Despair (Book 3)

Chapter 10

Athena

"What do you mean you're leaving?" I asked George. He could hear the hurt in my tone.

"We don't need NEWT's, so were leaving to start the joke shop. It's okay, you can move in with me after you're done here." He joked with a smile. I rolled my eyes and smacked him on the head.

"You aren't even gonna be here to help me finish my NEWTs, or to graduate!" I sighed in disappointment. "How will I ever get through the rest of this without you?"

"You know I would stay if I could."

"Oh shut up, I know." I grinned and hugged him. "You'd just distract me, anyway." I pulled away and looked up to his face. "When?"

"Today." He shrugged. I rolled my eyes and laughed.

"Of course you wouldn't let me know in advance."

"Well obviously. That would've given you time to talk us out of it." He patted my cheek as he spoke. I swatted his hand away.

"Ah, see? Using your brain isn't that hard." I said and he laughed, grabbing my hands in his own.

"Look, just because you're smarter than me doesn't mean you can make fun of me." He informed me. I laid my head on his chest and squeezed his hands in reassurance.

"What am I gonna do without my big brother?" I asked and closed my eyes. He sighed and kissed the top of my head, pulling me into another embrace.

"Don't worry, there's not much time left. Plus, once you've finished your NEWTs, you and Remus will be staying with Sirius all the time. That'll be something to look forward too. Then, you can come visit me every day." He told me and I smiled.

"That is true. See, you really are good with your brain." I spoke quietly and reached up, messing his hair. He was about to say something else, when another redhead walked into the common room. This one was the ginger I was in love with, though. He sent a stare between the two of us. It held something between a glare and plain sadness. I just wanted to run over and hug him. "I better go." I sighed and kissed his cheek. "I'll see you later, maybe? You can't leave when I'm in the middle of an exam. If you do, I might just have to cry." I smiled and stepped away, leaving the common room to go find Eli.

**

"I don't know, it was pretty hard at times, but it wasn't that bad." Eli said after we met up after our last final for the day.

"Well, I'm glad you-" I stopped suddenly when a loud noise erupted from the end of the hall. I turned my head to look where the noises where coming from. And then another sounded, and another.

"What is that?" Eli turned and asked me.

"The twins." I said simply, cracking a smile. At the commotion, Umbridge came bustling out into the hallway along with some fifth-years. I stifled a laugh when I looked at her expression. I grinned at the three standing together. A ginger, and the girl I knew he was in love with. It was obvious. And then Harry. My little brother. I gave them a grin, but what surprised me was Ron. He didn't smile back, instead gave me the 'I know something you don't know' look. I furrowed my eyebrows at him as his two older brothers came flying down the corridor on their broomsticks. Eli and I, along with the others, laughed loudly at Umbridge, who was desperately trying to get them down.

I saw an exchange between the twins. Fred looked at George and George nodded. I was confused at what this meant, until Fred landed right in front of me. By this time, everyone knew we didn't talk or make any contact anymore. Everybody went silent. "Hey," he said nervously. I stared for a moment, before answering, wearily.