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003.
EYES WERE ON her, like moths to a flame. Each glowing iris burned into her skin until she felt raw and dry – nothing more than a zoo animal with all her secrets laid bare. Esme walked carefully down the corridor of judgeful stares, each step she took loud against the silence of the train car. A couple of first years raced past her, ignorant to the rumors flying around her head about everything that had happened the year prior. They were much too busy laughing and making lifelong friends – Esme gazed after them as they hurried to find an empty compartment on the train. They were lucky.
After departing from Number 12 Grimmauld Place, Lupin had accompanied Esme, Ginny, and the twins to Kings Cross Station. They had left amidst the screaming of Walburga Black, none of them eager to shut her up due to all of the commotion in the hallway – it was bound to wake her up again anyway. The walk to the station was uneventful, although Esme wasn't sure what the Order was expecting, anyway. After they made it through to platform nine and three quarters, Lupin had reminded her to write if she needed to and even Sirius, in his Animagus form – a great big black dog – let her give him a friendly pat on the head. For the first time, surrounded by the familiarity of the platform and the excited chatter from other students, Esme felt hopeful.
Yet, after clambering up into the train, Esme was faced with a harsh reality. Her fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was turning into a bleak affair, if the whispers and pointed fingers were anything to go by. Esme averted her gaze from her classmates' lingering eyes and forced her feet forward, towards the end of the Hogwarts Express, where her friends usually sat. Her brows furrowed as her mind teetered dangerously close to the memory of the event last year, the sound of screaming students and a sobbing father taking over whatever peace she had once conjured on the walk to Kings Cross Station. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't forget. Not for a moment.
It didn't seem like anyone else could, either. Once friendly faces now looked at her with unease – not that Esme could blame them. The sight of her on the ground, screaming... it must have been...
"Esme," a voice close to her ear startled her, and she looked up from her worn tennis shoes to see a very familiar face. It almost shocked her to see the kindness directed towards her. Hunter Lawson, a Hufflepuff in the year above Esme who befriended her last year. "How are you?"
Esme paused, eyes wide at his willingness to speak with her. She quickly shifted to the side, out of the way of barreling students trying to find their friends. "I... Fine." She struggled to find something else to say.
Hunter didn't seem to mind her awkwardness. "I'm glad to see you. I was worried, after... you know, everything."
"I'm sorry," Esme blurted out to the brunette, cheeks flushing. "I should have written to you over the summer. Merlin, you were his best friend, and I didn't –"
