A/N: Here's the next chapter! I hope you all enjoy!
Chapter Nineteen: Prim
By the time that Prim had woken up later that morning for her classes, she was in a rush to run down for breakfast. She quickly fed Midnight before running down to meet up with any one of her friends. Once she was in the common room, she looked around before noticing that Hallie and Harry were arguing in a corner near the door. Prim turned from her cousins to find anyone else that might be able to tell her what was going on. And she wasn't disappointed when she saw Hermione, Ron, Ella, and Neville leaning against the couch.
Prim made her way over to her friends and asked, "What are my cousins fighting about? This is the first time I've ever seen them fight."
"Harry wants to find a way to get Malfoy back for last night and Hallie thinks that we would be best off taking the high road, which I agree is the best idea out of the two." Hermione answers as she rolls her eyes.
"Wait, what happened last night?" Neville asked as he stared at the Potter twins.
Prim sighs and was about to answer him when Ron says, "Malfoy tricked us to going to the Trophy room last night to try and get us expelled."
"And of course, Hermione, Hallie, and I all knew that was what Malfoy was trying to do anyways." Prim says before she strolls over to her cousins and buts her head into their fight. "Merlin! Harry, take the bloody high road! Be better than Malfoy because I know that you are! Now, I'm bloody hungry and we only have forty-five minutes until we have to sit through a double potion class!" Prim turns away before heading out the door and walking towards the Great Hall.
Moments later, she hears footsteps behind her and Hallie grabbed her hand. "Prim, we're sorry."
"Yeah and you're right, Prim. I would be better off taking the high road and that's what I'm going to do. Please forgive us… Or well, forgive me actually since you and Hallie were on the same side to begin with." Harry says with a smile and a shrug.
Prim shakes her head with a smile on her face before pulling both of them into a hug. "Of course, I forgive you! Now let's go on down to breakfast!" She smiles and sees Hermione, Ron, Neville, and Ella walk on past them. Hallie and Harry grab both of Prim's arms and they make their way on down towards the Great Hall.
When the group of seven walk in, they look at their house's table before seeing where Dean and Seamus were sitting. "Let's sit down next to Seamus and Dean." Hallie says and they walk on over towards the two boys. "Morning boys," Hals tells them as she slides into the seat in front of Seamus. Prim and Hermione sits down on either side of Hallie and Harry and Ron sits next to Seamus and the Longbottom twins sit down beside Dean.
"Neville, I haven't had a chance to ask you how your wrist is doing this morning." Prim says as she piles food onto her plate.
Neville's creeks redden before saying, "It's still a tad bit sore but it's at least not broken anymore." Neville gives her a crooked smile before he tucks into his food.
"I wish I could know how to make that potion Madam Pomfrey had to have given you because Harry is almost always liable to break a bone in his lifetime." Hallie tells the group with a shake of her head.
The group continues eating and sharing stories about home when all of a sudden Prim hears, "I guess you five were chickens."
Prim, Hallie, and Hermione all turn in their seats only to see Malfoy and his goons standing behind them. "No, we were there last night but when midnight came around and you didn't show, we went back to our common room and to bed. We didn't want to risk being out too late… Especially since we heard Mrs Norris running around once we got close to the Gryffindor common room. We didn't want to get expelled but that's what you wanted to happen, right? See, we all think that you told Filch that we were going to be out of bed because you didn't come to the Trophy room but he did. Are we right?" Harry says with a glare directed at Malfoy. "But see, we aren't going to try to get you back because we are better than that. Now, leave Malfoy before we decide to go and tell the Headmaster and both of our Heads of Houses what really happened last night. But I don't think you or your house could handle losing all of those points."
Malfoy glares at all of them before storming away with his goons following him. "Harry, you realize that we would be the ones to lose most of the points, right? Since we were the ones to actually be out in the school after curfew."
"Yes, Hermione, I realize that but Malfoy wouldn't want to let anyone know of what he tried to do last night. Now, we really need to finish breakfast if we want to get to class on time." Harry answers.
They continue eating for about another five or ten minutes before they run up to their dorms to grab their bags. As Prim was looking around her bed for her potion book, she looks over at where Hallie was standing with her bag. "Have you've seen my potion textbook? I swear, it was in my trunk last night!"
"I'm not sure, Prim but we need to find it soon! Professor Snape loves to take points away for tardiness." Hallie tells her as she drops her bag down by the door to help look. Prim and Hallie look all over the place and Prim was about to just head on downstairs when Lavender and Parvati walks into the room.
"Prim, I'm sorry but I must have grabbed your potion textbook this morning." Lavender tells her as she rushes over to her bedside table and pulls her textbook off the table.
This is exactly why I dislike you, Lavender. "Whatever… Thanks for bringing it up to me. Come on Hallie. I'm sure Hermione is going crazy, waiting." Hallie nods her head and they run down the stairs and over to where Hermione, Ron, and Harry were standing by the door. "Come on guys, we will be late if we don't hurry." Prim says as she rushes out of the door.
"What happened? Why did it take you two so much longer than it did for us?" Hermione asked as she tries and fails to keep the pace that Prim has set for them.
Prim groans before answering her. "Lavender happened. She 'accidently' took my potion book. So, I was up there for about five minutes tearing our room apart to find it. How hard is it to remember where you had placed your book the night before?"
"I am proud that you hadn't blown up at her." Hallie says.
"Well, I decided to take the advice I gave Harry this morning. I need to take the high road when it comes to Lavender. Sure, she irritates me but I don't want to have to deal with it, you know. I can't deal with that at the moment nor do I want to." Prim tells them as they run down the stairs near the dungeons before running into the potion classroom. They all make their way to their seats and wait for Professor Snape to walk into the room.
Moments later, Professor Snape walks in and strolls towards his desk before turning around to face them all. "Miss Brown, Miss Patil, five points from the both of you for being late." Prim turns in her seat as the two Gryffindors sneak in and she rolls her eyes. "On Monday and Tuesday, I had you take a test over the process, ingredients, and the outcome of the Cure of Boils potion and today will be your practical. The practical is a single person only test and you have the full class period to do the practical. Though, once you are finished, you are free to leave. Lastly, how you work during the potion making and how you clean up afterwards will be counted in your final grade. The first two rows can go pick up their ingredients. I do not expect you to memorize the ingredients nor the steps for the potion at this moment, so do not forget to look at the board for the ingredients and you need your book for the steps."
Prim looks over at where Hallie was sitting and sighed in relief as she brought her textbook out of her bag. The fact that Professor Snape had decided to spring this test on them is really crummy but Prim figured she should have known it would have ended up happening. "I would like you to all to read up and be ready to brew the Forgetfulness potion on Monday." Professor Snape said as row three and four go up to grab their ingredients. Once the last three rows went and picked up their own ingredients, they finally could get started on their potions.
After she added the snake fangs and Pungous Onions, she used the incendo charm to have a nice fire going to continue her potion. This went on for a while and as she went through each step, she was starting to get impatient. She knew that other students were getting close to finishing – such as Hallie, Hermione, Lisa, and Malfoy – but other students seemed to be further off behind her. She finally added a glug of stewed horned slugs and was about to add her porcupine quills before remembering what could happen if she didn't take her cauldron off the flame.
Prim quickly took her cauldron off of her flame and added her porcupine quills before pulling her wand out and waving her wand over her cauldron to complete her potion. Once she was finished, she raised her hand and Professor Snape walked over towards her. "Finished, Miss Dursley?"
"Yes, Professor Snape." She said with an uneasy smile. "I just hope it is up to par with the other vials of this potion I've given you. Hallie is the real potion master, her and Hermione… They both have an instinct for potion making whereas I do not… I have yet to find my subject."
Professor Snape smiled at her before saying, "Your Aunt Lily was the same, you know. Yes, she was a very adaptive student when it came to her subjects here at Hogwarts but it did take her a couple of weeks. You have to remember; your cousin is trying to fill some big shoes that her mum left for her and she is very much like her mum. From what I've been able to notice with Miss Potter is that she has a nurturing atmosphere around her which Lily definitely had as well. Lily wanted to become a Healer after Hogwarts but the first war kept her from completely pursuing her goals. Once you've found your calling in the wizarding world, you will truly find your subject, Miss Dursley. Now, I'm sure your potion sample should be, if not better, than the same as the last two attempts. Now, finish your clean up, so you can join your fellow classmates and do come prepared for the next lesson."
Prim smiles at him as he takes a sample of her potion before vanishing what is left. "Professor, if you don't mind me asking, what happens to the leftover potion that we make?"
"Well, Miss Dursley, both Madame Pomfrey and I review the potions, I give my opinion on if they are acceptable for a first-year student and we review them to see if they can be used for either her storage, my storage, or even if she can send them to St. Mungos to be used. Normally most of the potions are only acceptable for first-year grades but we have had a few people to have made very acceptable potions that have been used in our supplies. And the ones that we cannot use are disposed of safely. Don't forget that your grade does involve how you clean up," Professor Snape tells her before he heads over to the next students. She quickly but carefully cleans up before leaving to find Hallie, Hermione, and Lisa. Harry and Ron were still working on their potions and so was Neville, Dean, and Seamus. She walked out of the potion classroom and made her way towards the Great Hall.
Prim figured that if her cousin and friends would be anywhere, it would probably be the Great Hall since lunch would be happening soon. As she made her way up from the Dungeons and towards the Great Hall, she thought about what Professor Snape had said. Once I find a job field that I would hope to go into after Hogwarts, I will most likely fall into a subject, here at Hogwarts. What if I don't figure that out until my fifth or later years here? What then? Maybe finding a subject will be easier than what Professor Snape says… She walks into the Great Hall lost in thought and didn't even realize that her cousin was standing right in front of her. "Prim? Hello? Are you in there?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, Hals, I was thinking about something that Professor Snape had said to me." She tells her cousin as they walk over to the Gryffindor table where Hermione and Lisa were sitting with her and Hallie's familiars.
Hallie looked over at her before asking, "What did Professor Snape say to you?"
"Well, we were talking about how some students can find their subject just like that here and while it takes other students longer to find a subject that they excel in. Like how you are excelling in potion class and of course, Hermione excels in everything that she sets her mind to. Oh, and you are also very good with Charms as well! What am I good at?" Prim sighs as she plops down into her seat.
"I'm not sure, Prim… Maybe, you will be acceptable with the classes that we take now because you might be best for Care of Magical Creatures? Or maybe you will excel at many of the subjects but because we were raised in the muggle world, and it takes us awhile for learning our subjects. And I could be excelling quicker because of who my mum was and Hermione is excelling because of how brilliant she is. Prim, you need to stop worrying about not being the best." Hallie tells her with a sigh as she rubs Cleo's stomach.
Hermione lets out a sigh before saying, "Prim, you are actually really good in Transfiguration. Definitely much better than Hallie is. Maybe the reason why you don't feel that you are excelling like Hallie is in Charms and Potions because she isn't worrying about it as badly as you are. So, try to calm down, okay?"
Prim sighs and nods her head before picking Midnight up and placing her in her lap. "So, what are we doing?"
"We were just reading up on the next potion we will perform in Professor Snape's class." Lisa says with a smile before they continue to read up and discuss the exam that they just took.
The minutes rolled on by and Prim kept glancing down at her watch to see if lunch was getting any closer. Many of her other classmates were walking into the Great Hall, but she had yet to see Harry or Ron walk through the door. "What is taking them so long? We've done this potion two other times and we study this potion on Monday night!"
"Harry doesn't feel comfortable in Potions and I suspect Ron feels the same. And just because we study for this on Monday, doesn't mean they feel secure in what they know. You remember when we studied during the summer? Harry had a lot of trouble with this material." Hallie tells her cousin without looking up from her textbook.
Prim grumbled and before she could make a comment on what Hallie just said, Lisa asked, "All of you studied during the summer for Hogwarts? Why? And how are you guys not in Ravenclaw?"
"Just because we studied during the summer doesn't mean we love doing so. All four of us figured that we would be behind everyone else once we started and we couldn't have that. And the Sorting Hat wanted to put me in all four houses but couldn't make up his mind. So eventually he narrowed it down to two houses and I did not want to be in Slytherin; so, he took that into consideration and that's how I'm in Gryffindor. Harry had told me that the same thing had happened with him. And Lisa, I don't think I would be able to handle your house. Your house just seems stressed all the time and well, I just don't need that." Hallie says with a shrug of her shoulders.
Lisa nodded her head and moments later, Harry and Ron walk through the Great Hall's doors and over to their table. "Merlin, did that potion seem harder than normal?" Ron asked the group as he put his head on the table.
"It wasn't harder, Ron. You were probably just nervous because it was a test instead of a normal potion." Hermione says as she continues to read her potion textbook. "Now, is Neville still in the classroom?"
Harry nodded his head before he realized that Hermione's eyes are still on her textbook. "Yes, he is but he did look almost done."
"Can't taking too long mess up your potion?" Prim asked as her stomach grumbled.
Hallie, Hermione, and Lisa are start to talk at the same time before allowing Hermione to answer the question. "It could affect the potion if you had the heat to high but the fire spell we are using has the lowest heat setting on it. So, since we use that one, it does what we need it to do without overdoing it."
"Also, Professor Flitwick says our classroom has a charm on it that allows us to control our fire spell better; and if I'm allowed to take a guess on it, I think it also makes the spell less prominent, so we don't set anything on fire. And that probably means Professor Snape is the one who controls the charm." Hallie adds in.
Prim nods her heads and says, "That does make sense because from what everyone has told us most wizarding parents don't allow their children to use wands before school starts."
"You would be correct but some of the higher up wizarding families who want their children to be the best, like the Malfoy family, then they would allow their children to use their – the parents' – wands. But like I said, most families aren't like that and they want their children to learn while at school. My parents never allowed me to use their wand because I didn't want to. If I was going to be the best at school, it would be because of my own abilities and not because I 'cheated' by using my parents' wands growing up." Lisa tells them with a shrug before adding, "Here comes Neville, Ella, Seamus, and Dean. Oh, and most of the other Ravenclaws. It must be time for lunch. Bye guys, see you in Charms!" Prim watched their friend run over to her table and sit down with some of their fellow first years.
The weeks went by and Prim and the whole group tried to fit their study groups around Harry's Quidditch practices. Hermione's birthday came and went – with many gifts of books from her family and friends – to Harry receiving a Nimbus 2000 the day following. Most people still didn't know that Harry was the Gryffindor's new Seeker but that was only because Ava Dixon was okay pretending that she was the Seeker since she is a Seventh-Year student at Hogwarts. September ended and October was passing by them quickly; and the whole-time Prim watched her two cousins start to get distant from the group.
Ever since they were kids and they found out that the Potters had been killed on Halloween, the month, the day was never the same for Harry and Hallie and by default, Prim. She hated watching how they shielded themselves away from everyone in their life and yet she continued letting them do so. Hermione, Ron, and all of their other friends had noticed how the two Potter twins didn't act like normal. Prim hated that her cousins couldn't enjoy Halloween.
The morning of Halloween, Prim woke up to the muffled cries of Hallie. This has happened every year since they were six and found out what had happened to the Potters… Well, what they had thought had happened for years until Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall came and gave them their letters. That's when they found out that the letter that found in the attic was true. Prim didn't know what to do and looked over at Midnight before looking over at her watch. It was four thirty in the morning.
Prim sighed and rolled out of bed before walking over towards Hallie's bed. She slips under the covers before wrapping her arms around her. "It's okay, Hallie. I know you miss them and the life you could've had with them." She whispers.
Hallie turns over in Prim's arms before shoving her face in Prim's shoulder. Prim sighed and rubbed her cousin's shoulder. "I hate Voldemort, Prim. So much! He took the two people who would have no matter what loved Harry and me."
"I know, Hals, I know. But you have me and Gran and Papa and my mum and all of our new friends. I understand why you are sad and I know that they do too – maybe not as much as I do; but we are all here for you. Have you've talked to Harry or Gran or Papa or my mum about this?" Prim asked and Hallie shook her head. "Maybe you should… All of you lost someone special. I think my mum might be the best person to talk about this with…
"I remember when we were seven and it was Halloween, so you were upset. I had gone to look for you because we were about to leave to go get candy; and when I found you, you were crying in the cupboard. So, after that, I thought something was seriously wrong with you and I was worried. I went to look for my mum, to let her know that you were sick. She might have never acted like she did with me when I was sick but I figured she would know what to do and not get too mad at you. When I had walked into her bedroom and she wasn't anywhere in her room, so I walked over to her loo. She was crying, Hals; and I think she was crying because it was the day your mum had died. You lost your mum but my mum lost her only sister and if what we read in my mum's diary was true, her best friend. Our mums were so different from each other but they still loved each other, I know it… I have to believe it. If my mum didn't still love Aunt Lily, then she wouldn't have taken you and Harry in after Aunt Lily's and Uncle James's deaths. I just, really think you should talk to someone about how you are feeling." Prim whispered with a slight shrug of her shoulder.
Hallie shrugged her shoulders and Prim stayed next to her cousin until Hallie had cried herself to sleep. As she carefully pulled her arms away from Hallie, she looked over at where Midnight and Cleo were sitting. "Girls, watch over her tonight, okay?" She stood up and both her familiar and Hallie's ran over to the space that Prim had just vacated. Smiling at how their familiars would jump to their aide, Prim trudge back over to her bed before falling asleep.
She woke an hour and a half later to the girls in her dorm bustling around, getting ready. "Morning Prim," Hermione said with a smile as she slides her robe on. "It's Halloween and I heard the feast tonight will be just marvellous." All month, Hagrid and the school have been getting ready for the Halloween feast tonight and Prim actually couldn't wait. Hermione was right: everyone who was higher up or had had siblings come and gone already has said that the feasts for Holidays were amazing. She knew that her cousins were not looking forward to the Halloween one, but she knew that they would appear to be "happy" for all of their friends.
Prim looked over to where Hallie's bed was and saw that both Cleo and Midnight were already eating. "Where is Hallie?"
"Oh, she went to look for Harry. Said that they needed to talk about something pretty important." Ella said from her trunk. Both of the Longbottoms have been acting differently as well this month and Prim wasn't exactly sure what had happened to them that they lived with their Gran instead of their parents. She figured that they were like her cousins and lost their own mum or dad to death. She really wanted to ask them what had happened but had figured that they would say something once they were comfortable with the group.
"Yeah, we talked about that around four thirty this morning. I'm happy that she went and took my advice." Prim said as she got dressed for the day.
Once she was done getting dressed, she went to her trunk to grab her books for the classes that they were going to be taking that day. Prim was mostly excited for their charms lesson today. Professor Flitwick had told them at the end of their lesson on Friday that they were finally going to learn the levitation charm. Over the course of the month, she had finally realized what Hermione had said about what classes she was good in. She had been getting glowing marks in Transfiguration and also, she's been doing very well in Charms. History of Magic was still a complete bore, Herbology was pretty interesting but that was only because her mum and she always would work in the garden together. Defence Against the Dark Arts was actually pretty annoying but that was only because Professor Quirrell always stuttered during class. Thankfully, Potions was getting slightly bit easier but she knew that the class would never be her favourite subject.
"Prim, is the reason that Harry and Hallie have been so distant with everyone because of their parents' deaths being today?" Hermione asked her softly and she nodded her head 'yes'. "When do they bounce out of it? When do they start being themselves again?"
Prim looked up from her trunk and sighed. "Hermione, there is no telling when they will start acting normally again. Hallie has always taken longer to come back to us than Harry ever did; but that was because Harry was always Hallie's protector from my dad. I hope Hallie will take my advice and talk to either Harry or my mum about how she is feeling… I hate to see her like this and I know her parents wouldn't want her to act this way."
"Maybe, we can do something this weekend? Like, something to remember them by. I would say tonight, but I'm sure Harry and Hallie would rather not have to deal with a memorial." Hermione says as Prim puts the last of her books in her bag.
"I like that idea, Hermione. And I think it should just be the five of us doing it. I don't think anyone else would truly understand why we are doing this for them." The two girls smile at each other before they leave their dorm to find Hallie, Harry, and Ron.
The day went by pretty quickly, which Prim was surprised by. She had figure that the day would feel like it was moving slowly for all of them. Potion class seemed to go by quickly and History of Magic didn't seem to take as long as it normally did. All of the students that were going to be taking Charms today could talk of nothing but the new charm they were going to be learning.
Once lunch was over the group of nine first year Gryffindors were walking along with Lisa towards the Charms classroom. Prim loved how everyone else in their Gryffindor group accepted Lisa. Lisa had told them that most students from the other houses don't normally mingle with a student from another house unless one, they were enemies or two, they were paired up in a class. Prim had told her how stupid that was and just because they were all completing for the house cup at the end of the year shouldn't mean that they couldn't be friends. So far, Prim has befriended both Rowan Wells and Ryder Day from the Hufflepuff house and of course she was friends with Lisa but she also was friends with Sophia Fawcett from Ravenclaw. Most of the Slytherin house were just plain ugly to all of the other houses but she did once have a very nice conversation about Transfiguration with Daphne Greengrass in the library one night. Daphne would probably be one of the only Slytherins that Prim would be able to become friends with but she wasn't completely sure about that since she didn't know any of the Slytherins well enough.
When they made it to the Charms classroom, she walked over towards her seat and eagerly took out all of the supplies that she needed. She was thankful that the first time she wrote home, she had remembered to ask her family to send all three of them seven different coloured spiralled notebooks for taking notes and a big box of pens. Sure, all of the children that were raised in the wizarding world thought it was strange of them to not use parchment paper but the muggle-born students loved the idea. Prim did also make sure all of her Professors would allow her and her cousins use the muggle products for note taking and most of them did not care as long as they wrote their essays on the parchment paper.
Prim loved using the notebooks because not only did it make her notes cleaner, she also was able to save space in her trunk and book bag. Though, she did always make sure she had enough rolls of parchment paper and her quill and ink encase they were going to have to write an essay or something else in class that day. She opened her spiral to the next blank page and pulled her wand out of her holster. All seven of her spirals were colour coded for her classes: green was for Potions, blue was for Charms, red for Transfiguration, yellow for Herbology, black was for Astronomy, purple was for Defence Against the Dark Arts and lastly, grey for History of Magic.
Professor Flitwick walked into the classroom and called rolled. Once he knew that all of the students were present for the class, he stood up on his stack of books and started the lesson. "Good afternoon class! As you know today we are going to be learning the levitation charm. Remember the wand movement that we practiced during class on Friday?" Prim and the rest of the students pick up their wands and did the wand movement. "Swish and flick. Remember to say the incantation along with your wand movement. Let's try that again. Wingardium Leviosa. Good, good. Now I think it's time to try out the spell." Professor Flitwick sends everyone feathers with his wand. "You may begin."
Prim focused on her feather with her wand at the ready and she thought about everything Professor Flitwick has said. This would be their hardest charm to learn yet and most students do not get it on their first try; but Prim knew Hallie wanted to be one of the students who could perform the charm perfectly with her first attempt. Staring down at her feather, Prim points her wand at it before going through the wand movements once again. Once she thought that she had the wand movement down, she practiced the movement with the incantation. "Wingardium Leviosa." She kept trying and trying but her feather never seemed to float off her desk. Looking around at her classmates, she notices that Harry was speaking with Mandy Broklehurst about something. Ron was flicking his wand like crazy and it didn't even sound like he was saying the incantation correctly. A lot of the students weren't saying the incantation correctly. Maybe that is why my feather won't come off the table? How did Professor Flitwick say it again? She thought as she watched her cousin's still form. That surprised her because she would have figure Hallie would be trying the spell out.
"No, no, no! Stop! You are going to poke someone's eye out! Also, you are doing it completely wrong! Firstly, your wand movement needs to be done softly and secondly, you are saying the incantation completely wrong! It's wing-GAR-dee levi-O-sa." Hermione told Ron.
Prim watches Ron shoot Hermione a glare before saying, "If you are so smart, why don't you do it?"
Hermione looked over at Ron before picking her wand up and saying, "Wingardium Leviosa." As soon as Hermione had finished the spell, her feather was floating up in the air.
"Marvellous! Miss Granger has done it!" Professor Flitwick cried out with joy. "Keep trying."
Prim sighed and focused on her feather. The class went on and the only other student who had been able to perform the spell correctly was Hallie. Though she wasn't able to do it on her first try but thankfully she also didn't blow up her feather like Seamus had. Once class had ended and the group had finished putting their belongings into their bags, Ron pulls Harry out of the room. Prim looks over at Hallie and Hermione before they try to catch up with the group of boys.
As they were walking up a set of stairs, Prim catches a glimpse of Harry, Ron, Seamus, and Dean. She picks up her speed and before she knows it, they are only a few paces away from the boys; and they could hear everything Ron was saying. "Merlin's beard! I don't understand how you are able to deal with her, Harry! And for over a whole month! Bloody hell, Harry. She's a right pain, that Hermione. I mean, why is it that we have to put up with all of her nagging! How does she have any friends?" Ron grumbles and Prim quickly looks over at Hermione.
Hermione looked about ready to cry and when she pushed through the set of boys, Prim wanted to call out for her. She looked over to where her cousins and all of her new friends were before glaring straight at Ron. "You, Mister Ronald Weasley are the worst person ever! All that Hermione was trying to do was help you perform the spell! She has done nothing but try to help you out with school because that is the type of person she is! And Harry likes to hang out with her! He enjoyed it over the summer and if I'm correct, he still enjoys it now!" With that she turns to her cousin. "And you, Mister Harry James Potter! Hermione is your friend for heaven's sake! And I know you have a lot going on because of what month and day it is, but you should not allow Ron too bad mouth one of your first friends! Your friend just ran away, crying! She's crying because one of her first friends ever didn't defend her! Now because of the mess the two of you have made, Hallie and I are going to go find her and try to make things right!"
"Actually Prim, I think we should give her some time. I'm sure she will be in the Defence classroom. Come on, we should make our way there. We might be late if we don't start walking back towards our next class." Hallie said with a shrug of her shoulders before they continued on towards class.
When they made it to class, Prim was disappointed that Hermione was not there waiting for the lesson to begin. "We should go look for her, Hallie."
"I know we should but we also need to stay here, so that she will have the day's notes. As soon as class ends, we will track her down and find her. We should let Professor Quirrell know that she won't be here, right?" Hallie asked as she sat her bag in her chair.
"I'll go do it, Hals." Prim said with a smile before walking up to where Professor Quirrell was sitting, shaking. "Professor Quirrell, Hermione had gotten sick after Charms and I believe she was going to head towards the Hospital Wing to be checked by Madame Pomfrey. So, she'll be missing today's lesson but Hallie and I will give her today's notes and homework." Professor Quirrell nodded his head about a thousand times before she walked to her chair next to Lisa.
Lisa leaned over and asked, "Where is Hermione? She would never miss a class."
"She wasn't feeling good earlier, so we all told her that she should head to Madame Pomfrey and I'm sure she will be at dinner later." Prim told her with a soft smile even though she wasn't completely sure on if that would be true.
Class went by quickly, even though she didn't pay much attention. She was worried about Hermione and was irritated every time she looked behind her where Harry and Ron were sitting. Harry was just staring blankly at his notebook and taking his notes where Ron had a frown on his face and a glare each time he caught her staring. When Professor Quirrell finally told them that they were able to leave when the bell sounded. Prim quickly packed her bag and pulled Hallie out of the classroom. "Okay, I say we should first check the library and if she is not there than we need to head to the common room. Elspeth should be able to tell us if Hermione had come up to the common room."
"Don't you think we should go to the common room first?" Hallie asked as they run through the halls towards the library.
Prim looked over at Hallie before saying, "No, I really think the best place to start looking is the library. Hermione loves to be in the library. It's kind of her own safe place here. Harry has the Owlry and you have that abandoned classroom on the second floor. Ron, I'm not exactly sure of that yet… Maybe the Quidditch pitch is Ron's and for me… My safe place is beside the Great Lake. Let's head to Hermione's safe place first and then we can go through all of the other safe places that we know of. We will find her, Hals." Hallie nodded her head and the two ran towards the library. Once they got closer to the library doors, the two slowed down and walked calmly into the quiet room. "Okay, Hals, you check the top floor of the library and I'll check this floor and once we are done, we will meet up back at the library doors. Hopefully, Hermione will be with one of us."
Hallie nodded her head before the two went their separate ways. Prim made a beeline for Hermione's favourite table to sit and study at. Once she made it to their table, she was completely disappointed in the fact that the table was empty. "No! No, no, no! Hermione where are you at!" She groaned before looking around the library. She ran through all of the rows of books and by the time she made it back to the front door, Hallie was leaning against the wall. "You didn't find her either?" Prim asked and Hallie shook her head no. "Okay, let's head towards the common room. Maybe she's there reading up on our textbooks."
The two girls ran towards their common room, passing Filch and Mrs Norris on the sixth floor cleaning up a mess that someone had made. "Stop running you blasted kids!" Filch hollered at the two of them but Prim couldn't have cared less. All she cared about was finding Hermione and making sure that she was okay.
Once they made it to Elspeth's corridor, they slowed their run down to a walk. "Elspeth, have you've seen Hermione? We can't find her!"
"Yes, she had come and went over an hour ago. She didn't tell me where she was going but she looked extremely upset. You girls best find her." Elspeth said and opened the door after Hallie gave Elspeth the password. Once inside, they ran up the stairs and into their dormitory.
Hallie groaned when she saw that Hermione's bag was thrown onto her bed. "No! She's gone! Where should we look next?"
Prim sat down on her bed and Midnight hopped onto the bed next to her. "I'm not sure… Probably somewhere in the school first, right? I couldn't see her really sitting outside in the chilly air."
"But she might be Prim but first, let's check the abandoned classroom before checking yours and Harry's spots." Hallie said as she pulled Prim off of Prim's bed.
"You're right. Do you think our school cloaks will be warm enough?" Prim asked as she walked towards her trunk.
Hallie nodded her head before adding, "The chill is more of a light cold than a winter cold, if that made any sense."
Prim laughed and said, "It didn't make one bit of sense but I do understand you." The two girls were about to leave when they noticed that Cleo and Midnight were about to follow them. "No girls, stay here. You can let us know through our bond if Hermione comes back. And if she comes back make sure you can keep her here for us to head back this way." Midnight hissed but hopped back onto Prim's bed with Cleo right beside her. "I know. You hate having to stay but it would end up being really helpful for us."
Once Prim was able to talk her and Hallie's familiars into staying in the dorm, they flew down the stairs and towards the abandoned classroom on the second floor. During their second week here, Hallie had been upset when her spell went wrong in Charms class and she ended up needing a quiet space to vent or practice the spell. Of course, Prim had no idea that her cousin was upset until Harry had said something while all of them but Hallie were in the library. So, after that, the group went everywhere looking for her until they heard screaming from a classroom they had always thought was empty. They had carefully walked closer to the classroom encase it was a Professor, an older student, or a Slytherin. But they only found Hallie screaming as her spell didn't cast correctly. Ever since that day, if Prim or anyone in their group of five couldn't find Hallie, she was probably in there trying to perfect a spell or have some quiet time away from everyone. While Prim, Hallie, and Harry were growing up, Hallie and Harry were never able to just have a moment of just silence and now that they were away from Uncle Vernon, Prim was more than happy to give them that time.
"I swear, I'm going to kill Ron and my brother! No, I'm going to do something worse. I'm going to write Gran and Papa about what Harry did or well more of didn't do." Hallie grumbled as they finally made it to the second floor. "I had spoken to him this morning about how we needed to talk to someone about how this month and day affect us and he had agreed! And I had thought that maybe after we had spoken about it, it would be easier for us to open up to our other friends. We both know that Hermione might just be the best person for him to talk to about our parents… Ron… He grew up into a huge family and I think that Hermione growing up in the same environment as Harry and I did, would help more than Ron could. You know before us, her only friend was her little sister, Cordelia. Reid and you were our only friend before her."
Prim sighed before the two open the door to Hallie's abandoned classroom. "She's not here… Do you know what she's told Cordelia about where she is going to school? Because as of yours and Harry's birthday, she hadn't told Cordelia yet."
"I'm not really sure what her parents have decided to tell her sister. I do know Hermione really wants to tell her. She hates keeping things from her and from what Hermione had told me, she thinks that Cordelia also has magic running through her veins. And I hope Hermione is right about that but they won't find out until Hogwarts sends out next year's letters." Hallie said with a smile as they walked out of the front doors and into the cool air.
The two walked over to the Great Lake first before making their way over towards the Owlry. "I think that would just be so amazing if Hermione's little sister showed up here next summer. Though, we are going to have to meet her at some point! I know their parents want to keep a lot of things about the wizarding world a secret from Cordelia but I would think her meeting us would be okay. Maybe, Hermione had decided on sending her family a letter? That's really the reason why she's normally in the Owlry."
"You're forgetting that Hermione and Hedwig like each other a lot. That could be another reason why Hermione is in the Owlry. You know what… Why do we just not have Hedwig start sending Hermione's letters are well? Since we all live in the same town, I don't understand why we shouldn't? I'll talk to Harry about it." Hallie says as the two finally made it to the Owlry before walking up the many steps only to be disappointed once again that they didn't find Hermione. But Hedwig did fly down to great the two. "Hello, Hedwig." Hallie says as the snowy owl lands on her out stretched arm. "Harry isn't with us but have you've seen Hermione? Has she come up here?" Hedwig just stares at Hallie and Hallie groaned. "I don't know why I'm asking you… You aren't my familiar, so we don't have the same bond as Cleo and I do. Well, Hedwig, if you see Hermione come find us or even Harry, okay?" Hedwig hooted before flying back up to her perch. "Well, where else should we look, Prim? We've visited all of our safe places. I just don't know where else to look… I'm kind of surprised that we've haven't explored the castle more than we have already."
Prim looked over to her cousin before saying, "Well, we've been a little preoccupied with schoolwork but you are right, we do need to explore more. Maybe we can either this Saturday or Sunday? Harry does have Quidditch practice on Saturday but I'm sure we can find a way to look around the school this weekend. And I guess let's try the trophy room next before we explore the castle for Hermione."
Hallie nodded her head and the two girls headed back towards the castle. The hours flew by and before Prim knew it, the feast would be starting in a little under ten minutes and they had still yet to find Hermione. "You don't think she would have went to Professor Dumbledore and asked him if she could head home?
"No, I can't see Hermione wanting to not be here, even if Ron is a prat. Hermione loves being a witch and she wouldn't be able to give it up. So, she has to be here. I know we should continue to keep looking for her but I'm also hungry. Do you think we could have Harry and Ron bring us food to the common room?" Hallie asked as they made their way towards the Great Hall.
Prim sighed and grumbled out, "I'm sure they would but I really don't want to speak to either of them. Because of Ron, Hermione is lost and Harry was too lost in his head to even think about defending her! But we should still ask them if they could. Come on, let's find them."
As Prim and Hallie got closer to the Great Hall, they could see Lavender and Parvati walking ahead of them. "Yes, she's been crying in the girls' loo for hours now! Ron was right, how does she have any friends here? Especially Harry and Hallie Potter? And I guess you can add Prim with them. Hermione is just way too much of a teacher's pet. Like, you don't have to be the first to always answer a question or be able to be the one to perform a spell first." Lavender said with a brush of her hair.
"And how do you know she's in the girls' loo?" Parvati asked the other Gryffindor girl.
Lavender looked over at her friend and answered her. "Sally Smith and Megan Jones from Hufflepuff had found her in there after Defence class. They had been surprised that she was crying and they were looking for Hallie or Prim when they ran into me because Hermione had asked for them to find the two. They had asked if I've seen either of them and I said no, of course; but if I did see them, I would tell them that Hermione needed them. So, I went to the dorm but only saw their weird cats before going back down to the common room to talk to you, Dean, and Seamus."
Prim saw red. Lavender has known for probably an hour or so that Hermione needed her and Hallie; and she didn't care enough to search for them. "What loo is Hermione in?"
Lavender and Parvati turned around and blushed. "Oh, um… How much did you guys hear?"
"Obviously, all of it, Lavender." Hallie said coolly. "Also, if you ever wonder why Hermione is friends with us again, I swear I will hex you into next week. Hermione is one of the smartest people I've ever met and yes, that can get annoying for some people but Harry, Prim, and I find it sweet. She's our best friend because she's a good person with good and bad traits but we still love her. Now. What. Loo. Is. She. In?"
Prim wasn't at all surprised how Hallie was acting towards the two girls. Hallie wasn't as protective of people as Harry was, but she was protective enough that she would "hex someone into next week". "She's in the loo on the second floor. I see that you didn't add Ron into the people who find 'her being so smart that it's annoying' yet sweet."
Hallie didn't even make a comment before she turned on her heels and headed towards the girls' loo on the second floor. "We didn't add Ron into that because yes, he does find it annoying but he also can put up with it at times because he knows Hermione is our friend first. Let Harry know where he can find us. If my cousin cares enough about his friend." With that Prim turned on her heels and followed her cousin. Once she caught up to Hallie, she pulled her to the side. "When we get into the loo, we need to be calm for her. We can get pissed at Lavender later but right now, we will be what Hermione needs."
"Not only am I pissed at Lavender, I'm pissed at Ron… And I'm livid at my brother and I have no idea why!" Hallie muttered as they moved further away from the Great Hall.
Prim sighed before answering her. "You are mad at him because we know about Hermione's small crush on him and he doesn't know that. We know that because he didn't stand up for her is part of the reason that she is crying. At least he didn't laugh or something; or I would've hexed him right then and there."
Hallie muttered something as they take the stairs two at a time, or tried to at least. "I will hex him if he doesn't come looking for us. I don't care that we are going to be in the girls' loo." They ran the way towards the girls' loo and stopped at the door. Hallie pushed the door open a smidge before calling out, "Hermione?" They only got a quiet sob in reply. The two girls pushed the door open even more before making their way over towards the only closed stall.
"Hermione, we've been looking for you since Defence. We looked at all the most logical places but a loo. Please Hermione, open the door. Let us in, so we can talk this out." Prim asked through the door and she only had to wait a few moments before Hermione unlocked the door and let them in.
Prim and Hallie rushed in as soon as the door was completely open to wrap Hermione up into a hug. "'Mione, I'm sorry my brother is a prat who likes to have prats as friends." Hallie whispered as Hermione continued to sob.
"We know you've wanted us since Defence class ended but we only just now heard where you had locked yourself up in. Hallie and I thought you would've rather be in the library." Prim said as Hermione still continued to cry.
"Yeah, and I threated to hex Lavender Brown because she knew that Sally and Megan were looking for us and she didn't try harder to find us." Hallie said with a sad looking smirk on her face. "I would do it you know. Hex Lavender for you, all you need to do is say yes." Hallie whispered. Prim was hoping that would cause Hermione to finally say something since Hermione loved following the rules and hexing another student was definitely against the rules.
Hermione finally looked up at them before saying, "I wouldn't say no to that, but I don't think it's a good idea."
Prim finally feels a smile on her face and asks, "What about we hex Harry? Or what about Ron? I think hexing Ron would be a very good idea."
Hallie laughs before adding on, "Oh, I would love to hex the crap out of my brother! Please Hermione, can I?"
"No, you can't hex our friends, but they do need a good scolding! I was only trying to help him out and I get thrown under the bus. You were right… You two told me out right that Harry would end up hurting my feelings and he did. Harry not standing up for me to Ron really hurt. I wouldn't say it hurt more than Ron's comment but it didn't help either. And I know that you and Harry are going through a tough time because of what today means to the two of you but I would have hoped that Ron saying mean things about me would irritate him enough to say something. Ron always makes comments and we all let them slide but today… Ron's comments were asking why you guys are friends with me, which I've always wonder."
Prim and Hallie look at each other and then looked at Hermione. "You are our friend because you are smart, funny, sweet, and you had a very similar childhood to Harry and Hallie. All three of you didn't have many friends. Harry and Hallie only had me and Reid because my brother was a prat and he would always gang up on them. I was thankful enough that my muggle best friend didn't care about the looks we got when I had Harry and Hallie eat lunch with us. My brother wouldn't mess with them when they were will me. He was kind of scared of me since I was always able to get dirt on him to blackmail him with. You were also picked on because you value your intelligence than other things like clothes or sports. So, because of that, you only had Cordelia and we know you miss her a lot."
"I do miss her a lot and I used to always go to her when someone picked on me. She was lucky enough that she doesn't get picked on as much as I did but we were each other's rock." Hermione says with a sigh. "She's having some problems at the moment in school and at home. Well, not so much at home but we all think she's also a witch because everything that she is doing at the moment is very magical. And she is saying that she isn't doing it herself but that it just magically happens… And well, my parents think that she might be making these things up, so that she is just as special as me and is able to come to Hogwarts next year."
"So, you guys told her that you are a witch and now she's doing 'magic'? I can see what your parents mean? Her faking can be believable if it wasn't for that fact that she might have been doing magic for years but because you were in the same house, her magic might have been said to be your magic. Professor Dumbledore originally thought that Prim wasn't able to do magic until the snake incident because Harry and I combine are more powerful than she is and that caused our magic overshadow hers. So, no, I think your sister can do magic and has been doing magic for a long time but it was overshadowed by you." Hallie said with a shrug of her shoulders.
Hermione looked over at Hallie, as did Prim. "So, you mean it's completely possible that my sister has been doing magic for years now but it looked like me doing magic? I have to tell my parents this! Delia and my parents have been fighting about this since I've left and it's caused my sister to miss me even more."
"I'm sure she misses you a lot, 'Mione. Now we should get back to the reason why you've been crying." Prim says as they all heard two different set of meows. All three girls look down and see Cleo and Midnight walking under the door. "Of course, our familiars would come find us once they knew we found you." Prim and Hallie both bend down to pick up their familiars. "Now, what I was saying, try to not let what Ron said affect you too much. I've already told both of them off and Hallie is going to write to Gran and Papa about how Harry just stood there and allowed it to happen."
Hallie took in a deep breath before adding, "I'm also going to ask if we can find a mind healer to help us deal with what happened to our parents. Harry proved today that we need to find someone to talk with."
"That's good, Hallie. It makes me happy that you want to get help." Prim tells her cousin and gives her a hug. "I wonder if Lavender ever told Harry and Ron where we are."
"I'm-" Hallie started to say as a blank look came onto her face. "Guys, something is wrong. Harry…" Hallie bringing up Harry's name made both Prim and Hermione turn towards Hallie. "Something is wrong… Harry and probably Ron are okay but other than that I'm not sure what is going on. We need to head towards the common room like right now!"
Prim looked over at her cousin and asked, "What are you talking about?"
Hallie looked around and shrugged. "I'm not sure how to explain it… I just have this feeling that something bad is happening. Now come on guys." Hermione nods and opens the door of the stall open. The three girls walk out before stopping to look at the huge Mountain troll in the middle of the girls' loo.
"Um, guys… There is a troll in the loo!" Prim whispers and the other two girls nod their heads. "What should we do?"
"I'm trying to remember what we are supposed to do if we've come across a troll but all I can think about is that Professor Quirrell would probably be a stuttering fool right about now." Hallie answers and before they knew it, the troll raised its club and tried to bring it down on the three girls. All three of them screamed before moving away from the troll. Hallie and Hermione went towards the stalls and Prim ran over towards the sinks. The troll must have thought that Hallie and Hermione were the best to go after because Prim watched as the troll slammed his club through half of the stalls, smashing them to a ton of tiny pieces of wood.
Prim watched as her cousin and best friend scream and drop to the floor. Many things seemed to happen all at once. The troll smashed through the other set of stalls as Hallie and Hermione tried to crawl away and Harry and Ron burst through the doors of the loo. "Hals, 'Mione, move!" Harry called as the trolls was moving pieces of wood around. Both Harry and Ron were throwing pieces of wood at the troll and calling it names. And it had worked… For a moment, long enough that Hallie and Hermione could crawl out of the wreak age of the stalls and over to the sinks. Though the troll notices them move and he raised his club. Hallie and Prim were able to move before the troll brought his club down on the sinks. The troll had barely missed both Prim and Hermione and the two girls were getting sprayed with water from the broken pipes.
"Harry! Ron! Do something! Help!" Prim called as the troll looked down at them.
Prim watched as the trolls raised his club once again but this time Harry was ready. He jumped onto the club and was thrown onto the trolls back. Prim looked beside her at Hallie and asked, "Where are Cleo and Midnight?"
Hallie took her eyes off Harry having a piggy back ride with the troll and over at Prim. "I'm not sure. There were in our arms when the troll first came in but they must have jumped out when we ran away from the troll." The two girls looked all around the loo before spotting them on top of the window sill. "Thank Merlin." Hallie said as she breathed a quick sigh of relief. "They better stay up there."
Prim nodded and turned her head back onto where Harry was sitting. He must have just stuck his wand up the trolls' nose because the troll was now very angry and trying to blow it out. Prim watched in what felt like slow motion as the troll caught Harry and lifted him off its back. She heard Hallie gasp as all of them watch Harry being hanged upside down. The troll brought its club from the sky and tried to smash Harry's head. Prim heard Hallie let out a sob as Harry barely raised himself out of harm's way. "Ron, you have to do something!" Prim called.
"Like what?" Ron asked as he looked around the destroyed loo.
"Swish and flick, Ron! Do the levitation charm on the troll's club." Hermione called as she stared at Harry in horror.
Prim watched as Ron took out his wand and took in a huge gulp. "Ron, you can do this. We believe in you." Ron looked over at where Prim was cowering under the sink and he nodded his head. "Wingardium Leviosa." Ron said perfectly along with the wand movements and the troll's club floated right on out of its hands. The troll looked up just as Ron let the club fall onto its head. Everyone watched as the troll moved unsteadily and dropped Harry to the ground. Harry looked at the troll from his place on the floor before he started to move backwards quickly as the troll stumbled towards him before falling to the floor loudly.
All five of them sit still for a moment before finally moving. Ron helped Harry up as Prim, Hallie, and Hermione climbed out from under the sinks. Prim and Hallie moved towards their familiars and caught them after they had jumped as Harry moved closer to the troll. "Harry what are you doing! Trying to get yourself killed?" Hallie hissed at her brother.
"What? Am I supposed to leave my wand in its nose?" Harry asked her as he went to pull the wand out.
"Is it dead?" Hermione asked as she moved closer to Harry and Ron.
Harry looked over at her before shaking his head. "No, I think Ron just knocked it out. Good job, by the way, Ron, you probably just saved my life." Ron nodded as Harry took his wand out of the troll's nose. All of them made a disgusted noise as they all looked at the troll's boogies on Harry's wand. Harry looked around before wiping his wand onto the troll's shorts.
Prim and Hallie made their way over towards the rest of the group just as Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, and Professor Quirrell came running into the room. "Merlin!" Professor McGonagall said as her hand came up to her heart. "Explain yourselves!"
Harry and Ron looked back and forth and just as Harry was about to say something, Hermione said, "It was us Professor. Hallie, Prim, and I were heading towards the Great Hall from the loo when we ran across some students who told us about the troll. I wanted to go find it because I've read all about it in our Defence book and I thought I could handle it."
"No, we thought we could handle it, Professor. But we were wrong. If my brother and Ron hadn't come and found us, we would most likely be dead." Hallie finished and all three girls looked down at the ground in fake shame.
Professor McGonagall looked at the five of them and then looked over at the troll. "Miss Potter, Miss Granger, and Miss Dursley, the three of you will lose the Gryffindor House five points for putting yourselves in danger." Their head of house turned her eyes onto the boys before continuing, "Mister Potter and Mister Weasley… Both of you will gain ten points for sheer dumb luck. Now let's get you to bed."
Prim walked out with her friends and family and once everyone was in the hallway, Prim finally brought up something. "Professor, we were heading towards the Great Hall for dinner and we haven't eaten. Is there any way we can get food sent up to our common room?"
"Professor Dumbledore has sent food to every common room, so all the students can finish their meals. Now, let's do something about your state at the moment." Professor McGonagall spelled them clean and looked over at the other Professors. "Stay here. I'll take my students back to their common room and find Professor Dumbledore." Prim watched Professor Snape and Professor Quirrell nod their heads before the group of six started walking back towards the Gryffindor common room.