Whispers were still flying around about what Harry Potter had done to save the school. This was one rumour that Polly welcomed, because it was all about his bravery, and intelligence. Polly knew that some of the words were lies. Harry did not fight seventeen trolls to get to Quirrell, but he did fight Quirrell, and he came out on top. Polly looked over her shoulder at the Gryffindor table. It was typically more lively, but while Harry was in the hospital and the lose of the Quidditch cup yesterday, they weren't feeling very hyped up.
It was the was the end of the day, and tomorrow should be a pleasant one. The end of the year feast was always a very delightful evening, all worries shoved into the back of the mind and not to be revisited until the joyous laughter had officially subsided. Polly was sitting in the common room, enjoying the view while sipping on some green tea. She felt content in the moment.
"Polly, I was just looking for you." Justin walked up behind Polly, and set his hand on her shoulder. "Have some good news for ya."
"Oh yeah?" she asked, gesturing to the seat across from her. Justin sat down, relaxing into the seat.
"I've just met Ron and Hermione in the corridor, they were just in the hospital wing." Polly perked up, urging Justin to continue. "Harry's woken up. He's absolutely fine."
Polly smiled, setting her drink down on the small wooden table. "That's great, oh that's so wonderful."
Justin stuck around long enough for a few more exchanged words, but he grew too tired to continue, and he went off to bed. Polly stayed in the common room, finishing her now room temperature tea. Her mind a blank slate as she enjoyed looked at the stars. She picked out constellations until even that took too much effort, and she then began to mindlessly counts the little white lights. Irrefutably, she counted the same few stars more than once.
Soon, her body began to feel heavy, and right there on the comfiest chair in the whole common room, she fell asleep for the second time that year.
The morning rolled around in what felt like mere seconds for Polly. One moment she was resting her eyes, the next she was being shaken awake by Laura, who looked less than impressed. Laura was not gentle in her pursuits. "Get up," she mumbled, giving Polly a particularly hard shove. "You're asleep in the common room again, you buffoon."
Polly groaned as she began to wake up, the shaking had become unbearable. "What a way to wake up, to the face of the most disliked Hufflepuff in centuries."
"Funny," Laura said, crossing her arms. "Here I am, walking you up like a good person and this is how you treat me."
"I think you dislocated my shoulder," Polly said, grabbing her now sore arm.
"You're a witch, fix it." Laura strutted out of the room.
Polly stayed in her seat for quite a while longer, just watching the sunrise from her hermit corner. Tanya joined her at some point, but neither of the two said anything. They just enjoyed the moment. The sky was beautiful, it was one of the best days of the year, and nothing else could go wrong. Except for the fact that they would be dealing with Slytherin decorations again. But that was a mere blip on the radar.
"Harry's well, woke up yesterday." Polly was first to break the silence.
"Oh yeah?" Tanya asked, Polly nodded. "That's good."
After a day filled with beautiful sunshine, and the company of some of the most amazing people, Polly felt almost ready to leave for summer. Almost. She loved her home, and her wonderful family. But there was no Fred or George where she was going. There was no Tanya waking Polly up at three in the morning to gossip. And if she left, when she returned Justin wouldn't be her favourite little first year, he'd be in second year. Once she left, everything would be different.
But it could be a good thing...
"Polly? You look upset," George said, grabbing Polly by the arm. The rest of the group carried on without notice.
"I'm just nervous," Polly said. "This has been the best year of my life, and once we leave, everything could change. What if we lose contact? What if Justin replaces me with someone else? It's all too much," Polly groaned.
George laughed. "You're such a little worry wort!"
"Stop laughing at me," Polly pouted, hitting George on the arm.
"I promise," George chuckled, "Next year will be as brilliant as this one. Besides, how could we ever lose contact, I'll have you over sometime in July and then September will come before you it. As for Justin, the kid idolizes you, if I had a galleon for every time he's asked me where you are to tell you something I could open a store."
"Pinky promise?" Polly asked, sticking up one of her smallest digits. George shook his head, but wrapped his larger finger around hers and shook.
"I pinky promise, now c'mon. We're gunna miss all the food if you don't stop yapping." George laughed as Polly whacked him again.
"You're the one that stopped us!"
Poly and George raced through the hallways, laughing the whole way. Only a few students still lingered in the hallways, mostly everyone was already in the Great Hall, dying to get on with the feast. George was way faster than Polly, and he lost himself in the race to the Hall. Polly had to stop in her tracks suddenly, as a boy turned the corner in front of her. She slowed down, but still bumped into the raven haired boy. They both fell to the ground, a tangled mess of limbs. Polly was the clumsiest girl...
"Sorry," Polly said, getting herself up then holding a hand out for her victim. When he looked up, Polly saw Harry Potter looking up at her. She smiled brightly. "Oh hullo, Harry!"
"Fancy running into you here," Harry said, "Or getting run into by you."
"Sh, don't tell anyone but that's the first time I've done any sort of running in a month!" Polly laughed. "I don't know how to stop."
"I've figured that out," Harry said, laughing. When they were both standing, they began to walk towards the feast. "Should we be running? Are we late?"
"No," Polly said, shaking her head. "I was running with George, he just got a lot further ahead."
When they got to the doors, Harry pulled them open and allowed Polly to step through first. You could've heard a pin drop in that room for a second, and then there was a sudden roar of words. "I'll see you later, Harry. Thanks for saving us all," Polly whispered the last part, and then waved goodbye to join Justin at the Hufflepuff table.
"Didn't know you and Harry were close," Justin whispered, and Dumbledore began to shush everyone.
"Until about three minutes ago we'd never been closer," Polly whispered back.
"Another year gone," Dumbledore started, a chirp in his tone. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were ... you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts." Everyone laughed a little. "Now, as I understand it, the house cup here needs awarding and the points stand thus, Gryffindor with three hundred and twelve points; in third Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty two; Ravenclaw have four hundred and twenty six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy two."
The Slytherins cheered, happy with their success. Polly clapped politely, but it was even less than half hearted. Her heart just wasn't in it.
"Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin," Dumbledore said, shushing the bustle. "However, recent events must be taken into account."
Polly's heart stood still.
"Ahem, I have a few last minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes..." Dumbledore collected his thoughts. "First to Mr Ronald Weasley for the best played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."
Three of four houses began cheering for the embarrassed first year. One table loudest, and one of four was absolutely silent.
"Second, to Miss Hermione Granger for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points." There was a second, even louder round of applause.
"Third to Mr Harry Potter for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house sixty points."
Polly counted on her fingers, trying to concentrate over the loudest ruckus ever seen by the Great Hall all year. "It's a tie!" Polly shouted suddenly, making the few that could hear her cheer louder. Would a tie mean split decorations? Because that made it a little more tolerable.
But Dumbledore had yet to finish, and with a wave of his hand the room had once again become deadly silent. Everyone too afraid to breath, or the tension alone could kill them.
"There are all kinds of courage." Dumbledore smiled brightly. "It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr Neville Longbottom."
"Which means we need a little change in decoration," Dumbledore said, waving at the banners hanging from the ceiling. He changed them from Slytherin to Gryffindor. The noise coming from the Great Hall could cripple someone who wasn't expecting it. Had someone been outside during this they'd probably jump clean out of their knickers.
Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor alike were cheering until their throats were like sand paper. Nothing could tear them down. Slytherin not winning meant more than just a change in decoration. Not one Slytherin next year can say they won the house cup. Not a single one can brag. And while there are many wonderful Slytherins, there are just as many complete tossers. Who were all systematically shut up about a minute ago.
The entire feast was confined to one single conversation. Harry Potter saving the day twice. Everyone was excited about the Gryffindor win. Anya couldn't stop chattering about how she was going to rub this in her best friend Rita's face. Rita was one of those wonderful Slytherins. Polly had met her a few times and had nothing but good things to say about her. Anya has warned Polly many times that Rita has a crush on her, so Polly has been careful not to lead her on. She would hate to hurt that girls feelings. But everyone knew how Polly felt about that goofy red haired boy.
Unfortunately, time flies when you're having fun. So before anyone knew it, the food was gone and in its place nothing but dirty dishes and dried up conversation. The Gryffindor house practically floated out of the Great Hall, the party surely to continue well into the night.
But Polly was tired, and uninterested in anything but sleep. Tanya had latched onto Polly's side, undeniably worried about not having enough time together. Polly was worried too.
Once back at the common room, Polly and Tanya saw the party raging in the lounge. Polly had no interest, but Tanya wanted to talk to her other friends, so she left Polly's side. Everyone was excited, screaming, and all around having a ball. Polly smiled, passing the fun unnoticed. As she turned the handle of the door leading into her dormitory, someone grabbed her elbow and spun her around. Cedric was there, smiling and stopping Polly from missing out.
"You can't go to bed yet!" Cedric yelled, laughing. "The party has just begun."
"When have you ever known me to like parties? Or loud things?"
"Always time for a change!" Cedric grabbed Polly by her hands, and pulled her towards where people were dancing.
Polly laughed, and shook her head. Maybe it was time to begin enjoying life.
Waking up Polly the next day was like trying to pull an anchor through molasses. Tedious, pointless, and all around frustrating. Tanya had tried for over an hour, before she gave up and went to find someone else to talk to. In her own time, Polly woke up, stretching out her limbs and looking around. The room was sad, and empty. Tanya's typically dirty side of the room was clean. Polly laughed at the thought of what Tanya's trunk looked like. The girl was impatient, and didn't fold things.
Polly still had a few things to pack away before the train left. Since she slept in so late she had very little time to pack her things and say her goodbyes. She would miss her friends, the school, and George. She would miss George the most. Polly did her best to get ready quickly. Her pyjamas folded and put into her trunk right after she changed. She will enjoy getting to wear jeans again though, that was a perk of summer. Nice clothes.
Polly tucked the last of her belonging into her trunk, and then she sealed it up. She dragged it behind her as she went to go find Fred and George. No doubt she would be sitting with them on the train, she usually did. Polly found them already sitting in a train car. George pat the seat next to him, leaving her no choice but to sit with him.
"I don't think she was going to choose to sit by me, mate." Fred laughed.
This time was precious.
It would be their last few hours together for at least a month, maybe more if plans fell through. Polly could only hope for the best. She would miss her friends a lot, but, she missed her family now. They were important to her, and even though it kind of sucked that they were going home. If they hadn't been, Polly would've been heartbroken.
Polly's mum and dad were waiting anxiously on the platform with a sign that read 'our little witch!' in pink marker. Polly knew it had to be her father's idea. Polly hugged them both tightly, having missed them since Christmas. "Mum, dad," Polly started, "these are the twins I've told you about."
"Well hello boys!" Polly's mum said, reaching a hand out. She shook hands with Fred and then George. "Polly has told us so much about you! You'll have to come visit in the summer. Do you have our telephone number? Polly give them the number, do you have phones?"
"Don't worry mom, they're going to write and we'll set something up." Polly smiled at George.
"Absolutely, I don't think we could go without," Fred said, smiling politely. "We'll see you soon, Polly."
"We'll miss you," George said.
"I'll miss you too."