before too many lives are lost to senseless violence. And I wish that Harry makes it out to the other side safe and unharmed. He's been through so much already, he deserves to live his life without any danger, so please keep him safe for me," she whispered as tears fell from her closed eyes as she dropped the rose into the Black Lake, opening her eyes to watch her rose drift across the softly rippling lake before it too broke apart into a shower of golden sparks, taking her wish up to the heavens where she hoped someone – anyone – was listening to her wish.
Well there you go, the 4th instalment of my Wheel of the Year collection. This one is different to the other's but I hope that you enjoy it all the same and I know that Cedric is killed later, a couple of days after Litha, but creative licence means that I can change it fit my story
Next up is Lammas, so I'll see you then.