Disclaimer: Harry Potter and friends belong to J.K. Rowling. I make no money from this story.
A/N: Any italics in the story are either flashback/thoughts or quoted directly from the books.
*Sorry for the lateness of this chapter. It is almost the end of the quarter and I have been swamped. Please look for 1-2 chapters a week starting the week of December 9th.
Please review, your feedback helps my writing improve and inspires me to write more content more often. ;)
Also – bold lettering is Parseltongue.
HLP 2 – Slytherin Secrets
Chapter 5:
Gryff woke to the sunlight streaming in his window. A light breeze tossed the curtains and fluttered the corners of the Puddlemere United posters decorating his walls. He stretched and sat up. A flurry of giggles from Rhonda's room told him that she and Harriet were already awake and he would have to rush if he wished to shower before noon. He could smell the wonderful aroma of his favorite breakfast of pancakes, sausage and hash browns. He gathered his clothing and a towel and rushed down the hall. Patricia was standing in the doorway of the bathroom, drying her hair, a large towel obscuring her body. When she saw him, she smiled. "Happy birthday, Gryffin, I'll be finished in a sec."
Sure enough, a moment later, he was ensconced in the bathroom, wiping steam off the mirror. He turned toward the shower, but before he had a chance to turn the knobs, a scream echoed through the burrow followed by a loud pounding. He rushed to the door and peered out. Patricia was standing outside the twins' door, pounding on it. Her hair stood straight up on her head, and was flashing scarlet and gold. Gryff closed the bathroom door quickly, snickering. Reaching into a cupboard under the sink, he removed a bottle of shampoo and placed it on the rack in the bathroom, replacing it with the bottle Patricia had just used. He'd originally intended the prank for one of the twins, but this was even better. He turned on the shower and stepped inside.
A few minutes later, he entered the kitchen of the Burrow, clad in black jeans and a white t-shirt. "Nice hair," he whispered to Patricia as he sat down at the table between Frederica and Harriet. Mrs. Weasley scowled at the twins before turning to him.
"Good morning, Gryff, happy birthday," she set a heaping plateful of his favorite foods before him and directed a tall glass of pumpkin juice to sit before him. He mumbled a "thank you," before diving in.
HLPHLPHLP
They flew around the makeshift quidditch pitch, laughing. He'd teamed up with Frederica and they'd played two-man quidditch against Harriet and Georgia. They hadn't used a snitch, just an old quaffle of Charlene's. After an hour of chasing each other around, trying to see who could score the most goals, the four of them landed, laughing.
"Merlin, Harriet, if you weren't seeker, Gryff here might have some competition when it comes to getting on the team." Georgia gasped, clutching her Comet 260.
"I might have competition anyway if he decides to try out for seeker," Harriet replied, smiling at Gryff.
"Nah, I'd rather be chaser. Besides, with both of us on the team, we are almost guaranteed the cup," Gryff replied, handing Harriet's Nimbus 2000 back to her. "That is some broom. I'll have to find a summer job if I want to save up for one." He admired the broom for a moment more before turning his attention back to Harriet. "Thanks for the gloves; by the way, they work great." He carefully peeled them off and tucked them into a pocket of his jeans.
"I thought you would like them. I got myself a pair of seeker gloves and thought you might enjoy a pair of your own." She walked toward the broom shed, Gryff close beside her. The twins sprinted ahead, leaving them alone.
"So, what is Hogwarts really like?" Gryff asked.
"It's wonderful, well, except for the whole Quirrel thing anyway," Harriet replied.
"Yeah, so what really happened with that?"
"He tried to kill me in the hallway outside his office. He had Voldemort attached to the back of his head," she shuddered and took a deep breath. "To make a long story short, we fought, I passed out, and Professors McGonagall and Snape saved me," she summed up, uncomfortable with discussing the details of that night.
Gryff frowned, "sorry. I didn't think about the fact that you might not want to talk about it."
"I don't like to talk about it. Be careful of Lockhart this year, he gives me the creeps," Harriet whispered, "Besides, I'm almost certain he's a fraud."
"He looked like he was rubbing his hand on your shoulder?" Gryff asked, remembering the photo shoot in Flourish and Blotts.
"He was. It was really creepy. The problem is your mum thinks I was imagining things. She thinks he can do no wrong."
They stowed their brooms in the shed and wandered to the orchard to find Rhonda. It took ten minutes of searching before they found her, up a tree, sitting on a branch. She waved down at them and then frowned.
"So what's up with the hand-holding?"
"What?" Gryff and Harriet looked down to discover that somewhere along the way they'd joined hands. They pulled away, blushing. Gryff thrust his hands into his pockets.
"When did that happen? I don't remember taking your hand?" Harriet mused, her face still crimson.
"That's odd, I don't recall that either," he looked up at Rhonda. "I swear, if you say anything about this to anyone, you'll be getting a tarantula for Christmas.
Rhonda, who'd been planning to tease her brother about it, blanched. "You wouldn't dare. Mum would kill you," she bluffed.
"Rhonda, please don't say anything, especially after we get to Hogwarts. I'd hate to think what they'd start saying about us," Harriet pled.
Rhonda sighed, "I won't mention it to anyone, but don't let the twins see it, or you'll never live it down."
The three of them spent the rest of the day in the orchard, discussing Hogwarts and the teachers and classes.
HLPHLPHLP
The trip to platform 93/4 was frenzied. Rhonda and the twins were scrambling around, trying to cram last-minute items into their trunks. Harriet and Gryff were seated at the kitchen table alongside Patricia, whose hair was now back to normal, finishing up breakfast. Their trunks were already loaded into the Ford Anglia along with Hedwig's cage. Hedwig was perched on the back of Harriet's chair, nibbling a piece of bacon.
Gryff leaned over, "thanks for helping me pack."
Harriet finished chewing and took a sip of pumpkin juice before answering, "No problem. Uncle always insists I have my trunk ready the night before, so I had nothing else to do. Rhonda wasn't up yet, and I'm not about to touch her stuff without asking."
Mrs. Weasley hollered up the stairs, "You girls have five minutes."
Ten minutes later, they were all crowded into the Weasleys' car, headed for London.
They met up with Herman and Cassandra just outside the barrier to the platform.
"Have you ever been to platform 93/4 before, my dear?" Mr. Weasley asked Cassandra.
"No, but I've been quite looking forward to the experience."
"All you do is go through that pillar there," he gestured, "Why don't you watch and we'll show you how it's done, then you can come through with Harriet and Rhonda," he suggested.
"That sounds fair," Cassandra stepped back beside the pair of giggling girls, watching as the twins and Mrs. Weasley went through, followed by Mr. Weasley, Gryff, and Herman.
"That doesn't seem too hard," Cassandra commented.
"It's easy, just stay beside us," Harriet advised. They glided toward the barrier, pushing their trolleys before them.
There was a jarring *crash* as they collided with a solid wall, and bobby came walking over to see what had happened. Harriet helped Rhonda and Cassandra up and they began to pick up the scattered luggage. Hedwig glared at Harriet as she placed the cage atop the pile on her trolley.
"What's going on here? Are you alright Ma'am?" the bobby asked.
"Yeah, we are all fine. I wasn't watching where I was going and I ran into these young ladies, quite literally if I may say so," Cassandra lied blandly to the man.
Harriet and Rhonda looked up at her, a shocked respect in their eyes. They were interrupted by the loud *bong-bong-* of the clock.
"Oh, no, we've missed it!" Rhonda gasped.
"Where are you girls headed?" the bobby asked.
"We were supposed to catch the eleven o'clock. We were talking and lost track of mum and dad," Harriet stretched the truth slightly. The bobby looked them over again, taking note of the trunks and the cages holding Hedwig and Scabbers.
"If you young ladies come with me, I'll show you to the lounge. You can wait there while I send a message to the Headmaster so someone can come and pick you girls up," He winked at the shocked expressions on their faces.
HLPHLPHLP
They had been sitting for two hours playing muggle rummy with Herman's sister when a gasp from Cassandra had them looking up. Professor Snape was standing before them, wearing muggle slacks with a black shirt and green tie. He had a matching black jacket over the top.
"Professor," Cassandra said standing up, "how are you?"
"Never better, yourself?" Snape asked.
Rhonda goggled, mouth hanging open. Harriet grinned and reached over, closing her mouth with one finger.
"I am great. I just finished my internship in the States," Cassandra's eyes were shining.
"That is good to hear. You must be Herman's sister. I'm here to escort Miss Potter and Miss Weasley to school," He replied formally.
"I didn't realize you taught at Hogwarts, sir. Are family members allowed to tour the school?" Cassandra asked eagerly. She had plied Arthur and Molly for hours about information regarding the wizarding world, clearly as fascinated by the wizarding world as Arthur was with the muggle one.
"I am not sure of the policy regarding muggle families touring the school. I will enquire with the Headmaster and see if something can be arranged. Your brother can send you an owl if we can arrange something. Unfortunately, I am running behind schedule and must postpone any further discussion for another time," he turned toward Harriet and Rhonda. "Miss Weasley, Miss Potter, if the two of you would please accompany me," he gestured before him, and the two girls said goodbye to Cassandra and headed for the door.
Looking around to ensure no one else was watching, Severus Snape waved his wand and shrank their trunks, placing them in his pockets. He then bowed politely to Cassandra and followed the girls out.
O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
A/N: Thank you to my loyal readers. Just a note to let you know I am changing the Rating on HLP, HLP2, & HLP3 (forthcoming) to 'T'. Further story ratings are undecided at this time.