It had been a rough few weeks. After the rest of school had heard Ron's passing, everyone had been in a bit of a slump. Some got over it quickly, the ones who didn't know him well, or hadn't known him at all. For others, it took a little longer. But then there were the friends and family.

Harry hadn't left his room since. Not for classes, not for meals, not to watch the Quidditch practices that Ginny had invited him to. It was as if he didn't even exist anymore. The only people who ever saw him anymore were Ginny, Hermione, Draco, and of course Neville, since they did share a room.

Hermione tried to get Harry to leave his room all throughout the first week, but eventually gave up. She dropped off notes everyday, and they would silently do their work together, Draco often joining. She rarely took breaks, always working on something. She couldn't, she wouldn't stop, because if she did, she'd feel it all again.

Ginny still couldn't wrap her finger around it. She always half-expected to see Ron every time she turned a corner, or during meals. Ginny had only cried once though, and even that was unexpected, because she hadn't cried in years. But Ginny was doing better than some of the others, because she had Luna. Luna, who looked for the good in every situation, who always had the strangest, yet best things to say. So Ginny looked for the happiness, trying to see things as Luna did.

Blaise was trying, he really was. But every time he looked over, he saw the empty bed. He tried to ignore the movie projector that was still set up in the room. He tried not to think about the fact that they never did get to go to Hogsmeade together, or the horrible nickname the ginger had given him. He was trying.

Pansy rarely saw Draco anymore. She spent her time comforting Blaise and Hermione, for her time for mourning was gone. She hadn't spoken to Ron very much, but she had considered him a friend. He'd been great about her getting together with Hermione, and even found someone else for himself.

Draco spent nearly any free time he had with Harry. It was difficult, seeing someone he cared for so deeply this way. He tried to help in any way he could, but there really wasn't much he could do. He had moved back into his old room, since Theo hadn't returned, which was probably a good thing. If Draco ever saw that git again, he would Avada Kedavra the living daylights out of him.

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Christmas holiday was approaching quickly, and Harry knew he was expected to go to the Weasley's. He couldn't though, he still felt guilty, no matter what everyone else told him. He knew it was his fault, and he relived it every night. The same dream, or rather memory, plagued him every night. Every time he fell asleep, though he tried not too, he would have to see Ron die all over again.

It was a relief when he got the letter from Teddy's grandmother. It was a relief when Draco invited him to stay for the holidays. Between the two, it would take up nearly the entire holiday, and he wouldn't need to come up with a dumb excuse for why he couldn't stay with the Weasley's.

Hermione would be going to Rome with her parents for a week, then she would spend Christmas all over. Her parents were coming with her to Pansy's, where they would likely be for most of the day. Then she'd be at the Weasley's for Christmas dinner, along with Pansy.

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Hermione stood up from the bed, brushing her robes off, then closing her trunk. She was leaving tomorrow, and had just finished packing her trunk. Using her wand to shrink the bulky chest, Hermione slipped it into her pocket, walking out of her room and into the common room. Pansy, Blaise, and Ginny were all there, chatting away. Ginny and Blaise had started talking at the funeral, and had quickly become good friends, though it came as a surprise to them both.

"Where's Luna?" Hermione asked, scanning the common room for the familiar blonde who had been present just twenty minutes ago when Hermione had first left to pack.

"She's with Harry right now." Hermione raised an eyebrow, but said nothing else. She was about to ask Pansy if she wanted to head off to the library before she left, when the portrait door swung open, Draco rushing through it carrying a newspaper in his hands. He didn't normally read the Daily Prophet, since it was usually full of rubbish. But when he'd seen the headline, he'd quickly snatched the paper out of the hands of a second year, promising to return it as he ran off.

"Look at this," the blond said, setting it on the table as he hunched over and tried to catch his breath. Hermione picked it up, eyes widening as she read the title, a sound somewhere in between relief and shock escaping her. She continued reading, her eyes skimming the article.

Has Dolores Umbridge, former worker at the Ministry, gone mad? The woman, who was recently found dead next to a boy who was later identified as Theodore Nott. Rumors have said that while in a state of excessive mania, she killed the boy, then herself. No one knows for sure why she would have done this, or if this was even the case itself.

At the scene of the deaths, a wand, later confirmed to be Mr. Notts, was found snapped in half in the hands of Dolores. The last spell Ms. Umbrigde's wand was, indeed, the Killing Curse. After both bodies had been examined by healers for any magical traces of recent spells, multiple were found. Theodore's had the Imperius Curse, multiple Cruciatus curses, the Shielding Charm, an Expelliarmus, and the Killing Curse. Dolores had multiple stinging hexes, a Knockback Jinx, and the Killing Curse.

"She never did seem the same after leaving her temporary teaching job at Hogwarts," said Nelly Florback, an old friend of Ms. Umbrigde. "She became obsessed with one student in particular, always threatening she would kill him, though I always believed her to be joking. When she was promoted to Head of the Muggle-Born Registration Commission, she was always swarmed with dementors. Something in her snapped, I'm assuming. Dolores began wearing the odd locket, and she began practicing dark magic."

Possibly, it could have been the dementors that had made her this insane. The Hogwarts student she was seemingly obsessed with could only be Mr. Theodore Nott himself, and she had indeed killed him. However, another incident had occurred at Hogwarts just hours before the two were found, and although the school tried to keep the incident hushed, word eventually got around. Ronald Weasley, best friend to Harry Potter, had died on that very same day. Witnesses were present, but the Headmaster had refused for any of them to be interviewed. So we can only wonder if these events were connected somehow.

Hermione set down the paper, mouth agape and eyes wide. Umbridge and Nott were dead? Had Theo really been controlled the entire time he was doing those horrid things? Was Umbridge really mental? This article raised hundreds of questions, all making Hermione's head spin. By now Pansy, Blaise, and Ginny had all read the article, too.

They didn't have time to discuss it though, for Hermione was going to miss the flight to Rome if she didn't apparate to the airport soon, and she still had to make the walk to Hogsmeade for that. With a final goodbye to the others, Hermione walked away. Draco left soon after to return the paper as he'd promised.

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