Author's Note: One quick thing to note. If it is mentioned that a character has an accent, understand that they're speaking with one throughout the entirety of the story, unless otherwise mentioned.
For further clarity: Fleur Weasley has a strong French accent and her kids have a slight one, with Vic's being the strongest. Oliver Wood, when mentioned later, will also still have a strong Scottish accent, and, as such, Jay has a Scottish accent as well. Lana Phyllis has a Bulgarian accent. There will likely be other characters with accents throughout the story, but these are the most major recurring ones. It's not especially pressing that you remember their accents, it's just a part of their character that I don't want you to assume that I've forgotten. Also, as I have mentioned a few times already, Phoenix and Fleur speak in French when it's just the two of them, and their letters are in French as well. Their conversations will be italicized when they're speaking French, for further clarity.
Chapter Three: Reactions
People have always told the tale of Voldemort's "helpers". They were those that he would never allow to become his Death Eaters, but whose help he relied on immeasurably. Giants, the werewolves willing to side with him, dementors, and Inferi…such "helpers" were still mentioned in hushed tones, as though they may creep through the door at the mention of their kind.
However, as terrifying as these creatures were, they were the only trick that Voldemort had up his sleeve, tactically speaking. According to my father, the predictability of the presence of these "helpers" was actually an advantage during the Second War. As the light knew what creatures to expect, they knew how to fight them.
This time around, we didn't have that advantage. The things that replaced those who had once been the Death Eaters were alien to us, and we had no idea how to deal with them.
Not knowing what they were would have been bad enough, but not having a clue how to fight them was disastrous. Not a single spell taught at Hogwarts could directly affect them.
This, combined with the fact that half of the Wizarding World didn't even know that they existed until it was too late and, well, it was rather easy to spot our downfall.
The Wizarding World had been under the impression that Voldemort and his helpers were the worst things that could ever attack us.
We quickly learned otherwise. While Voldemort's army was bad, it was undeniably tamer than what was to come.
For, while Voldemort hadn't been exactly human, his main army, the Death Eaters, were completely so.
This new army didn't even come close.
I had never so thoroughly detested anything so much as loathed whatever was making the god-awful tapping noise that had woken me up. As someone who spent their entire life unable to go out in public without being swarmed by nosy reporters, claiming the spot as the thing that I hated the most was a fairly impressive feat. Whatever the source of the tapping was, however, had quite easily done so.
I was unbelievably comfortable. My blanket was warm enough that I could have convinced myself that it was heated if I didn't know better, and someone must have forgotten to close the curtains, for I was lying in a cozy beam of light. I was certain that I would still be fast asleep, if it weren't for the horrid tapping.
"What is that?" A voice mumbled from next to my ear.
I jumped, not expecting anyone else to be nearby. "Jay?" I asked, confused.
I opened my eyes slightly, before promptly closing them with a hiss. The light was positively blinding. I was, for reasons unknown, not in my bed. I tugged the blanket, which I now realized was warmed by the fire that still roared nearby, up to my chin. Turning my head slightly so that my forehead was pressed against the side of Jay's arm, I hid my face away from the sunlight that had blinded me.
Jay let out a chuckle. "Yeah. Apparently, we all fell asleep after the feast last night. We're in the Common Room. You should see your brother's hair. It's worse than my dad's is after he gets done with a match."
I let out a soft laugh, wise enough to know that being surrounded by my family so early in the morning meant that any loud noises would be very unappreciated. For a brief moment I wondered if I should get up and move, but I quickly decided that I couldn't be bothered. With a disgruntled scrunch of my nose, I shifted around in an attempt to get more comfortable. I just wanted to go back to sleep.
"Since when are you not a morning person?" Jay asked me, sounding amused. I strongly suspected that, should I care to look, I would find my best friend grinning at me.
"Since we started staying up half of the night. Trust me, though, I'll still be the easiest to wake of my family," I told him, still stubbornly keeping my eyes shut.
"That, I believe."
As if on cue, the sounds of my various family members waking up began. I smothered a giggle as a loud crash echoed through the Common Room, accompanied by several fairly alarmed yelps.
"Molly tried to stretch, but wound up falling off of the couch and onto Don and Nikki," Jay muttered to me. A grin stretched across my face, and he let out a chuckle as Don mumbled something in a very nervous-sounding tone.
"Oh my god. What is that?" Dominique snapped, sounding furious. I assumed she was referring to the tapping sound which had originally woken me up and had yet to cease.
I heard Teddy groan. "Owl. James, you're closest, get up and get the owl."
I sighed, accepting that I wouldn't be getting back to sleep as James began grumbling about life being unfair and everyone hating him. He absolutely detested waking up, no matter what time of the day it was. I strongly suspected that it was well before eight, which meant that he would normally still be hibernating on any other Saturday. There would be no getting back to bed with the rampage that he was about to go on. I pried my eyes open reluctantly, glaring at my twin before turning my gaze to Jay, who was, sure enough, grinning at me.
"Nice bedhead," He whispered, looking delighted. I knew that he would be teasing me relentlessly for days to come. My normally neat curls became a bird's nest at night.
I stuck my tongue out at him in response. His smile widened as he ran his fingers through my hair, undoubtedly making it worse. I normally used an enchanted brush to keep my hair from getting frizzy.
"Does your stomach feel better?" He asked me. His hair, I noticed with a pout, was still perfectly neat.
I shrugged. "For the most part."
"Here, Ted," James grumbled as he finally reached the owl. He opened the letter and held it out moodily for our brother to take. Before the letter reached Teddy's fingertips, however, James froze. He seemed to be reading part of the note, and the look on his face went from cantankerous to deeply upset.
"James? What's wrong?" Ted frowned, waiting, but James didn't seem capable of responding. "Hey, let me see that."
Teddy stood and gently took the letter, quickly lifting Dom's legs from the couch and into his lap to clear a space for himself as he sat down to read it.
"What is it, Ted?" Vic asked, her expression one of clear concern.
Teddy looked around and, seeing half the Gryffindor house rubbing sleep from their eyes and leaning forward to hear his response, shook his head. "Family up to my dorm. Now."
I sleepily pulled my head off of Jay's shoulder, giving him a slightly worried smile as he helped me to my feet. He gave me a reassuring look, but I could tell that he was concerned.
I caught Roxy's hand as I followed my family to the 6th year dorms. She looked worried, and I was growing more so as I became more awake. Levi and Teddy only had one other roommate, a boy named Eli Harrison. They had been born during the thick of the war, when few people wanted to bring a child into the world. Eli was an early riser, so the dorm was empty as we poured through the door.
Teddy sank down onto his bed with his head in his hands. Victoire quickly got on her knees behind him and set her hands on his shoulders. Levi forwent his own bed to sit beside the pair as both he and Vic began to skim the letter over Ted's shoulder. They exchanged horrified glances when they were done.
The rest of us scrambled to find a place to sit, piling onto beds and the floor until everyone was seated. I sat down on a rug, and just about jumped out of my skin when I felt someone sit right behind me. To my intense surprise, it was James, who did not say a word, simply wrapping his arms around my waist. He buried his face in my hair, sniffling slightly. I turned, letting go of Roxy's hand as I climbed into my twin's lap and wrapped my arms around him. He was crying, I realized with a start.
Finally, without pulling his head out of his hands, Teddy spoke, "Susan Bones was found dead this morning. She didn't show up for work, and when her coworkers went to look for her, they discovered her home trashed and empty. Her body was located about half a mile away from that. It…uh…well, based on her condition, she was most likely murdered. I'm so sorry, James. I really should have grabbed that letter myself."
There were several gasps from my family. We knew Susan rather well, as she was a member of the DA and good friend of our parents'.
"I'll come sleep with you tonight, Jamie," I told my brother softly, taking in the look on his face. It was obvious to me that the letter had likely been meant for Teddy and Levi alone to see, and James seemed to have learned about Susan's death in far more detail than he wanted to.
When we were little, James used to have terrible nightmares about what had happened to our parents. He hadn't wanted them to know, as he didn't want them to stop telling us things. Instead, when he became too scared to remain in his bed alone, he would come into my room to sleep in bed with me.
"You haven't called me that in years," He sniffled, rubbing at his eyes rather harshly as he spoke. "You can come, if you want. You don't have to if you would rather not, though. I don't mind."
"No, I will. I have the cloak, so I'll use that to avoid gossip."
"Thank you, P," He said, his voice cracking slightly. Wrapping his arms more tightly around me, he let his forehead rest against my shoulder, still sniffling. I hugged his waist with an equally tight grip. We were a family who took comfort from touch, as our parents all seemed to express their affection through physical gestures. I suspected that it was a way of physically reassuring themselves of everyone's well-being after the war. Grandma Molly was probably the root of it, as she always seemed to be brushing hair out of someone's face, holding one of the grandkids in her lap, or gripping someone's hands between her own. It was hardly surprising that the rest of the family followed suit. We had, however, been warned by our parents that we should all tone down our physical affection in public, as people could be horribly nasty. Though they thought that they had kept us from seeing it, we were all aware of the story that had run in the papers a few years ago suggesting that dad and Uncle Ron were cheating on their wives because someone had managed to get a picture of Uncle Ron with his arm around dad's shoulders while they were out shopping.
We all sat in a sober silence, broken only by the occasional sob from Lucy, for what felt like years.
Finally, Vic whispered, "Squeak."
We looked at her, confused, until a little house elf popped into the room.
"Hello, missus Weasley! How can I be helping you today?" The little elf, Squeak, asked.
"Could we have some breakfast, please?" Vic asked her, tucking her silvery-blonde hair behind her ear as she ducked her head to meet the elf's eyes. We had all been drilled on being respectful to house elves for our entire lives, and it showed.
Squeak nodded quickly before disappearing with another pop. We waited mutely for her return.
Upon reentering the room, Squeak was quick to set down a few trays full of food before leaving again. Dom and Molly got up and dished out the food without having to be volunteered. Teddy rose as well, gathering a quill and some parchment so that we could compose a response while we ate.
Dear Parents,
We are very sorry to hear about Susan. Thank you for informing us of her death before it was printed in the paper.
Please notify us when a date is selected for her funeral, as well as to whether or not we will be able to attend.
-The Weasley and Potter children.
Teddy read the letter aloud, and we all nodded our approval. It was rather formal, but then, this was a rather serious situation, so we felt it was appropriate. We made sure to ask about the funeral. Susan had been a very close friend of Hannah Longbottom, so we had known her since we were very small.
We walked down to the Quidditch pitch in groups of twos and threes, so that we didn't make a huge scene by walking all together. Dom had suggested a friendly game to distract ourselves, and we had all immediately agreed.
Lucy, Rox, and Fred walked down together, the twins doing their best to comfort Lucy. Luce was extremely upset; she had always been very fond of Susan.
I walked with James. He had thrown an arm around my shoulders, glaring at everyone as we prepared to leave, as though he were daring them to tell us that we were being too affectionate. I had wrapped my arm around his waist and tugged him on our way, knowing that James had taken our parents' warnings far too seriously. Roxanne, Lucy, and I held hands all the time, and no one had ever said a word to us. We also regularly huddled together on the sofa, legs thrown over each other's laps and head on each other's shoulders. Even Lana got roped into our cuddling at times, which I thought secretly made her happy, as we all knew that Lana hated that she was the only child born to two only children. Still, I knew that James was far more worried about his appearance than the rest of us, as he was obsessed with being seen as cool, and he would rarely do anything that may mess that up.
Soon enough we had all reached the pitch, where Teddy and Vic split us up into teams. As we took off from the ground, I couldn't help but be grateful that the rule stating that first years could not have their own broom had been discarded. They had finally agreed to change the rules during Vic's first year. The argument was that, by allowing parents who could afford to buy their children brooms to do so, a bigger budget would be available to buy newer, safer brooms for the first years who could not afford their own.
Despite our careful planning, we still wound up with a fairly large audience by the time the game got into full swing. I played chaser, and couldn't help but laugh as I frequently scored on Teddy. Though he was the team Captain, I had grown up playing against him. In addition to that, when we finished a game of backyard Quidditch, Ted went inside and found something else to do. I grabbed my playbook and figured out what I could have done better. All of his plays had been analyzed by me at some point or another, so I knew my way around most of his tricks. Quidditch was, after all, my favorite thing in the world.
Before long, Teddy's hair was bright red. It was very fortunate that Dom caught the snitch seconds after his hair changed color, because we were all laughing so hard that we sank towards the ground rather than flying.
"Come on Phoe, you couldn't have gone easy on me? I'm the team keeper; you're making me look bad!" Teddy whined. We all laughed even harder at that.
"Good job, Annie!" Vic said, picking me up and swinging me around.
"Sure, rub it in, why don't you?" Teddy grumbled, pushing his now purple hair out of his face.
Vic grinned at him, tucking a stray piece of her hair behind her ear. "Poor Teddy. Do you need me to kiss your poor broken heart better?"
"Oh Vic, it's his pride that's wounded, but I'm sure he'd take any kiss he could get from you," I teased with mock wisdom, though I was watching my older brother carefully.
"Oi!" Teddy exclaimed as Vic blushed.
"Nah Phoe, Ted wouldn't want to act desperate," Levi started with a smirk.
"Thank you-"
"Not when he's got a picture of her under his pillow to snog until he can work up the guts to do it in person!" He laughed. Levi slung an arm around my shoulders as we exchanged conspiratorial grins, waiting to see how things would play out after our comments. We had discussed the fact that the two blatantly fancied each other last Christmas, and had been angling to get them to admit it since then.
Though Teddy was my brother, he had lived with Grandma Andy for years before officially moving in with us, so he and Vic had grown up as best friends, not cousins. It had become obvious a few years ago that Vic would never see Teddy as family the way that the rest of us did, because she was clearly head-over-heels for him.
"Hey, wait…no, I don't need to…" Teddy spluttered, looking more flustered than I had ever seen my older brother.
Victoire pouted at Teddy, her expression playful. "Oh, so you wouldn't want to kiss me?"
Teddy, however, hadn't been looking at Vic, and therefore missed her teasing. As soon as she spoke, his ears and hair turned red, and he stuttered for a few moments before shouting, "Piss it all!"
Before anyone could react, he grabbed Victoire and snogged her.
We all fell silent. Roxy was practically vibrating as she waited, her hands clasped together with glee, and I felt like screaming with joy. Levi gave my shoulder a squeeze, his expression impossibly smug.
When the two pulled apart Teddy said, "Tori, I've been nuts about you since your third year. And technically, you agreed to marry me when we were like three, so you're already my fiancée. I think you becoming my girlfriend should be a no-brainer. So, what do you say? Will you go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?"
It was terribly silly, but it was so appropriate for Victoire and Ted that it managed to be sweet as well. Vic nodded so many times that I was concerned her head would bob right off of her shoulders, and Teddy gave her the most brilliant smile that I had ever seen. His hair was bright yellow with pure joy, and his eyes were the same shade of blue-grey as Vic's. They stood there, grinning goofily at each other with their foreheads touching, as we began to cheer and holler with joy.
The moment was soured slightly when the rather massive crowd, which we had managed to forget about completely, joined in on the celebration. With no small amount of awkwardness, we packed up our things and made our way through the throng of people towards the castle.
Our walk back to the castle was quiet, our emotions mixed. We all felt guilty about acting so joyful when such a horrible thing had only just happened, but we were also extremely excited for Vic and Teddy. James caught up with me once we were inside, wrapping his arm around my shoulder once again, though there was a ghost of a smile on his face.
"Fingers crossed that pictures of us celebrating don't hit the papers under a headline about Susan tomorrow," Roxy mumbled.
"It should be okay," Ted told her, his arm around Vic's waist as they walked along together. "During my first year here, they wrote an article about how I failed a DADA essay, complete with photos of my writing. I guess I dropped it on my way out of class, and some kid picked it up and mailed it home. Mum saw the article and lost it. She actually flooed up to Hogwarts to speak to McGonagall about it, she was so angry. They called me into her office and had me sit there while they composed a letter. I don't remember it exactly, but it basically told the papers that, should they feel the need to publish photos of the goings-on at Hogwarts again, McGonagall would take it to the Wizengamot. She also advised that they didn't write articles about the everyday lives of students, as she was sure that could create some issues for the press, should someone bring it to the Minister's attention that they were reporting on minors while they operated at a private institution."
"Didn't they used to write about dad all the time?" I asked, glowering as someone tried to grab Victoire's hand, presumably to shake in congratulations, as we stepped into the Common Room.
"Yeah, but that was under Dumbledore, and it's not like the Dursleys were going to speak up for him," Ted explained, pulling Vic closer to his side, though he did not glare as I had.
"That's rather depressing," Molly muttered.
We all made noises of agreement, moving into Teddy's dorm and searching the room for places to seat ourselves. Fred, Roxy, Lucy, James, and I sat together on the floor.
Deciding to make good use of my time, I pulled out the introduction that I had written for a Transfiguration essay and a few textbooks for reference. Most of the other first years copied my actions with the expected groans, but Fred surprised me by quietly shifting closer to me and asking if I wanted to compare facts.
"Fred, mate, don't get sucked into my sister's habits. If you become a swot like her, I might go mad," James immediately said. He appeared to be serious, and I frowned at his assessment of my study habits. I didn't study obsessively, and I most certainly had a life outside of classes.
"I guess you're feeling better, then?" I asked him, annoyed.
He rolled his eyes, wrapping his arm around my shoulders once again. "You're just…boring, when it comes to classes. No offense. Fred and I are cool, Phoe. He can't be like us both."
I shoved his arm off of me. He was lucky that I didn't break promises when I could help it, or I would be sleeping in my own bed come nightfall.
I expected Fred to change his mind about planning his essay with me after my twin's comments, but he surprised me yet again by simply pulling my notes closer to him and bringing up a contradicting point to something that I had written. I smiled, excited at the possibility of having someone to study with.
Across from us, James sighed heavily and began to fold his parchment into a paper airplane.
Though Susan's death weighed upon my shoulders, I found that it was difficult to remain focused on it for long at the castle. There were so many things to do that I hardly found myself with a moment alone to grieve.
I spent the vast majority of my time reading. I had always been eager to learn all that there was to know about magic, but being surrounded by it in a much more prominent way than I was at home only served to further my desire to know more. Though James continued to tease me about my fondness for learning, I persisted in spending my free time reading about anything that I could get my hands on, though I tended to stick to books about magic. To my absolute delight, Jay, who I had found to be an even keener reader than I, was always happy to spend hours scouring the library for a new book or sitting in a companionable silence while we read.
After my first few months at Hogwarts, I finally worked up the nerve to pop into Professor Slughorn's office and ask him if he would show me how to slice caterpillars more evenly. Though we practiced ingredient preparation at the end of every class, I had found that my inability to create uniformly sliced caterpillars was negatively affecting my potions. The man was absolutely beside himself with delight at the request, and I soon had an outstanding invitation to come by his personal lab and practice any time that I wanted. I wound up dropping by once a week, and he alternated between having me practice ingredient preparation and drilling me on ingredient combinations.
About two weeks after I began stopping by the dungeons for extra practice, Professor Flitwick made a casual comment about having heard about my diligent study of potions. He then remarked on how he had thought that his class was my favorite, but obviously he had been incorrect. I tried not to giggle at the man's thinly masked delight when I stopped by his office that evening and asked him to teach me more about basic theory.
The next evening saw me entering Professor McGonagall's office after dinner, and the smirk on her face told me that she had been expecting me. Professor Longbottom had already been assisting me in Herbology, which was by far my worst subject, so I added DADA with Professor Bernet into the rotation and was soon receiving additional teachings in five classes. I opted to forgo additional tutoring in Astronomy, as I preferred to do extra readings for the class on my own. I wound up going to Professor Slughorn's office every other Tuesday and Professor McGonagall's every other Thursday. On the weeks when I wasn't practicing Potions and Transfiguration, I visited Professor Flitwick on Tuesdays and Professor Bernet on Thursdays. As Herbology was my worst subject, I spent an hour working in the greenhouses with Professor Longbottom every Monday.
I kept my extra tutoring a secret from everyone but Jay. Though he frequently teased me about being a nerd, it was playful in a way that most others didn't seem to be.
James's comments were growing more unbearable by the day, and, to my dismay, Roxanne seemed to find him more and more amusing every time he opened his mouth. Jay frequently tried to retaliate, his tolerance of the duo growing shorter with each passing day, and it was only my insistence that he would only make things worse that kept him from tearing into the two.
Fred also seemed incredibly unamused by the pair, which made me feel a bit better about the entire thing. Fred, Roxy, James, and I had always had an unusual bond. We were two sets of twins, born exactly two months apart on the second day of the month. It was less of a running joke and more of a fact within our family that we were fated to be close friends. As guilty as it made me feel, I was incredibly glad that Lucy had become such good friends with Lana, because as hard as we tried to make sure that she felt included, I knew that she had always felt like a bit of an outsider in our group.
With James, Roxy, and I on the outs, I found myself growing even closer with Jay. If we weren't sitting around reading or flying, he roped me into going on very long walks with him around the grounds while we talked about whatever thoughts happened to pop into our heads. I also convinced him to come running with me in the mornings, something that I had been doing every day for years. Though my morning runs were normally my favorite time to simply sort out my thoughts and enjoy my own company, I found that I didn't mind Jay's presence in the slightest. We didn't ever talk during the exercise, instead simply breathing in the morning air in silent companionship.
Within three months at Hogwarts, I knew without a single doubt that Jay was my best friend. The knowledge of this delighted me more than I had expected. I realized that it was because, despite being especially close with Roxy and Albus my entire life, I had never had a best friend of my own. Roxy had always been just as close with Fred, Dom (though that had changed a bit since we had come to Hogwarts), and James as she was with me, and Albus and Lily also had a dynamic that I didn't fit into.
Jay, however, was my best friend and I was his. It was as simple as that. We both had other friends, and we didn't spend every second of the day attached at the hip, but I knew that there was always going to be time in his schedule that we would spend together, and I wouldn't have to compete for his attention as he had side conversations with someone else the entire time.
There was a slight breeze ruffling my hair as I gazed out over the Quidditch pitch, watching the team practice with muted longing. The first time that I sat in on one of their practices, my envy and longing to join them had been nearly overwhelming. Now, however, after spending a few hours in the stands nearly every day, it had faded into something far more bearable.
"Phoenix!" Teddy called.
I climbed the railing of the bleachers that surrounded the pitch as my big brother flew down to my height. He gave me a slightly crooked grin, and I knew that he was laughing at me for spending my free time watching the Gryffindor team's Quidditch practice. It had been habit for long enough that my jealousy of the team had faded, but not so long that my brother's amusement had. I stuck my tongue out at him in response, wholly unbothered by his teasing.
"Can you do me a favor and keep track of which chaser scores in what goal until the end of practice?" Teddy asked, glancing over his shoulder to check on the team while he spoke. Vic was chasing Nikki, who was one of the team beaters, around the pitch, though I had missed what Nikki had done to cause the pursuit. Shaking his head with an amused grin, Ted turned back towards me to explain his request. "I'm going to devise a plan to help them all practice scoring on their weakest goal, but I want to make sure that I've got it right before I implement it."
"You've got it," I told my brother, pulling out a clean sheet of parchment and settling onto a seat as he flew away.
I spent the rest of the practice keeping track of the chasers, quickly confirming what I, and I suspected Teddy, had already known: Jay favored the left and middle goal, Vic favored the middle and right goal, and Jennings, the third chaser on Teddy's team, favored the right goal a disproportionate amount. I also wrote down a few plays that would take advantage of the team's strengths, though obviously Teddy would still need to work on correcting their weaknesses.
Ted took my notes from me eagerly at the end of practice, thanking me more than once as he did so. I agreed to help him later in the evening to come up with some new formations that would force everyone to work on their weaker goals, and he accepted my suggestion that he especially focus on practicing blocking the left goal while he was at it with a grin.
"Thus begins Captain Phoenix Potter's reformation of the entire Gryffindor team?" Jay asked me with a playful smile as he swung an arm around my shoulder.
I returned his grin as I teasingly replied, "Well, someone has to do it! I can hardly leave you lot to your own devices, can I? What a disaster that would be!"
Jay laughed, squatting down and throwing me over his shoulder before I could escape his grasp. "Oh, a disaster, hmm?" He mused loudly, his voice raising to speak over my shocked shriek.
"Jay Wood, you put me down right now!" I demanded. I kicked my feet for a moment, before promptly thinking better of the action as it caused me to slip slightly.
"No," He replied simply, bouncing once so as to raise me back up to my previous position on his shoulder.
Teddy and Vic were openly laughing at my predicament, and I attempted to glare at the both of them before giving up and letting my head fall back down the way that gravity was currently pulling it.
"You stink! Put me down and go take a shower," I told him, my voice coming out at a slightly higher pitch than normal due to my dilemma.
Jay bent over slightly as he laughed, which caused me to let out another scream. I was certain that human beings were not ever meant to exist at the angle that I was currently being held at. His laughter only grew at the distressed sound.
"I stink? That's the best you can come up with? Merlin, Phoenix, I think you're losing your touch," Jay teased.
Vic squatted slightly so that she could push my hair out of my face and stare at me. "I think she's got a whole lot of blood that's rushed to her face," Vic giggled, tapping me on the nose playfully. "You should probably put her down pretty soon. It's getting hard to tell where her face ends and her hairline begins."
Without any warning, Jay leaned forward and set me back on my feet. I was grateful for his Quidditch reflexes as he promptly reached out a hand and grabbed my wrist just before I fell backwards onto my bum, having been set down too quickly to properly respond.
"Try not to break her," Teddy chuckled as he brushed past us and walked into the locker room.
"Or him," Vic directed at me as she followed him.
I just glared at Jay in response.
The boy in question let out a laugh before tugging his Quidditch sweater over his head. He once again outmaneuvered me as he shoved the sweaty jumper over my head and darted into the locker room.
"Ew!" I yelled after him, knowing that he could still hear me. "It's wet, Jay!"
Trying not to gag, I attempted to wriggle out of the sweater without it touching my face. Once I had successfully tugged it over my head, I held the damp, smelly article of clothing by the tips of my fingers, before promptly deciding to drop it into the dirt as several people began laughing from within the building behind me.
"You're all the worst!" I shouted.
More laughter met my words, and I had to suppress a grin as I leaned against the wall beside the door to the locker room to wait for the team to reemerge. The sun had set as Teddy was wrapping up practice, but there was still a reddish haze on the horizon. Above my head, the stars were beginning to twinkle in the sky. One was framed perfectly in the tallest hoop, winking at me as I stared at it. The slightly muffled sounds of the team talking and laughing filtered into the cool night air, the sound joyous and tantalizing, as I was still on the outside of it. Leaning up against the outside of the locker rooms, staring at the pitch, I felt as though I were on the cusp of belonging to the dynamic unique to the Gryffindor Quidditch team.
I couldn't wait for try-outs next year.
A glance at Fred's watch had me sighing as I realized that Charms was almost over. My favorite class never failed to be fascinating-and entirely too short. Fred gave me a teasing smile, which hardened when James mimicked my sigh dramatically from the row behind us.
"We've got to get you your own watch," Fred told me, clearly trying to pull my attention away from James. He spun the face of his watch around, causing it to glint in the light.
"Why spend money on a watch when I can just look at yours?" I quipped, poking the timepiece in question.
He chuckled, using the sleeve of my robes to wipe the crystal face clean before I could pull my hand back. Though Fred would never admit it, he was ridiculously proud of the watch, which had been a gift from our grandparents. "That's not how this works."
"I don't see why not," I replied with a shrug, smirking as he shook his head at my antics, looking amused.
To my disappointment, the class ended moments later. Though we hadn't actually been casting today, I found the theory behind charms to be more exciting than actually performing the spells, as grasping theory provided more of a challenge. As such, the classes where we did nothing but read the materials that Professor Flitwick provided us with for the day were my favorite.
"Everyone did excellently today! I know that theory isn't the most interesting thing to learn, but I thank you all for paying attention and working diligently. Next class, your essays will be due, so please don't forget to do them! You should have had a chance to make an excellent start on them today, so you can knock them out in no time if you use your time wisely!" Professor Flitwick called as everyone rose from their seats.
As everyone packed up their things, preparing to leave, I waved Fred ahead of me. Once Roxy and James had taken a turn for the nastier side of things with their teasing, Fred had informed Roxy that she was now going to be pairing with James in our classes, and that was that.
"Go ahead without me. Tell Professor Slughorn that I'll be just a few minutes late, but that we did the reading and I'll come with a note, please," I asked him.
He mussed my hair as he walked past me, following Lana and Lucy towards the door.
"You got it!" He replied. "I'll start the potion if you're really late. We're going to want to-"
"Dice the root rather than slicing it? Yeah, for sure!" I told him. "I should be there before you really get going, but make sure to either double the lemongrass or ask Professor Slughorn for some fresh lemongrass, too. We'll have to counterbalance the extra half-turn that we were talking about adding every fourth rotation, so don't forget!"
Fred nodded, giving me a mock salute before flinging an arm around Lucy and Lana's shoulders and leading them to the dungeons. I grinned at the back of his curly brown hair before turning around to face Professor Flitwick.
"What can I do for you, Miss Potter?" Professor Flitwick asked as I approached his desk. It was an incredible mess, with stacks of books that were likely taller than he was piled around his desk and papers strewn all across the surface.
I shifted my books a bit as I pulled out a piece of parchment. "So, I was thinking about wand movements while I was writing my essay-"
"As you should," He nodded approvingly, before gesturing for me to continue.
"So, a lot of spells end with the same movement that other spells begin with. For example, confringo ends with you flicking your want to the right, which is what expelliarmus begins with."
"Miss Potter, confringo is a fourth-year spell," Professor Flitwick interjected, his brow furrowed with slight concern.
I waved a hand at him, hastening to reassure him before he assumed that I was attempting dangerous, advanced spells on my own. "I was only looking at wand movements; I haven't tried to perform it. It wouldn't be safe for me to try it on my own, I know. I was looking at them because I was wondering why we don't take advantage of this more frequently in dueling. In France, they spend most of their sixth year focusing on finding ways to be more efficient in their casting. I know that there is some risk of getting an effect that you didn't want if you don't do your research and cast carefully. There's a book by Victor Freduran that talks about how it is far more effective if you cast non-verbally, so I can understand how that would make it a more difficult thing to learn, as well. I just don't understand why this isn't at least a part of our Auror program?" I rambled, showing him the paper with my research on it in the hopes that what I was trying to say would make sense to him.
The look on the man's face was one of pure pride as he looked at the parchment that I had handed him. "Miss Potter, I have been asking the Ministry the same question for years. If you will, continue looking into this in your free time and making notes on it. Come your fourth year of Charms, we can discuss you doing some formal research on the topic, and you can attempt to write an official paper on the subject during your fifth year, if you would like. We've had students do similar projects in the past, and they've had papers published, gone on to write textbooks, and even written legislation from their research."
I matched the man's grin with one of my own. "Really? That would be amazing! Do you really think that this is something that may get published?"
Professor Flitwick nodded. "I cannot say for certain, but I will assure you that it already has a lot of promise. It takes a rare sort of student to enjoy research and theory the way that you clearly do, Miss Potter, but students such as yourself always tend to do well. I'll speak with Professor McGonagall about making sure that we begin working out the specifics in a few years."
"Thank you! I'm so excited," I told him honestly.
"I'm glad that you are," He said, truly seeming it. "Now, I must ask. Have you ever considered becoming a researcher after you graduate? I know that you're still years away from leaving Hogwarts, but it may be something to consider. If you want a bit of adventure as well as the research aspect of things, the Department of Mysteries is a very fascinating career path, and I have several connections there that you would be welcome to get in contact with."
I gave the man a smile that was only a touch regretful. "I really appreciate the offer, Professor, but I want to play Quidditch professionally after I graduate."
He laughed in response, not seeming bothered by my answer. "So I've heard. I just thought that I would put the idea into your head now. Feel free to let me know if you ever change your mind."
"I will," I promised him, accepting the parchment with my research on it back from him and tucking it into my bag. There was a mess of pens and stray parchment within that had me glancing at the disaster that was Professor Flitwick's desk, quickly making a mental note to tidy my bag before it got to a similar level of untidiness.
"Well, if that's all, you'd best be off to Potions. Here's a note for Professor Slughorn, though I doubt that he'll require that you have one, regardless," Professor Flitwick said with a chuckle.
"Honestly, I could probably walk into class during the last five minutes in my pajamas, and the only thing that Professor Slughorn would be worried about is making sure that I had the proper shoes on so that I didn't get hurt," I admitted sheepishly.
"I can imagine that that's true," The professor laughed.
I waved to him as I walked out of the door to his classroom, trying not to bounce excitedly as I did so.
A few weeks later, I was walking towards the Common Room after my last class of the day when I heard Jay yell, "Hey!"
I spun around, grinning at him as he hurried down the hall to catch up with me. People swerved to avoid running me over, but most seemed amused about it rather than irritated, as I would have been. I was still blatantly favored by the population of Hogwarts for my last name, though I had done absolutely nothing out of the ordinary at school so far.
"Hey yourself," I called, turning my attention to Jay.
"You're in a good mood," He commented, slinging an arm around my shoulder as he finally reached me. I rolled my eyes as he promptly took my recently tidied bag from me, refusing to so much as acknowledge my protests as he did so.
"It's Friday!" I sang happily, deciding that my bag was a lost cause. I began walking once again, a skip in my step. There was sunshine pouring through every window that we passed, causing my hair to create a reddish glow on Jay's face as he looked in my direction. The weather had rapidly been growing cooler, so I was delighted by the warmth of the day.
Jay grinned at me, his eyes slightly squinted against the fiery glare my hair caused. "You absolutely adore going to class."
"I do, but the weekend is nice too," I replied with a shrug. Jay waved at one of his friends as he passed us, and the guy gave both of us a friendly nod. The hallways were congested enough that I was fairly surprised that we had yet to pass someone that I was related to, though I found that I didn't particularly mind. When Jay and I wandered through a busy hallway, it was a bit easier to slip through the crowd unnoticed. Sometimes, I could almost pretend that we were just a couple of Gryffindor nobodies, only notable at all because of Jay's status on the Quidditch team.
Jay changed our direction suddenly, simply spinning in place and taking me with him. The stone corridor seemed to whirl around me, rather disorienting. Jay chuckled as I stumbled, keeping me firmly glued to his side so that I wouldn't fall. I threw him a look, to which he responded by laughing harder.
"Don't look at me like that! It's nice out; we're going to the lake!"
I rolled my eyes, recognizing his firm tone and knowing that I wouldn't be changing his mind any time soon. Stubborn Scot.
It appeared that Jay's laughter had attracted some attention, for people were now nudging each other and pointing as we walked by. I withheld a sigh as a path began to clear for us, the fancies of being a completely anonymous first year that I had previously been toying with disappearing altogether. A group of fifth year boys goggled at us as we strolled past them, one leaning in so close that I could see the reflection of my hair in his eyes. I jabbed an elbow into Jay's side unthinkingly as he took a deep breath, knowing that he wouldn't hesitate to say something to the boys.
"Don't," I commanded, though truthfully, I wouldn't have minded him telling the bloke to back up. He was actually blocking our path, forcing me to cut Jay off slightly as I attempted to maneuver around the boy.
Jay ignored me. "Back up, mate," He snapped, the typically friendly word a mockery on his tongue as he used the tips of his index and middle fingers to give the boy a small shove backwards. "You're in her way."
I sighed, glad that the boy seemed to barely notice Jay's words. He was still staring intently at me, undoubtedly a fan of either my father's or my mother's. "Excuse me," I told him, the words a bit curt as I was finally able to get around the boy.
Jay's fingers curled back around my shoulder as we walked through the cluster of people that had formed due to our hold up, his grip tighter than it had been before. I frowned up at him, making sure that he met my gaze so that I could be sure he understood that I was annoyed with him.
"You can't push people around, Jay. Or talk to them like that. I want people to treat me normally, or at least like me enough to see that I'm not a zoo animal. That won't happen if we're mean to them."
He gave me a fond grin, onlookers forgotten. "Don't worry, I'll make sure that I get the reputation for being the unpleasant one. You, on the other hand, are certain to be well-loved by the population of Hogwarts, because you're entirely too nice. I swear, you have this famous temper that actually seems to be entirely nonexistent. I've been warned off of angering you by more than one member of your family, yet I've never heard you do more than scold James when he's being a prat."
I laughed lightly, poking the tip of his nose playfully. "No one ever said that I was quick to anger, Jay. They just said that I'm scary once I am angry. Unlike some people, I know when to pick and choose my battles. That's a good way of ensuring that I win them, you see? Having war-hero parents comes in handy for that bit of wisdom, I suppose."
His eyes widened slightly, though his smile never faltered. "Funnily enough, I hadn't thought about it like that."
"Don't worry, I'm sure you can handle a revenge prank or two, should you be unfortunate enough to irritate me. Pranking is in my genes, you know. I've got to live up to both the Marauders and the infamous Weasley Twins, so naturally my pranks are going to be something you'll be warned of. What else could you expect?" I asked with a casual shrug, which was likely offset by the smirk that I knew I was sporting.
He chuckled. "You are a scary little bird, aren't you?"
"I grew up in a big family," I told him, ducking out from under his arm and walking backwards so that I could face him. We had exited the castle now, the grass soft beneath my feet and the sun warm on my back. The shady stretch of earth beneath my favorite willow tree was tempting in the hazy afternoon heat, so I flashed Jay a grin before telling him, "The weak don't survive. Race you!"
He laughed as I turned around, running as fast as I could towards the tree, which sat near the edge of the lake. I was faster than Jay, but I made the mistake of slowing down as I approached our spot. Jay immediately seized on the error, catching me around the waist and tossing me over his shoulder. He threw our bags down, claiming our spot and likely causing grass stains at the same time, and continued running. I screamed as he pretended to pitch me into the lake.
I let out another shriek as he spun at the last second, toppling forward with the force of the fake toss. I was grateful for the rather thick grass as we crumpled to the ground, out of breath and giggling. For a moment we simply lay on our backs, staring up at the cerulean sky and attempting to catch our breath. The water lapped quietly at the shore of the lake from somewhere to my left, the soft sound seeming to distance us from the normal hubbub of the castle.
I gazed at the water, watching the sunlight dance across the minute waves. From the angle that I was viewing the lake from, it looked to be an incredible shade of cobalt, but I knew the truth. Where the water rippled, the water was inky black, an ominous shade that hinted at the hidden depth. A small shudder ran up my spine as I imagined what it would feel like to float at the center of the lake, suspended over nothing but meters of open water. I quickly pulled my eyes away from the water at the thought.
Propping myself up onto my elbow, twisting around to look at Jay, who was watching a bee crawl around on a flower beside his head. His head turned, tracking my movement, and I met his gaze.
"If you ever throw me into that lake," I told him, a soft smile on my face despite the severity of my words, "You will find out precisely what a temper I have."
"No worries there. I don't particularly like the water, and I know I couldn't throw you in without expecting you to find some way of getting me in as well," He told me with a grin. Though he was no longer out of breath from our mad dash across the grounds, the evidence of the event was still clear on his face, for his smile was a bit wild and his hair was thoroughly mussed. As he crinkled his nose at me playfully, I realized that he had faint dimples and a spattering of freckles across the end of his nose, which I hadn't noticed before. Wrenching my eyes away from Jay, I began to climb to my feet, deciding that it was time to move into the shade. My face was growing uncomfortably warm in the sunlight.
I gave him a crooked grin as he copied my movements, brushing off the grass that clung to his clothes as he stood. "Good. I don't like the water either, so we can agree to keep each other out of it."
He held out a hand for me to shake. I clasped it firmly, gasping as he immediately used it to yank me towards him and toss me once again over his shoulder.
"Jay, put me down you caveman!" I squealed, smacking his back lightly in protest. He had a large stick tangled in the threads of his shirt, I noticed. I elected to not bring it to his attention.
Jay laughed, setting me on my feet beneath the willow tree. "Is that any way to speak to your favorite chaser?" He teased.
I gasped, looking around excitedly. "My mum is here?"
He pouted, causing me to laugh. "I meant me."
"I'll tell you what," I told him with a grin, "We'll see how your match goes next week, and then we'll talk about where you fall on my list."
His face was an interesting mixture of pleased and nervous as he took in my words.
"How are you feeling about the match?" I asked him as we sat down next to our things. My bag did, in fact, have a large green stain from the way that Jay had flung it into the grass. I graciously decided to withhold my whining, as my question caused Jay to turn a similar shade to the stain in question. He groaned, slumping down awkwardly against the tree. "That confident, huh?"
"I'll be a disaster."
"You'll be great," I corrected firmly, poking him in the cheek.
He said nothing, simply tipping his head so that it fell awkwardly against my side. I knew that he couldn't be comfortable, but I didn't comment as I shifted my arm atop his head so that I could play with his hair. Fortunately for me, Jay seemed as comfortable with physical affection as anyone in my family, never shifting away or giving me a weird look when I brushed his hair aside or leaned against his arm in the Common Room.
After a short time, Jay shifted, stretching out on the grass so that he was flat on his back. I was trying to read a book about spell creation, but I was so warm and comfortable that I was soon struggling to keep my eyes open. There was a faint breeze, which blew the long, drooping branches of the willow tree about, creating ever-shifting patches of sunlight. For some reason, the way that the light floated across the pages of my book left me tired. With a small sigh, I accepted my fate, sliding down the trunk of the tree until I was lying flat on my back as well. I let the book fall onto my stomach as I closed my eyes, smiling as the light now took to dancing across the closed lids of my eyes.
"Here," Jay said. The book was tugged from my fingertips, his hand pushing mine aside so that he could hold it open on the page that I had stopped on.
I smiled as he began to read it aloud, moving only my fingers as I went back to running them through Jay's hair. We stayed like that until the sun had finished setting, with me opening my eyes only slightly to watch its descent. The sunsets at Hogwarts were different than the ones at home, more vibrant oranges and deep crimsons than the cotton candy skies that I had grown up with. I often found myself drifting towards a window in the evenings just to watch the sun slip below the horizon, so I loathed to miss this one when it was so readily available for me to see. Once it was dark, we hurried back to the castle for dinner.
Jay caught me by my waist halfway across the grounds and insisted on carrying me all the way into the Great Hall. I was quickly learning that Jay found great joy in throwing me over his shoulder without any warning, though I couldn't for the life of me understand the appeal.
He got a face full of peas for his troubles. He snickered, mumbling something about my revenge being a letdown.
He ate his words when he awoke the next morning and found every pair of shoes that he owned missing. A note at the end of his bed informed him that acting like a caveman would result in him walking around barefoot like a caveman. His owl, Quaffle, was especially fond of me, and I knew that Jay would whine when he found out that I had recruited his own familiar to help with my prank. He received all of his left shoes first, with Quaffle swooping into the room every fifteen minutes to deliver one. I made sure to have plenty of owl treats on hand, to which Jay complained that I was bribing his owl for love. His right shoes followed, but more slowly than the left.
His favorite pair were hand delivered by me at the very end of the day.
He threatened to retaliate by not meeting me for Quidditch the next morning. We both knew that it was an empty threat.
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