𝐑𝐄𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒-ℍ𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕪 ℙ𝕠𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣❥

𝐃𝐇 𝟏𝟒

When Emily woke the following day it was several seconds before she remembered what had happened. Then she hoped, childishly, that it had been a dream, that Ron was still there, that he had never left ans had never ever said those words to her.

Yet by turning her head on her pillow she could see Ron's deserted bunk. It was like a dead body in the way it seemed to draw her eyes.

Emily pushed Harry off of her slowly, allowing him to continue sleeping and jumped down from her own bed, keeping her eyes averted from Ron's. Hermione, who was already busy in the kitchen, did not wish Emily good morning, but turned her face away quickly as she went by.

He's gone, Emily told herself. He's gone. She had to keep thinking it as she washed and dressed, as though repetition would dull the shock of it. He's gone and he's not coming back. And that was the simple truth of it, Emily knew, because their protective enchantments meant that it would be impossible, once they vacated this spot, for Ron to find them again.

Emily, Harry and Hermione ate breakfast in silence. Hermione's eyes were puffy and red; she looked as if she had not slept.

They packed up their things, Hermione dawdling. Emily knew why she wanted to spin out their time on the riverbank; several times she saw her look up eagerly, and she was sure she had deluded herself into thinking that she heard footsteps through the heavy rain, but no red-haired figure appeared between the trees.

Every time Emily imitated her, looked around (for she could not help hoping a little, herself) and saw nothing but rain-swept woods, another little parcel of fury exploded inside her. She could hear Ron saying, "You're a black!", and she resumed packing with a hard knot in the pit of her stomach.

The muddy river beside them was rising rapidly and would soon spill over onto their bank. They had lingered a good hour after they would usually have departed their campsite.

Finally having entirely repacked the beaded bag three times, Hermione seemed unable to find any more reasons to delay: She, Emily and Harry grasped hands and Disapparated, reappearing on a windswept heather-covered hillside.

The instant they arrived, Hermione dropped Harry's and Emily's hand and walked away from them, finally sitting down on a large rock, her face on her knees, shaking with what Emily knew were sobs.

Emily sighed and walked over to Hermione. She climbed onto the rock and sat beside her.

"Do you want me to even try and make it better?" Emily asked, she knew that no amount of words could make Hermione feel any better about the situation.

Hermione shook her head, wiping her nose on her sleeve, "Just stay with me for a bit."

Emily did so, Hermione leant her head on Emily's shoulder and they both sat in silence. Although neither of them made any attempts to try and speak any words of comfort, they both felt a tiny bit better by just being with each other.

The three of them did not discuss Ron at all over the next few days. Harry was determined never to mention his name again, Hermione seemed
to know that it was no use forcing the issue, and Emily was very stubborn on the fact that she was okay and nothing he said bothered her, although sometimes at night when she thought Harry was sleeping, he would hear her crying on his chest.

Meanwhile Harry had started bringing out the Marauder's Map and examining it by wandlight. He was waiting for the moment when Ron's labeled dot would reappear in the corridors of Hogwarts, proving that he had returned to the comfortable castle, protected by his status of pureblood.

By day, they devoted themselves to trying to determine the possible locations of Gryffindor's sword, but the more they talked about the places in which Dumbledore might have hidden it, the more desperate and far-fetched their speculation became.