(May 1998-First Anniversary)
The minister ushered the 9 out of the room, desperately walking quickly as Sophie clung to Doug and Raven.
'What the fuck is even his name?' she thought as they rushed out, with a quick glance at the interim minister.
The goal: to be unseen. The battle was over, the contract was signed, memories were duplicated to be stored for ministry use and for the next 5 years. In this moment, alongside her, some classmates that she loves and some that she barely knew were bonded together in this weird club of being "secret saviors."
But in all reality, all Sophie could focus on was the pain shooting through her shoulder blades as they walked. An after effect of the cruciatus curse.
"It should be fine in a few days" the idiot interim minister stated, when she first raised concerns about how she thought she needed medical assistance.
Somehow, despite the fact she was literally being tortured she was able to fling a protego to protect someone, Fred Weasly being that someone.
She didn't have anything against him, it's just, he was Fred. The boy that she watched fly out of Hogwarts near the end of her 3rd year. Where he was brave and brash, she was loyal and steadfast. They were merely opposites.
They never spoke before, yet Sophie felt an immense bond to him now.
Her mind flashed back to 3rd year, when Snape sneered at her as he gave her detention for refusing to say exactly who managed to blow up the sample potion all over his robes.
"A Hufflepuff's fatal flaw is their loyalty, Ms. James" his voice dripping with venom.
In that moment, she could see how he was right. Her loyalty against Voldemort put her in the ultimate position where she literally fought against being tortured to defy him. And so far, she was facing repercussions of her decision to sneak back into Hogwarts with her three greatest friends, and Mr. "What the fuck is his name" made those stipulations very clear.
Never mention this, and you'll be fine. Mention this, and it's your ass in Azkaban.
OOO
Summer of '98 was the birth of a new Wizarding World. Gone was fear, replaced was hope and joy. Order was restored and a new ministry, with new policies, was underway. They issued apology after apology, to the wizarding world, to the muggle-borns, to creatures and half-breeds, to the heroes who fought so valiantly, to those who lost their lives. An apology to everyone except a small group of teenagers.
Summer of '98 a group of teenagers, who called themselves the "9-ers" formed. Hormones, secrets, trauma, and large appetites bonded the 9 together. It also established a ritual of meeting in the back room of a muggle pizza joint, "Joe's Pizza," once a week.
Summer of '98 was when the Wizarding World learned what exactly the Order of the Phoenix was, how they were "the bravest" and "most highly regarded witches and wizards." And, not so shockingly to Sophie, she also learned that Fred Weasley himself was an Order member.
Because she couldn't have just saved a regular wizard's life, she saved a decorated war hero's life.
Summer of '98 was when Sophie turned 16, in the middle of August, and it was that summer that Sophie felt her pain, peppering her shoulders, for the first time since battle.
OOO
6th year, perhaps, was the most normal, boring, mundane and wonderful thing Sophie experienced in all of her schooling. Her past time included snogging Derrick Sanders in the 4th floor broom closet and sneaking to the kitchens for hot chocolate past curfew with little regard to what her punishment could be.
No death eater professors, no mass murders on the loss, no impending sense of doom; just the pure bliss of being a 16 year old teenage girl.
But the pain that peppered her shoulder blades progressed. As the ministry kept good on their promise of follow-up medical care, Sophie found herself dealing with the long-term side effects of fighting and exerting herself against the cruciatus curse. Mainly: fatigue, nausea, & waves of crippling chronic pain.
For the rest of the "9-ers" the effects of their secret and the war also began to shape them, but Sophie was the only one facing physical pain that would take her out of classes for days.
Without her gang of friends, she would have isolated, dropped into a deep depression, and perhaps let her mind wander to darker ways of making the pain stop.
But her supporters, littered throughout the castle in her house, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor gave her strength when she thought that she had none.
"It's a mere side effect"
That is what the ministry called her condition. A side effect of fighting a curse. As she received a pain potion from the healer, who obviously thought she was exeragerting her pain, Sophie only had two thoughts.
I will become a healer and I will not be complete shit at my job
If I could take it all back, I would.
The second thought would become more recurring as Sophie's life seemed to revolve around her pain in some way, shape or form. She put up an act around all those who thought they knew exactly what she should be feeling. She should be happy, joyus, excited and grateful for her life. Instead, there were some days she felt miserable.
Doug, the loveable goof with a slight rage problem, thought Quidditch was the answer to her misery. A fact that he stood by since they first met their first year. Matilda and Raven thought that self-care was her only option to break her out of her funk.
And normally for Sophie, these were the only friends that would have mattered to her, but in a twist of fate, 5 other people appeared to give a shit about her. So the Pog sisters joined in on self-care night. And Jeremey and Cassie hopped on the Quidditch train. And Sanders was firm in his belief that snogging would make her feel better.
So, in all actually, only Derrick Sanders brought any new sort of healing in her life. But the "out of the blue" friendships she now had with the other 4 students brought healing to her too.
OOO
The first anniversary of the War was somber. There were a lot of tears, sad songs sung and a recognition of the fallen.
It was also the first public appearance that many of the war heros made, decorated with their awards of bravery, casually lingering about the castle grounds after the ceremony.
"That's him" Cassie whispered to Sophie, with a knowing glance, "two-o'clock."
Sophie knew who he was. It was simply Fred Weasley, the man that she wished death upon in her darkest hours. But, she never actually regretted saving his life, not long term anyways.
She, and the "9-ers," knew that he was looking for her, he just didn't know it yet. It was around Christmas time that she noticed the fist ad, and it about stopped her heart.
"Roses are red, violets are blue, if you saved my life, I'd love to marry you" -Fred Weasley.
The first of 3 ads so far, and as much as she wanted to shout from the roof top that "IT'S ME" just to see his smile, she knew she couldn't. Not only because of an ever powerful magical binding contract, but because she simply wished him dead at one point or another. And the guilt that she felt with that wish ate her alive.
She took a quick glance at him, his face somber. A look that did not fit the Fred Weasley she built up in her mind. She hardly knew the man, but the one thing she knew was that he was incomplete without a smile.
"You could just say a simple 'hi'" January said on her otherside, "it's not against the law to be polite."
Of the "9-ers," Sophie felt she had grown closest to January. They shared a passion for healing (January because she was an excellent person, Sophie out of spite) and January knew the guilt that rattled Sophie after a dark episode, mainly from their late night conversations in the kitchen.
And she was right, a simple hello was something Sophie could do. Because even if Fred did not feel it, Sophie felt an indescribable pull towards him.
"Probably because you literally are the reason he is staying instead of laying in the ground" she thought to herself.
With an encouraging push from her two friends, she made her way to Fred.
"I can do this." she chanted to herself.
And she stopped just short of Fred, he was overlooking the black lake.
"Hello" she said in a low tone, "I'm Sophie, just finished my 6th year and -"
He cut her off, "I'm not interested. In the small talk I mean. If you're interested in a job at the shop, put in an application this is hardly the place." As he ended the sentence, he moved to walk away towards his family, not even bothering to give her a look as he left.
And in all fairness, why should he. She was a random 6th year Hufflepuff, not his savior. She quietly made her way back to the "9-ers," who were planning a pizza night, keeping this first meeting with the one who plagued her dreams quiet.
"Pizza," she thought, trying to bounce back from that unfortunate interaction, "pizza, and my true friends are all I need."