Greetings it's been a while. The dreaded writer's block struck again and I've decided instead of trying to get these chapters out quickly I'm just going to take my time and refine them and make them the best I can. As usual I only own my OCs :)
Chapter 18
The Christmas break flew by and before long we were making the journey back to King's cross. I was extremely quiet the whole ride and I knew George could tell something was wrong. As we reached the platform Fred dashed off to find Angelina and Percy made his way onto the train to start organising the students.
"You okay Shell?" George pulled me under his arm as made our way towards the train. I nodded reaching up to fiddle with the lily pendant. Carefully flipping the flower back and forth between my fingers. We managed to find a compartment before they filled up with the many students returning for the term. I placed my bag on the shelf above the seats and took up residence closest to the window so that I could watch the scenery pass by. I found it calming and distracting. George perched on the seat across from me and a few minutes later we were joined by Fred and Angelina. As the final student boarded the train, the conductor gave a whistle and with a puff of white smoke and the shrill sound of the horn, we were once again on our way to Hogwarts.
Throughout the journey Fred and Angelina laughed and played games while George watched me quietly over the top of his book. I kept my eye firmly on the window watching as the trees flew by in a blur. I knew that he wanted to say something, that it was taking everything in him not too. The rest of this year was going to be interesting to say the least.
After a long and torturous journey, the Hogwarts Express finally pulled into Hogsmeade station. I stayed put as the other students made their way off the train and towards the carriages that would take us to the castle. George stayed behind with me, yet Fred and Angelina filtered in with the other students getting lost in all the chaos. George and I followed once the crowd had died down and took a steady walk towards the final carriage. Now to many students these carriages pulled themselves, yet I could see what lay in front of them. The form of a skeletal horse with wings lay in front of the charcoal black carriage their breath visible in front of them as the huffed with impatience. These foreboding looking creatures were Thestrals and could only be seen by those who had witness death. We boarded the carriage and with a huff and flap of their wings the Thestrals began the steady journey towards the castle.
"You know you can talk to me, right?" George leant forward resting his elbows upon his knees.
"I know" I sighed "I just don't really feel like talking" I fiddled with the end of my braid. I knew George wouldn't push; he'd let me talk about it in my own time. Unlike the train journey this one went by quickly and before long we arrived at the castle. We departed the carriages and greeted Hagrid before departing to our respective common rooms. Hannah had stayed behind for Christmas and promised to look after Nugget for me, hopefully he hadn't caused her too much trouble. I took a steady walk past the kitchens, breathing in the delightful smell of food cooking as I passed. Tapping out the password, I waited for the entrance to open before heading into the common room. The warming yellow colour of the walls was a welcoming sight, the fireplace alive with a crackling fire. A few students were scattered around the common room, the odd one gave me a wave and a small smile. I tucked a hair behind my ear and scurried towards my dorm. As I opened the door I was hit by a small blonde-haired girl.
"Shell! You're back, don't worry Nugget has been very well looked after" Hannah rushed out in excitement. I couldn't help but chuckle at her enthusiasm.
"It's good to see you too Hannah" I hugged her back before making my way over to my bed where I found Nugget sleeping soundly on a pillow.
"He's been really good, not tried to steal anything shiny...well he might have found a watch that Eve left behind but that's her loss" Hannah tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear as she perched on the end of my bed.
"Well, we had better put that back, she doesn't need any more reasons to hate me" I sighed gently removing the watch from Nuggets grasp and placing it on the draws next to Eve's bed.
"I really don't know what her problem is" Hannah played with the end of her skirt. I shrugged and took a seat next to her.
"I guess she just doesn't like anyone who's different" I chewed the inside of my cheek and ran a finger over my scars. I was glad to be back at Hogwarts, yet in the same breath I was dreading being around Eve again. She always knew what to say to hurt me and as much as I tried to brush it off it still stung.
"Never mind that, how was your Christmas?" She hopped of the bed to head over to her own as she listened intently. She knelt down to the bottom of the drawers to retrieve something before taking her place back on my bed. I didn't explain my constant battle on whether I should tell Fred about my feelings, that was something that I wanted to keep to myself for a little while longer.
"How was your Christmas?" I crossed my legs in front of me, chuckling quietly as Nugget squeaked at the movement but never waking from his deep sleep.
"Quiet but eventful" She smiled "this little one manged to keep me on my toes' she scratched the back of Nuggets head to which he gave a disgruntled grunt before rolling over onto the other pillow.
"He is very good at doing that" I giggled, happy to know that Nugget had found another friend in Hannah.
"Oh, I have something for you, it's not much but I thought you might like it" she handed me a parcel wrapped in brown paper.
"Hannah, you didn't have to" I gently took the present "I didn't get you anything".
"Don't worry about it, I just saw this and thought of you" She smiled and encouraged me to open the gift. Carefully, I peeled the paper away from the gift, raising an eyebrow as I saw what was inside. Nestled in the packaging was a book about magical creatures, but not one I had seen before.
"Thank you, Hannah, this is really great" I pulled her into a hug before opening the book to read the first page.
"I know you like to read before you go to bed and thought this might be something you'd like" She pulled her legs up underneath her. It was true I did like to read before I went to sleep it helped to distract me from whatever had happened during the day.
"Thankyou its brilliant" I smiled and carefully placed the book on my draws. We spent the rest of the night just chatting and playing a game of exploding snap. Nugget grunted at us when we woke him up with our laughter and made his way into the little makeshift bed I had created for him in my bottom drawer. Don't worry I had moved the potions so that he couldn't get his little paws on them. As the night drew in, we brought out game to a close and readied ourselves for bed, as I knew in the morning, I would need to find Harry and ask how his Christmas was.
I was awoken the next morning by the sun streaming through the round windows. Yawning I stretched and made to get out of bed to start my day. I quickly dressed, feeding Snowy and Nugget before making my way down to the Great Hall. As I reached the hall, I could see the tables filled with students chatting animatedly about their Christmas breaks. As usual the tables were piled high with copious amounts of food. I started to make my way over to the Hufflepuff table when I saw Harry eagerly waving at me.
"Shell over here" He grinned as he made space for me to sit with them. I laughed as a I made my way over to them, taking the seat next to Harry.
"It's good to see you Shell" Harry pulled me into a hug, which I returned after a short moment of surprise. Hey don't judge me I was still getting use to the fact that my brother finally knew who I was. George pushed a plate of food over to me and grinned as I raised my eyebrow at him.
"Trying to fatten me up Weasley?" I asked as my eyes widened at the mountain of food.
"Not at all, you just look a bit peaky is all" He stopped himself from laughing by shoving a forkful of bacon into his mouth. I rolled my eyes at him and turned back to Harry. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Fred and Angelina talking animatedly about something. I shook of the impending feeling that always seem to creep up on me whenever I saw them together.
"How was your Christmas?" I munched on a piece of fried toast trying to keep my attention on Harry.
"Awesome! Mrs Weasley made me a jumper and I got an Invisibility cloak" Harry practically bounced in his seat with excitement.
"Invisibility cloak?" I quickly glanced around to check that no one else was listening "Please tell me you didn't use it to go to the third floor again". I was a little worried about his answer, as I was supposed to be keeping him safe and that little niggling feeling was back. I know what you're going to say, I can't be around all the time and did deserve a break but I couldn't help but feel the huge responsibility that was weighing on my shoulders.
"Nope" He muttered nonchalantly "but I did find a mirror and it showed me mum and dad" his green eyes sparkled as he mentioned our parents. I took another bite of friend bread as I processed the information. A mirror that showed our parents? Surely that was impossible.
"That sounds cool, I'd love to see them one more time" I sighed.
"I'll show you, meet me after dinner tonight and I'll bring the cloak" Harry grinned before turning back to tuck into his breakfast "Oh and Shell thank you for the Christmas presents, I'm sorry I didn't get you anything".
"It's okay, I'm glad you liked them" I smiled and carried on eating my own breakfast. We finished our meals and moved to make our way to our respective lessons.
"Harry?" I caught his arm before he headed off to defence "I really shouldn't be encouraging you but I will see you after dinner". He pulled me into a hug before running over to Ron and Hermione. Yep, I knew now that hewas going to cause me a lot of trouble, possibly more than the twins and that is saying something.
"So, how's things with Harry?" George pulled me out of my thoughts as he slung an arm around me and began directing me towards Divination. Divination was strange to say the least and Professor Trelawney was a little, what's the word? Weird.
"Good! I'm glad I told him; I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders" I sighed falling into step with him and removing his arm so I could pull my hair over my shoulder. I always tried to keep the scars on my neck covered somehow. It was one thing to be constantly questioned about the ones around my eye, but to be asked about the ones on my neck was the last straw.
"We're happy for you Mickey, we know how much family means to you" Fred appeared on my other side, surprisingly without Angelina.
"You're still my family" I bumped both their shoulders with my own.
"We know, can't let you get into any trouble now, can we?" George chuckled as we began climbing the stairs towards the Divination tower.
"I thought it was my job to make sure you two didn't get into any trouble" I laughed dodging a tap to the back of the head from George.
"Au contraire my little Hufflepuff, we are the masters of making mischief and not getting into trouble" Fred put a hand on his chest and put on a very bed French accent. I rolled my eyes and hopped up a few stairs ahead of them. It was times like this that made me thankfully to be part of the Weasley family. Having grown up in a home full of love and laughter made me the person I am today, yet on the other hand it made me feel terrible that Harry didn't have the same upbringing and, in that moment, I made it my mission to make sure he wouldn't have to feel like that again, at least not while we were at Hogwarts.
"Honestly Shell don't worry about us" George bounded up the stairs to catch up to me.
"We're pranking masterminds" Fred chuckled as we neared the ladder that would take us to the Divination classroom.
"I always worry about you" I laughed a very genuine laugh and began climbing up towards what would be a very boring hour of staring into a crystal ball.
What lies in store for our dear little wolf? Please read and review! your comments keep me writing :)