=.=
WALK THE LINE
Harry x OC
'for those that don't feel wanted.'
Chapter 12: Letters Of Summer: Year One
Song Choice: Riptide by Vance Joy
July 1st
Sarah,
I would ask how your summer has been so far, but I decided it couldn't be as entertaining as mine has been. I negotiated with Mum to help set up some quidditch hoops this summer. Stop by if you'd like a few lessons. You'll need them if you want to make it on the team.
Cerus
July 3rd
Cerus,
This is a rather roundabout way of telling me you need more practice, but I accept. I will ask Maggie when it would be best to visit. She mentioned visiting a few other friends, along with an old mentor of hers this summer. I'm not entirely sure, it was all said while waxing poetry over how much food she could shove down Harry's throat before sending him home. I'll send you another owl once we have our affairs in order.
Sarah
Sarah,
I hope this letter finds you well. Summer has been a nice time for me to catch up on my studies. I'm excited for our eventual return to Hogwarts. How has Maggie been? I was also wondering why Harry has not replied to any of my mail? Have I not sent it correctly? I worry for him. Is he alright? I'm certain you and he are spending quality time together, but I feel as though something is amiss? Perhaps I'm reading into things and he simply hasn't replied yet.
Regards,
Hermione
July 7th
Hermione,
Harry is alright. It is not my place to say, but home life can be... difficult for him. We spend most days in my room. I suppose it helps us decompress, no one to ogle at the Boy Who Lived. He says he has not gotten any of your letters; perhaps send them to me? I will play pigeon until things are sorted.
Regards,
Sarah
Sarah,
You forgot your broom! I've stored it away so that Cerus can't try and fly away with it. Merlin knows he'd swap them the first chance he got. It was good to see you! He's insufferable. I don't believe we got the chance to really unpack our first year. I heard from Cerus and harry how brave you had been, and I apologize for my distance. I suppose it was all just very overwhelming. Can't wait to see you next week!
Selene
July 10th
Selene,
I owe you lemon drops, thank you.
Sarah
Ron,
Sarah has replied. She says that Harry hasn't gotten any of our letters. She has offered to take them for us and give them in case something has gone amiss. Please address them to her, for Harry's sake. And no, do not roll your eyes at me, Ronald Weasley!
Hermione
July 12th
Hermione,
Knowing Williams, she's up to something. You sure she can be trusted? I suppose if it's for Harry, she wouldn't do anythin right? Let's see.
Ron
Williams,
Hermione says you're playing pigeon. Always knew you were a bird at heart. Don't read any of the letters I've attached. I'll know if it was you.
Ron
Harry,
What's happened to you?! Don't tell me Williams kidnapped you and stuffed you in a broom closet! I've invited you over to my house twice now. Mum refused to check in when I asked. She laughed at me when I said Sarah may be keeping you hostage. It might sound mad, but she's a bloody scary witch if she took on You-Know-Who like she did last month.
Anyway, you should come visit! Let me know the best way to get you here! I don't really know muggle transportation but I'm sure we could make do! How has your summer been? Mine's been alright, mostly de-gnoming the garden beds and playing quidditch with Fred and George. Well, not really qudditch, we can't use any of the real balls, but we can toss fruit at each other instead. Fred says it makes them more accurate as beaters. You might need to sign an autograph when you get here. Ginny won't stop hounding me about what you're like and when you'll get here. You have to see the car Dad brought back! It can fly- oh but I'll tell you more when you get here.
I should hurry this up, lest Williams change her mind.
Ron
Sarah,
Thank you for this! I'm glad Harry is alright, but I am worried about what you mean by home life being difficult? I suppose it is not my place to say, so I will refrain from asking more.
Hermione
Harry,
I hope this letter finally makes it! I've been so worried without any word from you! When Ron said none of his letters were replied to either, I don't know if I felt relief or more worry. Well, thankfully Sarah has said she will return this to you, and I trust her to. Of course, otherwise I would be writing this for nothing!
How has summer been? Sarah mentioned that home life may have been causing difficulty? Perhaps she meant with the letters. I may be over-thinking, but it worries me. Knowing you, it has something terrible involved, but I'm sure Sarah wouldn't let you do it alone. How is she, by the way? I'm not certain she's pleased with this arrangement, but she had offered to do it. Though I feel it is only to ensure you aren't completely miserable. I do hope she's had a lovely summer as well.
Hermione
July 14th
Ronald,
Harry says you mention me a lot in your letters. Am I really inside that thick skull of yours every day? I cannot blame you, though green really isn't your colour. I'd suggest purple, but it clashes horribly with the Canons colouring.
Williams
Ron,
I don't know why I haven't received any of your letters. I've yet to see a single owl. Sarah has some theories, but neither of us could tell you honestly why none have arrived. She delivered this to me right away, so I don't want to hear you bad mouthing her!
Anyway, summer hasn't been so bad. Sarah and I have spent most of it together whenever we can. She and Maggie have been travelling together a lot. I believe Maggie wanted to take the summer off so they could be together. I usually spend most evening with them in their home. Maggie took me to see Hogsmeade the last time she and Sarah visited the Sallows. I couldn't keep up with it but she was saying we would visit the place in third year?
What on Earth is de-gnoming? I'll have to find out whenever I can visit. I would love to anytime, but right now is a bit difficult. We'll have to play a round of quidditch. Sarah would love it too, if you could stand to keep to yourself long enough. I think you two could get along if you tried. You're both incredibly stubborn.
I'll have to cut this one short. I'm happy to hear from you. I was beginning to think this was all a fever dream, that I made the entire thing up. That you had forgotten about me. Glad that's not the case.
Harry
Hermione,
Hope summer has been treating you well. Here is Harry's letter. Any thoughts on vanishing letters? I've not even seen an owl near his house the entire summer.
Sarah
Hermione,
Yes! Your letter finally made it! Sarah and I can't figure out why the letters haven't made it. Neither can Maggie. She has never had that happen before. Thoughts? Thanks for the vote of confidence, by the way. I'll have you know summer has been extraordinarily boring. Most of my time is spent at Sarah's, though Maggie did take us to see the Sallows and we visited Hogsmeade. It was only a day trip, all I- we had time for. I think Sarah meant that our location was difficult. Hard to say, I don't always know what she's thinking either, admittedly.
Also, I don't think she did this just for me. It might be hard to believe, but she does like you both- well, Ron's a hard sell. I think they both enjoy mocking each other more than anything. I think she likes you, at least. She asked about you, before your first letter to her, wondering how you had been. If you're ever unsure what to talk about, ask her about music. She loves music by artists like Johnny Cash and Louis Armstrong, and she loves listening to Chopin. Maggie bought her a record player for her first year at Hogwarts. We often lay on the floor and listen to an entire vinyl after supper, but I think she listens to it even when I'm not around.
Anyway, she's trustable, and I hope you have had a nice summer as well? Why on Earth are you doing schoolwork? Never mind, silly question. Of course you would be studying for next year already. Can't wait to see you both again, I was worried it had all been a dream.
Harry
July 31st
Ron,
Have you received any letters from Harry or Sarah? I sent them one last week, but neither replied. What on Earth is going on?
Hermione
August 1st
Hermione,
I told you! Sarah's locked him in the broom closet!
Ron
August 2nd
Ronald,
I cannot believe I'm saying this, but Harry needs your help.
To put it mildly, Harry's aunt and uncle are horrible people, and while it's not my place to say so, I think yesterday was the last straw. They've locked him in his room. There are bars on his window, Hedwig is trapped in a cage, and all of his things are locked away. I don't know if you're being stubborn about sending letters through me, but i hope you care for Harry as much as you claim. He needs your help. He mentioned you had invited him over? Perhaps you simply need to pick him up. He said you mentioned a flying car in a previous letter.
Can you help?
Williams
August 3rd
Williams,
What kind of friend would I be? Leaving Harry like that? How in the Bloody Hell did you leave him like that? Honestly, some friend you can be. Looks like I take the lead on this one. We'll have him out in no time, no thanks to you.
Ron
August 4th
Sarah,
There's so much to tell you in this letter. I don't even know where to begin. I found out why the letters weren't getting to me. It was because of a house-elf named Dobby. He was blocking letters from getting to me, and then when he realized they were going through you, he stopped them there as well. He told me not to come back to Hogwarts, that something terrible was going to happen this year. He even got me in bigger trouble with the Dursleys. When Dobby cast a charm in their house, the Ministry contacted me about underage magic. When my uncle found out I wasn't allowed to do magic, he locked me away. I'm not telling you this to upset you, just so you understand. I haven't seen Dobby since. Fred and George told me it was probably an elaborate prank- maybe it was Malfoy. Sleazy git.
I'm sorry, this is my fault. There was a huge stack of letters for you that I never got to send. Dobby handed me them only after he admitted to what he'd done. They're here with me now, but hopefully they will make it back to you. I have to ask, since I don't know all the names, but who is Ominis? I think you mentioned him, but I'm curious. Sallow writes you a lot too. What on earth are you up to Sar?
Anyway, thank you for telling Ron about me. I understand how frustrated you were. How many warnings did you get, when you tried ripping the bars off the wall? I expect Maggie was livid when she heard you tried to use your wandless magic to set me free. Hopefully she wasn't too upset at you.
I want you to know that it's not your fault. This was entirely mine, I should've known better than to threaten Dudley with magic. I didn't even think about the consequence of actual magic being used. I don't even think they realized you tightened his shirt until the buttons broke, it was hilarious though. One went into the pudding! Anyway, thank you for always trying for me. I genuinely don't think I thank you enough.
You should come and visit the burrow. It's such a character. I know you and Ron can't get along to save your skins, but Mrs. Weasley insists you and Maggie need to visit before we return to school. Fred and George keep making it sound like Ron is terrified of you and their mum is curious if you look like a spider. No matter how much I insist you don't.
I should go, Ron wants to show me the field they use for quidditch. We should meet in Diagon Alley. The Weasleys will be going on the 19th, Hermione is as well.
I miss you already,
Harry
August 6th
Harry,
I'm happy you've made it out of that house. I would say something about the Weasleys, but I'd hate to insult the twins or their family. They have some brilliance that Ron sorely lacks I'm afraid. You'll have to regale me with your daring escape sometime, when we meet at Diagon. Maggie agreed that would be a good date. It's been rather busy here, but I think Maggie is having kittens over my wandless magic again. It's rather difficult to control when I'm anxious bored. She was very disappointed in me trying to magic the bars off your window, but I could see something akin to understanding when she scolded me. Surprisingly, she simply slapped my wrist and left it at that.
That house elf sounds like something Malfoy would do, but I would hate to discount something that could be a warning. You should be careful when we return, and make sure you aren't up to no good. Don't let Weasley lead you astray! I am sorry to say, but there is no hope of us ever getting along. It is almost enthralling to antagonize him, he's such an easy target some days. However, Maggie has mentioned that she would love to catch up with the Weasleys. Did you know she used to be close friends with Mrs. Weasley's younger brother, Gideon? I swear she knows everyone, honestly. She plans to send an owl to Mrs. Weasley once we've returned from another trip.
As for who is Ominis, he is a friend of the Sallows. Sebastian, Cerus' great grandfather, and Ominis have a long history together. They went to Hogwarts together too. I enjoy watching them banter, and sometimes I wonder if that will be us one day. Old, grey, back pain, but still best friends. Putting up with me for another century must be dreadful news.
Anyway, Ominis has been writing to Maggie and I, trying to plan Christmas early this year. He's inviting us to spend time at his place and wanted to insure we all had a say. He's very kind, and I enjoy speaking with him. You would like him too, perhaps you can come with us for Christmas? I can ask Ominis if you would be interested. That does mean suffering through Cerus' company, I'm afraid. Hopefully he'll be house trained by then.
Lastly, I've included my gift for your birthday. We were all supposed to go to a quidditch match together. Maggie wanted you to see it for yourself! But the Dursley's prevented that. The tickets are good for another game later this season, and we both agreed it should be something you get to experience still. There's three tickets inside, please enjoy them. Honestly, take Weasley, it'll be the nicest thing he could ever afford to touch.
This is the longest we've been apart, hasn't it?
I might miss you too,
Sarah
Hey y'all, thanks for reading.
I wanted to cover some things that happen in summer without repeating the first few chapters of CoS. Next chapter will cover Diagon and potentially get us into Hogwarts. This year will have quite a few changes to plot. Just in case people wanna know, I always imagine the barebones events to be the same, but how we go about it can be entirely different. Anybody wanna hedge bets about what's going to happen this year? It's going to get quite a bit dark. Admittedly, because they were children's books, the events that occurred were, in my opinion, rather 'light' for what actually happened in second year.
Gryffindorforever4242: Thank you for reviewing!
uiuonn: That was exactly the vibes I had for Cerus in mind, admittedly. He is a real Slytherin, and I wanted characters that readers wouldn't like to make them feel more authentic tbh. Thank you for reading.
Anyway, cheers.
Iland Girl.