Blunt But Honest: Guess what! You get your own authors note. First of all,
I'd like to say that not leaving an email so that I could reply to your
reviews to defend my story is pretty low. Oh well. I've obviously found a
way around that. So I'll start at the beginning. I don't think her cousins
would know she was a witch. Yes, news of the tournament would make it back
to France, but I'm not sure the French would consider who the fourth
champion in the tournament is or isn't dating to be relevant news.
If people hated the idea of going from fluff to seriousness one moment to the next, then the world would be full of boring, depressed people. Life isn't all seriousness or all fluff, and I've tried to stay true to real life in my story. Therefore, I shall continue to switch from fluff to serious topics as I choose.
Also. It's my story. I don't care if you don't like the fact that I use people's full names. I do that to assert my bit of possessiveness over the characters, because as far as I know, J.K.R. has only given Harry a middle name.
I know the kids in Braeden's school wear light blue robes. This is evidenced by the later chapters at Beauxbatons. However, just because my school colors are purple and gold doesn't mean I don't own clothing of other colors. It stands to reason that Braeden would own at least one black robe, because I tend to think light blue would stand out.
JKR has never said James was a seeker. Yes, he was playing with a snitch in Order of the Phoenix, but a snitch would impress girls better than, oh, say a quaffle. To see what JKR said about this, visit the Harry Potter Lexicon, Harry's family, and view the biographic information at the bottom of the page, under the heading Quidditch.
And just so you know obVious obViously has a V in the word. ObViously you should have spell checked your reviews before criticizing my spelling. And in a 300,000 + word document, I'm allowed to make a few typing mistakes. As my beta said "considering there are books that aren't even bloody perfect and they're getting paid for that shit."
How is Ron and Ginny being picked as reserve beaters when they didn't even try out for those positions predictable. Also, Neville, who broke his wrist in the only flying lesson ever mentioned, is the reserve keeper. And you call that predictable?
I think you should read a little farther into the story to see if things happen before you post negative comments. For instance, I introduced members of the other houses as rather important characters within 3 chapters of chapter 11. My beta would like to add "how much time does JKR actually spend on people outside of Gryffindor and Slytherin?"
Chapter 11 was written before Order of the Phoenix came out. I later included the sliding stair case in the story. As the story is billed as an Alternate Universe in the first FOUR words of the summary, you can't expect everything to be exactly like JKR's world. I have taken a bit of a different view on the stairs and that mystery hasn't been resolved yet.
Keiran tried out to play seeker. Slytherin already obviously has a seeker in the form of Draco Malfoy. Therefore, he was only trying out to be a reserve. In OotP, Ginny lists seventh years. Katie is not included in this list, but in S.S, Katie is on the team, and mentions that she had been a reserve the year before. The only possibility then, is that Katie is a year older than Harry and had been a reserve as a first year.
Okay. As far as my use of the word "pouf" to describe objects to sit on in the Divination classroom, reference page 102 , 3 lines down, Hard back American Edition of Prisoner of Azkaban. JKR, in describing the divination classroom, used the phrase "chintz arm chairs and fat little poufs."
Just because it was Cedric's first year as a seeker doesn't mean it was his first year on the team. He could have previously played a different position while waiting for the seeker position to open. He could have also been a reserve.
As far as the logic of Hannah's assumption about Voldemort and the death eaters. Part of it is my mistake, but it's also JKR's mistake. Hannah shouldn't have known that Harry saw Cedric, but in Goblet of Fire, Voldemort says "kill the spare" which is the order to kill Cedric. By this point, Voldemort didn't have a body. Pettigrew was acting as his right hand man, or as my beta says, "nanny." So Pettigrew had to have killed Cedric using Voldemort's wand. No one else has said a thing about it, so I think you're probably just thinking a little too much.
Actually, by chapter 15, the fifth book was still a good two months away from release.
As I said, read farther before you comment. In the early 20's chapters, they did interview Sirius. Also, its Sirius, not Serius.
As a matter of fact, you are missing something. A big something. Called Madame Hooch. She was judging the trials, and therefore, she flew so she could have the best view of the action. 14 players + 1 ref (Thomas Watson) + one judge (Madame Hooch) = 16 people. I can count. But thanks for your complements on the way I write Hermione.
I also mentioned in an authors note at the very beginning of the chapter that I decided Barrett was more effective as a 3 and a half year old rather than a six month old. I said I would change the previous chapters later, but I haven't gotten around to it. And I didn't specify when later, so it's all good.
Actually, cheesy romance smut novels are more detailed on how they're getting people out of the clothes. And define younger, as you call me a younger girl. Also, the thought there is that my audience is composed mostly of "younger" girls, and therefore, since you did already point out that clothing is really only mentioned in stories written by that demographic group, they probably care.
And now to my favorite review. You say the Princess Bride bit was a "cheap lousy theft of someone else's good idea." But I ask you. What is fanfic if not just that? My beta would like to add "William Goldman had a "cheap lousy theft" of someone's good idea when he decided he was going to write his highly edited, abridged version of F. Morgenstern's classic." Enough said about that.
Chairs. What about the times that they're not awake? Also, sometimes it's important. As for your review to chapter 30, don't us a grandiose word where a diminutive one will suffice. Or don't use a big one when a little one will work. Also, I realize it's Nymph and not Nympho. I said Nympho on purpose. As evidenced by the fact that she paused and then yelled "hey! I'm am not!" Also nymphomania is a psychological disease, not an addiction, but that's just Nat being picky.
Just want to reIterate that reIterate only has one I. Also, using progressively stronger language in consecutive reviews after the story has been completed gets nothing accomplished. I happen to like mentioning where everyone sat and even if your reviews made me change my mind, I don't see a massive overhaul of this story in the works. Yours are the only complaints I've gotten so far about spelling things out. In fact, one of the chief complaints otherwise, is I DON'T put in enough details. How do you like them apples?
Also. Thus far. Not Thusly. I thought you'd like to know that there's not a Y in the word apostrophe. Also, the word yall is a contraction of the words you and all. A contraction, by definition, needs an apostrophE. If you feel the need to dispute this, you're obViously not Southern American. Heather (the character who introduced the word ya'll) is. She knows what she's talking about.
You seem to do the forgetting that there is only one z in wizards a lot. Nat told me not to talk about the syntax of that review. So I'll just talk about the content. I tend to think that Harry didn't summon the map because Ron obViously had something to talk to them about that was more important than the game. Also, anyone would know that a Marauders Map playing hide and seek would be cheating. This would take the fun out of the game, and since Harry came up with the idea, I think he'd probably want it to be fun. Same goes for the invisibility cloak and the fact that they can all become invisible.
But anyway. Thank you for the praise of my story in your reviews. Your criticism will be duly noted and briefly considered in future writings. And now, I would like you to point me in the direction of any stories you have written, either posted online, or just let me know which bookstore to buy them at. I'll be happy to do the same in reviewing for you.
But Anyway
I don't own this. JKR does.
So guys, this is the end! I'd dance, but I'm sleepy and don't want to. Here is the deal. There are three sequels in the works. The first one should start immediately. It will be called Star Light. To get news on the other two, read Star Light, or email me. The Authors note on Star Light will hold the information about when the second sequels start.
So its been great!
And even though its done, that doesn't get you out of reviewing. So please do.
Thanks
*****
"Have they come yet?" Hermione asked as she approached the breakfast table on Sunday morning after O.W.L.'s week, the last day at Hogwarts for fifth year.
"Have what come yet?" Astrid questioned, looking up at the prefect through wide, oddly innocent silver eyes.
"The owls with the O.W.L.'s results," Hermione prompted. She slid into a seat next to Harry, across from Astrid.
"I didn't think you got those till mid summer," Astrid replied, before spooning a bit of egg into her mouth.
"MID SUMMER!" Hermione screeched.
"Yeah, mid summer," Sawyer said from his seat to one side of Astrid. Someone from the other side of the Great Hall released a shriek loud enough to wake the dead. Hermione spun to face the girl. Mandy stood next to the Ravenclaw table, a large envelope clutched in her hands, looking at a piece of parchment. Hermione scanned the rest of the students in the Great Hall and noticed many of them held envelopes and parchment similar to Mandy's.
"Hand it over guys!" she demanded, turning back to her friends.
"Hand over what?" Astrid asked, widening her eyes at the girl.
"You know Astrid, I think the wideness of your eyes is directly proportional to your relative guilt," Hermione laughed.
"What?" Astrid questioned.
"The wider your eyes get, the guiltier you are," Hermione explained. She hadn't bothered to fill her plate with food as she was more concerned with finding her O.W.L.'s results.
"Not necessarily true," Astrid objected.
"Great. Now where is my envelope?" Hermione questioned.
"Why are you worried?" Sawyer asked. "You know you aced your O.W.L's and probably set a new school record or two along the way."
"Envelope, please!" Hermione requested. The undertones in her voice rang with more than a little irritation.
"Guys, give it to her," Ron said, looking down at the pair of first years seated at his left elbow. Astrid pulled a large envelope from her lap under the table.
"Merry Christmas!" she announced, handing the envelope to Hermione.
"So how did you boys do?" Hermione questioned, taking the envelope from Astrid. Harry and Ron pulled their own envelopes from under the table.
"We decided to wait on you open them," Ron said.
"We don't know," Harry added.
"So you can open them all together! And it'll be like a big... opening party! YAY! What fun!" Sawyer squealed. He bounced in his seat and clapped his hands several times in quick succession. Astrid froze in place and slowly turned her head to face her best friend.
"You are so bloody strange that I sometimes wonder why I speak to you," she said evenly.
"You love me," Sawyer guessed.
"Don't be so sure about that," Astrid replied, not cracking a smile at the boy.
"You want my sexy body," Sawyer suggested. Astrid reached out and placed her wrist on Sawyer's forehead.
"You don't feel sick, but you're talking like you lost your mind!" Astrid exclaimed. Sawyer shrugged and Astrid dropped her wrist from his head.
"How'd you do?" Harry finally asked, directing his question at both Ron and Hermione after he finished examining his parchment.
"I got nine," Ron announced, letting his parchment drop to his lap. Both of the boys looked to Hermione, who was still looking at her results.
"What did you get them in?" Harry questioned.
"I got O's in Defense, Care of Magical Creatures, and, believe it or not, Potions. Then I got E's in Transfiguration and Charms, and A's in Astronomy and History. And then I got a P in Herbology, which is to be expected since we did sleep through half of it, and a D in Divination," Ron said. "No T's though, so I'm happy. The twins definitely got two T's a piece on their O.W.L.'s."
"Doesn't surprise me," Harry laughed, "they are the twins."
"How did you do?" Ron asked, looking back to his friend.
"I got nine too," Harry said. "And split exactly the way yours are."
"Hermione, you haven't said much," Ron said, nodding about Harry's news and looking to his other best friend at the same time.
"I'm trying to figure out these ranks," Hermione replied.
"Ranks?" the boys chorused. Breakfast grew cold on the plates, completely forgotten.
"The numbers after the letter represent where in the class your score was," Hermione explained, never looking up from her parchment.
"Yours are straight ones, what is there to figure out?" Ron questioned.
"I didn't get straight one's either," Hermione said. "I got straight O's, but I didn't place first in everything."
"So how many O.W.L's is straight O's?" Sawyer questioned.
"Fifteen," Hermione muttered offhandedly.
"FIFTEEN!" Astrid and Sawyer screeched.
"Ssshhhhh!" The three fifth years admonished. The two first years looked at each other through wide eyes and shook their heads.
"I wonder how many Draco got," Astrid said. She smoothed her hair back in its pony tail. Sawyer mimicked her motion on his own fuzzy dirty- blonde hair.
"I got first in Defense!" Harry exclaimed excitedly.
"Imagine that!" Sawyer muttered, rolling his eyes exasperatedly and taking another bite of egg.
"I got first in Care of Magical Creatures!" Ron cried, slightly louder than Harry.
"Congrats, Ron!" Astrid squealed.
"Yeah, good job, Weasley," Sawyer laughed.
"So you got number one in every thing else," Harry said, looking to Hermione.
"Not exactly. I got number one in Transfiguration, Charms, History, Runes, Arithmancy, and Herbology," Hermione said. She still hadn't looked up from her parchment.
"You got fifteen O.W.L.'s and you were first in our year for six classes," Ron said. "What else can that parchment say?"
"Our overall rank in the year is listed too," Hermione replied.
"Where?" Harry and Ron chorused. Their parchments moved back to their attention as fast as if they had been charmed.
"The bottom of the list," Hermione said. "The number out of 35."
"What did you get?" Ron questioned, nodding at Hermione.
"Gee, Weasley," Sawyer laughed. "She got first place in six classes and fifteen O.W.L.'s. What do you think she got?"
"Shove it Sawyer," Ron spat. "Though I must say, Percy didn't get that many O.W.L.'s."
"I got first," Hermione muttered, more to her parchment than to her friends. "How about you guys?"
"Congratulations, Hermione," Harry said. He looked away from his paper and tossed an arm around his friend's shoulder. She looked over at him through wide brown eyes.
"You're not?" she didn't finish her sentence before Harry began speaking.
"I know I was, and I think I speak for Ron too in saying this. I was expecting you to get first, and I think if you hadn't I would have been more upset than you probably would be."
"Really?" Hermione asked, chancing a small smile at her best friend.
"Of course! We've known from first year that you were going to wipe the floor with all of us in O.W.L.'s. You've been first every year since then too. So why should having a piece of paper that says you're smarter than the rest of us change anything?" Harry laughed. Ron nodded his agreement from across the table. Hermione moved her arm around the small of Harry's back.
"Thanks guys,' she said with a smile, "so where did you place in the class."
"Eighth," Ron said with a bright smile. "Fred and George were in the 20's of their class. Bill and Percy were both first in their years, but Charlie didn't make the top ten!"
"Congrats, Ron!" Hermione and Harry chorused.
"What about you, Harry?" Hermione questioned.
"I can't find what you're talking about," Harry said, holding his parchment out to Hermione. Hermione took the results sheet and examined it carefully. When she came to the bottom of the list, she held it farther away from her face and then closer.
"That bad?" Sawyer questioned.
"Shove it, Lewis," Ron spat.
"You're just bitter because you have to sit on couches like a normal person, you can't have a really cool signature way to sit," Sawyer muttered.
"Though him with his head stuck in the cushions was funny," Astrid laughed.
"But you bouncing me off the ceiling wasn't, chica," Ron said, glaring down at the first year. Astrid looked up at him through wide silver eyes.
"You're doing the wide-eyed thing Hermione was talking about," Ron warned. Astrid rolled her eyes and shook her head at the fifth year.
"I don't believe it!" Hermione cried.
"That bad?" Harry echoed Sawyer's question.
"Harry you placed fourth in our year!" Hermione screeched. Harry promptly plucked his glasses from his face and deposited them on Hermione's.
"Now tell me what it says, cause obviously your eyes are as bad as mine this morning," he instructed.
"No really, I'm fairly certain that that says you're fourth of the class," Hermione said, handing the parchment back to Harry. Harry removed his glasses from Hermione's face and put them back on his own. Then he took the parchment from her and looked to the statistic she was pointing at.
"Bloody hell I don't believe it!" he cried. "I am fourth in the year!"
"Way to go!" a female voice squealed from behind Harry. He and Hermione turned to see Hannah, Ernie, Justin and Mandy standing behind them. Mandy looked incredibly excited about the results of the O.W.L.'s, while Hannah, Justin and Ernie looked more than a little exasperated about something. Hermione moved over to allow Hannah to sit down. Ernie took a seat to the other side of Hermione, while Justin and Mandy ran to the other side of the table. Justin sat down on one side of Ron, while Mandy pushed her way between Ron and Astrid and sat down. No one paid attention to the vicious glares Astrid shot Mandy.
"So how many did everyone get and where did everyone else place?" Mandy questioned.
"Hermione got 15!" Sawyer piped up. "And she wiped the floor with everyone in class rank."
"Sawyer!" Hermione screeched. "Tact! Please!"
'Aw why, Hermione?" Sawyer asked. "Tact is not saying the fun stuff." The situation that could have proved tense was instantly diffused by Sawyer's antics.
"I got 10!" Mandy announced. "And I placed fifth!" The academically competitive Ravenclaw part of her nature really showed through as she looked expectantly at Ernie and Justin to share.
"I got seven and placed 16," Justin said, looking down at the plate lying on the table in front of him.
"I got nine," Ernie said, "and I placed seventh."
"Wow!" Mandy squealed. "Five of us placed in the top ten of our year!"
"Eight," Ron said somberly, not taking his eyes off of his plate.
"Eight? You got eight O.W.L.'s?" Mandy questioned. "That's fantastic, babe!" She reached over and threw her arms around Ron's neck and tried to lean in for a kiss. He dodged her kiss and shrugged her arm off of her shoulders.
"No, actually, I got nine O.W.L's," Ron said. "I placed eighth over all in our year."
"REALLY!" Mandy screeched.
"No Mandy, I just felt like making that up for the hell of it," Ron spat.
"How many O.W.L's did you get, Harry?" Hannah asked quietly.
"Nine," Harry replied. "Exact same as Ron."
"Good job," Hannah said. She leaned over and dropped a soft kiss on Harry's cheek.
"I got eleven and I placed sixth," she said.
"Fantastic, babe!" Harry exclaimed. He turned to her and kissed her properly.
"Wait!" Mandy shouted. "How did you manage that? I got more O.W.L's than you and you beat me in ranking!"
"You know, I think I need to finish packing," Ron said. He pushed away from the table and stood up. "See you guys on the train." He turned and quickly exited the Great Hall without another word. Mandy watched him leave before turning back to Harry and Hannah.
"So how does that happen? You're a higher rank with fewer O.W.L.'s!" she said, quite demandingly.
"Gee Mandy, I don't know," Hannah said, leveling a glare on her friend. "I seem to have placed sixth with eleven O.W.L.'s. Seems to me that that's one more than you got even though you placed fifth." Mandy's brilliant violet eyes narrowed as she looked from Harry to Hannah, back to Harry, and then again to Hannah.
"Did you get a first place on anything?" Ernie asked Mandy.
"No," Mandy replied. "What difference does that make?"
"Harry got first in Defense, and Ron got first in Care of Magical Creatures!" Sawyer piped up. "And Hermione got first place in six other subjects!" Mandy glared down at the first year before removing herself from the bench at the Gryffindor table.
"I think I see Morag and Padma," she declared. "I'm going to go see if they've seen their results yet." With that, she turned and headed back towards the Ravenclaw table.
"Tact, Sawyer," Hermione scolded again.
"No Hermione, it's fine. We've been trying to get rid of her all morning," Hannah said.
"She's been unbearable," Ernie agreed.
"That's a lot of the reason we came over here," Justin admitted. "We figured if seeing Ron didn't calm her down, then certainly Hermione could give her a taste of reality." He shrugged and looked back to the plate.
"Instead Harry brought her back to Earth, and she pissed Ron off," Ernie muttered.
"Yeah, Ron definitely finished packing before coming down to breakfast this morning," Harry said, looking nervously towards the door of the Great Hall. Ernie reached over and picked up Hermione's test results.
"Mind if I look?" he questioned. She shook her head. Before he could read the first line of the parchment, someone snatched it out of his hands over his head. He, Hermione, Harry, and Hannah all turned to see where the results had flown too. Behind them stood Draco Malfoy, carefully studying Hermione's results sheet. As he didn't seem to want to insult them just yet, the gathered friends stayed quiet while he read the parchment. When he was done he let it flutter from his hand back to the plate in front of Ernie.
"Impressive, Granger," he finally admitted. "You beat all of us in Arithmancy by a grade level, but I'm not sure you'll live to see the day you get better grades than me in potions or Astronomy."
"Cause Voldemort is on the rise and she's not pureblood so you're not sure how many more days she'll live to see," Harry muttered, glaring up at his arch enemy.
"Gee, Potty, I wasn't even thinking that. Thanks though, it was a good one," Draco said, returning Harry's glare.
"How many did you get?" Astrid asked from across the table, turning an intense gaze on her older brother.
"Thirteen," Draco muttered. Astrid nodded at him, but didn't voice her opinion on how he did. Instead she asked, "And you placed where?"
"Second," he said. Astrid nodded again.
"Good job," she finally muttered. Draco shrugged easily.
"Not good enough," he said before turning on his heel and walking away.
"Certifiably weird," Harry announced. The rest of the fifth years and Sawyer nodded in agreement, while Astrid simply shrugged.
"I think I'm going to go find Ron," she finally said.
*****
"Hiya," a small voice called from the doorway of the fifth year boys' dorm room. Ron looked from where he sat on Harry's bed, staring out the window to the lone figure in the door.
"Hey, Astrid," he said. She cautiously entered the room and headed over to Harry's bed.
"Why are you sitting here?" she asked, indicating the bed that wasn't his.
"Better view out the window," Ron explained. Astrid clambered to the other end of the bed.
"So evidently your girlfriend has been making people mad all morning," the first year announced. She brushed a strand of her unruly blonde hair behind her ear and smiled at the older boy. "Hannah made her feel sorta stupid so she got up and left right after you did."
"What did Hannah do?" Ron questioned.
"Pointed out that while Harry was fourth in the class with only nine O.W.L's and Mandy was fifth with ten, she was sixth with eleven. Mandy ran away to Padma and Morag pretty quickly after that," Astrid laughed.
"Yay Hannah," Ron said, looking down at his shoes.
"Weren't you supposed to be finishing packing?" Astrid questioned.
"Well, I'm as finished packing as I'll ever get," Ron said.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Astrid questioned. Ron laughed lightly.
"Seamus attempted the spell that all mothers of multiple children know that distributes each child's possessions to his or her space," Ron said.
"Didn't work for him?" Astrid guessed.
"Well, I know for certain that I saw a pair of Dean's boxers fly into my trunk, and Harry found Trevor in the bottom of his," Ron shrugged, smiling at the first year.
"Aren't you all going to separate everything out?" Astrid questioned.
"Nope," Ron said. "We decided it wasn't worth the trouble, as everything was packed and the room was cleaned."
"So what if not just one of Dean's pairs of boxers flew into your trunk, but all of them, and none of yours?" Astrid questioned. Ron laughed a bit louder this time.
"Don't guess I'll wear boxers all summer then," he said.
"RON!" Astrid screeched. "That's a little more information than you needed to share with the first year!"
"Sorry chica," Ron laughed, more than slightly amused at the scandalized look and pink color her face had taken on.
"I got a question," Astrid said, after her face had faded back to its normal pale color.
"What's that, chica?" he asked.
"Do you want Alroy and Juliet?" she questioned.
"You mean for the summer," he said. "Right?"
"No, I mean do you want them to keep," she said.
"Well it's a little pretentious of me to have a pet named after myself, don't you think," he said. "And why don't you want them anymore?"
"I named him after you, you didn't I," Astrid objected. "And its not that I don't want them, it's that the ceremony is planned for this summer and I don't much want them to go to Keiran when something happens to me. He'd kill them. At least with you, I know they'll be safe."
"If, chica, if," Ron said. "Not when."
"No Ron, it's pretty much a when. I just hope Contessa's charm thing works." Astrid reached up to touch the pearly white bauble on the end of the silver chain that had hung around her neck
"I hope it does, too," Ron agreed.
"So will you take the cats or not?" Astrid questioned. Ron shrugged.
"I'll keep them for the summer," he finally agreed. Astrid managed a small but slightly rueful smile at the older boy.
"Thank you," she said. She jumped to her feet, standing at the end of Harry's bed, and dived towards her friend. Luckily he saw the dive coming and held his arms out to catch her. She threw her arms around his shoulders and he wrapped his arms around her waist. She buried her face in his shoulder and he rested his cheek on her head.
"Owl me over break?" the tiny girl requested, her voice slightly muffled by his shoulder.
"Of course!" Ron said. "I promise."
"Guys, come on, the carriages are leaving for the station in a few minutes!" Neville called from out on the landing.
"Has anyone seen Astrid?" came Jason's voice over the sudden noise in the common room that signified everyone's return from breakfast.
"I should go find Sawyer and Jase," Astrid said. "I'm supposed to share a carriage with them and Chelsea, and Sawyer wants me to come visit for his birthday in July. I should explain why I can't."
"Do they know?" Ron queried. Astrid shrugged.
"Somewhat. I don't think they realize the extent, but I'm okay with that," she replied.
"Look chica, you're going to have to be back next year. I don't think Sawyer and Jason could function properly without you," Ron warned.
"Could you and Harry function properly without Hermione?" the girl asked. She jumped to her feet and bounced off the bed. Ron slowly stood and followed her towards the door.
"Probably not," he finally answered.
"Well for Jason's and Sawyer's sakes, I'll try to be back next year," Astrid said with a small smile, as though they were speaking of switching schools rather than death.
*****
"Come on, Astrid, I think they're in a compartment down this way!" Chelsea screeched. She turned on her heel and ran towards the opposite end of the train. Astrid finished climbing the stairs and turned to her left to follow her crazy friend down to the compartment where Chelsea claimed Sawyer, Jason and the fifth years were located. Chelsea didn't seem to see the boy backing towards her from the opposite direction.
"Chelsea, watch out!" Astrid cried. The girl turned to face Astrid, and in doing so, slammed directly into the boy's lower back with her shoulder. Since she was already facing Astrid, she completely lost her balance and sprawled backwards in the corridor. She fell flat on her butt and finally managed to catch herself with her hands before her back and head crashed into the floor.
"Hey watch it!" the boy snapped. He slowly turned to the pair of first years. Chelsea's eyes widened and she scrambled backwards. Astrid's eyes also widened, but she took a couple steps towards the boy. He was tall, thin, with short, slightly spiked brown hair with blond tips. His eyes, easily his most defining feature, were bright blue with flashes of purple and grey throughout.
"S-sorry," Chelsea stuttered from the floor.
"It's alright, just be more careful next time," the boy scolded. "You're lucky I can't take points off."
"Hey! It's not her fault you were walking backwards and I yelled at her so she turned around too!" Astrid challenged. Chelsea still hadn't moved from her spot on the floor, terrified by the large emerald Boa Constrictor the boy had wrapped around his left arm and draped across his right. The snake's head moved towards Astrid.
"It's not, is it?" the boy asked. Astrid scowled at him.
"No, it's no ones fault," the tiny girl insisted. She crossed her arms across her chest and glared up at the boy.
"You've got to be Draco Malfoy's little sister," the boy said. Astrid's eyebrows knitted together, as she stared up at the boy who was at least 30 centimeters taller than her.
"So," Astrid muttered.
"Ryan Kern, head boy," the boy said. "I'd shake your hand, but." He stopped and looked down at the snake. Astrid simply nodded at it. "I worked with your brother this year. He's a pretty cool guy."
"If you say so," Astrid said. She still hadn't stopped glaring at the former head boy.
"Hey. I'd help your friend up if I could. My hands are kinda full now though, and I need to find someone. She sorta halted my progress," he nodded towards Chelsea.
"What's its name?" Astrid asked, nodding at the snake.
"Contridiction," Ryan replied. "With an I rather than an a."
"What?" Astrid questioned.
"Nevermind," Ryan shrugged.
"Can I touch it?" Astrid asked.
"If you'll help me with something," Ryan replied.
"Okay," Astrid replied. She reached out and delicately ran her fingers over the snake's head.
"Now where do you think I could find Hermione Granger?" he questioned.
"I think she's this way," Astrid said. She stepped around the boy in the corridor and walked back in the direction Ryan had come from. He carefully turned and followed the first year.
"Hermione!" Astrid shrieked when she neared the section of compartments she thought the fifth years might be in.
"In here, Mandrake Jr," Harry joked. Astrid stepped through a door a few down to her right. Ryan followed her and stopped at the doorway. Astrid went to the other side of the compartment and sat down on a seat next to Hermione, despite Ron's indication that he had saved her a seat next to him.
"Hey Ryan," the fifth years chorused.
"Hey Hermione," Ryan said, ignoring Harry and Ron. "Dumbledore wanted to me to find you and give you the plaque from the ministry about your O.W.L.'s results." He carefully turned around so his back was to the group.
"Can someone get it out of my bag or else hold the snake?" he questioned.
"I've got it!" Astrid bounced off the seat and practically ran over to where Ryan stood. She carefully opened his bag and removed the plaque.
"Thanks Astrid," Ryan said, as the first year closed his backpack. He turned back around and she handed the plaque to Hermione.
"No problem," Astrid squeaked.
"Congratulations, Hermione," Ryan said.
"Thanks, Ryan," Hermione replied with a smile.
"So I guess I'll see you guys around. Have fun next year with the new head boy, whoever he is," Ryan said. He stepped backwards and withdrew from the compartment. The door began to shut behind him, but Chelsea stopped it and jumped into the compartment. She flung herself into the seat next to Ron he had reserved for Astrid.
"Who was that guy?" she asked, in the shrill tone of voice only Chelsea could achieve.
"And where has he been all of our lives?" Astrid questioned, turning bright pink as the words left her mouth.
"Definitely, as Alicia would say, eye candy. Too bad we didn't see him before his last day at Hogwarts," Chelsea lamented. Astrid nodded.
"And did you see the size of that snake?" she questioned.
"It was huge!" Chelsea squealed. "And really thick!"
"I got to touch it!" Astrid said with a smile. Ron released a loud snorting noise, his face turned bright red. Harry didn't bother to control his laughter, and Ron quickly joined in. Astrid instantly turned bright pink, while Chelsea wore a look that plainly asked what was so funny.
"So, guys, who is up for Exploding Snap?" Hermione questioned.
*****
"I hope my parents are here," Hermione said. She looked nervously out the window as the train pulled into Kings Cross station.
"Why wouldn't they be?" Harry questioned.
"I haven't heard anything from them lately. I've tried owling them but Sebastian comes back empty taloned. Dumbledore insists they're okay, and I trust them, but at the same time, I'd like to know if mum had the baby and what it is and if they're both okay," Hermione began to ramble. Harry placed an arm around her shoulders.
"Calm down. Dumbledore would have told you if anything was seriously wrong," he assured her. She moved closer to the window. Their exploding snap game had been abandoned nearly an hour before, as Mandy had come to take Ron away from their compartment, and the first years, mainly Sawyer and Chelsea, ran out of attention span. All four had wandered out of the compartment in search of people from their own year.
"But what," Hermione began.
"No, Hermione. No worrying till we get on the platform and they're not there," Harry instructed. Hermione nodded, but moved closer to the window as the train slowed to a stop.
"Do you see them?" she asked. Harry quickly scanned the crowd, looking for Jo's blondish brown hair, or Weston's nearly black hair. He finally caught sight of them standing next to a quite pregnant Narcissa Malfoy near the end of the platform.
"There!" he said, pointing to his best friend's parents.
"You're right, that's them!" Hermione squealed. "Do they have a baby with them?"
"I'm the one wearing glasses here. I couldn't tell you," Harry laughed. Hermione jumped up and down several times.
"Calm down, they're not going anywhere without you," Harry laughed. A magically amplified voice wished them all a good and safe summer, and before Harry could say anything else, Hermione bolted out of the door. He looked over to her trunk and shrugged, before stacking it on top of his and heading towards the door himself.
"MUM!" Hermione screeched. She dodged a group of Ravenclaw first years and danced around Ryan with his Boa still in his arms, nearly fell over a trunk and slammed into a very disgruntled Keiran Malfoy before she reached her parents.
"Hermione!" Jo shrieked. She ran over to meet her daughter and the two caught each other in a magnificent hug right on the edge of the platform.
"Did you have the baby?" Hermione questioned.
"Well I look skinnier, don't I?" Jo questioned.
"Well. Is it alright? What is it? Weston or Jaquenetta?" Hermione tried to dodge around her mother to get to her little sibling. "Did you bring it with you?"
"Didn't you get any of my letters?" Jo questioned. Hermione shook her head, but didn't offer anymore of an explanation, as Weston had just appeared behind Jo. In one hand he held a baby carrier.
"So this is my sibling!" Hermione said. She moved Jo out of her way and stepped over to her father. She looked down at the baby carrier and her face immediately fell. In the carrier lay a small, red-faced baby wearing a bright yellow sundress with small blue daisy's and a bright yellow, floppy hat, with a darker, larger blue daisy on the very front.
"Oh," she said. "A sister." She observed the baby for another moment before kneeling in front of the carrier. She reached out and laced her right index finger through the baby's tiny fist.
"Hi Jaquenetta," she said. "I'm your sister, Hermione. I hope they've told you a bit about me." Only then did Hermione realize Jo was standing on the platform. The baby's face morphed into an attempt at a toothless smile and she released a gurgling coo at her sister.
"Whats wrong, mum?" Hermione asked. She didn't pull her finger from her sister's grasp, but turned to look at their mother anyway.
"Do you REALLY think I'd name a child Jaquenetta?" Jo questioned.
"I dunno mum, my name is Hermione," Hermione reasoned.
"You named your sister, silly," Jo laughed, ignoring Hermione's comment about her own name.
"I did?" Hermione questioned.
"Yes. Meet Samantha Madeline Granger," Weston said.
"Very funny guys," Hermione said.
"No really," Weston replied. "Her name is Samantha Madeline Granger. I will be happy to show you the birth certificate when we get home."
"We thought it would be very sweet if you got to name her," Jo explained.
"Well then the joke is on you guys," Hermione declared.
"Why?" Jo questioned.
"Ron picked the name Samantha," Hermione laughed. Jo's face turned bright red and Weston simply shook his head.
"Hi guys!" came a voice behind them. Hermione turned to see her two best friends approaching on the platform.
"Mum wants to see the baby," Ron declared.
"Don't you guys wanna meet her first?" Hermione questioned.
"Her?" The boys' simultaneous comment came with a resounding sense of dread at the fact that Hermione's little sister was named Jaquenetta.
"Yeah, her," Hermione said. She moved out of the way so Ron and Harry could see Samantha. "I mean, I'd hope you'd want to meet her, Ron, after all, you did name her."
"WHAT?" Ron questioned, quite loudly. Samantha let out another coo at Ron's exclamation.
"Yeah guys, meet Samantha Madeline Granger," Hermione said.
"You named her Samantha?" Ron asked.
"Yes we did. We thought Hermione had picked the name," Weston explained.
"Better than Jaquenetta," Harry declared. Neither boy bothered to kneel for a closer inspection of the baby.
"Come on Ron, let's take her over to see your mum," Hermione said.
"Guys, I think I see Sirius, I guess I'll see you if I get to come to the Burrow this summer," Harry said.
"If?" Ron asked. "And your house is connected to the floo! Just come over whenever!" Harry's eyes widened and his jaw dropped.
"You're right!" He exclaimed. "It is!"
"Fantastic!" He and Ron cried, quite simultaneously. They quickly exchanged a high five.
"Harry!" Sirius called, approaching the group on the platform.
"Sirius!" Harry replied. He turned to his friends. "So I guess I'll be seeing you guys then?" he questioned.
"Of course!" Ron cried.
"We'll see," Hermione replied.
"I'm sure we can arrange something," Jo promised.
"Right then. Bye guys!" he said.
"Bye Harry, stay safe," Hermione let go of Samantha's hand and stood up. She reached up to Harry. He snaked his arms around her waist and they hugged for a moment.
"Bye Hermione," he whispered into her ear, just as he let her go.
"Bye Harry," Ron said. Harry turned to his best friend and the pair quickly exchanged a hand shake.
"See you, man," Harry replied. They stepped closer to each other and patted the other's back before Harry stepped fully away from Ron.
"Nice seeing you again Jo, Mr. Granger, and, uh, nice meeting you, Samantha." Harry said.
"Bye Harry," Hermione and Ron chorused.
"Bye," Harry replied. With that, he turned on his heel and headed off towards Sirius, trunk in tow, and fully prepared for the best summer of his life.
If people hated the idea of going from fluff to seriousness one moment to the next, then the world would be full of boring, depressed people. Life isn't all seriousness or all fluff, and I've tried to stay true to real life in my story. Therefore, I shall continue to switch from fluff to serious topics as I choose.
Also. It's my story. I don't care if you don't like the fact that I use people's full names. I do that to assert my bit of possessiveness over the characters, because as far as I know, J.K.R. has only given Harry a middle name.
I know the kids in Braeden's school wear light blue robes. This is evidenced by the later chapters at Beauxbatons. However, just because my school colors are purple and gold doesn't mean I don't own clothing of other colors. It stands to reason that Braeden would own at least one black robe, because I tend to think light blue would stand out.
JKR has never said James was a seeker. Yes, he was playing with a snitch in Order of the Phoenix, but a snitch would impress girls better than, oh, say a quaffle. To see what JKR said about this, visit the Harry Potter Lexicon, Harry's family, and view the biographic information at the bottom of the page, under the heading Quidditch.
And just so you know obVious obViously has a V in the word. ObViously you should have spell checked your reviews before criticizing my spelling. And in a 300,000 + word document, I'm allowed to make a few typing mistakes. As my beta said "considering there are books that aren't even bloody perfect and they're getting paid for that shit."
How is Ron and Ginny being picked as reserve beaters when they didn't even try out for those positions predictable. Also, Neville, who broke his wrist in the only flying lesson ever mentioned, is the reserve keeper. And you call that predictable?
I think you should read a little farther into the story to see if things happen before you post negative comments. For instance, I introduced members of the other houses as rather important characters within 3 chapters of chapter 11. My beta would like to add "how much time does JKR actually spend on people outside of Gryffindor and Slytherin?"
Chapter 11 was written before Order of the Phoenix came out. I later included the sliding stair case in the story. As the story is billed as an Alternate Universe in the first FOUR words of the summary, you can't expect everything to be exactly like JKR's world. I have taken a bit of a different view on the stairs and that mystery hasn't been resolved yet.
Keiran tried out to play seeker. Slytherin already obviously has a seeker in the form of Draco Malfoy. Therefore, he was only trying out to be a reserve. In OotP, Ginny lists seventh years. Katie is not included in this list, but in S.S, Katie is on the team, and mentions that she had been a reserve the year before. The only possibility then, is that Katie is a year older than Harry and had been a reserve as a first year.
Okay. As far as my use of the word "pouf" to describe objects to sit on in the Divination classroom, reference page 102 , 3 lines down, Hard back American Edition of Prisoner of Azkaban. JKR, in describing the divination classroom, used the phrase "chintz arm chairs and fat little poufs."
Just because it was Cedric's first year as a seeker doesn't mean it was his first year on the team. He could have previously played a different position while waiting for the seeker position to open. He could have also been a reserve.
As far as the logic of Hannah's assumption about Voldemort and the death eaters. Part of it is my mistake, but it's also JKR's mistake. Hannah shouldn't have known that Harry saw Cedric, but in Goblet of Fire, Voldemort says "kill the spare" which is the order to kill Cedric. By this point, Voldemort didn't have a body. Pettigrew was acting as his right hand man, or as my beta says, "nanny." So Pettigrew had to have killed Cedric using Voldemort's wand. No one else has said a thing about it, so I think you're probably just thinking a little too much.
Actually, by chapter 15, the fifth book was still a good two months away from release.
As I said, read farther before you comment. In the early 20's chapters, they did interview Sirius. Also, its Sirius, not Serius.
As a matter of fact, you are missing something. A big something. Called Madame Hooch. She was judging the trials, and therefore, she flew so she could have the best view of the action. 14 players + 1 ref (Thomas Watson) + one judge (Madame Hooch) = 16 people. I can count. But thanks for your complements on the way I write Hermione.
I also mentioned in an authors note at the very beginning of the chapter that I decided Barrett was more effective as a 3 and a half year old rather than a six month old. I said I would change the previous chapters later, but I haven't gotten around to it. And I didn't specify when later, so it's all good.
Actually, cheesy romance smut novels are more detailed on how they're getting people out of the clothes. And define younger, as you call me a younger girl. Also, the thought there is that my audience is composed mostly of "younger" girls, and therefore, since you did already point out that clothing is really only mentioned in stories written by that demographic group, they probably care.
And now to my favorite review. You say the Princess Bride bit was a "cheap lousy theft of someone else's good idea." But I ask you. What is fanfic if not just that? My beta would like to add "William Goldman had a "cheap lousy theft" of someone's good idea when he decided he was going to write his highly edited, abridged version of F. Morgenstern's classic." Enough said about that.
Chairs. What about the times that they're not awake? Also, sometimes it's important. As for your review to chapter 30, don't us a grandiose word where a diminutive one will suffice. Or don't use a big one when a little one will work. Also, I realize it's Nymph and not Nympho. I said Nympho on purpose. As evidenced by the fact that she paused and then yelled "hey! I'm am not!" Also nymphomania is a psychological disease, not an addiction, but that's just Nat being picky.
Just want to reIterate that reIterate only has one I. Also, using progressively stronger language in consecutive reviews after the story has been completed gets nothing accomplished. I happen to like mentioning where everyone sat and even if your reviews made me change my mind, I don't see a massive overhaul of this story in the works. Yours are the only complaints I've gotten so far about spelling things out. In fact, one of the chief complaints otherwise, is I DON'T put in enough details. How do you like them apples?
Also. Thus far. Not Thusly. I thought you'd like to know that there's not a Y in the word apostrophe. Also, the word yall is a contraction of the words you and all. A contraction, by definition, needs an apostrophE. If you feel the need to dispute this, you're obViously not Southern American. Heather (the character who introduced the word ya'll) is. She knows what she's talking about.
You seem to do the forgetting that there is only one z in wizards a lot. Nat told me not to talk about the syntax of that review. So I'll just talk about the content. I tend to think that Harry didn't summon the map because Ron obViously had something to talk to them about that was more important than the game. Also, anyone would know that a Marauders Map playing hide and seek would be cheating. This would take the fun out of the game, and since Harry came up with the idea, I think he'd probably want it to be fun. Same goes for the invisibility cloak and the fact that they can all become invisible.
But anyway. Thank you for the praise of my story in your reviews. Your criticism will be duly noted and briefly considered in future writings. And now, I would like you to point me in the direction of any stories you have written, either posted online, or just let me know which bookstore to buy them at. I'll be happy to do the same in reviewing for you.
But Anyway
I don't own this. JKR does.
So guys, this is the end! I'd dance, but I'm sleepy and don't want to. Here is the deal. There are three sequels in the works. The first one should start immediately. It will be called Star Light. To get news on the other two, read Star Light, or email me. The Authors note on Star Light will hold the information about when the second sequels start.
So its been great!
And even though its done, that doesn't get you out of reviewing. So please do.
Thanks
*****
"Have they come yet?" Hermione asked as she approached the breakfast table on Sunday morning after O.W.L.'s week, the last day at Hogwarts for fifth year.
"Have what come yet?" Astrid questioned, looking up at the prefect through wide, oddly innocent silver eyes.
"The owls with the O.W.L.'s results," Hermione prompted. She slid into a seat next to Harry, across from Astrid.
"I didn't think you got those till mid summer," Astrid replied, before spooning a bit of egg into her mouth.
"MID SUMMER!" Hermione screeched.
"Yeah, mid summer," Sawyer said from his seat to one side of Astrid. Someone from the other side of the Great Hall released a shriek loud enough to wake the dead. Hermione spun to face the girl. Mandy stood next to the Ravenclaw table, a large envelope clutched in her hands, looking at a piece of parchment. Hermione scanned the rest of the students in the Great Hall and noticed many of them held envelopes and parchment similar to Mandy's.
"Hand it over guys!" she demanded, turning back to her friends.
"Hand over what?" Astrid asked, widening her eyes at the girl.
"You know Astrid, I think the wideness of your eyes is directly proportional to your relative guilt," Hermione laughed.
"What?" Astrid questioned.
"The wider your eyes get, the guiltier you are," Hermione explained. She hadn't bothered to fill her plate with food as she was more concerned with finding her O.W.L.'s results.
"Not necessarily true," Astrid objected.
"Great. Now where is my envelope?" Hermione questioned.
"Why are you worried?" Sawyer asked. "You know you aced your O.W.L's and probably set a new school record or two along the way."
"Envelope, please!" Hermione requested. The undertones in her voice rang with more than a little irritation.
"Guys, give it to her," Ron said, looking down at the pair of first years seated at his left elbow. Astrid pulled a large envelope from her lap under the table.
"Merry Christmas!" she announced, handing the envelope to Hermione.
"So how did you boys do?" Hermione questioned, taking the envelope from Astrid. Harry and Ron pulled their own envelopes from under the table.
"We decided to wait on you open them," Ron said.
"We don't know," Harry added.
"So you can open them all together! And it'll be like a big... opening party! YAY! What fun!" Sawyer squealed. He bounced in his seat and clapped his hands several times in quick succession. Astrid froze in place and slowly turned her head to face her best friend.
"You are so bloody strange that I sometimes wonder why I speak to you," she said evenly.
"You love me," Sawyer guessed.
"Don't be so sure about that," Astrid replied, not cracking a smile at the boy.
"You want my sexy body," Sawyer suggested. Astrid reached out and placed her wrist on Sawyer's forehead.
"You don't feel sick, but you're talking like you lost your mind!" Astrid exclaimed. Sawyer shrugged and Astrid dropped her wrist from his head.
"How'd you do?" Harry finally asked, directing his question at both Ron and Hermione after he finished examining his parchment.
"I got nine," Ron announced, letting his parchment drop to his lap. Both of the boys looked to Hermione, who was still looking at her results.
"What did you get them in?" Harry questioned.
"I got O's in Defense, Care of Magical Creatures, and, believe it or not, Potions. Then I got E's in Transfiguration and Charms, and A's in Astronomy and History. And then I got a P in Herbology, which is to be expected since we did sleep through half of it, and a D in Divination," Ron said. "No T's though, so I'm happy. The twins definitely got two T's a piece on their O.W.L.'s."
"Doesn't surprise me," Harry laughed, "they are the twins."
"How did you do?" Ron asked, looking back to his friend.
"I got nine too," Harry said. "And split exactly the way yours are."
"Hermione, you haven't said much," Ron said, nodding about Harry's news and looking to his other best friend at the same time.
"I'm trying to figure out these ranks," Hermione replied.
"Ranks?" the boys chorused. Breakfast grew cold on the plates, completely forgotten.
"The numbers after the letter represent where in the class your score was," Hermione explained, never looking up from her parchment.
"Yours are straight ones, what is there to figure out?" Ron questioned.
"I didn't get straight one's either," Hermione said. "I got straight O's, but I didn't place first in everything."
"So how many O.W.L's is straight O's?" Sawyer questioned.
"Fifteen," Hermione muttered offhandedly.
"FIFTEEN!" Astrid and Sawyer screeched.
"Ssshhhhh!" The three fifth years admonished. The two first years looked at each other through wide eyes and shook their heads.
"I wonder how many Draco got," Astrid said. She smoothed her hair back in its pony tail. Sawyer mimicked her motion on his own fuzzy dirty- blonde hair.
"I got first in Defense!" Harry exclaimed excitedly.
"Imagine that!" Sawyer muttered, rolling his eyes exasperatedly and taking another bite of egg.
"I got first in Care of Magical Creatures!" Ron cried, slightly louder than Harry.
"Congrats, Ron!" Astrid squealed.
"Yeah, good job, Weasley," Sawyer laughed.
"So you got number one in every thing else," Harry said, looking to Hermione.
"Not exactly. I got number one in Transfiguration, Charms, History, Runes, Arithmancy, and Herbology," Hermione said. She still hadn't looked up from her parchment.
"You got fifteen O.W.L.'s and you were first in our year for six classes," Ron said. "What else can that parchment say?"
"Our overall rank in the year is listed too," Hermione replied.
"Where?" Harry and Ron chorused. Their parchments moved back to their attention as fast as if they had been charmed.
"The bottom of the list," Hermione said. "The number out of 35."
"What did you get?" Ron questioned, nodding at Hermione.
"Gee, Weasley," Sawyer laughed. "She got first place in six classes and fifteen O.W.L.'s. What do you think she got?"
"Shove it Sawyer," Ron spat. "Though I must say, Percy didn't get that many O.W.L.'s."
"I got first," Hermione muttered, more to her parchment than to her friends. "How about you guys?"
"Congratulations, Hermione," Harry said. He looked away from his paper and tossed an arm around his friend's shoulder. She looked over at him through wide brown eyes.
"You're not?" she didn't finish her sentence before Harry began speaking.
"I know I was, and I think I speak for Ron too in saying this. I was expecting you to get first, and I think if you hadn't I would have been more upset than you probably would be."
"Really?" Hermione asked, chancing a small smile at her best friend.
"Of course! We've known from first year that you were going to wipe the floor with all of us in O.W.L.'s. You've been first every year since then too. So why should having a piece of paper that says you're smarter than the rest of us change anything?" Harry laughed. Ron nodded his agreement from across the table. Hermione moved her arm around the small of Harry's back.
"Thanks guys,' she said with a smile, "so where did you place in the class."
"Eighth," Ron said with a bright smile. "Fred and George were in the 20's of their class. Bill and Percy were both first in their years, but Charlie didn't make the top ten!"
"Congrats, Ron!" Hermione and Harry chorused.
"What about you, Harry?" Hermione questioned.
"I can't find what you're talking about," Harry said, holding his parchment out to Hermione. Hermione took the results sheet and examined it carefully. When she came to the bottom of the list, she held it farther away from her face and then closer.
"That bad?" Sawyer questioned.
"Shove it, Lewis," Ron spat.
"You're just bitter because you have to sit on couches like a normal person, you can't have a really cool signature way to sit," Sawyer muttered.
"Though him with his head stuck in the cushions was funny," Astrid laughed.
"But you bouncing me off the ceiling wasn't, chica," Ron said, glaring down at the first year. Astrid looked up at him through wide silver eyes.
"You're doing the wide-eyed thing Hermione was talking about," Ron warned. Astrid rolled her eyes and shook her head at the fifth year.
"I don't believe it!" Hermione cried.
"That bad?" Harry echoed Sawyer's question.
"Harry you placed fourth in our year!" Hermione screeched. Harry promptly plucked his glasses from his face and deposited them on Hermione's.
"Now tell me what it says, cause obviously your eyes are as bad as mine this morning," he instructed.
"No really, I'm fairly certain that that says you're fourth of the class," Hermione said, handing the parchment back to Harry. Harry removed his glasses from Hermione's face and put them back on his own. Then he took the parchment from her and looked to the statistic she was pointing at.
"Bloody hell I don't believe it!" he cried. "I am fourth in the year!"
"Way to go!" a female voice squealed from behind Harry. He and Hermione turned to see Hannah, Ernie, Justin and Mandy standing behind them. Mandy looked incredibly excited about the results of the O.W.L.'s, while Hannah, Justin and Ernie looked more than a little exasperated about something. Hermione moved over to allow Hannah to sit down. Ernie took a seat to the other side of Hermione, while Justin and Mandy ran to the other side of the table. Justin sat down on one side of Ron, while Mandy pushed her way between Ron and Astrid and sat down. No one paid attention to the vicious glares Astrid shot Mandy.
"So how many did everyone get and where did everyone else place?" Mandy questioned.
"Hermione got 15!" Sawyer piped up. "And she wiped the floor with everyone in class rank."
"Sawyer!" Hermione screeched. "Tact! Please!"
'Aw why, Hermione?" Sawyer asked. "Tact is not saying the fun stuff." The situation that could have proved tense was instantly diffused by Sawyer's antics.
"I got 10!" Mandy announced. "And I placed fifth!" The academically competitive Ravenclaw part of her nature really showed through as she looked expectantly at Ernie and Justin to share.
"I got seven and placed 16," Justin said, looking down at the plate lying on the table in front of him.
"I got nine," Ernie said, "and I placed seventh."
"Wow!" Mandy squealed. "Five of us placed in the top ten of our year!"
"Eight," Ron said somberly, not taking his eyes off of his plate.
"Eight? You got eight O.W.L.'s?" Mandy questioned. "That's fantastic, babe!" She reached over and threw her arms around Ron's neck and tried to lean in for a kiss. He dodged her kiss and shrugged her arm off of her shoulders.
"No, actually, I got nine O.W.L's," Ron said. "I placed eighth over all in our year."
"REALLY!" Mandy screeched.
"No Mandy, I just felt like making that up for the hell of it," Ron spat.
"How many O.W.L's did you get, Harry?" Hannah asked quietly.
"Nine," Harry replied. "Exact same as Ron."
"Good job," Hannah said. She leaned over and dropped a soft kiss on Harry's cheek.
"I got eleven and I placed sixth," she said.
"Fantastic, babe!" Harry exclaimed. He turned to her and kissed her properly.
"Wait!" Mandy shouted. "How did you manage that? I got more O.W.L's than you and you beat me in ranking!"
"You know, I think I need to finish packing," Ron said. He pushed away from the table and stood up. "See you guys on the train." He turned and quickly exited the Great Hall without another word. Mandy watched him leave before turning back to Harry and Hannah.
"So how does that happen? You're a higher rank with fewer O.W.L.'s!" she said, quite demandingly.
"Gee Mandy, I don't know," Hannah said, leveling a glare on her friend. "I seem to have placed sixth with eleven O.W.L.'s. Seems to me that that's one more than you got even though you placed fifth." Mandy's brilliant violet eyes narrowed as she looked from Harry to Hannah, back to Harry, and then again to Hannah.
"Did you get a first place on anything?" Ernie asked Mandy.
"No," Mandy replied. "What difference does that make?"
"Harry got first in Defense, and Ron got first in Care of Magical Creatures!" Sawyer piped up. "And Hermione got first place in six other subjects!" Mandy glared down at the first year before removing herself from the bench at the Gryffindor table.
"I think I see Morag and Padma," she declared. "I'm going to go see if they've seen their results yet." With that, she turned and headed back towards the Ravenclaw table.
"Tact, Sawyer," Hermione scolded again.
"No Hermione, it's fine. We've been trying to get rid of her all morning," Hannah said.
"She's been unbearable," Ernie agreed.
"That's a lot of the reason we came over here," Justin admitted. "We figured if seeing Ron didn't calm her down, then certainly Hermione could give her a taste of reality." He shrugged and looked back to the plate.
"Instead Harry brought her back to Earth, and she pissed Ron off," Ernie muttered.
"Yeah, Ron definitely finished packing before coming down to breakfast this morning," Harry said, looking nervously towards the door of the Great Hall. Ernie reached over and picked up Hermione's test results.
"Mind if I look?" he questioned. She shook her head. Before he could read the first line of the parchment, someone snatched it out of his hands over his head. He, Hermione, Harry, and Hannah all turned to see where the results had flown too. Behind them stood Draco Malfoy, carefully studying Hermione's results sheet. As he didn't seem to want to insult them just yet, the gathered friends stayed quiet while he read the parchment. When he was done he let it flutter from his hand back to the plate in front of Ernie.
"Impressive, Granger," he finally admitted. "You beat all of us in Arithmancy by a grade level, but I'm not sure you'll live to see the day you get better grades than me in potions or Astronomy."
"Cause Voldemort is on the rise and she's not pureblood so you're not sure how many more days she'll live to see," Harry muttered, glaring up at his arch enemy.
"Gee, Potty, I wasn't even thinking that. Thanks though, it was a good one," Draco said, returning Harry's glare.
"How many did you get?" Astrid asked from across the table, turning an intense gaze on her older brother.
"Thirteen," Draco muttered. Astrid nodded at him, but didn't voice her opinion on how he did. Instead she asked, "And you placed where?"
"Second," he said. Astrid nodded again.
"Good job," she finally muttered. Draco shrugged easily.
"Not good enough," he said before turning on his heel and walking away.
"Certifiably weird," Harry announced. The rest of the fifth years and Sawyer nodded in agreement, while Astrid simply shrugged.
"I think I'm going to go find Ron," she finally said.
*****
"Hiya," a small voice called from the doorway of the fifth year boys' dorm room. Ron looked from where he sat on Harry's bed, staring out the window to the lone figure in the door.
"Hey, Astrid," he said. She cautiously entered the room and headed over to Harry's bed.
"Why are you sitting here?" she asked, indicating the bed that wasn't his.
"Better view out the window," Ron explained. Astrid clambered to the other end of the bed.
"So evidently your girlfriend has been making people mad all morning," the first year announced. She brushed a strand of her unruly blonde hair behind her ear and smiled at the older boy. "Hannah made her feel sorta stupid so she got up and left right after you did."
"What did Hannah do?" Ron questioned.
"Pointed out that while Harry was fourth in the class with only nine O.W.L's and Mandy was fifth with ten, she was sixth with eleven. Mandy ran away to Padma and Morag pretty quickly after that," Astrid laughed.
"Yay Hannah," Ron said, looking down at his shoes.
"Weren't you supposed to be finishing packing?" Astrid questioned.
"Well, I'm as finished packing as I'll ever get," Ron said.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Astrid questioned. Ron laughed lightly.
"Seamus attempted the spell that all mothers of multiple children know that distributes each child's possessions to his or her space," Ron said.
"Didn't work for him?" Astrid guessed.
"Well, I know for certain that I saw a pair of Dean's boxers fly into my trunk, and Harry found Trevor in the bottom of his," Ron shrugged, smiling at the first year.
"Aren't you all going to separate everything out?" Astrid questioned.
"Nope," Ron said. "We decided it wasn't worth the trouble, as everything was packed and the room was cleaned."
"So what if not just one of Dean's pairs of boxers flew into your trunk, but all of them, and none of yours?" Astrid questioned. Ron laughed a bit louder this time.
"Don't guess I'll wear boxers all summer then," he said.
"RON!" Astrid screeched. "That's a little more information than you needed to share with the first year!"
"Sorry chica," Ron laughed, more than slightly amused at the scandalized look and pink color her face had taken on.
"I got a question," Astrid said, after her face had faded back to its normal pale color.
"What's that, chica?" he asked.
"Do you want Alroy and Juliet?" she questioned.
"You mean for the summer," he said. "Right?"
"No, I mean do you want them to keep," she said.
"Well it's a little pretentious of me to have a pet named after myself, don't you think," he said. "And why don't you want them anymore?"
"I named him after you, you didn't I," Astrid objected. "And its not that I don't want them, it's that the ceremony is planned for this summer and I don't much want them to go to Keiran when something happens to me. He'd kill them. At least with you, I know they'll be safe."
"If, chica, if," Ron said. "Not when."
"No Ron, it's pretty much a when. I just hope Contessa's charm thing works." Astrid reached up to touch the pearly white bauble on the end of the silver chain that had hung around her neck
"I hope it does, too," Ron agreed.
"So will you take the cats or not?" Astrid questioned. Ron shrugged.
"I'll keep them for the summer," he finally agreed. Astrid managed a small but slightly rueful smile at the older boy.
"Thank you," she said. She jumped to her feet, standing at the end of Harry's bed, and dived towards her friend. Luckily he saw the dive coming and held his arms out to catch her. She threw her arms around his shoulders and he wrapped his arms around her waist. She buried her face in his shoulder and he rested his cheek on her head.
"Owl me over break?" the tiny girl requested, her voice slightly muffled by his shoulder.
"Of course!" Ron said. "I promise."
"Guys, come on, the carriages are leaving for the station in a few minutes!" Neville called from out on the landing.
"Has anyone seen Astrid?" came Jason's voice over the sudden noise in the common room that signified everyone's return from breakfast.
"I should go find Sawyer and Jase," Astrid said. "I'm supposed to share a carriage with them and Chelsea, and Sawyer wants me to come visit for his birthday in July. I should explain why I can't."
"Do they know?" Ron queried. Astrid shrugged.
"Somewhat. I don't think they realize the extent, but I'm okay with that," she replied.
"Look chica, you're going to have to be back next year. I don't think Sawyer and Jason could function properly without you," Ron warned.
"Could you and Harry function properly without Hermione?" the girl asked. She jumped to her feet and bounced off the bed. Ron slowly stood and followed her towards the door.
"Probably not," he finally answered.
"Well for Jason's and Sawyer's sakes, I'll try to be back next year," Astrid said with a small smile, as though they were speaking of switching schools rather than death.
*****
"Come on, Astrid, I think they're in a compartment down this way!" Chelsea screeched. She turned on her heel and ran towards the opposite end of the train. Astrid finished climbing the stairs and turned to her left to follow her crazy friend down to the compartment where Chelsea claimed Sawyer, Jason and the fifth years were located. Chelsea didn't seem to see the boy backing towards her from the opposite direction.
"Chelsea, watch out!" Astrid cried. The girl turned to face Astrid, and in doing so, slammed directly into the boy's lower back with her shoulder. Since she was already facing Astrid, she completely lost her balance and sprawled backwards in the corridor. She fell flat on her butt and finally managed to catch herself with her hands before her back and head crashed into the floor.
"Hey watch it!" the boy snapped. He slowly turned to the pair of first years. Chelsea's eyes widened and she scrambled backwards. Astrid's eyes also widened, but she took a couple steps towards the boy. He was tall, thin, with short, slightly spiked brown hair with blond tips. His eyes, easily his most defining feature, were bright blue with flashes of purple and grey throughout.
"S-sorry," Chelsea stuttered from the floor.
"It's alright, just be more careful next time," the boy scolded. "You're lucky I can't take points off."
"Hey! It's not her fault you were walking backwards and I yelled at her so she turned around too!" Astrid challenged. Chelsea still hadn't moved from her spot on the floor, terrified by the large emerald Boa Constrictor the boy had wrapped around his left arm and draped across his right. The snake's head moved towards Astrid.
"It's not, is it?" the boy asked. Astrid scowled at him.
"No, it's no ones fault," the tiny girl insisted. She crossed her arms across her chest and glared up at the boy.
"You've got to be Draco Malfoy's little sister," the boy said. Astrid's eyebrows knitted together, as she stared up at the boy who was at least 30 centimeters taller than her.
"So," Astrid muttered.
"Ryan Kern, head boy," the boy said. "I'd shake your hand, but." He stopped and looked down at the snake. Astrid simply nodded at it. "I worked with your brother this year. He's a pretty cool guy."
"If you say so," Astrid said. She still hadn't stopped glaring at the former head boy.
"Hey. I'd help your friend up if I could. My hands are kinda full now though, and I need to find someone. She sorta halted my progress," he nodded towards Chelsea.
"What's its name?" Astrid asked, nodding at the snake.
"Contridiction," Ryan replied. "With an I rather than an a."
"What?" Astrid questioned.
"Nevermind," Ryan shrugged.
"Can I touch it?" Astrid asked.
"If you'll help me with something," Ryan replied.
"Okay," Astrid replied. She reached out and delicately ran her fingers over the snake's head.
"Now where do you think I could find Hermione Granger?" he questioned.
"I think she's this way," Astrid said. She stepped around the boy in the corridor and walked back in the direction Ryan had come from. He carefully turned and followed the first year.
"Hermione!" Astrid shrieked when she neared the section of compartments she thought the fifth years might be in.
"In here, Mandrake Jr," Harry joked. Astrid stepped through a door a few down to her right. Ryan followed her and stopped at the doorway. Astrid went to the other side of the compartment and sat down on a seat next to Hermione, despite Ron's indication that he had saved her a seat next to him.
"Hey Ryan," the fifth years chorused.
"Hey Hermione," Ryan said, ignoring Harry and Ron. "Dumbledore wanted to me to find you and give you the plaque from the ministry about your O.W.L.'s results." He carefully turned around so his back was to the group.
"Can someone get it out of my bag or else hold the snake?" he questioned.
"I've got it!" Astrid bounced off the seat and practically ran over to where Ryan stood. She carefully opened his bag and removed the plaque.
"Thanks Astrid," Ryan said, as the first year closed his backpack. He turned back around and she handed the plaque to Hermione.
"No problem," Astrid squeaked.
"Congratulations, Hermione," Ryan said.
"Thanks, Ryan," Hermione replied with a smile.
"So I guess I'll see you guys around. Have fun next year with the new head boy, whoever he is," Ryan said. He stepped backwards and withdrew from the compartment. The door began to shut behind him, but Chelsea stopped it and jumped into the compartment. She flung herself into the seat next to Ron he had reserved for Astrid.
"Who was that guy?" she asked, in the shrill tone of voice only Chelsea could achieve.
"And where has he been all of our lives?" Astrid questioned, turning bright pink as the words left her mouth.
"Definitely, as Alicia would say, eye candy. Too bad we didn't see him before his last day at Hogwarts," Chelsea lamented. Astrid nodded.
"And did you see the size of that snake?" she questioned.
"It was huge!" Chelsea squealed. "And really thick!"
"I got to touch it!" Astrid said with a smile. Ron released a loud snorting noise, his face turned bright red. Harry didn't bother to control his laughter, and Ron quickly joined in. Astrid instantly turned bright pink, while Chelsea wore a look that plainly asked what was so funny.
"So, guys, who is up for Exploding Snap?" Hermione questioned.
*****
"I hope my parents are here," Hermione said. She looked nervously out the window as the train pulled into Kings Cross station.
"Why wouldn't they be?" Harry questioned.
"I haven't heard anything from them lately. I've tried owling them but Sebastian comes back empty taloned. Dumbledore insists they're okay, and I trust them, but at the same time, I'd like to know if mum had the baby and what it is and if they're both okay," Hermione began to ramble. Harry placed an arm around her shoulders.
"Calm down. Dumbledore would have told you if anything was seriously wrong," he assured her. She moved closer to the window. Their exploding snap game had been abandoned nearly an hour before, as Mandy had come to take Ron away from their compartment, and the first years, mainly Sawyer and Chelsea, ran out of attention span. All four had wandered out of the compartment in search of people from their own year.
"But what," Hermione began.
"No, Hermione. No worrying till we get on the platform and they're not there," Harry instructed. Hermione nodded, but moved closer to the window as the train slowed to a stop.
"Do you see them?" she asked. Harry quickly scanned the crowd, looking for Jo's blondish brown hair, or Weston's nearly black hair. He finally caught sight of them standing next to a quite pregnant Narcissa Malfoy near the end of the platform.
"There!" he said, pointing to his best friend's parents.
"You're right, that's them!" Hermione squealed. "Do they have a baby with them?"
"I'm the one wearing glasses here. I couldn't tell you," Harry laughed. Hermione jumped up and down several times.
"Calm down, they're not going anywhere without you," Harry laughed. A magically amplified voice wished them all a good and safe summer, and before Harry could say anything else, Hermione bolted out of the door. He looked over to her trunk and shrugged, before stacking it on top of his and heading towards the door himself.
"MUM!" Hermione screeched. She dodged a group of Ravenclaw first years and danced around Ryan with his Boa still in his arms, nearly fell over a trunk and slammed into a very disgruntled Keiran Malfoy before she reached her parents.
"Hermione!" Jo shrieked. She ran over to meet her daughter and the two caught each other in a magnificent hug right on the edge of the platform.
"Did you have the baby?" Hermione questioned.
"Well I look skinnier, don't I?" Jo questioned.
"Well. Is it alright? What is it? Weston or Jaquenetta?" Hermione tried to dodge around her mother to get to her little sibling. "Did you bring it with you?"
"Didn't you get any of my letters?" Jo questioned. Hermione shook her head, but didn't offer anymore of an explanation, as Weston had just appeared behind Jo. In one hand he held a baby carrier.
"So this is my sibling!" Hermione said. She moved Jo out of her way and stepped over to her father. She looked down at the baby carrier and her face immediately fell. In the carrier lay a small, red-faced baby wearing a bright yellow sundress with small blue daisy's and a bright yellow, floppy hat, with a darker, larger blue daisy on the very front.
"Oh," she said. "A sister." She observed the baby for another moment before kneeling in front of the carrier. She reached out and laced her right index finger through the baby's tiny fist.
"Hi Jaquenetta," she said. "I'm your sister, Hermione. I hope they've told you a bit about me." Only then did Hermione realize Jo was standing on the platform. The baby's face morphed into an attempt at a toothless smile and she released a gurgling coo at her sister.
"Whats wrong, mum?" Hermione asked. She didn't pull her finger from her sister's grasp, but turned to look at their mother anyway.
"Do you REALLY think I'd name a child Jaquenetta?" Jo questioned.
"I dunno mum, my name is Hermione," Hermione reasoned.
"You named your sister, silly," Jo laughed, ignoring Hermione's comment about her own name.
"I did?" Hermione questioned.
"Yes. Meet Samantha Madeline Granger," Weston said.
"Very funny guys," Hermione said.
"No really," Weston replied. "Her name is Samantha Madeline Granger. I will be happy to show you the birth certificate when we get home."
"We thought it would be very sweet if you got to name her," Jo explained.
"Well then the joke is on you guys," Hermione declared.
"Why?" Jo questioned.
"Ron picked the name Samantha," Hermione laughed. Jo's face turned bright red and Weston simply shook his head.
"Hi guys!" came a voice behind them. Hermione turned to see her two best friends approaching on the platform.
"Mum wants to see the baby," Ron declared.
"Don't you guys wanna meet her first?" Hermione questioned.
"Her?" The boys' simultaneous comment came with a resounding sense of dread at the fact that Hermione's little sister was named Jaquenetta.
"Yeah, her," Hermione said. She moved out of the way so Ron and Harry could see Samantha. "I mean, I'd hope you'd want to meet her, Ron, after all, you did name her."
"WHAT?" Ron questioned, quite loudly. Samantha let out another coo at Ron's exclamation.
"Yeah guys, meet Samantha Madeline Granger," Hermione said.
"You named her Samantha?" Ron asked.
"Yes we did. We thought Hermione had picked the name," Weston explained.
"Better than Jaquenetta," Harry declared. Neither boy bothered to kneel for a closer inspection of the baby.
"Come on Ron, let's take her over to see your mum," Hermione said.
"Guys, I think I see Sirius, I guess I'll see you if I get to come to the Burrow this summer," Harry said.
"If?" Ron asked. "And your house is connected to the floo! Just come over whenever!" Harry's eyes widened and his jaw dropped.
"You're right!" He exclaimed. "It is!"
"Fantastic!" He and Ron cried, quite simultaneously. They quickly exchanged a high five.
"Harry!" Sirius called, approaching the group on the platform.
"Sirius!" Harry replied. He turned to his friends. "So I guess I'll be seeing you guys then?" he questioned.
"Of course!" Ron cried.
"We'll see," Hermione replied.
"I'm sure we can arrange something," Jo promised.
"Right then. Bye guys!" he said.
"Bye Harry, stay safe," Hermione let go of Samantha's hand and stood up. She reached up to Harry. He snaked his arms around her waist and they hugged for a moment.
"Bye Hermione," he whispered into her ear, just as he let her go.
"Bye Harry," Ron said. Harry turned to his best friend and the pair quickly exchanged a hand shake.
"See you, man," Harry replied. They stepped closer to each other and patted the other's back before Harry stepped fully away from Ron.
"Nice seeing you again Jo, Mr. Granger, and, uh, nice meeting you, Samantha." Harry said.
"Bye Harry," Hermione and Ron chorused.
"Bye," Harry replied. With that, he turned on his heel and headed off towards Sirius, trunk in tow, and fully prepared for the best summer of his life.