49 PM
“We should be nearly there. Don’t you think, Harry?”
“Mmh.”
“Are you okay?”
“Oh, yes. We should be there soon. Maybe we should wake Ron.”
“Let him sleep…But what I meant, Harry, is how are you feeling?”
“Oh. Me? Fine.”
“You don’t look fine. You look stressed.”
“It’s nothing.”
“You can tell me. You know that, right?”
“Of course.”
“...Harry?”
“I don’t know, Hermione. I just don’t know.”
“What don’t you know?”
“I don’t know anything. I just don’t know anything anymore.”
“No one does.”
“But this is different. This is about things I should know by now.”
“Like what?”
“Things. I don’t know. Ginny, maybe.”
“Ginny?”
“Maybe not. I don’t know. Maybe I just don’t know myself, really.”
“Or maybe you do know yourself, and that scares you.”
“What?”
“Sometimes, Harry, the hardest choices are only hard because they are easy.”
“You are speaking in riddles again, Hermione.”
“I only mean that being yourself is easy. But choosing to let go of what other people think of you is hard.”
“You think I care about what other people think? After I died at the battle? After I lost so many people I love?”
“It’s not a weakness to care, Harry.”
“Then what is it? Because it’s certainly not a strength.”
“Oh Harry. It’s human.”
“I lost a part of myself when I died that night. I know it. I can feel it.”
“But did you ever consider that perhaps you gained something too?”
“Like what?My life?”
“Call it what you will. A second chance. A new perspective. A choice. That’s up to you. But what I do know is that people love you Harry, and they will love you no matter who you are. They will love you because of who you are.”
“I love Ginny. And Ginny loves me. Can’t that be enough?”
“Only you can answer that, Harry.”
“...”
“Well?”
“I don’t know. Sometimes it is. Sometimes…”
“Sometimes what?”
“Sometimes—”
“What was that?”
“The train. We’re—”
“Mmmph….Blimey! Are we here already? Must’ve slept for hours…”
“...”
“...”
“Uhh, did I interrupt something?”
“No. We were just talking.”
“...’Mione?”
“Yes. Just talking. We should get our bags before the train becomes a zoo.”
“Oh, right. Well, here we are! Another year at Hogwarts.”
“And our last.”
“Harry…”
“What, Hermione? It’s true. I’m being honest. Isn’t that what you want?”
“There’s a difference between being honest and cynical.”
“I don’t know what you two were talking about, but it sounds like you both need a drink. Fancy a Butterbeer at Hogsmeade?”
“You know what, Ron? I would.”
“Uh oh. What did you two talk about, Harry?”
“Nothing. I agree. But I’m going to need a bit more than Butterbeer.”
“Why am I already regretting this?”
“Everything’s fine, mate.”
“Don’t worry, Ron.”
“Somehow that doesn’t make me feel better…”
“Come along, boys. Something tells me we’ll all need a bit more than Butterbeer to get us through the year…”