WARNING: This chapter contains descriptive situations of high anxiety for certain characters.

Chapter 10: Touch and Trust

Molly had only just managed to get all of her things back and her room in order by September 1st. She could have done it in five minutes with magic, but she was keenly aware that she wasn't allowed to use magic outside of school, so she was forced to fix things by hand. That meant looking everywhere for the things the other girls had nicked out of her trunk and hidden about the property while she'd been off with Soo Lin and the Holmes Brothers. The whole ordeal wouldn't have upset her as much as it had if they hadn't ripped some of her books. She'd have to wait until she was at Hogwarts to repair them and there was something deeply personal about assaulting a person's books in such a manner. It still brought a sheen of moisture to Molly's eyes when she carefully packed the damaged texts into her trunk on the last day of August. That night, she was almost too excited to sleep and as a result, she woke up an hour and a half later than she'd planned.

The house was still quiet when she crept downstairs. Her attempt at stealth was made rather difficult by the fact that the dusty wooden floors creaked with age and disrepair and she was towing a rather large (in proportion to her) trunk. Still, she managed not to wake anyone and even snuck a few stale oatmeal biscuits from the tin in the kitchen for breakfast before she went out to sit on the curb and wait for that Ministry car to show up. While she waited, she wondered what sort of importance Mycroft might have at the Ministry if they let him have a car whenever he needed one. Sherlock had said his brother was a Ministerial Aid and Mycroft had done nothing to disabuse her of that notion, but she got the impression it wasn't quite true. She did remember Sherlock's deduction that Mycroft had been promoted, but that didn't seem to have any bearing on the availability of cars as he'd been using them before he'd been promoted. Sherlock, for all his animosity towards his brother, appeared to be in the know and had been told not to say much about it. That told Molly that Mycroft was very important and she laughed to herself. Her friend would be proud of her investigative thinking. Maybe sometime she'd ask Sherlock if she was right.

Before long, Molly spotted the familiar green vehicle rolling down the street. She quickly got up and readied her trunk. When the car pulled up by her, a disgruntled Sherlock was pushed out to help her lift her luggage into the boot. He seemed displeased about more than being forced to assist her, though, and she learnt why when they got in. Basil had been confined to a small cage. From the way the Holmes Brothers were glaring at each other, it seemed pretty obvious that there was an ongoing dispute about it. It didn't help that Soo Lin's owl, Yue, was staring rather longingly at Basil from her own cage. The tension in the car put a bit of a damper on Molly's spirits that wasn't lifted until they'd made it to King's Cross Station.

"Is that...is that a broomstick?" Molly asked, astonished, as she looked over the contents of Sherlock's trolly. He sighed exasperatedly before replying.

"What else could it possibly be?"

"You're trying out for Quidditch, aren't you?" Molly grinned knowingly and Sherlock rolled his eyes. "What position?" The boy ran through the barrier to Platform 9 ¾ before she could get an answer from him.

"Off you go then. Both of you. Or do you want to miss the train?" Mycroft spoke up, making shooing gestures at Molly and Soo Lin. The girls looked at each other, slightly panicked, and ran at the barrier. On the other side, parents were saying goodbye to their children, which told them that the train would be leaving shortly. They hurried to get on and find Sherlock, who had disappeared. They discovered him already in a compartment with John, who was being filled in on the hat fiasco, much to the entertainment of them both. Molly and Soo Lin settled in beside them as John forced Sherlock to pause the story so he could wave goodbye to his mother out the window. The train had just left the station when a banana peel hit the blond full in the face. He angrily swatted it away and made a rude gesture towards someone nearer the front of the train.

"John," Molly scolded, but she was ignored.

"It's going to be such a relief when she graduates and moves out," John grumbled as he pulled back inside and shut the window.

"Who?" Soo Lin asked innocently. It was odd how easy it was to forget she hadn't been with them very long and didn't know much about them.

"My sister, Harry." Soo Lin nodded in comprehension and didn't press for more information. Molly wondered if she had any siblings, but didn't ask because Sherlock had continued with his story unprompted and she didn't want to miss the details of the infamous hat incident. She was so busy laughing that she didn't notice when the sky darkened and it began to rain. It only had the effect of making the compartment feel that much cozier. They all forgot about any agitation they may have felt earlier and Sherlock bought more sweets off the trolly than he could fit in his arms. That was a sign of the positive atmosphere more than anything. Sherlock was often at his most generous when he was happy. They set up a little course on the table with empty wrappers and had a Chocolate Frog herding competition, timed by John's watch, which Sherlock and Soo Lin seemed quite good at, but Molly was terrible because she was too gentle with the frogs and they kept jumping out of the course. She was in the midst of laughing off her latest failure when the door of the compartment slid open to reveal a vaguely familiar blonde girl dressed in shocking shades of pink.

"Excuse me, but I was told Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, and Molly Hooper were in this compartment," she said somewhat shyly. Sherlock narrowed his eyes at her.

"That'd be us," John replied after swallowing the remainder of the Chocolate Frog he'd been eating. The girl beamed.

"I'm Jennifer Wilson." Well, that certainly explained why she seemed so familiar.

"Oh! Hi, how are you?" Molly asked, beaming.

"Much better, thank you. I just wanted to personally express my gratitude for what you all did for me. I tried to fall someplace suspicious and I'm so glad you three found me and were clever enough to figure it out and bring Hope to justice."

"Well, we couldn't leave it to the incompetent adults, now could we?" Sherlock responded, having apparently completed whatever assessment he'd been making of Jennifer. He tossed a packet of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum to her, obviously deciding that she was worth respecting. She nodded in silent thanks and went on her way. They were then forced to explain to Soo Lin about what had happened the previous year. She took it surprisingly well considering they and Jennifer had had close brushes with death in a place that was supposed to be safe. She was mostly concerned about who this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was.

"We don't know. We'll probably find out when we get to the Great Hall, though. You'll be going in after us since you're a first year." Molly explained while Sherlock and John attempted to employ Basil in the Chocolate Frog course.

"Why?"

"First years get sorted into their houses. There are four. I'm a Hufflepuff, Sherlock's a Ravenclaw, and John's a Gryffindor."

"What is the fourth one?"

"Slytherin. People think they're a bunch of bullies and backstabbers, but I think that's unfair. There's nothing wrong with being ambitious or shrewd. That's what makes a person a Slytherin, not being a bad person. If you end up a Slytherin, I want you to know that there's no shame in it, whatever other people might say."

"She'll be a Ravenclaw," Sherlock called, apparently having been paying some attention to the girls' conversation. The pair shrugged and started on the Every Flavour Beans.

The rain stopped not long before the train pulled into Hogsmeade Station. Soo Lin separated from the three second years to follow Ogg towards the boats while they head for the carriages everyone else took up to the castle. John spotted Sally, Greg, and a Ravenclaw boy climbing into one and excitedly pulled Sherlock and Molly along to join them. Sherlock seemed particularly reluctant and they found out why when they'd settled in.

"Anderson." Sherlock acknowledged the other Ravenclaw, his tone dripping with disdain.

"Holmes," Anderson returned with equal contempt. Greg looked between the two as if he was waiting for one of them to throw the first punch, but nothing happened and the tension in the carriage remained almost thick enough to be cut with a knife. Molly tried and failed to alleviate the situation.

"Interesting horses."

"Sorry?" Sally responded with a frown.

"You know, the ones pulling the carriages." Now everyone was looking at her in confusion, even Sherlock.

"Molly, nothing's pulling the carriages. They've always moved by themselves," Greg told her, brow furrowing. Not understanding, the Hufflepuff poked her head out of the window to look towards the front of the carriage. There they were, in all their dark, skeletal glory: two winged horses.

"What are you on about? They're right there. Great black wings and everything."

"No, seriously, what are you on about, Molly? Greg's right. There aren't any horses." John gazed at her with a look of deep concern. She fell silent and let Sally change the subject as she gazed out the window. Was she seeing things? Whatever high spirits she'd been in before vanished as she thought about it. She didn't notice that Sherlock was staring at her, she was so wrapped up in her worrying.

It wasn't long before they arrived at the castle and headed into the Great Hall, donning their pointed black hats and separating out to their house tables. Molly found Meena in her usual spot and smiled as she took the seat beside her.

"Hullo, Molly! How was your summer?"

"I can't say it was the best, but that's sort of to be expected. You?"

"I spent a few weeks in Spain. It was brilliant until we got a letter saying gran was ill and mum insisted that we had to come home."

"Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's fine. The healers had gran cleared up in no time."

"That's good. So what's Spain like?"

"It's the place to be if you like ham and..." Meena trailed off as she caught sight of Professor McGonagall standing by the doors, about to call for quiet in the hall. A look of excitement came across the older girl's features as silence fell and the hat was placed on its stool. Molly could only assume that it was time for the first years to come in and be sorted. All thoughts of the carriage ride were pushed to the back of her mind as she grew excited as well.

The first years filed in and Molly spotted Soo Lin at the very back. She sent the younger girl an encouraging smile. The hat sang a much longer song than last year's, going on in detail about the qualities of each house, even adding in verses about what each house should not be mistaken for. The performance was met with delighted applause which died down once the Deputy Headmistress began calling out names. About two thirds of the way through, two very different girls were sorted into Ravenclaw, one after the other, which illustrated the point the Hat had been trying to make.

"Sinistra, Aurora," McGonagall called and a pretty girl with a very serene manner made her way up to the stool. Only a few seconds after the hat had been placed on her head, it proclaimed her a Ravenclaw. "Trelawney, Sybill," was called and an exceptionally thin girl with frizzy hair stepped forward, adjusting her thick, round rimmed glasses nervously. A few students whispered to each other, her name apparently being vaguely familiar. The Hat took much longer with Sybill. A whole minute passed before she was declared a Ravenclaw and was allowed to hurry over to the house's table. Molly noticed that she'd taken the open seat beside Sherlock, who didn't appear to object, prompting the Hufflepuff to smile to herself.

Soo Lin was the very last to be sorted and just as Sherlock had predicted, she was placed in Ravenclaw. Molly looked over to him to see his reaction. He seemed rather pleased with himself, smirking and welcoming Soo Lin to the table. Victor Trevor, who sat on Sherlock's other side, ruffled the boy's dark hair affectionately. Shortly thereafter, Dumbledore began his speech.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. It is time for you to refill your brains with knowledge after the long period you've had to forget it all. I must of course remind you that the forest is out of bounds to all students, due to the dangers that lie within. Mr. Pringle's list of forbidden objects continues to be rather compelling, this year with the addition of Exploding Quill Nibs." There was scattered giggling at this which brought a smile to the Headmaster's face. "I hope you all will join me in welcoming Professor Prince, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." A middle aged witch of plump proportions and a heavily made up face stood from her seat at the staff table and received more enthusiastic applause than one might expect.

"Why're people so excited about her?" Molly whispered to Meena.

"That's Connie Prince! She writes a very popular fashion column for the Daily Prophet. She's traveled all over the world and seen all sorts of things we could only dream of," Meena practically squealed. Molly wondered what exactly made Ms. Prince qualified to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. Her question was answered quickly enough when classes began.

She and Sherlock were scheduled to take Defense Against the Dark Arts with the third year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws and were thus able to experience class with Professor Prince before John. Many of their classmates were jittery with anticipation when they first sat down, but this waned slightly when Prince was five minutes late. She came in wearing a big smile and silk robes that were probably worth more than all of Molly's possessions and cost of adoption combined.

"Open your books and read pages 12-40," she announced after doing roll call. Sherlock and Molly looked at each other in exasperation and grudgingly pulled their books from their bags. They'd both already read the first few chapters of the text and were therefore in for a period of utter boredom.

"What's your assessment so far?" Molly wrote on a leaf of parchment and slid over to Sherlock. He quirked a dark eyebrow at her and scribbled his reply.

"Only one who would take the job. Doing this for publicity. No real qualifications." Molly read this and let out a long sigh. She noticed that Professor Prince was slowly walking about the classroom of silently reading students, making some sort of notes on a steno pad. It became clear exactly what she was doing when she stopped beside Jennifer Wilson (who was repeating third year after having missed so much of it the first time) and scrutinized the enormous bright pink ribbon that tied her blonde hair. The tutting noise Prince made seemed to upset Jennifer, who hastily wiped at her eyes and sniffled. Both Sherlock and Molly pretended to read as the woman eventually made her way over to them. She carried with her a strong scent of exotic, expensive perfume that made Molly's eyes water with the effort of resisting the desire to cough. Sherlock's entire body tensed and his eyes went wide with a cocktail of unpleasant emotions when Prince gently plucked at the curls which were long enough to brush the back of his collar. Molly could not find it in herself to resist the urge to glare daggers at the teacher as she put down quite a lot about whatever she was thinking on that notepad of hers.

"Are you okay?" Molly wrote once Professor Prince had moved on. Sherlock clearly felt violated and Molly didn't blame him one bit. He didn't answer her, which told her all she needed to know. He didn't speak a word again until after dinner that evening when John suggested they go and have a swim in the Black Lake. "Oh, I don't know, John. I can't swim," Molly objected anxiously.

"You can be taught," Sherlock commented, much to the surprise of his friends.

"Yeah, we'll teach you, Molly. Come on." The girl was too delighted that Sherlock's mood had improved to say no. She donned her house issued swimsuit and met up with the boys just outside the oak front doors of the castle. The breeze was warm and Molly savoured the feeling of it blowing through her hair, knowing it wouldn't be long before autumn came with a chill. They made their way down to the lake and stripped to their swimwear. Before now, Molly had never realized just how pale and skinny Sherlock was. She could easily see his ribcage (she was one to talk, being just as pale and skinny herself). John had a much more robust figure and waded into the water with confidence. Sherlock followed silently and John turned to beckon to Molly. "Come on, then. Don't be afraid. The water isn't too cold and we're right here with you," he urged. Cautiously, she stepped into the water, nearly jumping out again at the temperature. She waded in far enough for her shoulders to be just below the surface and marveled at the slightly weightless sensation it provided. Relaxing a little, she reminded herself that she was okay and that this was actually kind of fun now.

"Lean forward and try to make yourself horizontal," Sherlock instructed, swimming up to Molly. Anxiously, she did as he suggested and soon found herself completely submerged. Panicking, she scrambled to bring her head above the surface. John's hands grasped her shoulders firmly and stabilized her.

"It's alright. I've got you," the blond told her, seeing how shaken she was. "Do you want to try again?" After allowing herself a moment to calm down and wipe water from her eyes, she nodded.

"Try to arch your back more this time." Molly followed Sherlock's instruction and was surprised to find him holding tightly to her waist to support her. She knew he was very sensitive about contact with people. The events earlier in the day were proof enough of that. The fact that he felt comfortable enough with her to do this for her gave her the confidence boost she needed. Within a half an hour, she learnt to swim competently and was rather enjoying herself, all anxiety forgotten. That is, until something touched her legs. A shrill scream ripped from her throat and she kicked backwards, grabbing onto a shocked John's arm and drawing her wand from the holster strapped to her thigh.

"Molly! What is it?! What's happened?!"

"Something touched me!"

"It's just a little squid," Sherlock called. Molly could practically hear the eyeroll in his voice. She looked around to see him pointing somewhere a few feet from her. Sure enough, a little squid no larger than a shoe squirted along near the surface.

"Aw, it's so cute!" Molly proclaimed, her fear vanishing in an instant. She put away her wand and approached the tiny creature, much to the astonishment of her friends, particularly John, whose eyebrows had shot up the moment the word 'cute' had come out of her mouth. "It was probably just saying hi. I must have startled it a bit, flailing about like that." The squid circled her and she giggled.

"That is not a reaction you would expect someone to have to a squid," John commented and Sherlock laughed heartily. Before long, it started to grown dark and the three of them agreed that they'd best head back inside, though Molly was a little reluctant to leave her new aquatic friend. Sherlock used a spell to dry them off and they got dressed before making their way up to the castle, talking and laughing with ease. This was the night it first occurred to Molly that she completely trusted Sherlock and John.

A/N: There you have it. The first half of the lake scene was a little emotionally taxing for me to write due to my own experiences with swimming, but I'm glad it turned out sort of fluffy in the end. The plot should start to pick up a bit more in the next couple of chapters if all goes according to plan. Thanks for reading! ~T.Z.