Chapter 7
January 2nd, 1994
A new journal - A new year - A new life
Dear Dad, I know it might seem silly to anyone else who reads this, but I'm going to make this journal out to you, always. For, if you were still here, you'd be the one I'd tell these things to. So, short recap, My name is Harlequinn -nothing- Edwards, because Mum isn't original. My best mate is Rhia. My boyfriend is Fred. Life is ok, routine but that's ... routine ...ok, there's gotta be a better word for that. Anyways, life is a five on a scale of ten. Why? Well, normally, it's always been a ten out of ten, but losing you, Dad, that knocked it down a few notches. Not to mention, I'm stropped at my own self because I can't open that box the Warden gave me. You see, Dad, that's why I'm a Hufflepuff. Any Gryffindor would have opened that box days ago for the hell of it, a Slytherin would have gone mad wondering what was inside, even a Ravenclaw would have opened it for what was to be learned, but little Harley Hufflepuff is afraid of a box. -Harley
Things had been pretty strange in the days following Harley's visit to Azkaban. She hardly talked about it, except to Fred, who'd been with her during the whole ordeal. Finally, during an extremely boring Potions class, Rhia opened her Journal to the back page.
"Harley?"
"What?"
"Where are you?"
"On the roof, with Archie."
"Careful, Fred might catch wind of this, and you know there's nothing worse than an Irish temper."
"My owl, you moppet."
"Sarcasm, Love."
"Can I help you with something?"
"I was just wondering how you were doing."
"I'm fine. How are you?"
"Harlequinn Edwards, if you don't talk to me, REALLY talk to me, I'm going to come up on that rooftop and knock you off."
"Find me then."
"Harley!"
"What? What do you want me to say?"
"I want you to tell me what's going on in that head of yours."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then darling Frederick finds out about you snogging on the roof with some sixth year named Archie."
"He'd never believe you."
"Oh, wouldn't he?"
"Ok, fine, I'll talk, but this is going to take a while."
"That's fine, Snape's just rambling on about Wolfsbane. I mean it was interesting the first three times he taught it, but I have to draw the line at seventeen."
"Ok, here goes..."
Rhia spent the next half hour staring at her journal, eyes wide, mouth gaping, as Harley rehashed the occurrences of her day at Azkaban Prison. She even got misty when she began to talk about her father's last words.
"I'm sorry Harley, if I'd known, I wouldn't have pestered you so. Well, I still would have pestered you, but I am sorry."
"It's okay. I just want to open that box so badly, but I'm afraid I'm not going to like what I find. There is no changing the fact that he was a Death Eater, but I don't want what I know of him to be ruined by what I might find out."
"Well, you've got to open it sometime. You can't live your life afraid of a box."
"Get out of my head, Rhia!"
"What does that..."
"Miss Perth?"
"Bollocks!" Snape was standing right over her shoulder.
"Find something more interesting than my ramblings on Wolfsbane?"
"No Sir, Professor, I was just..."
"Passing notes to... Miss Edwards, I expect? I'll be taking this," he said picking up her journal. "Clever, I must say. The best technique I've seen yet. Yes, a shame you got yourself caught. Ten points from Hufflepuff."
Rhia couldn't breath, she'd never lost points before. Was it even possible for the Head Girl to lose points? She felt a sick feeling creeping up into her stomach as she was forced to listen for the remainder of class.
Outside the Potions classroom, Harley leaned cooly against the wall, until Rhia emerged.
"What happened? You just stopped writing." Professor Snape walked in between them clutching the journal in his hand and preceded down the hall. "No! He caught you? What did he do?"
"Well, aside from taking it, took ten points from Hufflepuff."
"The Great Rhiannon Perth has lost house points. That's it, we're all fucked; Hell hath frozen."
"And that's another five points for cursing Miss Edwards," said Snape, apparently not quite out of earshot.
"What else is new," scoffed Harley under her breath. It wasn't rare for Harley to lose an average of ten points a week for some reason or another, and until now, Rhia was always the one making them up.
Rhia sulked the rest of the day. George wasn't even able to cheer her up at dinner.
"What's wrong with her," George asked when he was unable to get a straight answer from Rhia.
"Snape. He confiscated her journal."
"And that's life shattering because..." Harley slapped Fred for this comment.
"Because...She's had that journal since our first year at school."
"Why'd he take it?"
"He found out we could use it to pass notes to each other."
"I can't believe he took my journal," said Rhia in a melancholy tone.
"God be praised, she speaks!" Harley laughed. Strange, it was the first time she'd laughed in days.
A bell sounded, "Arg…Astronomy. Alright, Love," Harley said giving Fred a peck, "I'm off to the tower."
"We'd better be off, too." "Quidditch practice."
"I'll be in the common room, moping."
"You do that," said Fred, before receiving his twin's elbow to the ribs.
"Don't fret, I'm sure everything will turnout fine in the end," said George, desperately trying to cheer her up.
"Yeah, sure," answered Rhia hopelessly, "Night."
As Rhia departed for the common room and Harley for the Astronomy tower, Fred motioned for his brother to listen closely.
- - -
The month of January passed by rather quickly considering everything that happened. Harley finally opened the box, finding her father's wand, his old cloak (that she now wears when ever she can), and the keys to his home and two Gringott's Vaults. A lunch break from work study gave the girls a chance to visit these Vaults. Here, Harley discovered that she had inherited a rather large sum of money. More money, in fact, than she could probably spend in a life time. That Sunday the girls decided to skip Mass and see Billy's home first hand. The Manor was huge, probably big enough to house three families. They wondered how on earth he was able to stand living in that big house all by himself.
February found Rhia still moping about her journal and an excited Harley dragging her to the Gryffindor/Ravenclaw match. They meet the Twins at the team entrance before the game. While Fred and Harley argued about Fred not chipping his new bat, George pulled Rhia aside.
"Still no smile," he asked.
Rhia forced a rather fake one.
"Well maybe this will help," he said, pulling a brown, leather bound journal from behind his back.
Rhia's mouth opened in a gasp. "Oh George! I can't believe you did this." She kissed him joyfully. "Oh, however did you get it?"
"We have our ways."
"Well, you are the sweetest little sneak thief I've ever met," she kissed him once more.
"I swear, Frederick Weasley, if you chip that bat, I'll chip your skull."
"Or you could just buy me a new one, Miss Moneybags."
She laughed, wrapping her arms around him, looking up at him with her chin rested on his chest. "Just come back in one piece, alright Freddie."
"It's only Ravenclaw, Love, I'll be fine." He kissed her forehead.
"Oi, Loverboys," came a call from the Catch (starting point of the team), "stop all that snogging and get in here, the whistles about to sound."
"Keep you knickers on, Wood," yelled Fred, "we're coming."
With one last peck, the Twins jogged off to their steaming captain.
The girls took their seats and spent the next few hours cheering on their red haired loves. Not far from them, Penelope Clearwater could be heard cursing at a gloating Percy. "Look at Potter go! Get that ten Galleons ready, Penny."
Harley and Rhia squealed with joy as Potter beat Cho out for the snitch and Penelope huffed as Percy ran to congratulate him. The girls made their way down to the field where the Twins were busy praising Harry, but amid all the chaos, they couldn't exactly get up to the boys to congratulate them. "Doubt we'll see them tonight," said Rhia, "we might as well go grab a bite to eat in the Great Hall." Later on, the two sat in alone in the Great Hall nibbling away on roast chicken, potatoes and greens.
"'ello, Girls. 'ungry are we?"
"Hello Ella," said Rhia, with a full mouth, as Ravenclaw Chaser Eleanor Kildey approached the table.
"Anythin' good tonight?" Eleanor was, as most Chasers are, thin and streamline. Her face was like milk white porcelain and her long kinky brown hair was pulled back into a bundle of spirals flowing down to her waist.
"The chicken's quite good, but I suppose it would taste better if you hadn't just lost, eh, Kildey?"
"'tis not so bad. Was worth the loss just to see Penelope Clearwater cry. You know she bet that Percy Weasley ten Galleons we'd win, an' Potter ridin' that Firebolt. Poor lil' Cho didna stand a chance."
"Penelope never was a bright one was she?"
At this point Ella had sat down to get in a bit of Penny bashing. "I'll say. You two dinna have to room with 'er. I swear, if I have to 'ear 'er say one more thin' about Percy havin' eyes for Perth, I'll smother 'er in 'er sleep."
"How you've gone this long without killing her is beyond me," laughed Harley.
At that point a cough came from behind the girls and they turned to see Cedric giving them a don't-fraternize-with-the-enemy look.
"Guess I should probably get goin', dinna want your Capin' to have kittens. Laters."
The girls finished their meal alone, sniggering about Penny and her lost Galleons, then decided to turn in.
