Hermione nodded at the suggestion and got off of her bed to search through her trunk for her copy of Northanger Abbey, the novel by Jane Austen that she had taken with her to Hogwarts to read in her spare time.
Because there had been so little time to gather her things together before leaving the castle, everything had been thrown into her trunk in a rather haphazard manner. Hermione began pulling out all sorts of things, clothes, textbooks, parchment, in an attempt to find the novel.
Just as she pushed aside a spare set of robes, she came across a book. Not the one she was looking for, but it was her favourite book. "Was" in the past tense, that is.
It was "Hogwarts; A History" and it was currently open. A full-page photograph of Albus Dumbledore was looking up at her, smiling pleasantly and his eyes twinkling behind his half-moon glasses. On the opposite page there were several columns of text, discussing the role that Hogwarts Castle had played in the war against Lord Voldemort. Halfway down the page, though, there was an enlarged quote cutting through each of the columns, as some publications were wont to do.
It read:
"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named never once targeted the castle itself, leading many to believe Albus Dumbledore to be one of the few people that he ever feared…"
The overwhelming feeling of devastation that had been overpowering all of her other emotions for the past few hours suddenly dissipated, to be replaced by a bubble of anger. The bubble quickly expanded, filling her with so much rage that she lifted the book out of her trunk and, with a primal scream, threw it across the length of her bedroom and out of the open window with such accuracy that most Quidditch captains, had they seen it, would have attempted there and then to sign her up as a starting Chaser whether she could fly on a broomstick or not.
There was a clang from outside, indicating that the book had hit something metallic, possibly the portable barbeque that had yet to be stored away for the winter.
The sound popped the bubble and her anger left her, leaving Hermione to sink back down onto her bed with her face buried in her hands.
Pansy Parkinson was lying on a bed in an unfamiliar bedroom. The heavy black curtains were drawn shut over the window, leaving a small, flickering candle on the bedside table as her only source of light.
She could, of course, have opened the curtains and let the sunlight in, but Pansy rather liked things this way. She did her best thinking when in an environment such as this. Something about the flicker of the candlelight and the gloom beyond the glow helped her to relax. If only they would let her take her written exams in these conditions…
She was currently at the Manor House of the Greengrass family. Try as they might, no one from the Ministry of Magic could track down her parents, leaving Pansy in a state of limbo.
After arriving at St Mungo's Hospital with Harry Potter, Astoria Greengrass, Katie Bell, Luna Lovegood and Natalie MacDonald, Pansy had been given a thorough check over by a pair of Healers, despite her insistence that she had avoided consuming the drugged food. Once the healers were satisfied, she had been sent to wait in the Visitor's Tearoom up on the fifth floor of the Hospital, under the guard of two Law Enforcement Officers.
She had purposefully sat away from the rest, not exactly feeling as though she belonged there and certainly not in the mood to impose herself upon others. From her seat against the far wall she had watched as first the MacDonalds had arrived for Natalie, followed by Mr Lovegood for his daughter, Luna, and the Bells for Katie.
All three girls had protested vociferously when their parents tried to get them to leave – all three girls were determined to learn of Harry Potter's well-being before they would even consider leaving.
A short while later Mrs Greengrass turned up for Astoria, accompanied by an Auror who had informed Pansy that all attempts to contact her parents so far had proved fruitless. Pansy had merely nodded her head in understanding before continuing to sit quietly, lost in thought.
At some point she, along with just about everyone else, had fallen asleep and sometime during that slumber Daphne Greengrass had arrived has well, freshly released from Hogwarts.
At nine-thirty a Healer had come up to speak to them, informing them that they had figured out what was wrong with Harry and that they believed that they could put it right. It was obvious to Pansy that the Healer had only told them that much in order to persuade them to go home and, luckily for him, that's exactly what they did, satisfied with the knowledge that Harry was in the best place possible and that he was okay… ish.
Pansy had been quite surprised when Astoria had persuaded her mother to let her go home with them, but she had not been in a position to reject the offer. With still no word from her parents, she could either have gone with the Greengrass family or remained in the St Mungo's Tearoom.
In truth, Pansy did not know what had made her take Astoria with her when the staff had discovered them all hiding in room 7B, all she knew was that she had grabbed the younger girl by the hand and run for it.
Whatever the reason, she was just glad that the Greengrass family was inclined to return the favour by giving her a place to stay.
But she could not stay there forever, though. She knew that much.
.....
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