I am so sorry I didn't post this yesterday but I've been so busy I completely forgot. Also, I know chapters are short but I believe in quality, not quantity (also, the next ones will start getting a little bit longer)

Year One - Chapter 17

Hermione came back a couple of days before classes started again and since so far she was the only one who had returned, it was a bit uncomfortable when she returned.

I was putting some things in my trunk when I heard the door open, I turned to see who it was and when I saw Hermione enter the room, I went back to what I was doing.

—Hi, Eileen.

—Hey.

—Did you have a good time?

—Uh-huh.

—Did you receive my gift?

—Yeah.

She started taking things out of her trunk, so I decided not to spend any more time in the room and go to my father's office, I had already read the entire book on Occlumency and wanted to put it into practice. I went down to the common room, which was a little more crowded now because students have been returning these days, mainly those who live in Hogsmeade. As I exited the portrait, I ran into Neville, carrying an empty cage.

—Hello, Eileen!

—Hi, Neville, did you have a good Christmas?

—Yes, my uncle Algie gave me a book named 'Magical and Healing Plants of North America' did you know that there is an extremely rare plant that allows you to fly for 5 minutes? It's called Plant Caeli. The highest you can go is half a meter, but it's still amazing, don't you think?

—Very interesting, Neville, but why do you have a cage?

—Oh, my granny was upset that I was always losing Trevor, so she bought me a cage, although I'll let him out as soon as I get to my room.

—Uh... Neville? The cage is empty.

He raised the cage to eye level and after seeing the cage completely empty, his calm face became one filled with concern. Poor Neville.

—Oh no! I can't believe I lost him again, my granny will be so mad if I can't find him.

—He'll show up, Neville, don't worry. Look, I will go down to the dungeons because I want to talk about something with my father so I will be paying attention in case I see him.

—Yeah... Okay, thanks, Eileen. —I was about to go downstairs when Neville called my name again.— Eileen, wait! What's the password?

—Ah, it's Leo Fortis.

I waited for him to walk through the hole to the common room, knowing Neville, something could have happened that he would have needed my help in again, but when the portrait closed without any trouble, I turned around and started walking down the stairs to go to my father's office.

When I got to his office, I opened the door and saw him sitting at his desk, writing something on a piece of parchment.

—Are you busy?

I closed the door behind me and instead of sitting in the chair in front of his desk, I began to observe the glass jars filled with various things, I had never paid so much attention to them... Is that a tongue?

—What do you need?

—I finished reading the book you gave me and I would like to put it into practice. —I kept looking at the jars.— Is this a Murtlap tentacle? I thought it was really hard to get.

—Give me a few minutes while I finish reviewing these documents.

I continued looking at the jars, opening some of them to get a better look at what they contained and then putting them back in place. I got bored very quickly and I better sat in my usual chair.

—Eileen... I...

—You are a bad friend, Hermione. —I started to close the books and put the scrolls in my backpack— How can you think that I or my father would hurt you? I thought you were my best friend...

—But I am!

—No, you're friends with Harry and Ron since you decided to side with them even though they didn't tolerate you for being an insufferable know-it-all.

I pulled that memory out of my mind. Why am I remembering it right now?

Some pictures were from the day Aunt Cissy and Uncle Lucius got married, others were from when Draco and I were little kids, but my favourite was the one where Aunt Cissy and my mother were hugging, waving their hands at the camera, and then laughing at something.

—You look very much like her.

—You think so, Aunt Cissy?

What the-? Oh no.

—Why didn't you tell me you were going to enter my mind?

—Do you really think whoever tries to do it will warn you? You must be alert at all times. And you must learn to act quickly.

—Well, I know that the vast majority of the students probably wouldn't put Snape as their favourite teacher.

I didn't know what to say and even if I did, I felt like the words wouldn't come out of my mouth, so I just walked over and hugged him.

Before he could see more of that day, I quickly emptied my mind, but it was too late.

—Do you want to explain that last memory?

—No. It's private.

—It stops being private when you have your mind opened like a book.

—But... Wait, I thought you had to use your wand to be able to do it? Obviously, I won't let you see my memories if I know you're going to try!

—Wands are needed when you do not have great Legilimency skills, but it is not the only way.

—And how will I know that someone is trying to get into my mind?

—You will not know, you just have to be wary all of the time. But, for now, I want to focus on just one thing, the reason why I was able to see any of your memories that easily was because I was not looking for something specific, besides, all your memories are... Floating in your mind, so to speak. You need to organize them, this way it will take longer to see them and you will have more time to know about any intrusion.

—And how can I organize them? The book only mentioned how to repel an intruder by keeping your mind blank. It didn't say a lot of things, to be honest.

—Think of your feelings as categories, all the memories that make you happy, they will go in one category. People themselves are a single category.

I closed my eyes and began to create categories of my memories, I wasn't even sure of what I had to do but I smiled when I noticed that bookshelves started to appear in my mind, and I noticed that the books were my memories. I grabbed the book that said 'Happiness I-V' on the spine, it seems that there was a limit to the books because there were two others with the name happiness, but one of them was 'Happiness VI-X' and the other 'Happiness XI-XV', I suppose they are separated by age since the third was not as big as the other two.

When I opened the book, instead of finding a text, there was a photo on the page, which when I touched it with my finger, it began to reproduce a memory, as if it was a pensive. I don't even remember this day, it seems that my mind added it automatically.

In the memory I could see myself, a lot smaller, I was probably 5 years old and I was in Malfoy Manor, sitting in the armchair in front of the fireplace, you could hardly see anything through the window, it was dark and it was also snowing heavily. I was falling asleep on the couch, but after seeing the green flames appear in the fireplace, I got up and ran to hug my father.

I turned the page and there were more memories, but I didn't have time to look at them, I put it back on the shelf and I turned around to keep looking, now I was in the bookshelves that belong to the memories I have of every person. Each book had a different design and different sizes, the more memories I had with that person, the bigger the book, they were also separated in my family, friends, teachers...

In the family section there were 5 books, 'Severus Snape', 'Narcissa Malfoy', 'Draco Malfoy' and 'Lucius Malfoy' but the fifth only had the name of 'Evan' and it wasn't very big either, it seemed to be only about 10 pages long or even less. Evan? Could it be a book about me? Although it doesn't make any sense... I decided not to open it, for now, it was probably just the memories of my mental notes that I usually do and I don't want to waste my time, although I did not understand why it only had my middle name.

I opened my eyes and my father was back writing something on a piece of parchment but he turned to see me when he noticed that I moved.

—Ah. I thought for a moment that you had fallen asleep.

—No, I've been separating my memories, as you told me.

—And did you do it?

—I think so. You can see it if you want to.

He took his wand, pointed it at me and right after he said Legilimens said, I could feel him go through the bookshelves, although he did not try to open any.

—Eileen, wait!

—Leave me alone, Fred.

My father lowered his wand and placed it on his desk.

—I must say that I am impressed... I thought it would take you longer to achieve it, although it is not perfect yet, some of your memories are still floating in your mind and are extremely easy to see. I was out of your mind before I could see any more of that... Fight, but still a great achievement for someone who has not really had any training in Occlumency, ignoring the fact that you are only 12 years old.

I smiled so much that even my cheeks started to hurt a bit, but I was very proud of myself, I could even tell in my father's smile that he was also proud.

—I think that for now, that is more than enough, I recommend that you go to sleep a little before dinner, it is normal for you to feel tired after this. You can stay here if you want to.

—Yes, I think-

RIBBIT!

—What was that?

RIBBIT!

I walked over to the door, where the sound was coming from and started to laugh when I saw what it was.

—Trevor! What are you doing down here? —I reached down to pick him up with both hands, one on top of it, so he wouldn't escape.

—Is that Longbottom's toad?

—Yeah, I ran into Neville outside of the common room, I told him I'd be looking for him. Can you believe that he managed to escape somehow while being in a cage?

—Longbottom would have lost his head by now if it were not attached to his body.

—That's not nice, Dad. —I opened the door quickly, to prevent the toad from jumping out of my hand, then grabbed it again with both hands.— Come on Trevor, Neville is looking for you.