Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Stunted Growth
January came and went. And YUP slowly gained traction. With Sprout, Flitwick, and the Black-Lupin duo encouraging student engagement, our numbers slowly grew. Diggory, our responsible and ever-reliable treasurer, brought Ernie Macmillan and Justin Finch-Fletchley into our circle. Hermione perked up considerably at the addition of Justin. While Flint was just a little too thrilled to welcome Macmillan. Bulstrode invited her roommate Tracey Davis. The two girls claimed seats on either side of Neville. Evidently, Bulstrode had made introductions between Davis and Neville during one of their classes and both girls decided Neville now belonged to them. Other than looking bashful, Neville didn't seem to mind.
Our Ravenclaw numbers increased too. Not thanks to any efforts Luna might have made to bring in her housemates. Anyone who has held a conversation with the girl would be able to reason why. But thanks to Flitwick talking us up, we now had Terry Boot and Lisa Turpin sitting amongst us. Padma Patil had also joined us. But it was unclear if she was attending because of Flitwick's input or because Parvati decided to sit in on a meeting.
"Everyone, welcome back", Percy said; standing up once he decided it was time to start the meeting. "And welcome to the new faces I see. Glad you're here". Percy paused to flash everyone a leadership smile. It was a skill he was slowly picking up on as he got used to his role as president. It was a skill I was obstinately refusing to learn. "We'll start today's meeting by hearing the treasurer's report, reviewing the minutes of the last meeting, and then we'll discuss what's scheduled for this meeting". Percy clapped his hands once. He did a good job of sounding excited. A lot better than I could do. Still, despite his enthusiasm, Fred yawned loudly and obnoxiously; completely unaffected by the exasperated look Percy shot in his direction. "Diggory", Percy introduced; offering him the floor.
As Percy sat down, Diggory stood up with a log book in hand. Wow, this was really starting to feel official. "Um, right", Diggory started; getting himself comfortable in a public speaking environment. "After the last meeting, we were able to start our treasury. We haven't had any expenses yet, so our current funds are the full 125 galleons we were offered".
Someone in the room let out a low whistle. If I had to take a guess, I'd say it was Lee. "125 galleons?" Hermione blurted out. She sounded surprised. And not in the 'surprise, it's your birthday' way.
"Um". Diggory glanced back at the log book to double-check. Not sure why. We all know he can read. "Yes", he confirmed.
"The school only gave us 25 galleons when SPEW was started", Hermione shared. Her voice came off a bit accusatory.
Somewhere in the back of the classroom, a brave soul, or maybe just a soul who miss read the room, whispered, "What's SPEW?"
"The school gives all clubs 25 galleons for their activities", Flitwick jumped in from where he was sitting behind Fred, George, and Lee again. Just like he had at the last meeting too. He really didn't trust us not to make trouble for others. The look he shared with Hermione was gentle and a plea for understanding. But Flitwick didn't explain further. Instead, he waved at Diggory to continue.
"Er, right". The sixth year Hufflepuff said. "Um…"
Flint decided to spare him. "My father pledged 100 galleons to Youth of the United Party for our use", he announced as he stood up from his spot next to Adrian and behind the golden trio. All eyes were immediately drawn to him. "That is how much my father believes in what we're trying to do". And with that said, Flint sat down. It was a message more intended for those with parents already in UP, but Flint's words had an effect on everyone.
"Yes", Diggory quickly agreed; gaining control of himself. "Currently, YUP has one outside sponsor; The Flint law firm. And they have promised the same amount every new school year for as long as YUP is active". Diggory's eyes flickered around the room as we stared at him; waiting to see if he had anything else to say. "Um… thank you", Diggory finished as he sank into his seat.
Percy didn't bother to stand this time. Though, I bet a small part of him wanted to. "Next, Zabini with the minutes".
Zabini rose from his spot between Turpin and Montague. Unlike Diggory, Zabini read his report with natural ease. Not at all bothered by speaking in front of a crowd. "During the previous meeting, Cedric Diggory was appointed treasurer". Zabini had to pause as Finch-Fletchley let out a whoop for his fellow Hufflepuff. "And I, Blaise Zabini, was appointed secretary". Montague and Adrian politely clapped. "It was announced", Zabini continued to read. "That YUP would be electing house representatives to be voted in by majority rule. It was decided that the election would be held at this meeting. Next, YUP president, Percy Weasley, repeated his request for all members to invite anyone they believed might be interested in joining our organization". Impressive… Zabini is really fulfilling his role and carrying out his job description. He should really think about doing this for a living. "Finally, the meeting adjourned after playing…" Here, Zabini paused for the sole reason of glaring reproachfully at me. "An insidious game called the human knot". He couldn't sound more disgusted if he tried.
Heads turned in my direction. Some smiled while others agreed with Zabini. Adrian, being a wise old-ish soul, carefully kept his face neutral. Yes, yes. I made us play a game where we had to hold hands with people we didn't know very well, figure out how to untangle ourselves, and have fun while doing it. How dare I!
"Thank you, Zabini", said Percy as he and I stood; giving Zabini permission to return to his seat. "And that brings us to our first order of business", Percy announced as he moved away from the desks to stand in front of Flitwick's podium. I walked over to the chalkboard, already knowing my role in all this. Percy waited to be facing everyone before continuing. "The house representatives. You've had a couple of weeks to think about it. From Gryffindor house, who would like to be considered?"
Two hands flew into the air. While a third unsurely followed a few seconds later. Interestingly, every hand in the air belonged to a third-year. "Granger, Parvati Patil, and Longbottom", Percy called out as I wrote down the names. "Slytherin?" Percy asked; moving on to the next house.
Except, no one raised their hands. Instead, Flint just started talking. "We discussed the matter in-house. Montague will represent Slytherin".
"Err.." Percy stalled as he tried to accept this breach of protocol. "Um… Yes, I suppose that's fine. Is that okay with the rest of Slytherin House". Nods from every green tie in the room assured Percy they were on board. "And Montague, are you willing to be Slytherin's representative?"
Eyes traveled and landed on the ever-solemn Graham Montague. The sixth-year Slytherin bowed his head once. "Yes", he agreed; shocking everyone who never had the pleasure of hearing his deep baritone voice before.
"Um… Okay", Percy moved on as I wrote Montague's name on the board and circled it. "Ravenclaw, who would like the be considered for your house representative?" Only Padma Patil and Terry Boot raised their hands. Though Flitwick still beamed in pride at the both of them. Huh. We had a lot of third years in this club. I thought we needed to focus on diversifying through house and blood status. But maybe we needed to consider age too. It would be important if we needed YUP to survive past a time when all the third years have graduated. "And Hufflepuff?" Percy continued.
With only three Hufflepuff members in YUP, it wasn't surprising when only one person raised their hand. Technically, since Diggory was the treasurer. Only two of them could take on the role of Hufflepuff representative. At least that made things easy. "And Finch-Fletchley will be the representative for Hufflepuff.
Like with Montague, I wrote Justin's name and circled it. Meanwhile, Diggory returned the favor from earlier in the meeting and clapped for his younger housemate with Macmillan following his example.
I set the chalk down as Percy explained the next bit. "Holly and I will pass out strips of parchment. Please write down who you want to represent your house from the names listed on the board. And um…" Percy paused to think. Not seeing the point of waiting for him to finish, I started handing out the pieces of parchment I'd torn up that morning. The activity turned out to be cathartic. "Hufflepuff and Slytherin can talk amongst themselves".
With only two groups voting, it didn't take long for everyone to finish. But conversation carried on for a few moments longer as I had the honor of tallying up the votes. Merlin, being vice president was boring. "Alright", I announced; standing up by the blackboard when I wanted everyone's attention. And other than Angelina and Alicia needing to shush Lee and my fellow triplets, everyone fell quiet fairly quickly. "For Ravenclaw, Boot got one vote and Padma got two votes".
As I circled Padma's name on the board, Turpin called out a question. "How is that possible? You only reported three votes and there are four of us?"
Shrugging in response, I answered, "One of you didn't vote". Three pairs of eyes found Luna. Who remained completely unbothered as she whispered with the Carrow twins. "For Gryffindor", I said; keeping things moving. Definitely didn't want to be stuck here all day. "Two people voted for the ghoul who lives in my attic. Thank you my dear brothers", I said dryly, looking up long enough to get a glimpse of Fred and George's identical grins.
"Anytime, sister mine", Fred responded as he stretched his arms behind his head. As if he was relaxing after a job well done. He and George preened a little when a small giggle escaped Ginny. It'd been a while since they last made her laugh.
"Granger had three votes. Parvati had three votes. And Longbottom had four votes", I listed off; finishing by circling Neville's name on the board.
"Very good", Percy inserted himself, taking control once more. "Now, if any matters come up relating to your houses that you think YUP can-"
From where the golden trio was sitting, Ron let out a relatively loud sneeze. Causing Adrian to frown at my little brother as Ron found his handkerchief to wipe his nose. Adrian looked as if Ron had personally offended him by the action. Though, I felt like it wasn't Ron's fault. He was still fighting off a rather nasty cold. Jumping into the great lake in the middle of January will do that to a person.
"Can bring it to the attention of your representative", Percy finished; eyeing Ron with a sort of 'I told you so' visage. "Next, we'll…"
And the meeting continued. We discussed how often we should meet until coming to the final conclusion that one official meeting a month would be best. But in addition, YUP officers and representatives would also meet once a month just to plan and stay ahead of things. And, to further our cause, we gave ourselves the goal to host a school-wide activity or just hold a club-only get-together once every two months. So much work. So ambitious. I blame all the Slytherins in the room.
We spent some time on a small tangent debating if we should use some of the club funds for a gavel. Half were for it. Half thought it would be a waste. The debate went on longer than necessary. Especially when Montague spoke up and reminded everyone we could simply transfigure one.
Back on topic, Percy started to sum up the meeting by asking everyone to brainstorm ideas for what we could do as our first event. It was too late to throw anything together for this month. But March was promising. "Any other business before we end the meeting?" Percy asked.
Unexpectantly… or maybe we didn't expect it as much as we should, Hermione had something to discuss. With her handheld ramrod straight over her head and her jaw set in a determined line, Hermione stared Percy down as she waited for him to call on her.
"Yes, Granger?" Percy asked; using the same tone of voice he generally used when he felt obligated to ask us triplets what we were doing even though he didn't want to know the answer.
"On February eleventh", Hermione started talking before fully lowering her hand. "Professor Hagrid is attending a hearing at the ministry about Buckbeak".
"My father is handling that", Flint commented.
At the same time, Hestia asked, "Who is Buckbeak?"
Zabini didn't bother to look up from the minutes he was taking as he answered her. "The hippogriff that attacked Malfoy at the start of last term".
"That's still going on?" Flora wondered. But only slightly.
"Yes, that's still going on", Hermione said loudly and forcibly; bringing the attention back to her. "I think it would be nice if we showed Professor Hagrid we're on his side. We could visit him at his hut before the hearing. Or we could write letters to the ministry stating we protest the execution of a hippogriff". Mmm…. Why do I get the feeling that the second suggestion is what Hermione really wants?
"Why would we do that?" Bulstrode asked as Neville ducked down and tried to pretend he wasn't present. "The ministry's not going to care what a bunch of school children think?"
Anyone over the age of twelve could feel the storm brewing. All could feel the rise in tension. "Thank you for that announcement", Percy jumped in, beating Hermione with her mouth wide open before she could say anything else. "I'm happy you felt comfortable in sharing something with us that is important to you". Percy spoke quickly so as to not give Hermione the chance to wrestle control away from him. Slowly the atmosphere lulled and tension evaporated. All except Hermione, who crossed her arms with flared nostrils. "If anyone would like to learn more or would like to help", Percy continued. This time addressing everyone, and at a normal speed. "Please talk with Granger". Percy took a deep breath, having run out of oxygen.
"And that's it for today", I stepped up; deciding Percy needed a minute. "Thanks for coming".
There was some mumbling about what just occurred as people began to move. But most were happy to talk amongst themselves as they got ready to leave. Specifically, Fred, Lee, and George who were muttering something about finding Filch before the day was over. A brave thing to do in the presence of three prefects. If the looks Diggory was sending them were anything significant.
Percy turned around so his back was to the others as his eyes found mine. He was holding them open round and wide, puffing air out of his mouth. Message received, I thought as I nodded at him in response. For the first officer/representative meeting, we knew what we wanted to talk about.
The golden trio were the first to leave the classroom. Hermione in the leading; agitated. Harry followed close to her heels; annoyed but not unapproachable. Ron followed behind them, slowing slightly only to shrug at us in a 'when in Rome' fashion. Watching them go, I prayed to Merlin for this to just be a third-year thing that wouldn't turn into a trend.
It didn't take long for the classroom to become close to empty. Flitwick scurried off after mentioning something about a staff meeting. The Hufflepuffs left together. My fellow triplets and Lee followed; heads bent together as the door closed behind them. I thought about running after and partaking in whatever horror they were about to unleash. But ultimately decided, I was too tired. Percy left with Flint. Poor Neville just about got dragged out of the room by Bulstrode and Davis. Who knew he'd be so popular with girls?
Soon, the only people in the room were me and Adrian. The occurrence wasn't accidental. Watching Adrian's approach, I let out a sigh that was bigger than it needed to be. As soon as he was close enough, I slumped my shoulders and rested my forehead on his collar bone. "I hate leadership roles", I admitted.
Adrian smirked into my hair as he embraced me. His fingers found a pattern on my back and started tracing it; brushing hair out of the way when he needed to. If I thought about it, I'd realize the pattern he was tracing was the length of my bra strap. "And yet, you were your brother's first choice", Adrian said softly and directly into my ear.
I groaned back at him in response. Things between us weren't perfect. There was a certain amount of wariness between us from having too many secrets. From Jessie's knowledge of a book series to Adrian's involvement with our latest dealings. Sometimes, throwing barbed words and accusatory glares at each other were the only thing we had the patience for as we worked out our issues. But we were working on them; allowing us to still have moments like this.
We stayed like that a while longer. Enjoying the feeling of each other and letting our ears get used to the silence. It was Adrian who moved first; pulling away only enough to make me pick up my head so we could look at each other. "Hogsmeade is this weekend".
Humming, I leaned into him as much as I could without breaking eye contact. "Which I'm still not allowed to go to", I pointed out. Spotting Lockhart at the skating rink had done nothing to soothe my parents' fears regarding their children's safety. As such, the rule that all Weasleys weren't allowed to visit the local wizarding settlement still stood. Well… except for Percy who was seventeen and could legally make his own decisions. Not that Mum still didn't try.
"Just in time for Valentine's too", Adrian continued. Losing interest in my shoulder blades, his hands traveled until they rested on my elbows. "Many will go just for that reason".
"Oh?" I asked. I had an idea where this was going but playing along is half the fun.
"It will be easy to find a quiet corner in the castle for just the two of us". Adrian's nose dipped closer to mine. "Maybe I'll bring along some refreshments as well".
"Adrian Pucey", I said in my best mimicry of a swooning voice as the scents of mint and pine engulfed my olfactory bulbs. "Are you asking me to be your valentine?"
The corners of Adrian's lips twitched upwards as his grey pupils made it difficult to look away. "Yes", Adrian answered as his hands left my elbows and found my waist. "For this year". Cold lips pecked the tip of my nose. "And next year". A kiss, lasting more than a few seconds, pressed against my left cheek. "And many more to come". This time, Adrian initiated what he would never do in public. His lips found mine and I fully participated; relishing in this private Adrian that I only got to see behind closed doors.
But alas, we had to come up for air at some point. Breathing through my mouth, I readjusted until his arms around were my waist and mine were wrapped around his neck. "How could I say no to that?"