Secrets Only Trouble Knows - George Weasley

30 - How Did We End Up Here

After what was likely an hour that had passed after Professor Dumbledore had released us from our interrogation, our friends who needed catching up on the events of the evening were filled in, and those of us who had lived through them were very tired from retelling them.

At that point, it was decided there was nothing more that could be done before daybreak, so it was best that we all part ways and get some sleep. The trio retreated to their separate dormitories, the boys went to theirs, and Callie and I escorted Flora and Isla back to our own.

The room was dark when we entered. Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet, our fellow roommates, were already dead asleep. So we got changed and ready for bed quietly and in only the dim light of the moon streaming in from the windows.

There was an extra bed in our dormitory that Flora and Isla always shared anytime they spent the night with us. After we'd all completed our nightly routine, they clambered into it together while Callie and I trudged to our own. We bid our goodnights to each other in whispers before silence ensued.

In only several minutes' time, I was able to tell all three of my friends had passed out by the sound of their breathing patterns and light snoring. I wished that sleep would take over me just as quickly. But I laid under the covers instead, desperate to shut my mind off to no avail. Every part of my body seemed to remain wide awake, despite my best efforts. Most of all— my mind. I couldn't stop thinking about whatever strange trance I'd gone into at dinner.

Truth be told, I was afraid.

Afraid of all of it.

Afraid because I didn't know what was suddenly wrong with me. What had caused me to have an inexplicable vision of some sort. Afraid that it would happen again without any rhyme or reason, and I'd see yet another horror I'd rather not be privy to.

I was afraid because something terrible was clearly happening in Hogwarts, and I had no clue what the stipulations surrounding it were. I didn't know who this "heir" was or the people they deemed their "enemies." Didn't know if my friends and I were in danger now.

Most of all, I was afraid I'd never find the answers to any of these questions. And that was the worst. The possibility of not ever knowing what the hell was going on, simply because there wasn't an explanation to give. What if it was something completely unheard of? Something new entirely?

It felt like a long, long time that I laid awake in my bed, mind reeling with no end in sight, before I finally decided to get up. I determined I'd go to Jasper. Crawl into bed with him, rant for a moment or two. Maybe then I'd be able to fall asleep. When things got really hard for me, he always seemed to make me feel better. Despite frequently being a pain in my ass, he was also the one person who got me like no one else did. He was my twin. And sometimes just physically being near him helped me out of my lowest points.

I wrapped the quilt that laid at the foot of my bed around my shoulders and shuffled into my slippers. After tip-toeing past my sleeping roommates, I crept quietly into the common room and then up the boys' staircase to the fourth-year landing.

I approached the door that resided at the end of the hall and knocked gently against it. Jasper's bed was closest to it and he was never as deep of a sleeper as me, so I was sure he'd hear it and come to let me in. But after about thirty seconds had passed and I hadn't been greeted by him yet, I realized tonight may have been different. After all, a lot had happened. Perhaps he was more tired than usual, and therefore hadn't been woken up to the sound like he typically would be.