A/N: So sorry about the inaccuracies concerning the speed of owl post. I know how far away Australia is, and I am sorry that I didn't allow for all that…I realised it once I had finished, please don't get mad! Thanks so much for reading this far! Means heaps to me, seriously, thanks! Please Review!
Luv Ella xXx
"Harry!" Lupin said, getting out of the fire.
Harry looked up from where he and Ginny sat at the table, little James' head poking up from his chair, only just reaching the table.
"Remus! What's wrong?" Harry said, standing up to greet him, and gestured at a seat at the table. Lupin didn't take it.
"Harry, you gave them the map?" he said, exasperated.
"Oh, not you too?" Harry moaned. "Bloody Hermione was just-"
Harry stopped himself, and Remus raised an eyebrow, unsurprised. Ginny looked scandalised, and James banged his fists on the table, oblivious to it all.
"Don't worry, I know." Remus said, sitting down at the table wearily. "Now why don't you tell me what this is all about?"
Hagrid smiled across the great hall at Daniel, Jade and Jessie, who were sitting at there Griffindor table, chatting away happily, looking at the timetables that McGonagal had just issued to them all. He was glad that Harry had talked him into coming back.
"Oh come on, he cant be that bad." Jade said to Daniel, almost pleading. Daniel chuckled.
"No, he's worse." He said, nodded eagerly. " He's so boring that he puts himself to sleep, I'm telling you!"
He was referring, of course, to the History of Magic teacher, Professor Binns. Jessie wasn't interrogating Daniel as avidly as Jade was, as she was still suffering a mild shock upon hearing that a ghost was going to be one of their teachers.
The shock had almost worn off, when hundreds of owls came flooding in through the high windows, and dropped packages and letters on their owners laps, and breakfasts. Daniel laughed at the way her eyes opened in amazement.
"Happens every morning, you'll get used to it." He said bracingly, and got up from his chair to go and compare timetables with some other friends further down the table.
"Potions first up. That should be all right. We have it with that Slughorn guy, who showed us in last night, don't we?" Jessie said to Jade. Jade rolled her eyes.
"Yes. Dad told me about him. Apparently he has a club, where he gets people with famous parents and talent and things like that, and uses them to get treats and things."
"Where do we have it?"
"Potions? It's in the dungeons. With the Slytherins too." Jade moaned, and spared a glance for the table on the other side of the hall.
"And then we've got herbology, with the Hufflepuffs." Jessie added, scanning the timetable, a little excited. Herbology was followed by double charms and
The girls made their way down to the dungeons, and when Slughorn let them in Jessie and Jade scrambled for seats at the back, hoping that they wouldn't be called ion to answer any questions before the class begun.
Everyone seemed nervous about the first lesson of the year. It didn't help that Slughorn size and superiority made him an intimidating figure for the first years.
Slughorn began the class by reading out the roll, calling the names of each of the students in turn.
When he got to Jessie's name, however, he stopped, and looked up, his eyes shining triumphantly.
"Granger? Are you maybe related to the woman who assisted in the defeat of He Who Must Not Be Named? The author of Defence Spells for the twenty-first century?" Slughorn asked eagerly, looking over the top of his roll. Jessie shook her head.
"No sir, I am muggleborn, I don't think so." She said. The Slytherins sniggered from the other side of the room. One boy was prominent among them, for many of the other Slytherin first years seemed to look to him as a sort of leader. His white blonde hair was slinked back over his head, and he had a face that was slightly squashed, almost like that of a pug. Jessie and Jade recognised him as one of the boys who had given them a hard time the previous night.
Slughorn looked disappointed, and continued down the list without any further inquiry. He gave the blonde haired boy a swift look when he answered to the name Zeke Malfoy,but didn't even falter again until his eyes came to rest on Jade's surname, and he gave her a warm smile, and winked.
"Of course, I knew your father, did I not? And your mother too. Extraordinary witch she was." He said happily, and continued on, leaving Jade to roll her eyes.
The potions lesson was mostly just Slughorn talking, and by the end of it they still hadn't performed any magic. Jessie was getting anxious now. She desperately wanted to know if she were any good at it. The fact that she was a muggleborn had given her a wild craving to prove herself, and she wanted the opportunity.
They headed to herbology, and Jessie immediately saw a Hufflepuff girl that she knew. She and Suzie Thomas had already been introduced, in Diagon Alley.
Suzie gave here a cheerful wave, and a fake looking smile, almost like she were a muggle Barbie doll, the kind that didn't move, their face permanently curved into a grin that you knew they couldn't have wanted to keep plastered on their for all eternity. Jessie ignored this feeling, however, and gave her a happy wave back, glad to know someone else. Jade had so many connections from all over the place. Jessie liked the thought that she had one too, no matter how small it was.
In the greenhouse, Jessie stared around in amazement at all the different types of plants that surrounded them in the room. A Gryffindor boy was staring around with wide eyes, his round face beading with sweat from antagonising anticipation. It was clear that he was looking forward to this subject the most. He had a mop of messy, dishwater blond hair on his head, and slightly buck teeth. Professor Sprout gave him a grin, before she started the lesson.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
"Hermione, you are going to tell him. This is stupid." Ginny said wearily, her head in her hands. She was sick and tired of having the same kind of conversation with her old friend. Hermione was being extremely stubborn.
Ginny was worried. It seemed that everyone now knew. Remus knew. Hagrid knew. Tonks knew.
Ron would be the last to find out, if Hermione had her way, and she did not want that to be the case. Everyone who knew had agreed however, that it had to be Hermione who told him. It had to be her. No one else could pipe up, no mater how hard they wanted to. Remus had agreed to this begrudgingly, not wanting to get too heavily involved in something that was already so complicated. Hagrid, though annoyed that Ron was left in the dark, had agreed to take up his old post at the school and keep an eye out for the girls. Daniel would work it out sooner or later, surely. According to the letters that they had been getting home, he and the girls were quite inseparable these days.
"I cant Ginny! Don't you know how mad he is going to be?"
"Hermione! It's his kid! That is a weak and cowardly reason to keep it from him, because you'll scared that you'll get hurt! He has a right to know, and he'll find out sometime! You're being a coward Hermione! I thought that you were brave. You're a Gryffindor…"
"I was a Gryffindor Ginny. Now I'm a muggle."
"At least be a brave one." Said Ginny softly, though her words sliced though Hermione's gut as though Ginny had shouted them ruthlessly. She sunk down onto her lounge chair, her face in her hands, as Ginny strode to the front door and left. She passed right by the owl that swooped in the doorway after her. She apparated back to Godrics Hollow.
Hermione didn't notice the owl in the house until she received a harsh peck on arm, and she opened her eyes to see it staring at her, grumpy. Hermione sighed, untying the letter from its leg. Even the owl seemed to be angry with her. How could a mistake so long ago still be haunting her so much now? The decision that she had made hastily as an eighteen year old still there to scorn her?
She unfurled the letter, and the owl promptly took off, flying out the window.
Dear Mum,
Thanks for the plug! Jade was very excited (weird, I know, don't get me started).
Well, I have done magic! Charms class, on my first afternoon here was the first time that I ever had to use my wand, and it was the best feeling ever! Old Flitwick, the charms professor, he clapped me really hard, because I was the only one to get the spell in the whole class! Me! The muggleborn! It was so satisfying, because the Slytherins, they were in the class too, and I wish that I could have taken a picture of their faces and sent it to you mum. You can never imagine the feeling…
Hermione didn't have to imagine it. She could remember it. As though it were yesterday she could see her eleven year old self, stealing a look at the Slytherins faces, becoming prouder at her own magic the more gob smacked they became. It was the best feeling, to show the people who acted like that that they were wrong. But she couldn't share that with her daughter. She couldn't share any of it.
Jade and Daniel say that we are going to be taught how to fly soon. Yes, fly, on broomsticks. I am nervous. Jade says not to be; she's looking forward to it a lot. Then again her father could have flown for England, of course she's looking forward to it.
I am going down to Hagrid's house for dinner tomorrow night. We got a letter from Jades dad telling us not to accept any sort of stew or casserole from him, but that the treacle tarts and rock cakes aren't that bad. He sounds funny.
Daniel got on the Quidditch team here too! I am so proud of him. Quidditch is the kind of sport that they play. On broomsticks. Daniel got the position as the chaser, I am really excited for the first game, Gryffindor verses Ravenclaw.
Also, I have been spending quite a lot of time on the library. I'm helping Jade research this lady that she knows, who went here. It's really interesting, all the old books, but so far we haven't found the woman that we want to look for. Mind you, we only have a picture stolen from her uncle's wallet to go by, so we're not hopeful.
I hope that this letter finds you well, and that you aren't too lonely all there by yourself. Invite a nice guy over mum. Go on. Do it.
Love Jessie xXx
A/N: Please review! I enjoyed writing Slughorn! Though I will admit that I had a little bit of a writer block for a while! Sorry about that! Thanks heaps for reading this far! And thanks for all the feedback, good and otherwise that I have been receiving for this story! As long as you don't fill your review with Bubotuber puss, I think that it can only make me a better writer, so thanks for taking the time!
Luv Ella xXx
