𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍

Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

Hermione met up with the boys in the common room, as she had said. She saw Ron’s appreciative gaze lingering on the fine cut of her robes – she knew she had never been the most beautiful of women, nor would she ever be, but she did know how to accentuate what she had. She smiled widely. Ron held out his arm to her, and she chuckled at his chivalry.

“Don’t you two look quite the couple,” Molly Weasley said, coming up to them with a rather great smile.

Hermione and Ron blushed slightly, but Ginny entered the room and saved them from having to answer. The youngest Weasley looked vibrantly beautiful, her red hair flaring and her eyes sparkling. Neville met her at the base of the stairs, taking her hand and kissing her cheek.

“You look lovely,” Neville whispered to Ginny, who smiled more widely.

When Arthur Weasley arrived, with Hermione’s parents in tow, the company of people made their way downstairs for dinner. Her mum and dad looked rather wide-eyed still, and Hermione placed herself between Arthur and her parents, to give them some room to breathe. Arthur took his place by Molly’s side, and they spoke and laughed with their children as they descended the stairs.

Hermione glanced back at Harry.

He looks so lonely, she thought. With the parents at Hogwarts, Harry probably felt like a third wheel. She would have talked to him, had she thought he would want to talk about it, but he did not seem to want anyone mentioning it. He might mistake her questions for pity, although it was not. She was simply sad for him, that he did not have family the way she and Ron both did. Mrs. Weasley did her best to include him, but it seemed that it was not enough. Hermione could not imagine being in his place – her parents had always been there for her, a quiet support, even as she spent nine months a year away at a magical school.

"Come on Harry," she said, holding her hand out. Harry took it, without hesitation, and she wondered if she had imagined the look of loneliness as his face once more settled into a small smile.

Severus Snape sat in his seat at the High Table, watching the chaos before him. Parents, students, and the occasional teacher who had yet to sit down mingled together. They were loud. Very loud. Laughter and talk mingled, each person trying to make themselves heard, making the volume grow. Severus wondered for a moment how angry the Headmaster would be with him, if he cast a Silencing Charm over the entire Hall.