Through All the Pain // N. Longbottom

Sixth Year // Chapter 15

"Psst! Lori! Psst!" I slowly opened my eyes to see Hermione sitting on the edge of my bed with a smile. 

"What is it, Mione?" I said glancing at my clock that read thirty minutes past five. "It's so bloody early."

"Sorry, but someone is in the Common Room and wants to see you right away," Hermione said pulling me out of my nice warm bed and into the chill dorm air.

"Oh, Mione!" I whined quickly reaching around for my closest jumper and pulling it over the top of my head just as Hermione opened the door and pulled me out of the dorm. I stumbled over my own feet as she rushed us down the stairs. Luckily I had slippers on, cause the stone stairs were bound to be like icecubes if I hadn't. Just as we were about to get in view of the Common Room, Hermione placed a blindfold over my eyes with a giggle.

"A blindfold over the eyes before breakfast is never a good sign," I muttered as she continued to lead me down the stairs. 

"I wouldn't be too sure of that, Lori," spoke Hermione in a sing-songy type of tone. I was about to respond, however, it was a yelp as the second pair of hands grabbed my other arm and gruffly led me to a chair. Hermione then giggled as she undid my blindfold but held it in place.

"Three, two, one." a voice whispered. The blindfold dropped which revealed the Gryffindor Common Room lit up brightly, with a bunch of students gathering here.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Everyone shouted, some even throwing confetti towards me. I glanced over to my right and saw that Ron was sitting looking at all of this with a look of pure shock. Even though we weren't talking at the moment, I couldn't help but smile as his face lit up and he jumped up and started doing a little dance with Harry. 

"Happy birthday, love," said Neville as he pulled me out of the chair and into his embrace. At that moment, I couldn't even be annoyed at the chill in the morning air as I was now being embraced in the warmest hug ever. 

"Did you do all of this?" I asked looking up at him after we had a little kiss. 

"With the help of Hermione, Harry, Dean, and Sha-Boom, we were able to get this planned after the trip to Hogsmeade was canceled," Neville replied gesturing to the Common Room. 

There were "Happy Birthday Ron & Lori" banners draped over the portrait hole, the fireplace, the stairs, and even hanging from the chandelier. Adoring the walls were blown up pictures of the two of us from when we were literally babies, to pictures of us over the years at Hogwarts, with, of course, the occasional photo taken over the summer holidays. One photo was right under a banner that read: "Happy Birthday to the King and Queen of Sibling moments".

It was a blown-up picture of us in the summer before everything changed when we were just fourteen years old and just having the best summer we could before going to the Quidditch World Cup with our family and friends. I had just managed to shove Ron into the pond outside the Burrow, causing him to get soaked to the bone. So he chased after me to throw me into the lake. The exact moment the photo was taken he had picked me up from behind and started taking me to the pond. I was in mid-laugh as he was in a middle evil smirk. 

"Where have those times gone?" I whispered as I tightened my grip on Neville's hand.

"Go wish Ron, a happy birthday," Neville said quietly kissing my temple. 

"Yeah, I think I'll pass," I said completely going back on what my heart wanted. 

"You can't stay mad at him forever."

"I can stay mad at him for a long time, if people would stop trying to get me to forgive him," I said coldly. "Sometimes, you are all pushing for me to forgive him before I can, and that hurts me. Besides, we may be twins ... but if he wishes I wasn't his sister then he can get his wish."