Fic ~ Silence Is Gilded
Title: Silence Is Gilded
Word Count: 1,179
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and its related characters and locations are the property of JK Rowling. No profit is being made.
Summary: Silence isn't always golden, as Harry and his friends learn on their train ride home.
The Hogwarts Express pulled out of the Hogsmeade station with a gush of steam and a lurch. From where he sat by the window Harry could see the empty platform, and it made his heart twist in his chest. Normally Hagrid would be standing on the platform, waving as each car moved past, saying goodbye to the students.
But then, this departure from Hogwarts was anything but normal.
Less than two hours ago Albus Dumbledore had been laid to rest in a burst of flame reminiscent of a Viking burial. That fact seemed to be weighing heavily on everyone’s mind; there was none of the usual noise and chatter coming from any other compartments, and in the compartment occupied by Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna and Ginny the silence was so thick you needed a chainsaw to cut it.
Not that it was completely silent; far from it. The sound of the wheels on the tracks increased as the train gathered speed, and every now and then one of the carriage’s occupants would sniffle, sounding as if he or she was suffering from a particularly bothersome head cold. But no one was playing Exploding Snap, or reading aloud from the Prophet or the Quibbler. No one was speaking at all.
Directly across from Harry sat Luna. He could well remember the first time he had met the younger girl, when she had sat in the train carriage studying all of her companions. It had been an unnerving experience, but now was even worse. Luna sat as if transfixed, staring out of the window, for all the world oblivious to everyone and everything else. Except for the evidence of tears that stained her face, and the fact that she was blinking more than normal. Even as he watched Harry saw her reach up and wipe fresh tears from her cheeks.
Ron sat next to Luna, and for once her presence was not making him uncomfortable. He seemed to be instinctively aware of her distress, for he laid a hand briefly on her shoulder. Harry could see her eyes drift close, and then Luna took a deep breath and covered Ron’s hand with hers for a moment. She turned away from the window for a minute to meet his eyes and the two shared a sad, but genuine smile.
Hermione sat in the corner beside the door. Her knees were drawn up to her chest and she had wrapped her arms tightly around them, as if trying to pull completely into herself. Her eyes were red and her cheeks tear-stained, and despite the somewhat cramped conditions of the compartment she seemed isolated. Alone.
Ron wasn’t about to let her be miserable, though. Without a word he gently moved her legs down away from her body and gathered her into his arms. Oddly enough, Hermione didn’t argue with him on that point. She pressed her face into his jumper and started to sob quietly.
Something of Hermione’s continuing distress must have communicated itself to Luna, because she turned from her contemplation of the window and laid a hand over Hermione’s where it rested against Ron’s arm. Hermione never looked up, but her fingers curled around Luna’s as if grabbing a lifeline. Ron took one arm from where he held Hermione and extended it to Luna. The younger girl didn’t hesitate; she moved into the crook of Ron’s arm and leaned heavily against him, Hermione’s hand still clutched in her own.
“It’s too quiet.”
The voice startled everyone. Hermione pulled away from Ron and hastily wiped the tears from her face. Luna slid back into the corner and resumed staring out of the window. Harry glanced to his left and met Neville’s eyes.
“It’s not just us,” Neville continued. “It’s the entire train. No one is talking.”
The silence was something that Harry had noticed earlier, but Neville’s words only increased his awareness. And now that he was paying even more attention he noticed that it wasn’t just the lack of voices. There was no laughter, no footfalls in the corridor, not even the sound of the candy trolley’s wheels could be heard. It was more than unnerving; it was creepy and a little scary.
“What do you expect?” The voice came from Neville’s other side. Ginny sounded as if she had swallowed glue; her voice was thick and heavy. It was also husky from the tears Harry knew she was trying to hold back. Whether those tears were for him or for Dumbledore he didn’t want to contemplate.
“What do you expect?” she asked again. “It’s not just the six of us. Everyone’s in shock.” She took a deep breath. “And now we’ve been shipped off before we really had a chance to say -“
“Good-bye,” Luna finished the thought. “None of us really said good-bye.”
Hermione made a small sound that was almost a word, but it was just as quickly covered by another sob. She pressed a hand to her mouth and shook her head before leaning against Ron’s side. Her eyes closed as new tears started to flow down her cheeks.
“How do we say good-bye?” Neville asked. “How do you put into words all the things that he did for us? That he gave to us?”
“You don’t,” Ron said, speaking for the first time. “There’s no way to say everything that needs to be said.”
“He would have had the right words,” Luna commented. “He always did.”
Hermione actually smiled at that moment. She looked at Ron and then met Harry’s eyes. “Nitwit,” she said, grinning.
Ron caught her train of thought instantly and laughed. “Blubber.”
“Oddment,” came from Harry.
“Tweak!” Neville added, before the four older students collapsed into fits of mirth. Ginny and Luna looked at them as if they had lost their minds, but the laughter was contagious and before long the younger girls were grinning like fools as well.
“What the heck was that?” Ginny asked once everyone had calmed down.
“Part of Dumbledore’s welcome speech from our first year,” Ron answered, still with a smile. Then his face fell.
And just as suddenly as it had begun the spell that had created such amusement and laughter was broken. It was the first time since boarding the train that any of them had spoken the name out loud. Harry felt a lump start to congeal in his throat. He knew he couldn’t have said anything at that moment, no matter how much he may have wanted to. Across from him Ron looked stricken; his face ashen and his eyes glimmering with unshed tears.
“Nothing will ever be the same again, will it?” Luna asked, her voice shaking.
Harry sighed. “No. No it won’t.” He met the eyes of all of his companions. “But we can make it even better.”
There was a moment of strained silence, and then slowly, one after the other, they all grinned and nodded. And Harry knew the truth of what he had said. As long as they stayed together everything would, indeed, be better.