Chiaroscuro

Ginny's Request

Rain splattered on the windows of the old building. Inside the bookshop a fire flickered idly in the hearth. It had been dark outside for the better part of the last hour. Hermione knew that she ought to be finishing up sorting the new books, but she couldn't bring herself to leave the little shop. She told herself that it was the cold rain that kept her from leaving, but that wasn't entirely true.

As she finished organizing the last stack of books, Hermione sighed and looked at the fire. She grabbed her discarded sweater from off the desk and pulled it on. After closing down the shop, she apparated to the front steps of her little house.

Hermione's cottage was located in the village of Ottery St Catchpole. It was a country-style home with a thatched roof and a mess of gardens in the front yard. In the summers, Hermione grew all manner of vegetables, herbs, and fruit. However, it was early spring, and she had yet to have enough time to properly weed the gardens. They looked more unkempt and unruly every passing day.

She unlocked the door and walked in, happy when the warmth hit her face.

Inside the cottage, it was small, but comfortable. Most of the space was one large room that served as a living room, dining room, and study. A small kitchen was located to the right and a staircase to the left. The staircase led to a small, lofted bedroom with a comfortable bed and bookshelves stacked full.

Hermione walked to the kitchen and filled her kettle with water. She placed it on the stovetop and started it. As the water began to boil, she pulled out one of her favorite mugs, a gift from Ginny. She grabbed her favorite evening tea and gazed out the small window in the kitchen.

Rain continued to fall heavily outside. She could hear it against the windowpanes and the roof above her. It was peaceful, she decided. After a week of rain, it was easy to become rather tired of it, but she had decided long ago that she would find beauty in even the darkness of places.

Nineteen years ago, the war had just ended. Hermione was still a child, but not a normal kind of child. She had been a child that had witnessed war and ruin. She had paid a price of her own for surviving it and often it was easy for her to spiral into anger and fear.

However, the day after the war ended, Hermione had woken up and found that the sun still rose. The skies were still blue, and the world continued to spin onward. She had lived through it and she refused to let the darkness of her trauma poison all the good things in the world.

A week after the war ended, Molly had given Hermione a journal. At the time it had merely been an odd gesture of comfort. Molly didn't say what she should use it for or even why she had gotten it for Hermione. It ended up sitting on Hermione's nightstand for about a month before she picked it up and began to write in it.

At first, Hermione wrote about all the worst things she thought. She wrote about how she wished none of the war had happened. She wished Fred, Colin, Tonks, and Remus were still alive. She wished her friends hadn't been hurt and tormented. She wished she hadn't been tortured.

After some time of writing about all the terrible things that had happened, she eventually ran out of things to write. It took a while, but the day came when she picked up a quill to journal about the war, but nothing came to her. It was at that moment that Hermione decided to continue writing but she would write about something else.

So, that is what she did.

Hermione woke early in the mornings and wrote about the colors of the sunrise and the way she liked honey in her tea. She wrote about how the flowers outside were blooming or a snowstorm had covered the ground with a fresh dusting. Hermione quickly found that for every terrible thing she had written about there were dozens of tiny, wonderful things.