Wonderstruck

Chapter 25: Alone Again (Flashback Part 1)

Hello, everyone!

This chapter begins the flashback. Initially it was supposed to be one chapter, but I never planned it to be as long as it turned out to be (20+ pages). So I divided it up into three parts. This is part one.

Don't you just LOVE Lemony Snicket quotes? I DO!

Enjoy!

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“Everyone, at some point in their lives, wakes up in the middle of the night with the feeling that they are all alone in the world, and that nobody loves them now and that nobody will ever love them, and that they will never have a decent night's sleep again and will spend their lives wandering blearily around a loveless landscape, hoping desperately that their circumstances will improve, but suspecting, in their heart of hearts, that they will remain unloved forever. The best thing to do in these circumstances is to wake somebody else up, so that they can feel this way, too.” 
― Lemony Snicket

                “They are coming, aren’t they?” Hermione asked, trying to hide her nervousness as she fixed Ginny’s hair. They were the only two left in the dormitory; Parvati and Lavender having left already.

                “If it makes you feel any better, I can read Harry’s letter to you,” Ginny replied, accioing Harry’s letter from her bedside table. “Hm…We can just skip over this,” Ginny mumbled as she skimmed through the letter trying to find the right place, while the tips of her ears turned pick. “Ah! Found it! ‘As for the New Year’s Ball…You didn’t think Ron and I would let you and Hermione go dateless, now did you? And there is a surprise for Her--’ wait I wasn’t supposed to read that part out loud,” Ginny added with a mischievous glance at Hermione.

                “Oh, ok. That’s a relief,” Hermione replied as she finished Ginny’s hair. “Now Draco can go with whomever he asked.”

                “Oh. Were you two going together?” Ginny asked with an amused look on her face.

                “Oh Merlin! It is nothing like that! If Parvati or Lavender heard that, it would be the end of my sanity. They would never let me live in peace. You should hear some of the rumors those two spread about me and Draco. If they weren’t in Gryffindor, I’d take a gazillion points from them! Speaking of which, how did they end up in Gryffindor? They are Hufflepuffs, through and through!” Hermione exclaimed. After seeing Ginny’s expression, she dryly added, “I bet you already heard them all, right?”

                “Yep. I’m usually one of the firsts to know,” Ginny replied with a smirk. “So, did you hear the one about you and Draco in the prefect’s bathroom?”

                “No!! Why doesn’t anyone tell me these things?” Hermione whined. “Just imagine if Professor McGonagall heard about it!”

                “I’d imagine that she did, considering Parvati and Lavender told everyone,” seeing Hermione’s expression, she hastily added, “Not that anyone would believe that you’d so something like that. Don’t worry. So, what were you saying about going with Draco?”

                “Oh, yeah,” Hermione replied looking relieved. “We decided that if either one of us couldn’t get dates, we’d go with each other. Ginny! Don’t give me that look!” Hermione exclaimed as she caught Ginny try to hide a sly smile. “There is nothing, I repeat nothing, going on between us! We are just friends. I know he is basically doing it for my benefit. He doesn’t seem to have trouble getting dates. He is just being nice!”