Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling. This chapter takes place within the timeline of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Dear Lucky,
I think Daddy must have been sick. Mum's been keeping him in their rooms for the past few days. I guess it's just as well that classes and exams are over. She lets him grade papers and exams, but that's it. Mum herself seems to be a bit off lately, too. Grandma says maybe it's just the sense of letdown women get a few months after having a baby. It's kind of like the way she was a year ago while the Dementors were at the school.
Things seem so quiet since the Third Task of the Tournament. Half the time it's as if Potter has disappeared from the face of the earth. I only catch glimpses of him now and again with Granger and Weasley. It must have been hard seeing Diggory get killed. I know we saw that spell in DADA, but it can't be the same as seeing it used on an actual person like that.
I'm looking forward to the summer holidays. We'll be going to the beach again but then I'll be at Grandma's house for a few weeks and we can see each other at the hospital. The baby will look really cute in the summer clothes Mum has been getting him.
Sincerely,
Hope
Dear Hope,
Gran barely waited until we got in the house to tell me that Barty Crouch, the man who impersonated Professor Moody, was one of the people arrested for attacking my parents. Professor Dumbledore wrote her that he and his parents had fooled the Dementors and gotten him free from Azkaban years ago. I guess with Sirius Black that's two criminals the Dementors managed to lose.
I feel ill. He was so kind to me after that first class and I kind of liked him. Now it turns out that he was at least there when my parents were tortured, even if he wasn't actually torturing them himself. He gave me that great book about magical aquatic plants but that was so my dorm mate could get information for the Tournament.
Am I doomed to be a dupe all my life? I asked Gran. She snorted and told me not to be so trusting of people. Great Uncle Algie sort of smiled and ruffled my hair when I asked him. Why can't I be more like a Weasley, or Harry Potter?
Sincerely,
Lucky
Hope held the parchment to her nose. It smelled like the tang of peat moss and of a garden on a warm summer day. She closed her eyes and remembered when she was little, running barefoot through Grandma's back garden in bright sunshine. Things lived and grew when Neville got near them. Maybe it didn't seem important during a war, if Mum and Daddy and Dumbledore were right and a war was happening, but it must be good to have that effect on things.
She sighed as she glanced out the window at the squall that had blown in from the sea. Mum and Dad were in their room. They both seemed a bit subdued, lately, but the "Summer of Love" did not appear to be over. Brendon was pulling himself around on the floor at her feet using just his hands. Mum said he would actually be crawling before too long. Hope reached for her quill and started a letter to Neville.
Dear Lucky,
I don't think you're doomed to be anything. You are a very kind and open person. If occasionally you get taken in by it, at least it does some good at other times. You're so smart with Herbology, and your plants always seem the happiest in the greenhouse, if plants can be happy.
If it wasn't for you, I don't think I would have a friend in the world. You're kind, and loyal, and when push comes to shove, you're very brave. It took a lot to put up that shield charm last year, and I know you've stood up to people at other times, too, at great personal risk. I'm glad I can call you my friend, even if I can only whisper it to myself. If you like, I will tell you that in person next week when I'm visiting at the hospital with Grandma.
Sincerely,
Hope
She sealed the scroll and walked over to Gareth's cage. She could tell Neville a great deal more, she was discovering, about how alive she always felt when she was near him and what a thrill it was to dance together at the Yule Ball. She could tell Neville those sorts of things, but she wasn't going to do so any time soon. She was only fifteen, after all, and Neville wasn't even that, quite yet. They still had three years left of Hogwarts to go and then maybe they could admit they were friends, let alone anything else, if there was anything else to be by then. That Abbott girl was awfully cute.
A/N: OK, so it's a short one, but this bit didn't go at all with what came before it, nor really with what comes after. I'm afraid that I'm going to have to slow down posting for a bit. It's been pointed out that I have the dog barking up a really inappropriate tree and I need to straighten that part out. I also need to decide what to do with the dog at the end of book five's timeline. Does anyone have an opinion on Sirius's fate? You know what to do if you have.
Thank you to reviewers williammoseleysgirl, excessivelyperky, Istani, debjunk, and angstycryingbaby47. Special thanks to beta reader Mark Darcy.