(Hi! Sorry for the impossibly long wait. Here's a slightly longer chapter I hope can make up for some of that. Thank you to all my readers and I hope you enjoy! [I don't own the Harry Potter world])
Chapter 3:
Oonah opened her eyes, smiling sleepily as sunlight peeked into her room through her lilac curtains. She got into Hogwarts. And the official letter displayed on her nightstand proved that it wasn't all a dream.
"Diagon Alley!" Oonah remembered, sitting up quickly. To say she was excited would be an understatement. Every year, Oonah accompanied her sisters to the colorful shops, and every year, she seemed to be forgotten there. When she was only 6, she actually had been left in Flourish and Blotts as her family rushed to buy Tasha an owl, a congratulations for finishing top of her class as a first year. Other than that, her parents had left her the job of babysitting Tara. Not that she minded, as Tara's cuteness alone was enough to convince Oonah to do the task, but the rest of her family left them for hours with no money. Her father said it was so they could do "succinct school shopping" but Oonah always noticed her sisters came back with a little toy or treat tucked in their pockets.
"Breakfast is ready!" Oonah heard Bia shout from downstairs. So Oonah pulled herself out of bed, grabbed some clothes, and smiled; because this year she wouldn't be left behind. This year, she would make her family proud.
Ten minutes later, Oonah grabbed a plate of blueberry pancakes—Bia's favorite muggle food to make—and seated herself at the table.
"Num, Num, Num," Tara sang from her place next to Oonah, adding sound effects to the meal.
"Hush," Raza told her daughter firmly. "We don't make noises at the table." Tara's shoulders slumped a little, but she stopped.
"Eat," Oonah whispered, nudging Tara's plate closer. "We're gonna go shopping after this, you'll need your energy.
"You mean you will," Tara corrected.
"Ya, but you'll be there too."
"But I'll miss you," Tara mumbled.
"What?" Oonah asked, her brain taking a second to comprehend the muffled speech. "You mean at Hogwarts?"
Tara nodded.
"I'll miss you too," Oonah said, toying with Tara's braids. "I'll write to you every week, alright?"
Tara nodded.
"Come home for the holidays too."
Oonah hesitated. Her sisters never did, preferring to spend it with their friends who also stayed. And Oonah definitely wasn't thrilled at the prospect of spending extra days with her parents. But she had never been apart from Tara…
"Of course I'll come," Oonah decided, putting her arm around the girl and giving her a squeeze. I just hope I don't regret that later.
"When are we leaving?" Bia asked, shoving the last of the pancake into her mouth.
"In an hour," Hadan replied.
"Where's Kisha?" Oonah wondered, realizing there was one empty seat.
"She's upstairs," Bia told her.
"Why?" Oonah asked curiously. "Didn't she want breakfast?"
"She's moping," Bia whispered, leaning across the table so not to be overheard by their parents.
"What? What does she have to mope about?"
"Didn't get head girl."
Oonah rolled her eyes.
"So she gets one failure and will be crying for days."
"Don't talk about Kish that way," Bia said quietly.
"Why not?" Oonah snapped. "Because I was there worrying if I would be accepted in life at all and her biggest problem was becoming the best of the best?"
"Hey!" Haden shouted. "We don't talk bad about each other at this table!"
Oonah bit her tongue, longing to shout back that they did talk bad about her, when they all thought she'd be a squib. Instead, she took a deep breath and nodded, avoiding Tara's fearful look at her outburst. Oonah's gaze fell on her mum. Raza's eyes were narrowed at Oonah, shining with anger, her jaw was clenched with rage, but when she spoke, it was barely a whisper.
"Did Kisha fail to get head girl?"
Bia winced at her mum's word choice
"Yes," Oonah murmured.
"And so what?" Bia shouted. "Did you really think she had got it when she didn't run downstairs screaming yesterday?"
There was a stunned silence in which Tara gave a quiet whimper. Oonah grabbed her hand protectively.
"Well?" Bia asked. "Did you, Mother?"
"I didn't notice," Raza admitted, her tone cool.
"You never do," Oonah whispered. Only Tara heard her.
"So are you gonna yell at her?" Bia snapped. "Disown her? Are you-"
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Hadan bellowed, standing up so fast he nearly knocked his chair over.
"You do NOT speak to your mother like that!"
Bia held his furious gaze, unblinking.
"Go to your room!"
Bia obeyed, running from the table. The thud of her feet could be heard on steps, as everything else was dead silent.
"I need to finish packing up," Oonah muttered, then cleared her dishes and sprinted out of the room before anyone could stop her. She glanced back and saw Tara, her eyes filled with frightened tears, staring after her sisters. Oonah kept running. She made it to her room only to find Bia standing in the corner, her hands on her hips and her rage rivaling her mother's.
"How dare you tell on Kisha like that," she hissed, wafting syrup breath into Oonah's face. "How dare you!"
"Since when do you care?" Oonah hissed back. "Just last night you were calling her a spoiled brat!"
"Because she is!" Bia shot back, her voice rising.
"Then why are you so upset when I do it?"
"Since when do you yell like that?"
"Since now!"
"Don't go getting a big head just because you got into Hogwarts and won Mum and Dad's approval for once!"
"Don't go being such a hypocrite!" Oonah shouted.
Bia stared at her, her breath coming in shallow pants. To Oonah's surprise, Bia's lip trembled.
"You don't know what it's like," Bia said, her voice shaking slightly.
"No, it's you who doesn't know what it's like!" Oonah practically shrieked.
"You're wrong. And I've only got a whiff of it. It's Kisha who-" Bia broke off and took in a suck of air. "Our parents have impossible expectations, you know that. But for Kisha, they're 10 times bigger. Because she's so perfect. And yeah, she acts all spoiled and stuck up. But what happens now? She isn't perfect, and nobody seems to understand that! I am so far from perfect, I'm a rule breaker! Hogwarts is my escape, but it's also my bonds, because if I don't keep my grades up, if I put one toe too far out of line…" Bia trailed off.
Oonah's mouth fell open.
"Bia," she started, "I'm sorry for yelling at breakfast. But you're wrong. I do get it. I've been living it, the constant fear of being shunned by you guys when my fate was out of my hands."
"But it's alright now, you're in."
"Yes, but according to you, that means nothing if I don't keep up my act." Oonah sighed.
"It's true," Bia agreed.
"So how do you do it?" Oonah whispered, looking up at Bia like a child.
"You make some friends and have fun with them, while keeping up with your grades as best you can."
Oonah nodded.
"I'm sorry for yelling too," Bia said quietly. "I don't really think you said anything wrong. I was just upset."
"We should go see Kisha," Oonah suggested.
"Right," Bia agreed, following her across the hall. Oonah knocked. There was no answer, but the door was unlocked, so she entered, Bia coming in behind her. Oonah froze as she stared at the strange sight in front of her. Kisha was lying on the floor with about a dozen books open in front of her. Her cauldron was out, and there was actually a potion brewing. As Oonah tentatively approached her, she noticed heavy bags under her sister's eyes.
"What on earth are you doing?" Bia asked.
Kisha quickly sat up, moving in front of her work.
"Nothing," she said quickly. "How did you get in?"
"It was unlocked," Oonah replied. "Hey, did you sleep at all last night?"
"Yeah, you look exhausted!" Bia chimed in. "Didn't you say you were getting to bed at nine?"
Kisha looked confused.
"Did I?" she asked. "Oh, right, I did. I mean, I did get to sleep. I just slept badly."
"What are you doing?" Oonah questioned.
"Are you brewing a potion?" Bia wondered.
"I am," Kisha said. "And no, I won't tell you why."
"Don't do something stupid just because you didn't get head girl," Bia warned.
"I never do anything stupid," Kisha replied coolly. "I act smart, not rash."
Oonah leaned over Kisha to see the potion, transfixed with the clear, smooth looking liquid that seemed to breathe in its cauldron.
"It's pretty," Oonah said.
"Thank you, but potions aren't made to look pretty. They're made to be a tool in obtaining something you want or need," Kisha said with an air of superiority.
"She knows, Kish," Bia told her.
"Guys?" Oonah asked tentatively. "Maybe we should make a pact or something."
"A pact?" Kisha repeated, the word sounding like a scoff on her tongue.
"To look out for each other," Oonah explained shyly.
"I'm in," Bia agreed. "Come on, Kish, we'll be stronger united."
"Against what?"
"The evil lizards that squirm in your bed every night," Bia joked. Oonah giggled. "Come on, just united in general."
"So we can face any challenges the world, or our parents throw at us," Oonah explained.
"Pleaseee," Bia begged, plopping down on the floor next to Kisha. Oonah sat down too and stuck out her hand.
"All in favor of team BOK?"
"As long as we don't call it that." Bia grinned and placed her hand on top of Oonah's. Kisha's gaze flickered from Oonah's determined face to Bia's smiling one. She set her jaw and let out a quiet huff.
"Very well," Kisha relented, adding her hand to the pile.
"To team BOK!" Oonah said happily, lifting her hand into the air.
"To team anything but BOK!" Bia said, punching the air.
Kisha quickly moved her hand back to her lap, but a faint smile played on her lips.
Somehow, the warmth bubbling in Oonah felt greater than it had last night when the whole family had celebrated her. As Bia ruffled her hair playfully and Kisha gave in to a small smile, Oonah knew that not only had she earned approval, she had also earned love.
(Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed! I will try to publish more regularly, so more to come hopefully soon! Leave a review with your thoughts, questions, suggestions, requests, or concerns. My readers are why I finally decided to continue this story so thank you!)