The Pain Will End ((Jake))

[Lavender Brown]

Lavender pulled herself out of her fourposter. She looked over to the bed that Parvati usually occupied as well as the bed the Hermione normally did. Not too long ago Lavender had been celebrating the fact that they found Parvati alive, now her best friend, her best friend's sister, and her dorm mate had all been kidnapped by the Dark Lord. Lavender didn't understand why this was happening, but it was getting rather lonely in the dorms anymore. Would each of them disappear like the rest had. She shook her head of the thought. She didn't want to think about that. She wanted to accept that she would be able to graduate soon and that meant she was going to be going back to school for auror training, since due to recent events she decided that she just wanted to fight back against the Dark Lord. The thought pounded in her head causing a slight cluster headache in her left temple. She massaged it out and calmed herself. She didn't need to go back into hysterics. What she needed was some food. It had been months since she had a proper meal, but it was also due to her lack of hunger because of Parvati's disappearance. Now she was trying to find new ways of mourning. The whole not eating thing was getting bad. Her small pants were now too big for her and it wasn't like she was a big girl to start with. She was mostly just skin and bone now. She had tried eating the other day, but it went to show that she needed to eat small meals so that she could build back her shape.

Lavender carefully got out of bed and headed to her wardrobe. It was a Hogsmeade weekend, one of her last before she graduated. She could get some food there and maybe a warm butterbeer. Throwing on some of her smaller clothes she used her wand to shrink them a bit until they basically fit. Sighing to herself she grabbed her jean jacket and threw it on as she left the lonely dormitory behind her. She really hoped the others would turn up unharmed. If they didn't who would be next? Lavender shook the thoughts from her head as she continued a slow walk out of the common room and down the stairs to the main doors.

It seemed that most of the other 3rd years and up were already on their way to Hogsmeade. Lavender could see a long line of bodies walking into the small magical town. They were the reason most of those stores probably stayed in business. The Hogsmeade weekends probably doubled if not tripled their normal income. She smiled at the sight. It wouldn't be long now before she was off in the real world and she left Hogwarts behind to continue it's own education for other students. She would be fighting against the Dark Lord and that meant that she would be risking her life everyday if not every second. She didn't fear death anymore. She feared being useless. She wanted to help people and she wanted to save people. It was her only goal in life now. She was nearing her 18th birthday and she would need to prove herself. The thought made her sigh again. It would be awhile before she could fully prove herself to anyone.

Lavender's thoughts kept her company until she reached the center of Hogsmeade. She looked around for the right kind of restaurant and finally settled on a grill like pub. Walking in she took a seat and ordered a small meat meal. She needed the protein and she hoped it would held her gain some of her weight back. She hated looking like she was nothing more than a stick figure. She also ordered a butterbeer and was delighted when she received it. She smiled as the warm liquid filled her body. It was perfect.

[Jake Rainyar]

Jake pulled the covers off as he swung his feet out of the bed. Sometimes morning just came way too early. Funny coming from him sense he was such a morning person. He yawned and stretched before he rose from his bed drawing the curtain back. Life had taken some unexpected turns lately. His Grammy's death, the disappearance of the Patil girls as well as Granger. He wondered who would be next. At least it wasn't any of the Hufflepuffs. They had lost too many people to the death eaters. It had all started three years ago with the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Cedric Diggory had died then by the Dark Lord. Now it seemed that the other Hufflepuff's were getting all of this bad luck when they didn't do anything to start with. He didn't blame the Potter boy, he just thought it to be ironic that he didn't get any retaliation at all, it always seemed to be the people around the Potter kid that got the bad stuff. Jake shrugged to himself. It didn't really matter. A person was still a person and he was still going to protect them when he began his training.

Jake stood from his bed and began to change in the clothes that were strung out on the floor. They were still clean, only worn once, which was pretty much saying they were clean. He pulled on the jeans and threw on his black and yellow Hufflepuff sweater. Even though it was Spring outside didn't make it warm. He had learned that lesson the other day when he had rode his broom around in shorts and a tank top. His skin had become red during the ride. It wasn't because of the sun, but because the cold air had burned his skin. Those kind of burns don't stay long. The disappear mostly when you actually get your body temperature to the same level as your skin. Anyhow he figured the long sleeve shirt would come in handy against the chilly wind that had wound it's way into Hogsmeade the last few days.

Jake grabbed his wand and quietly said goodbye to Sniggle as he left the dormitory, trying not to wake any of his dorm mates. Outside the common room was already buzzing with students, most on their way to Hogsmeade to stock up on candy and Zonko items. It was one of the last times in Hogsmeade before school ended. Jake smiled at the group of 3rd years stock piling their money together to see how much they had. He remembered when he had to do that several times to be able to get some things. It was quite an interesting time when it came to dolling out what they got. Usually it ended up in a slight argument before the all decided to split everything. However, it took them a few moments before they even thought of doing such a thing.

Jake left the common room behind and before long he was walking down the cobblestone path to Hogsmeade. He could see there were already plenty of students on their merry way around the town. He smiled. The sight from the top of the hill was always beautiful, but today it seemed to be twice the beauty and maybe that was because he knew that it would not last. It was the small things he always used to find trivial. The sunsets and the sunrises, etc. They all used to seem beautiful to him, but not important. Now they were all he could think about. Every sunset showed the ending of a day that was either good or bad and every sunrise showed he still had time to make things better. They were things his Grammy had always tried to teach him, but never managed to, except through her death.

Jake sighed to himself as he looked around the center of Hogsmeade. Students were pushing their way through on lookers trying to get into stores. Jake didn't know where to start. He was hungry though. Maybe he would grab some food in a restaurant that he liked. Pushing through the door of Magical Fodder he looked around the place. It was mostly empty with a few morning stragglers. Looking around he caught a glimpse of someone he thought he recognized. Jake wasn't in the mood to eat alone and therefore headed off to the table. He stopped at it and smiled. "Mind if I sit down? I'm not big on eating alone."