What Happened After {A Harry Potter Fanfic}

Chapter Two ♡

Ron ☆

"Hello everyone. I'm glad you could all make it." Harry spoke up.

I stood in a far corner of Gringotts, which was now always empty. Harry stood near the tall podium goblins used to sit at. Some meeting I had heard about was taking place. No one knew I was here, except for Hermione, and I'd like to keep it that way. But there was barely anyone here - shocker - so someone was bound to find out sooner or later.

There weren't many people here, but enough to keep me isolated. I wouldn't mind having everyone know I was here, I just wasn't up for the whole "where-have-you-been-I've-missed-you-so-much" part. Then again, I could use some hugs.

I looked around, searching for familiar faces. Obviously, I recognized Hermione, standing next to Harry. When wasn't she with him?

McGonagall and Hagrid stood near Harry as well. They didn't look very different, aside from the dark bags that now hung under their eyes. Yet, they hung under everyone's eyes. I also spotted some new wrinkles they now possessed but that's what age does to you. And stress. I'm sure they've had a lot of the latter. I know I have.

It wasn't hard to spot my family. You wouldn't be able to miss their ginger heads from a mile away.

Neville was standing in another far corner, probably trying to not be seen as well, but not for the same reasons as me. He'd developed some feelings for Luna, I remember, and could be pretty clumsy. It was better for him to stay out of the way than make a fool of himself standing near her.

I noticed Luna, her bleached blond hair stood out in the small crowd. It looked like she had gotten a haircut. Her hair now reached slightly above her shoulders.

And speaking of bleached blondes... I didn't notice another one in the crowd. I'm not surprised. He just disappeared that day.. was never seen again. I shuddered at the thought, considering I'd done the same thing.

"It's been quite a long past couple of months." Harry spoke up once again. "I've missed you all dearly and am happy to see you all are doing well." Well. Well?! "I've brought you all here today because I have something I'd like to propose to you all, if you're all ready." He paused, and eyed everyone with concerned eyes. "I want us all to go back to Hogwarts."

At that moment, before anyone could even react, the thick entrance doors of the bank creaked open, loudly, revealing the one face no one would have ever expected to have showed up.

Malfoy.

He walked in, his signature scowl, planted on his face. No one could tear their eyes away from him.

He passed by me, as I hid in my dark corner, and, thankfully, didn't notice me.

What the bloody hell was he doing here?

He stopped walking and stared straight into Harry's eyes, and slightly nodded. Harry nodded back and continued his proposal. Were they... communicating?

"As I was saying..."

Anger flourished inside of me. What did those nods mean? Had Harry and Malfoy seen each other through those six painful months? Were they now friends? What had I missed? Why was Malfoy even here? After everything he'd put us through, why would he even bother to show up? A thought hit me. If the two had seen each other these past several months and had made a truce, then why wouldn't Malfoy show up? Maybe him and Harry had become close friends. Best friends, even. Maybe they had discussed this whole proposal thing that Harry was talking about, together. My blood was boiling. I needed to leave. Now. I don't care for this dumb idea, whatever it was, Harry and Malfoy had thought of. I wonder if Harry now called Malfoy by his first name. No. No. I should have never showed up. I knew I shouldn't have come.

"Ron."

Her soft, calm voice interrupted my thoughts. I looked up and saw everyone staring at me. So much for hiding.

"Ron, did you hear us?" She spoke again.

I was so involved in my angry thoughts, I hadn't realized that she had been talking to me. Had Harry called for me, too? What were they saying? What were they talking about again?

"What?"

She sighed. "We were talking about reconstructing Hogwarts. Bringing it back to life again, bringing our world back to life. It would be a great thing for all the younger wizards in witches here in London to be properly educated, and maybe we could possibly refashion things to be a little more... modern, I feel is the best term. What do you think? It's a great way to get our minds off everything for a while, and I find it to really bring more... positivity to our lives."

What was she talking about? Get our minds off everything. How would reconstructing Hogwarts get my mind off the very thing that happened there? Was she insane?

"Ron, why are you standing all the way over there? Come closer. We're discussing a serious matter."

I didn't move. Just laughed. "I'm sorry, what? You want me to move? And why exactly? A serious matter? A serious matter? That's very funny. Well, I apologize, but I have more serious things to think about. No, I would not like to be a part of refashioning Hogwarts, thank you very much." I glared at Malfoy and made my way out of the building.

I heard a few protests as I walked out.

How did they even see me? I thought I had hidden myself pretty well. Had they known I was there the whole time? Whatever, it didn't matter anymore. I wouldn't be seeing any of them ever again.

I stopped in my tracks. What was I doing? I did want to be a part of this whole reconstruction thing. I wanted to bring back what was once our whole lives. I missed my friends. My family. Why was I letting jealousy take over? I mean, was I even sure that Malfoy and Harry had become friends? All they did was nod at each other. I turned around and contemplated whether I should go back in or not.

I could either walk back to the bank and start over, start new. Or I could turn back around again and continue living in grief. What was it going to be?

"Ron."

I know that voice. I didn't have to look up to see who it was. Harry. Forgetting my contemplation of what I wanted to do with my life, I instantly ran to him and hugged him harder than I'd ever hugged anyone before. I've missed my best friend.

Next thing I know, we were both laughing and crying at the same time into each others' arms. "I've missed you, brother." I said in between laughs.

"I've missed you, too, Ron." He laugh-cried into my shoulder as well.

After what felt like hours, we released our holds on each other. It was then that I noticed everyone had followed us out, and they were all smiling at the brotherhood that had reunited.

"I'm, uh, sorry about that little... fit I threw back there... I do want to be a part of this. Hogwarts means everything to me and I'd want nothing more than to bring it back." I admitted sheepishly.

A wide grin appeared on Hermione's face. "Let's do it then."