In the Storm.
The train hummed steadily, the rhythmic sound a faint echo against the thunder that rumbled outside. I sat still, watching the world blur by, the dark sky streaked with bursts of lightning. The storm had been brewing for hours now, the sky boiling with anger, and the sound of it rattling against the windows filled the silence in the compartment.
I tried not to think about the storm inside me. Tried to block out the cold emptiness that had nested in my chest. Tried to ignore the silence that stretched between me and the world.
But then I saw her.
Not in the seat across from me, but in the reflection of the window. Her face flickered, soft and almost fragile, like she wasn’t quite solid, like she didn’t belong there but was somehow anchored to the moment.
Hermione.
I didn’t know if I was imagining her or if it was something else, but there she was, as real as the storm. She looked right at me, her eyes filled with a quiet understanding.
"Hey," she said, her voice so gentle I almost didn’t believe it was real. "In case no one has asked you recently… Are you okay? Are you really fine?"
My breath caught in my throat, and I turned my head toward her, but she was only a reflection, nothing more than a memory of what used to be.
"I mean," she continued, her words like a soft balm to the ache that lingered in my chest, "it's okay to feel lost sometimes. It's alright that you don’t want to smile. You don’t need to explain bad moments away. We all get that... and we get through them."
Her voice wrapped around me like a blanket, something warm in the middle of all the cold. I could almost feel the sincerity in her words, as if she had been carrying this weight with me all along, even when I didn’t see it.
"Don’t forget that even the darkest of clouds have the sun shining on the other side," she added, her gaze never leaving me. "So give it time... and you’ll be fine. Eventually. Most likely."
I almost wanted to cry, but the tears wouldn’t come. They never did, not anymore.
"You will feel the corners of your lips naturally rise," she said softly, as if telling me a secret. "And you’ll know that it’s real because everyone will be able to see it in your eyes."
She paused, and for a moment, everything fell still.
"But until then," she whispered, her voice distant now, fading into the storm. "Goodbye, Harry. Maybe we’ll see each other again."
And then she was gone.
The train was silent again, the storm outside still howling, but something had shifted. It wasn’t peace. It wasn’t an end. It was just… time.
And through one of the clouds, the sunlight shone through.