HEATHENS - Harry Potter ✔

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The journey home on the Hogwarts Express next day was rather miserable. Kiera, along with Harry, dreaded to return to her Muggle homes, but that apprehension was nothing in comparison to the fear she had for Voldemort. Now that he had been exposed to the wizarding world, and the Daily Prophet was working hard to redeem their year of inaction, there was no doubt that war would breakout, and with that dark threat looming over them, it was difficult to think about anything else.

Still, they all tried their best to find some happiness as they spent their last hours together in a shared compartment. Harry and Ron spent most of the journey playing wizard chess while Hermione was reading the Daily Prophet again. Ginny was doing a quiz in The Quibbler while Neville stroked his Mimbulus mimbletonia, which made odd crooning noises when touched.

Kiera slept, peaceful breathes heaving her chest and shoulders up and down in regular motions, with her head resting against Hermione's shoulder. She had been too unnerved to sleep at all the night before with Pansy sleeping only a bed away, afraid of another potential attack.

Cho walked past their compartment, accompanied by Marietta Edgecombe, who had covered her face with a balaclava. Her eyes met Harry's for a moment and she blushed, then kept walking. Harry looked back down to the chessboard just in time to see his pawn defeated by Ron's knight.

"What's – er – going on with you and her, anyway?" Ron asked uncertainly.

Harry gave a nonchalant shrug. "Nothing," he said truthfully.

Hermione looked up from behind the Prophet, glancing at Ron for the fraction of a second before looking at Harry. "I heard she's going out with someone else now," she said.

To their surprise, he didn't seem to care at all. "She's probably happier with someone else," said Harry with another shrug.

"You're well out of it, mate," said Ron forcefully, then turned to ask Hermione, "Who's she with now, then?

Ginny answered before she could. "Michael Corner," she told him.

"Michael – but –" Ron's brow furrowed, and he turned in his seat to stare at her. "But you were going out with him."

"Not anymore," she said, and turned The Quibbler upside-down to mark her answers. "He didn't like Gryffindor beating Ravenclaw at Quidditch, and got really sulky, so I ditched him, and he ran off to comfort Cho instead."

Ron looked delighted. "Well, I always thought he was a bit of an idiot. Good for you. Just choose someone ... better next time."

"Well, I've chosen Dean Thomas. Would you say he's better?"

"What?" he shouted, turning back to Ginny just as Crookshanks jumped onto the chessboard to chase after the pieces, and Hedwig and Pigwidgeon twittered angrily overhead at the noise.

Kiera groaned. "Ron, I'm trying to sleep."

Ron only grumbled in response.

"You do look awfully tired, Kiera," said Hermione sounding concerned, as the girl sat up straighter.

She hummed. "Yeah, I didn't sleep much last night," Kiera told her with a shrug.

"What's that?" asked Harry suddenly.

"What's what?" Kiera asked, yawning.

"That," said Harry pointing at her neck.

Her eyes widened in shock. "Nothing!" she replied far too quickly, tightening the Slytherin scarf around her neck that she had used to cover up the bruises Malfoy hand and wand had left there.