There was a darkness lurking on the edge of the horizon, a war to end all wars approaching. Lord Voldemort was returning, and there was nothing they could do but be prepared for when he did, no matter how many people were killed in the process.
...
There was no doubt in anyone's mind that Ron and Hermione's two and a half year long friendship had crumbled into nothing more than dust. Each was so angry with the other that they refused to even be in the same room, and kept putting Harry in the middle of it. Alyssa, Millie, and Jess, all three of them exhausted and tired of all the drama, had split off from them all and barely spoke to any of them.
Ron was enraged that Hermione had never taken Crookshank's attempts to eat Scabbers seriously, hadn't bothered to keep a close enough eye on him and was still trying to pretend that said ginger cat was innocent by suggesting Ron look for his possibly deceased rat under all the boy's beds. Hermione, meanwhile, maintained fiercely that Ron had no proof that Crookshanks had eaten Scabbers, that the ginger hairs might have been there since Christmas, and that Ron had been completely prejudiced against her cat ever since he had landed on Ron's head in the pet store all those months ago.
Personally, Jess was quite positive that Crookshanks had eaten Scabbers. Aside from the bright ginger fur, it wasn't exactly difficult to see that the cat had a desire to slaughter the rat right from the second it laid eyes on it in Pibbly's shop. Not that she would tell Hermione that. The girl had lost her temper with Harry when he sided with Ron's opinion, and was now spending her days with Alyssa, Millie, and Jess up in the common room or outside on the grounds by the lake.
Ron had taken the loss of his pet very hard indeed. Millie understood, of course. I mean, it was his pet. That's the same as something bad happening to Red, she'd hate it. Alyssa and Jess, on the other hand, thought that Ron complained about said rat far too much when it was alive to be missing it this badly when it was dead. "C'mon, red, you're always saying how boring Scabbers was." Alyssa said, trying her hardest not to roll her eyes as she nudged Ron with her elbow. She was sat next to Harry and Millie, Ron sat in the middle with Jess on the arm of the chair beside Fred, who had wrapped an arm lazily around her shoulders. George, who was eyeing them with distaste, sat on the other end of the couch. Hermione was off in the library doing god knows what.
"And he's been off colour for ages. He was wasting away." "It was probably better for him to snuff it quickly. One big swallow - he probably didn't even feel a thing." Fred shrugged, only to get elbowed in the ribs by a glaring Jess. "Fred!" "All he did was eat and sleep, Ron, you said it yourself." George continued, looking down at the sofa with a frown.
"He bit Goyle for us once." Ron mumbled miserably, and Alyssa, Millie, and Jess couldn't help but let out a snort of laughter. "Remember, Harry?" "Yeah, that's true." Harry nodded, patting Ron on the shoulder.
"His finest hour." Jess grinned, unable to keep a straight face. "Let the scar on Goyle's fat slab of meat of a finger stand as a lasting tribute to his memory." Alyssa continued. Upon seeing Ron's still miserable expression, Millie sighed. "Why don't you go down to Hogsmead and just get a new rat? What's the point of moaning?"
In a last stitch attempt to cheer Ron up, Harry and Jess decided to persuade Ron to come along to the final practice for Gryffindor before the huge match against Ravenclaw so that he could have a go on the Firebolt afterwards. "You coming, Jess?" Harry asked as he gave Alyssa a side hug as a goodbye, using the Gryffindor as a way of not blushing furiously, but Jess's attention wasn't on him. It was one a red headed twin.
"You go ahead, I'll catch up. There's something I have to do."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
