Dark Pasts { A Harry Potter Story }

Chapter 60 - O.W.L Grades

I was sitting in the shade of a large tree in the backyard reading my book. There was a soft breeze making the leaves rustle and I could hear birds chirping in the distance. I lifted my head when I heard someone and saw Hermione making her way toward me.

"Hey," she said as she sat down and I nodded in response bringing my attention back to my book.

"He's being completely unreasonable if you ask me," she said after a moment.

"Right."

"He'll come around, I'm sure," she said.

"Look, Hermione," I said, closing my book and turning to her, "I won't just sit around and wait for him to come to his senses. I have better things to do."

"You mean—?"

"Yes," I said, "I have to move on."

"You don't mean that," she said.

"Yes, I do!" I exclaimed. "Look, maybe it's just not meant to be. He only asked me to the ball because he couldn't go with Cho and he was after her all last year. I'm sure the only reason he even kissed me in the first place was that he was upset and feeling vulnerable because of— because of what happened."

"That's not true," she said immediately. "I know it's not true! You two would be perfect together, I know so!"

"That makes one of you," I said dryly.

Hermione then squealed and I turn toward the house to see four owls flying into the kitchen window. We looked at each other with wide eyes before running back inside.

"Oh no... oh no... oh no..." Hermione mumbled as we entered the house and saw the letters.

Harry and Ron were also standing in the kitchen. We each grabbed the letter with our name and slit it open. I took a deep breath before turning the page over to reveal my O.W.L grades.

ELIZABETH EVANGELINE ROSIER HAS ACHIEVED:

Astronomy: E

Care of Magical Creatures: O

Charms: O

Defence Against the Dark Arts: O

Divination: E

Herbology: O

History of Magic: O

Potions: O

Transfiguration: O

I smiled to myself, rather pleased with my results. Hermione and I swapped our letters and I saw that she had gotten 9 'Outsandings' and one 'Exceeds Expectations' in DADA.

"That's incredible, Mione!" I beamed at her.

Ron then glanced at both Hermione and I's grades and shook his head.

"Blimey, how d'you two even manage to do that?" He asked making us laugh slightly. "Well, we're N.E.W.T. students now!"

***

Harry's sixteenth birthday celebrations did nothing to help me cross the bridge that had been built between him and me. I had told Hermione I simply wanted to move on — which was partially true, but the more I looked at Harry the more I wished he would talk to me. Even the prospect of merely being friends made my heart sink down in my chest, but I thought it would at least be better than having him pretend I did not exist. I was glad when Lupin arrived, but I noticed he looked even grimmer than usual.

"There have been another couple of Dementor attacks," he announced as we were eating the cake.

"Yes, well," Mrs. Weasley said, frowning, "perhaps we should talk about something else—"

"Did you hear about Ollivander, Remus?" Bill asked.

"The wand-maker?" Ginny said.

"Yep. Shop's empty. No sign of a struggle. No one knows whether he left voluntarily or was kidnapped," Bill said.

"What'll people do for wands?"

"They'll make do with other makers," Lupin said.

The news of Ollivander's disappearance seemed to make this dinner even gloomier. As Mrs. Weasley sent us off to bed, Lupin took me aside before leaving.

"Your father is sorry, Elizabeth," he said.

"Oh, he's sorry, is he? Well, that changes everything!" I said sarcastically, making Lupin sigh.

"I know you are upset, dear," he said, "but your father loves you and he only wishes to protect you... even if he perhaps did not show it properly."

"I don't understand," I said, "You don't see Mr. and Mrs. Weasley freaking out and leaving Harry on the street! Why's my dad acting so weird?"

"Your father has more difficulty with trust than others, dear," He said. "He is very protective of you... and so am I."

I frowned slightly, touched by his words but no more comforted. "Please, I want to know what happened... I want to understand."

"You will know in due time, dear," he said and hugged me before walking out of the house.