Chocolate with You

Chocolate with You

It's Christmas Eve again and the castle is deserted. There are only a few sixth and seventh year students left. They are mostly Slytherins and Gryffindors, left in the relative safety of the school while their parents fight as Death Eaters and Aurors. Uncertainty torments them every moment. They wait for the Daily Prophet wondering whether they will read about the death of their parents.

The pressure in Gryffindor Tower is building more than ever. Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley have stayed behind as usual. While the girl buries her sorrow in books, the boys stare off into space and take long walks around the lake. Ginny Weasley sleeps all day and writes all night, only eating what the elves bring her.

At 8 p.m., Hermione is sitting on a sofa in front of the fire, reading a book about the Goblin Rebellions. Ron is sitting in the windowsill, looking out at the lake and at Harry, who is standing in the snow by the forest. Suddenly, the red-haired boy stood, looked around and walked out of the room.

He came back ten minutes later with a tray with two mugs of hot chocolate. He sat down next to Hermione and handed her one of the mugs. She put the book aside and took the chocolate.

"Thanks, Ron."

"You're welcome. We both needed a break so I thought this would be nice."

"It is. Why do you say we both need a break?"

"I'm saying it because all you do is read and all I do is stare at the lake and ponder about the faith of the world. It's very sad."

"What, the faith of the world or your waste of time?"

"Both. What can I do to help? What can we all do? We stood against the Dark Lord twice and all we managed to do was delay his rebirth. Now he's strong again and our mission is over. All we can do is watch."

"All except Harry. He will be the one to stop the war. Then he'll die if we don't keep him sane. You know he won't last long after he kills V-Voldemort."

"Yes, I know. He's just standing there, by the lake, thinking about these things, about his parents... We can't do anything now, but we will be able to help him later. We have to survive until that time comes. That's what we were kept alive for."

"I can't remember what it felt like to feel happy about something that didn't involve a battle of some sorts."

"Me neither. I feel so alone nowadays that I would drop out of school if it wasn't for you two. I would live as a muggle with my parents; convince them to move to another continent or to a wizard-free village somewhere. Have a normal life for a change."

"We were happy for a few years. That matters a lot. NON SINE SOLE IRIS. We were happy, and it was because of our friendship."

"It was more than friendship, Ron."

"We wasted it."

"Don't go through the ashes if you don't want a new fire. Let it rest, it means nothing now."

"Doesn't it? Are you sure?" He leaned and gently kissed her lips. She broke the kiss.

"I'm not really sure... We have to be sure about this. We can't be unstable around Harry, we're like his anchors."

"I am sure about it. I'm in love with you. I always will be."

"Oh, Ron... Can we handle it? Can we handle being vulnerable to each other again?"

"We were always vulnerable to each other, Hermione. It comes with the whole friendship thing."

They looked at each other warmly, and then she got up and went to the stairs leading towards the bedrooms. She stopped at the door and said:

"Good night, Ron." She smiled and looked at him over a shoulder. "Oh, and thanks for the chocolate."

He smiled up at her. "Good night, Hermione."

Maybe there was some hope left even in these dark times. Hope for the darker times ahead. Love.