This story is infectious, I tell you! Love your enthusiasm, love you guys and I LOVE my new Marauders. There's just something about developing new back stories for characters without actually doing too much to them that really excites me. I mean, they're still the same characters we know and love but with a little bit of me mixed in.
Much thanks to desireejones99, Skoliver4Ever, amartin 120310, Luuzhu, InAnnaCat, Arnold DeVillena,
Back to it I guess...
Harry's POV
"Where have you three been?!" Hermione asked as we entered the common, standing with her hands on her hips as she tapped her foot impatiently.
"Calm down Hermione, Filch didn't catch us," I told her, walking over and rubbing her arms until she calmed down, leaning into my touch a little. "See? Everything is fine. We just got caught up a little because Fred and George found something."
"What did you find?" she asked, turning her attention to the twins as her eyes became alight with the prospect of new information.
Fred handed her the folded parchment and she took it gingerly. "This seems like well-worn parchment," Hermione said. "It's definitely not new. Why did you think to grab this?"
"It was in Filch's draw of forbidden items," Fred told her. "We thought 'why not?'."
"And the magic," George added. "Are you telling us you can't feel the magic coming from that? It isn't normal parchment."
Hermione furrowed her brow as she considered the parchment. I gestured with my head at the twins, indicating we sit down by the fire. I then took Hermione by the arms and guided her into her seat, knowing she'd be lost in her thoughts consider the parchment we found.
We sat in silence a moment, letting her think, before she finally spoke. "If it's a magical parchment it'll respond to magic," she said. "Or, it should. I don't know the revealing spell but if I poke my wand into it and push a little magic into the end then maybe the parchment will react." She knelt on the floor then, placing the parchment on the coffee table. The rest of us followed suit, kneeling around the table, one on each side, so we could all clearly see the parchment.
"Here goes nothing," Hermione said, frowning just a little as she met my eye. "If anything happens, make sure you're ready," she said, almost as an afterthought it seemed.
We all held our collective breath as Hermione poked the parchment with her wand tip, but in the end nothing happened. "I thought for sure that-" Hermione began, but George interrupted her.
"Wait, look! It's writing something!" he said, his voice an excited half-whisper as he leant forward, eyes glued to the map.
George was right, the map was indeed writing on itself. It took a minute but eventually we could make out the words. "Misters Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs , proud Marauders, would like to know who has prodded at them with magic, requesting that they desist," Hermione said, her eyes wide. The four of us were shocked, amazed at the parchment. Hermione continued as more writing appeared. "Mister Padfoot and Mr Prongs would like to add that if this happens to be Snivellus, that he shouldn't put his nose where it doesn't belong. Mister Moony would like to scold Misters Padfoot and Prongs, informing them that this mightn't be Snivellus at all. Mister Wormtail would like to ask that everyone be quiet, so that we can see what these curious people want." She finished reading what had appeared on the parchment and looked up at us all, eyes wide.
"So what? Do we just talk to it now?" Fred asked, looking curiously at the paper.
"Couldn't hurt," I said, shrugging. "Hello?" I said to the paper, feeling more than a little bit stupid.
Surprisingly a response was born, which Hermione read. "Mister Prongs would like to greet this new individual with a response in kind. Mr Padfoot also greets the newcomer and asks if they enjoy pranking and playing jokes," Hermione said, saying the last bit as she looked around at us. "This is something to do with pranking then. Maybe it's a secret missive left by another group?"
Something had been bothering me the entire time we'd been interacting with the map and I only just now realised what it was. "Hang on a second guys," I said. "I know the name Moony. We all do. I can't imagine two people with that nickname."
"Remus!" they all exclaimed, eyes wide and mouths open.
"Of course, why didn't I think of that," Hermione continued. "If he was friends with your father, do you think that this is something they made?" she asked excitedly.
I shrugged. "It could be. Remus said they loved to play pranks when they were in school. He said he was friends with my father, Sirius Black and another man they no longer associate with." Remus had explained the whole story behind Sirius' case and I had yet to tell the others about it, though now maybe I thought I should. "Listen guys, can I tell you something? Something big? I just think I should, especially considering we've found something that might belong to Remus and Dad's friends."
"Of course Harry," Hermione said, smiling gently at me.
"Yeah mate, you can always tell us stuff- "
"-but isn't Sirius Black imprisoned?"
"Falsely imprisoned, which is why I'm going to tell you guys about this. It's only because I think this actually might be theirs," I said. "Especially if Remus' name matches up. You see, the reason they don't talk to the fourth member of their group is because he's presumed dead."
"What happened to him?" Hermione asked.
"He betrayed them," I said quietly, looking down at my hands on the table, clasped together tightly. "During the war when Voldemort was looking for my Mum and Dad, to kill them or recruit them I don't know, they went into hiding. Remus told me that he and everyone else thought that Sirius would be their Secret Keeper."
"A Secret Keeper guards a location as part of the Fidelius Charm," George said to Hermione, who looked a little confused. She nodded at his explanation and I continued.
"Well everyone thought Sirius would be the Secret Keeper, because he and my Dad were so close. It turns out Peter Pettigrew, the fourth friend, was instead. He turned them into Voldemort and then ran off. When Sirius found out he evidently went to confront Peter, because next thing anyone knows Peter is gone, a whole bunch of muggles are killed in the cross fire and Sirius is being imprisoned."
"Not to refute your story Harry," Hermione began. "But how do we know this is true? How did Remus come to know this?"
"Sirius is a Black," I said. "He's very wealthy and very politically important. When he didn't get any trial at all the Gringotts goblins took matters into their own hands, investigating the apparent crime. Apparently they have found enough evidence to possibly bring it to trial soon, clearing Sirius. Remus told me he was only informed of this before he became my guardian; before that he assumed Sirius was guilty like everyone else."
"He didn't even get a trial?" Hermione asked, appalled.
Fred and George grimaced. "You don't understand G-"
"-back then, stuff was chaotic-"
"-no one knew who they could trust-"
"-things got drastic very quickly and people were put away-"
"-not that that means this was acceptable, because it wasn't," they finished. "He should've at least gotten a trial," George added, frowning.
"Well, the point is that one of these names isn't relevant as a moniker for someone one of us might know," Hermione said. "We already know Remus is Moony. Why is that? Working that out might help us connect the others to their names."
"I don't think it will Hermione," I told her, thinking about the origin of Remus' name. He had given me permission to talk to the others about his condition, if I wished, and the fact that he was ok with me sharing this meant the world to me, as I didn't want to keep secrets from my new friends. "Remus' nickname was given to him because of an affliction her suffers from." I took a breath, the others waiting on me. "Guys, don't freak out, but…Remus is a werewolf."
"A werewolf?!" the three of them burst out screaming. I shushed them quickly, unsure how much could be heard from outside the corridor.
"Yes," I said. "He's been one ever since he was a child. I never clicked about his name before, but I think that'd be why they'd call him Moony."
"Then where would the other names come from?" George asked. "unless they're all werewolves."
I was about to say something before Hermione spoke. "No, if Remus is a wolf that'd make sense. His name is a play on words, probably what they called him as a joke." She looked at me and I nodded my agreeance. She continued, "so then the next question is why would they all choose animal monikers? Remus' had a reason behind it but the others don't."
"They could be animagi," Fred said.
"What is an animagi?" I asked.
"Animagi is the plural," George explained. "An animagus is someone that can elect to turn into an animal. The entire process is very complex from what we hear. We've always wanted to try it though."
"You create a potion first-"
"-that tells you your form. Then you hold a mandrake leaf-"
"-in your mouth every night for an entire month-"
"-this meditation is absolutely essential apparently-"
"-because this is when you connect with the animal-"
"-following this, assuming your bond has developed-"
"-you can begin to transform-"
"-but it can go horribly wrong," the Twins finished.
"A mandrake leaf in your mouth for a whole month?" Hermione asked, surprised.
The Twins nodded. "You're meant to have it in there for at least seven continuous hours every day," Fred said. "Bill transformed into an animagus last year. It took him like six months."
"What is his form?" I asked curiously.
"He's a falcon," George said.
"What happens after you transform?" Hermione asked.
The Twins shrugged. "Not much," Fred said. "I mean; I've only seen him transform a few times. He always says it helps him relieve stress."
"He did have to register with the Ministry though," George said. "There's a registry that has the name of every animagus in Britain, as well as any that want to enter the country."
"Well, almost every one of them," I said, indicating the parchment. "I doubt these guys would have told anyone. I mean, they would've had to have done this in school for the parchment to still be in the castle."
"You're right Harry," Hermione said. "And this is an interactive, seemingly sentient object; it is extremely advanced magic. Assuming they created the parchment in the second half of their schooling their names would've already existed, meaning they had already transformed."
"Colour me impressed," Fred said. "So who do you think was who?"
"I think we need to leave that for later," I said. "Right now their forms aren't the priority. Besides, if we can get Sirius out we can talk it out of the two of them. What I want to know is what this parchment actually does. Sure it's great that their personalities are here, but what's the point?"
"Maybe we can just ask the parchment, it seemed to respond to us before," Hermione suggested. "Uh, excuse me, but what are you?"
"Mister Padfoot would like to state that he is a devilish rogue. Mister Prongs implies this is balderdash stating he is the devilish rogue. Mister Wormtail says that he is a normal person like everyone else. Mister Moony would like to advise the viewers of this message that he is a young man in the peak of his youth who is hungry for knowledge. Misters Padfoot and Prongs would kindly like to tell Mister Moony to can it," George read out. "Well, that was helpful."
"I don't think we're asking the right questions," I said, looking at the parchment as I thought. "How do we use you?" I asked it instead. More writing appeared.
"Mister Padfoot would like to inquire after his good friend Amygdalate. Mister Prongs questions whether Mister Padfoot means Amygdalate Ironstone. Mister Moony exclaims 'Whoops!'. Mister Wormtail agrees, claiming that Mister Padfoot is referring to Amygdalate Ultimo," I said. "That's it."
"That's got to mean something," Fred said. "It's too odd a conversation to have after the only prompt was 'how do we use you'?"
"So then these could be instructions that we have to interpret," Hermione said. "Makes sense. If they made something they'd obviously want to protect it."
"We're still no closer to finding out what this parchment does," I said, frowning.
"Well, we just need to pay more attention," Hermione said, her brow furrowed again. "All of you, watch the words that appear on the page. How do we use you?" she asked the parchment again. Once again the same speech happened, the first time the parchment had replicated an earlier response, word for word and in the same order. Hermione did twice more before her brow began to relax and a small smile broke out on her face.
"Did you guys see it?" she asked excitedly. "The four capitalised words!"
"What about them?" I asked, remembering the odd words.
"They never capitalise words," Hermione said. "In fact, I'd bet they start every sentence with their names to avoid capitalising anything other than a name or title."
"Yet here we have four capitalised words," George said, catching on as well. Hermione placed a piece of parchment that she had copied the speech on (I made a note to check the common room for secret stashes of ink and parchment after seeing her pull a pack out from under the couch). On Hermione's note were the four words in question.
"Amygdalate, Ironstone, Whoops, Ultimo," George read out. "I'm going to take a stab in the dark and say that doesn't ring a bell to anyone."
"Yet!" Hermione exclaimed, eyeing the parchment. "I'm going to do some research and see if anyone knows if this is a person."
"What if it were an anagram?" I asked aloud. "I mean, it could be, especially considering that each of the words was capitalised so we'd notice them. Maybe they're meant to rearrange into a passphrase or a code to another clue?"
"Merlin Harry, I don't know how I didn't see that," Hermione said. "OK, so I suggest we all take this away and think of some suggestions, maybe try and nut it out. We can come back to it in a couple of weeks. Now, saving you boys is tiring work, so if you don't mind I'm going to go to bed." With that Hermione was off, almost skipping up the staircase.
"The things a good mystery will do to that girl," Fred said, shaking his head as we all looked on after her.
"Never lie to her young grasshopper," George said, clapping me on the back. "She'll enjoy finding out the truth far too much."
They walked on ahead of me to our dorm, while I just stood there confused. "Wait," I said, calling after them as I jogged towards the boys' staircase. "Why me?"
-Emrys-
Saturday, September 9th, 1989
"You know I'm feeling remarkably chipper today," George said as we walked down to Hagrid's hut. We had arranged to have tea sometime during the first few weeks of term and so far we had been kept busy with homework and then thinking about the parchment to visit Hagrid.
"I would think an extra helping of sausages would make anyone happy," Hermione snorted, grinning at George as the rest of us chuckled.
"Perhaps then you should try some G," George retorted, smirking at her as Fred and I continued to laugh at our friends.
"You two are funny," Fred said, reaching up to knock on Hagrid's hut door as we arrived at his home. "Really, I can already tell how much fun the next seven years are going to be." Before either of them could reply the door swung open, a widely grinning Hagrid standing on the other side.
"Hello you lot!" Hagrid said, beckoning us forward. "Good to see you all. How has yeh first week been then?"
"Full of maladies and misfortunes-"
"-trifles and tricks-"
"-sadness and superiority-"
"-both others and our own," the Twins said. "But otherwise a boring week."
Hagrid looked a little stunned for a moment, but then chuckled and moved to his stove, grabbing the kettle and walking over to the table, where five mugs had been set out.
"Thank you Hagrid," Hermione said as her mug was filled with tea. "What the boys mean to say is that we've had quite a trying week but that it has been wonderful nonetheless."
"Well, if you discount potions," I said, rolling my eyes.
"Yeh lot aren't the first to have issues with Professor Snape," Hagrid said. "But he's an alright sort of of fellow. He just comes off very harsh."
"Sure, I'm certain he's really nice," I said. "You know, deep, deep down."
Hagrid sighed, putting the kettle on a heat pad on the table and leaning back in his seat to take the four of us in his gaze. "Yeh've just got to learn how to interact with him."
"And how is that?" I asked curiously. I hadn't needed to be a genius to recognise the animosity Snape held towards me. Subsequently he seemed to dislike Hermione, Fred and George.
"Work hard," Hagrid said simply. "In all the times I've known the man, I've never known him to turn away talent. Yeh lot work hard, get good results, he won't turn yeh away. Simple as that really."
"Oh, we're going to work hard," Fred said, grinning at Hagrid.
"Now why does that worry me?" Hagrid said, eyeing the Twins.
"Hagrid, whatever do you mean?" they chorused.
"I mean that yeh two are trouble," Hagrid said, grinning back at them.
"That's it boys, the jig is up," Hermione said, shaking her head. "You'll have to stick to the straight and narrow from now on and leave the mischief making to Harry and I."
"Won't your mother be disappointed in your lack of trouble causing activity," I added on.
"Like you two could survive without us anyway," George said.
"All those wonderful pranking ideas you had would be gone," Fred said.
"Now, now, you four aren't thinking about causing too much trouble, are yeh?" Hagrid said, eyeing us in a manner that I assumed was meant to be reproachful.
"Of course not Hagrid," I said, sending an assuring smile at the giant-like man. "All in good fun. Now, tell us about your job as groundskeeper. Have you been doing it for long?"
-Emrys-
Thursday, September 14th, 1989
Five days after our tea and brunch with Hagrid (though it was mostly tea and less brunch, as everything seemed highly inedible) we had our first flying lesson with the Gryffindors and Slytherins. The Twins had told Hermione and I of the rivalry between the two houses and though this was a first year class we could already see the lines drawn in the proverbial sand between the two factions.
"They'd all be a whole lot happier if they didn't care so much about hating each other," Hermione said as she rolled her eyes at a Slytherin boy who had lightly shoved a Gryffindor boy over one spot so he could stand next to his friend. The four of us had lined up in a row at the end of the opposite facing line. "I mean really, we're only eleven or twelve, for Merlin's sake."
"Let the masses squabble G," George said. "It's so ingrained in their houses to build up and continue these rivalries that it will be a long time before they begin to change."
Hermione harrumphed lightly as Madam Hooch made her way to the opposite end of the lines, looking out amongst the group of students.
"Welcome, welcome, welcome," she began. "I am Madam Hooch for those of you that don't yet know me. I will be your flying instructor for your first year at Hogwarts. Now, flying is very much a topic that requires practical instruction so please step up to the brooms in front of you. Everyone should have a broom to their right."
Everyone did as instructed and stepped up to their brooms. When we were all situated Madam Hooch continued. "Now, stick your right hand out over your broom and say 'up!' Make sure to use a clear and confident tone."
I looked down at my broom, furrowed my brow and said in the most authoritative tone I possessed, 'up!' The broom immediately shot off the ground and into my waiting hand, jarring my arm a little as my brain instructed my hand to grip onto the handle. I had been the first to bring my broom up, but as I took the time to look around I saw the Twins and a few others also managing to summon their broomsticks. Hermione however was still unsuccessful.
"Instead of taking pleasure in seeing a part of magic I have not succeeded in," Hermione said, frowning slightly as she looked down at her still broom. "Perhaps you could assist me?"
I sobered immediately, Fred and George slow going behind me to do so as well. "Of course love," I said cheekily, waving off the remark as Hermione turned to me, one eyebrow raised. "There's really nothing to it."
"Nothing to it, huh?" she said, trying once again to summon her broom and failing.
"Hermione," I said, pulling her attention. "Own your fear. You are in control here. I want you to look down at your broom, strengthen your tone and your will, and command the broom to rise to you. Go on." I watched as she did exactly as tasked, the broom rising immediately to her palm. She flushed with excitement as she grinned at me.
"Thank you for your help Harry," she said, smiling widely. I ran a hand through my hair, looking at the ground at her praise.
"No worries Mione," I replied. She stilled at the use of the new nickname and I slowly dropped my smile. "Is 'Mione' alright?" I wondered aloud.
"Absolutely," she said, giving me a new, slightly smaller smile, that seemed all the more special. Before I could reply Madam Hooch once again caught our attention.
"Now class, I'd like you to mount your brooms, using both hands to grip the broom handle. Kick off from the ground lightly, hover for a moment, then touch back down," she instructed us. Everyone swung a leg over their broom and kicked off, hovering on the ground. Call me crazy but as soon as I was in the air, even only a few feet, I felt lighter. If I could only go a little higher, feel a little more wind through my hair, I would swear I'd be able to fly away from every problem I've ever had.
"Harry!" Hermione cried out and I looked down, realising I was significantly higher than the rest of the group. I went back down, still hovering slightly next to Hermione. The other three had touched back down but a few people were still in the air, looking slightly afraid, and Madam Hooch was talking to them with her back to us.
"What's wrong Hermione?" I asked cheekily, flying in circles around her. She twisted this way and that to keep me in her sites but eventually she just huffed, causing the Twins to laugh.
"Get back down here before Madam Hooch sees you," she said, pinching me when I touched back down on the ground, grinning madly. Madam Hooch returned to the lesson, instructing everyone through various activities, including rising higher off the ground and flying along a specific route.
I knew one thing at the end of the lesson, for sure. While everyone was placing their brooms back in storage, I gently placed mine down, running my hand down the handle as I regretfully turned my back on the broomstick. But even after only one lesson, I knew I would never feel as free as I did on a broom. And I knew that I had to get back on one, no matter the way.
-Emrys-
Friday, September 15th, 1989
"So are you two nearly done, or what?" Fred asked as he and George slipped back into the Entrance Hall, where Hermione and I were finishing up with the prank preparation. We had decided to put a mixture of mud and water into the cups we'd be lining the hall with.
"Very, almost nearly," Hermione replied, continuing to fill cups as I jogged around placing them in position. We had filled nearly two thirds of the hall, not to mention four stairs on each of the staircases we had already covered in our retreat back to the main staircase. Hermione was now perched on said staircase and I was slowly working in an arch back to her.
"Grab some cups and start bringing them down here guys," I said, jogging back to the group. "We're nearly done."
Not five minutes later we had filled the entire Hall and we were standing on the staircase observing our hard work. "You know," I said. "I know the staff might vanish this upon sight, but for a brief few hours before teachers wake up and get here, this is going to be really amusing."
"I want to be down here early," Hermione said as she turned to walk back to the common room. "Not the first group to reach the Hall but definitely early, to see everyone's reaction."
And see everyone's reaction we did. We arrived at the main staircase at around quarter to eight to see many students bunched around the middle of the staircase. "What's going on?" we asked one of the students towards the outskirts.
"Don't exactly know," he said. "Something is blocking up the entrance hall."
We made our way to the front of the horde, very carefully, swapping places with people in front of us to avoid pushing somebody forward. We managed to make our way to the right side of the staircase and follow that down and grinned at what we saw. At all entrances people were milling about, whispering to themselves as they eyed the mass of cups. Some people begin to edge down the staircase but eventually stopped and began to retreat, seeing how close together each of the cups were.
I didn't realise last night just how many cups we had put out. Even if someone were to inch their way into the madness to move the cups around, there wasn't enough space for someone to stand with two feet and move cups around to form a path. There were cups, brushing against other cups, covering almost every inch of the entrance hall.
"Not bad for a hard night's work, I'd say," George whispered into my ear from behind me, only loud enough for the three of us to hear him.
"You wouldn't say," Hermione hissed over her left shoulder. "None of us will. Anonymity for as long as we can imagine it, remember?"
"Boo, G, you're no fun sometimes," Fred said, grinning as we watched one crowd start moving forward, students beginning to stumble. "Ah, looks like someone came a little late to the party."
Evidently someone had bumped into someone else at the back of the group, causing a domino effect within the group of students on that staircase. Just as they were beginning to fall, Professor Dumbledore literally appeared out of nowhere in the entrance to the great hall, hands raised. But he couldn't save those already falling as they continued on their way down. They managed to stagger down the remaining few steps but most fell upon reaching the ground. The cups bumped into one another causing large spills everywhere, water and mud splashing the students at the front of each group, including us.
There were gasps and shouts as the students on the floor stood up, flicking their arms to get rid of some of the muck. Professor Dumbledore waved his wand hand and swiped it across the hall, vanishing every cup in sight. "A mischievous prank seems to have coloured our morning," he says. "Our ingenious pranksters seem to have also accounted for your Slytherin counterparts, as they too seem to have faced a similar situation. But I think now we can all move on into breakfast."
Everyone slowly and carefully began to make their way through the entrance hall, the six students covered in our mixture almost imperceptibly waddling off to their dormitories to chang their clothes.
"Well it wasn't a total waste," Fred said cheerfully as we sat down to breakfast, already reaching for a crumpet and the strawberry spread.
"How so?" I asked, pouring myself some cereal.
"Well, Dumbledore could've cleaned off those students-"
"-but he let them go get changed-"
"-so he's obviously not as strict about this sort of stuff as you'd think-"
"-which can only be a good thing for us," the Twins surmised, leaning forward into the group as they spoke to avoid being overheard.
"I'm quite pleased with it all," Hermione said, smirking mischievously. "I think it wasn't too bad for our first go."
"We can only get bigger and better from here, lady and gentlemen," I said, raising my goblet of pumpkin juice in a salute, waiting for the others to do the same. "Who do we toast to?"
"To the Marauders!" Hermione said triumphantly, to which we all laughed and joined in, revelling in the success of our first prank and a good breakfast. Now I only had to think about Tuesday's surprise.
-Emrys-
Tuesday, September 19th, 1989
"HERMIONE!" Fred, George and I yelled from the bottom of the girl's staircase. Today was Hermione's twelfth birthday and we had a big surprise planned in the Great Hall at breakfast. When she still didn't come down we yelled again.
"What, what, is so important that you all had to yell at me from down here?" she said as she ran down the stairs, hurrying to meet us.
"Happy Birthday Hermione," we all chorused again, grinning at our best friend, who instantly blushed and looked down, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Thank you guys, you didn't have to make a fuss though," she said, grinning nonetheless. She hugged each of us in turn and when we stepped back we pulled our gifts out from behind our backs.
"You didn't!" she exclaimed, grinning an even wider smile. "Alright then, let's see these gifts."
She unwrapped the one George had given her to find an empty photo frame. "We can fill this sometime over the summer, maybe with a Muggle photo, but I thought it'd be nice to have," he said, scratching his head.
"Thank you very much George, I appreciate it," Hermione said. George took back his gift so Hermione could open Fred's.
"Looks like we're on the same page as always George," Fred said, grinning as Hermione took a photo album out of a small bag. "You can put your favourite photo by your bedside but, knowing us, there'll be a bunch more that didn't turn out right. Figure you'll need to put it somewhere."
"Yes, absolutely Fred," Hermione said with a grin. She turned to me, her eyes bright, and held out her hand expectantly.
"Well Harry, let me have it, though I'm almost afraid to see what it is," she said to me. "You seem the type for grandiose gifts."
I laughed, holding out my own parcel. "No, no, I'll restrict myself to Christmas only. And your seventeenth birthday, of course. Now open it," I instructed, nodding towards the gift.
She gingerly unwrapped the gift, careful not to tear the paper. I smiled slightly, admiring Hermione's caring nature to the point that she valued every part of a gift. She pulled out a small box and opened the lid to find a pendant. The necklace chain and setting was gold and it had a small, teardrop emerald as the only thing on the chain. "It's from the Potter vaults," I explained. "So technically it didn't cost me a cent. When I wrote to Longclaw requesting advice for gift ideas he told me about this. Apparently it's been in my family for generations and my father actually gave it to my mother."
"Harry…" Hermione said, eyes wide as she gently fingered the gem.
I shrugged, scratching my head. "I don't know, I just thought it was something that would suit you. I didn't think you'd like something too big but this is nice and small and…it's something to remind you of me." I sighed, thinking about how silly that sounded.
"No, not silly," she said, dabbing at the corner of her eye as she looked at me and grinned. I realised I had spoken aloud, but Hermione didn't seem to mind. "Very, very thoughtful. Would you put it on me, please?"
I nodded, taking the box from her to take out the pendant before handing the wrapping back. I stepped behind Hermione, who lifted up her hair, and began to put the necklace on.
"You really don't seem to understand small and inexpensive, do you mate?" Fred asked rhetorically. He placed his gift and the wrapping from mine on the small table in between the bottom of the two staircases.
George followed suit and added on. "Yeah, Harry, you do realise Hermione's going to have more birthdays, don't you? One every year in fact."
"And we were kind of planning on getting her a gift every year," Fred said casually. "But, you know, if you wanted to go full out first year out the rank, god for you."
"We know what G really appreciates," George finished, smirking as he crossed his arms, winking to let me know he was kidding. I laughed as Hermione let go of her hair, stepping away and smiling down at her necklace, which she tucked under her robes after a brief glance.
"And that'd be a wizarding camera for my next birthday, right?" she asked, eyeing the two boys.
"Done-
"-and done!" they said, high fiving as we all shared a laugh. I looked at Hermione again as we all made our way out of the common room to breakfast. We fell behind the Twins as we walked, chatting quietly.
"You know they're right, right?" Hermione said, smiling slightly as she touched her jumper, right where the pendant probably rested. "You really didn't have to do this."
"Hermione," I said. "You guys were my first friends. Ever. That's something you can never put a price on. This is only the beginning."
She laughed slightly as we continued. "Besides," I added, smirking as we observed the two pranksters walking through the Great Hall towards our table, which already seated Alicia and Angelina. "You haven't seen what I'm giving the Twins for their birthdays yet."
That's all she wrote folks. As always I hope you enjoyed this update. This was very generous I believe, but I'm pretty sure that's a good thing? Will keep you all updated on its progression. Ciao!