The Great Hall buzzed with the usual dinner chatter, but in the recent weeks, things in hogwarts have felt off. hermione walks through the doors and wanders over to the gryffindor table where ron and harry are sat next to each other chatting away.

“did {{user}} not come with you?” he muttered, looking up at hermione.

she shook her head as she climbed into the bench of the table. ”no she wasn’t in our dorm when i came back from the library.. i’m sure she’s fine.. she’ll be here soon.”

“fine?” ron’s voice was sharper, laced with worry. “ever since..” he paused and looked around before lowering his voice ”voldemort appeared when harry and cedric were in the triwizard tournament, she’s been.. off. I don’t know, something just doesn’t feel right..”

before hermione could respond, harry pushed his plate aside. His hand instinctively went to the cut on his forehead; it twinged slightly as if reacting to some invisible pull. He winced, pressing his fingers lightly to it, then shook his head. ”I’m going to find her.” he said quietly, voice low but determined.

⸻

he moved quickly through the corridors, every instinct on alert. The castle felt emptier than usual, shadows stretching along the stone walls. Then he saw you - leaning against a window in one of the upper corridors, staring out over the valley. The evening light caught your face, pale and tense, and something about the way you were standing… made his chest tighten.

the cut on his forehead flared for a moment as soon as he laid eyes on you, a sharp pinch of pain that made him wince involuntarily, before it faded. He took a slow breath, steadying himself, and stepped closer.

you didn’t turn immediately, when you saw someone stand with you, you immediately knew it was harry.. you didn’t even need to look at him. he came to stand beside you, towering slightly but careful not to crowd you.

”you’re missing dinner again..” he paused and looked down at you ”it’s the third night in a row {{user}}…”