Thank You, Dad

[8]

"Hey, you okay? I heard screaming." Hermione catches up with me. After I closed the door to the classroom, I sped walk- limped away.

"Yeah, yeah, everything's just peachy." I sigh, a whirlwind of thoughts pounding my head.
She grabs my arm, forcing me to stop.
"What happened in there?"

I pause, refusing to meet the girl's oaky eyes.
"I saw-" I gulp, "I saw my dad."

I finally look up at Mione'. Her eyes popped out of her skull, her jaw smacked down.
"YOU WHAT?"
"I showed her a spell that allowed her to see her family, from the past and future." Luna spoke up.

Hermione went silent, her stare intense on the rubbled concrete floor of the castle's hall.
"So, that- that means you also saw.."
"You-Know-Who." I whispered, finishing what she couldn't.

Like nothing happened, she let go of my arm, and continued forward.
Luna and I shared a glance, but shrugged, following the bushy-haired girl.

We made it back to the separate classroom I originally awoke in, but before we could step further, Hermione stopped.
Inside, we heard loud voices. Scary, yet muffled voices.

"LIKE YOU HAVE ANY SAY, POTTER. YOU HAVE NO IDEA THE PRESSURE I HAD ON MY SHOULDERS!"
"OH REALLY, MALFOY, REALLY? I'M THE BLOODY CHOSEN ONE, I THINK IF ANYONE KNOWS PRESSURE, IT WOULD BE ME!"
"OH BOO-FUCKING-HOO. FAME AND FORTUNE SMILE AT YOU AND YOU STILL WHINE. YOU WERE FORCED INTO SAVING THE GODDAMN WORLD, BUT I WAS FORCED INTO TRYING TO DESTROY IT. I NEVER WANTED TO DO ANY OF WHAT I DID-"

"YOU ACT LIKE YOU WERE HELD AT WANDPOINT. AT ANY GIVEN MOMENT, YOU COULD'VE JOINED OUR SIDE. YOU AND Y/N BOTH COULD'VE BEEN GOOD PEOPLE, YET YOU BOTH CHOSE THE EASY, EVIL PATH!"
"DON'T YOU DARE BRING HER INTO THIS. SHE HAS GONE THROUGH ENOUGH!"
"WHO HASN'T? THIS WAR HAS CAUSED EVERYONE TO SUFFER, SHE ISN'T SPECIAL ANYMORE. STOP PITYING HER LIKE SHE'S A CHILD."

"YOU DISGRACEFUL PIG. SHE HAS DONE MORE THAN ENOUGH TO HELP YOU AND YOUR GROUP OF INSOLENTS. OH, SPARE ME AND GO CRY TO YOUR MUM ALREADY, POTTER. OH WAIT, YOU CAN'T."
"I WILL RIP YOUR HEAD OFF-"

"ENOUGH. You both are acting like CHILDREN!"

The group of boys, including Neville and Ron who stood afar, unable to calm the complete idiots screeching at each other like owls, all turned to me. Looks like I caught their attention.

Neville mouthed a 'thank you' as Ron rubbed his face with his hands, looking tired of the two imbeciles.
Speaking of the imbeciles, they stood before me, heads down in shame, like I had caught them in the act.

"You." I hissed, glaring at Harry.
"How dare you say anything to him when you don't know half of the stuff he's gone through. Harry James Potter, you aren't the only one who's had a hard life. And Draco is right, I have done more than enough for you. I turned against my own father to help you destroy the cause he wanted me to join." I paused, taking a breath.

"I have kept secrets for you. I have been an amazing friend, and at the time, an amazing girlfriend to you. But because you're the "Chosen One", you think that gives you the right to critique everyone else's faults?" I stepped up, silently daring him.
"Well you and I both know all of your faults, and how easily I could fucking expose you." I sneered under my breath, causing him to look up quickly, anxious fear written on his face.

"And you." I turn my attention to the platinum blonde, who now stared at Harry with confusion.
"If you think starting screaming matches with people is the only way to communicate when you're angry, you're more of an idiot than I thought you were."
I seethe. To say I was fuming was an understatement.
"And as someone who has lost their parents, I took your comment to Harry personally as well. Draco Lucius Malfoy, you take things too far. Calling Hermione a mudblood, bringing up dead parents, calling people disgusting things when you're mad.. It isn't okay, and you know it. Your temper gets way out of hand, and sometimes, I just want to tell you to SHUT THE FUCK UP!" I scream, stomping my good foot into the ground.

As I do that, a gust of wind explodes in the room, causing Draco, Harry, Neville, and Ron to all fly to the opposite wall, all of them groaning as they hit the surface with a huge thud.
The door once opened behind me that allowed Hermione and Luna to peer in on the interaction also slammed shut, and I heard the girls yell in surprise.

Then: everything goes
s
l
o
w

My eyes go wide as my heart beats out of my chest. I look at the four boys who lay slumped on the ground, grunting in pain.
I then turn my attention downwards to my shaking hands. They're trembling extremely as a feeling of static flows through them.

"I- I- I'm so sorry, I'm s-so sorry!" I cry, turning on my heel and bolting out of the classroom, the adrenaline making the throbbing of my leg ease.
As I rush out into the hallway, I crash into Hermione and Luna, causing them to tumble onto the ground.
I don't even stop to help them up.

I just run, and run, and run, and- and run!

To be honest, I've never felt more alive.