Out of all the things that have happened in the last week, one of them is not me becoming J.K. Rowling. Therefore, I own none of her characters and plotlines. Unfortunately.

CHAPTER 10

Exams seemed to fly by in the following week. I doubt any of us will ever truly know how we managed to get through the whole week with good marks while we were terrified at the prospect of Snape getting the Stone and potentially handing it over to Voldemort. But somehow we did, and we had one less thing to worry about at the end of it.

A few days after exams, we were eating breakfast as normal, waiting for the post owls to arrive like normal. When they did arrive (like normal), they dropped letters and parcels to eagerly awaiting students like normal. What wasn't normal was the post within that post drop. I got letters from my younger brother Ed, as well as my parents' friend, Mr Barnaby. This surprised me, as although I was close friends with Mr Barnaby, he very rarely wrote to me.

I opened Mr Barnaby's letter first, and what was in it shocked and devastated me. It couldn't be true what he said! For confirmation, I tore into Ed's letter, and nearly cried when he said the same thing as Barnaby. A clipping of a newspaper fell out of the envelope, but I didn't notice, for I was already running out of the hall. I needed to owl them back. I couldn't believe it to be true.

Hermione's POV

It was a very sudden exit on Lottie's behalf. The post owls arrived as normal, and I didn't think anything of it when she got two letters. What did surprise me was when she quietly gasped and started tearing up after reading the contents. She then ripped open the second letter, and had barely held it for ten seconds, before running out of the hall, in the direction of the common room.

Harry and Ron's gazes flicked from me to the empty door, both as confused as I was. Ron then picked up a loose sheet of paper from the table where Lottie had been sat. It was a muggle newspaper front cover, and Ron confusedly read out the headline:

PRINCESS DIANA DEAD.

Only Harry and I understood vaguely what it meant, along with a few other muggleborns who overheard. Ron stared at us, not understanding. I briefly explained to him who she was, and why it was such a big thing in muggle Britain. "But why did Lottie run out then?" questioned Harry. "That can't be the reason, can it?"

And that I couldn't answer.

Lottie's POV

My mother was dead. That was why I had run out of the hall at breakfast.

My mother was dead. It kept chanting round my head, refusing to go away.

I was currently sat on an almost completely empty train on the way home to mourn with my father and brother. I only had with me a small, hastily packed backpack. I had left hurriedly after telling McGonagall my circumstances. I hadn't even said goodbye to my friends.

When I got off the train, I immediately saw my brother, father and Mr Barnaby. I ran over to them, and let Ed sink into my arms. I hadn't seen him in months, since Christmas, and it devastated me that the reason I was seeing him now in term time was because our mother was dead.

My mother was dead. The fact was persistent as I quietly climbed into Mr Barnaby's car.

My mother was dead. It was clear to everyone, and hung over the household heavily.

My mother was dead. The fact would remain awfully true for the rest of my life.

My mother was dead.

Yet another upload! You might be able to start getting ideas about Lottie's secret, but that is all I will say.
See you all again next week!