Changing Seasons

Autumn Leaves Are Falling

She watched him from the window-seat of the dormitory she shared with the Head Boy.

The same dormitory she most likely would have shared with him if he hadn't participated in the fiasco of their sixth year.

The Ministry of Magic had not closed the school following Dumbledore's death, after all, and the Minister himself had threatened to take Harry, Ron, and Hermione's wands away if they did not return for their seventh year. Hermione, having been informed of her appointment as Head Girl, was not too terribly disappointed, but Harry and Ron were anxious and it showed. Harry especially was itching to play his part in the war and it had caused a rift in their friendship when Hermione tried to get him to focus on N.E.W.T.S. instead.

Malfoy had been discovered not too long after fleeing with Snape, and surprisingly, it was Harry's own testimony that had cleared his name citing "severe duress" as the cause for his actions. It was the first time, and perhaps the last, he would ever show thanks to Harry Potter. Malfoy was even allowed to go back to school, although he was stripped of his prefect status and no longer a candidate for Head Boy.

Hermione wasn't sure if that was a blessing or a curse since the students went out of their way to shun and avoid him, even the Slytherins. It was the one thing all four houses could agree on, and Hermione was ashamed on behalf of her school. Because she understood.

In times of chaos, we cling to what we know, and one of those things that is ingrained into our genetic code is to protect family above all other things. It was why mothers ran back into burning buildings to save their children or why fathers place themselves in front of their family if they expect an attack.

The window had a perfect view of the castle grounds, the lake to the right and the Quidditch pitch to the left.

Every night he sat by the lake.

Every night she watched him.

And she grieved.

For lost innocence, hardships brought too soon, and the death of happier times.

A passing shadow in the night, he went through every day routines like a ghost of the past. Nothing more than an addition to the castle, just as a portrait or a suit of armor would be. He seemed to be wasting away before her very eyes, speaking to no one and saying nothing, and she wanted so much to help him.

In the silver light of evening as she watched was when he truly came alive and she could imagine him clearly as if he was sitting next to her. His eyes like diamonds and platinum-spun hair with skin made of moonbeams and feline grace, he possessed an ethereal beauty only realized in the pale dimness of night. But behind those gems, twin storms raged with winds and clouds that bespoke of tragedy and loss.

Perhaps it was the storms that made him so unapproachable.

The first time she noticed the shift in the weather was when he sat by the lake in his wool cloak rather then his standard-issue school one. It was a subtle difference, but it caught her attention nevertheless. The chill was setting in, but he continued to sit.

Winter would soon arrive.

It might have only been a change in the wind or the bleeding of the seasons, but she decided the time for watching was gone. As she made her way out of the castle and down by his side, she imagined odd things. Such as, how it might have been different if they had been friends and what it might feel like to run her fingers through his hair.

Odd, fanciful things indeed.

Suddenly, she was standing behind him gazing at the back of his head. Realizing she had nothing to say, she took her seat on his right side without a word. He glanced over to see who had joined him but kept his part in the shared silence. She found herself discomfited by his intense scrutiny. Not knowing how else to reach him without speaking and therefore shattering the peace between them, she reached over his leg and took his hand in her lap giving it a slight squeeze.

As he returned the squeeze and the wind picked back up, blowing across the still water and stirring the last of the autumn leaves around them, she knew somehow it would be okay.