Granger, you've done it again | hermione granger x fem oc

chapter 30

a/n: last chapter of part one woahaaa!!! i'll be spending the next week just editing around the chapters, i'll let you all know which ones and when!! feel free to follow if you want the announcements for them. love everybody so much and have a fantastic week!! <3

The footsteps outside the dorm room had began to fade, along with the quiet voices that belonged to them. I took a deep breath before opening the door, revealing a deserted common room. We made our way past the portraits, entering the somber corridors. Every step in this school created a deeper pit in the bottom of my stomach. I felt the continuous looks from Hermione, her constant worrying. It was etched all over her face. Just get through this. That's all you have to do. Just get through it. The words I repeated to myself were now embedded in my brain. Just get through it. It's all you have to do.

"You okay?" Hermione whispered to me while we approached the opened doors to the great hall. I forced my head to nod in response, knowing if I opened my mouth...no words even exist that could justify my answer. Quiet murmurs started to grow louder, as we closed the distance between us and a memorial that might just be the thing to break me. I didn't even recognize the great hall at first. It's usual colored and vivid house flags were replaced with dim, gray Hogwarts banners. Students sat on either side of the hall, everyone coping differently with the loss of an individual that impacted each of us. My feet felt heavy, leading me towards my best friends. As I took my seat between Hermione and Harry...I couldn't help but feel all the stares. I knew this was coming. The poor girl who has to sit through her dead boyfriends' memorial. That's how I'm known now...isn't it? The poor girl who watched her boyfriend be murdered by the dark lord. The poor girl who watched her boyfriend die right in front of her. "Hey." Hermione tugged on my arm, making me break from my a place deep in my thoughts. I shifted my gaze from the ground to the brunette, her face softening as she guided her hand down my arm and to my own trembling hand. Those familiar fingers intertwined with mine, causing my once stiff body to relax. My scrambling thoughts were pushed farther away into my mind, giving me room to breathe. The quiet whispers were now fainter, the headmaster clearing his deep voice.

"Today we acknowledge a really terrible loss. Cedric Diggory was as you all know, exceptionally hard working, intricately fair minded. And most importantly a fierce fierce friend." Dumbledore spoke, moving towards the podium. "I think therefore you have the right to know exactly how he died." his words caused that stupid, cold substance to build up in my eyes. I felt a small squeeze from the grip on my shaky hand. Her other hand began to trace comforting circles on my palm. "You see, Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort. The ministry of magic does not wish me to tell you this. But not to do so I think would be an insult to his memory." my head dropped at the remembrance of that night. Hermione laid her head on my shoulder, continuing the movements across my hand. "Now the pain we all feel at this dreadful loss reminds me, reminds us that while we may come from different places and speak in different tongues, our hearts beat as one. In light of recent events the bonds of friendship we made this year will be more important than ever." Harry took my wrist, a look of grief covering his face. "Remember that and Cedric Diggory will not have died in vain, you remember that. And we'll celebrate a boy who was kind and honest and brave and true right to the very end."

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My trunk was flung open, various items of clothing hanging out of it, a pile of textbooks sprawled on my bed, my red tie hanging from the frame of my bed post. Hermione had gone to return an overwhelming amount of books to the library before its closing time —through me insisting I'm okay to be left alone for more than five minutes—. I had already said my goodbyes to Dean, Neville, Luna and all the others. Though most of them all just looked as if they felt bad for me. I took a defeating seat on my now empty mattress. Hermione's side was already deserted, tidy as always, and her trunk already set up. Her cat, Crookshanks, who had been picked back up from his usual home in the Magical Creatures wing sat beside me, unbothered.