Drowning Hearts, Flooding Tears
Discovery
The halls echoed his footsteps. Funny...they never seemed to do that before. He wanted to dismiss it as something he'd never noticed or remembered, but somehow their vibrations seemed ominous to him. Like a warning. He'd already gone to check the library, because knowing it was Hermione, she'd have gone to the library one last time before heading back to her dorm. But she wasn't there. He turned a corner that would lead him to their dormitories. He recited the password and after staring at him for a while, the Fat Lady let him through. He could hear her inquiring about his health but he didn't give her a reply. He just wasn't in the mood to talk to moving pictures.
He passed the common room and made his way to the dorm where he and Harry had spent countless hours. The memories made him grin. They were the best of friends and nothing was going to change that. Sometimes, Ron remembered that he wished Hermione was a boy too. It was silly, how immature and simply his mind had worked, but he distinctly remembered that his explanation for his closeness to Hermione was that she wasn't like other girls and therefore she should've been a guy. But that was before he hit puberty head on. Then he started seeing a new side of her and was grateful that she wasn't a guy. Otherwise, it would have caused complications, not to mention several people who would declare that he had gone insane. But life was life, and now that he looked at it, it really wouldn't have mattered. You can't help the people you care for. You just do. It's not a matter of choice.
Propping himself on his bed, he reached over and grabbed a copy of Life magazine. It was something Harry had brought over this past summer so that Ron could get an idea of what magazines where like in the muggle world. However, he had been told that there were several types of magazines, the list of which can contain several (cough, cough) inappropriate topics. Still, he was enchanted by it. He wanted to visit Harry's muggle world one day and see everything that there was to see.
After flipping through the magazine for a while, though, he admitted to himself that this wasn't what he should be doing. He should be looking for her, and yet he was sitting in his room reading a muggle magazine. He tossed it and rose. The feeling hadn't abated – and thus, was a bad sign. If he couldn't find her this time he figured he'd go find his sister. Maybe she'd know where she was only because she was Hermione's real female friend.
It took him only a few minutes to scan the common room and the library once more. Still, there was no Hermione. He was getting worried. There were only so many places she could be, she was a girl who like to stick to places she knew and felt comfortable in – hence, the library, the dorm, and the common room. And to an extent, the classrooms, but it was after school and so she wouldn't have been in any of those. She might be a bit insane, but not that insane. He was hoping that maybe she was at Hagrid's place; it was the only place left he hadn't checked.
He had just entered the Great Hall to check if she was in there when he heard a roar from the entrance of the school. Turning around, he saw Ginny, Harry and Fang charging up the stairway. Fang was barking his head off at a non-existent culprit as far as Ron could see – but Ginny's face was pale and she had a panicked look in her eyes.
"Ginny! What is it Ginny?" A bit startled at his sister's pale, panicked face, he caught her before she fell tripping on the last step and looked at her. Her eyes where wild – like the eyes of a cornered animal, gripped by terror. "GINNY!"
It took her a second to refocus on him. But in an instant, his voice broke her trance and she shoved him out of the way and charged in the direction of the library. Ron saw Harry and Fang dash after her and followed. Ron tried to make eye contact with Harry, but the boy had his determined green eyes set on Ginny and was chasing after her so intently that he decided not to. Ron decided that though he might be worried about Hermione, now he was worried about his sister too, and since she was right in front of him so to speak, he figured he'd go after her first. Ginny had reached the library, and to Ron's surprise she zipped past it and charged into one of the empty classrooms nearby. As he, Harry and Fang entered the first thing that they noticed was the...well, it wasn't just one thing.
The place smelled of something foul. It wouldn't be accurate to call it an odor, although there was that too...but more of a, say...an aura. It smelled of Evil. Something had happened in this room – something bad – and it had been recent. The rows of desks and chairs were in chaos. Some were toppled over, others were crushed against the walls, and yet others had the look of being...well, scorched by something, like fire. But it didn't smell like fire either. Fang was sniffing around the room, every so often snorting his nose as he snuffed an overwhelming amount of the...well...stench. Harry slowly weaved his way around the disarray to Ginny, who was sitting in the middle of the room, where it seemed that...whatever had taken place.
She was crouched on the floor, clutching something to her hands. As Ron neared her and Harry, who was leaning over her with his arms around her, he saw that it was something soft and shiny, glowing as it caught the setting sun through the window. It took him a while to notice that it was something small and fluid-like, cloth maybe. Then he saw that it was a ribbon of some sort.
Then he saw the emerald green hues.
He stared at it in confusion. Wasn't that Hermione's...? What was it doing here?
He looked at his companions. Ginny was as still as stone, her face paler that it had been before, making her look wild – her fiery hair and electric eye's glossed over. She was dripping silent tears; her cheeks wet with their trails, but she didn't seem to know it. Harry's eyes almost seemed lost in darkness, those emerald orbes burning with dark passion. He had his hands in fists, his jaw set. Ron noticed that he was staring intently at something in the distance. He too looked.
His heart plummeted to his stomach and weighed there like a mountain. He tried to swallow, but couldn't. It seemed he'd forgotten how to breathe, his breaths coming in short gusts of air that hardly satisfied. His eyes burned, his head throbbed. He felt Fang lick his hand, but none of the warmth reached him. His knees were weak and yet his fists were balled into red balls of anger. A burning rage filled him. His face went hot, he started grinding his teeth. His body seemed to be gather energy from every corner of his body and collecting it in his heart where it burned and raged. He could feel his the rage and heat rising from his body. Then, filled with determination, he got up and walked next to the window. The object of his rage glinted coldly in the setting sun – just like its owner – a few feet away. It made him sick.
"Let's go."
The three of them and Fang quickly got up and left the room. As the door of the classroom swung to a close, the breeze that escaped from it crept across the cold stone floor and gently blew the single strand of pale blonde hair out into the twilight. It twirled in the air, glinting and sparkling upwards towards the darkness, before vanishing in the last golden rays of the sun.
Discovery
The halls echoed his footsteps. Funny...they never seemed to do that before. He wanted to dismiss it as something he'd never noticed or remembered, but somehow their vibrations seemed ominous to him. Like a warning. He'd already gone to check the library, because knowing it was Hermione, she'd have gone to the library one last time before heading back to her dorm. But she wasn't there. He turned a corner that would lead him to their dormitories. He recited the password and after staring at him for a while, the Fat Lady let him through. He could hear her inquiring about his health but he didn't give her a reply. He just wasn't in the mood to talk to moving pictures.
He passed the common room and made his way to the dorm where he and Harry had spent countless hours. The memories made him grin. They were the best of friends and nothing was going to change that. Sometimes, Ron remembered that he wished Hermione was a boy too. It was silly, how immature and simply his mind had worked, but he distinctly remembered that his explanation for his closeness to Hermione was that she wasn't like other girls and therefore she should've been a guy. But that was before he hit puberty head on. Then he started seeing a new side of her and was grateful that she wasn't a guy. Otherwise, it would have caused complications, not to mention several people who would declare that he had gone insane. But life was life, and now that he looked at it, it really wouldn't have mattered. You can't help the people you care for. You just do. It's not a matter of choice.
Propping himself on his bed, he reached over and grabbed a copy of Life magazine. It was something Harry had brought over this past summer so that Ron could get an idea of what magazines where like in the muggle world. However, he had been told that there were several types of magazines, the list of which can contain several (cough, cough) inappropriate topics. Still, he was enchanted by it. He wanted to visit Harry's muggle world one day and see everything that there was to see.
After flipping through the magazine for a while, though, he admitted to himself that this wasn't what he should be doing. He should be looking for her, and yet he was sitting in his room reading a muggle magazine. He tossed it and rose. The feeling hadn't abated – and thus, was a bad sign. If he couldn't find her this time he figured he'd go find his sister. Maybe she'd know where she was only because she was Hermione's real female friend.
It took him only a few minutes to scan the common room and the library once more. Still, there was no Hermione. He was getting worried. There were only so many places she could be, she was a girl who like to stick to places she knew and felt comfortable in – hence, the library, the dorm, and the common room. And to an extent, the classrooms, but it was after school and so she wouldn't have been in any of those. She might be a bit insane, but not that insane. He was hoping that maybe she was at Hagrid's place; it was the only place left he hadn't checked.
He had just entered the Great Hall to check if she was in there when he heard a roar from the entrance of the school. Turning around, he saw Ginny, Harry and Fang charging up the stairway. Fang was barking his head off at a non-existent culprit as far as Ron could see – but Ginny's face was pale and she had a panicked look in her eyes.
"Ginny! What is it Ginny?" A bit startled at his sister's pale, panicked face, he caught her before she fell tripping on the last step and looked at her. Her eyes where wild – like the eyes of a cornered animal, gripped by terror. "GINNY!"
It took her a second to refocus on him. But in an instant, his voice broke her trance and she shoved him out of the way and charged in the direction of the library. Ron saw Harry and Fang dash after her and followed. Ron tried to make eye contact with Harry, but the boy had his determined green eyes set on Ginny and was chasing after her so intently that he decided not to. Ron decided that though he might be worried about Hermione, now he was worried about his sister too, and since she was right in front of him so to speak, he figured he'd go after her first. Ginny had reached the library, and to Ron's surprise she zipped past it and charged into one of the empty classrooms nearby. As he, Harry and Fang entered the first thing that they noticed was the...well, it wasn't just one thing.
The place smelled of something foul. It wouldn't be accurate to call it an odor, although there was that too...but more of a, say...an aura. It smelled of Evil. Something had happened in this room – something bad – and it had been recent. The rows of desks and chairs were in chaos. Some were toppled over, others were crushed against the walls, and yet others had the look of being...well, scorched by something, like fire. But it didn't smell like fire either. Fang was sniffing around the room, every so often snorting his nose as he snuffed an overwhelming amount of the...well...stench. Harry slowly weaved his way around the disarray to Ginny, who was sitting in the middle of the room, where it seemed that...whatever had taken place.
She was crouched on the floor, clutching something to her hands. As Ron neared her and Harry, who was leaning over her with his arms around her, he saw that it was something soft and shiny, glowing as it caught the setting sun through the window. It took him a while to notice that it was something small and fluid-like, cloth maybe. Then he saw that it was a ribbon of some sort.
Then he saw the emerald green hues.
He stared at it in confusion. Wasn't that Hermione's...? What was it doing here?
He looked at his companions. Ginny was as still as stone, her face paler that it had been before, making her look wild – her fiery hair and electric eye's glossed over. She was dripping silent tears; her cheeks wet with their trails, but she didn't seem to know it. Harry's eyes almost seemed lost in darkness, those emerald orbes burning with dark passion. He had his hands in fists, his jaw set. Ron noticed that he was staring intently at something in the distance. He too looked.
His heart plummeted to his stomach and weighed there like a mountain. He tried to swallow, but couldn't. It seemed he'd forgotten how to breathe, his breaths coming in short gusts of air that hardly satisfied. His eyes burned, his head throbbed. He felt Fang lick his hand, but none of the warmth reached him. His knees were weak and yet his fists were balled into red balls of anger. A burning rage filled him. His face went hot, he started grinding his teeth. His body seemed to be gather energy from every corner of his body and collecting it in his heart where it burned and raged. He could feel his the rage and heat rising from his body. Then, filled with determination, he got up and walked next to the window. The object of his rage glinted coldly in the setting sun – just like its owner – a few feet away. It made him sick.
"Let's go."
The three of them and Fang quickly got up and left the room. As the door of the classroom swung to a close, the breeze that escaped from it crept across the cold stone floor and gently blew the single strand of pale blonde hair out into the twilight. It twirled in the air, glinting and sparkling upwards towards the darkness, before vanishing in the last golden rays of the sun.