Disclaimer: An domhan wizarding iontach agus na carachtair (seachas iad siúd atá bunaidh) is leis J.K. Rowling.
"We must try not to sink beneath our anguish, but battle on." – Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The rest of the week passed rather quickly, and before they knew it, the weekend had arrived. Breakfast was always a rather grand affair at Hogwarts on the first weekend. A selection wider than the usual had appeared before them this morning, and this year they were treated to international breakfast delights; including a dish of coconut rice with peanuts and salty fish which had been labelled Nasi Lemak, and a colourful sticky sort of cake labelled Nonya Kueh, which Ron in particular had enjoyed, and a strange pale green jam that was labelled Kaya and was absolutely delicious.
'Ai wiz aii ngedook ik ar huz erf,' he had said wistfully, as he stuffed his face.
'You wish you could cook like a House-Elf?' Harry made a wild guess, and Ron nodded, still chewing gleefully.
'But Ron,' Hermione laughed, 'you can't cook at all!'
At that moment, the post arrived. A flurry of owls rushed into the Great Hall, accompanied by delighted squeals of anticipation from the eager students seated below, bearing letters and packages for them. A large brown school owl swooped down to their table and delivered their items. This had been the job of Hedwig in the past, and Hermione did not fail to notice Harry's melancholic expression as the brown owl looked expectantly at the trio, waiting to be rewarded.
Shaking herself from her thoughts, Hermione reached out and untied the bundle from the owl's leg. Ron had gotten a letter from his mum, Harry a copy of the latest Quidditch Weekly, and Hermione a copy of The Daily Prophet. She fed the owl a bit of her toast as she scanned the headlines, then turned, out of habit, to the section set aside for war trial updates. Her eyes flickered over the main piece of news, and she put her toast down abruptly.
EXECUTION OF LUCIUS MALFOY SET FOR
10 SEPTEMBER 1998
The headline was followed by a rather scathing article written by the one and only Rita Skeeter, detailing the involvement of Narcissa Malfoy during the First and Second Wizarding Wars. Hermione silently shook Harry's shoulder to get his attention, which was actually rather difficult to do as he had begun reading and was engrossed in his magazine, and angled the paper towards him for him to read. She watched as his brow furrowed and he turned to look at her.
'That's this coming Thursday, isn't it?' he asked. She nodded in confirmation, and he licked is lips, looking around the Great Hall. Draco Malfoy was nowhere to be seen.
'Well, Lucius was a terrible man,' he said tentatively, 'and I'm glad he's receiving the kiss for what he's done.' Hermione nodded, and passed the paper to Ron before she answered.
'Right, I agree,' she said, 'but don't you think they ought to have set the date when term isn't on, so Draco can attend and say his farewell?' Harry thought about this for a while, then merely shrugged.
'The Wizengamot doesn't really take that type of stuff into consideration, I think,' said Ron. 'They'd be pretty busy, with the number of Death Eaters that they have to deal with.'
'Yeah, I suppose,' replied Hermione reluctantly.
'And they'll probably let Draco miss a day of classes for something like that,' Harry added with a tone that indicated the end of their discussion on that matter. Hermione nodded and finished her tea, and the three of them stood up and started their way back to the Eastern Tower.
As it had been a short school week, and as it was the first weekend of term, the teachers had been merciful and had not assigned as much homework as Hermione thought would be appropriate for N.E.W.T. subjects. Nevertheless, the lack of assignments would prove to be something that worked in her favour, she thought, for she dreaded what she was planning to do that dreary Saturday afternoon, and knew that it would take her a great amount of time and concentration.
She would be writing a letter to her parents.
Due to complications with her memory spell, which she knew she could not have controlled, but felt guilty for nonetheless, lifting the memory spell on her parents had proved harder than she had originally anticipated. Though she was confident of their recovery in the experienced hands of the Healers at St Mungo's, she was anxious about what would happen when they fully remembered and understood what had happened. Would they ever truly forgive her?
Sitting at the desk by her table in the dormitory, the room blessedly empty, she began several letters, then crumpled them up and tossed them into the bin. She absentmindedly tapped her pen, one of her Muggle pens, of course, on the hard wood, chewing her lip as she tried to figure out what to write. Nothing quite sounded right, but she persevered.
Dear Mum and Dad,
This week has been rather hectic for me, but I've settled back in at Hogwarts quite well. It really is nice coming back to my second home after all that's happened during the war.
As I told you when I visited last, I've completed one of my exams before returning to school and have taken up Muggle Studies again. I told you about this before when I did the subject in third year, but I'm not sure if you can remember that. I liked the subject as it is fascinating, learning about what to the majority of the world is the usual way of life from the wizarding world's point of view, which is why I thought it would be a fun subject to take up again this year.
My partner in the subject is Draco Malfoy. I've told you about him before, too, and if you do remember him then it wouldn't be fondly. He's got no clue about anything to do with normal non-magical folk. He's a really interesting character, he's changed after the war. His family played a rather big role on the other side, and we were captured and brought to his house – well, manor, really – once. It wasn't very pleasant, to say the least.
I wish I could have told you more during the war. I'm really sorry for what I had to do to you both, but I do not regret it. It was the only way to keep you out of danger.
I'll write again soon, and will come to visit you as soon as I can. Please, try to remember that I love you.
Lots of love,
Your daughter.
Hermione leaned back and licked her lips as she appraised the letter. It was shorter than she had planned, but her hands were trembling with the raw emotion and sheer amount of effort that it had taken. She carefully folded it and put it in an envelope, writing their names on it and putting it aside to be owled to Mrs Weasely, who had kindly agreed to help her to deliver it to the Healers directly. Her parents had not reacted well to owl post in the past, and Hermione did not want to agitate them more than necessary.
Tears threatening to spill from her eyes, she stood abruptly, the chair dragging loudly across the floor. She grabbed her weathered copy of Hogwarts: A History – no matter how hard she had tried, it had been impossible to keep the book in pristine condition when battling evil and the elements – and hurried down to the common room for some much-needed company.
As she had expected, Harry and Ron were there, sitting on the floor and playing a game of Wizard's Chess. They greeted her as she sat on the sofa next to them and tucked her feet under her, and she gave them a silent nod, opening her book and trying to read as her eyes glazed over, lost in her thoughts. The boys pretended not to notice her red-rimmed eyes and continued their game, glancing worriedly at her from time to time.
She hated thinking about her parents, about what she had done to them.
Pretending to read worked for some time, but still Hermione felt upset. Feeling overwhelmed by her emotions, she knew that she had to get out. Perhaps a walk around the grounds would soothe the storm that raged inside of her. With a sigh, she shut her book and placed it beside her, getting up. After assuring the boys that she was fine and just needed a moment to herself, and thank you but no, she did not want to be accompanied on her walk, she exited the common room and set off for the lake.
The sky was overcast, but the weather was pleasant. Though the location of Hogwarts meant there was always a cold breeze, autumn had only just arrived, and it was still warm enough outside to wander around without a thick cloak, though only barely.
The grounds were spectacular as they always were, the trees beginning to turn shades of red and orange. She closed her eyes and breathed in the crisp air and its fresh scent deeply, allowing the gentle wind to caress her face as she turned it upwards towards the endless sky. The grass was a soft carpet beneath her feet, and as she strolled the rolling hills, she felt serene.
After she had been out wandering the grounds for quite a while, she found her feet leading her to Dumbledore's grave. She had not been there since after the final battle, and felt that it might be a good place to sit and think, and perhaps confide in the headmaster's spirit. But as she approached the site of the grave, she realised with a start that someone had already beaten her there.
Draco Malfoy was seated next to the the wise headmaster's grand white tomb, his head bent. He did not see her, for he was facing the opposite direction. He sat in silence, unmoving. From where she was, she could hear murmurs of speech as he talked in the direction of the great headmaster's resting place.
Hermione paused as she watched him from afar, not wanting to alert him to her presence. She had never thought that Draco, of all people, would come to visit the grave. It was an odd sight, seeing him sitting there. Given what she had heard from Harry about the night that the great wizard had died, she never would have thought that Draco might find solace at the tomb.
Feeling as if she were trespassing on something immensely private, she turned, and slowly walked away.
A/N: Sorry for the delay in the update, it was a terribly busy week! N.E.W.T.s are coming up soon, we have less than 80 days to the exams, which is absolutely terrifying. In other news, it's Singapore's 50th National Day today (9th August), which is why I couldn't help but sneak in references to some lovely local food at the start. If you get the chance, you should try some of those dishes, Singapore is known for its food! Yay Singapore! Anyway, thank you for your continued support through your reviews, favourites, and follows. I really do appreciate it!
