Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
Where was he?
My stomach clenched as I shoved through the throng of students, heading out of the castle into the Hog's Head through the tunnel. I wished I had never had to walk with Thomas to Hog's Head, but he was too frightened for anything less from me. People were too scared, or angry or worried to notice me as I moved backward, all except one person.
"Sophia! Where are you going the battle is about to begin!" Pippa gripped my arm as we pasted, her bright red hair plastered to her forehead with sweat, panic in her eyes. Pippa had been my best friend since the train ride to Hogwarts our first year; we were sorted together in Hufflepuff, roomed together and bonded at the hip. But not even she could have stopped me at this point.
"I have to go find Mason." I said, my mind whirling as the panic of the battle approaching rose.
Pippa didn't stop me, actually for a moment she didn't say anything. Pippa just looked at me, concerned, and then she spoke.
"I always swore you were meant to be a Gryffindor," She said near tears as she hugged me tightly. Pippa was too good of a friend for me, she wasn't going to try to stop me from going after Mason, no matter how badly she wanted to. As we pulled back, she said with determination, "I'm coming with you."
I set my jaw, "No you aren't."
"But Sophie-" Pippa began, with desperation in her voice.
"Go through the tunnel, find Thomas, watch over him if I don't get out." I said with no room in my voice for agruement.
"Don't talk like that!" Pippa said, her eyes shimmering with tears, "And it doesn't matter, you can't stop me if you tried.."
"Please, Pippa! Just promise you will stay!" I exclaimed, noticing the throng ahead beginning to dwindle toward the Room of Requirement entrance.
"I won't make that promise!" Pippa choked, spinning around and then gripped my hand, "You stuck with me second year when I had nightmares about the monster and now I'm sticking with you." Without saying another word, Pippa grabbed my hand and shouldered her way through the throngs.
I don't think I could ever have meet a better person than Pippa.
With fear in my gut and panic around me I couldn't help but squeeze Pippa's hand tightly as we began to the mouth of the tunnel. In the back of my mind though, I couldn't help myself but find the dark humor that year ago, I never would have imagined I was this worried about Mason Turner.
First Year
Sitting down in the red seats of Hogwarts express I felt a twang of fear settling into my stomach. Grandma had said that Hogwarts would teach me how to not make the neighbor's dog float around the yard but what if I wasn't magic enough? I fumbled with my hem of my t-shirt nervously and desperately wished I had more than just an eleven year old letter from Mum to give me hope about my future. Next to me Hattie, my tabby cat, watched me, flicking her stripped tail back and forth. She never liked tight spaces, especially her cage.
Suddenly the compartment door slid open and a round, freckle faced girl poked her head in, bright red curls spinning out of control around her face.
"Sorry, but is this set taken? All the others are full." She asked. When I nodded, a toothy smile broke out on her face, revealing a gap between her two front teeth that was quite endearing.
As she dragged her things inside, the girl introduced herself, "I'm Pippa Porter and this..." Pippa said as she brought in a cage containing a soot colored owl, "...is Magnolia."
"Sophia Preston." I said, smiling, feeling a little less shy. When Pippa's bright blue eyes shifted to Hattie's cage, I saw apprehension in her face.
"You don't have to worry about Hattie!" I said quickly, "She's rather likes owls as friends rather than prey."
Pippa smiled again and sat down. "You have a magical family then? Since your cat hangs out with owls, I mean."
I nodded, suddenly feeling strange that I didn't have to hide that fact anymore, "My Mum's side are magical and so my brothers but my Dad's a muggle."
"A muggle?" Pippa said with enthusiasm, which I would later learn was just a part of her personality, "You lived in the muggle world?"
From there a conversation sprang about families (Pippa was an only child born with two pureblood parents), about animals, about basically everything under the sun until our compartment opened again.
Two boys entered into the compartment. The boy on the right looked like the an american football played; broad shoulder and thick armed with button nose and green eyes hidden under messy brown hair. But the other...
"Sorry loves, but have you two seen the food cart?" Said the boy on the left. Dark blue eyes alight with laughter.
"Not yet," Pippa answered with a smile, "But you can sit with us if you like and wait for it."
As the pair sat down, I felt my face turn red with a blush because of the sudden closeness to the boy on the left.
"You two have names?" Pippa asked as she hefted Magnolia's cage to make room for the larger boy.
"My name is Jackson Pier." Said the one who looked like American football player.
"I'm Mason, Mason Turner." Mason said with a smile. Dark curly hair and a pair of mischievous eyes, I felt my silly heart squeeze. My first prick of love, my eleven year old brain thought. Until the cart arrived and we all started talking about houses.
"You guys decided which house you wanted yet?" Pier asked as the cart lady left.
"Well, I'm hoping for Hufflepuff." Pippa said with a bright smile full of hope.
That's when Turner and Pier snorted into there chocolate frogs like it was joke.
"Hufflepuff?" Pier asked with raised eyebrows when he realized Pippa was serious.
"Yeah," Pippa said confused, "I heard the most loyal and kind were in Hufflepuff."
"And stupid." Mason said rather loudly considering he was muttering under his breath.
"What?" I snapped, shocked. I must have heard him wrong, I thought. My mum was from Hufflepuff and my mum was not stupid.
"Hufflepuff is full of the stupidest batch of witches and wizards in Hogwarts. Never met a smart one. That's why I'm going to hope for Ravenclaw, smartest wizards in Hogwarts. What about you Sop-" But Mason-I mean Turner because no such person deserved to be called my his first name- never finished because by then, I had already emptied my cup of pumpkin juice all over his head.
"My Mum was a brilliant witch and intelligent woman and she was a Hufflepuff. So don't you ever, ever say a bad word about Hufflepuff you giant git!" I said shaking with anger.
Pippa and Pier's mouth had fallen open and they were completely speechless. But Turner wasn't.
"I was just saying basic fact!" Turner retorted, with just as much anger as me, "And don't go calling me a git! And how am I suppose to know if your mum was even intellig-"
But again, Turner didn't finish. By that point I had already punched Turner in the nose as hard as an eleven year old could.
When Turner and Pier left the compartment and Pippa burst into a fit of giggles. For some reason she found my insanity a perfect reason to become my best friend. That moment of anger between Mason and I had been the pivot point in my life, because if it had never happened, I would never have asked the Sorting Hat to put me in Hufflepuff when it mused about Ravenclaw, I would never had become like sisters with Pippa, and I would never left that lasting impression on Mason that I did.
And if that moment had never happened I would never have gone running back toward the Battle of Hogwarts to find him.