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Chapter Five: Apologies

Sunlight streamed through the windows of the fifth year Gryffindor boys dormitory that next morning. James, who was laying on his stomach, snoring lightly groaned and turned over on his back, staring up at the top of his four-poster bed before sitting up and parting the crimson curtain in order to set his feet on the floor. James' pajama top lay on the floor as well. He had a habit of taking his shirt off in the middle of the night because he usually got too hot. He picked it up and put it on the bed with the bundled up covers before standing up. A few of his fellow fifth years were already awake as well and most of them were already dressed, but there were a few, like Liam, who was still in bed snoring loudly.

"Can someone bring the bear out of hibernation?" Jordan asked as he buttoned his shirt.

"I guess I'll volunteer," Seth offered as he sat down on his bed to slip on his shoes. James also started getting dressed. There were two other fifth years, also in the process of getting dressed. Liam was the only one still asleep, which was considered normal. Just as James was tucking in his shirt, the door opened and Albus walked in clutching his stomach.

James looked at his younger brother with a hint of concern. "Hey, Albus, you all right?"

Albus shook his head. "My stomach kind of hurts. I think I ate too much last night."

Seth nodded understandingly. "You had four helpings. I would be more surprised if you didn't have a stomach-ache."

Jordan was less sympathetic. "Man up, you'll be fine if you walk it off."

James glared at his dark haired friend. "Shut up, Jordan," he growled before turning back to his younger brother. "I'll go with you to Madame Pomfrey. She'll have something for you to take."

"Mate, let him go on his own," Jordan complained. "Stop babying him."

"I'm not babying him," James said as calmly as possible. "I just want to make sure he gets to the Infirmary all right." There were times when James didn't know why he was friends with Jordan.

Jordan rolled his eyes, but said nothing. James finished dressing, then crammed his books into his satchel, grabbed his wand and led his brother out of the Gryffindor common room and to the Infirmary. Just as James predicted, Madame Pomfrey had a tonic for Albus and also a few words of chastisement.

"You'll remember not engorge yourself from now on, won't you?"

"Leave him alone, Madame Pomfrey," James said grinning cheekily. "He's a growing boy."

Albus scowled at his brother while Madame Pomfrey shook her head. The younger Potter made a face as he swallowed the tonic.

"If you don't want to taste this stuff again, I suggest you watch how much you eat," Madame Pomfrey said as she took away the goblet. "Now, I want you to just lay down and rest for a few hours. I'll be sure to notify your professors." She turned and walked away leaving James to make sure his brother was safely tucked into bed.

"Well, I guess I'll let you rest," James said clapping his brother lightly on the shoulder. "I hope you feel better," he said before standing up and leaving the Infirmary to let his brother sleep and went down to the Great Hall. Juniper was already sitting at the Hufflepuff tearing apart some toast. She happened to glance up randomly and see him. He gave her a smile and wave, which she returned. Kaylynn leaned over and whispered something to Juniper that James couldn't hear, but it made the Hufflepuff blush. James ruffled his hair making it messier than it usually was, then sat down at the Gryffindor table next to Seth.

"Look at you posturing over there," Liam teased with a smirk. "Who are you trying to impress?"

"Probably Juniper," Jordan said, smirking. "Why don't you go over there, Potter?"

James wanted to stop his friends from teasing him before it even started. "Pass me that plate of sausage over there, would you?"

"Seriously, mate, go after Jaenelle. They both look the same, so it shouldn't matter," Liam said as he shoveled hash-browns into his mouth. For someone who slept like he did, it was amazing that he was wide awake.

Seth decided to save the lovestruck Gryffindor from his friends' ruthless harassing and nudged James on the shoulder. "Hey, what class do we have first?"

Setting the toast down, James reached into his bag that was on the floor beside him and dug out his schedule and perused it while picking up his toast again and nibbling it, causing a few crumbs to fall onto the parchment. "It looks like we have History of Magic with the Ravenclaws, first."

Liam groaned. "Why that class? I swear, I'm hoping I fail my O.W.L.s so that I can get out of that class next year."

The other guys muttered their agreement. History of Magic, taught by Professor Binns, the only ghost on the staff, was dreadfully boring and most students used the class in order to catch up on their sleep or pass notes back and forth while their teacher usually droned on and on about important dates in history. It definitely wasn't a favorite of anyone's, unless you were a crazed history fanatic who liked that kind of stuff.

The boys ate as slowly as possible, dreading having to sit through an hour and a half of something they cared nothing about, but they couldn't delay the inevitable and soon forced themselves out of their seats and headed to class.


Juniper stared at James as he left the Great Hall. She picked up what she thought was her goblet of orange juice and was about to bring it to her lips when Kaylynn snapped her fingers in front of her.

"Hey, you know you're about to drink sugar," she said.

Juniper blinked and looked down at what was in her hand. Sure enough, it was the sugar container. "Hm...how did I do that?" she said almost absently setting the sugar back down.

"Because you were undressing James in your mind," the brown-eyed Hufflepuff smirked.

Juniper felt her face become warm. "I-I was not!" she protested. Yet now, thanks to her friend, she now had an image of James without his shirt on. She mentally slapped herself forcing herself to think about something else.

"I bet he has a nice body," Kaylynn said as she finished off the last of her sausage.

"Lynn!" Juniper buried her face in her hands, embarrassed.

Kaylynn chuckled while her friend looked like she wanted to crawl under the table and die. Fortunately, they had to rush to Herbology before they were both late. They managed to make it in time before the greenhouse doors closed. They would be working with the fourth year Gryffindors today. Juniper noticed that Albus wasn't present and wondered where he was. Rose raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss Weasley?" Professor Longbottom asked, pausing his discussion on Flutterby bushes and focusing his attention on the red-head.

"Where is Albus?" she asked, clearly thinking the same thing that Juniper was.

"Mr. Potter went to the infirmary for a stomach-ache, he'll be all right after he gets some rest," Professor Longbottom said smiling reassuringly before continuing with his lesson. "Now, today we're just going to be pruning the Flutterby bushes. You may work alone or in pairs and you have until the end of the lesson. The person or group who manages to prune the most bushes will get a prize." He winked at them all.

There was chatter while the students grabbed a set of shears. Juniper chose to work with Kaylynn as her friend was very skilled in Herbology.

"Excuse me, could you pass me those sheers over there?" Eileen asked, her German accent thick.

Kaylynn lifted an eyebrow. "So, you can speak English."

Juniper lightly nudged her friend and handed the sheers to Eileen who muttered a quiet 'thanks' and turned to the Flutterby Bush in front of her. Many students worked in pairs, but there were some who worked alone, Eileen being one of them. Aside from that handful of words directed to Juniper, she didn't say anything and seemed focused, purely, on the care of the bushes.

"I wonder what happened at her old school to make her act so cold," Kaylynn whispered to Juniper.

"I, honestly, don't think that's the case," Juniper said quietly. "There's a big chance that she's not happy about being transferred. I mean, how would you feel if you were all of a sudden pulled out of Hogwarts and thrust somewhere else where you didn't know anyone?"

"But she still didn't have to be so obscene." Yet, Kaylynn's hardened expression softened slightly as she glanced at Eileen. "Crap, I really acted like a total bitch, didn't I?"

Juniper winced. "I hate to say it, but yeah, you did."

Kaylynn set the shears she was holding down and rubbed her temples. "Maybe I should apologize after class is finished."

"That might be the best. You kind of have a habit about jumping to conclusions about people before you get to know them."

Kaylynn tossed a small twig to the ground. "Yeah, but there are some people who I just want to turn into a pig or something along that nature, and you can't tel me that there are some students here that don't deserve it."

"You don't know Human Transfiguration, yet," Juniper pointed out as she went to snap off a perfectly good branch, but Kaylynn grabbed her arm.

"Watch what you're doing!"

Juniper lowered her shears and looked down at the bush, which quivered slightly. "Sorry," she said more to the bush than to Kaylynn even though the plant clearly couldn't talk.

"I swear, Junie, one day you're going to end up snipping off one of your fingers."

"That would be unfortunate. I'm especially fond of my pinkie." Juniper's lips twitched slightly before the two girls burst out laughing.

"Ladies, you're falling behind," Professor Longbottom warned as he passed by them while patrolling around the classroom.

"Sorry, professor," Kaylynn and Juniper mumbled.

Towards the end of class, it was Rose and the boy she was working with who won the small contest. They each received a pack of six chocolate frogs. The students all filed out in order to go to their next class. Professor Longbottom had gone to his office to get some things needed for his next class. Juniper and Kaylynn lingered behind.

Kaylynn always had trouble apologizing and hated realizing that she was wrong. So, it was no surprise to Juniper when she hesitated.

"You'll feel ten times better if you do apologize. If you didn't want to, you wouldn't have suggested it."

Eileen started to leave the greenhouse when Kaylynn called out to her.

"Hey, wait." Kaylynn stepped forward as Eileen turned around to face the girl who had been so tactless and rude last night.

"I don't want to be late to my next class," she said narrowing her eyes at Kaylynn.

Kaylynn rubbed the back of her neck and glanced at Juniper who smiled encouragingly. The honey-haired Hufflepuff took a deep breath.

"Listen, I'm sorry for the way I behaved last night. I was basically a total bitch and I really shouldn't have come at you like that and interrogated you. It's none of my business what happened at your old school and I had no right to try and pry into your personal life, especially when I don't know you."

The dark skinned girl just looked at Kaylynn for a moment. Juniper stood on the sidelines and watched, her breath hitched. What would happen now? Oh, she hoped that Eileen wouldn't say anything that might upset Kaylynn again. Why did this girl just keep staring at Kaylynn, was she contemplating doing something in order to get back at her for the way she'd acted last night?

"Your apology seemed very sincere, so I accept it," Eileen said simply.

Juniper let out the breath she'd been holding in a loud whoosh of air. The other two girls looked at her as the smaller Hufflepuff blushed lightly like she always did when people stared at her. Once Juniper gained her composure, she spoke.

"Well, we have Double Potions next with the Ravenclaws. We can show you the dungeons if you'd like," she offered.

Eileen shook her head. "No thanks, I have to head to the lavatory first, so I'll find it on my own."

But Eileen did allow the two of them to walk with her back up to the castle, although the three of them didn't really say anything to each other. At least, now, Kaylynn wasn't ready to rip the girl's head off and Eileen seemed less standoffish. When they were inside once again, Eileen headed to the nearest girls' lavatory while Juniper and Kaylynn went down into the dungeons for their first Potions lesson of the fourth year.