Greetings again! Sorry it has been so long, I have important MUN business :) Ready for the next instalment?
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Apart from Nessie. She is mine... The precious... Smeagle... Sorry, continue.
Days went by for the Potter twins of endless lessons, endless days of taunts from Malfoy, and endless days of punching Malfoy, until finally, the end of term approached. Nessie and Fred walked to the great hall together from Quidditch, and met George along the way. "So, this is how you do it-" began George.
"-You write an owl with the challenge-"
"-to Malfoy who will then accept or decline-"
"-depending if he chickens out or not-"
"-and then you simply meet somewhere where we will give you the sweets-"
"-with the green fixed one-"
"-and we watch Malfoy be reduced to jelly."
Nessie nodded. "Perfect! But, hang on- I don't want Malfoy to lay a finger on Hedwig. Me and Harry share her, and no owl should have to bear the pain of being near Malfoy."
"Fine. You can always use a paper owl."
"Whats a paper owl?!"
"It's like a Muggle- Oh, what's the word- 'paper airplane', but it goes directly to the person its adressed to."
"That sounds pretty cool. Alright. Operation Malfoy Can Suck It begins now. Actually, not right now, because I'm starving. Boys, to the Great Hall."
She pointed dramatically, and then sprinted with the Weasley twins at top speed to the Great Hall. There, they met Hermione, and Nessie and her became deeply enthralled by their favourite topic, the issue of the philosopher's stone. "I think something's going to happen soon, and it won't be good," said Hermione, poking half-heartedly at her dinner.
"I agree, but the only thing is WHY would Snape want eternal life? What is the point? And quite frankly," added Nessie, "we'd all quite like to see him off."
"And I bet he's almost figured out how to get past that massive dog you mentioned," said Hermione.
Nessie stared at her in disbelief. "Massive? MASSIVE? The word 'massive' is an understatement. And you also forgot to mention 3 heads. We should really show it to you," she said thoughtfully.
"No!"
"What?"
"I am not going near that dog!"
"It's not that bad! Think of it as... A scientific observation whatchamacallit thingamajig, whatever you smart people call it."
"I don't care, anyway, think of the consequences... That dog might hurt us, or we might get caught! We might get killed, or worse..." she shivered with fear at the thought of it. "...Expelled."
"You need to sort out your priorities," said a voice which wandered up behind them unexpectedly and sat down next to Hermione.
"Sup Ron," called Nessie, and he blushed slightly before piling food on his plate.
Nessie squinted after him. "Where's Harry? He should be back from Quidditch now..."
She examined the hall, and then inspected the row of teachers. There was McGonagall... Flitwick... Snape... Quirrell... "OUCH!"
Nessie slapped a hand to her scar, burning with immense pain. "Are you alright?" asked Ron and Hermione simultaneously.
"Yeah... Just my scar... Weird though, it hasn't hurt for years since mum and dad- Never mind."
Ron returned to shovelling food into his mouth, and Hermione continued to blabber out her History of Magic notes, but Nessie sat in silent thought. Why did her scar suddenly hurt, after years? And why suddenly when she looked at Quirrell? And where in Merlins name was Harry? She concentrated really hard, closed her eyes and then said in her mind, HARRY.
NESSIE, IS THAT YOU?
Nessie jumped. Was this her imagination?
HARRY, ARE WE SPEAKING TELEPATHICALLY?
I THINK SO...
THAT'S PRETTY EPIC.
I KNOW. BUT I'VE JUST SEEN SOMETHING REALLY INTERESTING! YOU NEED TO COME HERE, LIKE, NOW!
WHERE ARE YOU?
I'M ON THE FORBIDDEN CORRIDOR!
WHAT? BUT IF FILCH SEES ME... AH, WHAT THE HELL, I'M COMING. CAN I TAKE HERMIONE AND RON? THEY SHOULD PROBABLY SEE THIS.
YEAH, SURE, GO AHEAD. BUT BE CAREFUL, AND COME QUICKLY!
OK.
She opened her eyes. "Guys, come with me!" She quickly leapt up from the table and hurried out of the Hall.
Ron and Hermione stared at eachother, each as confused as the other. "We should... Probably go..." said Hermione.
"Yeah..." said Ron with a vacant expression. They got up from the table and slowly walked out. When they got out of the hall, Nessie was nowhere to be seen. "Oh, bloody hell," muttered Ron. They looked frantically from side to side, when Hermione glimpsed a bit of cloak disappearing round a corner. She tugged Ron and they sprinted after it. After skidding round the corner, they saw Nessie sprinting up the stairs. They followed, and only caught up with her when the staircase decided to change. "Remind me- what the hell are we doing?" asked Ron.
"We're meeting Harry at the forbidden corridor!" said Nessie, with an excited twinkle in her eye.
"What? The forbidden corridor? Are you out of your mind?" cried Ron. "Harry doesn't even know!"
"First of all, I PROBABLY am out my mind, but secondly Harry does know. Anyway, he said he saw something interesting there."
"What do you mean? We haven't seen him yet. Why can't we wait till later?" Whined Ron.
Nessie shrugged. "Ron, haven't you learnt anything from your twin brothers? Twins always come to eachother immediately, no questions asked. Twins will anything for the other. And twins are epic."
Hermione and Ron were still utterly bamboozled as Nessie jumped over the small gap from the staircase that was still in motion and the third floor, and they followed. They ran after Nessie, around corners, across the corridor, until Nessie suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. They almost fell over her as they skidded to a halt. She peered round the corner, and then walked carefully down the forbidden corridor. Ron and Hermione followed, but neither of them noticed Mrs Norris arching her back behind them.
Nessie quickly ran round a corner and leaned against a wall. She closed her eyes and spoke: Harry.
Sup Nessie!
Bloody hell, you gave me a fright! Where are you?
I'm outside the door with the massive dog.
OK,we're coming.
Nessie opened her eyes to find Ron and Hermione standing in front of her, with their arms crossed. "What are you doing?" Demanded Hermione.
"Talking to Harry!"
"What?"
"Doesn't really matter, but lets find that door..."
They wandered deeper into the forbidden corridor, when Ron heard a little sound he turned around and gasped. "Err, guys... You might want to see this..."
Nessie and Hermione turned around and gasped. There was Mrs Norris, and another shadow was advancing silently round the corner. "Who is it, my prettie?" Sneered Filch.
"Quick, run!" Whispered Nessie.
The was no way out. It was a one way corridor. Nessie found a door and burst into it. She was pleased to see that it was empty. She dragged Ron and Hermione in behind the door. "I knew this was a bad idea... We're going to get expelled... Oh Lord..." Muttered Hermione.
"No we're not, Hermione, if you follow what I say. When Filch comes in, run out when I say."
Soon, sure enough, Filch crept in, and called, "Lets find them, my dearie."
Mrs Norris slunk off in the other direction whilst Filch snuck off around the room. "Come out, come out, wherever you are..."
Nessie checked the path and then nodded. "OK, let's run!"
Thy sprinted out of the empty room, out of the forbidden corridor, and into an empty classroom. Or at least, what they thought was an empty classroom. "Phew, that was close," panted Ron.
"Yes, and we could have got detention!" said Hermione, irritated.
"At least we would all be together. But look at this," said Nssie, as she walked slowly towards a grand, century old mirror with a curious inscription around the top. "I wonder what it does."
She peered deep in to the mirror, inspecting herself top to toe, when she saw a hand on her shoulder. She looked up, and saw a beautiful woman standing next to a proud man. "Hello, Nessie," said the woman.
Something about her seemed familiar to Nessie... What was it? Her hair? Her smile? Something clicked in her brain. Her eyes. They looked like Harry's. Exactly that shade of hazel green with a warm expression in them. "M-m-mum? Dad?" Nessie whispered hopefully.
"Uh huh," said the man. "I'm so proud of you, Nessie. And Harry. We are so proud."
Nessie quickly turned round to her friends. "Guys, come here, I can see my parents!"
They came over, and squinted into the mirror. "Nah, can't see a thing," said Ron.
"Look stand there, and you'll see."
Ron and Nessie switched places. Ron stared into the mirror with an expression of glee on his face. "I can't see your parents, but I see my self... And I'm captain of the Quidditch team!... And head boy!... And Gryffindor has won the house cup!... There's a crowd of people cheering me, but I'm kissing a girl... Who is that?... Do you think this shows the future?"
Nessie shook her head. "How can it? My parents are dead."
She swallowed the lump in her throat. "Hermione, let's see what you see!"
Hermione stood in front of the chipped mirror and looked at her reflection. She gasped with delight. "I've passed all my exams with 100% and I'm head girl, and I've got a scholarship to study Charms and Healing at The School for Further Magical Studies!"
Nessie thought for a while. "Well, I certainly think it might show the future after that. Well, I suppose we all turn out pretty well! Let's go find Harry, Filch should be gone."
Nessie glanced back into the mirror one last time and waved at James and Lily Potter, who smiled back, before leaving with her friends.
In the common room, Ron settled down for a game of wizard chess with Seamus; Hermione began revising for Charms for the third time that day; Neville was chasing Trevor around the room; Dean was writing a letter to his parents and Lavendar and Parvati were happily gossiping in the corner. Everyone was happy... Except for Nessie, who was so worried that she had chewed a hole in the sleeve of her uniform. Where was Harry? Wasn't he supposed to be back by now? Nessie finally resorted to her last option. She squeezed her eyes closed and said out loud in her mind (if that makes sense): SUP HARRY.
SUP!
MERLIN, WHENEVER YOU DO THAT YOU MAKE ME JUMP! WHERE ARE YOU, I'M SO WORRIED!
I'VE GONE TO MADAM POMFREY FOR SOME ICE. I HAD TO GO TO QUIRRELL'S FOR DETENTION AND MY SCAR IS BURNING LIKE HELL.
HMM, STRANGE...
WHAT'S STRANGE?
AT DINNER, I WAS LOOKING AROUND FOR YOU AND WHEN I LOOKED AT QUIRRELL, MY SCAR STARTED HURTING ASWELL. I SMELL SOMETHING FISHY... AND I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT WHAT TREVOR SICKED UP THIS MORNING.
GROSS. STILL, I THINK YOU'RE ON TO SOMETHING. I'LL BE BACK IN A BIT.
SEE YA.
Nessie opened her eyes, and felt much more reassured now that she knew Harry was OK. And she still couldn't get over the fact that they could talk telepathically. 'I wonder if all twins can do that...' She wondered. But, why did her scar burn when she looked at Quirrell? And Harry too! It wasn't as if he was scary... Why, the poor man couldn't even talk to thin air without getting scared, let alone even talk to another person. She decided to leave the matter until later, but for now she fetched her stash of chocolate frogs and started sharing them out with her friends. She tipped the pile on to the table and Ron's eyes gleamed. "Where did you get all these?"
She looked a the Weasley twins and then said, "Oh, you know, just learning the way of the Weasley... Sneaking into the kitchens, Honeydukes cellars, etcetera, etcetera..."
"She makes a very fine pranker," nodded Fred.
"Much better than you, Ron," said George, with a twinkle in his eye. "She might as well be our sister!"
Nessie blushed with pride and then grabbed another chocolate frog.
As the Gryffindors laughed and chatted, Harry staggered into the room, clutching his hand to his scar and his stomach. Nessie gasped and ran straight over. "Oh, Merlin's pants," she whispered, "Who did this to you?"
"I-I left my wand in the d-dormitory," said Harry, wincing with pain. The Gryffindors crowded around one of their beloved heroes, and listened. "My scar started b-b-burning, and I c-came back. O-on the way, M-M-M..."
He couldn't get it out. He felt like he was going to be sick. "It's OK, Harry," whispered Nessie gently. "I think I know what happened. Lets get you up to your room."
Nessie carried him up the stairs, kicked open the boys dormitory door, and placed Harry on his bed. She kissed his forehead, and then walked out and closed the door. The Gryffindors waited for her to say something. She quickly ran down to the common room and sat down on the sofa, and Hermione and Ron sat beside her. "That bloody bastard, Malfoy. He attacked Harry. No doubt bloody Crabbe and Goyle helped."
A tiny tear rolled down her cheek. "A-are you crying?" Asked Ron nervously.
Nessie quickly wiped it away. "N-no! Just- just allergies," she said, blushing. "Potter's don't cry."
Hermione gave her a quick hug and said, "Don't be ashamed of crying, Nessie. Everybody cries."
"Well, I don't."
"Oh, Nessie..." Sighed Hermione.
Fred (or maybe George, Nessie couldn't tell through her blurred tears) handed Nessie a peice of paper. "You know, maybe some revenges can't be settled by turning the other to jelly," he said.
George (or maybe Fred) nodded. "That's right. Sometimes... Sometimes you have to fight."
Nessie thought for a while. Her frown turned to a thoughtful expression, which then turned to a small smile. She grabbed her quill, and started writing in her slanted flowing writing. She scribbled her name at the bottom, dotting the I so vigorously with hatred that the tip of her quill snapped. She handed it to Fred and George. "Origa," they muttered simultaneously, and the paper started folding, and turning, and twisting, until it resembled a small bird. The wings flapped, and the paper bird took off from George's hand. It flew in circles round the room, and the out of the window, into the snowy blissful silence of the outdoors.
Nessie's note
Not-so-dear Malfoy,
No one mucks around with Nessie Potter. You are gonna pay for what you did to Harry. I challenge you to a duel in the trophy room at midnight on Christmas Eve, and may the winner have a Merry Christmas. But this time, bring some someone along. You're gonna need a second.
Nessie Potter.