Darla grumbled as she heard pecking sounds and stretched. She stared at her alarm to see that it was four-thirty in the morning. She didn't understand why she had to be awake so early, even on Christmas. Even as a child she hadn't woken up so early and she had been excited then. She wasn't looking forward to the day at all. Christmas in her house always meant staying the whole day together with the family. She wouldn't be able to go in her room away from everyone that day. If Aunt Marge hadn't been there, maybe she could. She looked at her bedroom window to see what the source of the pecking was and realized it was Hedwig.
She quickly got out of bed and hurried to the window to let her in. Ginny and Harry had given her their Christmas gifts before she went home, so she didn't understand. Harry had given her special ink that changed colour and a new quill. Ginny had given her a pack of Chocolate Frogs. She pulled the envelope from Hedwig and let her drink from her water glass. Darla opened the letter and read:
Merry Christmas Darla. Hope your Holidays are going ok so far. It's been a bit boring without you or the other girls around to talk to. I've talked to Ron, Harry and Hermione but they seem a bit secretive. I think they are up to something because Ron tells me to go away a lot. I've been visiting Hagrid a lot though, he's so easy to talk to for an adult. I've wanted to ask him why he doesn't visit his family but I thought it would be rude. Percy made me take more pepper-up potion. I bet I've taken that potion more than anyone else in the school. It was so much easier to get away from him when everyone was here so I can't wait for the term to begin again.
Well anyway I hope everything is ok there. I sent this letter to make sure it went to your house early so your parents and brother wouldn't find out.
See you when you get back.
Ginny.
P.S. Harry says Merry Christmas.
P.P.S So do the twins and everyone else.
Darla wrote a quick response, telling Ginny about the fight she had had with Dudley and the dress before sending it off with Hedwig. She then looked at the clock to see it was five. She knew her parents wouldn't be up for another hour so she hurriedly snuck down stairs to get her school books. As quietly as she could she opened the door to the cupboard under the steps and went inside. She opened her trunk and started shifting her stuff around until she got the books she needed. She put them all in her school bag before hurrying out and standing up.
Dudley stood smirking at her, Darla stared back wondering why she hadn't heard him come down the steps. She looked at his hand to see that he was eating a Christmas cookie and realized that he had already been down, he had probably been in the kitchen eating and had heard her.
"So," Dudley said smirking. "Going behind mum and dads back are you?"
"Dudley please." Darla pleaded. "I need to do my homework."
"Oh I won't tell." Dudley said.
Darla thought this was very suspicious. "And why not?" She demanded. "What are you going to do? Find a way for them to catch me?"
"No." He answered."I'm not going to do anything."
He turned and headed up the steps. Darla followed after him not knowing what to think. She knew that by Dudley's smirk he was up to something. She wondered if he would try to blackmail her or perhaps make her admit that she did it. She knew he couldn't be thinking of something too good to get her caught, he wasn't smart enough. Darla followed him trying to be quiet as possible, but it was impossible since Dudley was making a lot of noise.
--
Christmas day didn't go as bad as Darla thought it would. While Dudley had laughed at her all day about her dress she did get good stuff for Christmas. Her Aunt had given her more clothes for school that Darla would never wear. Only one of the dresses were decent, it was a pretty green colour but it was two sizes too small. The rest were terrible, but not quite as terrible as the lime green Christmas dress. Her parents had bought her a lot of books, her mother had even gone as far as getting a book about manners. Darla didn't mind though, the book would help her out a lot when she needed it. She was sure she would someday.
Her best gift was the one her father gave her. He had given her a twelve week old calico kitten. One of the books her mother had given her was a list of cat names so she had searched later in the day to find a perfect name for her kitten which was a girl. She finally found one that was perfect: Calicalpurnia. She thought it was sweet because the kitten purred a lot and also because she was a calico. She didn't understand why her father had finally given her what she'd always wanted, a pet.
Her mother didn't like animals at all. They made too much of a mess, she had almost fainted when Harry had brought Hedwig home. Normally Aunt Marge brought her dog Ripper but she hadn't that time and Darla suspected it was because of the kitten. Darla's mother was usually found scrubbing the house from top to bottom after Aunt Marge and Ripper left when they had a visit. As her father had given her the kitten he had said:
"It will be all right because you can keep her at that school most of the time." She had a feeling that was more for her mothers benefit than hers.
"They are allowed pets?" Aunt Marge had asked. "I wouldn't think it would be appropriate."
"It's to teach us responsibility." Darla said quickly for her father. "A lot of the girls bring cats or fish."
"Well yes, I suppose I can understand that." Aunt Marge answered.
Darla was able to finish her homework during the rest of the holidays. She did it at night most of the time but she noticed her parents didn't come into her room anymore as they had before. The last Christmas her father had gone in her room a lot to see if she was happy. He had wanted to know a lot about her life back then, now he never asked once. He didn't seem to care if she was happy at Hogwarts and she would bet her fake Crystal, which she still wore around her neck that he didn't know about the attacks at school. She wondered if her parents would be upset if she or Harry were attacked.
She was sure her homework wasn't the best quality but she was worried that Dudley would do something to make her parents find out. She was sure he would try harder when Aunt Marge had left but he didn't, he went back to ignoring her. She was able to return it all without them finding out. She was curious about why Dudley hadn't told on her. The only terrible thing he had done was throw Calicalpurnia across the room when she had climbed on the table when Dudley was eating.
She was glad when it was finally time to go back to school. She had never felt more unwelcome at home, even with her parents talking to her again. She didn't like the polite cautious way that they treated her. They acted as if she would explode or hex them if they weren't nice to her.
--
"They actually got you a kitten?" Harry asked holding Calicalpurnia who tried to bite his glasses. "But Aunt Petunia hates animals."
"I guess dad convinced her since Calicalpurnia will stay here most of the time." Darla answered.
"Calic-what!?" Ron exclaimed. "What kind of name is that?"
"It's a sweet name." Ginny answered. "Calicalpurnia is a nice name for a cat."
Darla was sure Calicalpurnia was used to all the attention as Harry handed her to Ginny who blushed. She had sat with Patty, Sheila and Julie on the train and they hadn't left her alone once. If it were Darla she would have scratched them. They were up in the dormitory unpacking, and Darla was hoping they would leave Calicalpurnia alone. She had taken her stuff up to the Dormitory but had decided to unpack later. She really wanted to visit with Ginny and Harry, she had missed them a lot. She filled Harry in on what had happened over the Christmas holidays.
"I'll show you the dress later." She told them. "It is hideous."
"I can believe it." Harry answered darkly. He hated Aunt Marge as much as she hated him. "I hope I never have to see her again. Luckily she only really comes around holidays. She doesn't come much in the summer, and if she does hopefully I'm not there."
"Where is Hermione. I thought she would love to see Calicalpurnia too." Darla said changing the subject quickly.
"Not feeling well." Ron said quickly.
"In the Hospital Wing for a while but she can't have any visitors but us." Harry added.
Darla and Ginny exchanged glances. Ginny had written to her to say that Hermione was in the hospital wing but Darla had forgotten. She had also said that Harry and Ron were acting strangely about why she was in the hospital wing. Darla felt angry but didn't say anything, she didn't understand why Harry couldn't be more open with her. She had wanted them to be close but he seemed to tell Hermione and Ron more stuff then he did her, and he had known her longer, she was family.
But she also knew Ron didn't tell Ginny anything either and he was her brother. She gripped the crystal in her hand as she stared at Harry who didn't seem to notice that she was hurt. She turned to Ginny.
"Come on, I'll show you the dress." She said. "Talk to you later Harry."
--
"Did you have a good Holiday?" Professor Sprout asked Darla as she pruned roses that were bigger than her head.
Darla nodded. "Yes it was great. I was glad to be home to see my family again. Did you?"
"Yes. I spent a lot of the time making sure the Mandrakes were all maturing the way they should."
She answered.
"Won't we ever get to work with them?" Darla asked wishing so much she could see them. She had learned so much from Hermione about them.
"No, they are far too advanced for first years, especially at the stage they are at now. They are advanced for the second and third years as well, but I'm not sure when I'll get more so I wanted them to have some hands on experience." Professor Sprout answered.
"I'd be careful." Darla said. "I know that the cry of a Mandrake can kill you. Hermione Granger told me about Mandrakes."
Professor Sprout nodded showing Darla she understood. Then she smiled. "Well, if you'd like to come down to the Green House this Saturday I can show you. However, you must realize that I don't want you working with them, you will be there to observe. I want you to follow all my instructions, it is very important that you do."
"Oh I will." Darla said excitedly. "I'm just glad that I will get to see them."
Darla wasn't sure how she would be able to wait until Saturday to see them. She was sure that she would have homework to keep her busy, a long with keeping Julie away from Calicalpurnia. Julie would not leave the kitten a lone, no matter how many times Darla asked her nicely to leave her play. Calicalpurnia loved the Common Room and Darla thought it was because there were so many friendly people there. She had spent about a week and a half at Darla's home and had been pushed around by Dudley and swatted at by her Darla's mother. But at Hogwart's Calicalpurnia had only been there a night and seemed happier because none of the students could resist a kitten. She enjoyed jumping on people's homework while they tried to work.
"You don't think Hermione was attacked do you?" Darla asked Ginny as they worked on an essay that Professor Snape had set that day.
"No." Ginny answered. "The whole school would know by now if she had. It's just something they were up to. I'm not too sure what though. Ron was very rude up until Christmas day when I wanted to talk to them. Then Hermione disappeared Christmas night."
"I bet they were trying to solve the secret of the Chamber of Secrets and Hermione got really hurt. They were all so sure that the attacks would be finished after Christmas Holidays." Darla said. "I just wish Harry would tell me. I was hoping-" And she voiced it for the very first time to anyone. "That Harry would be like an older brother to me instead of just my cousin. But he isn't treating me like his sister, he won't tell me anything."
Ginny giggled. "Then he is treating you like you're his younger sister. Older brothers never tell their younger sisters... or brothers anything. They tell their friends but that's it. Don't you have that with Dudley?"
"Yes, but I thought that was just with Dudley. He's always been secretive, there is so much he does that my parents have no idea. And there was so much I never told him, or anyone."
"In time there will be things you won't ever tell Harry. Ron and I use to tell each other everything when we were little but now Ron tell's Harry and Hermione everything." Ginny answered.
Darla nodded understanding now that Harry wasn't being rude on purpose, but she still couldn't help but feel hurt. She reminded herself it was probably because she was just curious about why Hermione was in the Hospital Wing. She looked at Ginny as she looked through her potions book to find a definition. Ginny had said friends tell each other things, but Ginny was keeping something from her. She was writing it all down in her diary and it hurt that Ginny wouldn't tell Darla anything, because Darla knew Ginny was hiding something.
"Darn it!" Ginny yelled as Calicalpurnia jumped on their table and knocked over the ink well. Luckily the ink didn't get on their essays.
"Calicalpurnia you have to be careful." Darla told the kitten picking her up and saw ink was on her paws. "Wish I knew a cleaning spell to get this off. Do you?"
Ginny shook her head. "I saw mum do it a lot but she never said the incantation. She can do magic without saying anything."
"When can we learn that? It will be easier if we're in a duel." Darla said hugging Calicalpurnia close.
"Sixth year I guess. Percy was practicing it a lot over the holidays so I think that's when." Ginny answered wiping the ink off the table.
Darla got up to take Calicalpurnia to the bathroom so she could clean her paws off. She was sure that ink wouldn't be good for a cat to lick off later. She looked around the Common Room for Harry as she got up and wondered if he was visiting Hermione when she didn't see him anywhere. She guessed she should have made more of an effort when they were kids, then maybe he would tell her more about his life. She envied his, Hermione's and Ron's friendship. She wanted the same one with Ginny.
--
Darla pulled on all her warm clothes before leaving the Dormitory Saturday morning. The girls were all still sleeping, none of them had seemed interested with the mandrakes. Julie had thought it was abnormal that she was going to a class on a Saturday by choice. Darla had tried to explain that it wasn't a class but Julie wouldn't listen. Only Sheila had seemed interested in the Mandrakes but she had also said that she wouldn't go see them on a Saturday. Ginny had told her to have fun but she had other things to do on a Saturday and she would see Darla when she got back. Ron and Harry had both said it would be something Hermione would want to do.
She picked Calicalpurnia from the floor, who had been attacking Ginny's shoe and took her to the Common Room. She figured it would be best if she put her in the Common Room where she wouldn't attack the girls who were trying to sleep. Once Darla set her down Calicalpurnia ran straight for a piece of parchment that was laying on the floor and started to scratch at it.
"You be good." Darla told her as she left the Common Room.
The Corridors were very quiet and Darla figured everyone was probably still sleeping. When the weather had been warm people had got up early to enjoy a day outside on weekends but everyone seemed to want to sleep in on Saturdays. Darla didn't blame them it was even cold in the castle corridors. She knew from overhearing Harry and Ron talking the other night that the Slytherin's Common Room was located in the dungeons and she wondered if it was warm in their Common Room. It was freezing in the Dungeons, potion making wasn't a lot of fun these days. Although she didn't like Potions either way because Professor Snape still didn't seem to like the Gryffindors. Harry had been surprised that he didn't pick on her because she was his cousin. Snape did pick on her because her potions weren't up to his standard. She had thought hers were acceptable compared to some of the people's in the class. Julie had made one of her potions clot up.
As Darla walked through the corridors she thought she heard someone laughing and wondered if it was the voice Harry had heard twice before. However when she turned around she saw it was only Peeve's the Poltergeist. He had a straw in his mouth as he floated near the ceiling.
"Oh hello Peeves." Darla said. "How are you?"
She didn't like Peeve's at all but she hoped if she was nice to him he wouldn't bother her. She realized a few moments later that Peeve's would not be friendly. He started shooting something from the straw he had in his mouth at her. Darla started to run with Peeve's still cackling after her.
"Shouldn't run in the corridors ikle firstie!" He shouted.
Darla ignored him and continued running turning whenever she could until she lost him. She wasn't sure where she was but she didn't worry. Since coming to Hogwarts she had realized that she had a good sense of direction and could find away back to a familiar corridor. She had found that out one evening when she and Colin had been walking back to the Common Room after they had run from Peeve's. She smiled at the memory as she turned a corridor she believed would take her to the Entrance Hall. Colin had questioned her about whether or not a ghost would show up in a picture. She hadn't realized it before but she missed Colin a lot. Despite his annoying questions about Harry, he had been a nice boy to talk to.
Darla found her way out of the Castle and headed to the Green Houses where she saw Professor Sprout standing in knee deep snow waiting for her. She hoped Professor Sprout hadn't been waiting long, it was a very chilly morning. The snow was hard to walk through but Darla made her way through excitedly anyway. Once darla had reached Professor Sprout she took a key from her pocket and opened the Green House, Darla had never been Green House three before.
"I will need to re-pot some of them today so I will allow you to stay and watch me do a couple." Professor Sprout told her as they went inside. "Now, as you know the cry of a Mandrake can kill you. These ones are now old enough to do just that. I have earmuffs you will wear so we can prevent that. Right now, it's safe to enter the Green House without earmuffs but soon we will have to put them on before we go inside. Do you know why?"
"Because eventually they will climb out of their pots and try to get into each others. They go through the same stages people go through, don't they?" Darla asked taking a pair of pink fluffy earmuffs that Professor Sprout handed her.
"That is correct. The Mandrakes cry all the time when they are babies when we take them out of their pots but as they mature they can cry unexpectedly. That's why we have to wear our earmuffs no matter what. The Mandrakes I have here are leaving childhood but most will still cry when they leave their pots." Professor Sprout continued. "Now Earmuffs on."
Darla put them on as Professor Sprout put on green ones. They seemed to block out sound completely. Darla could hear the wind outside before, but now she couldn't hear a thing. She couldn't even hear herself breathe. Professor Sprout led her to where a lot of pots sat on trays. She stopped by one tray and Darla stood beside her eagerly. There was purplish green leaves sticking out of the tops of them. Professor Sprout grabbed one and yanked hard pulling out what looked like a tiny shriveled child. It was wearing pink mitts and pink mitts. It looked confused, Darla was sure she had never seen anything so ugly in her life. It looked like it could be around her age or younger on close inspection if it were an actual human. It blinked as they stared at it before it opened it's mouth and scrunched up it's face. Darla could tell that it was crying at the top of it's lungs. Professor Sprout thrust it into an empty pot before signaling that Darla could take off her earmuffs.
"Wow." Darla said. "They are really neat."
"Yes they are very interesting. I do believe these ones will getting acne soon." Professor Sprout. "Which is good. The faster they mature, the faster we will be able to revive those poor victims."
Darla had an instant picture of Colin all stiff and frozen, an image that was in her dreams a lot. She shuddered and pushed it from her mind. Ginny was lucky she hadn't seen and hadn't wanted to see. Darla put her earmuffs back on and watched Professor Sprout repot a few more before going back to the castle. She wished Professor Sprout hadn't mentioned the petrified victims because it had ruined the experience, no matter how hard she tried she couldn't stop thinking about Colin. She hadn't thought of him in a while but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't stop picturing him.
A/n: At one point this chapter was longer but my computer crashed last week causing me to lose this chapter and the next two I had already written up. I had planned on uploading all three at once but I lost all three while downloading a program for something else that was obviously bad. The stuff that was meant to be in this chapter (which is completely different from the original one I had planned) will be more in next one. I just wanted this one up before the weekend.
Anyway, review.