"Bree? Are you absolutely sure that you don't want me to stay with you?"
Shaking my head, I rolled over and faced her. Katie and Alicia were standing, fully dressed and ready to go, by my bed. I was still laying in it, the covers pulled up to my chin, and looking to all the world like a mess.
"Honestly, I'm sure I just need to sleep it off," I reassured them tiredly, and Katie frowned but nodded.
"We'll duck back up to see you during the break, alright?" Alicia said, and I nodded, smiling up at them.
"You two are wonderful, thank you," I said. "But go, or you'll be late for Snape's class."
They both nodded, before turning and leaving. I rubbed my eyes and rolled back over, until a loud SMACK echoed throughout the room and made me jump.
Turning, I saw a large stack of Witch Weekly magazines sitting on my bedside table. Ruby stood beside them with a smile. "Here, you can read some of my magazines," she said. "They should help the day go faster. I hope you're feeling better."
"Oh, Ruby, that's lovely, thank you," I said, completely sincerely, and she nodded before leaving the room. Honestly, Ruby may not have been the smartest individual, but she certainly was one of the kindest.
In all honesty, their concerns were all unwarranted. I didn't really feel all that sick at all, but I knew I had to be. Or at least, I had to be coming down with something. Because lately, I'd been feeling quite feverish. Like a few days ago, when George had threaded his fingers through mine as we were walking to class like he sometimes likes to do- I had felt my whole body flush red hot. Or yesterday, when George had pulled me down to cuddle up with him by the common room fire, which was not at all a rare occurrence- it had happened again. And then a bit later when he'd ducked off somewhere with his brother, dropping a parting kiss to my temple- again.
I had to be sick. What other explanation is there?
And growing up with a Healer for a brother, I knew that the most contagious time of an illness was before all the symptoms showed themselves. If you rested up in the early stages, the illness wouldn't hang around as long. So I wasn't taking any risks, because I had to be sick.
With a sigh, I sank back into my pillows, and pulled my thick blanket back up over my head.
What other explanation is there?
True to their word, the girls popped back up to visit me during the lunch break. I didn't immediately notice their arrival, having been dozing away, until a strong, pleasant smell hit me.
"Oh, Kates, you got me soup?" I asked, spotting the large bowl in her hands. "That's so thoughtful, you guys…"
"Nah, we didn't," Angelina said flatly. "Georgie did."
"We told him you were sick so he skipped lunch and took off down to the kitchens to request the elves make you some chicken noodle," Katie said. "He said it was your favorite when you're under the weather."
"Oh," I replied, struck suddenly dumb. "I- that- yes… it is my favorite."
George never forgot any of my favorites. Books, foods, flowers… everything. He knew them all.
"He's quite worried about you," Alicia piped up. "He asked us to bring it up and make sure you were doing alright."
"He was pretty down about not being able to come up here himself- tried to scale the ramp up here, but people kept sliding down and hitting him," Katie said, blowing on the steaming soup and setting it down on my bedside table carefully. "If you're feeling any better, maybe you could come down to the common room and reassure him you aren't dying."
"Oh… um…" I felt my stomach clench uncomfortably, and shook my head. The illness must finally be hitting. "No, I'm not really feeling very well still… I think it's best if I stay up here…"
Suddenly on Mother Mode again, Alicia nodded. "Of course, but I want you to finish all of that soup before you go back to sleep! You need to get something into your stomach!"
"Yeah, Bree- does she need to sit here and spoon feed it to you?" Angelina sniped sarcastically with a grin. "She can even make choo-choo sounds if little bubba Bree wants her to!"
I rolled my eyes. "Perhaps next time."
Sniggering, they headed for the door. I called them back at the last second.
"Thanks, you guys. And please thank George- tell him I'm alright. He's always so… so…" I didn't finish. I couldn't.
They seemed to understand, merely nodding before leaving.
George was always so considerate. So caring. So absolutely and unutterably wonderful in every single way. So completely integral to my very existence at this point that the idea of life without him sent a bolt of pain straight through my chest.
Suddenly feeling genuinely unwell, I left the soup untouched and burrowed back underneath the comfort of my blankets. George was everything, and avoiding him left me feeling so, so guilty.
Closing my eyes, I shook my head. I was doing him a favor. Clearly unwell, I didn't want him to catch it.
This lasted for two more days. I never came down with anything, and told myself that this was because I was so preemptive in quarantining myself that the disease just withered and died before it fully spread. That seemed logical.
I couldn't explain why I felt so nervous returning to classes, but Katie was very understanding. She stayed with me all morning, accompanying me down the stairs. It was late- breakfast was nearly over, but the common room wasn't empty as I'd hoped.
"Bree!" A voice shouted, before a body wrapped around my own, pulling me into their arms and pulling me straight up off of the floor. The scent was one I knew better than any other, and I had returned the embrace before I even realized what I was doing.
George gently placed me back on the ground before beginning to fuss over me. He brushed my hair back out of my face and cupped my cheeks, observing me for any obvious injuries or lingering illness. "Merlin, are you alright? You had me worried…"
"I'm fine, Georgie," I told him. "Just feeling a bit under the weather, nothing extreme…"
"I know- you're sick all the time, but you still brave through your responsibilities until I have to physically restrain you to get you to rest," he said. "I figured if you were in bed it must have been serious…"
I couldn't help the small, fond smile that came to my face as I cupped his hand were it remained on my cheek. "You're so wonderful," I eventually said simply, and his smile grew.
Behind me, I heard Katie whisper "fuck, I feel like somebody just punched me in the chest. Those two are so damn adorable…"
Clearing my throat, I stepped back from George. "We should head down to class or we'll be late. What do we have first?"
"Well blondie, you chose a fantastic day to return to us," Fred said. "Just in time for our first class with the Centaur."
Divination classes were going to be different with Firenze than they had ever been with Trlawney- that became apparent within the first second. The class was no longer to be held in the North Tower, but on the ground floor (for obvious reasons). Upon opening the door, for a second I thought I'd stepped straight into the Forbidden Forest.
The classroom floor had become springily mossy, and trees- real trees- were growing out of it, their leafy branches fanned across the ceiling and windows, so the room was full of slanting shafts of soft, dappled, green light.
The people who had already arrived were sitting on the ground, leaning against the trees and the boulders. Firenze was standing in the middle of the clearing where there were no trees, and he looked up to greet us with a polite smile when we entered.
We all returned his smile politely, but slightly hesitantly- this was the first time I'd ever actually been around a centaur before, and being so close to him was a little bit daunting. His smile was lovely, and kind- but what really drew my gaze was what looked like a faded, hoof-sized bruise in the middle of his chest. Did another centaur kick him?
Lee and Alicia were already in the room, so we headed towards them. Lee gave me a huge grin, leaning over to give me a brief one armed hug when I settled beside him. "You're back, blondie! How ya feeling?"
"Yeah, I'm alright, Lee. I was just feeling a bit under the weather."
Lee immediately frowned. "Well shit, that's boring. I figured Jason had just boned you too hard and you needed a few days to learn to walk again."
I was still choking on my own spit when Firenze began to speak.
"Professor Dumbledore has kindly arranged this classroom for us in imitation of my natural habitat," he said, gesturing around at our surroundings just in case we hadn't all noticed we were surrounded by fucking trees, "I would have preferred to teach you in the Forbidden Forest, which was- until Monday- my home… but that is no longer possible."
I had already opened my mouth to ask why when I realized it wasn't my place. This centaur owed me nothing- but from the tone of his voice and that bruise on his chest, I put together that the reason it was no longer possible might not have been a nice one.
"I would like to begin where Sybil Trelawney left you- with star gazing," Firenze said, raising his hand towards the leafy canopy above us before lowering it again slowly- as he did, the light in the room dimmed, so that the room looked exactly like a forest clearing at Twilight. I gasped at how beautiful it was, and I wasn't the only one audibly voicing their surprise- from behind me, I heard Fred mutter "bloody hell" in an awed tone.
"Lie back on the floor," Firenze said calmly, "and observe the Heavens. Here it is written, for those who can see, the fortune of our races."
I lay back, my head cushioned by the soft grass beneath me. A second later, I felt a weight on my stomach, and looked down in surprise to see that George had used me as a pillow. He shot me a wink, and I shifted, suddenly uncomfortable. His gaze immediately turned to one of concern.
"You okay?" He asked quietly, and I forced myself to relax. This was George, for god's sakes. He was practically my other half.
"I'm fine," I told him quietly, bringing my hands up to run fondly through his mess of hair. The action calmed me- so familiar was it- and he relaxed further against me. I must still be getting sick...
Firenze began to speak then, drawing me out of my thoughts and back to reality.
"I know that you have learnt the planets and the names of their moons in Astronomy," Firenze's clear voice rang out, as my eyes followed the patterns of stars above my head, "and that you have mapped the stars progress through the Heavens. Centaurs have unraveled the mysteries of those movements over centuries. Our findings teach us that the future may be glimpsed in the sky above us-"
"Professor Trelawney did astrology with us!" An eager Hufflepuff girl cried. "She said that Mars causes accidents and burns and things like that, and when it makes an angle to Saturn, like it is right now, it means people have to be extra careful when handling hot things-"
"That," Firenze said calmly, "is human nonsense."
George snorted from below me, as the Hufflepuff girl fell silent.
"Trivial hurts… tiny human accidents… these are of no more significance than the scurrying of ants to the wide universe, and are unaffected by planetary movements."
"Then what is affected by the planetary movements?" I spoke up curiously. "What exactly is a big enough event that the stars are able to tell of it?"
"We centaurs watch the skies for markers of great tides of evil or change," he answered me calmly. "It is not a precise art- It may take ten, twenty, even thirty years to be sure of what we're seeing."
"But if Seeing one thing can span a lifetime… then why bother? Are the things you're Seeing so important to dedicate your life to it?" Angelina asked, genuinely curious.
"The answer to that, Miss Johnson, is yes. The things that we See may take decades to unravel, but Seeing them is of the utmost importance," Firenze answered calmly, before pointing to a bright red star directly above George and I. "For example… In the past decade, the indications have been that wizard kind is living through nothing more than a brief calm between two wars. Mars, bringer of battle, shines brightly above us, suggesting that the fight must soon break out again…"
Class ended soon enough, and we all filed out of the room, significantly chattier than we usually were after a Divination class.
"A decade of watching one star?" Angelina burst out. "That's so… shitty, isn't it? How could anyone be happy to dedicate their lives to watching a single star on the off chance that it might give you some bogus information about an event a few days in the future?"
"What benefit do they really have from getting this vision of the future, anyway?" Fred wondered. "Centaurs are famously quiet. They never do anything with their knowledge, so what's the point of knowing it?"
"Yeah," George agreed. "Personally, I'd like to know a little bit more about this supposed war approaching. He was a bit vague, wasn't he?"
"I don't get centaurs," I agreed tiredly. "Or astrology."
Lee gave a thoughtful sort of hum. "Frankly I personally think it all sounds like bullshit. But I don't really know enough about the stars to dispute it, so I guess I gotta just go with it, yeah?"
"Hagrid!"
Lee looked at Alicia oddly. "No, I'm Lee. Are you alright? Did the astrology get to you?"
"No- HAGRID!" She shouted again, pointing excitedly behind us, and I spun around to indeed see that our giant friend had returned at last.
Suddenly forgetting all about Firenze and the stars, I ran excitedly towards our grinning Care of Magical Creatures Professor.
"Hello, yeh lot!" he called with a friendly smile, catching the girls and I effortlessly when we jumped on him in a hug and chuckling heartily. The twins and Lee all hurried after us, patting him on the back enthusiastically.
And that was when I stepped back far enough to get a good look at him- and I felt horror wash over me. "Oh my God- Hagrid!"
He looked like he'd been beaten to a pulp. His left eye was swollen so severely it was no more than a thin slit among a mass of purple and blue bruising. There were cuts all over his hands, and he was moving much more gingerly than usual.
"What happened?!" Fred demanded worriedly, but Hagrid waved him off.
"It's nuthin', it's nuthin'!"
"Don't look like nothing, you're in a right state," George replied.
"It's nuthin', I swear. Took a bi' of a nasty tumble down a hill when I was on holiday, tha's all," he said, and I learnt in that moment that Hagrid was an even worse liar than I was. Ignoring our disbelieving looks, he changed the subject. "Had good summers? A good term so far, have yeh?"
It was obvious he didn't want us to pry any further, so we obeyed his wishes. "Er… not the best term we've ever had," I said delicately, unwilling to mention having Umbridge around had made me question whether finishing seventh year was really necessary more than once.
"Bit stressful, you know how it is," George added, "but altogether… somewhat enjoyable."
"But what about you?" Lee asked, when it became obvious Hagrid was about to pry for more information. "You said you were on holiday- where have you been? We've missed having you around!"
Hagrid rolled his eyes good naturedly. "Yeh mean yeh've missed me coverin' for yeh when I find yeh outdoors after dark!" he corrected with a smile, and the three boys grinned. "I've bin in France, actually. Haven' had a good holiday in a while."
"France? You mean near Beauxbatons?" I hinted with a grin, and he flushed.
"Er, yeh, somewhere around there…"
It didn't take the others long to catch on. "Didn't happen to see Madame Maxine while you were over there, did you, Hagrid?" Angelina grinned.
Hagrid cleared his throat. "Well, I'd love to stay an' chat, but I got ta get up ta see the headmaster. Good to see yeh all!" he said loudly, before passing us and continuing his trek through the corridors, occasionally waving to other students excited at his return.
Eventually, Fred let out a deep sigh.
"I can't believe Hagrid is getting laid and I'm not," he said, sounding unbelievably depressed. "We really need to step up our game."
"Speak for yourself," Lee grinned with a wink, and George rolled his eyes.
"Not that your dating woes aren't fascinating, but aren't we gonna talk about the fact that he looks like he's been tortured? That's definitely not from falling down a hill," I said.
Lee shrugged. "I don't know how giants have sex, it could be an injury from Madame Maxine, and I don't want to pry into that cause it sounds kinda gross, but-"
"Oh, ew!" I cried, my hands shooting up to cover my ears. "Conversation over! Fine, I'll let it slide!"
Classes with Firenze never got any less weird, but the shock factor of having a centaur soon wore off at the very least. He was an odd sort of guy, but quite friendly nonetheless, and always willing to help a struggling student learn. I learnt from Sam one morning after our first few classes that Firenze, as it turned out, was not like regular centaurs. The others, whom Harry had met once or twice, were not nearly as welcoming towards humans. So when Firenze had agreed to help Dumbledore… his herd had banished him. This explained the hoof-shaped mark on his chest- somebody had literally kicked him out.
I decided very quickly that I didn't want to meet the other centaurs. Firenze was enough for me.
But as it always did, time passed. The end of my schooling life was looming ever closer, and with it was final exams. Of course, this meant the workload was ever increasing, and I spent most of my time with my nose buried in a book.
Not tonight, though.
Tonight had been date night. It was midnight and I was only just returning from my impromptu date with Jason (and I actually would have been back much sooner but I had to hide from Filch inside a hidden passage for like 20 minutes), so I was surprised when the common room wasn't empty when I entered.
"Harry," I called, and he turned from where he'd been heading towards the stairs. My grin immediately dropped- he was pale, too pale, sweaty and dazed looking. I darted towards him just as his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell to the floor.
"HARRY!" I shouted, throwing myself down beside him and rolling him onto his back. He was shaking violently, his eyes darting madly behind his closed eyes. "Oh my god, Harry, wake up, please wake up!"
I scooped my hand under his head and kept it elevated so it was no longer smacking against the floor- he looked like he was having a seizure, and I suddenly remembered Sam telling me this sort of behavior was common when Harry was having a vision. Sam had dealt with this before- Sam knew what to do. Sam.
"I'll be right back," I promised weakly, rolling him onto his side and putting him in the recovery position in case he threw up, before diving over him and sprinting up the stairs three at a time.
"SAM!" I screamed, pushing their door open with such great force that it bounced off of the wall and slammed shut again behind me. Every single one of the boys jumped in their beds, looking dazed. "Sam, get up! Please, get up! Ron, you too!"
Sam was awake quicker than anyone else at my panicked tone, diving out of bed just as I reached him. "What is it?! What happened, Bree?! Are you hurt?!" he demanded, his eyes running over my body, scanning for any signs of injury.
"It's Harry-" I sobbed, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the door. Ron jumped up behind us. "Please, he's not well-"
Ron and Sam were faster than me, and they reached the common room before I did. Harry was shaking even harder than when I'd left him a moment ago, and just as I dropped down beside him he began to let out this noise- this high, maniacal sort of laughter that just chilled me to the bone. It was ecstatic, jubilant… but it was cold, and it was wrong, and it wasn't the sort of sound I ever expected to hear from this kindhearted boy.
"Harry! HARRY!" Ron shouted, shaking him roughly, and when that didn't work and the laughter only increased, Ron reared back and smacked him across the face.
Eyes shooting open, Harry froze and the noise died abruptly. He looked dazed, his eyes blank, and Ron shook him again.
"Harry, what happened?" Sam asked forcefully, and Harry swallowed thickly, his eyes closing tightly. He struggled for a second to push himself up, and the three of us dived forwards to help pull him to sit up. He blinked a few times before absently beginning to rub his scar.
"I… don't know…" he gasped. "He's- he's happy…"
"Happy?" I repeated worriedly, reaching for my wand to summon a glass of water. He took it gratefully, but I kept a hold on it to assist him when he took a shaky sip.
"Happy," he repeated, "happier than he's been in a long time…"
I shared a long look with Sam. "You-Know-Who?" I clarified, and Harry nodded.
"Something's happened. Something he's been hoping for…" he replied, and I felt my body turn cold as I swallowed thickly.
"Hermione said your defenses will be lower for a little while after Snape tampers with your head," Ron attempted to comfort him. "You were probably just feeling it more intensely after your Occlumency lesson…"
Harry shook his head doubtfully, but I moved forwards quickly. "Here," I said, hoisting him to his feet with the other boys help. "Let's get you to bed. C'mon."
Slowly, we assisted him to climb the stairs. The other boys in his dorm room were still awake, looking concerned when we entered, but they were smart enough to pretend not to be. Harry was moving slowly, jerkily, and his eyes- the familiar light that they usually held was gone completely. He was shaken right to the core.
"Hey," I said quietly, gaining his attention. And for a moment, I had no idea what to say. God, I didn't think I'd ever been more terrified in my whole life. But it didn't matter. It didn't matter that I was so shaken I felt like I was about to shatter into a million pieces, because Harry had just had a mad man playing around in his head and he needed to know that he was going to be okay.
I stepped forward and forced his gaze to meet mine. Brushing his matted hair off of his clammy forehead, I dragged my hands down to frame his face. "You're okay. You're gonna be okay, Harry. I promise. Now go to bed… you need to sleep."
"He's there when I sleep."
His words were so soft that I nearly didn't catch it. But I did, and I lost my breath completely. For a moment, I had no idea what to say- I just threw my arms around him and hugged him tightly against me.
"It's not real," I whispered into his ear. "It's not-"
"It is real..."
"But he's not here. He's not anywhere near you… he can't hurt you."
His entire posture slackened, and he closed his eyes when I pressed a kiss against his temple. He swallowed thickly and squeezed my hand tightly, nodding. I brushed my hand through his hair one last time, before turning to leave the dormitory.
Sam followed me, shutting the door behind us. I fell back against the wall heavily, and Sam stepped towards me.
"That was awful," I whispered, and Sam reached up to rub the tear tracks still lingering on my cheeks away. "This is awful. You-Know-Who being ecstatically happy doesn't exactly bode very well for the rest of us, does it?"
"There's nothing we can do. Go to bed- you're practically dead on your feet," Sam said gently, and I dragged my eyes up to meet his. "We just have to… wait, I suppose."
As it turned out… we didn't have to wait very long at all.
When the Daily Prophet arrived the next morning, I had barely unfolded it when I let out a cry so loud everyone in the vicinity turned to stare at me.
Sam hurried to reach around me, grabbing the paper from where I'd dropped it on top of the food. He smoothed it out the rest of the way, and we all stared down at the cover together.
MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN PRISON
Ten black and white photographs filled the page, nine wizards and one witch. Some were jeering, others tapping their frame and looking insolent.
Antonin Dolohov: convicted of the brutal murders of Gideon and Fabian Prewett.
Algernon Rookwood: convicted of leaking Ministry of Magic secrets to He Who Must Not Be Named.
Slowly I read the captions underneath each picture, until my eyes were drawn to the only female in the mix. She looked like she was screaming, laughing maniacally all the while.
I did not think I would ever forget this woman's face.
Bellatrix Lestrange: convicted of the torture and permanent incapacitation of Frank and Alice Longbottom.
"Oh my God," I whimpered, my hand coming up to cover my eyes. I felt physically sick all of a sudden. "Oh my God…"
"Longbottom," Angelina said quietly from beside me. "As in…"
"Read the article," Lee ordered from across the table, and I heard Sam flipping over the page before he began to speak.
"The Ministry of Magic announced last night that there has been a mass breakout from Azkaban," he read aloud. "Speaking to reporters in his private office, Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic, confirmed that ten high security prisoners escaped in the early hours of yesterday evening and that he has already informed the Muggle Prime Minister of the dangerous nature of these individuals."
"'We find ourselves, most unfortunately, in the same position we were two and a half years ago when the murderer Sirius Black escaped,' Fudge said last night. 'Nor do we think that the two breakouts are unrelated. An escape of this magnitude suggests outside help, and we must remember that Black, as the first person to ever break out of Azkaban, would be ideally placed to help others follow in his footsteps. We think it likely that these individuals, who include Black's cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange, have rallied around Black as their leader. We are, however, doing all we can to round up the criminals, and we beg the magical community to remain alert and cautious. On no account should any of these individuals be approached- they are highly dangerous.'"
I nearly tripped in my haste to get out of the Hall- I felt like I was about to throw up on the spot. I didn't realize that I was shaking, or even that I was crying, until midway up the Entrance Hall stairs when someone spun me around to face them.
"Hey! Hey, Bree, look at me," a voice said, and I swiped my tears away to see Sam standing before me, his hands firmly holding my upper arms. "Bree-"
"That's what he was happy about!" I choked out. "He was happy because those- those monsters are back on the street! Do you know who Gideon and Fabian Prewett are?! They would have been George's Uncle's! Molly's brothers! But they were murdered! And Neville's parents- these people, they kill for sport! They- they-"
I broke off into sobs, my whole body wilting against Sam's. He wrapped his arms around me, holding me upright as I cried into his chest. "They tear families apart. They're monsters-"
"Bree, I need you to calm down, you're going to have a panic attack," Sam said calmly, shifting me so his gaze met mine. "Focus on your breathing for me, Bree, okay? With me, yeah?"
I nodded shakily, my whole body feeling weak.
"So, deep breath in-" he breathed in deeply, demonstrating that I should follow, "and then a deep breath out, yeah? With me…"
For a few moments we stood there, as I just focused on regulating my breathing to copy Sam's. In, out, in out… ten Death Eaters… in, out, in, out… so much death follows these people… in, out, in, out…
"You're okay," Sam breathed out, pulling me closer to his chest when my breathing was more even, when my sobs had receded to silent tears. He brushed my hair back, leaning his forehead against mine. "It's okay, yeah?"
"Ten Death Eaters, Sam," I whispered. "They're killers... They killed Cedric, and more people are going to die, and there's nothing that we we can do..."
"There's plenty that we can do. We have the Order," Sam said firmly. "We're not standing by and letting this happen... we're Montero's, and we fight."
Ten Death Eaters.
But we're Montero's, and we fight.
I didn't really want to go to class that day, but I couldn't spend any more time thinking about the escaped Death Eaters, so I did. Sam returned to me at both meal times, sticking close to me throughout the evening, when I found myself reading a book in front of the fire, leaning against my brother until late into the night.
We'd been sitting in silence for over an hour when I finally said something that had been on my mind all day.
"I thought you were mad at me."
"Hm?" Sam asked distractedly, chewing his pen as he read back over the astronomy essay he'd been working on.
"You were mad at me… about Draco."
His eyes paused where they were on his essay, and for a moment, we sat in silence- a silence suddenly so tense you could probably cut it with a knife. Eventually, he let out a sigh and turned his gaze to me.
"I'm not mad at you," he said quietly.
"You were mad yesterday."
"Because he-" Sam closed his eyes, getting his bearings, before he spoke carefully. "I don't want you to get hurt. And he'll hurt you. He will."
I took in his words before shaking my head. "I think you're wrong."
He let out a choked sort of laugh. "Of course you do. When in your life have you ever thought Toby or I were right?"
"This is different!" I argued. "I think he'll surprise you."
Sam observed me for a moment before he spoke again. "I hope he does."
I could tell by his tone that Sam was being honest. He was being honest, but he truly did not believe in any way that my relationship with Draco could turn out the way I wanted it to.
Sam went back to his essay, and soon after I quietly excused myself to go up to bed. I wanted to sleep for the next few years. I wanted to sleep, but I couldn't. All I could think of was Draco- of the Death Eaters. Of You-Know-Who. Of Callie, of James, who I hadn't heard from since their last letter, who I only knew were still okay because my Aunt had been monitoring Walden for the Order.
I thought of the Prewett's. I thought of the Longbottom's.
I thought of Cedric.
I lay awake for a long time that night, my mind racing. If you want to see the sunshine, you have to weather the storm.
But our storm had only just begun.
How in the world do my chapters always end up being SO LONG? This is only HALF of what I had planned for this chapter! HALF! So this one is a bit slow, but when I finish up next chapter (previously the end of this chapter), it should be a lot more interesting. Should be up in a week or two- I'm still technically in my university exam block, heh.
In addition, I had an anonymous reviewer ask if I planned on stopping after Order of the Phoenix, and the answer is no! I have plans for this story all the way through til the end of number 7! Y'all still got a lot of Breezy to come!
