Disclaimer: I do not own the world of Harry Potter.
A/n: Hello all! It's been a while I know. I have tons of time on my hands suddenly lol, so expect a lot of updates! Hope you enjoy this story!
Priya walked slowly into the living room, her arms wrapped around her waist. Edie Tollop sat on the couch, doing some crochet, a habit that Priya had never had the desire to learn despite her mother's suggestions. Her mom looked so cozy, the fireplace roaring, a serene look on her face. Her dad was asleep in the arm chair, snoring softly. They had had a busy Christmas day, just like always. They made cookies, visited with the neighbors. Celestina came over and was just as boisterous as she usually was, more so because, true to his word, Blaise had stopped by during lunch and the two of them became fast friends (something Priya was sure was not a good thing). After such an active day, it was nice to just have the three of them there.
Sitting on the couch, Priya glanced over at the blue and silver scarf her mother was making. Edie glanced back with a smile. "Hello, dear heart," she muttered.
Without a word, Priya slid down on the couch to rest her head in her mother's lap. The older Ravenclaw stopped what she was doing, setting the scarf off to the side so that she could run her fingers through her daughter's hair. "Now, if I recall, the last time you did this, you had gotten an 88 percent on your Defense essay."
"That was a dark day," Priya responded, snuggling closer.
"What seems to be the problem?"
Priya hesitated, watching the fire jump around the fireplace. "I – I think – I may have . . . feelings for someone."
"Oh." Edie's hands stilled in Priya's hair for a moment before continuing. "And – and this is a problem?"
"Yes. I mean, no. I don't know. It's not not a problem."
". . . You lost me, dear heart."
"I don't mind having feelings for someone. It's the person that I have feelings for that's the problem."
"Ah, I see. It's someone you don't think you should like. . . . Why is that?"
"Well he's a bit of a wild card. I've always thought so . . . or at least I used to think so. He's just not the type of person I imagined myself liking."
"Hmm. Have I ever told you how your father and I ended up together?"
Priya sat up on her knees, tilting her head at her mother. "Actually you haven't."
Edie smiled, turning slightly in her seat. "You and I weren't too different when I was your age. I wasn't very social, had a handful of friends. . . . And your father got on my nerves."
As if on cue, Calloway snorted in his sleep, before he settled again, still passed out. Priya shook her head. "How?"
"Well, I'm a realist. I was never a glass half-full or half-empty person but I tended to see things as though they were. Your father was an extreme optimist. He was always happy when I saw him, always laughing, always kind and kind of a goofball. It was hard not to like him. Even Slytherins in our year tolerated him. I just thought he was annoying."
"I always thought you two got married straight out of Hogwarts."
"A couple of years after, actually. I was training to be an Auror, which meant a lot of fetching and running. Your father was working odd jobs at the Ministry at the time, helping out with the war effort that way. We ran into each other in a lift and he asked me out to lunch. That one date turned into eight months of dates, he proposed and the next year we had you."
Priya looked over to her dad with a fond smile. "He's still kind of a goofball."
"Oh, he definitely is."
"What changed?"
"I did." Edie reached up placing a hand on Priya's head. "It was the middle of a war. Between working for the Aurors and the Order, I had seen my fair share of devastation and sadness. And yet, somehow in all of that, Calloway was still able to find a smile, still able to make people laugh. It was refreshing and I realized I needed someone like him in my life. Someone to remind me what to live for."
"So you're saying I changed."
"I'm saying, I don't know what it is you need from this other person and maybe you don't know either, but you must be getting it, enough to make you consider them worthy of your affection. It's okay to change your mind about someone, to see them in a different light. That's what makes us human."
Priya looked down at her hands and took a deep breath. "This is hard to accept."
"Does this other person have feelings for you too?"
"I'm not sure. It seems possible."
"Then accepting it might be worthwhile. You're young and in school. It's okay to live a little."
Leaning over, Priya pressed a kiss to her mom's forehead. "Thank you, mum. I needed this. I think I'll go to bed now."
"Goodnight, dear heart," Edie responded, reaching for her crochet needles as Priya made her way out the room. "I suppose if you had to have feelings for someone, you could have done worse than Harry Potter."
Priya froze, looking over her shoulder at her mother's smug face. "I hate when you do that."
Edie chuckled. "I wouldn't be good at my job if I weren't a bit observant. He's cute, isn't he, that Potter boy."
"Merlin, you're so embarrassing!" Priya cried out.
Calloway snorted again, sitting up in his chair this time. "What, what, what is it?"
"Matters of the heart, my love," Edie responded, patting her husband on his hand.
"Oh! Is our Priya in love?" Calloway asked, waggling his eyebrows at his daughter.
"Goodnight!" Priya yelled, running out of the room as her parents laughed behind her.
"Was he at least a good kisser?"
Hermione's face turned beet red and she tried to look away but Muni had a good grip on her chin as she worked on her eye liner. "It was very . . . wet."
Guinn and Stella squealed with laughter. Eloise giggled next to them. "I suppose McLaggen couldn't have everything."
"His arrogance makes him lose anything that he possibly could have had," Priya responded, leaning back on her as she looked around at her friends. They all looked very nice, though that was definitely thanks to Muni who had, of course, done all their makeup. Their New Years Eve activities had been as fun as they always were with the special addition of Hermione. The Gryffindor door seemed more lively than Priya had ever seen her and for that she was glad; she knew the other girl just needed some girl time.
"Hermione, I do have to ask though," Stella started, finally calming down. "What is it about Ron? I mean, don't get me wrong, all of the Weasleys seem to have this 'je ne sai quoi' –"
"Especially that Percy," Eloise muttered. Everyone turned to look at her and she flushed. "What!?"
"That aside," Stella continued, shaking her head. "Why Ron?"
"Well," Hermione began wringing her hands together as Muni worked on her other eye, "I don't know. . . . We've been friends for so long. Ron can be – well, a handful at times . . . but he can also be charming and kind and brave and – and it doesn't hurt that he makes me laugh," she added when she realized they were all staring at her.
"That's always a good thing," Muni muttered, stepping back to admire her handiwork. "They do say opposites attract."
"He's gotten better at Quidditch too, so that's something," Guinn responded.
"Well hopefully he realizes just how much of an idiot he's being," Priya sympathized.
Hermione looked down at her hands. "Yes, hopefully."
"Well, let's not become sad sacks now!" Stella hopped to her feet and rushed over to Hermione, pulling her up. "We have fireworks to admire!"
Hermione quickly broke into a smile. "I'm ready."
The crowd around them 'oohed' and 'ahhed' as the fireworks blasted in the sky above. It was a gorgeous display; the city had really outdone themselves this year.
"I still like Fred and George's fireworks better," Guinn whispered as the fireworks came to an end.
"They kind of have an advantage," Eloise argued.
Across the park in a gazebo, a small band struck up. People started drifting away from their blankets to go and listen, couples holding hands. Stella hopped to her feet. "Time to dance!"
"Oh no, not again," Guinn whined.
"Oh yes, again! It's tradition!" Stella pulled Guinn to her feet before grabbing Stella and Muni as well.
"Do you go dance?" Hermione asked, looking to Priya.
Priya shook her head. "It's my tradition to say no."
"We'll get her eventually," Stella responded. "Hermione, what about you?"
"No, no, I'm fine!"
"Hmph, next year then!"
The other four girls ran off, Priya chuckling as Guinn moaned the whole way. Taking a deep breath, she lay back on the blanket, looking up at the stars. Hermione sighed as well. "This has been really fun."
"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Priya said, smiling at the other girl.
"Thank you for inviting me," Hermione muttered. She looked down at Priya out the corner of her eye. "I know it was your idea to have me over. I really do appreciate it. I – I don't have very many girlfriends. I mostly spend my time with Harry and Ron."
"Why is that?"
"I just was never able to get on with my dormmates like you did. We like different things I suppose."
"And it's Lavender and Parvati." The two of them giggled at that, Hermione laying down as well.
"Priya," the other girl started, "forgive me if I'm intruding. Can I ask you a question?"
"Of course."
Hermione hesitated. "You – you like Harry, don't you."
It wasn't a question. Priya heaved a sigh again, sitting up and crossing her legs. Next to her, Hermione sat up as well, looking a bit guilty. The Ravenclaw looked to her friend. "Am I that obvious?"
She supposed there wasn't much sense in denying it any longer. She had inexplainably developed feelings for none other than Harry Potter. A boy she said she would never talk to, that she would hate forever. Now, she couldn't help but want to speak to him. He made her feel like she was falling and spinning all at the same time.
Merlin, what was wrong with her?
"I – I wouldn't say obvious. I know we haven't know each other too long, but in the last year and a half, I think I've come to understand you a bit more. I know it's easy for you to turn your personality on and off like a light. . . . Lately, when you're around Harry, the light always seems to be on. I don't think you even notice it anymore."
"Hmmm." Priya wrapped her arms around her knees. "Well, it doesn't matter much I suppose. I don't know if he feels the same way."
Hermione chuckled a bit. "Are you baiting me?"
"Is it working?"
Hermione smiled softly. "Harry has never been very good at keeping things close to the chest. He hasn't said anything out loud, but he acts differently around you. I'm fairly confident in saying he likes you back. . . . He's just – going through some things."
"The meetings with Dumbledore," Priya deduced. "I'm not asking you to tell me what they are about," she responded when Hermione gave her a look. "I'm assuming it's private and that's fine. I don't need or want to know."
"I'm sure he'll tell you when he's comfortable. So," Hermione started, tilting her head. "What are you going to do?"
Priya looked up at the sky, the settling stars and a smile came to her face. She pushed to her feet, holding her hand out to Hermione. "I'm going to go dance."
Looking confused, Hermione placed her hand in Priya's letting the other girl pull her up. "I thought you didn't dance?"
Priya shrugged. "Maybe it's time for a change."
Grinning, Priya pulled Hermione over to their other friends, the girls crying out when they saw them approaching. As the six of them danced and the countdown to the New Year approached, Priya knew that, eventually, she would either need to buck up the courage and say something to Harry or let it go. She also knew she wasn't the type to let things go. But, for now, she didn't have to focus on that. She just needed to focus on her friends and the great time they were having.
She just needed to dance.
