Thank you everyone who actually read my stories, I know my chapters are long and a little draggy but I just have so much to say!
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Holly had been the first to wake up. Even before her alarm that she had set. The sky was still dark and with a silent tempus, the softly glowing numbers showed that it was barely past four in the morning.
Holly needed a shower. The cloying, clammy feeling sticking to her skin and Holly couldn't help but want to rub at her skin. She could barely remember her dream, but the feeling of encompassing darkness still stuck to her. Like a shroud.
A terribly scary and heavy shroud that Holly felt like she couldn't just shrug off. She could almost feel the physical weight of the fear on her shoulders and she struggled to move.
All at once she felt like she was back underwater. The cold, the heavy feeling in her bones, the difficulty to breathe. The panic. The blind panic.
The fear.
Holly didn't know that she was screaming in the shared girl's bathroom until someone was shaking her. Blinking teary eyes, she didn't even know when did she start crying, Holly looked up into the kind eyes of Hannah.
"W-what?" Holly stuttered as she continued to shiver. Why was it so cold. Why was she so cold. "Holly, are you alright?" Hannah asked kindly.
Holly was sobbing in the middle of one of the shared showers with the water running and soaking the smaller girl to the bone. Hannah knew that her friend wasn't ok.
Holly blinked owlishly before silently shaking her head.
"Here, let's get you dried up." Hannah offers a hand for Holly to grab. Holding tight, Holly tried to stand on shaking legs, stumbling twice on the wet floor before her feet found themselves firmly planted to the ground.
Leading the dark haired girl to the benches placed in the middle of the modest shower room. "Stay here, Holly. I'll get you a towel." Hannah fussed over her friend before rushing out. Rummaging through her trunk, Hannah pulled out a fluffy floral patterned towel and quickly making her way back to the bathroom where her friend was now shivering almost violently. How long has Holly been sitting under the cold shower?
Wrapping the smaller girl in the towel, Hannah brought Holly into a tight hug.
"I woke up from a nightmare…" Holly whispered and Hannah hummed in acknowledgment.
"I was back under the water…" Hannah's grip on the slightly smaller girl, breath catching in her throat. "I c-couldn't" Holly chokes and suddenly hot tears spilled from bright green eyes. Hannah kept her mouth closed and ran a hand up and down Holly's back in an attempt to soothe. Holly buried her head in Hannah's shoulder and started crying in earnest.
Hannah didn't know how long they spent hugging in the showers, but Megan found them asleep, in each other's arms on the bench with Holly wrapped in a towel and dark hair still damp.
The Hufflepuff first years were mingling in the common room, taking the sofas nearest to the fire. It was barely seven in the morning, Holly was still half asleep, her crying from the night before had left her lethargic and moody. Hannah cuddled next to her, half dozing while waiting for the other first years.
Holly's dark hair had been braided and pulled into a high ponytail, perfect so that it wouldn't be a distraction during lessons and easy to pull into a bun. Holly was leaning against Justin, a muggleborn who had attended her mother's school and had even been in the same class as her at one point. Except that the two of them had never spoken due to their different social circles. Holly was always pulled along with whatever the twins, Draco and even Neville wanted to do, so she hardly had the time to pay attention to her other classmates.
It was common to find sleepy little badgers in their yellow and black robes half asleep in the common room, propped up against another badger. Justin who had already known of Holly Potter didn't have the same awe in his eyes as other older students did as they walked past the group of firsties.
Megan, Leanne, and Susan were still in the dorms, getting ready. All the boys and Hannah were gathered in front of the fire with Holly in the center, absorbing the warmth of the fire and her year mates.
She had been introduced to Wayne, Ernie, Kevin, and Stephen. Of the four, Holly only recognized Kevin from school. But greetings were exchanged and introductions made. The same wide-eyed wonder was there in Ernie and Stephen, Holly was apparently the daughter of two very famous figures of the Wizarding World.
Soon enough the girls finally came into the common room and the now rather large group of first years grabbed a map from the side table drawer and studied it. The Great Hall wasn't far, only a couple of minutes away if they were slow.
"Are we going to get our timetables at breakfast?" Megan asked, and that started the chatter of the group. Holly stood near Leanne, both of them were quiet before they were joined by Stephen and Wayne. The four of them were content to let the others talk and took up the back of the slow moving group as they studied their identical maps while walking to the Great Hall.
"Holly!" a sharp call had Holly turning her head so fast she whipped Stephen with her hair. Mumbling a quick apology, Holly wormed her way through the group and was met with the relieved eyes of Neville who stood waiting for her outside the Great Hall with her mates flanking him.
The three of them had been waiting for Holly so that they could catch up, Holly turned and waved her dorm mates away, Hannah only giggled while Susan gave a thumbs up. Holly returned her attention back to her three favorite people and George held the door open for her, guiding her to Gryffindor table.
"Are you alright, Holly?"
"We woke up in the middle of the night."
"Thought it was a nightmare…"
"Until we realized the fear lingered even after we woke up."
"What happened?"
"I had a nightmare," Holly started, her voice soft and she allowed both boys to drape an arm around her. Offering her their warmth, Holly allowed herself to be guided to a seat between the two of them. They could tell that Holly didn't want to talk about what had frightened her, so the both of them resolutely brought their young mate over to the Gryffindor table. Taking turns to glare at any nosey lion that would have given Holly any grief.
"We'll talk about it later?" Holly asked hopefully. Her twins just nodded in acknowledgment as they both started to reach out across the table and gathered some food for the three of them.
Ron, who was already eating, grumbled slightly as Fred made him move so that Holly had space at the table. "How was your first night, Holly?" Neville asked excitedly as he took the seat opposite her. Holly spent half of the breakfast period seated between her mates who made sure to put food on her plate, Neville seated across her as they discussed the differences between the two dorms.
Fred and George were content to have their mate in between them, her soft floral scent filling the air, it had been hard, not having Holly in the same House. And then the letter she had written had them upset with the little brunette Gryffindor. And waking up at arse a.m. in the morning, heart racing and fear fuelled adrenaline, hadn't been pleasant either.
But Holly had made them promise not to prank her or to exact any form of retribution. A tentative truce or not, Fred and George were not especially pleased to hear that their precious mate had fallen into the Black Lake and almost drowned.
They had hunted for Neville first thing in the morning, it was barely past six and woke the boy quite rudely to interrogate the blond. Neville had glared at them the entire time while retelling the story, tucking himself in one of the comfortable armchairs that littered across the Gryffindor common room.
Then at half past six, Hermione Granger made her way down, by herself. Both of them had glared at the small first year who had squeaked and immediately fled the room. Somewhat pleased at the reaction they had gotten, the twins returned to their own dorm room to get ready for the day, leaving Neville to snooze on a comfortable armchair.
Now that Holly was between them, safe, warm and most importantly safe, and did they mention safe, their earlier anger had dissipated. Holly had been picking at her food, her nerves tingling at the back of their minds as she worried for her first day in school.
"What's she doing here?" Seamus asked as he sat next to Neville, it was rude, as if Holly didn't belong by their side, so George kicked the Irish boy hard in the shin, making him yelp.
"Holly can sit wherever she wants,"
"Especially if it's with us." Fred piped up.
"You kicked me!" Seamus exclaimed angrily, face flushing. Ron recognized George's actions for what they were, his brothers were protecting their soulmate. Knowing that Ron did what any self-loving wizard would, and inched away from Seamus, even though he wasn't seated anywhere near the Irish boy. He was glad to see that Neville had done the exact same thing and kept his head down, eavesdropping on their conversation while eagerly taking bites of his food into his mouth.
You could never be too sure when Fred and George were involved.
"That's enough." Holly warned as she put her fork down on the table with a loud clatter. She had finished her scrambled eggs and half a sausage and couldn't possibly fit another morsel into her mouth. Her stomach wouldn't allow it. "I'm going back to join my Housemates." Holly said as she stood up, which of course stole the twins' attention away from Seamus as they pouted and try to trick Holly into staying at their table.
"I need to get my timetable. Professor Sprout should be giving them out soon." Holly explained as she got off the bench, though having twin pairs of arms around her middle made it quite difficult for her to leave.
"Let me go!" Holly whined. "But we missed you!" They cried in unison, making the nearby students laugh and Holly blush hotly at the attention. "Let me go right now!" Holly demanded, which immediately made the twins drop their arms with a frown on both of their faces.
She couldn't help herself when it came to their pouting faces and ruffled both of their heads, giving them a soft smile, before leaving.
"We'll steal"
"You away"
"During lunch!"
"No, you won't!" Holly called out as she waved the three of them a cheery goodbye. Neville patted the journal - their connecting journals, that sat next to him and Holly nodded at her brother.
Holly could still hear Seamus' loud exclamations but she ignored them as she walked towards the Hufflepuff table. Uncle Severus wasn't at the staff table, probably preparing his classroom. Holly knew he was very particular when it came to his classroom.
Having spotted Holly coming, Justin gestured for Megan, who was seated next to him to move over and make space for Holly. Holly sat down gratefully, just in time for their head of House, Professor Sprout to enter the Great Hall, their timetables in hand. She began with the first years, Holly taking hers with a soft "thank you".
The students hadn't had the chance to meet their Head of House yet and Holly was interested to know more about the stout woman with the calloused hands and kind smile. Blinking, Holly focused her attention on her timetable. There were six periods in a day, one of them being lunch and each period being an hour and a half long.
There were two periods in the morning, then it was lunch, followed by three periods in the afternoon and one additional period at midnight for which Holly assumed was for Astronomy. There were ten-minute breaks in between each period except for those flanking lunch, which was probably more for the students to travel to each respective classroom.
Holly folded the timetable and kept it in her pocket in her robes. She had brought along a sling bag to help her carry her books, she had seen the Granger girl hauling her all her books in her hands like a barbarian and Holly scrunched her nose at the sight. The brunette had come off as intelligent, didn't it occur to her to bring a book bag?
Amongst the first years, it was only the muggleborns who hadn't been enrolled in the Wizarding Primary school who hadn't brought along some sort of bag to carry their books in. Holly noticed movement to her right and turned to see the twins wildly waving to her and she could feel their curiosity echoing at the back of her head.
Holly mouthed 'herbology' and their grins lit up even more, which she hadn't thought was possible. The twins gathered their things and made their way over to her, to which Holly on sighed in resignation, though she was secretly pleased that they were making an effort to spend more time with her.
The other Hufflepuff first years eyed the Gryffindor twins with wary. At least the girls were smiling knowingly. The boys were just exchanging looks with the older Hufflepuffs who sat at the table next to theirs.
"What's your business with our badgers, Weasleys." called out Gabriel, their ever-reliable Prefect. Fred and George stopped in their tracks and Holly could practically feel the thoughts running through their minds. They glanced at her in question and Holly took a moment to consider the situation.
There was absolutely no positives from hiding their soulmate bond and nodded at the twins with a smile. It pleased her that they would consider her opinion before saying anything, it made her heart beat faster and her cheeks warm.
She could hear the cooing from her dorm mates as they watched the exchange. "It's alright, Gabriel. They're my mates." Holly answered with a smile. "My soulmates." Fred and George exchanged grins and hurried over towards Holly with bright grins.
Holly's exclamation had the students who were seated nearby tittering with gossip. Holly Potter had already found her soulmate! Soulmates she had said. Though it wasn't surprising news to whoever had been at the Birthday Ball last year, the majority of the students who had overhead were not in the know of the dance where their three separate magical cores had searched for each other.
The teachers who had been casually eavesdropping were silent in contemplation. The first years were usually seated closest to the staff table. Professor Sprout couldn't be happier, honestly, anybody finding their soulmate, even one as young as the Potter heir and the Weasley Twins should be a cause of celebration.
Though perhaps Pomona should have a talk with Holly about propriety, though, observing how the Weasley twins hovered over the smaller girl, it was endearing, how they didn't touch her until she had given her consent and even then the gentle smile on Holly Potter's face was reserved only for the two redhead boys who hung off her every word.
Sipping her tea, Pomona hid a smile as she continued to observe her badgers. The first years, the boys especially were gaping, though the girls simply looked on dreamily. The older badgers were either gossiping or staring unabashedly at the trio.
Minerva, who had returned from passing out her lion's timetables, had her lips pursed into a thin line but the years working together, told her that she was suppressing a smile. When Minerva was seated, Pomona leaned over slightly and whispered, "I wonder if she takes after James or Lily."
"A galleon that she takes after Lily." Filius mock whispered, an impish smile on his face. Minerva hummed in thought, "She's James daughter, I had the pleasure of a short conversation with her before the sorting last night." Minerva admitted.
"Oh?" Pomona raised an eyebrow. "Do share."
"Apparently Miss Potter had an accident with the Black Lake and Rebeus could only do so much," - with his broken wand, went unsaid. "She told me she had tripped and fallen in." Minerva hid her smile behind a cup of tea at the memory.
"How often has James said the same when covering for Remus." Filius shook his head. "Well, I think she'll be a perfect blend of the two with her own little oomph." Pomona laughed. "After all, it takes a special someone to handle both the Weasley twins." Pomona took a bite of her scrambled eggs as she watched the trio talk.
The rumor mill in Hogwarts was formidable and was second to none. It would have spread to the rest of the school by lunch, Pomona was certain. Perhaps she should have a conversation with Severus, their youngest staff member was best friends with Holly's mother after all.
Casting a tempus, Pomona quickly hurried to finish her breakfast, she wanted to get to her classroom early to finish her set up.
Fred and George walked the first year Hufflepuffs and Neville, who had realized they shared the same Herbology period, towards the Greenhouses. "We'll see you at lunch?" Fred and George asked their mate, giving her their best puppy eyes.
"Of course I will, you big goofs." Holly laughed as she stood on her tiptoes to hug both of them, looping her arms around both their necks in a three-way hug. The twins wrapped one arm around her waist to hold her securely as she balanced on her tiptoes. Immediately releasing them, her face red when she remembered that they weren't alone. The twins had the ability to just make the whole world disappear around the three of them.
Holly loved how her thoughts calmed from their constant rampaging whenever she was with them. It gave her a calm she rarely enjoyed in her own mind. "We'll be going now." They waved to their mate before smiling and waving towards her classmates.
"You're so different when you're around them." Justin commented. Holly blushed, glad that Neville had immediately stood at her side as he eyed the Hufflepuff boy. "What's that supposed to mean?" Neville questioned with a raised brow. Justin raised his hands in defense, "I didn't mean anything bad about it. Honest!"
"I think what Justin meant to say was," Ernie interrupted, "that Holly, you look really happy when you're with your twins." sending a warm smile to the dark-haired girl who pressed herself against Neville in embarrassment.
"He's right you know." Susan nodded, "You're always so reserved around us." Megan piped up. "It's only been a day!" Holly protested. "I've known the twins for years." she huffed, hiding her flaming cheeks behind her hands.
"Oh, Holly, we're just teasing." Hannah cooed, "We're so happy that you're happy. That's what they're trying to say." she pointed at the boys, who nodded eagerly. "And I think Susan meant that she wants you to be as comfortable around us," pointing at the dorm mates, "as much as you are around your twins." The group of first years laughed at Hannah's enthusiasm.
"I'm sure you'll make an excellent Diplomat, Hannah." Holly laughed "I'd rather be a teacher." Hannah shrugged with a smile on her lips when receiving praise. The door behind them suddenly opened and Professor Sprout stood there with a wide smile.
"Good morning students! Come in, come in, you're all five minutes early, excellent! One point to each of you." This made the excited chatter between the group resume. Professor awarded points to every student that arrived early, and they watched as each student smiled.
Soon the other Gryffindor students trailed in, Holly and the Hufflepuffs pointedly ignored Granger when she came in just after they did. Ron was the last to enter, still chewing on a piece of toast as he took a seat next to Seamus.
"Good morning class!" Professor Sprout greeted them cheerily, she was met with equally enthusiastic greetings. "Mr. Weasley, in the future, there will be no food in my classroom. I wouldn't want one of the plants to mistake you for a meal." she warned and Ron gulped the last of his toast nervously with a nod.
She took their attendance and then continued to talk about their course aims. There were a few spells that they would be learning within their year together, including incendio, which would conjure flames and Lumos Solem, an apparently advanced version of the Lumos charm that most of them already knew.
Professor Sprout gestured to the plants in Greenhouse 1, which they would be studying and observing throughout the year and Holly watched as a particularly mischievous Venomous Tentacula tried to wrap itself around an unsuspecting Gryffindor girl.
Holly couldn't have grown up with Neville without being able to pick out plants what with Neville's vast collection.
Professor Sprout sent a quick incendio and the girl yelped when the plant seemed to writhe away in pain. "As you can see, if you do not pay attention, the plants will want to tease you and play tricks. So I need every student to be alert at all times lest we need to send them to the Hospital Wing on your very first day." Professor Sprout smiled when all the students gave her their full attention.
Compared to what Neville kept at home, these plants seemed rather tame, Holly thought to herself.
Holly was asked to stay behind after class and while her fellow Badgers and brother looked worried, she waved them off to have lunch, saying that she would join them later.
"Miss Potter," Pomona started with a smile as she sat at her desk, her hand clasped on her lap. "Holly, Professor, you can call me Holly." Holly inclined her head. "Miss Holly, then. I would like to offer my congratulations on finding your soulmates."
Holly Potter blushed a pretty pink as she took a lock of hair that had escaped her ponytail and tuck it between her ear, her eyes darting away in embarrassment. "T-thank you, Professor. But we've known that we would be mates for over a year now. We didn't have to find each other. We just knew." Holly smiled at the memory, her fingers now twirling the lock of hair.
"Well then, congratulations have been long overdue, it seems. In Hufflepuff house, soulmates are a thing to be celebrated, so I would like you to know that I will be throwing a little house party to celebrate the three of you." Holly blinked in shock. "I-is that truly necessary, Professor?" She asked nervously.
"Miss Potter, I assure you that each House had similar methods of celebration. I remembered the party that Gryffindor threw for your parents when they found out. Of course, it was after Lily Evans finally accepted James Potter, it was a miracle waiting to happen."
"As you know, soulmates are regarded very highly in the Wizarding World, and with that, there are certain privileges." Holly perked up, she hadn't read any of that in the books. "I will lend you a book on soulmate laws, and this will include laws that must be upheld while the three of you are in Hogwarts. I'm sure your parents have their own books on Soulmate laws, but this book will emphasize on laws specifically for young soulmates still in school. " Resting a hand on Holly's shoulder, Pomona gave her a smile.
"Be glad, Holly, you have been blessed by the Fates to have found your mate so young. It is a cause of celebration. It is also to deter any unwanted suitors. For now, everyone will know that three of you belong to each other."
Holly's eyes narrowed when she heard the words, unwanted suitors. Yes, there were certainly very many of them in the Ministry trying to marry into her family's power. "Your soulmates will be invited to the Hufflepuff Den for the party of course." Pomona removed her hand and leaned back into her seat.
"But Professor isn't it meant to be a secret?" Holly quirked her head to the side in question.
"You will find, Holly, that soulmates are afforded much more leeway in the society. It wouldn't do if your soulmates were unable to reach you should you ever be in danger. Though I pray to Merlin that no such harm will ever befall a student who walks in the halls of Hogwarts." Professor Sprout smiled warmly. "Especially not any of my Badgers."
Holly's mind stuttered for a moment as a deep cold settled in her bones once again. She couldn't see, it was too dark. It was so cold. It was so hard to move. Her robes were heavy and pulling her down. She couldn't tell if it was dark from the night or her hair escaping its tie and floating around her, disorienting her. She couldn't tell up from down, where was the surface? She couldn't breathe.
She couldn't breathe.
She couldn't breathe.
A squeeze on her hand had Holly jerking back into reality. Professor Sprout looked at her with concern in her kind blue eyes and Holly could only duck her head in shame. "Are you quite alright, Miss Holly?" her head of house asked gently. The immediate need to deny got caught in her throat.
Holly was only a child. No matter how smart she was, no matter how magically gifted she was. Holly was barely eleven years old and she had almost drowned yesterday. Barely twelve hours ago. Holly didn't want to limit her Hogwarts days avoiding the Black Lake for the next seven years of her life.
Holly had to force herself to shake her head.
"Does it have something to do with your fall yesterday?" Professor Sprout gently pried, her warm weathered hands - a result of years of hard labor in the soil, placing them gently around Holly's wrist.
Holly couldn't force the words out of her mouth. She could only blink back her hot tears as she shakily nodded.
"I understand if you're unable to talk about it right now." Professor Sprout sighed with understanding. "But my office is connected to my rooms, and my door is always open for any of my badgers, no matter the hour."
Holly felt her shoulders slump in relief, she didn't have to talk about it now. She didn't have to relive the situation that got her sitting in the showers at Merlin knows o'clock in the morning. Professor Sprout would be there for her when she was ready.
"Anyways, I am quite certain that you will be invited to Gryffindor Tower soon enough. It wouldn't be fair if you were unable to seek your mates as well. However, I must stress that the Hufflepuff Den is still off-limits to siblings." The sudden change in topic had Holly almost reeling but years of keeping her composure, had the small girl remain seated firmly.
Holly nodded in understanding, though she didn't like how Neville would be unable to enter her dorm whenever he wanted. Though she could understand why. "I understand, Professor Sprout." Holly's shoulders slumped.
"I do apologize, Holly, but you are not allowed to reveal the Hufflepuff Den to students outside of our house." Pomona allowed a mischievous smile to spread, "I sincerely hope that your mates are equally as tight-lipped, they're not Hufflepuffs so the same rules do not apply to them." Holly blinked at her Professor and a genuine smile brightened her downcast face. "If your brother were to find out the way to the Den, through your mates then I suppose we will be unable to do anything about it."
"Thank you, Professor!" Holly gushed. "May I take my leave now?"
"I believe I've taken you away from your friends for long enough, I'm quite certain they're still waiting for you outside." Holly turned to the door and she could barely pick out the shuffling of feet and the low murmuring from the other side of the door.
Holly nodded in acknowledgment and left the classroom, and as predicted her classmates and brother were still waiting outside for her. "Well?" Hannah asked as Holly continued to stare at the group in front of her.
"Well, what?" Holly asked.
"What did Professor Sprout have to say?" Susan urged.
"She wanted to congratulate me, on finding my soulmates." Holly admitted slowly, a small smile on her lips. The group of first years murmured their own congratulations which Holly accepted with a polite smile.
"She said her door was open if I ever wanted to talk about what happened last night." Hannah nodded sagely in understanding, she tilted her head in question and Holly nodded discreetly with a tilt on her lips to let Hannah know that she would be alright. "There's also going to be a party at the end of the week. To celebrate. It's a House tradition apparently." Holly added.
The group immediately broke out in excited chatter, Neville took his place next to Holly and started to walk her to the Great Hall, the other badgers following behind them as they excitedly discussed the party. Susan had the map in her hand and directed their group expertly.
"What's this about a party?" Fred asks as he pushed himself away from the doorway of the Great Hall where he and George had been waiting patiently for their mate. "How was the class, Holly?" George asked as he rolled his eyes at Fred. They had felt Holly's sudden drop in her mood and both of them had been antsy all throughout their Charms class with Professor Flitwick and almost got Lee socked in the face with a flying boot.
The group of Hufflepuffs broke apart, the only ones remaining were Susan, Hannah, and Neville. The others went in to start on lunch, already ravenous despite only having one lesson in the morning.
"Class was amazing! I love Herbology, having Neville as a partner is great too." Holly smiled as she reached to hug both her mates at the same time. Holly was content to stay in their arms, enjoying the feeling of her magic trying to reach theirs. Her skin tingled where it met with Fred and George's making another smile appear.
"Professor Sprout is arranging a party at Hufflepuff Den for the three of you." Susan answered. "It's a house tradition, does Gryffindor have one too?" Hannah asked excitedly, her cheeks pink.
"A party?"
"Well, we:"
"Haven't had class"
"With Professor"
"McGonagall yet"
"But it sounds"
"About right"
"I'm hungry, Holly, let's go in?" Neville nudged his sister with a withering look sent to her mates. Holly immediately broke apart from her soulmates to join her brother, linking arms with him as they used to when they were younger and Neville needed reassurance that Holly was there for him. Fred and George rushed after her, trying their best to jostle Neville aside. Holly rolled her eyes at their roughhousing and stuck her tongue out at them.
Hannah and Susan giggled at their actions, heading towards the Hufflepuff table where their classmates were waiting. Holly reached to squeeze Fred and George's hands before turning to follow her friends to their House Table, leaving her boys with the other Gryffindors. Waving goodbye absently as she joined Hannah and Susan in conversation once again.
Settling in between Justin and Megan, Holly took a plate and began piling it with the different foods that she could reach. Holly kept to herself, allowing herself to sink into the comfort of her housemates talking to each other.
"We have a free period, what should we do?" Kevin asked.
"We could explore the castle?" Ernie replied.
"We could go to the dungeons!" Leanne suggested with a smirk. "Why would we do that?" Justin responded with a frown. "We've yet to meet any of the ghosts in Hogwarts! My cousin told me that Hogwarts houses loads of ghosts."
"The ghosts will come when they want. I say we should all go to Black Lake, I heard that there's a giant squid in it." Stephen piped up. Holly startled at the mention of the lake and Susan immediately frowned at the redhead boy and smacked him upright in the head. "Did you forget what poor Holly had to go through yesterday?" She hissed.
"Right, sorry, Holly." Stephen looked sheepish as he faced her.
"It's alright, I don't mind, just not anytime soon, alright? We can go to the lake next week" Holly gave a tense smile, trying to mask her growing panic. It was getting harder to breathe. The memory of falling, the weightlessness, of silence as all she saw before the dark waters consumed her was the star-filled sky, before the sharp sting of water smacking her body, the chill of the water, how it threatened to consume her, how it was so dark and she couldn't tell which was up or down.
It had really only been thanks to Neville that Holly hadn't drowned that night, by sheer dumb luck she had stuck her hand out high enough during her thrashing for Neville to grab hold. Never had she been more relieved to breathe in air.
While Holly had spaced out, remembering the horrors of almost drowning, Hannah had kicked Stephen under the table for good measure, there was an uncomfortable silence among the first years. "Why not go to the owlery? We can write letters to our families and send them off before our next class." Megan suggested, it managed to snap Holly out of her silent reverie and the dark-haired girl nodded eagerly.
"I'd love to see the view from the owlery." Holly admitted.
"Well, that settles it, we'll go write letters and send them out." Justin smiled, and the conversation returned while Holly once again went back to silence, content to let her friends' chattering lull her into a calm.
Leanne was the first to finish eating, so she took out the map, Megan who was sitting next to her leaned over so that both of them could study the layout together. Holly took out her communication journal that was linked with Neville's and wrote out their plan to go to the owlery, offering to send any letter of his home as well.
Shutting the book, Holly placed it in her book bag, and once again tried to join the conversation around her.
Dear Mummy and Daddy,
Sorry that I couldn't have written sooner, so many things happened and I didn't have the time. We have a free period now and me plus my housemates have decided to spend it trying to find the Owlery.
I've been sorted into Hufflepuff!
I'm sorry I didn't turn out a Gryffindor like the both of you, but I think the hat was right to place me here. Everyone is very kind, I'm sharing the room with Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott. You remember them, right? They were in Primary School with me, even if we weren't very close then.
There are two other Muggleborn girls in my year, Megan and Leanne. The five of us make up the girls of Hufflepuff. The rooms are very spacious, even if we don't have a proper wardrobe. Is it the same for Gryffindor? I miss my walk-in closet now, I don't fancy leaving my robes folded in my trunk.
The train ride was eventful, I was talking to Draco, threatening him not to cause any trouble for Neville, when this Muggleborn girl, Hermione Granger, came up to us and accused me of cheating on my soulmates. Though I don't quite know how she knew about my mates.
She was sharing a compartment with Ron, so I assume he must have told her. Though I wasn't looking to hide our relationship, (can you really call it one? I feel like being soulmates mean more than just the conventional Boyfriend and Girlfriend relationship label that society is obsessed with) I wasn't happy that she knew, I wanted our bond to be known on our terms, not blurted out by Fred and George's baby brother.
That wasn't even the last of it, Miss Granger tried to apologize, if only she had chosen a better location. She had started shouting my name out, causing a ruckus amongst the first years on the dock. I got pushed in by accident, it wasn't really her fault.
But I can still feel the shove when she tripped. There really should be more safety precautions on the dock, I refuse to believe that I am the first student to actually fall into the water. Hagrid couldn't even help, it was chaos. Thankfully Neville managed to pull me out before I drowned. It was terrifying, please sign me up for swimming lessons when I return home for Summer.
I never want to go through that horror ever again. Professor Sprout has kindly offered me her counsel whenever I'm ready. I'm really glad that she's my head of house. She's so incredibly understanding. She even allowed me to share the way to Hufflepuff dorms with Fred & George!
I'm afraid I've made a bad first impression with Professor McGonagall, she's the one who had to dry me properly and fix my uniform after I fell in. I didn't tell her that Miss Granger was the one who pushed me in, I didn't think that she would like losing points for her house before she even gets sorted.
Neville got sorted into Gryffindor and Draco in Slytherin, though both were expected. You need to be brave to face off all those plants in Longbottom Greenhouse. Draco's so devious the hat yelled out 'Slytherin' almost the moment after it was put on.
I miss you both already!
Your daughter,
Holly
P.S. The twins have already almost picked a fight with Miss Granger so there's no need for you to do anything to her daddy!
P.P.S Could you send over my books on soulmates? I'm sure Megan and Leanne would love to know more, and the books could provide more in-depth information. Right now, me, Susan and Hannah are feeding these poor girls romance and urban legends. Professor Sprout has also offered to lend me a book that emphasizes on Soulmate laws for underaged mates still in school.
P.P.P.S. Please give Pierre a kiss for me. I'm sure he's grumpy, and don't worry, I made him promise not to bite anybody while I'm away.
Hedwig, the intelligent owl that she is, was already waiting at the Owlery when Holly and her fellow badgers finally climbed the long spiral staircase up to the tower. Holly had allowed Hedwig to travel on her own, which gave the bird the chance to spread her wings rather than being cooped in the train for hours on end.
The students found several boxes of string, charmed of course for owl travel, which would protect the letters from most weather conditions while still tied to the owl. They had spent most of their free period writing their letters, making idle conversation to fill the silence.
Occasionally a curious owl would fly from its perch to observe the students, usually, it was a barn owl that the school provided. Either Megan, Leanne or Kevin would startle, unused to the sudden appearance of the feathery beasts. Which made for a good laugh.
Justin had cast a tempus and called out to the others, "we should get going, we have charms next period." The others hurried to finish their letters and to tie them to the legs of the owls who had fluttered down, waiting for work.
Charms was at the other end of the castle and they would have to hurry if they wanted to get there on time. Kevin and Ernie held the map between them as they studied the maze that was their school.
Standing in front of the closed doors of the Charms classroom, the Hufflepuffs managed to arrive with five minutes to spare, having taken at least two wrong turns and getting stuck at the moving staircase. Holly stood at the back of the group, glad for her badgers to fill the silence as she was content with keeping to herself.
Professor Flitwick opened the doors just as the group of Hufflepuffs arrived, they were sharing the lesson with the Ravenclaws. Holly could recognize a few faces from primary school.
The rest of the day passed by quickly, Holly had read all her textbooks from cover to cover before school had even started, while the information provided was basic and simple, it was nice to finally be able to work on them in a practical lesson.
Holly sat between Hannah and Susan, with Justin, Ernie and Kevin seated behind them. Megan and Leanne took the tables next to theirs, while Wayne and Stephen sat behind them. The Ravenclaws, which were the smallest of the group of students, took the 3 tables on the side of the classroom.
Professor Flitwick had a little podium where he stood so that it was easier to see him. He started with an introductory speech to Charms, before moving on to talking about the lesson plan and what they would be doing for the rest of the year.
Holly took out a spiral notebook and a pen to take down notes as the Professor spoke. The chalk was moving on its own at the flick of the professor's wand, taking note of their assessment and exam dates. Holly wasn't surprised to learn that she had most of the theory already memorized, considering her extensive reading list during her younger years.
She was just glad that she could actually put the theory into practice. Her wand seemed to sense or even understand her excitement and it seemed to warm up gently in the palm of her hand. Hannah and Susan looked as amused as they felt at Holly's fidgeting.
Thanks for reading another chapter on Holly's adventure! I promise the next chapter will be more interesting. Leave a review if you've liked what you've read so far!