Star of Gryffindor - Book 1

Chapter 21 - How to Live with It

I woke up with a start. It was a dream. I was safe, in my bed, in Gryffindor tower. It was a dream. It was just what my brain wanted to think...that Wren was redeemable...

Rose sat up sleepily. "What's wrong?" she whispered, pushing her bushy hair out of her face.

"Dream. I'm ok," I whispered, lying back down. After a minute, I heard the small thump of Rose falling back into her pillow. Before I knew it, I was asleep once more.

~~~~

It was the day before we were supposed to leave when James and I finally got a chance to talk through what had happened. We managed to slip away from everyone and settle down against the tree by the lake. The last I'd sat there was with Wren...

For a few minutes, we just stared out at the lake. I didn't know where to start. I doubt James did either, but we needed to talk. We needed to go through it, together. That's what Professor Patil had said, at least.

"So..." James said finally. He didn't seem to know how to go on.

"I can't believe she did that," I whispered, hugging my knees.

"I...I can't either..." James sighed. "She was our friend. It doesn't even make sense."

"She was never our friend," I said bitterly. "She was lying the whole time."

James frowned. "It would be so much easier to believe that... But, she was, really. You saw. She couldn't cast the Crucuatus Curse on me..."

The truth was undeniable. I desperately wanted to hate her. To have her be an evil, deceitful person with no good qualities. That would make this so much easier. But she wasn't that. And I knew it. She was terrible, but she had genuinely not wanted to hurt us.

"She...why...I don't understand..." I couldn't get my thoughts together, so I put my head down on my knees, trying not to cry again. I did enough of that in my pillow at night.

James patted my back. "I don't know. But we'll find out. I know it. I'm sure she had a reason..."

"She said she didn't want to," I said, lifting my head.

James nodded. "Yeah. So, for now we can assume that someone was forcing her." He was trying his hardest to convince both of us, I could tell, but it wasn't working. He didn't believe his words. I didn't believe them.

But neither of us admitted it.

~~~~

Before the End Of Term Feast, Professor McGonagall called us to her office. By "us," I mean James and me.

We filed up the staircase and into the openness of the circular office. It was a lot more familiar to me than any of the other first years, most likely. Professor McGonagall motioned to two chairs, and we sat down.

"You two have saved the school quite a bit of trouble," she said, smiling kindly. "You've stopped several attacks from reaching a dangerous level, and you managed to flush out our criminal. The school would like to thank you."

I glanced over at James, who looked pleasantly surprised. We hadn't actually done much, except break a lot of rules and recklessly throw ourselves into dangerous situations, but if they wanted to reward us, that was fine with me.