Resentment

chapter 1 - anxiety

"Purify!" All three wands pointed at Voldemort, who was slowly fading into gray and dark dust. As the sun poured through the clouds and hit Hogwarts, it reflected a golden shade on the Gryffindor trios.

"It was over," Hermione said softly with a tired smile. "We should check on the rest of them," Ron nodded and trotted into the Grand Hall followed by Harry. A tall figure with platinum blonde hair slowly approached Hermione as she stared at the cluttered gate. There was no doubt in her mind who that was. In the midst of her anger and discontent, how could he still show up after everything he had done? Dumbledore would still be healthy and strong if it wasn't for him, she thought in her heavily messed-up mind. All of it was his fault.

Hermione's footsteps were picked up by the platinum blonde boy next to her. "Granger," a voice bellowed in a low rumbling voice. "What do you want, Malfoy?" Hermione turned around after her eyes were captivated by his ocean blue eyes. She stared into them for so long she thought she would drown. In response to her question, he walked straight into the castle without saying a word. Seeing him from behind, she looked at him intently. It did not matter what he did, nor should it matter anything else to her except her friends' wellbeing.

It took her a few steps to walk into the Grand Hall, searching for Ginny, Neville, Luna and so many other people. The death eaters had destroyed the dining tables when they fought them, she could still see corpses lying all over the place of both the death eaters and her allies. Candles adorning the Grand Hall were blown out by the frigid, deathly wind blowing through cracks in the fractured windows. This place was no longer familiar to her, it was foreign and bizarre.

"Hermione? Is everything okay?"

The only thing Hermione could feel was a rush of air choking out of her chest, like someone was grabbing her neck or something was suffocating her, making it impossible for her to breathe. Her heartbeat pounding in her fists as she breathed in and out harder and harder, holding tight in her fists while trembling and trembling. In spite of her fingernails sticking into her palm, she could only feel numbness and sweat in her hand. After she held on to the person closest to her, the world around her dimmed and gradually went silent, and she didn't know what was going to happen next. In deep sleep, she laid her entire weight on that support, wishing everything could only be a terrible and horrific nightmare.

"Reparo," the people started mending and repairing all the chaotic mess the war had left behind. The tables were stuck back as they used to be when McGonagall rushed into the hall and conjured the light again. "Harry, have you seen Hermione? I cannot find her anywhere." As McGonagall spoke to everyone on the lectern where Dumbledore once stood, Ginny whispered to Harry and Ron across the table.

When he was at the Astronomy Tower, keeping the elder wand, invisibility cloak, and resurrection stone, Dumbledore narrowly escaped being murdered. "I thought she came after us just now, didn't she?" Harry whispered back and looked at the front gate in anticipation of Hermione's arrival. "What's the matter, Mr. Potter?" McGonagall coughed and glanced at Harry, Ginny, and Ron as everyone in the Grand Hall looked at them. "I'm sorry, Professor." Harry apologized without hesitation and avoided causing any problems after what everyone in the room had experienced.

"Silencio! As I was saying, welcome back to Hogwarts! Thank you everyone for your effort in fighting the dark forces." Harry, Ginny and Ron weren't paying any attention to whatever McGonagall was saying. It was evident from looking around that many of their friends were killed during the battle in the Grand Hall. "Draco was not here either." Ron squinted as he glanced across the Slytherin table, only seeing Crabbe, Goyle, and Parkinson looking towards the lectern. "Possibly he wasn't here at all." Harry breathed quietly, trying not to make a scene. " He came in before Hermione. He seemed rushed to get to something. I swear he was at Hogwarts. You can check the map Fred and George gave to you years ago if it was still there."