Hogsmeade was as beautiful as always. It seemed almost impossible, but the weather was perfect, surprising everybody completely. All of the students that decided to spend their Halloween walking around the village have been extremely pleased with the aura, as it was particularly good for all kinds of romantic nonsense.

Hermione would lie if she said she didn't enjoy the weather, though. She missed sunny days, even if they meant running laps around the Quidditch pitch in an incredible heat. According to Moody, it was a perfect way to toughen her body and make her ready for everything that life decided to throw her way.

Today, however, no running was necessary, as she walked leisurely besides Ewan, who had been incredibly quiet the whole time. To everyone, their walk seemed like a very boring date, but she actually understood that whatever bothered the boy, it was important enough to risk even more rumours about their relationship. She decided to give him time to think everything over. Besides, it wasn't like she didn't have her own problems that required her attention.

"Hermione...", Ewan spoke after what seemed like hours and she looked at him with a gentle smile. "I want you to know that I consider you my friend. Great one, actually, but... I didn't start talking to you without a reason. The second I heard that you're going to join the other sixth years, I knew it would be a perfect opportunity to...", he broke off and squeezed his eyes.

"To what?"

Her voice was gentle and warm, despite the fact that he had just told her that he didn't befriend her without an ulterior motive. She didn't want to scare him, as it was very clear that talking about it made him even more nervous.

"I don't know where to start. I tried to figure it out, but I guess there's just no way to say it right, without offending you a bit"

"Well then, let's get it over with, shall we?"

"Fine. You see, couple of years ago, me and Leslie... We were best friends. It was hard not to be, since we've known each other forever. Our parents go way back and it seemed to have an obvious impact on us. We were simply inseparable", he stated, his voice bitter and completely different from the one she was used to.

Her brows furrowed, as she looked at him carefully.

"Why aren't you anymore?"

"That's actually a good question, you know. I mean, we started to grow up, to change, and it was bound influence our friendship. We were still pretty close, though, and I..."

"You fell for her, didn't you?", Hermione asked with a smile, forcing Ewan to look away in embarrassment .

"Yeah. It was hard not to fall for that girl. Before she cut her hair and started wearing those baggy clothes, she was the epitome of beauty, at least in my eyes. But then everything has changed. When she finished her fourth year, she went home just as always and when we came back to school. I could barely recognize her, Hermione. And I don't mean the hair and clothes, although they were certainly something else. I mean her behaviour. From my best friend, who shared all her secrets with me, she became someone who avoided my gaze and flinched at every touch. She distanced herself from everyone, except for her roommates and I've really tried to talk to them about it, but they always brushed me off", he said, his voice breaking down to merely a whisper.

Hermione was way too disturbed by his story to be mad, but now his reason for chatting her up became quite obvious. Ewan has certainly been hoping that she would get close to Leslie enough to be able to tell him something about her.

"They are loyal friends, Ewan. If Leslie didn't want them to talk to you, they never would", she stated and he nodded with bitterness painted all over his face.

"I know, Hermione. I'm not mad at them for protecting Leslie. I just... I can't wrap my mind around it. Why would Les think that she needed to be protected from me? I'd never hurt her. I love her, for Merlin's sake!", he groaned and Hermione looked at him with compassion.

Man, this sucked. She would be lying if she said that she didn't wonder about Leslie's behaviour sometimes, but even in her darkest thoughts, Hermione would never assume that something this bad has happened to her. Miss Granger had no doubts, that her roommate must have been hurt, undoubtedly by a male, possibly on a sexual background. And what made this even worse, she must have been 15 at most when it had happened.

"I just wish I knew what happened to her. I would leave her alone if she needed me to, but being left out in the cold is not exactly nice. Not when you'd do basically anything for that person..."

Hermione bit her lip, looking sympathetically at Ewan, who covered his face with his hands, as he sat down at the nearest rock. She didn't know what to tell him, except for her suspicions and those seemed very harsh. She walked towards the rock and took a seat beside him.

"Ewan... Do you have any ideas what might have happened to her?", she asked as gently as possible and the boy snorted in response.

"I'm not an idiot, Hermione. I know that someone must have hurt her and it makes me even more sick. She was such a sweet girl. I'd kill that bastard"

Damn, it was difficult. Miss Granger couldn't blame him for wanting to talk outside the castle gates, as those kind of information were way too delicate to risk the possibility of anyone hearing them talk. Ewan looked simply devastated and Hermione felt a surge of respect towards him. He managed to live with all those suspicions for so long, only because that's what Leslie wanted him to do, apparently.

"Why are you telling me this?", she asked quietly and looked at the boy sitting beside her.

"It's my last year at Hogwarts, Hermione. After that, I'll probably never see her again, as she refuses to talk to me even here, where it's bloody hard to forget about my existence, since we see each other on daily basis. I'm ready to move on. I'm starting to want to move on, actually. But I can't do that without closure. Without trying everything I could to make sure that she's safe and that she really doesn't want me in her life anymore"

Hermione sighed and looked down to the ground, analysing her options. It was pretty obvious what Ewan wanted from her, but she wasn't sure she should be doing it. Leslie was her friend, just as Ewan. Choosing one of them over the other didn't seem fair at all, not mentioning the delicate nature of the problem.

Maybe it would be best to talk to the other girls about it? They must have known something, as they were the ones who blew Ewan off constantly. There was probably no harm in mentioning his name in a context of his friendship with Leslie. And if it would lead to something more concrete. Hermione couldn't say that confirming her theory would be a bad thing, especially if Leslie really pushed Ewan away because of her fear. There was no way she'd let the girl destroy her own life, because of the past.

"I'll try to find out something, but I want you to know that I cannot promise anything. Leslie is my friend and I don't want to lose her. If she's not ready to tell me, then I won't push her. That would be simply wrong", Hermione finally stated and Ewan smiled at her weakly.

"I know that I shouldn't be asking that of you. I wouldn't, if I had any other choice"

"Yeah, well. I tend to find myself very demanding and complicated friends", she sighed theatrically, making Ewan chuckle lightly.

The boy suddenly looked up, when some voices started to come near their hiding spot.

"Speaking of your friends, I believe that Black is headed this way"

Hermione followed his gaze and noticed the silhouette of the Gryffindor emerging from behind the trees, with a pretty girl attached to his arm. Sirius had a charming smile plastered on his face, as the girl looked at him with awe. Miss Granger couldn't remember the blonde's name, but she was sure that Sirius' companion had been from Slytherin.

"Well, I guess it should be our cue to leave", Hermione muttered, trying to force down the bile in her throat that arose at the sight of the couple coming their way.

"Woah!", Ewan gasped, looking at her with shock. "You like him", he whispered and then laughed out loud, catching the attention of Sirius and his companion. "I can't believe it! Aren't you a bookworm that basically lives in library?"

She looked at him with a murderous glance, praying that Sirius would just turn around and walk away, but she knew better than to believe that it would actually happen. Before she could calm Ewan down with another set of glares, Padfoot led his girl towards them, smiling widely.

"Herms! Fancy seeing you here!", he greeted her and then looked at Ewan, his smile faltering a little. "And you, Hughes"

"It's very surprising that she has left the library, yeah?", Ewan chuckled and raised his brows, looking at Hermione with amusement.

"Not really, she does that often if I ask her", Sirius stated impassively and then smiled at Hermione.

His companion gave a slight cough, reminding him of her presence. Padfoot didn't seem all that ashamed, as he pulled the girl forward and put an arm around her shoulders.

"This is Celia", he stated simply and Hermione forced herself to smile at her.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Hermione and this is Ewan!"

"Oh, you're the new girl, right? The one that has been trailing Sirius and rest of the boys?", the girl asked with a smile, making Hermione frown.

Miss Granger looked at Sirius, who didn't seem all that happy with his companion's words, but decided to stay silent. It made Hermione's heart clench with disappointment, but she tried her best to hide her feelings deep inside her body.

"No. I'm the new girl that has been friends with them. A slight difference, if you ask me, but who cares, right?", she asked with a sweet smile, making the girl giggle lightly.

"Exactly!"

Miss Granger looked at Sirius with disgust and then gazed towards Ewan, who did everything in his power not to laugh at the blonde's stupidity. Hermione remembered her talk with Lily concerning Sirius and almost sighed with exasperation. That would be the end of thoughts about him settling down. Although, she had to admit, Sirius must have found something about her incredibly alluring if Celia was the type of girl that he usually went for.

"Glad that we agree on that", Hermione stated dryly and then smiled at Ewan. "We should get going. The whole point of coming here was to be alone and that's not the case, anymore, yeah?"

"Let's go then!", Ewan responded and grinned widely, while Hermione looked at Sirius with a forced smile.

"I'll see you... sometime", she murmured and swept past him, trying not to look disappointed as hell.

Sure, she was fully aware of the fact that he had flirted with her just for fun. She had actually expected him to be dating and fucking around, and even though jealousy was present in her body without even a slightest doubt, it was not what got her so worked up.

Hermione considered him her friend. Someone who spent the whole night with her because he cared for her, someone who cheered her up whenever she was having a bad day. Someone who had the decency to protect her in front of his newfound shag. He didn't even try to correct that bloody Slytherin, when she described Hermione as someone who trails them like a puppy...

It hurt, even if it seemed really petty to be pissed at something like this. The jealousy certainly didn't make things better, but still... Wasn't he supposed to pick her over a girl that he had just met?

"Guess we both have a terrible love life, huh?", Ewan asked with irony lacing his voice and Hermione actually chuckled.

"Yours definitely sucks. Mine is non-existent. Even if I fancy him more than I'd like, I'm not delusional enough to think that it could work out. I just hate the fact that he chooses girls with no brains at all and then fails to defend me from their stupidity"

"That was very Ravenclaw-ish of you, my friend. But I agree, he's a complete moron. Although judging by the look on his face, he's going to regret his behaviour very fast. He almost forgot that the blondie was there, as soon as he has looked at you. Maybe he feels more than you think"

"Stop romanticizing him like that. He just wants to shag", she quoted Leslie and made Ewan laugh. "With that attitude you should be that blondie's Housemate"

"We wouldn't want that"

"No, we wouldn't", Hermione grinned and decided to enjoy the rest of her visit at Hogsmeade, despite Sirius' idiotic behaviour.

There was no good way to start this conversation. Hermione knew more than well that Leslie, Amy and Gracie have been friends for a long time before she came along. It wasn't difficult to figure out that they would surely take Leslie's side over Ewan's and Hermione couldn't blame them for it.

There was no good way to start the conversation, but it was necessary for her to at least try. Sure, she probably wouldn't be so keen on doing it if Ewan hadn't asked her, but it wasn't the only reason. Hermione couldn't stand the fact that something happened to Leslie and caused her life to turn upside down. No one deserved to live in constant fear of being hurt, and Hermione had no doubts that Leslie was afraid. It was the only rational explanation of her actions, even if didn't make them any more acceptable.

She finally sighed and looked up from her book, gazing towards the blonde girl that was lying on her bed and reading a novel. No one else was present in their room, making this situation perfect for a private talk.

"Amy... Can I ask you something?"

The blonde jerked her head up and blinked a couple of times, trying to return to reality.

"Of course you can"

"I wanted to ask you about Ewan", Hermione stated quietly and Amy shifted excitedly.

"You're having boy troubles? I thought I'll never hear you say something like that", the blonde laugh making Hermione sigh.

"We're just friends, how many times do I have to tell you that. Actually because we're friends, we talk a lot and recently Ewan has told me that he and Leslie had been friends", she stated and looked at Amy expectantly.

The blonde girl paled and bit her bottom lip. At this point, Hermione was sure that every word of what Ewan has told her was true.

"Yeah, they were friends, but it's ancient history. Why would you ask about that?"

"It might be ancient history, but I find it interesting. I mean, if you're friends with someone for most of your life, how can you just... move on all of a sudden?", she asked and furrowed her brows.

Amy looked away, trying to come up with a good explanation for Leslie's behaviour that would ensure that her secret will stay safe. Hermione rolled her eyes and rubbed her forehead.

"Spare yourself the trouble, Amy. I kind of already know the answer"

"You...You do?", the blonde stammered with shock.

"Yes. I realised that something must have happened to Leslie back when we were talking about Ewan in the Great Hall, during my first day. She seemed really offended at the idea of treating someone like an object. I thought it had to be personal, although I didn't know it was that bad, until I have learned that Ewan was her friend", she explained with a grim voice, making Amy gasp.

"Hermione... It's not something that Leslie shares with anyone. I mean, the thing that happened to her... You have no idea how terrible it had been", Amy whispered and Hermione's heart clenched painfully.

"I can imagine. I don't need any details, Amy. I really, really don't. I would be glad to wait for Leslie to tell me, and that's what I wanted to do, until Ewan told me about their friendship. She basically left him without any explanation..."

"She was raped, Hermione. And Ewan is a boy. You can't possibly blame her for acting this way", Amy protested, but the brunette had no intentions of backing out of a fight.

"It was a natural reaction, I suppose. Natural reaction to something very terrible. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely despise whoever did this to her, but destroying a relationship that should have been her beacon of light doesn't seem all that reasonable"

"Leslie was scared..."

"I get that!", Hermione yelled and squeezed her eyes shut. "I get that she was scared, hurt, humiliated and full of self-hatred. I've been there and I know those feeling all too well. But I also know that Leslie is a sixteen year old girl, who has a whole life ahead of her!"

"How can you say those things, Hermione?! Whose side are you on?! She was raped. For fucks sake, I can't even imagine how hard it must be to live with that. How can you shame her for trying to cope?!", Amy asked with outrage and Hermione shot her an offended look.

"Shame her?! Oh yeah, I'm definitely doing that. But here's the thing. I'd kill that bastard who did this to her and then I'd hold her, cry with her and do everything to help her get through the worst. But then I'll also do everything to help her get back to her life, not forgetting about it. She cut her hair and started to hide herself in those clothes she's wearing. And I would be perfectly fine with that, but it's not a sign of change. It's a sign of fear. Forgive me if I don't want to see my friend going through life just to endure it. I want her to actually live it and learn how to trust people again, because not everyone out there is terrible!", she started of yelling, but then her voice dropped to merely a whisper.

Amy went quiet for a minute and then she sat down on her bed, clearly jittery. Her hands were shaking, as she looked at Hermione with sorrow. At this moment, Miss Granger realised that her outburst was probably much more personal and revealing than she wanted it to be. She squeezed her eyes shut once again and swallowed the salty tears that appeared out of nowhere.

"She just gave up, Amy. And I don't care about her friendship with Ewan, even if I'm sure that he truly loves her and would never hurt her. She pretends to be tough, so that no one can touch her again. She hides herself behind this façade of a tomboy and I believe it's not who she really is. I know how difficult it is to be in a dark place, but I also know that it is possible to come back from it. And she deserves that, she truly does"

Amy stared at her in awe, making Hermione so uncomfortable that she decided to finish this discussion and simply back out of the room, but the blonde's voice stopped her.

"What happened to you, Hermione?"

She said it so quietly that it could have been a figment of her imagination, but the brunette knew that that wasn't the case. She sighed and bit her bottom lip, avoiding Amy's gaze.

"I was broken, Amy. My parents have been killed by blood purists. My friends died to protect me...", her voice cracked, but she knew she had to go on. "And I've been tortured by a complete lunatic. She gave me this"

Her scar suddenly became visible and Amy covered her mouth. Hermione wanted to laugh bitterly, seeing this reaction once again, but it was a sign of her pain and desperation.

"That's..."

"Horrible? Terrifying? Disgusting? Well... this is not the only scar I've gotten from that bitch. But this one is special. It was was carved into my body with a cursed knife. It's going to stay there forever, always reminding me of that night", she said quietly and then looked straight into Amy's eyes. "The point is, I've been through hell. I might have not been raped, but I know what pain feels like. The Cruciatus Curse will teach you that within a second. I wanted to die so badly, Amy. But I didn't. I didn't and I decided that I have to fight. My life's not over yet"

"And neither is Leslie's", Amy whispered, not even trying to conceal her tears.

Hermione nodded and smiled sadly.

"So forgive me for saying this, but I'm going to make her acknowledge that, even if it means forcing her to relive everything. I will not let her destroy herself. She can hate me for all I care, but at least I'll know that I did the right thing".