Never Let Me Go ⚡︎ [ harry potter ]

⚡︎ • ❝ t w e n t y t h r e e ❞ • ✴

In the days that followed, Grace had shut down and completely withdrew from everyone. The most anyone was able to get out of her, was when she sat down after the Christmas Frog Choir performance, and everyone told her how good it was. All she did was say: "Thanks," and that was it. She didn't speak to anyone anymore after that.

The only person that was able to get anything out of her was Hagrid, who had let her help him take care of the creatures in the reserve. Most of which they wouldn't be learning about until next year, but she listened carefully and did as Hagrid had told her. Nifflers and Bowtruckles were her favorite.

If she wasn't with Hagrid, or holed up in her bed with the curtains drawn, she was outside reading at her tree.

"Grace," She turned saw Remus sit down beside her at the end of the Gryffindor table. "Please talk to me-"

"What's there to talk about?" she asked, turning away from him and back to her breakfast. "You lied to me-"

"I didn't lie-"

"You refused to tell me the truth. It's the same as lying."

"Your mother didn't-"

"I don't give a damn about what my Mum wants!" She snapped, slamming her hands on the wooden table as she stood up. She glared at Remus, not caring that the very few people who remained at the castle, all had their attention on them. "What about what I want?"

"Grace-"

"I wanted the truth."

"And you have it now," Remus whispered gently.

"No thanks to you," Grace shook her head as she walked away from the table. As much as Grace wanted to believe him, there was a nagging part of her that didn't.

On Christmas morning, Grace woke up to find a pile of presents at the end of her bed. She crawled over and started going through them. There was a neatly wrapped pink gift from Hermione; it was a copy of Jane Eyre, a muggle book they had talked about. Another neatly brown wrapped box from her aunt and uncle was a new knitted jumper: light pink with a dark grey 'G' in the middle. There was a box from Neville: a book on tasseomancy. A box from Ron, full of chocolate frogs, and other sweets from Honeydukes. There was one from her mother, and when she opened it she was surprised to see a camera and some film.

Then there was a box from Remus. He didn't often buy her presents, not that she cared if he did. In the box was, of course, some chocolate, but it also had a copy of The Hobbit. It wasn't a new copy, but it didn't look as old and worn as some of the other books he had gotten her from a second-hand shop. This copy looks old, but well taken care of. She recognized it from his shelf... this was his copy. She took the note from the inside cover and unfolded it.