Halloween day slowly turned into evening. And the feast was in full blast in the Great Hall.
The food was amazing. And the whole hall had been transformed into a Halloween extravaganza! It wasn't too different from years past. Maybe a few more candles, and a few less bats, but nothing distinguishable to anyone except for Polly. Because every year she soaks in every detail. She was no longer a newbie at magic, she hadn't quite caught up to the students who've had magic in their lives since birth, but she certainly wasn't anything less than brilliant. But the excitement never went anyway. She may not be behind in knowledge, but in experience, she's trailing by miles.
Polly was wedged in between Justin and Tanya, while Cedric and Anya were on the other side of the bench. The conversation in the room was loud, and fun. Polly felt so stress free. Fred and George sat on the far side of the Gryffindor table, so it was really easy for Polly and George to make lots of eye contact. It was always the same. One would be staring, the other would look up, and then they would both look away and blush.
"Can you at least pretend that you would rather be here than at the Gryffindor table?" Cedric asked, kicking Polly's foot. She was startled out of looking away from the twins.
"I would rather be here," Polly said, smiling. She looked back at George. "I just wish that they were over here too."
"They? Or he?" Tanya asked, laughing along with the rest of the group.
Polly blushed. "Quit it."
"We're you're friends, Polly." Anya reached across the table and put one of her hands on Polly's. "So we'll never quit."
Polly rolled her eyes. She picked away at her food, glancing around the room. The one thing she missed about Halloween was the little kids in costumes. She used to handout candy with her dad all the time. But, having new traditions is good too.
The feast carried on as it usually did. A small speech about tradition by Dumbledore, and the food was gobbled up as if the students had been starving themselves for days; Polly wouldn't be surprised if a few had.
At the end of the feast, everyone was happily chatting, but it was a tiny bit duller than it had been. No one wanted the fun to come to an end. But, Polly was about to fall into a food coma, so she was ready for bed. Justin was waddling along side Polly, groaning with every step. He never knew quite when to stop eating. This only made Polly laugh. She was trying to catch sight of George in the crowd, but he was lost among the crowd of a hundred people.
Anya was ahead of Polly and Justin, so when the crowd suddenly stopped, Polly bumped into the back of her. They weren't near the front of the crowd, but close enough that Polly could stand on her tippy toes and see what was going on whenever the spaces between peoples head lined up nicely.
It was hard for her to read the words on the wall. At first she assumed it was paint, until she saw the animal hanging upside down. She knew it was a cat, but she couldn't make out who's. And the words on the wall, The chamber of secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir beware, meant nothing to Polly. She didn't even understand what it meant.
"Enemies of the heir, beware? You'll be next, mudbloods!" Draco Malfoy said.
Insitinctively, Polly gasped and grabbed onto Justin's arm. They were both had non-magical parents. She could hear Filch shouting and making his way threw the crowd. He bumped Polly's shoulder in passing and didn't bat an eye. At this point, Polly was terrified.
"My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs Norris?" Filch screamed. "You! You! You murdered my cat! You've killed her! I'll kill you." Polly had stopped trying to look, so she had no idea who he was yelling at, nor did she even care. She just wanted to go back to the end of summer, and sit on the lawn with George. She didn't want to live through this.
"Argus," Dumbledore said. He had come from the other end of the hallway, so his voice startled Polly, but calmed her all the same. She wished George were somewhere near.
Polly's grip on Justin's arm tightened, and he put a hand on top of hers. He was scared as well. "Don't let go, okay?" Polly whispered. Justin just held on tighter.
"Come with me, Argus. You too, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger."
Harry? Ron? Hermione? What could they possibly have to do with this? Polly was startled, but more confused than anything. She knew them. They wouldn't hurt Mrs. Norris. They wouldn't hurt anyone unless backed up against a wall. But this? Never.
"My office is nearest – headmaster – just upstairs. Please feel free," Lockhart said. Polly was beginning to imagine the scene going on over the wall of heads in her way. She was too afraid to actually look.
"Thank you, Gilderoy," Dumbledore said.
The crowd parted like the sea. No one said a word as the group walked down the hallway, Filch muttering nasty things under his breath while the rest walked in complete silence. Polly stood as stiff as a statue. Her body too afraid to tremble, as if someone would come out of nowhere and strike her down. She thought that the madness was over with after Harry saved the say last year.
The staff that stayed behind directed the crowd to move again. Polly was tripping over her own feet as she stumbled through the crowd. It was as if the whole student body had been pumped full of coffee. Everyone was loud, and antsy. Polly was gripping onto Justin as if he was the only thing keeping her alive.
Polly and Justin sat in the common room for hours after everyone else had gone to bed. They went for nearly an hour without talking at a time.
The next day was one of the worst ever. Polly had barely slept, and instead of paying attention in class, she was day dreaming. Or having day nightmares. It was creepy. She could barely tolerate the thoughts she was having about it. It didn't help that it was basically the only thing that anyone could talk about. People with perfectly magical parents would bring it up like it was some interesting mystery to solve, as if the lives of all the muggle born weren't hanging in the balance. If they even were. Polly didn't know what to think anymore.
Polly was sitting in the library. She was there because people were talking in whispers, and she couldn't hear their mindless gossip. She was getting pretty tired of people treating danger like it was a game.
Danger is just that; danger.
The weather outside was murky. Not quite rain, but not quite sunny either. It didn't know what it wanted to be. Polly was across from a window, and couldn't keep herself from zoning out; staring into the grey sky. It was only fitting that the sky was grey, it matched how Polly felt inside.
"Polly," George said, walking up behind her. The hands he placed on her shoulders terrified her. She nearly jumped out of her seat. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he said, moving to sit beside her. "I thought you heard me calling you."
"No, I was somewhere else."
"Polly, you know I'd never let anyone hurt you, right?" he said, putting an arm around her.
"I know," she said, absentmindedly. "It's all just very freaky. Ginny was looking pretty pale at lunch, is she okay? Seeing Mrs. Norris like that probably shook her up."
"She's alright," he said. "But we're talking about you right now."
"We don't have to."
"Polly," he started, but she cut him off by raising a hand.
"I'm just a little shaken up, can we please just sit here together in silence?"
"If you'd like."
And that's what they did. Polly stared off into the sky; homework lying undone and forgotten. George held onto her hand. The way his warm hand felt against her own was soothing. His thumb traced back and forth against the edge of her palm. It made Polly feel safe, and even a little bit special. George said nothing, just doing what he can to make her feel better. He felt awful that anything he could say would fall flat. But it didn't stop him from trying to think of something.
"Do you want to go sit outside?" Polly asked, almost surprising George. He simply nodded.
Together they walked down the hallway, Polly's books tucked under George's arm. Unfortunately they passed by Filch, who was passing back and forth in front of the words painted on the wall. Polly grabbed a hold of George's hand again, and leaned into him as they walked. Filch stared them down as they passed, glaring with hatred. Polly looked down at the floor. She didn't want to see Filch, or the words. They still gleamed as if they'd just been painted a few minutes ago, even though Filch had been trying to clean them for hours. He'd given up.
It wasn't cold outside, which was nice. Polly sat on the grass. Running her fingers over the green blades. It felt cool to the touch. Polly was uncharacteristically quite. Usually, when with George anyway, she would happily chatter on about something or other. It was one of George's favourite things. But instead, she just sat quietly, her head comfortably nestled on his shoulder. He didn't want to ask why she wanted to sit outside on a day like this. He didn't want to bother her, or pry.
"I'm scared," she finally whispered. "Not just for me, for all of us."
"What do you mean, love?"
"Justin, Hermione and I... we all have non-magic parents. And you heard Draco," she said. "I'm just afraid something bad will happen. I really feel like something bad is brewing."
"Draco? What the bloody hell does he know? Dumbledore'll catch whoever did this before you know it, and he'll have them out on their ass, or maybe even locked up. Everything will be fine Polly. I promise."
"I hope so," she said. George's heart nearly broke when he heard her voice. It sounded so shaky, and so nervous. He wanted her to feel okay.
At the end of the day, Polly was lying in bed. She had her blankets tucked up to her chin, as if they would protect her from any evil. And for whatever reason, they felt safe. Polly felt safe under her blanket. Tanya tried talking to Polly, but she got no response. Assuming that Polly was asleep, Tanya went to bed as well.
The next few days made Polly feel a lot better. Because they were boring as hell. Everything was fine until Justin ran into the common room. He was as pale as a ghost. Almost at once, Polly was in front of him; checking for injuries. She was always worried about him now, Hermione too. She'd even been trying to figure out which other students were muggle-borns without outright asking around. It would seem pretty suspicious for someone to be asking that. But Polly just wanted to take care of everyone. And make sure they were all right.
"What's the matter?"
"I think Harry Potter was gunna talk to me in the hall today," Justin said, nearly out of breath. Cedric must have also seen Justin, because he too came up asking if everything was okay.
Polly smacked Justin on the back of the head. "Don't be daft, you know Harry didn't do this. He's a good lad."
"I get that it was fishy, but you know him," Cedric said. "If he wanted to hurt anyone here he wouldn't have risked his life last year to save everybody."
"But -" Justin started.
"No buts," Polly said. "I want you to go have a think. Really think. Would Harry Potter? Son of Muggle-born Lily Evans, want to hurt all of the muggle-borns around?"
"How d'you his mum was muggle-born?"
"Hermione told me yesterday at lunch," she said. "I can't see him hurting anyone, even without the fact that he's not pure-blood."
"I feel like my mum is lecturing me," Justin said, slumping his shoulders and walking away.
"You did sound like a mum," Cedric said, laughing.
"Oh hush it," she said, laughing.
Polly and Cedric left the common room together, making their way to the great hall for dinner. Justin had sulked off to his room, so Polly suspected he would be late for supper. Cedric was talking about the quidditch team, and how they were doing well in practices. Polly knew he was just doing that to distract her, and she appreciated it.
Fred and George were standing by the entrance to the great hall when Polly and Cedric walked up. He greeted the two boys, and then left; telling Polly he'd save her a seat.
"How are you feeling?" George asked, hugging Polly.
"Fine, just fine," she said, hugging him back. Fred gave Polly a pat on the shoulder. A simple gesture, saying that he was there for her too. Even though with George around, Fred doubted she'd need him. "How's Ginny?"
"Good, but I think it would help if you talked to her." George frowned. "None of us know what to say to her that will cheer her up."
"You don't have to cheer her up, you have to make her feel more safe. Or less worried." Polly opened the door the the great hall, and walked in. "I'll see you two later, right?"
"Of course," George said, smiling.