The Wishing Tree
Chapter 1: After all this time
It's times like these where I know I should have done something differently. I knew I had done what was right. What was expected of me, but something was missing. Something I never expected to miss..
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Somewhere, after my years at Hogwarts, I lost my way. I waited for something to bring me back, something to jolt me into place, but nothing came. I knew it was time for me to find my way back, move on from my past, my trials and tribulations and find myself once again. But I needed someone to help me do that. And that one person was someone, when at Hogwarts; I would never have counted on to rescue me.
The realisation of my love for this one man came in a single night. For many years I had happily recounted my time at Hogwarts, relished in the beauty of the place and remained fond of the friends I had made there. Yet all through this, underneath it all, I knew there was something, something holding me back, something making me regret. Over the years, I realised what was missing, what was holding me back from making something of myself. Him.
To my horror I found myself missing him and I didn't know why. Why out of everybody would I miss him? None of it made any sense. Despite this, I knew that I had to find him. I had to. I knew that for all these years I had loved him and I knew that now was the right time for me to find him and explain. At that exact moment a gust of wind blew through my open window in my room and flew through the pages of my open book. The page that settled was titled The Wishing Tree.
It was as if time had waited for me.
As if the world was on my side.
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I walked slowly through the never-ending trees, barely taking in my surroundings. Glancing up I saw that the forest had begun to thin. I quickened my pace, knowing I was close, close to a place I had wished to be near for so long. Close to a place I had wondered about, wondered about its existence, about its truth, its magic.
I walked out of the forest and into the clear night, searching for my destination. At last I saw it, far in the distance, standing alone, as if waiting for me..
I set out across the grassy land laid before me; feeling suffocated in the night's breeze, knowing that when I reached my destination I would feel breathless with relief, relief that I had found, after all this time, what I was looking for.
I stopped no more than a metre in front of it, mesmerized by its beauty.
The Wishing Tree, it was real. I was breathing heavily, partly from the distance I had travelled, but partly because I had finally made it to the place where it was said, wishes could come true. I knew little about the tree's origin, or how it decided whether you were worthy of what you wished for, but just being near it, I felt that dash of hope, that tingling sensation that made me realise I had done the right thing.
I stepped closer, the grass rustling in the breeze around me. My arm outstretched of its own accord as I moved further towards the tree. I was no more than a centimetre from touching it; I heard it whispering the wishes of others in its branches around and above me. It was eerie, yet beautiful. I looked around me, I wanted to remember this moment, the moment before I touched The Wishing Tree, before everything might change.
At long last, I looked back at the tree, ready to change everything, ready to try and find him, and bring him back to me.
Something made me stop. I mentally cursed myself for my lack of courage. I was placed in Gryffindor for a reason, I had courage. I needed to show that. But I realised within a second that it wasn't my lack of courage that had stopped me. Someone was here. Someone had seen me.
"Hermione?"
I turned.
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