Yep, it's official. I have a small obsession with Hufflepuffs, Hufflepuff headcanons, and Tumblr. Also, marshmallows and confetti. Not a good mixture. So, here I am, thanks to the nagging of this stupid plot-bunny in the back of my head yelling quite loudly at me. I've tried many times to put Brookie into Hogwarts - Golden Trio-Era, Marauders-Era, Next Generation - you name it. So, this might not last long, depends on how this works out. Okay, here we go, I apologize if Brookie becomes or is, a Mary-Sue. Beta-Readers are welcomed with donuts and peanut-butter. As are reviews.
*Disclaimer for Whole Story: I do not own anything, except for any OCs, for that belongs to the wonderful J.K Rowling.*
Honestly? Brookie was tired enough to fall onto to the nearest bed in her dormroom - hers was the farthest away, Nina's was the closest - and become dead to the world.
And she wasn't even on the train yet.
First, her younger sisters, Miriam and Chrissie, had woken her up late. Causing her to rush through her morning routine and almost forget to feed Evangeline, Nina's cat, and Glass, Jax's cat.
Second, her Aunt Layla had burnt her toast. And burnt toast was absolutely no good.
Third, she had to sit between a chattering Miriam and Chrissie in the car while her Aunt Layla and Uncle Ryan had sat with her oldest sister, Rowan, in the front.
Fourth, it was pouring down rain and Brookie was thoroughly soaked,
"Hey! Brookie-Babe, you in there?"
Brookie looked up from studying the laces of her damp sneakers to see the grinning face of Missa Kercher.
Missa Kercher had the most remarkable hair Brookie had ever seen - it rivaled Hermione Granger's in volume but unlike Hermione's, Missa had hair that was smooth and frizz-free. Her curls were tight and a chocolate brown color that matched the color of a melted chocolate bar. Her eyes were a slanted amber and her nose stuck up at the end a little but Missa was a rather pretty girl overall.
"Huh?" Brookie said intelligently, staring at the wild but wet ponytail Missa had tamed her curls into. Brookie had barely gotten her own soft, light-brown curls into a bun in time to get out the door. The bun was rather sloppily made and was half-fallen out by the time they got to Platform 9 3/4.
"It's time to go on the train," Missa answered slowly, like she was talking to a mentally slow toddler with hearing issues. Missa was easily annoyed when she needed to repeat things more than necessary. Brookie couldn't blame her; she had the same pet-peeve.
"Sorry," Brookie smiled an apologetic smile to her dorm-mate. "Chrissie and Miriam are freaking out because it's their first year. I mean, I get the excitement and I am happy for them, but, I get tired of hearing them agonizing about which House they're going to get sorted in, you get it? 'Oh, what if we get Slytherin? What if we don't?', it gets a little annoying."
"I get it, you should've heard Meredith-" Meredith Kercher was a rather nervous Ravenclaw with a love for horror novels, which didn't help the whole nervous thing - "talk about what House she wanted. She was dead-set on Gryffindor. I'm glad she got Ravenclaw; I would've killed someone if she was a Gryffindork. Load of idiots, that House. Anyways, isn't Rowan in Slytherin?' Missa frowned in concentration, the eldest Dame sister had never really talked to Brookie in school or acknowledged her existence, really. Though, Missa suspected that Rowan and the Slytherins had something to do with the way all of Brookie's tormentors were viciously pranked. Slytherins protected their own. And, Brookie was Rowan's only sister at Hogwarts - until now - and she was protected.
"Yep, Roe is in Slytherin but I don't think they, or at least Miriam, would do well in there." Brookie stated, with a solid confidence that the twins, or Miriam, at least, wouldn't be sorted into Slytherin.
"Yeah, Miriam is a bit of bookworm, I would say Ravenclaw. Oh my Merlin, Meredith and Miriam in the same House," Missa groaned, throwing her wild mane of hair back. "Thank Morgana, Luke isn't in Hogwarts yet."
"Agreed, now, come on. The train's leaving soon, it's flooding and we both know Nina's going to kill me if she doesn't get Van back. And, frankly, I'll kill Jax if I don't get Jazz back." Brookie admitted, eager to cuddle her calico cat, again. Glass and Evangeline weren't very affectionate unless they chose to grace you with their affection.
After hauling their trunks and Glass and Evangeline's cages onto the train and into a compartment, Brookie opened the doors on their cages and immediately, both damp cats sprung out and rubbed onto Brookie's ankles.
"Oh, I see how it is. Now, you want to cuddle, huh?" Brookie cooed, rubbing their ears and necks as they purred.
"Oi! Stop molesting my cat, please." Nina Simon teased from the door of Brookie and Missa's compartment.
Nina Simon had a fiery personality and hair to match. A wiry, ginger-haired girl with a sweet but sarcastic attitude, Nina valued honesty above all else and was a master at bending the truth. She often did so to her over-bearing pureblood parents and small, younger brother. Her brother, Jerome, shared Nina's ginger hair and pointed features, as well as her blue eyes. He was a two years younger than her and in the same House, Hufflepuff.
Nina, Missa, Jax, Addie and Brookie had been sharing a dorm since their first year. Back then, only sweet and shy Jax had been happy to be sorted into Hufflepuff. Nina and Addie had come from pureblood families, who 'expected more than Hufflepuff for their daughter' and Addie's mum actually sent her a Howler.
Poor Addie had ran from the Great Hall, bawling her eyes out as the two Weasley twins laughed. Missa, Jax, Nina and Brookie didn't know her very well but, seeing as they shared a dorm, felt obligated to go and comfort her. They had found her sitting in a corner of the Hufflepuff common room; two older students had been comforting her with bits of candy. They had looked up in quite obvious relief as the four girls entered the common room. They patted Nina on the shoulder as they left, sympathetically. Jax had been the first to walk over to Addie in the corner, she sat beside her and Addie had cuddled into her side, burying her head in her shoulder. Nina was next, she sat criss-cross in front of Addie and preceded to apologize for her fellow gingers, Load of bloody idiots those Gryffindorks are and I formally apologize for my fellow gingers. They make me ashamed of my hair color. Missa had sat next to her and blabbered about the good things about Hufflepuff, First off, we get round beds! Round beds! Second, there's a bloody candy jar in the common room. Third, I seriously doubt you won't find anyone who won't cuddle with you. Fourth. . . And slowly, everyone listened to Missa and began to realize that, hey, maybe being a Hufflepuff wasn't so bad. Brookie had been the last to go over and offered Addie a Chocolate Frog - she had overheard Addie talking about how it was her favorite.
And, thus, a friendship was born.
"Nina-Lina!" Brookie exclaimed happily and practically jumped onto Nina. Nina's hair was, thankfully, pulled up into pigtails - that were somehow, not a bit wet - and out of the way of Brookie's swinging arms as she came in for a hug. "Oh, I missed you so freaking much! How was France?"
"Gorgeous, we stayed with my cousins Eloise and her brother Tristan. Eloise was an angel, I swear, she's part-veela or something. But, Paris? It was so pretty! Not that the view was too bad either..." Nina trailed off, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively at Missa and Brookie.
"Oh, I bet the Eiffel Tower was gorgeous." Brookie said wistfully, staring out the rain-smeared window at the families hugging and waving good-bye. Her Aunt and Uncle had left immediately after dropping them off, apologizing but Aunt Layla was pregnant and the rain was making the roads dangerous to drive on. Sorry, but we can't have the little munchkin in danger, lovelies, have a good year. They had said before hugging Rowan and Brookie and ruffling Chrissie and Miriam's hair, after, they left in a flurry of umbrellas.
"Oh, yes, that was pretty." Nina said dismissively, waving a perfectly manicured hand in the air. "Ugh, the people there were perfect, I swear."
"Oi! You're dating Fay, remember? Gryffindork, blue eyes, brown hair, two years younger than you." Missa reminded Nina of her year-long girlfriend, Fay Dunbar.
Fay was a Gryffindork but she was rather sweet and naive, but still brave to a fault.
She was especially brave to have come out to all of Hogwarts and her family.
Fay dating Nina was a bit of a controversy at Hogwarts. They had both walked around holding hands and kissing a fair bit on a Hogsmeade trip and that had gotten around the school very fast.
But, Fay and Nina had taken all the snide comments and disgusted looks with grace, and soon, almost everyone, had excepted them. Surprisingly, none of the Slytherins had any problems with Nina and Fay. Most problems had come from the Gryffindors; Neville Longbottom had actively avoided Fay and Nina for almost a year, Ginny Weasley made faces at Fay and Nina in the halls, Dean Thomas was very jumpy around any mention of Nina or Fay, Emma and Grace Matter had taunted them. The Ravenclaws hadn't cared; it was plausible that they had affectionate feeling for each other, and Cho Chang had reassured them often that, Ravenclaw supported them fully. Slytherin simply treated them no different.
"You can let go now, Brookie." Nina chuckled and pushed Brookie off slightly, a blush painting Brookie's cheeks a vibrant red.
"Hey, anyone know where Jax and Adds are? I mean, I want my stupid cat!" Brookie groaned and threw herself onto the seat, burying her head into the plush cover. Brookie let out a high-pitched squeak when Glass jumped on her back, kneading her claws into Brookie's shirt, leaving fluffy white fur all over her. "Get the Devil-Cat off of me!"
"Excuse you, my cat is a perfect angel. How dare you insinuate that Glass is anything but a lovey."
"Jax! I missed you, so much!" Brookie sat up threw her arms around Jax's neck and pulled the tall, strawberry-blonde down. Brookie pushed her away to arms-length and blank-faced. "Where's my cat?"
"Right here, Brookie-Babes." Jax smiled in amusement and set a mewing calico cat onto Brookie's lap. Pulling her absolutely drenched, long strawberry-blonde hair out the cat's paws, Jax picked up Glass and flopped next Brookie on the seat.
Missa pouted from beside Nina - Missa was lying with her head in Nina's lap - and gave her best innocent look, "I didn't get a hug, Brookie-Babes."
Brookie snorted, "That's 'cause I spent, like, almost all of summer with you. We went to the disaster that was the Quidditch World Cup, together, remember? And you know, I hate that nickname."
Missa sniffed haughtily, "Well, I didn't get my hug, so, you keep the nickname."
"Yes, your Highness. I beg for forgiveness for my ignorance."
"I wonder what it's like to be the Queen..." Jax wondered, absentmindedly stroking Glass's back.
"Me too." Nina agreed before Evangeline sat contentedly on her head. Causing Nina to give the cat a withering look from beneath her light eyelashes.
"It's nice," Addie remarked, answering Jax's question with a small smile from the doorway.
"Adds!" Jax jumped up and gave the black-haired girl a tight hug.
Addie had her dark hair pulled back into a dripping knot and her hand was stained with paint and chalk. A smudge of blue chalk under her eye highlighted her dark eyes and petite nose, a paper spotted with water marks held loosely in her hand.
"I would hug you, Adds. But, Miss Missa decided I'm a pillow, now." Nina grinned an apologetic smile at Addie.
"Oh, shut it! You love cuddling as much as I do." Missa teased, before abruptly getting pushed to the floor at the sound of the train whistle, that signaled their departure.
Nina muttered a few curse words under her breath, "I told Fay I'd sit with her and Alyssa, she's gonna kill me."
"You're just remembering this, now?" Missa questioned from her position on the floor, more amused than annoyed.
"Yep! See you idiots at the castle!" Nina called before running out the door of the compartment and almost straight into the youngest Weasley - Ginny - and a girl with long, scraggly white-blonde hair.
"Oh, sorry!" Nina practically yelled and rushed past the two girls, oblivious to the face Ginny made at her back.
"Anything you want to say, Ginny?" Addie questioned the small ginger-haired girl, it didn't matter that Ginny was thirteen and Nina was sixteen, Addie was fiercely protective of her dorm-mates. Defending Jax from the people who poked fun at her glasses, Brookie from her height, Missa from her hair, and Nina from stupid people like Ginny Weasley.
"Actually, th-"
"C'mon, Ginny. We don't want to get any Nargles and they seem to be infested here." The blonde grabbed onto Ginny's hand and tugged her away, with a dreamy look on her face.
"Anyways," Brookie gave an awkward cough. "What did you draw?"
"You'll love it! I know we have different drawing styles and crap but you'll love it. I promise." Addie smiled looking eager for praise as she handed over the paper to Brookie. Flopping onto the seat, above Missa, with a proud smile, she shut her eyes.
Missa and Jax hurriedly crowded behind Brookie, almost crushing a disgruntled Evangeline and a jumpy Jazz. Addie's drawings were always pretty but her promising that her artwork would be good, that was always a good sign. Addie never promised anything.
But, she was confident her drawing was good enough to show Brookie - her fellow art fanatic, Jax - who gave gentle critiques, and Missa - who loved art but couldn't draw a stick figure to save her life. And, it had to be good. It was Addie's present to Brookie for her birthday. Gift-giving in Hufflepuff got pretty competitive over who could give the best gift.
And, Addie was confident her drawing would be the best.
It was of a girl facing away; showing her back in a light gray dress. Brown curls spilled over her shoulders, a complicated braid strung across her hair. A small kitten sat on her shoulder, facing opposite the girl. But, the part Brookie loved the best was the thick signature on the bottom right-hand corner: For Brookie, with love, Addie.
"You didn't!" Brookie shrieked, to the dismay of Glass and Jazz, and hugged Addie tightly around the tall girl's waist. "Oh! I drew pictures for all of you!" Brookie gave a lopsided smile and turned towards her bag to get them.
Missa groaned, "Come on, Adds! Now, we don't have a chance for giving the best present!"
Jax laughed and flopped onto the seat; immediately Glass jumped onto her stomach and fell asleep.
Afterwards, a four rounds of Exploding Snap were played but Brookie cut off the game after Evangeline lost part of her silky black fur on her stomach. Brookie attempted to draw Jax but failed in an epic proportion (she looked more like a smurf than a witch). They all changed into their uniforms, which resulted in many bruises from knocking limbs. And, there was a collective nap session, Evangeline, Jazz, Brookie, Jax and Missa participated, while Addie and Glass stayed up, like the Aristocrats (or Aristo-cats) they were.
Then, the inevitable talk of the Quidditch World Cup came on.
"Do you really believe that he-who-must-not-be-named is back?" Jax questioned anxiously, cuddling a purring Glass to her uniform shirt for comfort.
Brookie thought it was sorta stupid for people to not call Voldemort 'he-who-must-not-be-named' or 'you-know-you'. But, she didn't actually call him 'Voldemort', either. So what, she was a little hypocritical but there were worse things.
"Nope, Jax-Attack, he isn't." Addie reassured the anxious looking blonde, making sure to use the nickname Jax had earned in her success at Dueling.
"I don't know; I mean, they used the Dark Mark and Layla and Ryan looked pretty freaked. Even, Ice-Queen Rowan looked terrified. They literally didn't let us out of their sights the rest of the night." Missa disagreed, before cringing at the glare Addie sent her. "What? I'm just being honest." She snapped before sighing. "I think his followers are back but not him." Not yet.
"Besides, it's Hogwarts." Brookie reminded, smiling a reassuring smile at Jax and petting Jazz absentmindedly. "Nothing bad can happen. It's like, universal law or something."
"I don't believe that he's back - I think Saint Potter had too much Pumpkin Juice - but his followers are." Missa declared from her position on the floor, the same from when Nina pushed her off of the seat.
"His followers wouldn't attack Hogwarts; I may not always agree with Dumbledore but Death Eaters wouldn't dare attack Hogwarts while he's around." Addie stated and Brookie nodded in agreement.
She may have thought Dumbledore played favorites and was unfair to anyone who wasn't Harry Potter but she knew Dumbledore was the one thing Voldemort was afraid of.
They were safe at Hogwarts.
