And I feel like the neighbor's girl who will never be the same,
She walked alone all spring,
She had a boyfriend when the summer came.
"Harry!" I skipped a few steps to catch up with him. His smile as he turned to me was warm and welcoming. I slipped under his arm and kissed his cheek.
"Hey, you." He hugged me with one arm. "You look happy for a change. Something good happen?" He studied me with his intense grassy eyes. I felt a familiar urge, to push that single errant lock of dark hair out of his eyes, but picked at one nail instead. I smiled to myself. Right in one, as always. Harry knew I'd been dreading summer, that I'd worried and fretted all spring as the last days of our last year at Hogwarts slipped by quicker than I could grasp at them.
I pulled the crumpled piece of parchment out of my pocket. "Something very good, actually. I just got post from my Gram." I waved the parchment at him as excitement bubbled up beneath my chest.
He pulled the letter away from me. "Before I read it, do you want to spoil it for me?" He was teasing me- he knew how hard it was for me to keep good news to myself. But I shook my head at him, so he started reading. I giggled when he stopped reading and looked at me, his eyes round with surprise.
"What's Harry all agog about? Ann, did you say something naughty?" Hermione and Ron fell in around us. Hermione grinned at Harry, obviously enjoying the sight of him speechless. Ron snatched at the piece of parchment, but Harry held the scrap away out of his reach. Hermione and I stepped aside as they struggled- poor Ron, a full six inches shorter than Harry and he hadn't yet learned not to let himself be goaded. I hugged Hermione, startling her somewhat.
"Oh, Hermione. It's just wonderful. My Gram invited you all to come and stay the summer." I hugged her again. Everyone froze. Ron goggled at me, then whooped and swung me around until Harry glowered at him.
"I've never been to Edinburgh." Hermione hugged me again. "This is great, Ann! We'll get to spend our last summer together before we go off in the fall." I felt the old, familiar clenching in my stomach when she mentioned the fall. Harry must have seen it in my face, because he pulled me close to him. What would I do without my friends?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ That Evening ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Hermione and I sat in the Gryffindor Common Room, pretending to study. Professor Snape had gotten particularly vicious as the spring term wore on, piling on Potions homework until even Hermione despaired of finishing it. I wondered if it was his way of pretending that we weren't leaving- I would never tell Hermione, but I had grown fond of the strange man in the last two years. I felt my throat close at the thought of leaving this place.
Hermione clapped her book shut. "Well, that's that, then. We're done." She settled back in her chair, and I desperately tried to get my tears under control. I knew everyone was concerned about my persistent sorrow- I didn't want Hermione to go to McGonagall or, worse, Dumbledore.
She saw through me, though. Her face wrinkled in worry. "Ann, are you okay? No. Wait. That was a silly question- you're obviously not okay. What's wrong?" I shook my head at her, ducking my face so she couldn't see me, but she wasn't having it. She tsked at me. "You have to talk to me sometime. Either me, or McGonagall." She crossed her arms and waited.
I sighed. "All right, fine." I looked directly at her, almost angry. "I hate thinking about the fall. I hate thinking about the end of the term. I don't want to leave here, Hermione. I love Hogwarts, I can't figure out how I'll manage without everyone and I just don't want to go." I felt the tears I'd held back all day finally spill down my face. I sat, watching my hands shake.
"I don't understand, Ann. You got a great scholarship to Edinburgh. I'll only be at Oxford- so will Harry, and Ron's working for the Ministry in London. We're just a couple of hours away, less if you travel by Floo. You can visit anytime, every day if you want."
"It's not the same, 'Mione. You'll all be mostly together, and I'll be in Scotland by myself. I'll miss us all being together for meals and studying and Quidditch...I won't know anyone. I've never been to school where I didn't know anyone before. What if people think I'm...strange?" I couldn't stop shaking. None of them had any idea how scared I was, how afraid I was to be alone among all those strangers.
She laughed a little. "Ann, people will think you're weird no matter where you go. Believe me, I know." She shook her head. "You won't be all alone. You're living with your Gram, right? And your sister lives there over the holidays. Like I said, we won't be far away- we'll come whenever you need us." She broke off as Ron and Harry entered the Common Room, still dressed for Quidditch. Ron draped himself around Hermione's shoulders and peered at me like an owl.
"Oi, Ann. Not again, mate." He reached over to ruffle my hair. "You've got to get a hold on yourself, woman. You're going to outmoan Moaning Myrtle."
Harry dropped over the back of the sofa and wrapped his legs around me. I leaned back into him, savoring the leather and sweat smell that I'd come to associate with him. "At least Ann doesn't flood the toilets when she's upset." He grinned, then sobered. "He's right, though, luv. I wish you'd cheer up a bit. It's not the end of the world, you know." He wrapped his arms around me and snuggled his chin into my hair.
I tried a weak smile. "It's the end of something, though. Just everyone say they'll come stay the summer. Harry, I know you're coming." He nodded against my head. His aunt and uncle had kicked him out the past summer, when he turned seventeen, so I knew he'd be staying at the Weasleys until fall anyway. "What about you two? Will your folks let you come?"
Hermione grinned. "My parents think it's a wonderful idea. I think they're planning to go away for the summer. Remind me to get your Gram's address- they want to write and discuss some things and say thanks."
"I'm pretty sure my folks will say yes," Ron piped up. "They said something about going to see Charlie, and I'm kind of sick of Romania." They chatted about travel arrangements and graduation; I sat in the warm nest of Harry's limbs and tried to pay attention, all the time counting off the days of summer.