Chapter 9
The month leading up to the start of term was filled, as it often was, with a flurry of letters to and from various students, parents, and faculty members. The content of the letters this year was far from usual, though, and many of them did not reach their intended destination.
The first was addressed to the Deputy Headmistress herself, and McGonagall found the envelope at the bottom of her paperwork pile one day in early August. It surprised her in a way that nothing else had in quite some time.
Perhaps since she had a certain four rowdy Gryffindors running about and wreaking havoc in every conceivable method and venue.
Professor McGonagall,
I'm writing you with a bit of an odd request, but please hear me out.
A little bird told me that you might have a student joining you at Hogwarts this year who is not entirely human.
I thought it might be helpful to know that Animagi can safely interact with people like your student. I found out by accident many years ago but never thought the information could be of any use until now.
I know you don't have any real reason to believe me, but I hope you will.
It means a lot to have friends in hard times.
-Someone who cares
Minerva sat with her hand over her mouth for a moment that stretched on uncomfortably long, broken only by the arrival of another owl and another letter that needed her attention. But she didn't forget the little note or its shocking contents.
Who knew about her little werewolf charge?
And why did they care enough to try to help?
Her heart clenched as her thoughts drifted to the last lone Marauder, two friends dead and one a traitor. They had been his world, especially after his parents passed away in his sixth year at school. She'd as much as known about his condition, though the words had never been spoken aloud between them or between her and the Headmaster. But the Whomping Willow had been planted shortly before young Mr Lupin arrived at Hogwarts, and his monthly time spent under the weather seemed to coincide oddly well with the moon's cycle. She had been far too wrapped up in the poor boy's life as his Head of House not to realise what was going on, quite frankly, but she never felt the need to talk to him about it. He had coped well enough.
It means a lot to have friends in hard times.
Perhaps Potter, Black, and Pettigrew had done more for their friend than she had ever realised.
Perhaps there was more that she could have done if she had received a letter like this a few decades earlier.
Her hands were busy with the day to day work of running the school that had been her home and place of work for decades, but her mind stayed on the young Miss Granger and her less-than-anonymous guardian angel.
XxxX
The next letter was penned by Hermione Granger in a fit of boredom several days after her first visit to Diagon Alley. She didn't have many Muggle friends worth hanging around with in the Grangers' neighbourhood, and she was far too excited about the wizarding world and her new potential friends there to bother attempting to befriend anyone new for one measly summer.
Neville,
It was so nice to meet you the other day. Thank your grandmother for all of her help. It has been wonderful to meet more people from the wizarding community. It all feels so much more real now. It's funny how I've known I'm a witch since I was young, yet you're the first person I've met who is also starting at Hogwarts this year.
What house are you hoping to be sorted into? Would you like to sit together on the train ride to school?
Sincerely,
Hermione Granger
She wasn't fully pleased with it when she finally sent it off in a fit of nerves, but she liked that draft better than the eight others that sat crumpled on her desk. How does one go about making magical friends? she wondered. Since she didn't really have an answer to her own question, she simply watched Sirius depart with the letter and hoped Neville would have it in him to reply.
XxxX
When the black and grey owl with the murderous eyes arrived at Neville Longbottom's window, he was inclined to ignore the bird with the altogether inauspicious name. That seemed to offend the brute, though, and he took to pecking and scratching at the window, causing Neville to shudder and the nearby house elves to shriek at the rather large amount of pain this caused in their sensitive ears.
Eventually, one of the elves finally threw the window open with a snap of his fingers and left the room, leaving a terrified Neville to retrieve the letter attached to the bird's foot. Fortunately, Sirius-the-owl's bark was much worse than his bite, and he deftly swung out his leg and waited for Neville to remove the note attached there.
A bowl of owl treats appeared on the windowsill, and Sirius merrily hooted his goodbyes to his mistress's friend before gobbling up a few treats and taking flight once more.
Neville stared at the note in surprise and shock. He'd lived in the wizarding world his entire life, and this was the first time he could remember getting a letter by owl post for himself. But the name of his new friend adorned the corner of the little letter, and he hurried to unfold it. The hurried note made him smile, and he found a piece of parchment and his best quill before scribbling out a reply.
Dear Hermione,
It was a pleasure to escort you and your parents to Diagon Alley. I'll be sure to pass on my thanks to Gran.
I'd be happy to sit with you on the train. I don't really have any close friends attending Hogwarts yet either, to be honest.
My parents were in Gryffindor, and I know Gran hopes I'll follow in the family footsteps. I don't feel like I'm all that brave. Hufflepuff sounds alright, though.
Your owl scares me. Are you ready for school to start?
Sincerely,
Neville Longbottom
XxxX
Draco waited almost a month before he wrote his letter. His best friends were only a floo call away, and his parents were in his business more than they were in their own, Merlin help him and all the other scions of ancient and noble houses, so he didn't have much reason to write letters normally.
But the flash of amber that he'd seen in the eyes of the girl in the wandmaker's shop wouldn't leave his mind, and he couldn't bear the thought of seeing her at school without knowing what that was about. He'd searched the library from top to bottom in the stolen moments when his parents were occupied elsewhere and found many odd magical things that could happen to eyes as an effect of certain potions or spells, but nothing specifically referenced a brief appearance of amber in otherwise normal eyes.
He wrote the note in a fit of frustration after he exhausted all possible options in the Manor library and woke up from a dream of the girl with the wild hair and the eyes that turned amber before returning to their unassuming brown. She was trying to tell him something that he couldn't quite make out, and the dream unnerved him as much as it spurred his curiosity to new heights.
Dear _ (a blank space was left there when he realised he didn't even know her name)
I was curious, what is it that causes your eyes to change colour? It happened when I met you at Ollivander's, and I can't help wondering. Is it a common thing? Are you a metamorphmagus? Did you even know it happened?
Hoping you are well,
Draco Malfoy
But the most obvious possible answer plagued his thoughts almost as much as those flashing eyes did. What if it was just an odd burst of accidental magic?
The possibility of embarrassment - for himself and his family - especially if the cause was a girl… It was unbearable.
His grey eyes almost looked like they flashed amber as he stared into the flames, watching as they licked and ate at the monogrammed parchment until it withered away, gone but not forgotten.
XxxX
The final letter, sent the day before Hermione and the others were to take the train to school, was written in a moment of weakness when Remus had far too much to drink. The artificial warmth from the firewhisky burned bright enough that he let himself give in to the nostalgia, fear, and grief that plagued him as he thought of his daughter, who suffered from the same disease that had caused him to hate himself for as long as he could remember, and his own years at Hogwarts and the ensuing fallout.
The envelope was marked "return to sender" but was mysteriously lost in a worn metal wastebasket in the warden's office in Azkaban Prison.
P,
I know you'll never see this, but I just have to tell someone. She's going to school this year. She'll be all alone, just like I was. I'm so scared she won't have anyone the way I had you.
I know you know all of this - if there is any part of the you I knew left after all these years - and I can't decide if that makes it better or worse.
Maybe both.
Miss you. I miss all of you, but losing you seems to hurt the most.
-M
A/N Don't hurt me! It had to be written.
Thank you SO much for all the lovely reviews! I'm glad the trip to Diagon Alley and my little hint at Dramione have been appreciated. I was planning on another pairing, but my muse just really loves Draco for this fic. So! I'm not promising that will be the only pairing, but it will show up eventually. ;) Let me know what you think of the letters in this chapter and stick around for the next one...off to Hogwarts we go! (I've already written most of it, which makes me excessively proud of myself. ;) )
Beta thanks to Mahawna and Synoir. These ladies put up with my crazy and make this story so much better! Sending virtual hugs your way!