Irrevocably

2. Imminent

Something has changed.

Though I'm not sure what.

Harry, Ron and Hermione have been sneakier than usual the last few days. They sit through obligatory meetings and then rush off to whisper amongst themselves. The one upside to not knowing anything is that everyone, mostly, speaks freely around me. Somehow, though, the three of them muffle their conversations enough to where I can't hear.

They aren't the only ones acting curiously, though.

The Order no longer convenes all at once. Instead, they arrive on a sort of rotation throughout the day, greeted by Sirius and his raised-wand and personal questions.

Everyone is constantly on edge, the tension nearly palpable.

Molly bustles around with more purpose, Fred's usual charm and arrogance is drowned out by his seriousness, Sirius has been yelling more than usual and Remus and Tonks cling to each other constantly, refusing to go more than a moment without touching.

Even George seems to have changed with the tide. His persistent indifference has slowly melted away, replaced with quick nods in acknowledgement and I often catch him staring at me from across the room with worry etched into his handsome face.

Whatever is going on around is getting worse. Even I can see that.

I sit on the floor between Hermione's knees, watching the fire crackle while she plaits my hair. She hums quietly to herself, Ron and Harry's whispering barely audible though they're right beside us. I catch them saying ministry, cloak and something about a woman named bridge. What are they up to?

Hermione ties off my hair and taps my shoulder to let me know she's finished. I turn to face her, offering a small thank you. She looks down with a sombre smile.

"Still pretty as ever." She whispers, gently pressing her hand against my cheek in the sweet way she does. It's different, though. Far more melancholy than it should be.

She drops her hand and stands quickly, looking pointedly at the two boys, "We need to go to bed."

"Oh... right." Ron glances at me before dropping his gaze to the ground and rising slowly.

I push myself off of the ground with greater ease than I've managed in the past weeks. Madam Pomfrey sent potion recipes for Mrs. Weasley to incorporate into my daily doses. Thankfully, they've started to diminish some of the pain and the tremors are beginning to subside.

Harry stays seated, watching the flames with glossed over eyes. "You two go on, I need to speak to Hayden first."

Ron quickly reaches for me, pulling me into a tight hug that takes me by surprise. I tiptoe to reach his shoulders, trying not to read too much into the embrace and how it differs from the awkward way he usually slings his arm over my shoulders. "You behave yourself." He mumbles into my ear before quickly pecking my cheek and taking long strides out of the room without glancing back.

Hermione blinks back tears as she steps towards me, wrapping her arms tightly around my neck and then letting go all too fast. "I've left you a few books, some makeup, extra jumpers, toiletries, that hairbrush you like and some ink and parchment in case you want to busy yourself." She ticks the items off on her fingers, "That should be everything. I'm sure Molly has other things in case-"

"What for? Where are you going?"

A tear slips from the corner of her eye and she wipes it quickly, shaking her head instead of responding. She tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear and smiles, "It doesn't matter. But what does matter is that I'm going to miss you. And that I'll be thinking of you every step of the way."