ad astra per aspera - {♕ f.w.}

11. A Magic Map

As always, you'd made no plans to return home for the holidays. The slight homesickness and yearning to see your parents wasn't enough to stop you from signing the paper that McGonagall had handed out to see who would be staying at Hogwarts over Christmas.

Everything about Hogwarts during the holidays was remarkable. The snow-covered grounds, the Christmas trees and decorations that appeared around the castle on Christmas morning, and the feast that night. You only had three of the holidays left until your seventh and final year, and you had no intention of missing any of them. Having once been students at the school themselves, your parents didn't blame you.

There was a final Hogsmeade visit on the Saturday before the break began. The visit was both like the final conclusion of the term and a reward for your hard work. It was a chance to relax, to buy presents to send home and put under the tree in the Gryffindor common room.

Light snow had begun to fall in the early hours of Saturday morning. By the time you'd finished eating breakfast, it had progressed to thick flakes. Now, as you walked the hallways on your way out to the courtyard with Cedric, you could see piles of snow gathering on the windowsills.

The Hufflepuff boy was your only friend who was returning home for Christmas. His parents insisted he deserved a break, even though you often found returning home for the holidays more stressful than staying at school. There were fewer family photos, dinners with grandparents, and burnt cookies at Hogwarts.

Seeing as he'd be leaving for London on Monday and not returning for two weeks, the two of you wanted to spend as much time together as possible. The walk to Hogsmeade was the perfect opportunity: Cedric was meeting Cho in the village, and the twins had disappeared about halfway through breakfast. They'd gone to use up their final few Zonko's products on unsuspecting first years before buying more.

On your way to the courtyard, you crossed paths with Lupin. Although eager to get to the village, you stopped to engage in friendly conversation about the upcoming holidays. Lupin looked to be somewhere in between perfectly healthy and severely ill. His pleasant smile was a little more tired than usual, and you noted his prominent under-eye bags. He looked as though his weight had recently rapidly fluctuated, and that he hadn't slept.

Eventually, with a kind smile, Lupin excused himself.

"Still looks ill, doesn't he?" The boy next to you observed quietly, shooting a glance over his shoulder at the retreating figure of Lupin. "What d'you reckon is the matter with him?"

"No clue," You sighed, hating that you didn't have an answer.

"You should've heard Trelawny talking about him in her lesson," Cedric said, shaking his head. He cleared his throat, speaking in an almost perfect imitation of the Divination professor's wispy, dream-like tone. "Professor Lupin will not be with us for very long. He seems aware, himself, that his time is short."

Trewlawny's "all-knowing" opinion on Lupin's lifespan should've worried you, but you couldn't be bothered to read into it. Predicting death was Trelawny's specialty. In fact, now that she had decided his illness would be his demise, it was more plausible that Lupin would overcome it entirely.

You and Cedric turned the corner. Up ahead you could see the entrance to the courtyard. Unfortunately, there was a group of green-tied boys lingering by the archway. Your mind barely registered the platinum blonde hair amongst the others before it was speaking.

"Oi, Y/L/N," Draco called out. "Where's Potter? Staying here? Scared of passing the Dementors?"

The Slytherin boys burst into laughter. You and Cedric halted. Neither of you wanted to get any closer, but the Slytherins were standing in the way of the exit.