tainted transparency || a harry potter story

Chapter Fourteen: Blame it on the Rain

"Hazel? You look lost in thought," Hermione said as we were on the train. We're in our own train car, just us two.

I was watching out of the window as the green countryside flew past.

"Yeah... just thinking," I told her. "Sometimes my mind just... consumes me, you know?"

"I know what you mean," She set her book down. "What's the topic in question?"

"Everything, really," I sighed softly, tracing my fingertip along the cold window, chasing a drop of rain down the glass from the other side. "Mostly people."

"Yeah?"

"Mhm," I nodded. "Wondering how I'm going to help Draco. Wondering what I need to do to make Harry feel less distant. I'm thinking about Neville, and I, and our childhood."

"So, you really are all over the place."

"Mentally," I agreed. "Wild, isn't it?"

"Hm?"

"How we sit in one place but our mind travels miles."

"That was deep and slightly poetic," Hermione laughed. "Are you okay?"

"Just... stuck in my head."

It was quiet between us for a while. My mind was too loud for me to process words to speak anyway. My heart felt torn in two completely different directions. One pulled towards quidditch and sunny days, nights spent under the stars together.

The other pulled towards heavy books of poetry. Reading by the fireplace. Feather light touches under soft orange hues. And blonde hair.

I sucked in a breath and sighed it out heavily, managing a smile.

"I need some air," I stood up and left the small compartment. It wasn't until I stepped out into the walkway that I realized just how stuffy those compartments are. The fresher air felt like a drink of cold water.

I watched the rain hit up against the windows as I leaned against one of the compartment walls. Longing to feel the cold water hit against my face consumed me so much that I hadn't noticed Harry standing there.

"Hello, love," He leaned against the compartment next to me. "You're thinking."

"Yeah," I furrowed my eyebrows. "I figured out why I find crows so alluring."

"Did you?" He slipped his hand into mine and lifted it to kiss my knuckles. "Why is a crow so alluring to you, darling?"

"The Greeks believe that a crow or a raven, as they put it, symbolizes the ability to survive the sun. Because they're black," I watched the mountains pass in the distance behind vast stretches of green countryside. "It suggests that they survived the sun. they stand out so drastically next to other birds. The sun seems to constantly burn them. They're an open target unless they hide in the dark. Where they're safe."

"But they don't."

"Exactly," I turned to him to appreciate his emerald eyes now glistening with curiosity. "They choose to live their lives in the light, despite how much it may hurt. They've been perceived as a symbol of death but in a beautiful twisted truth they're really... the living epitome of survival. Of strength."

"That's beautiful, love," Harry stroked my cheek lightly. "You have a beautiful mind."

My cheeks flustered.

"Seems on rainy days is when every thought I've locked up gets a bit of freedom."

Harry and I stayed out there together for the rest of the trip. We joined Hermione and Ron and made our way to the Weasley's Burrow. And shockingly enough, Molly suggested Harry and I share a room. The twins' old room.