Life After

How many times have you been pushed around?

Was anybody there?

Does anybody care?

How many times have your friends let you down?

Was anybody there?

Did anybody stare?

She just sat there, staring desolately out her bedroom window. She had been sitting here for over an hour, just watching the people below, going on with their normal daily business. They had no idea of the worries Hermione Granger had been going through, and the terrible things she knew. They had no idea of the things going on in world only parallel to their own, of a dark figure, which could intrude on their lives at any moment. A figure, which could smite their world and all the people they held dear.

Hermione allowed a painful tear to trickle silently down her left cheek, before wiping it away grudgingly. All of the pain and frustration around her wasn't normal for a fifteen-year-old girl. Although, she wasn't what most people would call normal, she was a witch, a witch-in-training to be exact. She was currently attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but now she was on summer holiday.

It was at this school that she had met the two greatest friends she had ever had: Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. These two were proven to be more trouble than they were worth, but she knew they cared for her. Even with all of the bickering between Ron and her, and Harry's resentful attitude, she cared for them too. She cared for them so much; it hurt to think of anything bad that may happen to them...

Hermione watched carefully at a little girl ride her bicycle down the street. Would Lord Voldemort affect this young, carefree girl? Hermione didn't know, she surely hoped not. No one deserved what was to come, what was already happening. It made her sick to her stomach to think of what the future may bring. She finally understood the full reason of why people were afraid of his name.

How many times have your friends let you down?

Just open up your heart

Just open up your mind

How many times has your faith slipped away?

Well, is anybody safe?

Does anybody pray?

Then there was Harry, how she worried for him! He didn't deserve what he was going through, no one did. Harry Potter was the Boy-Who-Lived. He was proclaimed a savior to the Wzarding world. Although he was a only a baby at the time, he was the one who defeated Lord Voldemort the first time. It's hard to be famous for something you can't remember doing.

Poor Harry lost his parents during that time; they sacrificed themselves for his welfare. His Mother most of all, her sacrifice was a very old bit of magic, and enough of it to shield Harry from Voldemort's curse. This shield was enough to backfire on Voldemort, stripping him of his body and his powers.

But Voldemort was back, and it meant so many innocent lives. This must be done to ensure the well being of many people. Voldemort was very destructive, and he would never let anything get in the way of his ultimate victory. Hermione shuddered at the mere thought.

"Why must everything be like this?" she asked herself inwardly. She had joined the Wizarding World about five years ago, she had never expected anything like this to happen to her. She was so young, and yet she felt old and worn from forces greater than herself. This was one thing she wouldn't be able to find in a book, a need to make everything disappear. She couldn't stand it any longer; she wanted to be alone with no one around.

There was nothing that anyone could say that would take away the deep feeling of emptiness she felt. She longed to sit and trap herself in the nearest reading interest, but she couldn't think of any story that could stray her far enough from reality.

With that in mind, she buried her head in her pillow and screamed as loud as she could. As she lifted her head off the pillow, she gazed into the mirror on the other side of the room at her bloodshot eyes.

How many days have you just slept away?

Is everybody high?

Is everyone afraid?

How many times have you wished you were strong?

Have they ever seen your heart?

Have they ever seen your pain?

Never, in her whole life had she felt this insecure. She thought of everything that was wrong with her, and she bottled it up. Her friends needed her to be strong, to give help when it was needed. They depended on her...almost as much as she depended on them. There were some days when she knew they were her only barriers from a nervous breakdown.

She let her mind drift away for a few minutes, inwardly dwelling on the past events. She thought of him...

Sirius Black, the convict, the supposed murderer. But most of all, the godfather of Harry Potter. All that didn't matter anymore, he was gone.... dead. She knew Harry had seen it happen, she truly wished he didn't. The last thing that he needed was to watch the one father figure he ever had fall to his death.

This life was never what she had in mind...

Oh, Life is waiting for you

So messed up, but we're alive

Oh, Life is waiting for you

So messed up, but we'll survive

It was midnight. She had been sitting by that window for far too long. Putting on fake smiles every time one of her parents came in to check on her. She even had the audacity to lie to her Mother about not feeling well, so that she could have her dinner in her room. The plate was still there, forgotten.

She knew what she had to do.

She lifted herself up, just enough to stroll over to her desk. She had wasted enough time in such a morose attitude. She pulled out a quill from her still unpacked trunk and began writing on the nearest piece of parchment...

...Dear Harry,