November quickly arrived , and it was once again time for Eddie to pull on his Quidditch robes for a match against Ravenclaw, as Malfoy had not provoked Buckbeak. That morning was as miserably wet and dreary outside as it was in the books, and Eddie had his guard up, slipping his wand into his sleeve before pulling on his quidditch robes, as he was preparing for a potential dementor attack. He hoped Cedric would catch the Snitch quickly. Eddie chuckled to himself slightly as he could only imagine the speech Oliver was giving Gryffindor right now- he recalled a bit where Fred called Hufflepuff "pushovers". He smirked.
When they marched out to the pitch, Eddie could barely make out the spectators behind the haze that had formed. He could only see the house sections through colors- red, yellow, green, blue. He yanked his foot out of the mud with a squish, and mounted his broom, already chattering from the intense cold. Madam Hooch started the game, and Eddie almost forgot about it to the point that he nearly dropped the Quaffle when it was tossed up. Hanging onto it with his fingertips, he took off for the Ravenclaw end of the pitch.
The game progressed with the crowd being a low, distant roar, and Lee and Lily's commentary being warbled by the rain. At one point Eddie thought he heard Lee mention that Hufflepuff was winning 40-20, but he couldn't be sure. He had only scored one goal himself.
And then, he was flying along, trying to spot his teammates, when he felt a cold chill run down his spine. Sure, he was frozen so badly he was almost a human popsicle, but he recognized that type of cold. Dementors. He reached for his wand-
Whack! A Bludger had snuck behind him and rammed him in the skull, but Eddie didn't know that. In fact, he didn't know much of anything at the moment. His eyes fluttered, then he slipped and fell, and everything went black.
Several hours later, in the hospital wing, he awoke.
"Uh…" he groaned, rubbing his head, "What happened?"
"Took a nasty Bludger to the back of the head," said Justin, indicating his temple.
Ah, he thought, so a new take on how Harry's match could have gone. "Did we win at least?"
"Ah, nope." Justin shook his head. "We lost by ten, I think." Eddie nodded.
When the team and Justin had left, he was then greeted by Hannah, Lily, Victoria, Tom, and Nathan.
Hugging him, Hannah asked, "Are you all right?"
Eddie laughed slightly. "Fine, I'm fine. But I won't be if you keep crushing my windpipe."
Relaxing slightly, Hannah let go of him. Straightening up, she said "Oh, well, I'll see you in the common room when Pomfrey lets you leave." And she walked out.
Hoping his situation didn't mirror Harry's too well, Eddie asked if his broom hit the Whomping Willow. To his immense relief, it hadn't.
He stayed chatting with them until Madam Pomfrey chivvied them off, leaving him alone, to rest.
In a few days' time, Eddie was finally able to leave, and slip back into the normalcy of the Hogwarts schedule, even if it meant having to endure Malfoy's taunts.
"Why couldn't you stay on your broom, then?" he leered. "Thinking about Hannah too much?"
"You try getting hit with a hundred and fifty pounds of solid iron in the back of the skull. See if you stay on your feet," Eddie replied coolly.
November passed into December, the leaves ever so slowly falling off the trees. Now that they could make trips into Hogsmeade, they could get better Christmas gifts for one another. After much deliberation, Eddie decided on a scarf and a box of Honeydukes chocolate for Hannah, which she enjoyed.
They had a fun Christmas. Starting out with what was now a traditional Hufflepuff vs. Fateful Eight snowball fight, they snuck out to the Room of Requirement for a sort of sleepover, bringing with them cocoa and marshmallows from the kitchens. Well, it wasn't a planned sleepover, but seeing as none of them were willing to get up and go back to the common room, they ended up spending the night.
As 1993 became 1994, the Fateful Eight decided to play another game of Truth or Dare- but, at Eddie's request, the canon Hufflepuffs were allowed to join. Among the newcomers were Hannah, Susan, Ernie, Justin, Luna Lovegood, Neville, Ron, and Hermione. Eddie wondered how Ron and Hermione's friendship had developed, without Harry to keep them from bickering constantly. He supposed Tom served as the placeholder for Harry in these situations.
Starting the game off, Ernie dared Justin to take as much as he could carry from the kitchens and bring it back to the room. He came back five minutes later with two butterbeers, six cookies, and one cake tottering dangerously on the top of the butterbeer bottles. He almost made it scot-free when he tripped over himself and the cake splattered his face, which was good for a few laughs.
Justin brushed the frosting off of him, and smirked at Ernie. "Susan, truth or dare."
"Dare," she picked, not knowing what was coming.
"I dare you to walk around the castle for at least 10 minutes holding hands with Ernie, and you're to tell at least 5 people that you're dating." This made Ernie go red.
"Are you serious?" he sputtered. "That's how you're going to get back at me?! I-" he seemed lost for words for a second, which was odd, considering how much of a talker he was.
"Wait a hot second, I know what's going on here!" Eddie exclaimed. "You've got a crush!"
Stunned by this, Ernie froze. Then, he looked down and nodded.
He gathered his composure and inhaled. "Fine. Come on, Susan." Holding hands, he led a shocked Susan out of the room.
Five minutes later, they returned, very red in the face.
"So, who'd you tell?" Justin asked.
Ernie gritted his teeth. "The Fat Friar, two random Ravenclaws, a Gryffindor, and..Professor Snape. Hope you wanted twenty points from Hufflepuff." Justin laughed. "Alright, Ernie, your turn...
The game progressed with sparse excitement, as they were still fairly young and weren't too creative with their dares. Among the more interesting ones, Ron dared Hermione to burn her copy of Hogwarts, A History, so she wouldn't "keep quoting it all the time." To their amazement, she tossed the book in the fire with no words, and then, right as they thought she was about to lose it, produced another copy, glanced around at them, smirked at Ron, and read. Hannah confirmed that she was indeed dating Eddie, which made the auburn haired Hufflepuff blush.
Luna revealed that she hadn't had friends before Hogwarts, not fazed by it either, which made the room go silent for several very uncomfortable minutes.
They eventually lost track of the time. Eddie checked his watch and was startled to find that it was ten o'clock at night- three hours past curfew. They quickly decided to have a sort of sleepover in the room, talking late into the night, and setting up a sort of hammock system not unlike the setup from the Dumbledore's Army hideout in Deathly Hallows Part 2.
At around one, Neville's pillow fell onto Ron, who chucked it across the room and hit Hermione in the face, waking her up with a screech.
Sleepily, Eddie opened his eyes, realized what was going on, and got a bit of a gleam in his eye.
"PILLOW FIGHT!" he screamed, and mayhem erupted. Feathers flew and hammocks were dismantled. Eddie didn't remember falling asleep that night, but he did remember that it was one of the best he had at Hogwarts.
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The following morning, they trudged off to Divination half-asleep. While Professor Trelawney droned on about planetary rotations and tea leaves, Eddie slowly felt himself leaving the sweltering heat of the classroom, and woke up in a totally different place. It was chilly, with metal walls.
"If you will not tell me how...then you will die…Avada Kedavra!"
A girl cried out. Then, the scene shifted. He was in the Hufflepuff common room. A very angry Hannah was glaring into his eyes.
"I can't believe you wouldn't tell me. We are done," she hissed.
"No...no...no, don't…"
"Why didn't you tell me, Eddie...Eddie...Eddie!"
The final calling of his name awoke him. He found that he was on the floor, in a cold sweat, again everyone looking at him concernedly as they had done on the train. Hannah was gripping his arm.
"What happened?" she asked.
"N-nightmare…" Eddie stood up, clutching his head.
"A nightmare?" Professor Trelawney asked inquisitively. "Or something...more?"
Eddie didn't want to hear this nonsense. "I just need to go to the hospital wing, Professor."
"Yes, very well…" she looked rather disappointed. "You may go."
Eddie left, trying to comprehend what he had just experienced. Was Trelawney on to something?
Or was it merely just a nightmare, induced by a lack of sleep and a humid classroom on a hot day?
Without watching where he was going, he ran into Malfoy, knocking him over. Before he could even realize what had just happened, two pairs of arms, undoubtedly Crabbe's and Goyle's, grabbed him and shoved him roughly against a wall, snapping him out of his daydreaming.
"Pattinson!" Malfoy glared coldly into his eyes. "What are you doing, hm?" A slight, wicked, grin crept across his face. "Thinking about Abbott again?"
"N-no," he answered half-truthfully, itching to get away from Crabbe and Goyle.
"Hmph," Malfoy looked as though he didn't believe it. "Boys!" he commanded the two trolls. "I think it's time we teach Pattinson a lesson in respect."
With Crabbe and Goyle flexing their muscles menacingly and knowing he was trapped, Eddie braced himself for the worst when-
"Draco, Crabbe, Goyle!" another familiar voice drawled. "Release Pattinson and get back to class at once!" It was Snape. Rushing over to the four of them, he quickly shooed the Slytherins away. Eddie thought something like fear appeared in Snape's eyes, but those wonders were quickly dispersed when Snape assumed his usual demeanor.
"And what were you doing out of class, hmm?"
"Er-" He wasn't sure whether he wanted to tell Snape or not, so he tried blocking his mind.
"Decent effort blocking me, but if you don't want to tell me, I must know, Pattinson. I can sense something's troubling you."
"Oh- okay, then-" Eddie stammered. And so he let Snape in.
Snape's frown grew with each passing second. He looked away and didn't say anything for a while. Eddie didn't leave, he was wondering why Snape was acting like this.
"This is not good…Pattinson, come with me to the headmaster's office."
When they reached the large gargoyle that guarded the Headmaster's office, Snape cleared his throat, and said, "Drooble's Best Blowing Gum," somewhat irritably. Eddie would have certainly found this amusing had he not been absorbed in thoughts of his own.
Not saying another word, they stepped onto the staircase, and it began ascending on its own accord. It rose higher and higher until Eddie saw the gleaming oak door ahead. They stepped off the stone staircase, and Snape rapped on the door.
"Enter," they heard. Snape pushed the door open.
Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, evidently reading a letter, when the pair walked in.
"Headmaster," Snape addressed him. Dumbledore looked up.
"Yes, Severus?"
"I have a - concern - for the Pattinson boy."
"And that would be?" The aged wizard stared between them.
"Mr. Pattinson has been so kind as to inform me that he has experienced some kind of a nightmare - or hallucination."
"And what would this - nightmare - be about?" Dumbledore fixed his blue eyes on Eddie, which gave him the feeling of being X-rayed. He thought it was more amusing to read about than to experience, and he began to stutter while speaking.
"Er - firstly, I was in a cold room, like a prison cell, and I heard Voldemort - I'm positive it was him. He was angry that whoever he was questioning wasn't telling him how - to do something. I'm not sure what it was, but it sounds dangerous…" He stopped, not wanting to disclose the details of the second part of the dream, which was quite - personal. He wished with all his might that Snape would not mention it, and bit his lip.
To his relief, and surprise, Snape remained silent. Eddie risked half a glance at Snape, and saw that his face was as impassive as ever. He felt a rush of gratitude for him, and almost smiled.
Dumbledore merely continued looking at him for a while, then slowly nodded his head, linking his long fingertips.
"Most troubling indeed… is that all, Mr. Pattinson?"
Eddie nodded.
Dumbledore dismissed them. "I shall dwell on what you have told me today, Mr. Pattinson… and remember, when one door closes, another shall always open."
Eddie didn't know what that meant, but he could have sworn that he saw the old headmaster wink at him. Slightly taken aback, he walked off with Snape.
A few days later, Eddie was walking in the corridor following his lesson on Cheering Charms when he saw Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and, most interestingly, Sean, huddled together, discussing something intently.
Confused as to why Malfoy was now accepting of Sean, or at least, well enough to engage in polite conversation with him, Eddie walked over, intrigued. Immediately, the four of them stopped talking when he drew near, Sean's expression shifting ever so slightly from one of interest to one of mild annoyance.
"What is it, Pattinson?" Malfoy drawled.
"Oh, nothing, just wanted to say hi to Sean. I'll leave you guys alone-"
But seeing Sean reminded him of something. He had to see Dumbledore.
Knocking once more at the gargoyle entrance after giving the password (still Drooble's) he entered tepidly, this time taking in all the unusual contraptions Dumbledore kept in his study.
All was quiet, other than the whirring from the machines.
"Er - Professor?" Eddie spoke uncertainly. "Are you there?"
Then he heard a voice from behind him. "Yes?"
Eddie turned to face Dumbledore, who was striding into the room.
"Oh - hello, Professor." When he didn't say anything for a few moments following this, Dumbledore chuckled.
"Ah, my boy, surely you did not come here merely to wish me welcome?"
"No… I had a question that, really, only you could answer."
"And that question would be?" The professor asked inquisitively.
"Oh - I was just wondering if I should be concerned about the Horcruxes…"
"Horcruxes?" Dumbledore inquired, perplexed for a second. Then his face cleared, and he said, "Ah, yes I remember now… there are six, are there not?"
"Actually, there's sev - wait - no, you're right," Eddie corrected himself, remembering that Harry was not alive, much less a Horcrux in this universe. "Five, now that the diary is gone. But I was concerned about whether we should be hunting the other five…"
"And why is that?"
"Well, we want to stop Voldemort from returning, don't we?"
"That is the intention… but it is inevitable that he will."
"What do you mean, sir?" Eddie asked.
"What I mean is that it is unwise to begin a quest so early. Lord Voldemort will be after you and anyone close to you as soon as he gets wind of such a journey. That is not a burden you want to impose on your friends, is it?"
"N-no sir," Eddie answered timidly.
Speaking more kindly, Dumbledore rested his hands on Eddie's shoulders. "When the time comes, Mr. Pattinson, you will know. Trust in your knowledge, and trust in your friends."