Chapter 66: The Snow Glistens Twice
Just like that, a rift formed in their group. Rose, Hermione, and Sally-Anne were on one side, and Harry and Ron were on the other. Luna, Ginny, and Neville tried not to take sides, although they still ended up divided, with Ginny reluctantly taking the boys' side.
Sally-Anne spent the rest of the day in the Hospital Wing, then the next few days back at home. Alex insisted that she take a break from Hogwarts for a few days to clear her head. Madame Pomfrey had backed her, saying it was either spend a few days at home, or a few weeks in St. Mungo's.
Alex suggested that Harry take the time to cool down, but he was just as angry at Sally-Anne when she came back as he'd been the day she'd left. After everything he'd told Sally-Anne about Sirius Black, why was she defending him? How could she defend him? Sirius Black was a monster, and he deserved to be punished. Harry would do it himself if he could.
Sally-Anne of all people. She had to be repulsed by what Sirius Black had done, but still she defended him. Not Hermione, whom Harry had expected to snap at him. Even Rose wasn't a surprise, but Sally-Anne was. What was wrong with her?
His parents had trusted Black to keep them safe, and he'd run right to Voldemort. Had he given it thought first? Had he at least considered that the Potters would be hurt? Most importantly, why hadn't anyone told him?
Percy or a professor following Harry around angered him more. He took to wearing his invisibility cloak to class just so they wouldn't follow him. Percy tried to convince him that they were trying to keep him safe, but Harry ignored him. Harry didn't care; he didn't want to listen. When a teacher tried ordering him to take off the cloak, he always responded with the question "Why didn't anyone tell me about Sirius Black?" No one gave him a good answer to that, although they still tried.
"Ron, can't you tell your mum to tell Percy to stop following me?" Harry asked one day at dinner.
"Like she'll listen to me," Ron said.
"She's just worried," Ginny said. "Give her another few weeks, and she'll calm down. She was like that every time I got a cut. She'd go mad, telling me I wasn't allowed out of the house anymore, but she'd forget all about it after a week."
"What?!" Ron shouted.
Ginny frowned.
"What'd I say?"
"She never cared half that much when I got hurt!" Ron shouted.
"That's because you just try to act all tough and ignore it," Ginny shot back.
"What, so I should just cry like you do?"
"I do not cry!"
Harry figured out a few days ago that when Ron and Ginny were forced to spend more than a few minutes together, they always started fighting. They were both hotheaded, opinionated, and loud. Harry wondered if it ran in the family.
"It might come off as a mad idea, Ron, but have you tried asking your mum about it?"
The three of them looked up to see Sally-Anne walking past them. Harry avoided eye contact and moved a few seats down. He didn't see it, but Ginny saw Sally-Anne wince.
"Huh?" Ron asked.
"Write your mum and ask her why she's not bothering to look after you," Sally-Anne said. "You've been whining about it all month, so just do something about it."
Sally-Anne sat down next to Ginny and began quietly eating her dinner.
Dear Mum,
Why don't you care that Sirius Black's dog checked my bed?! You've had Percy following Harry around since Hallowe'en! I get that you like Harry better than me, but you could at least pretend you like me at all!
From,
Ron
"That'll get her attention, Ron," Sally-Anne said after she looked over Ron's letter in the Owlery.
"You think so?" Ron asked.
"Yeah, but you shouldn't say–"
"It'll be fine," Ron said as he handed the letter to one of the owls.
Ron felt better after he sent the letter. He felt like people were going to listen to him; he felt like he mattered. If he could patch things up with his mum, maybe he could patch things up with Hermione too.
"Sally-Anne, why's Hermione still mad at me?" Ron asked her as they left the Owlery.
"She won't talk about it," Sally-Anne said. "I bet I know how you can make it up to her."
"How?"
"Before I tell you, you've got to promise to help me with my plan," Sally-Anne said.
As they walked back to Gryffindor Tower, Sally-Anne filled him in on her plan, then explained to him what he needed to do for Hermione.
The next morning, as a flock of owls flew over the Great Hall, one dropped a red letter in front of Ron. Ron took one look at the letter, and his face turned as pale as Rose's.
"Good job, Ron," Ginny said. "You made Mum angry."
Harry noticed that not too far down the table, the same owl dropped a letter in front of both Fred and George.
"Aren't you going to open it?" Sally-Anne asked.
"Are you mad?!" Ron shouted. "That's a howler!"
"What's a howler?" Sally-Anne asked.
"It's gonna yell at Ron," Ginny said, laughing.
"It'll explode if you don't open it," Hermione said apathetically.
"Really?!" Rose asked, her face lighting up.
"Help me!" Ron pleaded. "Please!"
Sally-Anne looked at her friends, and knew from their faces that no one had any interest in helping him. Sally-Anne hadn't known what to expect, but it certainly wasn't that everyone in the Great Hall would be able to hear Ron's mum's reply. It didn't seem fair, but she couldn't stop it. Hermione or Rose probably could, but Hermione was still angry at Ron, and Rose was too amused to stop it.
The letter in front of Ron began to hiss.
"It's really going to explode," Sally-Anne said.
Ron looked to his friends for help, but no one was going to help him. He couldn't use a strong enough quieting charm to make a difference, nor could anything around him muffle the sound.
Then Ron had an idea. He grabbed the letter, pulled open his pack, opened the letter, than crammed it inside before it could start screaming.
"What do you mean Sirius Black looked around your bed?!" came the voice of his mum from inside his pack. "This is just like you, Ronald Bilius Weasley! You never tell me anything! If you had told me that Sirius Black was looking into you, I'd have had Bill and Charlie there within an hour!"
Ron could hear it, but a quick glance around him told him that no one apart from his friends could.
"And don't you DARE tell me I don't care about you! You're my son! Of course, I care! I make sure there's food on the table for all of you! I don't just cook for Ginny! If I didn't love you, I wouldn't put up with this nonsense! Next time you accuse me of liking Harry better than you, try using that brain of yours! I know it's in there! Ugh! I'm so angry with you I can't even think straight!"
There were a few moments of silence before he heard "Love, Your Mother."
Ron was relieved when he heard the letter tear itself to pieces.
"Happy, now?" Sally-Anne asked.
Ron looked down at his pack that had been shouting at him just a moment ago, then back up at Sally-Anne. His mum cared about him. He should've known that already, but it was nice to know. When he thought about it, Ron began to wonder why everything had seemed so bad.
"Yeah," he said. "I think so."
Sally-Anne smiled, happy knowing that something she did had turned out right.
After breakfast, the group began the journey to the Dungeons for Potions. In addition to Percy joining them, Fred and George flanked Ron on either side.
"Mum's really mad at you, Ronniekins," Fred said. "Right, Fred?"
"Absolutely, George," George said. "Told us we had better keep an eye on our baby brother."
"And sister, while we're at it."
"This means we'll have to follow you everywhere, Ronniekins."
"I bet we can set up cots in his room, Fred," Fred said.
"We should probably taste test his food from now on."
That was the beginning of the Twins following Ron everywhere. When Harry and Ginny were with them, the entire Weasley Clan moved as a pack through the halls of Hogwarts. Fred and George insisted on standing on either side of Ron, often wearing sunglasses to make themselves look more tough (that had been Rose's idea). While Harry was annoyed at his tail, Ron loved his. Every time he saw the Twins following him, it reminded him that people cared about him, although he'd never admit that.
Unfortunately, this had the side effect of making it harder to talk to Professor Vector without alerting anyone.
"Why do you need to talk with Vector?" Fred asked.
"None of your business," Ron snapped.
"Is it about Hermione?" George teased.
"Shut up!"
"Oooh! Someone's in love!" Fred sang.
"Am not!" Ron snapped. "I am in love with the idea of not being killed by Rose! Sally-Anne said I can cheer her up with a present, and that Professor Vector would know what to get her. I can't ask Rose because she's mad at me too."
"Right," the boys said.
"What are you gonna get Rose to cheer her up?" Fred asked.
"A flamethrower, I don't know," Ron said. "It's Rose. It's not as if she holds grudges for long. Besides, I could probably get her rocks and she'd be happy."
"What's a flamethrower?" George asked.
"It's a Muggle thing. I read about it in my Muggle Studies book."
"Gasp!" Fred gasped. "Did our brother just say he read about something?"
"He did!" George exclaimed, placing his hands on his cheeks. "I don't believe it."
"Ha ha," Ron said. He picked up his pace; the faster he reached Professor Vector's office, the happier he'd be.
"Professor Vector," he said when he reached her office.
The Arithmancy Professor looked up from the papers on her desk.
"I hope this is quick, Mr. Weasley, I'm short on time."
"I was wondering… erm… Sally-Anne said…"
"I haven't got all day, and I'm sure you don't want your brothers to answer for you."
"I need a present for Hermione so she won't be mad at me and Rose won't kill me!" Ron blurted before Fred or George could take a breath.
A moment of awkward silence fell over the room, and Ron realized that it had been a mistake to ask for a teacher's help. He didn't need them. What was he–
"Does your brother still work in Romania?" Professor Vector asked, snapping Ron out of his thoughts.
"Charlie? Yeah, why?"
"Because also working at the Romanian Dragon Preserve is a man called Rupert Borrell, who is–"
"That's Christine Borrell's husband, right?" Ron asked.
"Who?" the Twins asked.
Professor Vector nodded her approval.
"I'm impressed that you know that. Would you mind educating these two?"
"Christine Borrell writes a lot of Arithmancy books," Ron said. "I didn't realize her husband worked with Charlie. Are you saying I should ask him?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying," Professor Vector replied. "Will that be all?"
"Yeah," Ron said.
"Enjoy your afternoon, Mr. Weasley," Professor Vector said, returning to her work.
Ron ran off, hoping to keep ahead of his brothers long enough to find Sally-Anne.
Harry was excited when he woke up on Christmas morning. In spite of everything that had been happening, Christmas couldn't be ruined. The only way it could be ruined was if fighting broke out, no one got him presents, and they suddenly had to go to class.
"How come I haven't got any presents?" he asked Ron when he saw that nothing was sitting at the foot of his bed.
"Me either!" Ron shouted. "What's going on!"
"Good, you're awake," Neville said from the doorway. "Rose says to meet her in the Room of Requirement."
"Neville?!" Ron exclaimed. "When did you get here?!"
"This morning," Neville said. "Rose brought me here, along with the girls. She says get dressed, or don't, and meet her in the Room of Requirement."
Without waiting for them, he started down the stairs.
"Why?!" Ron demanded.
"It's a surprise!" came the response.
Harry and Ron exchanged glances, then threw on robes over their pajamas. Harry wondered if the Room of Requirement counted as going to class. If it did, that was two things on his list of horrible Christmas events that were already happening, and he hadn't been awake for more than five minutes.
"Can't believe this," grumbled Ron.
"Give them a chance," Harry said as they ran down the stairs.
They found Neville and Ginny waiting for them in the common room. Like the boys, both of them were still in pajamas. Neville's were complete with fuzzy slippers.
"Who else is here?" Harry asked.
"Just us," Ginny said. "Hermione and Sally-Anne are already there, and Rose went to fetch Luna."
"I can't believe this!" Ron shouted again, throwing his arms up in exasperation.
Neither can I, Ronald, Ginny thought. She knew siblings were supposed to be embarrassing, but sometimes Ron was just too much.
"I don't like it either," she said. "The sooner we play Rose's game, the sooner we get our presents."
"Rose isn't mean," Neville said. "I'm sure she's trying to cheer us up."
"I know it might be hard to believe, but Rose doesn't always think about other people," Harry said.
Hearing Harry say that made Neville angry, but he knew that Rose would prove Harry wrong. She was their friend, and she wouldn't take their presents or kidnap them without good reason.
The four of them journeyed to the Room of Requirement, where they found Rose, Luna, Hermione, and Sally-Anne waiting for them.
"Salutations!" Rose exclaimed cheerfully when she saw them. "Is everyone ready?"
"Where's our stuff, Rose?!" Ron demanded.
Ignoring Ron, Rose began to pace up and down along the corridor. She muttered under her breath, until finally the door appeared. It was decorated with ribbons, and a wreath hung in the middle of it.
Ron went for the door, but Rose beat him too it.
"Stop trying to ruin it, Cohort," Rose said as she opened the door.
The first thing Harry noticed was the ceiling. It was just like the one in the Great Hall, but it was burnt orange and covered in clouds, as if the sun were just peeking out over the horizon. Snow drifted down and settled on the floor, but it wasn't cold. He heard the crunching of snow beneath his feet, but it was comfortable to walk through.
The walls were decorated to give the room the appearance that it stretched on over a field covered with snow. Harry had to put his hand on one of the walls to make sure the Room of Requirement hadn't teleported them to somewhere far away.
Across the room was a dark green pine tree, covered with snow and ornaments. Atop the tree sat not a typical star, but a shining orb of pure light. Beside the tree a fireplace crackled silently, and scattered around the base of the tree were presents. Inar stood beside the tree, wearing a green jumper over his overalls and a red and white cap on his head.
Laying in front of the packages was a small black dog. This one wasn't big and scruffy like the one Harry had seen over the summer, but cheerful and fluffy. The second they walked through the door, it barked excitedly and ran straight over to Luna. It sat itself down in front of her, its tail throwing snow around behind it as it panted happily.
"Is that–" Hermione began, but Rose cupped her hand over Hermione's mouth.
"Sh!" Rose said. She turned to Luna, although kept her hand over Hermione's mouth. "Her name's Tutela. Brain says that's Latin for 'safeguard'. She's a Homunculus like Int, but she'll keep you safe no matter what."
Luna crouched down and began to pet Tutela. The "dog" nestled up against the little girl, happy as could be.
"Also, she can swim," Rose said. She paused, then added, "And fly."
"Thank you, Rose," Luna said. She gave her friend a hug as the boys and Ginny ran to get at their own presents.
The second they reached the tree, Inar held up a hand to stop them. He then began running about the tree, grabbing presents and handing them to people.
"You've got to be kidding me," Ron said.
"I like it," Ginny said as she was handed a small box wrapped in red paper. "Thanks, Inar."
Inar buzzed as he grabbed a long, obviously broom-shaped present and handed it to Harry, then slapped Ron's hand when the ginger reached for a present from the stack.
"Wait," Rose said. "We all helped with this, so we're all gonna watch him open it."
Harry knew without opening the present that it was a new broom. He also knew that his friends weren't exactly wealthy, so it wasn't likely to be quite the same as his old Nimbus 2000. Still, it was a nice gesture, so he did his best to look thankful.
When he tore off the paper, Harry got a big surprise. It was just like the one in Diagon Alley at which he'd stared longingly every time he passed it. The wood was smoothed and polished, and even the bristles were in perfect order.
"That's…" he said. "That's…"
"Use your words," Ginny said, hardly containing her excitement. "You're not me."
"That's a Firebolt!" Harry exclaimed. "What?! How?!"
"It was Sally-Anne's idea!" Ginny exclaimed.
Harry stared at Sally-Anne. He couldn't believe it. He'd hardly spoken to Sally-Anne since the Hogsmeade trip, and yet she had apparently orchestrated an entire heist to get him a new broom.
"How?" Harry asked again.
"I remembered that you really liked it at Diagon Alley, so I asked Alex, and she said to ask Alicia and Angie," Sally-Anne explained. "They told me the price of it, and it was a lot, so I asked Hermione and Rose. Turns out, the gold Rose has can be exchanged for galleons, but we couldn't just send it all in, because it'd draw attention to her."
"Sally-Anne had the idea to collect donations and have Rose match them," Hermione said. "That way, Rose would only need to supply part of the money."
"We exchanged my gold for your galleons at nearly a hundred different locations, none of which were Gringotts," Rose said. "Also, as few as possible that spoke the same language."
"That was my idea," Ron said proudly.
"Since she only exchanged a few pieces of gold at a time, she was just like any other customer," Neville said.
"We helped!" Ginny exclaimed, giddy with excitement. "Rose took us all over the world so we could exchange her gold without anyone noticing."
"Professor Dumbledore took me to get the broom last week," Sally-Anne said. "Everyone else pitched in to help."
"Everyone?" Harry asked.
"Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, Sprout, Lupin, Babbling, Vector, and Hagrid all gave some galleons towards it," Hermione said. "Other contributors include the Gryffindor Quidditch team, the Gryffindor prefects, the Weasley family, and Hufflepuff House. For every galleon they gave, Rose gave five."
"Professor Dumbledore pulled some strings and got a discounted price," Neville added.
Harry didn't know what to say. He wasn't sure which part surprised him more: the part where the whole thing was led by Sally-Anne, whom he'd driven to tears less than a month ago, or the part where Professor Snape donated money for him to get a new broom. What did Rose say to convince him to do that?!
Harry looked down at his new broom, then up at his friends. They stood or sat around him, waiting for his reaction.
"I don't know what to say," he said, looking at the word firebolt emblazoned on the broom.
"How about tha–" Ginny began, but was cut off by Neville elbowing her.
"She's right," Harry said. "Thank you. Everyone, thank you. I don't know what else to say."
Harry realized he did know what to say. It was something he should've said weeks ago, but he'd been too angry to say it.
"Sally-Anne, I'm… I'm sorry."
"You don't have to apologize," Sally-Anne said. "It really wasn't a big deal."
"Great, we all love each other again," Ginny said. "I'm with Cohort on this. Can we open presents now?"
Sally-Anne blushed, then sat down in the "snow". Harry sat down beside her, and Inar began to distribute the rest of the presents.
Ginny tore open the small box from Rose, to find that it was in fact a small box. A gold ring with ruby runes engraved in it sat inside.
"Ring of Fire Immunity," Rose said as Ginny opened it, "so I don't have to keep fixing your burns after practice."
Ginny grinned and slipped the ring on her finger.
"Kethé!"
"Is that what took you so long?" Hermione asked.
"Nope," Rose replied as she directed Inar to another box.
Inar grabbed a package and dropped it in front of Hermione. She would've opened it had she not recognized it immediately and known it wasn't for her.
<He wants you to give it,> Rose informed her.
Hermione glared at Rose, but knew she wasn't being given a choice. She walked over to Ron and sat down beside him.
"Here," she said, not looking Ron in the eye. "Rose and I got this for you."
Ron took the small box and greedily tore it open. Inside was a black horse, reared up on its hind legs, with a black knight mounted on top of it. The knight held its sword out, ready to command its army. It held the reins of its horse with the other hand, but under its arm was its helmet. As Ron looked closer, he realized that the knight had his face.
"It's just like one of the knights from Professor McGonagall's chess set," Hermione said. "I got her to show us the original, and Rose carved it."
"Why'd you give it my face?" Ron asked.
"Because that was the piece you played," Hermione said.
"And the rest of it?" Rose asked.
"No," Hermione said, returning to her original seat next to Rose.
Ginny looked from Ron to Hermione.
"Come on!" she whined. "It's Christmas! Lighten up!"
"Ginny, drop it!" Hermione snapped.
Ron knew Hermione was still angry at him, but that would change when she saw what he'd gotten her. It had required him getting help from three people, and Ron hated getting help from anyone, but it would be worth it if his friend would just talk to him again.
"Rose, you did ask if Luna could keep a dog here, right?" Sally-Anne asked as a book-shaped present was dropped in front of her.
"Tutela, quick! Professor McGonagall!" Rose shouted.
Tutela lept up from Luna's lap and dove inside her pack. A pair of ears poked out of the sack, indicating that there was certainly not a dog inside of it, and anyone who said otherwise was spreading lies and slander.
"So that's a 'no'," Hermione said.
"They let her keep Int," Neville said. "I'm sure Too… erm…"
"Tutela," Rose said.
"I'm sure Tutela won't be that different," Neville said.
Inar continued to deliver presents to everyone, although only one person was allowed to open a present at a time, according to Rose.
"Is that how it's done back home?" Harry asked.
"We haven't got Snowy Time back home," Rose replied. "I just don't want to miss more opportunities to have fun."
There were no other presents for Harry, but his broom was all he needed. He sat beside Sally-Anne and watched her face light up every time she received a book she didn't already have.
"I'm sorry I didn't get you much," Harry said.
"It's alright," Sally-Anne said. "I… I didn't mean that Sirius Black shouldn't be punished for what he did, I just don't think anyone should suffer… that. I really hope he pays for what he did. Just… please be careful."
"I will. You're a good friend, Sally-Anne."
While they spoke, Neville opened another red wrapping paper present, and found a small crystal inside.
"Lesser returning crystal," Rose explained. "Press it to the hilt of the Sword of Gryffindor, and you'll be able to call it up to 30 feet away. I also added the disarming property to the sword, so you'll never be able to be disarmed."
Neville followed her instructions, and the crystal vanished the moment he touched it to the sword.
"Is that supposed to happen?" he asked.
"Yup!" Rose exclaimed.
Neville's sword disappeared back inside his gloves.
"Thanks," he said. He noticed a small pile of presents beside Rose. "Aren't you going to open any of your presents?"
"Later," Rose said. "Who's next? Sally-Anne?"
"I'm not opening my present from you until you open yours from me," she said.
Rose pouted at Sally-Anne, but Sally-Anne was backed up by the rest of their friends and Inar, who crossed his tiny arms at Rose. Without taking her eyes off her friend, Rose picked up one of her presents.
Rose tore through the wrapping paper, revealing another book. The title of this one was Through the Looking Glass.
"It's about a girl called 'Alice'," Sally-Anne said.
"She finds a place called 'Wonderland'," Hermione said. "Which in Latin is, coincidentally, Mirari Terra."
"That sounds like Mirari-Terrara," Luna said as she stroked Tutela's fur.
"Huh?" Ron asked, looking to Hermione for an explanation. Instead, he received a death glare, so he turned instead to Sally-Anne.
"Her older sister's name is Alice Mirari-Terrara," Sally-Anne said. "Hermione pointed that out, so we got her a copy of Through the Looking Glass as a sort of joke."
"Still a book!" Rose exclaimed, placing it on her lap.
"That's what I thought," Sally-Anne said, laughing. She picked up Rose's present and began to unwrap it.
Opening the box, she lifted up a beautiful dress, similar in style to Rose's, but with no sleeves. It was a lighter shade of green than her ribbon, and sparkled as it caught the firelight.
"Rose!" Sally-Anne gasped. "I… I don't know what to say! It's beautiful!"
"Designed to fit under other clothing," Rose said. "I'll never understand you lot and your weird habit of wearing different clothes."
Sally-Anne stared at the dress for a moment, then remembered that everything Rose gave her did something. Rose could easily put together a fine dress, but that was never the highlight of it.
"What's it do?"
"Continuous sirene's grace," Rose said. "Also shiftweave. Among other things, bonus on Charisma, and your Charisma Modifier is applied to your AC."
"It's wonderful!" Sally-Anne said, admiring the dress. "I can't wait to try it on."
"Why wait?" Rose asked.
"Erm…" Sally-Anne looked around at the occupants of the room.
"Right!" Rose exclaimed, then nodded to Inar.
Inar ran over to Sally-Anne, holding a wand in his hand. He ushered Sally-Anne back a few feet, then waved the wand. Darkness crept out from around him, enveloping Sally-Anne in it. Inar stepped out of the darkness, wearing tinted goggles, and folded his arms.
"Rose, I know you think this is helping, but it's really not," Sally-Anne said from inside the darkness.
"Don't worry, I'll distract them," Rose said, picking up another present. "Inar's not gonna let anyone pass."
"Is that supposed to be menacing?" Hermione asked, looking at Inar.
"It's not his fault he didn't put ranks into Intimidate," Rose said. "No one puts ranks into Intimidate except for skill monkeys. Besides, everyone knows you get a circumstance bonus for decapitating someone. Nothing says 'fear me' like a–"
"Severed head on a stick, I remember," Hermione groaned.
While Sally-Anne quickly changed into her new dress, Rose opened her present from Luna. She figured from the shape of it that it was another drawing, and she was excited to see it.
Rose stopped and stared at the picture she held in her hands. All her friends could see was the black and red frame surrounding the picture.
"Let's see it!" Ginny shouted.
Rose gave the same sad little smile she always had when talking about the subjects of the picture. She turned it around and revealed a picture of a man and woman. The man had wavy dark orange hair, and the woman had silky black hair. They were perfect, down to the last detail.
"Luna, that's amazing," Hermione said.
"Who are they?" Ginny asked.
"Mum and Dad," Rose said quietly. She gently placed the picture next to her and wrapped her arms around Luna.
"Thanks, Moon," she whispered.
"You're welcome, Rose," Luna said.
Luna returned her friend's hug just as Sally-Anne stepped out of Rose's make-shift changing room into the winter wonderland that the Room of Requirement had created for them.
"Well?" she asked. She twirled around, allowing her skirt to fan out around her. "What do you think?"
The emerald green pleated skirt went just past her knees, and her pajama top covered the rest of it. Even then, she looked amazing. Snowflakes landed like glitter on her, making the Gryffindor sparkle in the fake sunlight. Her ribbon, dress, and pendant all came together perfectly, and somehow managed to match her dull gray pajamas.
Everyone stared at Sally-Anne. No one could believe how wonderful she looked; even Rose hadn't expected that.
"Wow," Ginny breathed. "Rose, can you–"
"You can literally walk through fire and not get burned," Rose said. "No."
Sally-Anne happily sat down next to Harry, both glad that everything was turning out alright.
"Rose," Hermione said, holding up a red box. "Be honest: is this going to explode?"
"Nope!"
Hermione narrowed her eyes at her friend, certain that Rose had created yet another over-the-top object for her. Still, Hermione opened it, and found…
"A hairbrush?" Hermione asked.
"Hairbrush of prestidigitation," Luna said.
"That's it," Rose added. "No fire, no bonuses, just prestidigitation."
Hermione looked at the brush, then ran it through her hair. Sure enough, her hair, skin, and clothing were all cleaned instantly.
"You can also use it to dye your hair if you want," Luna said. "It only lasts an hour, though."
"I'll keep that in mind," Hermione said. "Thanks, Rose."
"You should thank Moon, too," Rose said. "It was her idea."
"Well, thanks, Luna," Hermione said.
"You're welcome, Brain," Luna said.
They all looked around, and saw one present sitting beside Hermione that had yet to be opened. It was Ron's present, and she didn't know if she wanted to open it, given how he'd treated her. For all she knew, it was a trick inspired by his brothers.
"Hermione, it's just you left," Sally-Anne said. "Go ahead and open it."
"Sure?" Hermione said, looking around at everyone else. Rose had finished opening her presents, the last ones being books from the boys and Ginny, and Rose's present was the last of Sally-Anne's gifts. No one else had anything left to open.
"Here goes," Hermione muttered, carefully opening the present.
She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw it. The cover read "The Arithmancer's Field Guide – by Christine Burrell", but the most amazing part was what was written inside.
"To Hermione," she read aloud. "I hope this helps you turn the Arithmancy world on its head. Best of luck, Christine Burrell."
She looked up at Ron, still not believing what he'd given her.
"This isn't supposed to be published until March," Hermione said. "How…?"
"Her husband works with Charlie, and it happened that he owed him a favor," Ron said. "Are we good?"
"What?"
"Are you still mad at me?" Ron asked.
Hermione lost it. After what Ron had done, he thought getting her a silly book would make up for it. Nothing could ever make up for it! They would never be "good", and nothing Ron did or said would change that!
"I need a minute," she said, getting up from the floor and briskly walking to the door.
"Hermione!" Sally-Anne called, going after her.
Hermione left the Room of Requirement, all her presents except the book inside her pack, and started walking away. Her friends quickly followed after her.
"What's your problem?!" Ron shouted after her. "What did I do?!"
"You're joking!" Hermione shot back, whirling around to face him. "How can you not know?!"
"Come on, you two," Sally-Anne said. "It's–"
"All I did was outsmart you!" Ron shouted. "Is it so important to be cleverer than everyone else?!"
Hermione stormed up to him, her face turning red.
"That's what you think this is about?!"
"Well what else is there?! What did I do that's made you this angry?!"
"You called me 'Mudblood'!" Hermione screamed.
For the next few minutes, the only sound they heard were the corridors calling out "Mudblood! Mudblood!". Everyone backed away from Ron as if he had suddenly contracted the plague, making the ginger feel tiny and alone.
"What?" Ron asked.
"You drew your wand. I disarmed you, but that strap held your wand on your wrist. You grabbed your wand and threw a Scattering Hex at me. I fell down, then you gloated about the strap. Then you said 'I guess you're not so clever after all, Mudblood.'"
Ron looked at his friends, but none of them would make eye contact with him. He looked back at Hermione and saw that she was starting to cry.
"I didn't say that," he said.
"I remember everything, Ronald," Hermione said, fighting hard to keep her voice level. "I'll always remember it. Right up until the day I die, I'll remember the day when one of my best friends said my blood was filth."
Ron didn't know what to do. His mind was racing, trying to understand Hermione's words. Her memory was better than his, but he didn't remember saying those words. Had he forgotten? How could he have forgotten something like that?
"I thought you were brilliant," Hermione said. "When I didn't believe I could, you convinced me that I could pull a spell out of thin air. I gave you that chess piece so you could look at it and remember the days that you led us to victory. Both the chess match against Professor McGonagall and the fight against the Basilisk. We won those because of you, Ron. I knew how important it was to you, and I didn't give it to you because you were mad at me."
Ron couldn't believe it. All year he'd believed that no one cared, but Hermione cared all along. He'd done nothing but shout at her when she thought he was amazing. She had treated him with respect, which made her next words sting all the more.
"But if that's the way you're going to be when you win, I don't want to be around you," Hermione sobbed. "Don't talk to me anymore, Ronald."
She turned to leave.
"But–"
"We're not friends," Hermione said, turning back to him. She shook her head. "Not anymore."
Hermione walked away from Ron. She didn't know where she was going, since she needed Rose to help her get back home, but she didn't care. She just wanted to be away from Ron.
Ron watched as his friend walked away, then turned to the rest of the group. He could feel the accusatory looks they were giving him without looking, but it was much worse to see.
Ginny was the first to walk off, followed by Sally-Anne. Neville and even Harry left after them, leaving only Rose and Luna.
She's going to kill me, Ron thought. Who cares?
"Alright, get it over with," Ron said.
Rose shook her head slowly.
"The two of you need to calm down," Rose said, "then you can apologize."
That didn't sound like Rose, but Ron didn't know what to think. The only coherent thought in his mind was Merlin, what have I done?
"I'm… I…"
"It's alright, Cohort," Luna said. "You'll be friends again before you know it."
Luna smiled at him before walking off with Rose, Tutela trotting along behind them.
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