Till The End | h.p

a storm

They are all packing their things, getting ready to go back to Hogwarts. Normally, Sam would enjoy returning to school, her second home, but considering the current situation going on there... she's not terribly fond of the idea of going back. She would much rather stay at Grimmauld Place with her family.

"Is it wrong to want to stay here, Hermione?"

Without looking at Sam, Hermione chuckles half heartedly, "No. In fact, I think I'd like to stay here too."

"Do you regret not going home for the holidays?"

She hesitates, but only for a moment, "Lately, I've been starting to feel like wherever you all are, is home. Does that make sense?"

Sam lets a smile form, "You know, I'm starting to think the exact same thing."

As they finish packing, they haul their things downstairs to say goodbye to Molly, Arthur and Sirius. Sirius pulls Sam and Harry aside.

"I know how hard it is to see the good in yourselves when you feel darkness all around you. But there's something I want both of you to remember, we've all got both light and dark inside of us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are."

Molly calls out to them, "Time to go, my dears."

Sirius hugs Harry first and then Sam, "When all this is over, we'll be a proper family. You'll see."

They both nod and give a small smile. Everyone grabs their own things and heads to King's Cross. They board the train and the Golden Four head into their compartment. Harry sits next to Sam and holds her hand. In times like these, they hold onto each other for hope and comfort and reassurance.

"You know we're all going to have to crack down on studying for our OWLs this term," Hermione states.

"As long as we all study together, using your notes, Hermione," Ron acknowledges.

She scoffs and turns to Sam, "I've barely seen you studying at all this year."

Ron furrows his brows, "Yeah, actually, I don't think I've seen you study at all."

Sam is at a loss for words. With everything that's been going on, she didn't find it important to tell anyone. Truth is, the more prominent her illness gets, the worse her memory becomes. Every time she tries to study, she flips the page and forgets everything she read on the page before. Not many people noticed, but she's been top of the class, just below Hermione, since their first year. But now, she's nearly failing all her classes because she can't retain anything. It hurts her to think about. She used to be one of the smartest people in their year, and now, she can't even remember what she did yesterday.

"I've been studying when I can't sleep at night, it uh- helps me retain it better," she lies.

Hermione and Ron buy it, but Harry doesn't. Ron and Hermione continue their own conversation and Harry leans over to her.

"What's really going on?" He whispers.

She bites her lip, "I'm failing all my classes because I can't retain the information. I can't remember anything, not even Hermione's birthday."

He can practically feel her frustration and sadness, so he tries to make light of it, "I'll remind you the night before, how about that?"

She smiles at him, thankful that he didn't push her. When they arrive at Hogwarts, they go about their days as normal for this year. They continue with their meetings and Hermione sets up study groups that the twins decide to join in on occasionally when they have nothing better to do.